There are good arguments for directly subsidizing public transit. Here I analyze whether directly subsidizing public transit is a good thing to do for distributive reasons. The best way to go about this is with an example. Suppose we have a public transit system that is entirely financed by fares. Someone proposes that we drop… Continue reading Transit fares and distribution
What does identitarian deference require?
Freddie’s going after the identitarians again. At the root of his complaint here is the slipperiness of identitarian deference. Roughly, identitarian deference is the idea that privileged individuals should defer to the opinions and views of oppressed individuals, especially on topics relevant to those individuals’ oppression. It sounds straightforward, but can become exceedingly complicated in… Continue reading What does identitarian deference require?
What is the proper way to finance higher education?
In my prior post, I do some back-of-the-envelope math to conclude that free higher education would direct as much as 40 times more money to rich kids than to poor kids. The point of the post is to insist — as has been my basic beat from the beginning — that there are serious distributive… Continue reading What is the proper way to finance higher education?
How unequal would free college actually be?
So we know that rich kids go to college at significantly higher rates than poor kids and that rich kids pay significantly more than poor kids at any given university because of price discrimination. So here’s a fun question: if we made college free, how much more money would go to rich kids than to… Continue reading How unequal would free college actually be?
Getting serious about using investment for social change
Divestment campaigns almost never work. Sometimes a campaign might actually get a fund to sell off and refuse to buy certain stocks, but rarely will it ever get enough funds to do so simultaneously, which is what’s necessary to actually exert any pressure. I suspect these kinds of campaigns are pursued in part because people… Continue reading Getting serious about using investment for social change