The above video is one you see excerpted quite a bit in films and television when points about capitalism or the American economic system are being made. It is a fascinating film on many fronts, but two stand out for me. First, bits of it are completely vacuous. It is one thing to provide arguments… Continue reading Fun 1950s capitalist propaganda
The Impact of Fallin’s Medicaid Decision
So Mary Fallin has this thing she does where she forgets that she is governing a state, and pretends instead that she is a national political actor whose job should primarily consist of taking symbolic potshots at federal government programs that the Republican party dislikes. It is not totally clear why she does this: sometimes… Continue reading The Impact of Fallin’s Medicaid Decision
How to means-test Social Security
I do not think we should make any modifications to Social Security benefits. Closing the small Social Security deficit would be trivially easy with tweaks on the revenue side, and there is just no reason not to do that. However, if we are actually going to make cuts to the program, why don’t we do… Continue reading How to means-test Social Security
Some thoughts on Newtown shooting
I’ve been reading some of the commentary on the recent mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. I am far from an expert on any of the related issues, but some of the commentary has stirred the following unrelated thoughts. First, much of the cross-country data being used to make arguments for or against gun control is… Continue reading Some thoughts on Newtown shooting
What keeps poor kids out of college: short version
My last post was pretty long, and I hate long posts as much as the next person. So I decided to make a shorter version. The basic summary is this: before we ever get to the question of cost, there are at least two filters that push poor kids out of college (or out of… Continue reading What keeps poor kids out of college: short version