Locke’s Christian property system

Modern-day libertarians love to pretend John Locke is on their side. But they do so erroneously. I am not sure whether their error comes from anachronistic interpretation, not actually reading Locke, or intentional distortion, but for some reason, procedural justice libertarians often trot out Locke as being one of them, despite overwhelming textual evidence to… Continue reading Locke’s Christian property system

A few more notes on student debt

I left some things out of my previous post on the politics of student debt. First, there are a variety of other ways to use means-testing to help poor kids afford college. One way to do so is through price discrimination, something many private schools already do. Private schools have very high sticker prices for… Continue reading A few more notes on student debt

Unemployment is really painful

Binyamin Appelbaum at the New York Times compiled a substantial amount of research on the effects of unemployment. Unemployed persons tend to make far less once they regain employment, suffer negative health effects, lose their skills, and find it increasingly difficult to regain employment at all. I surveyed a variety of similar studies not too… Continue reading Unemployment is really painful

On the politics of student debt

The New York Federal Reserve Bank released an impressive amount of research earlier this month on the present state of student debt. Total student debt levels are around $870 billion. Average student debt stands at $23,300, but the median debt — a more telling figure — stands at $12,800. At the same time, those with… Continue reading On the politics of student debt