Shocked!

This was a shocking experience. The other night while study we came across the US Debt Clock. It is almost sickening how quickly money is spent. Find the debt clock here.

Education

I wrote this for an internship application. So, I figured I'd share the wealth....

Education. A topic that is addressed in almost every political campaign and a topic that will continue to stand out until a fix is found. Parents of students constantly complain about the poor conditions and quality of the schools their children attend. Politicians take note of these warnings, after all the must act accordingly to their constituents wishes. The problem occurs because the action taken by politicians only serves to create additional problems.

The reason education is important, to the public in general, is because education builds human capital and acts a selection process. Education builds human capital because it imparts skills that students will use to become more economically productive. Education acts as a selection process because students’ behavior and record acts as an indicator to future employers of the type of worker they are or will be. Education also demonstrates what type of work potential employees are qualified to perform.

The current issue with education is not its accessibility. Most students not only have the ability attend and the access to school, but are also required to attend. Approximately ninety percent of students, aged 12-17, attend public schools. Schools funded through, mostly, local tax revenues. This leads to the imposition of restrictions on what schools a student can attend. There is no restriction of access, but more importantly (and maybe worse) a restriction of freedom.

This restriction of freedom is the cause for the failure in education markets. When students are not only forced to attend, but also forced to attend a specific school that the competition structure breaks down. Schools do not seek to appease students; teachers lack the incentive to do their best work. The process continues to break down from poor management, misuse of resources, and unnecessary teachers agreements.

All of these problems were originally “fixes” proposed by the government officials seeking to appease their constituents. When these “solutions” have failed to present results and no new solutions can be found school districts complain that they are lacking the funding to adequately provide the services needed. Governments increase the school budgets but performance remains low. That is because more money is not the solution.

The solution to the education failures in America is increasing competition and incentivizing teachers. This leads to a more efficient outcome and at a lower cost. The immediate policy approach is to institute some form of school voucher plan. This will increase the competition between schools and will increase educational performance. From there a better market solution, where education is highly privatized, can be attained.

Finally Good News from the Government

For once, I advocate a government policy. A budget freeze. Many are argueing that a budget freeze will curtail the recovery. Yea, whatev.

Get the details here.

Austrian vs. Keynesian

This is essentially my weekend seminar in a nutshell. A funny and exaggerated nutshell. Thanks to IHS for putting the seminar on, they did a great job.



The link to the video is here, if you prefer.

Contact Info

Email - jonathonrscott@gmail.com

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Feel free to contact me at any of the above, I'd love to chat. Especially about things I'm interested in or if those things can help you!