Education's Missing Apple: The Free Enterprise Solution? | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary

Education's Missing Apple: The Free Enterprise Solution? | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Take the now famous example of Jaime Escalante, whose low-income Hispanic students at Garfield High School were, by the mid-1980s, already besting their peers at Beverly Hills High on the Advanced Placement (AP) calculus exam. Though staggeringly successful, Escalante's program was not replicated. On the contrary, his own fellow teachers voted to relieve him as head of the math department after Escalante drew the ire of the local teachers' union because he welcomed over 50 students in his classrooms, while the union contract required no more than 35.'

'The same free enterprise system that has given us Google, Starbucks, and Apple works in education, too — if we let it. This system works for businesses through several key conditions: freedom to innovate, consumer choice, competition between providers, price signals, and the ability to distribute profits to investors.'

'In the Korean tutoring sector, it is not uncommon for the top teachers to have class sizes in the range of 20 to 40 thousand students, thanks to effective use of the Internet to distribute lessons. The best among them earn millions of dollars a year from profit sharing programs operated by the tutoring firms. The more effective a teacher becomes, and the larger the number of students who seek out her lessons, the more she earns.'

'hundreds of entrepreneurial independent schools currently operate in the slums of Hyderabad, India, vying to serve the children of day laborers and food-stall vendors whose poverty is beyond anything in America. These parent-funded independent schools outperform the local state-run schools, and they do so at a fraction of the cost — barely four dollars per month.'

A Re-Elected Obama Wouldn't Be the End of Liberty | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

A Re-Elected Obama Wouldn't Be the End of Liberty | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'since FDR, few second-term presidents have been capable of great mischief. Obama may have done most of the real damage he's capable of already.'

'If the states refuse to create [health insurance exchanges], the law says the feds can. But it provides zero funds. And good luck getting them through a GOP House."'

'since the end of World War II, unified governments have spent roughly three times as fast as divided ones, and they've been much more likely to waste blood and treasure abroad.'

When Prices Are Wrong, Markets Don't Work | Peter Van Doren | Cato Institute: Commentary

When Prices Are Wrong, Markets Don't Work | Peter Van Doren | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'if gas prices go up and a commuter decides to start driving a Prius, or to move closer to work so the old gas guzzler travels fewer miles, this will have equivalent beneficial effects on aggregate fossil fuel consumption. One does not have to purchase an energy efficient vehicle to reduce fossil fuel consumption.

Even though I used just two paragraphs and no math to articulate this obvious point, voters and their elected officials resist this simple insight and instead prefer to impose only energy efficiency standards on manufacturers of consumer appliances and automobiles. A singular emphasis on energy efficiency rather than prices has two important drawbacks. First, more efficient appliances and automobiles cost much more to achieve equivalent energy savings than a tax on fossil fuel consumption. This occurs because higher prices encourage all possible avenues of reducing energy consumption — which efficiency standards do not. Second, more efficient appliances and automobiles reduce operating costs, which leads consumers to use more energy than they would if prices had increased.'

Inside America's Economic Angst | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary

Inside America's Economic Angst | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary: '* The recovery began just as Obama’s stimulus spending ended, thus confirming suspicions that lots of money was wasted as part of a process that hindered the economy’s growth.

* The job numbers only began to improve at the end of 2010, right as Republicans took control of the House and presumably ended Obama’s ability to further shift the nation’s course.'

'Such scandals as Solyndra lead people to suspect that cronyism has replaced capitalism.'

From Lori Drew To Dharun Ravi, Punishing People Based On Others' Suicides Is A Mistake | Techdirt

From Lori Drew To Dharun Ravi, Punishing People Based On Others' Suicides Is A Mistake | Techdirt: 'Thus, the incentive then is actually for kids to seriously hurt themselves, if someone acts in a mean way towards them, as that increases the likelihood of the bully getting punished. That doesn't sound like a good incentive system.'