The following are quotes from Thomas Piketty’s seminal Capital in the Twenty-First Century. I have used italics to emphasize parts that I think are particularly important with respect to education. “…Knowledge and skill diffusion is the key to overall productivity growth as well as the reduction of inequality…” (p. 21) “…Do the dynamics of private […]
In One Sentence Piketty Explains “The Great Wage Slowdown of the 21st Century”
October 7, 2014 by
David Leonhardt has a good analysis in today’s NY Times. (The Great Wage Slowdown of the 21st Century – NYTimes.com) He realizes the importance of education to economic growth and decreasing inequality. Yet he makes the same mistake that so many make. I commented. “The accuracy of the conclusions reached here are almost completely erased […]
Does The University of Chicago Try to Catch Up on Economic Diversity? Let’s Hope So, But We Need to Watch.
October 2, 2014 by
David Leohardt’s article is here. The University of Chicago Tries to Catch Up on Economic Diversity – NYTimes.com. My comment was: “It will be important to keep our eye on this program. Hopefully, it will be in the tradition of their ground-breaking and principled President Robert Maynard Hutchins (’29-’45). Unfortunately, though, nowadays many universities take […]
Frank Bruni’s Piece in Today’s NY Times: More Symptoms
September 28, 2014 by
The Wilds of Education – NYTimes.com. I commented. For readers of this blog, I will put my last paragraph first. Last Paragraph “If someone had no idea what a university was, and only learned about them from reading the papers (rape scandals, football scandals, law school scandals, overseas building scandals, misleading educational standards, etc…), would […]
Insightful: Why Poor Students Struggle – NYTimes.com
September 22, 2014 by
A Look at Stats on College Costs and Aid – WSJ
September 22, 2014 by
A Look at Stats on College Costs and Aid – WSJ. I’m providing this link for readers. (I also added a comment.) “Expectations are usually based on past experience. In this case they shouldn’t be. In most parents’ college experience- around 1980 – a college degree required about 20 hours of study per week. Now […]
Why Federal Ratings Might Not Do Anything
September 21, 2014 by
This is another comment on. Why Federal College Ratings Won’t Rein In Tuition – NYTimes.com. (The first comment is here.) “Colleges have ashown themselves adept at “solving for the winning solution”(as in “need fewer transfers to get a higher US News ranking?”, just add to dorms, subract from educational requirements, problem solved). Of course, no […]
High Tuition is a Gigantic Problem – But It Isn’t “The Problem”
September 20, 2014 by
Why Federal College Ratings Won’t Rein In Tuition – NYTimes.com. I made the following comment. A federal system of transparency and accountability is critical. But cost is not the most important reason. As the author notes, “..Economic theory predicts… INFORMED [my emphasis] consumers will choose the cheapest option that meets their needs…” Almost by definition, […]
Don’t Let Colleges Conflate Budget Crises With Money Grabs – To The Detriment of Their Citizens
This story is about state schools admitting out-of-state students over in-state ones just for tuition. But that is not the whole story, as I described in my comment, posted below. Colleges’ Wider Search for Applicants Crowds Out Local Students – WSJ. “Yes, budgets have been cut – but that is not the whole story. […]