Compared to any other developed nation, the US public schools are the worst by any measure -- we have lower graduation rates, worse test scores, and a higher pricetag than any of our 'peers.' Every election year, we all bemoan the tragedy of American public education. Despite the fact that we already pay more per student than any other country, teacher unions always beg for more money and claim that the lack of money is the real problem.
Won't we see the same thing in our "free health care" system -- paying more, getting less, and with the wealthy opting out for their own system, leaving the middle class with lines, bureaucracy and inefficiency? ... Won't we end up paying more and getting less?
Unfortunately, all the political power in the world cannot defy the laws of economic gravity. When people get something for 'free' they take it for granted. Offering a service on the open market creates information feedback for demand and supply as well as information regarding the equilibrium pricing of a given product or service. Whenever Uncle Sam tries to replace this mechanism as Big Brother, producers have no incentive to innovate or lower prices -- they can continue to bid prices higher against a market that has no built-in resistance mechanism.
Solving education, just like health care, has to do with creating an economic framework that makes the system directly accountable to the people it serves, and that provides a structure for incentives to reward the best and cheapest solutions. (ie, those that best serve the needs of their clients or patients)
Sorry Congress, Sorry Obama, all the votes in the world cannot buy an imagined economic utopia. We have to structure systems that comply with the economic laws of our world.
Anyone caught "The Richest Man in Town" by W Randall Jones? I was suspect of this topic at first, but it is well worth the read. An excellent view into the mind of self made billionaires.
http://www.therichestmanintown.com
Posted by: jake | November 25, 2009 at 07:22 PM