For those of you who are new to Supply Side For Survival, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Economist's Apprentice, and it is my intent to offer net surfers a place where discussion of true economic principles is encouraged and appreciated. If you love liberty, this is your blog.
Recently an organization known as the Westboro Baptist Church has become notable for the cruel way in which they vocalize their opinions concerning homosexuality. Their intrusion into the most private moments of a family's life, namely the burial of a child killed in combat, for the purpose of spreading their message has ignited debate at kitchen tables and court rooms across the country concerning the limit of the First Amendment's protection of freedom of speech.
The above video is relatively dated, however, it is demonstrative of the attitudes and behavior of the Westboro Baptist Church's members. Strictly speaking, it is not their beliefs or even the expression of those beliefs that is troubling; what is far more despicable is the license that these protesters are given to impose their presence on others. The first amendment reads as follows, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." No one is arguing that the Westboro Baptist Church doesn't have the right to hold fast to its hateful ideology, the federal government does guarantee you the right to be ignorant if you so choose. But, there are certain aspects of the first amendment which I do believe render the prosecution and ultimate banning of funeral protests, specifically, very much feasible.
Firstly, it is an error to say that the first amendment covers all types of speech at all times and all places. For instance, if I were to stand outside your house, on the street perhaps, and scream obscenities with a megaphone at 2:30 AM, would I be breaking the law? Absolutely. If not you, someone else on the block would certainly report the disturbance to the authorities and I'm positive that my plea of "but what about free speech" would go unheeded. Even if we abstracted away from the type of speech and focused only on the context, the theory of unlimited free speech remains indefensible. Assume that the same time of night and the same megaphone are involved, but change the substance of my ranting from obscenities to a simple recitation of the alphabet. The fundamental problem has not changed, there are people trying to sleep and my unwanted presence is reported. At it's heart, the problem is how to privatize time. When you're sleeping, it is a forgone assumption that you have the right to experience conditions which lend themselves to resting. Legally speaking, you have an expectation of privacy. When that privacy is violated, you are given recourse through our legal system. I might have freedom of speech, but you also have freedom of peace in your own home and therefore have the right to take legal action against those who would disturb you. While it is true that funeral attendees do not flatly own the cemetery grounds, they do "own" the remains being laid to rest. They "own" the experience of completing one of the oldest traditions humanity harbors. They "own" the last memories of their loved one. If everyone possesses unlimited rights, then no rights exist. Westboro's supporters are more than welcome to freely express their speech and opinions at a location where there exists no expectation of privacy such as the national mall or a city park. They are not welcome to express their speech and opinions where such action would serve to diminish the rights of a deceased soldier's family.
Secondly, and perhaps more technically, the section of the first amendment which I call the peaceable assembly clause offers prosecutors a clearly defined medium through which to end Westboro's disruptive and abusive practices. "Congress shall make no law... or the right of the people peaceably to assemble..." Representatives of the Westboro Baptist Church are in fact the opposite of shy with respect to the promulgation of their intent. Their purpose, according to their own testimony, is to pray for and celebrate the injury and death of our nation's brave soldiers. This is, in my opinion, the very definition of "intent to harm", which completely undermines the idea that Westboro protests are "peaceable". You would, rightly, not be permitted to break a business owner's window during the course of a protest just as you are not permitted to purposefully inflict intense emotional damage to mourners in order to establish a political point. Again, the fact that the Westboro Church has the right to express its beliefs bears reiteration, however, for true freedom to endure it is necessary to realize that its rights to speech are in fact limited. Finding the boundary between the rights of different, often conflicting, groups is never an easy task; fortunately, I believe that the solution is already before us, having been written down by a group of patriots centuries ago. If both the letter and the spirit of the first amendment are heeded and enforced, I have no doubt that this nation, this greatest, most generous, most accepting of nations will move forward into the grand future our founders envisioned and will leave the small individuals populating the Westboro Baptist Church far behind, a dysfunctional relic forgotten by history.
Lesson 5 Preview: Why everything you know about public choice is wrong.
Showing posts with label supply side. Show all posts
Showing posts with label supply side. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Lesson 2:How To Make A Free Education Cheaper
For those of you who are new to Supply Side For Survival, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Economist's Apprentice, and it is my intent to offer net surfers a place where discussion of true economic principles is encouraged and appreciated. If you love liberty, this is your blog.
Lesson 1 recap: America faces a crisis the likes of which she has not seen in decades, and many causes of that crisis have been identified by both the old and new media. However, what all of these causes have in common is that they might all have been avoided were the majority of voters residing within the U.S properly educated in economic theory and philosophy. This lapse in the education of so many Americans is due in large part to the unionization of America's educators; union members are self interested as are all human beings, however, the alliance of the unions with the left has created a situation in which there is no check on the union's ability to secure that which it desires. Not wanting to lose that nearly unlimited flow of resources, the teachers unions have actively sought to eliminate the enemy of socialist thought, which is economic science, from the classroom. As a consequence, policy after policy is enacted with far too few truly understanding the ramifications of those policies. In an effort to secure their existence, the unions have put in jeopardy the existence of many other institutions, not least of which are the U.S banking system and the U.S treasury. Through failing to educate, teachers expect to benefit; such a system cannot last, and the current crisis is the harbinger of that system's downfall.
Begin Lesson 2
Solutions. A word with three syllables. The shortness of the word is deceiving to say the least. At the individual level, a solution to a problem may take days to formulate. A single bankrupt person might spend hours on a phone speaking to a bank representative only to realize that the resolution to his problem might take months or even years of disciplined saving and sacrifice. The broken education system will not be repaired in one day or even one presidency, but just as a debtor who is forced to sell his house must necessarily take active steps to survive even though he knows it will be long before he feels the benefits of his actions, the process must begin at some point. Therefore I, with admittedly little hope of being heeded, urge our current policy makers to immediately begin drafting legislation aimed at abolishing government run public schools and replacing them with a voucher program.
Many might ask why not simply remove government influence from education entirely, however, it is beyond doubt that an educated populace is necessary for the continued growth of an economy. While I might be accused of trending normative, I posit that growth is a good thing. Growth alleviates poverty, growth makes a society better. Therefore, to maintain innovation and growth by extension, I wholeheartedly believe that Americans must educate and continue to be educated.
It only remains to be seen how this goal can be accomplished, the economic weight of the current system is crushing, the current U.S school system might be compared to a black hole into which money is poured, forever removed from the universe. It is here that a voucher system becomes absolutely necessary. A school voucher, by definition, is as follows, "A school voucher, also called an education voucher, is a certificate issued by the government which parents can apply toward tuition at a private school, rather than at the public school to which their child is assigned." (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:voucher&sa=X&ei=ggtNTJXgCoOKlwef_eX1DQ&ved=0CBIQkAE) While the difference between a monolithic public school system and a voucher program might seem superficial, the difference is actually profound. The difference is choice. Under current law, if a school is failing, public school parents are not permitted to send their children to a neighboring school. If a government school is teaching a student certain moral, or immoral, values of which a parent disapproves, it is difficult to remove the child from the situation. Vouchers, given the necessity of education, are freedom enhancing. Before the economics of vouchers are covered this central philosophy must be understood.
But with respect to the economics of vouchers, two aspects stand above all others as noteworthy. The first is the theoretical foundation of vouchers which demonstrates the effects of vouchers on a given market. The second is a breakdown of the cost of private education vis a vis the U.S public school system. The first aspect deserves an entire lecture dedicated to it in and of itself, so, in the interest of keeping this lesson focused, I will concentrate on communicating the statistical superiority of a voucher system here and cover the economics of vouchers at a later date in an appendix to this lecture.
In the year 2000, the average expenditure on a single student for one year in the public school system was $8,923 in terms of 2008 dollars. (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66) I use data for public schools from 2000 because 2000 is the latest year for which my research yielded reliable data on private school costs. It would be incorrect to compare public and private schools using data taken from different years. Therefore, in keeping with statistical rigor, the average cost of putting a student through a year of private schooling in the year 2000 was $3,267. (http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3231) So, even if the taxpayer were still stuck with the bill after the enactment of a voucher program, they would probably be much happier regardless as the average cost of putting a student through one year of private schooling is approximately one third the cost of one year in a public school.
As an aside, while I was unable to discover any aggregate descriptions of private school costs nationwide beyond the year 2000, I researched tuition costs at several specific private schools from several states. It is clear that the expense gap between public and private schools remains as public education has only continued to increase in cost ($10,041 for one year in terms of 2008 dollars as of 2007)(http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66) and these as well as many other private schools come in well below.
Name Variety State Cost
Holy Cross Academy High School Florida $2,800
Iverness Christian Academy Pk-12 Florida $3,560-$4,290
Hampton Christian Schools Middle/High Virginia $4,943-$5,938
Grace Christian School Pk-12 Virginia $4,968
Adventure Christian School Pk-8 California $4,600
Escondido Christian School Pk-8 California $4,875-$5,075
American Christian School Pk-12 Oklahoma $4,200-$4,700
of Bartlesville
Rejoice Christian School Pk-12 Oklahoma $4,590-$5,200
Penobscot Christian School Pk-8 Maine $1,560-$4,260
Vineyard Christian School Pk-12 Maine $1,500-$3,600
School Websites
http://www.holycrossacademy.com/Registration%20and%20Tuition.htm
http://l.b5z.net/i/u/10072803/f/Tuition_and_Fees_2010-2011.pdf
http://www.hamptonchristianschools.com/admissionforms/10_11/pricelist2010.pdf
http://www.gcswarriors.org/
http://teacherweb.com/CA/AdventureChristianSchool/Homepage/apt1.aspx
http://www.ecslions.org/Tuition%20Rates%2009-10.pdf
http://www.acsb.org/PDF%20docs/Tuition%20Schedule%20%282010-2011%29.pdf
http://rejoiceschool.com/index.php?nid=21529&s=ms
http://www.penobscot-christian.pvt.k12.me.us/TuitionandFees1011.pdf
http://www.vineyardschool.net/images/admissions/2010_Enrollment_Forms.pdf
Freedom and choice are the answer. Collectivism broke the education system and only returning the system into the hands of the millions of consumers who utilize it will repair it. Parents need the freedom to instill their own values in their children, not the values of the education "czar", congressional liberals, or unionized "educators". It is necessary that children have an education because without one their freedom is limited in ways too many to tabulate, however, while this is true, it is important to understand that many who support bureaucracy run schools use the same defense of their arguments. But, it must be noted, those who make use of the "necessity" defense while simultaneously promulgating the virtue of state schools commit an elementary error. To believe in giving children an education through public schools is not to be noble, but is simply to be confused. This is so because such a statement presumes that it is possible to receive a quality education from a public school and, given the flat or falling trend of SAT scores over the past years, it would seem that that is not the case. (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_146.asp)
However, hope for our nation's education system yet remains. Unlike the "public schools because of necessity" argument, the necessity argument coupled with school choice for children through vouchers satisfies the requirements of logic. If the people of this amazing nation are able to rally themselves and vote into power lawmakers who understand the need of the people to be left free to make schools compete for their business, then parents will see reduced costs, students will see better teachers, and governments will see mercifully deflated budgets. The question posed by unionized education finds its answer in the principles laid down by our nation's fathers; individuals, when left free to choose their own destinies, are capable of creating marvels beyond the imagination of bloated, over-intrusive government agencies. When liberty is assured, knowledge derived from education reigns supreme.
Lesson 3 preview: Keynes....................... A General Theory on why Greece is so successful?
Lesson 1 recap: America faces a crisis the likes of which she has not seen in decades, and many causes of that crisis have been identified by both the old and new media. However, what all of these causes have in common is that they might all have been avoided were the majority of voters residing within the U.S properly educated in economic theory and philosophy. This lapse in the education of so many Americans is due in large part to the unionization of America's educators; union members are self interested as are all human beings, however, the alliance of the unions with the left has created a situation in which there is no check on the union's ability to secure that which it desires. Not wanting to lose that nearly unlimited flow of resources, the teachers unions have actively sought to eliminate the enemy of socialist thought, which is economic science, from the classroom. As a consequence, policy after policy is enacted with far too few truly understanding the ramifications of those policies. In an effort to secure their existence, the unions have put in jeopardy the existence of many other institutions, not least of which are the U.S banking system and the U.S treasury. Through failing to educate, teachers expect to benefit; such a system cannot last, and the current crisis is the harbinger of that system's downfall.
Begin Lesson 2
Solutions. A word with three syllables. The shortness of the word is deceiving to say the least. At the individual level, a solution to a problem may take days to formulate. A single bankrupt person might spend hours on a phone speaking to a bank representative only to realize that the resolution to his problem might take months or even years of disciplined saving and sacrifice. The broken education system will not be repaired in one day or even one presidency, but just as a debtor who is forced to sell his house must necessarily take active steps to survive even though he knows it will be long before he feels the benefits of his actions, the process must begin at some point. Therefore I, with admittedly little hope of being heeded, urge our current policy makers to immediately begin drafting legislation aimed at abolishing government run public schools and replacing them with a voucher program.
Many might ask why not simply remove government influence from education entirely, however, it is beyond doubt that an educated populace is necessary for the continued growth of an economy. While I might be accused of trending normative, I posit that growth is a good thing. Growth alleviates poverty, growth makes a society better. Therefore, to maintain innovation and growth by extension, I wholeheartedly believe that Americans must educate and continue to be educated.
It only remains to be seen how this goal can be accomplished, the economic weight of the current system is crushing, the current U.S school system might be compared to a black hole into which money is poured, forever removed from the universe. It is here that a voucher system becomes absolutely necessary. A school voucher, by definition, is as follows, "A school voucher, also called an education voucher, is a certificate issued by the government which parents can apply toward tuition at a private school, rather than at the public school to which their child is assigned." (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:voucher&sa=X&ei=ggtNTJXgCoOKlwef_eX1DQ&ved=0CBIQkAE) While the difference between a monolithic public school system and a voucher program might seem superficial, the difference is actually profound. The difference is choice. Under current law, if a school is failing, public school parents are not permitted to send their children to a neighboring school. If a government school is teaching a student certain moral, or immoral, values of which a parent disapproves, it is difficult to remove the child from the situation. Vouchers, given the necessity of education, are freedom enhancing. Before the economics of vouchers are covered this central philosophy must be understood.
But with respect to the economics of vouchers, two aspects stand above all others as noteworthy. The first is the theoretical foundation of vouchers which demonstrates the effects of vouchers on a given market. The second is a breakdown of the cost of private education vis a vis the U.S public school system. The first aspect deserves an entire lecture dedicated to it in and of itself, so, in the interest of keeping this lesson focused, I will concentrate on communicating the statistical superiority of a voucher system here and cover the economics of vouchers at a later date in an appendix to this lecture.
In the year 2000, the average expenditure on a single student for one year in the public school system was $8,923 in terms of 2008 dollars. (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66) I use data for public schools from 2000 because 2000 is the latest year for which my research yielded reliable data on private school costs. It would be incorrect to compare public and private schools using data taken from different years. Therefore, in keeping with statistical rigor, the average cost of putting a student through a year of private schooling in the year 2000 was $3,267. (http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3231) So, even if the taxpayer were still stuck with the bill after the enactment of a voucher program, they would probably be much happier regardless as the average cost of putting a student through one year of private schooling is approximately one third the cost of one year in a public school.
As an aside, while I was unable to discover any aggregate descriptions of private school costs nationwide beyond the year 2000, I researched tuition costs at several specific private schools from several states. It is clear that the expense gap between public and private schools remains as public education has only continued to increase in cost ($10,041 for one year in terms of 2008 dollars as of 2007)(http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66) and these as well as many other private schools come in well below.
Name Variety State Cost
Holy Cross Academy High School Florida $2,800
Iverness Christian Academy Pk-12 Florida $3,560-$4,290
Hampton Christian Schools Middle/High Virginia $4,943-$5,938
Grace Christian School Pk-12 Virginia $4,968
Adventure Christian School Pk-8 California $4,600
Escondido Christian School Pk-8 California $4,875-$5,075
American Christian School Pk-12 Oklahoma $4,200-$4,700
of Bartlesville
Rejoice Christian School Pk-12 Oklahoma $4,590-$5,200
Penobscot Christian School Pk-8 Maine $1,560-$4,260
Vineyard Christian School Pk-12 Maine $1,500-$3,600
School Websites
http://www.holycrossacademy.com/Registration%20and%20Tuition.htm
http://l.b5z.net/i/u/10072803/f/Tuition_and_Fees_2010-2011.pdf
http://www.hamptonchristianschools.com/admissionforms/10_11/pricelist2010.pdf
http://www.gcswarriors.org/
http://teacherweb.com/CA/AdventureChristianSchool/Homepage/apt1.aspx
http://www.ecslions.org/Tuition%20Rates%2009-10.pdf
http://www.acsb.org/PDF%20docs/Tuition%20Schedule%20%282010-2011%29.pdf
http://rejoiceschool.com/index.php?nid=21529&s=ms
http://www.penobscot-christian.pvt.k12.me.us/TuitionandFees1011.pdf
http://www.vineyardschool.net/images/admissions/2010_Enrollment_Forms.pdf
Freedom and choice are the answer. Collectivism broke the education system and only returning the system into the hands of the millions of consumers who utilize it will repair it. Parents need the freedom to instill their own values in their children, not the values of the education "czar", congressional liberals, or unionized "educators". It is necessary that children have an education because without one their freedom is limited in ways too many to tabulate, however, while this is true, it is important to understand that many who support bureaucracy run schools use the same defense of their arguments. But, it must be noted, those who make use of the "necessity" defense while simultaneously promulgating the virtue of state schools commit an elementary error. To believe in giving children an education through public schools is not to be noble, but is simply to be confused. This is so because such a statement presumes that it is possible to receive a quality education from a public school and, given the flat or falling trend of SAT scores over the past years, it would seem that that is not the case. (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_146.asp)
However, hope for our nation's education system yet remains. Unlike the "public schools because of necessity" argument, the necessity argument coupled with school choice for children through vouchers satisfies the requirements of logic. If the people of this amazing nation are able to rally themselves and vote into power lawmakers who understand the need of the people to be left free to make schools compete for their business, then parents will see reduced costs, students will see better teachers, and governments will see mercifully deflated budgets. The question posed by unionized education finds its answer in the principles laid down by our nation's fathers; individuals, when left free to choose their own destinies, are capable of creating marvels beyond the imagination of bloated, over-intrusive government agencies. When liberty is assured, knowledge derived from education reigns supreme.
Lesson 3 preview: Keynes....................... A General Theory on why Greece is so successful?
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