When most decisions regarding the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services are made by private individuals or businesses operating in a market environment, society tends to be prosperous, … Continue reading “Introduce More Market Incentives into Higher Education”
The kerfuffle over the relative merit of forcing “viewpoint neutrality” in history classrooms puzzles me. No wonder: Although an historian by Ph.D., I have taught mostly economics for almost three … Continue reading “Try Humble, Positive Modeling, Not Neutrality”
The New York Times is on a tear about “economic diversity.” It’s got a naughty-and-nice list, defined by the number of students with Pell Grants, and it’s stapled a scarlet … Continue reading “Duke Doesn’t Need “Economic Diversity””
Recently, I argued in a Martin Center article that the fourth year of study for the bachelor’s degree is probably relatively unproductive and that enormous resources could be saved by … Continue reading “Higher Education and the Law of Diminishing Returns, Part II”
Early in the introductory college economics course, instructors talk about the Law of Diminishing Returns. An illustration: A farmer has a 100-acre field on which he wants to harvest wheat. … Continue reading “Higher Education and the Law of Diminishing Returns”
To the editor: I admire the fact that Professor Ross is not willing to “dumb down” his class in order to make it more popular. Colin Barnett Albuquerque, NM
In June 2014, I wrote a piece entitled “Reform Intro Economics” for Inside Higher Ed. There, I argued that then-current introductory economics courses were little changed from those of decades … Continue reading “Failing Introductory Economics”
UNC-Chapel Hill offers a wide variety of major and minor programs to its undergraduates, and each student’s résumé carries the authority of the first public university in the United States. … Continue reading “Did You Know? UNC’s Minor in Social and Economic Justice Doesn’t Require Economics Courses”
Colleges and universities used to proclaim that their mission was to give students a broad education that would expand their intellectual vistas—one that would open their minds. Most still say … Continue reading “Higher Education Is Shutting Student Minds”
Virginia’s top public universities are largely stratified by socioeconomic status. Consider the following statistics that appear in the new book by James V. Koch and Richard J. Cebula, Runaway College … Continue reading “The Problem of Higher Ed and Economic Mobility”