Dualities of the day
We have a bipartisan consensus that the short-term deficit should be made smaller and the long-term deficit should be made bigger even when all the economic logic points in the opposite direction. via Yglesias » Tax Cut Mania. "But we need to appreciate that we have two deficits," [Andy] Stern says. "A fiscal deficit, and […]
So Jay Greene wants to know about Ravitch as an historian?
Yesterday, Jay Greene asked if Ravitch's historical writings are solid. Brief response: among historians of education, she's known for being reasonably careful in handling primary sources, and people debate whether the questions she asks are the right ones… which is often what debates over books turn on. In addition, she's known for being a wonderful stylist […]
Please think before you take a swipe at teachers unions
There are legitimate criticisms I find of teachers unions, but then there are regular examples of foolish, illogical digs. In the And your mortgage is probably more than what you earn in any year category: Recently Mike Antonucci tried to gin up a story based on the fact that pensions are liabilities, forgetting that long-term liabilities are […]
Hoping the good news on grad rates is true
The wires are burning up this morning with the America's Promise Alliance Building a Grad Nation report, which asserts a small rise in high school graduation between 2003 and 2008. The John Hopkins research center the Powell group has allied itself with is the one that successfully got reporters to repeat the term "dropout factory" […]
Happy birthday, Jacques Barzun!
The retired historian is 103 today. But if you're interested in nostalgia, you can see his centennial celebration page. Apparently he's slowed down in recent years, taking a few days to read a book.