Policy Round-Up 2.5

We are throwing in a special edition issue for some great stuff we found today:

Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System

Chris Hedges, Common Dreams, 04/11/2011

In Praise of Homeschools
Aaron Smith, Mises Institute, 01/16/2012

Nearly Half of U.S. Lives in Household Receiving Government Benefit

Sara Murray, Wall Street Journal, 10/05/2011

U.S. households getting more from Uncle Sam than they pay in

Amey Stone, The Fiscal Times, 04/20/2011

Reducing Real Output by Increasing Federal Spending

Dwight R. Lee, Library of Economics & Liberty, 01/02/2012

We covered this Dwight Lee essay in our most recent election update. This is a nice addition to the growing list of arguments against Keynesian economics and government stimulus. As much of the nation is starting to question the Keynesian system, now is the time to show them that alternative economic approaches are out there, and those based on Austrian school economics offer prosperity without compromising liberty.

Weekly Policy Round-Up 2

3 Reasons Conservatives Should Cut Defense Spending Now!

Nick Gillespie & Meredith Bragg, Reason: Hit & Run, 01/10/2012

The Congressional Budget Office projects that if we keep spending the way we have been, federal debt held by the public will grow from around 60 percent of GDP to a whopping 82 percent of GDP over the next decade, with no end in sight. That’s the sort of borrowing that can ruin a country's economy.

Obama Proposes New Department of Corporate Welfare

Tad DeHaven, Cato@Liberty, 01/13/2012

As I discuss in a Cato essay on the SBA, rather than helping small businesses compete against big businesses, the SBA’s loan guarantees mainly help a tiny share of small businesses compete against other small businesses. In reality, the biggest beneficiary of the SBA is the banks, which reap the profits from the loans guaranteed by the agency.

Merging Wasteful Agencies Won't Shrink Government (audio)

Cato Daily Podcast, 01/13/2012

The real purpose of these agencies is politics. Every member of Congress wants to say that they support small business, because they support funding to the SBA.

The inefficiency of merging agencies was demonstrated by the failure of the Department of Homeland Security, which only added a new level of bureaucracy. Contrary to what many fake conservative politicians will tell you, consolidating government does not shrink government. In almost every case that we have observed, it has lead to an increase in government.

Weekly Policy Round-Up

Our new Weekly Policy Round-Up will feature the best policy analysis, studies, talking points, and proposals that we find each week at the Spooner Institute. For the first week of 2012:

• A Guide to the Presidential Candidates' Proposals to Cut Spending
  Ted DeHaven and Chris Edwards, Cato Institute
  
  
• The Case for Cuts
  Chris Edwards, Cato Institute
  
  
• Digital Textbooks Offer Students, Schools Significant Savings
  Abigail Wood, Heartland Institute

On the issue of digital textbooks, it should be noted that many states have restrictions on education spending, so that textbooks are funded from a specific pool of money. Educators in Indiana, for example, have to fight for their district or the state department of education to approve purchases that they feel to fall within the textbook category. If the material is not a traditional textbook from one of the big textbook publishers, it is either difficult to get funding or the proposal goes unfunded. Many teachers are creating their own materials, saving the taxpayers money, while they receive no extra compensation for their work. The availability of digital materials and the prospect of saving money by paying teachers to create original materials makes a new education talking point that should be pushed by libertarians running for school boards and state government offices.