Patrick Coate
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Excelsior Scholarship and Costs of College
Recently on the blog, I discussed New York’s Excelsior Scholarship, which offers free tuition to New York residents to attend four-year public state universities. Today, I want to take a closer look at prices currently paid by students to see how the program might affect students from different economic backgrounds. I look at five colleges…
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Cell Phone Plans and the CPI
How much is unlimited data on your iPhone worth to you? In calculating the Consumer Price Index, the average answer is “a lot” — enough to explain a perceived slowdown in inflation, in fact. As other outlets have reported recently, a change in cell service was a major contributor to slowing price inflation in the…
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Kalamazoo and New York: Different Models of College Scholarship Programs
New York recently announced the Excelsior Scholarship, a program that will make tuition to New York public colleges free for New York residents. We have many reasons to doubt the efficiency of this plan, as argued for example by David Brooks in the New York Times, but regardless of its efficiency, it calls to mind…
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Incentives in State Pension Plans: The Case of Teachers
Earlier this week, my colleague Theodore Cangero wrote about funding gaps in state pension programs. These can have negative consequences not only for state budgets but for residents currently employed in industries with state pensions whose regulations sometimes have adverse consequences for workers or the public. One well-studied example is public school teachers. Most states…
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H1-B Visas in IT: Effects on Workers and Consumers
One of the most controversial aspects of U.S. immigration policy is the H-1B visa program. The program currently allocates 85,000 visas to high-skill workers, especially in tech industries. Silicon Valley executives at places such as Google and Facebook promote H-1B visas as a way they can attract some of the best programmers in the world…
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Student Debt and Home Ownership Rates: Perception and Action
How much does student debt affect Americans’ chances of owning a home? Recent research gives a wide range of answers to that question. The debt definitely lowers ownership rates, but whether the effect is minor or massive depends on the exact questions asked and how the answers are framed. As I wrote in an AIER…
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How Much Does Trade Affect Employment?
How much does import competition affect U.S. jobs? We at AIER have always argued for the benefits of free trade, but it is still worth understanding what happens to those who may lose their jobs because of international competition. The benefits from trade far outweigh the costs, but as we wrote in February, one reason…
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Why Mandate Post-School Plans in Chicago?
One common question to ask high school seniors is what they will be doing after graduation. In Chicago, they may need to get ready to answer that question at the graduation ceremony itself. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed that in order to graduate, Chicago Public Schools students beginning with the class of 2020 will have…
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Should Colleges Share in Student Loan Risk?
In my recent AIER article on student debt, I discussed proposed incentives to encourage colleges to spend more resources on retaining rather than recruiting students. Last week, Doug Webber of Temple University discussed one of these proposals in detail for FiveThirtyEight. The suggestion is for colleges to pay a portion of their students’ loan default.…
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Continuing Effects of Demonetization in India
Five months after India’s demonetization of 500- and 1,000-rupee bills, there is still wide disagreement about the effect of the decision. I wrote critically about this policy in an AIER article last month, but the fallout continues. At present, both sides feel vindicated by the outcome. Critics warned that demonetization would not do much to…
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Excelsior Scholarship and Costs of College
Recently on the blog, I discussed New York’s Excelsior Scholarship, which offers free tuition to New York residents to attend four-year public state universities. Today, I want to take a closer look at prices currently paid by students to see how the program might affect students from different economic backgrounds. I look at five colleges…
-
Cell Phone Plans and the CPI
How much is unlimited data on your iPhone worth to you? In calculating the Consumer Price Index, the average answer is “a lot” — enough to explain a perceived slowdown in inflation, in fact. As other outlets have reported recently, a change in cell service was a major contributor to slowing price inflation in the…
-
Kalamazoo and New York: Different Models of College Scholarship Programs
New York recently announced the Excelsior Scholarship, a program that will make tuition to New York public colleges free for New York residents. We have many reasons to doubt the efficiency of this plan, as argued for example by David Brooks in the New York Times, but regardless of its efficiency, it calls to mind…
-
Incentives in State Pension Plans: The Case of Teachers
Earlier this week, my colleague Theodore Cangero wrote about funding gaps in state pension programs. These can have negative consequences not only for state budgets but for residents currently employed in industries with state pensions whose regulations sometimes have adverse consequences for workers or the public. One well-studied example is public school teachers. Most states…
-
H1-B Visas in IT: Effects on Workers and Consumers
One of the most controversial aspects of U.S. immigration policy is the H-1B visa program. The program currently allocates 85,000 visas to high-skill workers, especially in tech industries. Silicon Valley executives at places such as Google and Facebook promote H-1B visas as a way they can attract some of the best programmers in the world…
-
Student Debt and Home Ownership Rates: Perception and Action
How much does student debt affect Americans’ chances of owning a home? Recent research gives a wide range of answers to that question. The debt definitely lowers ownership rates, but whether the effect is minor or massive depends on the exact questions asked and how the answers are framed. As I wrote in an AIER…
-
How Much Does Trade Affect Employment?
How much does import competition affect U.S. jobs? We at AIER have always argued for the benefits of free trade, but it is still worth understanding what happens to those who may lose their jobs because of international competition. The benefits from trade far outweigh the costs, but as we wrote in February, one reason…
-
Why Mandate Post-School Plans in Chicago?
One common question to ask high school seniors is what they will be doing after graduation. In Chicago, they may need to get ready to answer that question at the graduation ceremony itself. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed that in order to graduate, Chicago Public Schools students beginning with the class of 2020 will have…
-
Should Colleges Share in Student Loan Risk?
In my recent AIER article on student debt, I discussed proposed incentives to encourage colleges to spend more resources on retaining rather than recruiting students. Last week, Doug Webber of Temple University discussed one of these proposals in detail for FiveThirtyEight. The suggestion is for colleges to pay a portion of their students’ loan default.…
-
Continuing Effects of Demonetization in India
Five months after India’s demonetization of 500- and 1,000-rupee bills, there is still wide disagreement about the effect of the decision. I wrote critically about this policy in an AIER article last month, but the fallout continues. At present, both sides feel vindicated by the outcome. Critics warned that demonetization would not do much to…