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Thanks to the government intervention with what is sold as 'free education/free money', but it is actually making education more expensive. If you want poor pe

by henvic 9y ago

Thanks to the government intervention with what is sold as 'free education/free money', but it is actually making education more expensive. If you want poor people to get education, empower them. You can start doing so by NOT making it even less affordable by handing out free money. If you hand out free money the education market will take notice and prices do increase. Imagine if you suddenly had someone offering to pay for your food everywhere. You should expect your food to become more expensive if suppliers take notice of it. This is what happens to the education market. Also, the suppliers start with lots of misalocation just because there is a lack of signals about what is most important. For example, they might spend loads of money on sports just because there would be money left over if they didn't, etc.

forapurpose 9y ago
> handing out free money What does this mean exactly? Government has funded universities for generations, and tuition was lower when there was more funding. At least one study I saw found that funding cuts were the main cause of tuition increase. This argument is used to try to defund every welfare program, but I have yet to see any economic evidence that it's true. Is there any? > they might spend loads of money on sports just because there would be money left over if they didn't, etc. They might, but anything is possible. Is there any evidence of it or is this pure speculation? Sports, for example, is generally seen as excellent marketing for the university, increasing alumni engagement, awareness (TV networks pay the university to put the school's name on national TV for hours, rather than vice-versa for 30 seconds), and donations and applications follow.