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Strategies & Market Trends : Bob Brinker: Market Savant & Radio Host -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nasdaqian who wrote (14090)	5/10/2001 3:09:54 PM
From: Skeeter Bug	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42834

>>Not the norm and therefore not a valid general condemnation. Problematic yes, but manageable<< nas, a HUGE % of govt spending is wasted. i was watching the factor and a guy from the us accounting office was on. o'reilly asked him about some gawd awful about of money that was "lost" - nobody knew where it went. i think it was a couple hundred million. yes, nobody knew where it went. nobody. i'll bet you dinner somebody in poverty isn't sitting on the dough. come one... ;-) govt waste is HUGE. the $20k seat is one of thousands of ways the govt screws things up. it was not meant to be the only way. >>I pretty much disagree on all points here. A voucher system would stimulate the creation of more private schools because there would be more demand for them. Competition in price in performance would be quite preferable than the failing, dumbed-down, monopolistic system we have. Funny how competition and entrepreneurship works. << nice theoretical expose that won't work in the real world. first of all, the supply changes you mention do not happen in a day. it takes time. perhaps years. initial demand for private schools would skyrocket (the point of vouchers, right?). tuition would go through the roof b/c demand would skyrocket and supply would stay constant for some period of time. tuition would be a voucher + some large sum of money. money the poor folks don't have. therefore, where would the poor folks be? yes, public school. except now the private schools would be flush with cash and would hire all the good teachers from public schools so they could provide better service. now, the poor kids would be stuck in public schools with all the teachers the private schools left behind. thus, the kids who could afford voucher plus a large some of money get a better education and the folks in poverty now get an inferior education than the bad one they get now. yes, shangri la, huh? your view that demand will skyrocket and pricing will stay flat thus enabling poor kids to go to private school sets basic economics on its arse. there is just not enough room. initially either the rich kids or the poor kids will end up in public school due to lack of private school space. it ain't gonna be the rich kids. >>Vouchers would open access for poor people to better education.<< not initially. as explained above, it would bury the poor kids in an inferior education to what little education they get now. >>Those who would now like to send their kids to private schools would be more able to do so.<< only if they had the large sum of dough to go along with the voucher - this excludes poor people. but it probably would include your child! ;-) talk about class warfare! can folks who vehemently fight for their own financial self interest really complain when others do the exact same thing in govt? let's elevate the discussion from "me and mine" to what is reasonable for the community at large. the "me and mine" attitude is precisely why govt is so screwed up. >>Please don't lecture me about supply and demand dynamics. You are not equipped.<< stop gawking at my equipment. ;-) we'll have to agree to disagree and each reader will reach their own conclusion. we are all very interested how supply will react to an instantaneous demand explosion, though. will thousands of schools be built overnight? ;-) i've given an actual scenario with specific cause and effects. you've given nothing but a theory assuming immediate moves in supply - something the real world does not know. oh, and a self proclaimed understanding of economics. lest you misconstrue my anti voucher policy in its current format to a pro public school stance - don't do it. the public schools are a mess. something needs to be done. damaging the poor's access to a decent education is not the solution, imho. even if it helps your kid's, a friend's kid's or a family member's kid's access. also, i'm not saying some sort of private education system can't work. however, the simplistic view that one will dish out vouchers, private school capacity will suck up the increased demand w/o MAJOR price increases and we will be in education heaven is naive, imho. so naive as to be silly. the cause and effects here are crystal clear, imho. the transition needs a thorough analysis, not a simplistic answer that defies basic economic principles - your protestations notwithstanding.