Sterling Terrell

smart ideas from books (mostly)

The Passing Scene

The Passing Scene

I don’t care that Mel Gibson lost it a little.  He is still one of the best actors in a generation – And I would rather have dinner with him than Sean Penn any day.

If they make my next laptop computer any smaller, I am going to need smaller hands.

Tiger Woods has become completely irrelevant.

I met a guy the other day with a Bachelor’s degree who could not put two coherent thoughts together on paper.  Is it just me, or is the bar in education getting lower and lower?

HBO’s True Blood is weirder every season – unbearably so.

The older I get, the more and more I want to go back and punch my high school guidance counselor.

Pirates of the Caribbean is doing a part 4.  That might be one too many.

If I had to be poor in any country on earth – I would pick America.  Or, Switzerland.  Switzerland is nice too.

Before my BlackBerry, I am not sure how I lived.

I wish the American proletariat would read more – travel more too.

Facebook is here to stay.

Lady Ga Ga is completely weird.  And it makes me crazy that I love her music.

I wish everyone would stop telling me how to eat – including the government.

Lindsay Lohan needs a father figure – yesterday.

I find myself amazed at the writing of Cormac McCarthy.  In my opinion, his older works are his best.

I am glad Ben Affleck is no longer a professional joke.

Watching clips from a Senate hearing the other day made me shake my head – I still can’t believe Al Franken got elected to the Senate.

I think it’s hilarious that Newsweek sold for $1.  My couch could have bid for it.

How I Met Your Mother is hilarious.  But, I wish Marshall was not the only virtuous character on the show.

I am weary of the “Hope” – and the “Change”.

We don’t dress well anymore.  People in pictures, in the soup lines of the Great Depression, look better dressed than most people do now.

I hope that Harry Reid has more of a backbone in private, than he looks like he does in public.

How can I possibly have five email accounts, and use all of them?

What did I drink before bottled water was popularized?  Tap water?  I can’t imagine having to drink that stuff again.

I wish Thomas Sowell and Clint Eastwood had another 30 years of their prime left in them – Taki Theodoracopulos too.

This article was originally published by Taki’s Magazine, here.

Public Schools Save on Advertising?

Public Schools Save on Advertising?

“Public schools save on advertising.”

That exact phrase is what I heard a teacher say the other day during a discussion of the merits, and demerits, of public education, charter schools, and private education.

Stunned at the statement, and now looking back – I suppose it is technically correct.

However, saying that an advantage of public schools is that they save the cost of advertising says nothing of real value – unless value can be placed on revealing the economic ignorance of the speaker.

I could just as easily, and just as correctly, say that North Korea and Kim Jong “save” the cost of the periodical political campaign.

No.  Really.  It’s true.

According to the Politico, $5.3 billion was spent on the 2008 campaign for President of the United States.  That is enough money to give 106,000 people a check for $50,000. We could “create” all kinds of jobs with that kind of money.  Or, just think how many schools we could build for $5.3 billion!

The same holds true in other cases. Clearly, there are too many toothpaste options at the grocery store.  Do we actually need that many brands and flavors?  I am overwhelmed every time I shop for a new tube, and all those options seem like a waste of space anyway.

So, although you may prefer a different brand – no one can completely deny that Crest toothpaste is overall a good product.

What if we just let Crest make all of the toothpaste?  Think of the money they would save not having to advertise!  Then with that savings, Crest could pass it on to the customer, the price of toothpaste would come down, and toothpaste would be cheaper for everyone!

Does anyone really believe the two above examples?  If not, why do we swallow the same rationale with education.  Clearly, this line of reasoning is flawed.

Education is different you say?  How so?  Education may be different than other consumer goods, in that it is consumed by more people over a longer time, but consuming education does not negate human nature – or economics.

I have heard the same argument about “profits”.

The rationale goes that private companies have to charge more because they need profits to survive.  Public enterprises don’t need profits – so them providing the same service would be cheaper.  However, most people following this line of reasoning are not usually looking for a rational discussion of costs, benefits, and economic incentives – instead, they are demonizing “profits” and the “evil greed” that accompanies it.

On greed, economist Dr. Walter Williams notes:

It’s popular to condemn greed, but it’s greed that gets wonderful things done. When I say greed, I don’t mean stealing, fraud, misrepresentation or other forms of dishonesty. I mean people trying to get as much as they can for themselves.

We don’t give second thought to the many wonderful things others do for us. Detroit assembly-line workers get up at the crack of dawn to produce the car you enjoy. Farm workers toil in the blazing sun gathering grapes for our wine. Snowplow drivers brave blizzards just so we can have access to our roads.

Do you think these people make these personal sacrifices because they care about us? My bet is they don’t give a hoot. Instead, they along with their bosses do these wonderful things for us because they want more for themselves.

The truth is:  Incentives matter.  Bureaucracies are wasteful.  Competition lowers prices. And private enterprises are run better – and cheaper – than public ones.

Which do you prefer?  The Post Office, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the VA Hospital, public libraries, and public schools?  Or, does Federal Express, your cell phone company, your personal doctor, private libraries, and private schools sound like a better option?

The answer is evident.

The point is:  Government monopolies cost more than private enterprising competition – and offer an inferior product.

As is always the case, this is also true in education.

In every conceivable study done, public schools cost more than private schools, and educate less than private schools – advertising included.

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