Education Vouchers

The Economist: "FEW ideas in education are more controversial than vouchers—letting parents choose to educate their children wherever they wish at the taxpayer's expense. First suggested by Milton Friedman, an economist, in 1955, the principle is compellingly simple. The state pays; parents choose; schools compete; standards rise; everybody gains.
Simple, perhaps, but it has aroused predictable—and often fatal—opposition from the educational establishment. Letting parents choose where to educate their children is a silly idea; professionals know best. Co-operation, not competition, is the way to improve education for all. Vouchers would increase inequality because children who are hardest to teach would be left behind.
But these arguments are now succumbing to sheer weight of evidence. Voucher schemes are running in several different countries without ill-effects for social cohesion; those that use a lottery to hand out vouchers offer proof that recipients get a better education than those that do not". Read the article here.

Conversation of Nobel Laureates for Economics on the Future of Capitalism

Gary Becker, Kenneth Arrow and Myron Scholes talk about the future of capitalism.

Immigration-related cases clog courts

"During a push to crack down on illegal immigration last fall, Customs and Border Protection floated a plan for New Mexico that would have suspended the practice of sending home hundreds of illegal immigrants caught near the border with Mexico. Instead, these people would be sent to court.
The idea, called "Operation Streamline," was to make it clear that people caught illegally in the U.S. would be prosecuted".

How to Balance Freedom and Security

"The world after 9/11 has led many Western countries to rethink their security policies, but where does the limit lie between protecting citizens and eroding their civil liberties?" asks Der Spiegel.

Is Democracy the Best Setting for Growth?

Daron Acemoglu and Edward Glaeser answer this question.

The Tale of Two Bids

Private equity goes after Britain’s Boots.

Who Are the Jihadists in Europe

In the Der Spiegel :"242 jihadists, 31 attacks, 28 networks. After examining militant Islamism in Europe, researchers have found that self-recruitment is on the rise among terrorist leader Osama bin Laden's Eurofighters, and that there is no such thing as a standard terrorist".