Disinherited – the Rest (+ Was Trump Right?)

Subheading of the book being “How Washington Is Betraying America’s Young” with Parts II, III, and IV on:

• The Failure of Primary and Secondary Education
• Drowning in College Debt
• Licensing Requirements Keep Out the Young
• Banned from the Job Market Parents’ Health Care”
• Reclaiming the Disinherited Generation

Excerpts follow:

Charter schools…do not offer tenure or require their teachers to join unions as a condition of employment.  (page 47)

Charter school admittance is determined by a lottery, not by academic record, which strongly suggests that most of these student improvements are a result of different approaches to teaching. (page 48)

All 10 states in the best financial shape in terms of state debt (including unfunded liabilities) per capita are right-to-work states, where employees do not have to be represented by a union as a condition of their employment. In contrast, among the 10 states in the worst financial condition, only Nevada and Wyoming are right-to-work states. (page 53)

The federal loan program is effectively an individually tailored subsidy for each school, because loan awards are based on how much it costs to attend a given college. The more a college raises its tuition, the more loan money the government will make available to students for tuition. (page 70)

One example of regulations that increase the costs of bringing beer to markets is the “three-tier” distribution system. This Prohibition-era system requires that alcohol suppliers, wholesalers, and retailers remain separate. If small brewers want to get their beer to customers, they have to pay larger companies to distribute and sell it. Having an unnecessary middleman leads to higher costs for both craft breweries and their customers. (page 85)

Louisiana is the only state to license florists. Florists pose no evident danger to the public, and licensing does not always improve the quality of the work. Professor Dick Carpenter of the University of Colorado examined flower arrangements and found no difference in perceived quality between licensed and unlicensed florists. Still, the pass rate for Louisiana florist certification is lower than the pass rate for the Louisiana Bar exam. This is undoubtedly because those judging the floral arrangements are established florists who would prefer not to face increased competition. There should not be a test for something as subjective as tastes in flower arrangements, especially a test administered by the test taker’s future competitors. (page 87)

Occupational licensing was originally intended to protect the public from unqualified lawyers and doctors. It has now morphed into a network of ubiquitous barriers that affect nearly 40 percent of American workers. This is what happens when special interests – such as state boards of cosmetologists, interior designers, taxi cartels, and pest controllers – manage to convince legislators that they deserve preferred treatment. America’s economy is being damaged by occupational licensing, but the prospects of young people…are being damaged most of all. (page 95)

Washington policymakers are now also debating whether to increase the tipped minimum wage.  Nearly 50 years ago, federal law created a lower minimum wage for workers who receive tips. It could not be less than 50 percent of the federal minimum wage. The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 detached tipped employees from future minimum-wage increases. This is why the tipped minimum wage is still $2.13 an hour, now 29 percent of the minimum wage…..Besides, if workers make less than $7.25 an hour, employers must make up the difference so that the worker makes the minimum wage. (page 103)

The government allows members of Congress, along with other Washington agencies and nonprofits, to offer unpaid internships, but it prohibits for-profit corporations from doing so unless they meet stringent, unworkable requirements. Under guidelines published by the Labor Department in 2010, a private-sector internship can be unpaid if it is deemed “educational,” whatever that means. it must benefit the intern, who must not displace regular staff. The employer cannot benefit from the intern’s presence. These requirements do not lead to meaningful internships. Employers have to pay thousands of dollars for what are effectively training programs, or students have to pay colleges to participate in unpaid internships. (pages 107-8)

At the state level, public-sector unions keep in place defined-benefit pension plans that promise generous payouts to today’s retirees at the expense of everyone else. While union bosses are free to negotiate favorable contract terms with the politicians that they bankroll, critical parties are left out – taxpayers and those who will be responsible for paying unfunded liabilities in the future. (page 116)
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On another topic:
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and more recently:
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We may soon find out if these guys were right if a court order means anything.