The University of California System is in serious trouble. The budget shortfalls have forced administrators to cut all faculty salaries by 8%. I wonder how long before other schools start raiding the UC system for talent; I’ve already heard rumors of certain high profile academics planning to leave. What was once the pride of public university education seems on the verge of collapse. However, the UC strategy of cutting faculty salaries to save money is fundamentally flawed. Here’s why:
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Jun 302009
Jun 252009
I have to admit that the Mark Sanford sex scandal has captured my attention. Usually I don’t care about these things (John Ensign, John Edwards, David Vitter, Eliot Spitzer, Bill Clinton, etc.) except to bemoan the tragedy of gifted and skilled political voices who threw it all away. To paraphrase what Dee Snider of Twisted Sister once said: family and career are too important to give away in exchange for five minutes of orgasm.
For some reason, however, the Mark Sanford thing feels different to me. Continue reading »
Jun 242009
It strikes me that the way congress has gone about developing a health care plan is to come up with an ideal plan, and then see how much it costs. When those budget figures come out, they panic, but are already anchored on a plan.
Another approach would be to start with a budget, and then maximize the value (cost-benefit wise) of what can be purchased for that budget. This is what they did with the Kitzhaber plan in Oregon. I can’t help but think that this is the only way to get a plan that won’t be exhorbitantly overpriced for the good that it does…
Jun 242009
As the health care debate continues on, I’ve seen a lot of liberals cite poll numbers that the majority of Americans would like a public plan, and moreover would be willing to pay higher taxes for that plan. This annoys me. There is a difference between favoring something in the abstract, and favoring specifics, and this is being conflated in the debate.
Q1: Would you be willing to pay higher taxes to have a public health care plan? (72% say yes)
Q2: Would you be willing to have your taxes increase by $5000 a year to pay for a public health care plan (?? say yes)
I wonder how many people asked Q1 interpret it as being Q2, as many democrats (most notably Senator Dodd) imply that they do. My gues is the answer to question 2 would be much more frequently negative. Using a poll with abstract questions to claim public support for a $1.6 trillion monstrosity is ridiculous.
Jun 182009
I understand the hullabaloo over the recent controversial Iranian election from the Iranians point of view. After all, the President of Iran does have real power to effect domestic and social policy (within the constraints set by the Supreme Leader and the clerics, of course, but some power nonetheless). What I don’t understand is the ruckus people in the United States have been making.
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