Are You There, Free Market? It’s Me, Sarah

Following Dave’s example, I couldn’t resist a Judy Blume-inspired titled. The question is about the education market. I wrote the other day about why we shouldn’t extrapolate from a few controlled experiments and conclude that choice is ineffective. Now, I’ve found an interesting podcast at Cato discussing whether there’s an education market in the U.S. at all. John Merrifield points out that the limited choice programs in existence now lack prices, profits, and other essential aspects of markets.

I think the situation in the U.S. is a little better than Meffifield describes it. In Missouri, we have many private schools (including some boarding schools at the high school level), fairly free homeschooling laws, and several charter schools — with an especially strong charter movement in Kansas City. Some people do have educational options. On the other hand, choices for some aren’t the same thing as a free market for everyone. To find out what we need for a real market, listen to the podcast!