Textbook Legislation Update
Special thanks to the St. Joseph News-Press for reporting on an op-ed I wrote a few weeks ago. I hope that this coverage opens some debate about a relatively obscure bill that is in danger of being signed.
From the report:
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jake Zimmerman, D-Olivette, Mo., has a degree in economics and law degree from Harvard. He refers to the Show-Me Institute analysis as “over simplistic and flawed.”
“If you’ll pardon the expression,” Mr. Zimmerman said, “he’s taking a freshman year economics textbook approach to the problem, which does not accurately reflect the real world circumstances that we’re talking about.”
I urge readers to critically read my op-ed to search for the deficiencies Mr. Zimmerman is referring to. I agree that the interaction between supply and demand is essential to any freshman economics course, but I don’t agree that it is inappropriately considered in my commentary. His criticism would be more satisfying if it was specific.
Mr. Zimmerman correctly points out that my take on the bill hasn’t "drummed up any public outcry." I hope that the small publicity it recently received engages Missourians outside of academia and the legislature to give this bill a hard look as it sits on the governor’s desk. After all, you can’t oppose poor legislation if you don’t know it exists.
