A Scheme to Improve Public Service

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

Reading Dave’s exellent post, and his mention of a hysterical article about government workers, brought to mind this hysterical article about government workers. A man named Chris Myers Asch is trying to start a public university that would devote itself exclusively to training future government workers. The problem with the public sector, according to Asch, is not that it’s composed of unwieldy bureaucracies that crush innovation. Rather, the problem is that the smartest undergraduates don’t aim to join those bureaucracies. (Hmmm, I wonder why?)

It’s interesting to see all the alternatives to the university that are suggested by the article, but overlooked by Asch. For example, a quote from one academic quoted suggests offering scholarships for students who plan to go into public service. They could take a scholarship and choose from the dozens of public and private schools of public service that are already out there. No way, says Asch. That’s not prestigious (read: centralized) enough.

The article notes that Asch worked for Teach for America early in his career. Teach for America has achieved considerable success. Why couldn’t we start a similar program for other government jobs? Recent college graduates could spend a year or two working for different federal agencies, polishing their resumes and bringing new talent into government. We don’t require all the Teach for America teachers to attend one particular public university, and we shouldn’t encourage other public servants to do that either.

Putting all the future government workers in one place may sound convenient, but there are many advantages to a system of dispersed, competing schools and private-sector involvement — as Asch should know. After all, he went to Duke.

Advance Your Career While Advancing Liberty

Posted on by Josh Smith

There’s a fantastic offer on the table for anyone interested in promoting the cause of free markets and individual liberty — the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program.

Included in the offer:

  • $1,500 stipend

  • Housing allowance, up to $2,000

  • An eight-week internship at the Show-Me Institute

  • Seminars on policy analysis and classical liberal/libertarian thought

  • Career workshops on writing, public speaking, and media relations

  • Travel reimbursement to the D.C. seminars and your internship (low-cost, discount airfare)

There’s no drawback to applying, but there is a deadline. I strongly encourage all who meet the eligibility requirements (undergraduates, graduate students, and recent graduates between the ages of 18 and 30) to apply before January 31. Don’t forget to mention your interest in the Show-Me Institute on your application, and good luck!

No More Free Stuff for Doctors

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

After reading this article in the Post-Dispatch, I took a quick inventory of some odds and ends I have lying around. A pen from a bank. A refrigerator magnet from a private elementary school. A notepad from a real estate agent. A calendar from a nonprofit. I’m being influenced right and left! (Maybe that magnet is the reason I’m continually writing about the benefits of parental choice and a free market in education.)

The article reports on pharmaceutical companies’ recent voluntary ban of “non-educational gifts” to doctors. The ban comes in the wake of much criticism of drug companies’ practices, which criticism seems unlikely to go away:

Skeptics say the ban on gifts is an empty gesture that doesn’t adequately address the financial relationships between pharmaceutical companies and the doctors whose decisions on drugs have a direct impact on patients.

What this ban overlooks is that pens, notepads, and the rest can be educational. True, they don’t have a lot of statistics and side-effect warnings on them, but they call attention to a product so a doctor can investigate it further. A doctor isn’t going to prescribe drugs that don’t work just because he got some free office supplies. If he didn’t treat people effectively, he’d lose business, which would be more costly than losing a few pens. And pharmaceutical companies know that their products have to be effective in order to generate sales.

The gifts spread awareness about a product and help prevent a situation in which a patient could have been helped by a drug, but wasn’t because a physician didn’t know it was available. That sounds far-fetched, but only because pharmaceutical companies do such a good job of putting their products in the spotlight, using advertisements, gifts, seminars, brochures, and other methods. If they didn’t, you couldn’t expect med schools to call up all the people who graduated 15 years ago and say, “Guess what? This drug wasn’t invented back in the day, but now that it’s on the market, you should know. …”

I doubt this voluntary gesture will put a halt to the continuing regulation of pharmaceutical advertising, but I hope legislators will consider how much good that advertising can do.

Public Service in Belgium and Missouri

Posted on by David Stokes

On KY3 in Springfield and in the newspapers, I have called for a reduction in the number of state employees as one solution to resolving the budget deficit. I understand the opposing argument (made by people who might even philosophically agree with me): that a recession is the worst possible time to add former government workers to the unemployment rolls, especially when the state unemployment fund is close to going broke right now.

However, tough economic times are also just about the only time there is a real opportunity to reduce the number of government employees at all. When times are good and budgets fat, nobody says, “Hey, jobs are easy to come by; let’s fire the worst 10 percent of the public payroll and reduce both the size of government and the tax burden, right here and now!” Sometimes, you get a combination of factors that actually helps to make some reductions successful, as was the case for Gov. Blunt. He deserves great credit for that, even though it was nothing quite like the radical reduction in non-public-safety-related government employees that we need right now, in my opinion.

I don’t mean to single out Missouri state government employees, in contrast to local, state, or federal bureaucrats thoughout the county — which gets me to the point of this post. Today’s Wall Street Journal has a hysterical article about government workers in Belgium, and their abuse of sick leave. Read the whole thing.

It’s funny in many ways, but in a bigger way, it is just pathetic. This is what socialism (or quasi-socialism) does to people: It takes their initiative away, and any sense they might have of controlling their own destiny, all in the name of equality and fairness. So, you eventually get a nation of losers who can’t go to work because they are depressed that their girlfriend dumped them. No wonder InBev is actually run by Brazilians. …

Showcasing the Free Market

Posted on by Phil Eckelkamp

I would be remiss if I didn’t take the opportunity to point out that the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) started yesterday. This is not only a great opportunity to showcase the next — or even the next-next — generation in electronics, but also to see where consumers are pointing the market. Great leaps and bounds have been debuted at the CES in the past, like the first Pentium chip, the Nintendo Wii, and the next version of Windows. I can point to a number of occasions that show how this electronics show is great at reading the market — some might even say hypersensitive to the feelings and sentiments of consumers, but I won’t. I just want to point out that this is a great exercise in the free market, and a phenomenal insight into the dynamics of supply and demand. You should all take a look, because it shows where the market is going. With the rapid rate of technological innovation, the CES exemplifies how a market can quickly and easily be dictated by consumer sentiment. Each year, you can see which ideas pop up again and again, and which ideas fizzle by the wayside, based on relevant consumer demand.

If you’re looking to follow what is going on, you can visit the official site at CESWeb.com, or you can visit several sites that follow electronics, like CNET or Wired.

Learning English

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

Valerie Schremp Hahn is blogging about English language learners in the Missouri public schools. The latest news on this topic is that Education Week has given Missouri a less-than-spectacular grade in its English Language Learners report:

The number of certified Title III ELL teachers to serve these students is dismal – 372 students per teacher in Missouri and 19 students per teacher nationwide. The report says there are no teacher standards for ELL instruction in Missouri while 33 other states do have such standards.

Is there cause for concern here? Yes and no. The lack of official standards and certification doesn’t worry me. After all, many recent college graduates are successfully teaching English all over the world through programs like Fulbright. They do get some training beforehand, but nothing like what’s required for an education degree or ELL certification in the U.S. Teaching English in this country should be less challenging, because students here are simultaneously exposed to new English-speaking peers and hear English during the entire school day. Teachers shouldn’t need special credentials to teach English in this setting.

However, Missouri should strive to do better in this area, because only about 55 percent of Missouri English language learners are  showing improvement on the MAP tests. (That’s not bad when compared to other states, but clearly far from ideal.)

I’m looking forward to seeing how well language-immersion charter schools are able to teach English language learners. For example, a native Spanish speaker starting kindergarten at the St. Louis Language Immersion Schools would have an advantage in the early grades, and then would be formally introduced to English in late elementary school. Perhaps the strong foundation in the student’s native language would ease the gradual transition into English.

In Case You Missed Me on Missourinet

Posted on by David Stokes

Here is the link to the story Missourinet did last week about my occupational licensing study. I appreciated Steve Walsh taking the time to do the interview. Combest picked it up at the time, bless his little heart. …

I also want to thank Greg Rennier and John Schultz for having me on the Eagle 93.9 in Columbia over the holidays, to talk about the study and licensing. The interview is not online, so I can’t link to it, but it was great to be on the show with them.

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