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From: flink@umcp-cs.UUCP (Paul V. Torek)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: Newsflash! [Subsidized Education]
Message-ID: <1191@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 11-Aug-85 14:04:01 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.1191
Posted: Sun Aug 11 14:04:01 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 13-Aug-85 03:35:35 EDT
References: <955@umcp-cs.UUCP> <1110@umcp-cs.UUCP> <290@ubvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: flink@maryland.UUCP (Paul V. Torek)
Distribution: na
Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD
Lines: 26
Summary: I am not a libertarian, but...

In article <290@ubvax.UUCP> tonyw@ubvax.UUCP (Tony Wuersch) writes:
>Education does one massive thing that its lack or its privatization
>could not:  it sets up people with credentials before they get their
>first job.

Why couldn't private education do this?  (By the way:  I neglected to
mention in my original article that I have in mind high scool and higher
education, primarily.  I support education of kiddies at the public's
expense, at least for poor kids.)

>If there is a link between education and research, it is the same
>as a link between education and plumbing, or education and secretarial
>skills, or education and teaching:  education in each of these cases
>provides the credentials [...]

True, but we should subsidize education-that-qualifies-people-for-research
because:  If there are lots of scientists available, the price goes down,
therefore more research is performed.  And we want more research than 
would be produced in a laissez-faire situation, because research has 
positive externalities.

However, the best way to promote research is probably to have the 
government hand out grants (like NSF does).  If enough demand for research
is created thereby, it is unnecessary to subsidize science education.

Paul V Torek 			"We have no lifestyle"