I wax poetic in a podcast discussion with the folks at Investor’s Business Daily. We talk about tax competition, the Laffer Curve, American competitiveness, the flat tax, and the dangers of Obama’s class-warfare tax policy.

Talking Taxes with Investor’s Business Daily is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

From my oped in today’s Investor’s Business Daily:

As it turns out, “universal coverage” may not be so inevitable after all. Much to the chagrin (and apparent surprise) of President Obama and congressional Democrats, squabbling has erupted in earnest over who will spring for the exorbitant cost.

Fortunately, Obama has an exit strategy: “If there is a way of getting this done where we’re driving down costs and people are getting health insurance at an affordable rate, and have choice of doctor, have flexibility in terms of their plans, and we could do that entirely through the market, I’d be happy to do it that way.”

Well, there is a way: Let individuals control their health care dollars, and free them to choose from a wide variety of health plans and providers. If Congress takes those steps, innovation and market competition will make health care better, more affordable, and more secure.

A Better Way to Reform Health Care is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

In an IBD op-ed today, I point out that we’re spending twice as much per pupil as we did in 1970, despite no improvement in achievement at the end of high school and a decline in the graduation rate over that same period.

What difference does that make? If public schools had just managed not to get any less efficient over the past 40 years, we’d be saving $300 billion annually.

Our education monopoly is a luxury we can no longer afford. When the economy was booming, it didn’t matter that it cost us more and more every year for the same or even inferior results. These days, it’s becoming imperative that we find ways for our education system to enjoy the same relentless increases in efficiency that we take for granted in every other field.

This, for instance, would be a good start.

Economic urgency isn’t the only good reason to bring education back within the free enterprise system, but when the school monopoly starts bringing entire states to their financial knees, it’s certainly one we should take seriously.

We Can No Longer Afford an Education Monopoly is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog