In 1974, and then again in 1996, Martin Feldstein published studies of the impact of the Social Security system on private saving in the U.S. economy. He found that Social Security depressed personal saving by a substantial amount--up to 50 percent. The author uses the Feldstein data and empirical models in this article to illustrate the steps in…

To determine whether the proposed federal legislation allowing tax credits for private schooling would move closer to achieving the goal of fiscal capacity neutrality, the author reviews the legislation, discusses its effects on students and taxpayers, and proposes a tax credit system that achieves equity for students in both public and private…

This study reports findings from a year-long pilot study during which 991 students in 9 core courses in the Virginia State University School of Business replaced traditional textbooks with openly licensed books and other digital content. The university made a deliberate decision to use open textbooks that were copyrighted under the Creative…

This paper examines the feasibility of distributing Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I aid among school districts according to the educational achievement of pupils in each district. The "predicted achievement method" would permit the distribution of aid on the basis of population characteristics in a way that, on average,…

The purpose of the present paper is to measure the effectiveness of a differential add-on grant program, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The evidence presented shows that this kind of grant program does increase local spending by much more than would be expected of a traditional block grant. The point estimate of the…

The paper discusses the federal government's program to increase local educational spending on pupils from low-income families, concluding that this differential add-on grant is much more effective than predicted by traditional theory for block-grant programs. (MF)

A tight money policy, budget deficits, and greater after-tax profitability of investment in the United States have contributed to the strength of the dollar and to the flow of funds into this country. The consequence and implication of this are examined, both with respect to the past and near future. (Author/RM)

Public policy should not focus on reducing inequality, but rather on reducing poverty. Explores three possible sources of poverty: unemployment, a lack of earnings ability, and individual choice. Discusses the role of education in relation to the lack of ability to earn. (SLD)

The first section of the study on lowering the permanent rate of unemployment discusses the effects and limitations of increasing aggregate demand through fiscal and monetary policy and indicates the inability to achieve the desired level of unemployment simply by stimulating demand. Section 2 analyzes the characteristics and structure of our…

An interesting econometric problem is to decide whether any given state in the budget process is an example of the political or the bureaucratic model of budgeting. The current paper presents a method of deciding this question and then uses it to study local governmental spending on education. The method is based on the important difference…

The present paper employs a behavioral simulation model and data on 4,693 school districts to provide new information about the expenditure effects of the current Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I program and three major alternatives. The model examines the likely effect of the four options, differing in the choice of targets…