February 10, 2012
The NYT had an interesting article reporting on new research showing a sharply growing gap in educational outcomes based on the income of children’s parents. While the racial gap has fallen sharply, this income gap has exploded.
The discussion of this research was quite valuable, however the second part of the article was devoted to telling readers that nothing can be done. For example, article concluded by presenting the views of Douglas Besharov, a fellow at the Atlantic Council who was formerly at the American Enterprise Institute:
“The problem is a puzzle, he said. ‘No one has the slightest idea what will work. The cupboard is bare.'”
Of course there are all sorts of ideas on measures that would reduce income inequality, which would presumably also reduce the large gap in educational outcomes. For example, if doctors and lawyers were not largely protected from international competition they would no longer have the sort of incomes that would allow them to hire tutors and give other advantages to their children compared with the children of ordinary workers.
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