Mason  🏃‍♂️ ✂️

Having read most of a draft of Stubborn Attachments, I'll say that: - Cowen's probably getting me to stop talking about degrowth - What I really need to be talking about is societal "investment"; leftists are if anything the defenders of future growth by supporting education, etc

Leftists are incredibly — incredibly — stupid on education.

You think so; I disagree; so far our disputes on that haven't made much progress. But either way, my point is a little off to the side: the typical rightist these days deemphasizes the priority of investing in education *of any kind* (compared to, say, military investment.)

Here's end game: US is long on pushing standardized test scores up. As it stands, we're spending more per point we actually get on the PISA than anyone else. And we're patting ourselves on the back for the *spending*. It's insanity. You don't "invest in fire" when you burn cash.

That line about "investing in fire" is amazing

Yeah, Mason wrote that very well. But basically, the content is the same as what I articulated. Everyone knows we're paying too much per marginal... unit of learning. So, do we try to fix our investment until we're on top, or just slash it? That's the left/right difference imo.

Personally, I don't feel like giving up. Especially since a successful school placed in an area would have long-term multipliers; they produce better parents, who can raise better children, etc.