Category Archives: Early childhood programs

Why relocation doesn’t solve local labor market problems

Posted on May 28, 2012 by timbartik

Well-known blogger Matt Yglesias has an interesting post commenting on labor economist Enrico Moretti’s recent Wall Street Journal column. Moretti argues that policymakers should help workers to move away from high unemployment metro areas. (Moretti’s column is based in part … Continue reading →

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Special education cost savings

Posted on May 22, 2012 by timbartik

A recent report released by ReadyNation, prepared with support from the Kauffman Foundation, provides much research information on how special education cost-savings might be used to fund high-quality pre-K. The report, written by Rob Dugger and Bob Litan, argues that … Continue reading →

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Universal pre-K and the Presidential campaign

Posted on May 1, 2012 by timbartik

Prominent bloggers Kevin Drum and Matt Yglesias have both linked to Dana Goldstein’s brief blog post suggesting that universal pre-K be a key issue in the Presidential campaign. Dana Goldstein advocates for high-quality universal pre-K and child care for all … Continue reading →

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Making the case for pre-K: some fiscal and economic arithmetic

Posted on April 6, 2012 by timbartik

Andrew Rotherham has an April 5th Time magazine column with the ominous title, “Are Pre-K Programs About To Get Gutted?” Mr. Rotherham apparently has access to an advance copy of the forthcoming annual report on state preschool programs from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood programs, Economic development, National vs. state vs. local, Timing of benefits | Comments Off on Making the case for pre-K: some fiscal and economic arithmetic

Preschool is a cost-effective way of improving school readiness that can be implemented on a large scale

Posted on March 20, 2012 by timbartik

Julia Isaacs of the Brookings Institution has a just-released paper (March 19, 2012) that provides valuable comparisons of preschool versus other methods of increasing school readiness, at kindergarten entrance, for children from low-income families. The backdrop to this paper is … Continue reading →

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Responding to six arguments of skeptics of early childhood programs

Posted on March 9, 2012 by timbartik

I recently gave two lengthy presentations on early childhood programs in Grand Haven, Michigan and Newaygo County, Michigan.  My draft speech, which goes for 8 pages, is here. The PowerPoint accompanying this speech is at the link at the bottom … Continue reading →

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Who benefits from higher skills?

Posted on March 2, 2012 by timbartik

Catherine Rampell of the New York Times has a good article this morning on state budget cuts to higher education. The article raises broader issues about how policymakers and the public should think about the benefits of investments in education … Continue reading →

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Breaking the political cycle of inequality

Posted on February 26, 2012 by timbartik

Jared Bernstein has a great presentation summary and PowerPoint on what has gone wrong with broad-based economic growth in the U.S. Jared Bernstein is currently a Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Previously, he was Chief … Continue reading →

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Early childhood programs and local economic development: supply-side economics or Keynesian economics?

Posted on February 14, 2012 by timbartik

I recently encountered the statement that my book was in some way based on Keynesian economics, which is thought by some to be politically controversial. I have nothing against Keynesian economics as a way of analyzing business cycles and macroeconomic … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Early childhood programs, Economic development, Incentive design issues | Comments Off on Early childhood programs and local economic development: supply-side economics or Keynesian economics?

Do early childhood programs pay for themselves?

Posted on February 8, 2012 by timbartik

Today I continue to provide brief responses to questions I have received at presentations. Today’s question: “Do early childhood programs pay for themselves?” In the long-run, high quality early childhood programs are self-financing; in the short-run, a significant portion of … Continue reading →

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