Category Archives: National vs. state vs. local

Different views of “investing in Julia”

Posted on May 21, 2012 by timbartik

Nancy Folbre, an economist at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, has a good on-line column at the New York Times on the recent controversy over the Obama campaign’s online ad about an imaginary woman named Julia. The Obama ad tried to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic development, National vs. state vs. local | Comments Off on Different views of “investing in Julia”

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

Which businesses should be interested in “the business case” for early childhood programs?

Posted on January 25, 2012 by timbartik

Sara Mead has a recent blog entry that comments on problems with the likely interest of business leaders in promoting state and local education. Her comment was in part prompted by Steve Perlstein’s comments on problems in local leadership for … Continue reading →

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Generating good jobs: what role for government?

Posted on January 23, 2012 by timbartik

I have been asked by some persons my reaction to the recent New York Times article by Motoko Rich on state customized job training programs. I have argued that state customized job training programs can be an effective way of … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Economic development, Incentive design issues, National vs. state vs. local | Comments Off on Generating good jobs: what role for government?

How does a state’s investment in early childhood programs pay off for the state?

Posted on January 13, 2012 by timbartik

I’m continuing to provide brief answers to questions I’ve received at presentations I have made on early childhood programs. Today’s question is the following: “How does a state’s investment in early childhood programs pay off for the state? We live … Continue reading →

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National initiatives and grassroots political support for early childhood programs

Posted on December 22, 2011 by timbartik

The federal government recently announced the state winners for its Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge (ELC). ELC will provide support for states to better coordinate their early childhood programs, provide better assessment of program quality, and provide … Continue reading →

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Why the goal of local economic development should be higher earnings per capita, not job growth, and why it matters

Posted on September 22, 2011 by timbartik

Developing good local economic development policies depends in part on having the right goals. Many economic developers and policymakers see economic development as being about increasing local job growth. But increasing local job growth is not a sound goal for … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Distribution of benefits, Early childhood programs, Economic development, Incentive design issues, National vs. state vs. local | Comments Off on Why the goal of local economic development should be higher earnings per capita, not job growth, and why it matters

Preschool teachers and President Obama’s jobs proposal

Posted on September 13, 2011 by timbartik

There have been some blog posts about making sure that early childhood programs are included in any new jobs legislation.  It is therefore important that the just-released (on September 12) text of the “American Jobs Act” proposed by President Obama … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs, National vs. state vs. local | 2 Comments

Interpreting the conflicting evidence on Head Start effectiveness

Posted on September 12, 2011 by timbartik

The evidence on the effectiveness of Head Start is mixed. On the one hand, the recent random assignment study of Head Start found that test score effects of Head Start mostly disappeared by the end of first grade. On the … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs, Local variation in benefits, National vs. state vs. local | Comments Off on Interpreting the conflicting evidence on Head Start effectiveness