Study what?

Posted by Jack Hoffman on July 29, 2011 at 2:05 pm

It appears there will be two new studies of Vermont’s education funding system. The Legislature has commissioned one—and a California-based consultant recently won the contract. In addition, two communities in southern Vermont—Dover and Wilmington—have decided to pay for their own study of how their local economies might have been affected by Acts 60 and 68.

It’s not entirely clear what the Legislature hopes to learn from its study. There…

A Bigger Pie Doesn’t Mean a Bigger Slice for All

Posted by Jack Hoffman on July 27, 2011 at 10:48 am

One of the justifications for lowering taxes on the rich for the last 30 years has been that their increased wealth would trickle down to the rest of us. We needn’t complain that some are getting bigger slices of pie than others, we’ve been told, because the pie is getting bigger, and we’re all getting a little more.

Now a new study by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI)…

Guess what? Medicaid does work

Posted by Jack Hoffman on July 11, 2011 at 2:19 pm

A new Medicaid study out last week is drawing lots of attention. The New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, and others are all writing about it. The authors say it is the first randomized study of its kind in 40 years, and it shows significant and positive benefits from providing public health care services for people who can’t afford them. According to the…