Grey Swan

Preventative Health? Time for new Measures

Posted by Grey Swan on Thursday, August 9th, 2007

I recently canvassed several interns who are working on preventative health measures in D.C. and asked if there was any new ideas being tossed about. They said “No”. This got me thinking - with all the talk about preventing future illness, why are so few ideas tossed about in public? In order to get this [...]

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The Problem with Free College Tuition (College Wars Part I)

Posted by Grey Swan on Saturday, June 9th, 2007

Many European countries offer free education to those who want it. The idea is that education is good, and the more educated people get, the better. Since education is costly however, this is not necessarily true.
The main problem with education is that it is a partially zero-sum pursuit.
While classes in computer science and engineering may [...]

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IQ and Income

Posted by Grey Swan on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007

I used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine how IQ affects income. The survey takes a set of young people in 1979 (late teens to early twenties) and interviews them on a broad range of issues every few years. While surveys have continued beyond 1996, I only have data up to [...]

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Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

How H-1B Visas Are Hurting America (and how to fix it)

Thursday, June 7th, 2007

According to Wikipedia the number of H-1B Visas the US grants each year are decreasing. An H-1B visa permits educated non-citizens the right to work in our country. The concept is that these visas are necessary for the United States to stay competitive in high knowledge industries. Unfortunately, the current system both exploits Americans and [...]

IQ and Income

Wednesday, June 6th, 2007

I used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine how IQ affects income. The survey takes a set of young people in 1979 (late teens to early twenties) and interviews them on a broad range of issues every few years. While surveys have continued beyond 1996, I only have data up to [...]

Should Wealthy Children Attend Top Schools Continued

Tuesday, May 29th, 2007

In my previous blog I examined two types of students, those who pay full bill and those who do not. I proceeded to show that State schools are generally a better investment for wealthier students, financially. All of this reasoning assumed ceteris paribus. Today I want to refine this argument based on the non-financial value [...]

Should Wealthy Children Attend Top Schools?

Tuesday, May 29th, 2007

There is a pervasive belief in America that attending a top college is the key for financial success. Moreover, the wealthier the family, the stronger this belief tends to be. Is it true?
Academic institutions have increasingly instituted price discrimination based on the wealth of students and their family. Currently, Ivy League institutions cost about [...]