The Heritage Insider: An alternative to student loans, FAA saves us from flying toys , Dodd-Frank's pointless disclosure requirements, Nancy Reagan and Giancarlo Ibarguen remembered

March 12, 2016

 

 

Can we break the connection between rising student loan debt and rising tuition? John Marcus examines a new way of financing college. The Federal Aviation Administration may have set a new standard in regulatory excess, say Jason Snead and John-Michael Seibler. Dodd-Frank may herald a new wave of politically inspired but economically pointless disclosure requirements, writes David Burton. Limiting urban growth could actually increase a city’s carbon footprint if it increases traffic congestion too much, explains Wendell Cox. Peter Robinson remembers Nancy Reagan and Ian Vasquez remembers Giancarlo Ibarguen. Plus we added over 30 studies, articles, speeches, videos, and events to the The Insider this week. Visit to see what the conservative movement has been thinking, writing, saying, and doing to win battles for liberty. 

 

 

 

Instead of debt, try equity for financing college. Making it easier for students to borrow for college has made it easier for colleges to raise tuition. Is there a way to finance college that doesn’t leave students stuck with ever greater levels of debt? Yes. Jon Marcus examines the emerging idea of income share agreements (ISA), which “provide upfront sums of money toward students’ college tuition and other associated costs in exchange for a fixed percentage of the recipients’ earnings after graduation.” [American Enterprise Institute]

 

Giancarlo Ibarguen, who helped build the Universidad Francisco Marroquín into a major center of classical liberal learning in Latin America, died on Wednesday at the age of 53. As Ian Vasquez writes, Ibarguen was also a key architect of Guatemala’s successful telecommunications privatization. [Cato Institute]

 

Taking away our toys. In two months time, the Federal Aviation Administration has, contrary to the intent of Congress and with no input from the public, created a new felony offense that carries penalties of up to three years in prison and $277,500 in fines. As Jason Snead and John-Michael Seibler explain, the FAA’s rush to regulate drones is a very bad precedent for innovation. [The Heritage Foundation]

 

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan died on Sunday at the age of 94. Peter Robinson remembers her as the woman who helped Ronald Reagan be Ronald Reagan. [New York Post]

 

Something else Dodd-Frank did: The law includes new disclosure requirements on CEO pay, conflict minerals, and resource extraction financing—i.e., things that increase costs but do nothing to protect investors. As David Burton writes, the provisions are purely political and they might not be the last such provisions Congress foists on public corporations to the detriment of the economy. [The Heritage Foundation]

 

Planning v. fuel efficiency. Urban containment policies make housing more expensive but are supposed to reduce a metro area’s carbon footprint. According to Wendell Cox, however, increasing fuel efficiency is a much larger source of potential reductions in greenhouse gases than urban containment policies. Even worse, urban containment policies lead to more traffic congestion, and more cars idling on the roads increases emissions—potentially offsetting any reductions that could be achieved. [Reason Foundation]

 

Don’t forget to register for Resource Bank, which will be April 20 – 22 in Philadelphia. The speakers include: Lary Arnn, Sam Brownback, Richard Epstein, Neal Freeman, Alan Charles Kors, Ed Meese III, Richard Viguerie, Walter Williams, and Kevin Williamson.

 

 

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