Marginal Revolution has the goods: Chris House on stimulus spending.

All programs should meet the cost/benefit calculation. Many object to such calculations to start with. Chris House’s post is addressed who think that the calculation should be changed when fiscal stimulus is necessary. Concerning the classic hole digging hypothetical, it’s pointed out that the world would be better if you just paid the individuals, instead of paying them to do useless work.

Universal Preschool has been in the news recently. I remember a very compelling Planet Money episode from a couple years ago. It tells a very convincing story.

Over at Brookings, Russ Whitehurst dives into the science. You really should go read it. Here is his conclusion.

This doesn’t mean that we ought not to spend public money to help families with limited financial resources access good childcare for their young children. After all, we spend tax dollars on national parks, symphony orchestras, and Amtrak because they make the lives of those who use them better today. Why not childcare?

It does mean that we need public debate that recognizes the mixed nature of the research findings rather than a rush to judgment based on one-sided and misleading appeals to the preponderance of the evidence.

It is very hard to separate the stories we tell ourselves from the way we evaluate...

Decode DC is generally a very good podcast. They do a good job trying to report deeper than is typical with political coverage.

However, the recent episode that described the fight over the stimulus doesn’t do justice to critics. The Untold Story of the Stimulus. Seabrook says that economists “across the spectrum” were recommending a big stimulus bill. This paints the Democrats recommending 1.7T in stimulus as the reasonable ones, and their opponents as totally unreasonable. I don’t think this does justice to the many economists who opposed the spending. For one example (taking from a recent post, not at the time), see Scott Sumner.

Matthew Yglesias has the goods.

When a TC comes near you, make sure to take advantage of the Queso and tortillas. They were a hit at Rice.

This is a very self-reflective story by Adam Savage for The Moth.

I think he does a great job of describing a parent’s goals: affecting the code your children run. It highlights the limitations, that you can’t control all the code. Do go ahead and listen.