Become a Patron! There's a simple rule I like to remind people of whenever a business or finance story emerges from the business section of the paper into the news section or into public consciousness: business journalists are the laziest people in the country. I would call business journalism "stenography," except for the serious injustice that would do the patient, … [Read more...] about The manufactured “kiddie tax” crisis, explained
The SECURE backdoor into 529 assets
Become a Patron! I've written extensively in the past about 529 College Savings Plans, an extremely tax-advantaged method of saving for higher education expenses. Contributions are made after federal and state taxes (although many states offer in-state tax deductions for contributions), compound internally tax-free, and are withdrawn tax-free for "qualified higher education … [Read more...] about The SECURE backdoor into 529 assets
“Social cohesion” and the bigot’s veto
Become a Patron! Last week I wrote about the way people use and abuse terms like "horizontal equity," "intersectionality," and "cultural Marxism," stripped of their original context and brandished as weapons for whatever the speaker's agenda happens to be: If you're embarrassed to say you think it's good that college graduates are forced to defer home purchases, … [Read more...] about “Social cohesion” and the bigot’s veto
“Horizontal equity” is a perfectly reasonable idea used exclusively to make bad arguments
Become a Patron! Every once in a while a term of art is plucked from the world of academic literature and spread around like manure by journalists and pundits until people who have no idea what it originally meant start using it in casual conversation. What percentage of conservatives griping about "intersectionality" have ever read Kimberle Crenshaw's original … [Read more...] about “Horizontal equity” is a perfectly reasonable idea used exclusively to make bad arguments
Three bad and one good way to think about public higher education and tuition
Become a Patron! Elizabeth Warren made a splash this week with her plan to both ensure public higher education is tuition-free and forgive up to $50,000 per student of the existing stock of federal student debt. I already offered my hottest takes on Twitter, but I think a lot of the disagreements surrounding public tuition and student debt revolve around fundamentally … [Read more...] about Three bad and one good way to think about public higher education and tuition