In 2020, the debt to GDP ratio in the United States hit its highest point since World War II. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Washington has spent over $6 trillion on various forms of relief. As we slowly emerge from the pandemic, Washington will inevitably have to start making more judicious choices about where best to allocate taxpayer dollars.
But what’s the right choice to give American kids the best shot to become the best they can be?
President Biden’s Build Back Better Act includes a voluntary universal pre-K program that would cost Washington over $200 billion over ten years. While having access to pre-K is critically important for kids from low-income families, Biden’s plan is almost certainly too broad. It will deliver benefits to families that don’t really need it, may favor certain kinds of families over others, and may, according to at least one Nobel Prize-winning economist, be a “waste of funds.”
Read Full Article »