The First Post

So. This blog is where I'm going to capture anything and everything (ok, probably not everything) that catches my eye over the course of a day of being online. Everything from the thought-provoking to the silly and ridiculous. Today's are mostly thought-provoking.

The City That Believed in Desegregation 

The Gist: This is a really thoughtful article from The Atlantic about Louisville, KY and its surrounding Jefferson County and the measures that they have implemented and improbably maintained to diversify the student population in their schools. Even more improbably, most of the community has fully bought into it and fought to maintain it even in the face of lawsuits and pushbacks from members of the community who aren't bought in. It's a fascinating story about a city's efforts, struggles, and general success at encouraging diversity in their schools. 

Cool Quote: " 'It’s as though “people are amazed to discover that people from another race or ethnic group are actually pretty similar to them,' said...the co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA... 'There’s a tremendous deflation of protests when almost all the stereotypes people hold aren’t true.' ”

Increasing Education: What it Will and Will Not Do for Earnings and Earnings Inequality

The Gist: This is a relatively technical article, so beware all the statistical calculations and projections. But I do think that this article highlights an important nuance in the conversation around education and its potential for improving the income security for individuals versus closing societal income gaps. 

Cool Quote: So it's not exactly a quote, but the table below shows us that, adjusted for inflation, a man in the bottom quartile of the income spectrum was earning $14,324 in '79 and in 2013, a man in the same quartile was earning an average of $6,100. And where there used to be a $61,000ish difference between the highest and lowest earners, there is now almost a $94,000 difference. I find that shift shocking.

(The counterfactual line shows what the income distribtution would theoretically look like if 10% of today's working aged men without a college degree suddenly got one.)

Table 1: Simulated effects of increasing college share on earnings distribution 

....So it's not the most exciting first post in the world, but there ya go. These are things that caught my eye today. Tune in again...eventually (I'm not going to hold myself to posting here everyday) for more cool* stuff.

*Disclaimer: I am not an inherently "cool" person. Your consideration of what is "cool" may differ considerably from mine. As a frame of reference, here are some things I think are cool: words, languages, Monty Python, education, social issues, travel, wine, food, music, The Muppets, theater, books, Archer, murder mysteries....just to name a few. 

Oh! Also! Octopuses. Repsect.