Black market schools

[WordWhiz]

Copernicus--you seem very hung up on the "free riding" problem of education. I accept the basic claim that education creates some positive externalities. So does building a factory, starting a new company, and for that matter, wearing deodorant. In fact, it's difficult to think of a single activity that doesn't have either positive or negative externalities (usually both) of some sort.

The traditional argument for intervention in certain fields (schooling) but not others (deodorant wearing) is the degree of this externality. Other people derive a very slight benefit from me wearing deodorant--for a few minutes when they're standing next to me on a crowded subway, the smell isn't as bad. But the overwhelming majority of the benefit goes to me--I'm far more like to have friends, get laid, and have a decent job than if I stunk all the time. Thus most people can be trusted to make the correct decision to deodorize themselves without a government subsidy.

All of the same can be said of education. The person receiving an education receives almost all of the benefit thereof. Doctors make 6 figures; high school dropouts are lucky to make 5.

It thus seems that education is a poor choice for the government to subsidize. Care to explain why you think otherwise?