Explicit consideration of benefits and costs is needed to determine how much to spendfor public data. It is argued that benefit-cost analysis is also feasible. In support of feasibility, a benefit-cost analysis of the 1970 census is discussed in some detail, with emphasis on allocative uses of...

Hanushek misinterprets the data on which he bases his conclusion and draws inappropriate policy implications from them. The goals of a school system affect how its resources are used. Educational goals are highly diverse. Accordingly, the measures of output used in Hanushek's studies are...

Consider the financial sustainability of public finances in the context of stochastic demographics. Such analyses have typically been made under the assumption that future demographic developments are deterministic. When stochastic demographics have been considered, the problems have been...

All quantitative evaluations of fiscal sustainability that include the effects of population ageing must utilize demographic forecasts. It is well known that such forecasts are uncertain, and some studies have taken that into account by using stochastic population projections jointly with...