Education as a public good
The issue of education as a “public good”, has a more or less precise definition for economists. For the people in genera, a public good is that which is supplied by the State, maybe because it “benefits everyone”. Economists speak of a “positive externality”, that is, a benefit that everyone receives, whether or not they bear its cost. For that reason, continues the argument, the market would “fail” in providing it, at least in sufficient quantity, and the the State must do so. There are two issues, then, that are worth discussing: is formal education a “public good”? and, is it correct that the market cannot provide it?
Ph.D. in Administration from the Catholic University of La Plata, Argentina. He holds the Chair in Economics at the School of Law of the University of Buenos Aires and of Economic History at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the same university. He is visiting professor of the Francisco Marroquin University and the OMMA-Ayau in Madrid. He is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, researcher at the Cato Institute, member of the Academic Council of the Freedom and Progress Foundation and professor UCEMA. He has received numerous distinctions such as the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships and the Freedom Project of the John Templeton Foundation. He has published several books such as Borges y la Economía (Borges and the Economy) (Madrid: Unión Editorial, 2021); El Foro y el Bazar (The Forum and the Bazar) (UFM, 2014); Economía, Instituciones y Políticas Públicas (Economy, Institutions and Public Policies) (La Ley, 2011); Elementos de Economía Política (Elements of Political Economy) (La Ley, 2007, with Adrián Ravier and Gabriel Zanotti).