Spend on Schools

This Thomas Friedman piece in Saturday's New York Times offers a good idea for the upcoming economic stimulus. Whether or not a federal stimulus package is desirable at this point in time is still up for debate, but since it seems inevitable that a stimulus (and a large one at that) will be passed very soon, Friedman's underlying proposal, that more should be spent on education, is a good one. General tax cuts aside, the stimulus should take the form of supplying public goods (that's econ 101 public goods, those that are non-excludable and non-rivalrous), particularly subsidizing education and defense spending. Friedman touches on the former and while the logistics of his proposal are iffy at best, the overall message is a good one.