New School
Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Biden Education Department spent over $1 billion on DEI grants: report
A billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.
Where in the statutes was this required? Asking for a friend.
‘Researchers at the organization pored through nearly four years of publicly available data from the Department of Education to determine the number of grants and the dollar amount awarded to students and school districts for grants that had a clear DEI "motive."
‘From 2021 to present, they found the Biden administration awarded 229 grants across 42 states and Washington, D.C. that met that criteria.’
Top 10 U.S. Higher Ed Stories of 2024 with Robert Kelchen
We mentioned this in our pre-mortem analysis of DOGE (see Confirmation Bias).
Without Chevron in place, agency discretion to make rules is diminished. This includes rules to offset the pejorative impact of existing rules.
The Administration needs Congress. Will they be there?
‘With Loper Bright, that power is now significantly reduced. Agencies can no longer just “interpret” laws as they see fit. They need clear statutory authority from Congress.
‘So, here’s the twist. Loper Bright was something conservatives pushed for because they didn’t like how Democratic administrations used Chevron to expand regulations on, say, environmental protection or labor standards. But now, with a Republican administration on the way, they’ve tied their own hands.
‘If Trump wants to make big changes to higher education — like dismantling the Department of Education, reforming student loans, or changing Title IX — he’s going to have a harder time doing it through executive action. He’s going to need Congress, and Congress isn’t exactly known for its efficiency.’
Biden Administration Cracks Down on Bank Overdraft Fees
The CFPB is offering three options to banks to reduce overdraft fees.
Here are some possible unintended consequences. People with poor credit get debanked. Fees for everything else go up. They don’t charge fees but instead usurious interest on overdrafts.
CFPB, I don’t think these words mean what you think they do.
‘The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday that banks can choose from three options: charge a flat overdraft fee of $5, cap the fee at an amount that covers their costs and losses, or charge any fee but disclose the terms of the overdraft loan they extend to customers the same way they would for those of any other loan.’
Harding, Coolidge and the Forerunner of DOGE
The supply side reforms made the 20s roar.
Will they again?
‘Harding branded the reforms “the Business Organization of the Government.” The credential likeliest to intimidate the bureaucratic heart in those postwar days, however, wasn’t “billionaire entrepreneur” but “general.” Harding selected as the first budget director Brig. Gen. Charles Dawes, who had headed supply procurement for the American Expeditionary Force in France.’
Rulemaking outside of statute is dictatorship.
‘The opinion is technically complex, but elegant in sticking to just the law, walking through the history of the SEC. At its core, the opinion reasons that the SEC's legal authority is to ensure a fair and honest marketplace and not to force politically motivated identity politics into corporate decision making.’
Pension Funds Are Hooked on Private Equity, No Matter the Risks
Pension funds are increasing their allocations to private managers.
One reason for this is the reduction in the size of the public markets universe. Regulations like Dodd-Frank and the ensuing pile-on over the past fifteen years have made it administratively burdensome to be public. Startups are staying private for longer. SpaceX just printed a $350 billion valuation as part of a transaction to provide employees and early investors liquidity.
If private market returns dip (given that they are increasingly beta structures dependent on low rates and low public market valuations), then it will be another example of actions having consequences.
‘In addition to the historical decline in performance, more and more people are questioning the economic basis for PE in a higher-interest-rate, higher-equity-valuation world.’
MILEI: ARGENTINA ENDS DEFICIT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 123 YEARS
Degenerates printing money to win elections, eh?
‘Today, we have a sustained fiscal surplus, free of default, for the first time in 123 years. This historic achievement came from the greatest adjustment in history and reducing monetary emission to zero. A year ago, a degenerate printed 13% of GDP to win an election, fueling inflation.’
Trump promises expedited permits for $1 billion US investment
Relative regulation is a competitive factor.
How stimulative will deregulation be?
Could we see other countries respond in kind with their own deregulation?
‘President-elect Trump promised an expedited pathway to permits and project approvals for anyone investing $1 billion in the United States.’
Congress is pivotal in the DOGE efforts.
‘“The DOGE Acts are the first step to achieving government efficiency by requiring federal employees to get back in the office, moving federal agencies into the heartland of America, cutting bloated federal spending across the board, and freezing federal hiring and salaries until we can rightsize the federal government.”’
Tech billionaires prepare to invade the Pentagon
Move fast and break things is coming to National Defense.
‘“I’m hoping the new administration realizes that they have a blank slate and that we’re in a crisis,” said Steve Blank, an entrepreneur who was one of the pioneers of the Silicon Valley tech explosion in the 1980s. “If you want to respond to a crisis, you can’t keep appointing the same people you did 10 years ago, you can’t have the same organizations you had 10 years ago, and you can’t have the same processes.”
‘But any significant changes to how the Pentagon does business won’t come at the commercial tech industry’s breakneck pace. This is especially true of a sprawling bureaucracy built on institutional practice.’
Beyond Bureaucracy: How AI Is Shaping The Future Of Public Service
The civil service may have made the case for AI in government by layering on complex work rules that made government less efficient.
‘AI systems are keeping an eye on data to increase efficiency, reduce errors, and speed up or even eliminate legacy processes. While there’s still way too many paper-based processes in government, AI-powered computer vision and natural language processing (NLP) systems are rapidly increasing the digitization of documents, and automatically analyzing and updating records without requiring human rekeying of data.’
States Lead AI Regulation Push as US Policy Interests Shift With New Administration
States move to occupy regulatory room in anticipation of light-touch federal rules.
What are the chances that the new AI Czar has the diplomacy to corral these efforts?
‘The CCIA State Policy Center reports that state legislatures are taking an active role in artificial intelligence oversight. In 2024, AI-related bills were introduced in virtually every state, and several measures became law.
‘The state-level momentum comes as Congress and federal agencies weigh national AI standards. California and Colorado exemplify different regulatory approaches: Colorado enacted comprehensive AI legislation through SB 205, though stakeholders expressed concerns about limited input opportunities. Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed SB 1047, citing the need for more refined proposals, while signing other AI-related bills addressing digital replicas and deepfakes.
‘State legislation largely addresses five areas: safety requirements for AI development, digital content watermarking, deepfake regulations, right of publicity protections and study commissions. The CCIA State Policy Center warns that overly broad state regulations could hamper technological advancement.’