Football Fools and Public Schools

Today is apparently my day to write about competition, or more accurately the lack of competition. Two stories caught my eye:

1. BCS as an Antitrust Violation?

The Justice Department has asked the NCAA to justify the way it chooses a college football champion. Its request notes that “serious questions continue to arise” about whether the current system complies with antitrust laws. Stories are here (New York Times) and here (Wall Street Journal).

I think the Bowl Championship Series is nonsense—a Big Collegiate Scam—and I would prefer a football playoff. But it shouldn’t surprise anyone that a socialist sport like football is anti-competitive.

My personal dislike of the BCS predisposes me to support the government inquiry. But doesn’t the Justice Department have better things to do, bettter ways to spend our tax money, than worry about how college football’s national champion is chosen? It must have run out of insider trading cases to prosecute.

2. Public Schools and Supermarkets

Donald Boudreaux, an economist at George Mason, has an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal comparing public schools to supermarkets, If Supermarkets Were Like Public Schools. I realize that there are many differences between groceries and education, and I’m sure Boudreaux does as well, but it’s a very interesting thought piece.

-Steve Bradford