The budgetary provisions contained in the decree will cause GDP to decline by an estimated half a percentage point in the next two years. The impact could be largely offset if the fall in the yield on Italian 10-year bonds seen in the days immediately following the promulgation of the decree were to be confirmed and extend across the entire range of maturities.
The size and diversity of our country, together with the fact that state and local policymakers retain significant discretion over how to structure their educational systems, provides us a natural laboratory for assessing the effectiveness of alternative educational strategies. I view the debate about what works and what doesn’t to be a crucial part of discovering cost-effective ways to improve our educational system.