High School Performance, Newspapers

Mark Perry shows that high school GPAs are rising while SAT scores are falling. I think that this indicates two competing objectives. High schools want their students to have high GPAs so they can go to good colleges--which gives prestige. SAT scores are falling because they (College Board?) wants to be able to claim to have a difficult test, most capable of determining the quality of students. I wouldn't be surprised if high school students were more objectively performing about the same they always do.

Professor Becker thinks through the newspaper industry. I like the idea of newspapers being structured not unlike the BBC, if the market would otherwise not support private journalistic efforts. I think it's a pretty important service to society. Although, I think Becker underestimates the potential power of internet advertising. Google has made tons of money off of it, and newspaper companies may need a similar sort of revenue generating revolution. News sites may also become sources of analysis of news from experts, rather than just the source of the facts.