George H. Ross Visits My Classes

H/t to Dan Kizhner for the photo.  On March 27 George Ross came to Brooklyn College to speak to three of my classes.   George was the executive vice president of the Trump Organization.   You may recall him from The Apprentice. George gave an inspiring, insightful talk that covered negotiation, real estate, and how to succeed.  A number of students stayed until after 9:00 PM.  It was a great experience.

Dan Klein's "The Joys of Yiddish and Economics"

My coauthor, Daniel B. Klein, is publishing a hilarious piece ( https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers2.cfm?abstract_id=2916854 ) about the libertarian and classical liberal ideas in Leo Rosten's Joys of Yiddish. I laughed out loud about ten times. It's well worth reading.

My Letter to Secretary De Vos In Support of Gail Heriot's Nomination

PO Box 130

West Shokan, NY 12494

February 18, 2017

The Honorable Betsy Devos

Secretary of Education

US Department of Education

400 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20202

Sent by First Class Mail and Email

Dear Ms. Devos:

This is a letter in support of your appointing Gail Heriot to head of the Office for Civil Rights.  As a member of the National Association of Scholars, I have learned with dismay about abuses under Title IX.  As well, I have been concerned about overreach in a variety of areas, including sexual assault and the current obsession with transgender students.  

I briefly corresponded with Professor Heriot last year because I admire her brilliance and courage. There is no better choice.

Frankly, I prefer to see a demotion of the Department of Education to the level of an office within another cabinet-level department and a closure of the Office for Civil Rights. These are state-level responsibilities, which the federal government has bungled.  However, given that the Department of Education will be with us, there is no better choice than Professor Heriot.

Sincerely,

Professor Mitchell Langbert  

"Scandals at Public Schools Point to Need for Reforms"

My op-ed "Scandals at Public Schools Point to Need for Reforms' appeared in the Albany Times Union on February 7, 2016.