From a podcast with Russ Roberts and Jerry Muller:
what’s so striking when you read through a lot of this literature on pay-for-performance and standardized measurement combined with pay-for-performance is: How often the scholarly literature shows, in a variety of fields, that it doesn’t work. And yet, politicians, policy-makers, they don’t seem to get the message.
People who are determined to try central planning aren’t interested in theories or evidence that indicate that central planning does not solve the problem.
It occurs to me that among the many problems with metrics in health care or education is that often the best way to look good is to be very selective about your customer base. Schools with children of affluent, two-parent households will tend to look “good.” Doctors who see mostly-healthy, conscientious patients will look “good.” etc.
The whole interview is interesting. Also, people seemed to like my essay on Jerry’s book.