By Rachel Goldfarb, originally published on Next New Deal
Click here to subscribe to Roosevelt First, our weekday morning email featuring the Daily Digest.
Arkansas Internet Law Gouges Schoolkids (Bloomberg View)
Roosevelt Institute Fellow Susan Crawford says support for the current law, which prohibits Arkansas from connecting K-12 schools to its high-speed fiber network, puts telecoms' profits ahead of kids. The state-run network has plenty of capacity, but schools are instead required to buy obsolete and expensive connections that limits kids' access to the tools they might use online.
The long-term success of this country requires cheap, ubiquitous, world-class connectivity. It should not be illegal to choose a competitive provider, even if that competitive provider is a local government. The current law, in Arkansas and other states, represents rent-seeking in its lowliest form: at the expense of schoolchildren.
Follow below the fold for more.
Long-Term Jobless Perfectly Employable, New Report Finds (WSJ)
Pedro da Costa looks at a new study from the Economic Policy Institute, which says that while any unemployment creates serious setbacks, long-term unemployment doesn't create special skill loss.
The Hole in Holder’s Legacy (NYT)
Eric Holder had some real successes as Attorney General, but his efforts to prosecute the crimes of the financial crisis were "notoriously laggard," writes Joe Nocera.
The A.I.G. Trial Is a Comedy (New Yorker)
John Cassidy asks why this case, in which former American International Group CEO Hank Greenberg claims the company's bailout violated the Constitution, was even allowed to get to trial.
Prison Bankers Cash in on Captive Customers (Center for Public Integrity)
Daniel Wagner reports on how financial services companies profit off the families of prison inmates, who use these high-fee services so their relatives can buy basics like warm winter clothing.
Trust Is Waning, and Inequality May Be to Blame (Pacific Standard)
A new study examining what circumstances impact people's trust in institutions and one another finds that trust in other people drops as inequality rises, writes Nathan Collins.