I just came across this piece by Vicki Abeles in the New York Times. It discusses the effect on young people of the stress that the rat race in schools creates. The numbers are alarming.
For an economist like myself, a big question arises from this regarding the (in)famous efficiency of “free”, “perfectly competitive” markets, which are of course a theoretical fiction used to exalt the effect of competition on human welfare. Pretty obviously, we need to be very careful to amend our treatment of welfare. This brings to mind a sequence of blog posts on interfluidity, starting with this one, which I have set aside on my browser to read carefully. Now that the holiday festivities have quieted down, I plan to do that and post my thoughts here. Consider this a promise.
The curious incident of DD on the Web 