Mitt Romney and student aid

Every so often during a campaign you read something that makes you do a mental double-take. This was the case for me when I saw that Mitt Romney had proposed linking financial aid for students to the career they're pursuing. He explained this proposal by saying, "I like the idea of linking the level of support that we're going to provide to young people going to college to the contributions they're going to make to society." Put that way it would give just about anyone warm fuzzies, but this represents something that Republicans should really know better than to endorse -- central economic control.

I seriously doubt Romney would suggest that the government can predict how many cars, airplanes, or shoelaces the nation will need and guide factories to produce that amount. That sort of central economic micro-management was a hallmark of communist states, and it was a failure compared to market-based approaches. And yet, he's suggesting that the government should do exactly that with colleges and universities -- determine how much of their "product" they should produce, and what kind. He really ought to know better.