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NIA On Why America's College Bubble Is Next To Burst
For those of you hunting for bubbles, and wondering why the Federal government is the biggest source of credit in each and every G.19 release, here is a hint of what's coming next from an NIA press release:
America's College Bubble Next to Burst
The National Inflation Association (NIA) is pleased to officially announce that it will soon be releasing its hour long documentary 'College Conspiracy', which will expose the U.S. college education system as the largest scam in U.S. history. NIA has been producing 'College Conspiracy' for the past six months and plans to release the movie on May 15th. NIA members will be given the first opportunity to watch this must see documentary, which we hope will change the college education industry for the better.
NIA expects 'College Conspiracy' to take college education by storm and expose the facts and truth about tuition inflation to prospective college students. Almost everybody applying to college has heard the oft-repeated statistic that Americans with college degrees earn $1 million more in lifetime income than high school graduates without a degree. This is one of those statistics that gets repeated so many times that just about everybody accepts it as fact, but nobody actually does the research to confirm whether or not it is true. 'College Conspiracy' will prove once and for all if indeed this so-called statistic is true or just a myth.
If 70.1% of high school graduates enroll in a college or university, how does a college degree give you an advantage over the rest of the population? Back in the early 1960s, Americans didn't need to go to college. We were a creditor nation with a strong manufacturing base. With an unemployment rate of only 5%, jobs were available to almost everybody. Less than 50% of American high school graduates enrolled into college. For those who did attend college and graduate with a degree, it was actually something special that made you stand out from the rest of the field, because not everybody had one.
American college tuition inflation has been out of control for the past decade. During the financial crisis of late-2008/early-2009, almost all goods and services in America at least temporarily declined in price. The only service in America that continued to rise in price throughout the financial crisis, besides health care, was college education. Despite real unemployment in America reaching 22%, students were brainwashed into believing that if they were lucky enough to be blessed with the privilege to get half a million dollars into debt to obtain a college degree, they will be on a path to riches and have a guaranteed successful career; whereas those who don't attend college are destined to be failures in life.
The current college education bubble is one of the largest bubbles in U.S. history. The college bubble has been fueled by the U.S. government's willingness to give out cheap and easy student loans to anybody who applied for them, regardless of if they will ever have the ability to pay the loans back. Student loan debt in America is now larger than credit card debt, but unlike credit card debt, student loan debt can't be discharged in bankruptcy.
During the 1970s, college students were able to afford their own college tuition without getting into any debt, simply by working a part-time job year round or by working a full-time job during the summer. Not only that, but most college students were also able to afford their own car and a small apartment. However, since 1970, Americans have experienced a 50% decline in their standard of living due to the Federal Reserve's dangerous and destructive monetary policies. You never heard of parents setting up college savings accounts for their children 40 years ago, but thanks to the Federal Reserve, this has become the norm.
The biggest competitive threat to Wal-Mart today in terms of market cap ($192 billion) is not Target ($35 billion) like you might think, but is actually Amazon.com ($89 billion). Wal-Mart is able to offer the lowest prices out of all brick and mortar retailers, because of the size and scope of the company, which allows them to be profitable even at extremely low gross margins. However, while Wal-Mart's stock price is only up 16% from where it was exactly 5 years ago, Amazon.com's stock price is up 470% during this same time period.
Amazon.com's stock price has risen by a 29 times higher percentage than Wal-Mart due to the fact that they sell their products over the Internet with substantially less overhead costs. NIA believes that the future of college education is over the Internet and that Americans in the future will be able to receive a better quality education from the best professors from all around the world at only a fraction of the cost of a traditional brick and mortar college education.
For the vast majority of college courses, there is absolutely nothing that students can learn in a huge multi-million dollar lecture hall with hundreds of other students that they can't learn at home listening to that same professor on a computer. The only reason online colleges haven't taken off yet in America and still have less than a 1% market share of U.S. higher education is because America has a college-industrial complex that cares only about profits and not educating students. The people who control the system simply don't want the system to change, because they are making way too much money by turning American students into indentured servants.
Back in the 1980s when Americans graduated high school, they would get hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt to buy a house. Today, millions of Americans have mortgage-sized debts, but still live with their parents. All they have is a piece of paper called a college degree, that is rapidly declining in value even faster than tuitions are skyrocketing in price.
'College Conspiracy' was made possible by the personal stories that were submitted to us by thousands of NIA members. NIA's staff spent the past six months traveling across the country, interviewing our country's top expert guests in nine different states. Please tell all of you family members and friends to become members of NIA for free immediately so that they along with you can be among the first to see 'College Conspiracy'.
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And when it comes to Detroit, don't BTFD.
article in RT, states in detroit 50% of the people are illiterate and can't read or write. spreading around michigan as well. alarming, but not shocking. dumb down americans is working with a 100% success ratio. too bad.
I agree with the overall premise: college eduction has been oversold in a vast partnership between the educational-industrial complex, government, and banks.
On the other hand, I got lost a bit on the Amazon/manufacturing/online juxtaposition. In the one hand the article laments the loss of American manufacturing jobs. Then it discuss the cost efficiency of Amazon - a company partly responsible for the decimation of main street retailers (and therefore the destruction of communities).
And the conclusion that we should have legions of youth sitting all by themselves in front of the computer 'learning' would similarly lead to the decay of any number of currently vibrant small college towns around America. Places were quality of life, community, and arts are supported and encouraged.
Yes, college has been oversold. The manufacturing base has been decimated. College is way too expensive. But, the prescription here isn't the right one...
We need to measure the health of our country in more then just GDP statistics. Better to have a sustainable, downshifted, healthier life then just measuring dollars and cents.
This is a bubble of epic proportions and just like the housing bubble and healthcare bubble it was caused by government policy.
The sad part has been watching universities turn basic vocational programs that should take a year of training into four year degree programs. Recreational therapy comes to mind but there was no need for occupational therapy nor physical therapy to be a four year degree. However four year programs bring in more government loan money than 1 or 2 year programs.
The proliferation of unusual degree programs and reduction of standards were merely in the seeking of profit.
Many people would have been better off in industrial training programs for computerized machine tools or becoming a plumber or gunsmith. Those guys make a lot of money.
god bless the nia.....college is a panhandling, rico-laden, mobster business extorting trillions for a coterie of bureaucrat encrusted universities because it has the government by the balls and brainwashed all of america that a college education is indispensible for success....
in some cases and in some fields that is a valid claim.....but for so many, it is a farce and lie....as it turns out, any socialized good will become exorbitantly expensive especially when you send people to college who are too stupid to benefit....and i'll say nothing about the fraud mills such as phoenix university and their ilk....
i defy anyone to justify return on investment....i have lambasted the useless information i have had shoveled down my throat such as physics and differential equations.....where in god's name will i ever use that information??? no where...my career field doesn't require it but abet sure does...the acrediting organizations are just as fraudulent as the universities....
the problem is that academics talk out of both sides of their mouths....on the one hand they snootily proclaim that they are not votech's so vocational relevance of education is immaterial....then their marketing materials tout how valuable their programs are to industry and the market place....and how you need their knowledge in the workplace....and then hiring firms insist on a degree but they don't care what the field is, proving that there is no collegiate information needed to perform the job because any trained monkey could do it....
yes, video based education, body of knowledge testing plus iq testing is the way to sort people into careers....the exhorbitant cost of education is enabled only by its socialization - not by logic or need....
of course video based education will not be orders of magnitudes cheaper but it should be palpably less expensive....it takes more than an iphone video to produce quality videos....but if you vaporize campuses and their bureaucracy you could slash the costs of education...
i do not deny the value and contribution which education has made but at the same time it has defrauded the nation with its hoaxes and lies....
"If 70.1% of high school graduates enroll in a college or university, how does a college degree give you an advantage over the rest of the population?"
While I follow the general thrust of this article, items such as this are plain silly.
By this logic, since 90% of children graduate from high school, why bother to go if it will not give you an advantage over the rest? It may not give you an advantage, but you need to keep yourself at the same level if you hope to be competitive. Even if you don't end up using your major, a well-rounded education prepares you for critical thinking, and life.
I never took an economics class, yet by reading here, and extensive library borrowing, I was able to apply my advanced math and science skills to the dismal science. The Federal Reserve would not be accepted by the sheeple if more people questioned it's origins and legitimacy.
I encourage everyone to enrich themselves with all the education they desire, but unfortunately the ridiculous costs keep outpacing inflation. Unsustainable trend. The library is a priceless resource.
You don't go $100,000 into debt to get a high school degree. Besides, you can't work until you're 16 anyway, so what else are you going to do?
Property taxes pay for a so-called "public" education: $1500/year * 12 years = $18,000. No where near $120,000, but still, considering the end-product, way over-priced!
There are always the service academies. My son is at West Point, everything is free plus he gets a salary monthly all courtesy of taxpayers. Of course the downside is the job you get after graduating often involves getting shot at in some place I can't pronounce. Tradeoffs, tradeoffs.
you don't get shot at if you graduated from west point.
Uh....if you want to advance to the top ranks you do.
The dangerous stuff is the poor kids.
Sadly, this is simply not true.
http://www.westpointaog.org/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=734
surprised i remembered this article.
Big firms and little ones can offshore their legal writing and research, and they do. State Bar associations are trying to figure out how to stop this, with little success so far.
Also, their is a lot of technical expertise that used to be limited to the lawyers. Nowadays a lot of that is available online. Forms, templates, instructions. If you have the time and the inclination, you can do it yourself.
Sorta like finding a schematic of your dryer online and then fixing it yourself, only easier.
I wanted to go to law school to fight the special interests in congress. Its great all the information is available online, but unfortunantely i need the credentials to have any meaningful effect.
A couple of years ago a couple of us wrote an article entitled "Blowing the Last Bubble: The Frailty of Financing Higher Education and the Risks it Poses to Our Students, Communities and Institutions." At that time very few people were interested in this important topic. Check it out at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/31082148/Blowing-the-Last-Bubble The coming bond market collapse is going to screw the universities and colleges to a huge extent, but the kids talking out loans for schooling are in big trouble. Indentured servants in the 18th century were treated better.
Come on Tyler...why you posting stuff from an internet organization run by Jonathon Lebed....pump and dump scam artist? How many readers here are going to get suckered into their free newsletter only to be baited into their paid newsletter promissing hefty stock rewards?? NIA is bad news.
http://thefundamentalview.blogspot.com/2010/11/nia-inflationus-be-careful-readers.html
http://thefundamentalview.blogspot.com/2010/12/following-up-on-nia-and-inflationus.html
I have a child who graduated HS in 2010 and one graduating this year. I could wallpaper my house 10 times over with the mailings they've gotten from colleges, all competing for the federal loan money.
Yup. Describes me to a T. Tuition was $212/semester. I graduated with no debt whatsoever.
The book the millionaire next door was all about tradesmen developing their own businesses.
Nobody goes into plumbing, gunsmithing, computerized machine tool operation, robotics repair, and myriad other technical and trade programs.
I know a guy that makes a good living simply making house calls to fix automatic garage doors for us busy professionals.
Take a chance. Build your own business.
And in this book, the #1 quality that these millionaires quoted as the best to have was the ability to "get along with others"; good grades in college meant much less.
A buddy of mine knows a guy in the tree trimming business in California, never went to college but his average daily revenue is about $150K a day. Huge operations. Consider even a tiny percentage of that as pure in his pocket. He's doing pretty well. Except high gas prices sting a little.
How's he making 150k a day?
Avg $150K daily gross revenue from operations - not his bottom line. Basically controls one niche market over most of urban California areas. Take even 5% of that as net income...hell I'd be pretty happy with just 5% a day.
Troll did well bringing up that book, but it should also be said, that one should be in business where the competition is less intense. Lot of attorneys out there working for someone else just to make ends meet.
This is one of those threads where I agree with the gist, but it's so fucking depressing to see all this nonsense that's thrown in with it.
1) A college degree may be something a person should be expected to pay for, but "education" *should be* free.
2) The purpose of education is *not* to generate a return on investment. That is the purpose of financial speculation. The purpose of education is help people understand their world and their place in it. The USA has done a great deal to channel people through the school system, both primary and secondary, but has not done much to educate people.
3) Only about 25-30% of the population receives a bachelor's level degree, no matter what percentage of people "enter college" after high-school. MANY job positions require a bachelor's degree to even be considered, regardless of the fact that there's no justification for the requirement, and even when the degree (and potential education that goes with) has zero impact on a person's ability to perform the work. Thus there very definitely is an increased level of employee selection based on possession of a degree, no matter how undeserved it may be.
4) In examining our educational system with an eye on the past hundred years or so, it should be obvious that it is structured far more as a set of social controls than as a system intended to educate the youth and prepare them for adult life. Because of its pervasiveness and success, it is naturally to be expected that it would become subjugated to the profit incentive inherent in our "capitalist" society.
The reason there are so many college students is because *someone* has figured out how to make money off them and their families.
Everyone has their peeves, and there's a lot to bitch about no matter what subject comes up. Place criticisms within the context of the system if you expect anyone to listen to yer bitchin'.
I'll quibble with a few of your points, but I agree, most people here commenting have nary a fucking clue about what they are bitching about...
College has morphed into an extended form of Day Care. Once upon a time it was the domain of a small minority, but it was open to all on the basis of merit. The problem is that aside from the professional schools (Med, Law, Eng.) University was never meant to be a jobs-training program....
I simply can't bring myself to type more, just too painful and the angina is likely to flare up...
That was back when they didn't give out degrees in useless fields.
As I said below, there are no useless fields, only the failure to grasp that study in some of these fields is actually an intellectual and financial luxury.
People should not be surprised when their BA in Pan-African Woman's studies doesn't open many doors...
Don't you see the great value in earning a batchelors degree in: Afro-American Studies, Women's studies, dance, film studies , communications, kinesiology, sports, sociology, art history, music theory, musicology, Business Administration, Apparel, Anthropology, contemporary issues, critical gender studies, education, environmental studies, environmental management, ethnic studies, human development, theatre arts, visual arts, Asian American Studies, Art Practice, Buddhist Studies, Development Studies, Folklore, Native American Studies, Religious Studies, and Family and Consumer Sciences?
With a degree in one of these majors you could work for the government as a bureaucrat or possibly even teach others in the same subject!
These are all wonderful foundations for a Masters in Social Work, which is a booming industry right now.
I have a degree in music theory (and composition). When I graduated, I scoured the Want Ads for companies looking for Music Theoriticians. Alas, I found none. However, I've maintained a career in various aspects of the music biz for the last 35 years, and understanding music theory didn't hurt. I financed my way through college by working and some student loans, which I paid back.
Life was different then.
Life WAS different 30 years or more ago. Where you could work part time for money to PAY for college and not this six figure debt nonsense that is the norm.
I'll agree with that. When I was in college 20-some years ago, my off-campus* job (retail) paid $8 an hour. Retail still pays at this level...and tuition & expenses were high THEN...
*yep, I worked two jobs...full time...while in college full time...didn't get any help from the 'rents...would probably have made very different choices if I'd known then what I've learned since...oh well...
There is nothing wrong with any of the disciplines you mentioned. What is wrong is that people do not realize that an education in such a discipline is a luxury and not the means to guarantee employment.
I'm inclined to wonder what the objective would be for all the folks talking about "useless" degrees.
It's like we should just be a human form of an ant farm, where everyone's life is spent performing work selected from the tiny subset of notionally "productive" tasks.
If you're not a farmer, hunter, or mechanic, you're a waste of space. How inspiring.
Serendipity!
I was thinking also on ants and ant colonies while reading posts. We don't need that many "ant" workers, cheap energy provides most of the hard work these days. The rest can afford to advance science, culture or "feel productive" if too disoriented, like those WS sophisticated financial scientists.
what about that rahm asshole now in chicago, has a masters in ballet. WTF?
Grammer Nazi warning...
thats Bachelors Degree
I wouldn't bring it up except for the fact we are discussing higher education.
Grammar. ;)
I'm glad someone was watching ;-)
The gubmint's ability to employ all of these fine young graduates will last...until it doesn't.
Peter Schiff has long made the case that college and health care are unaffordable because of too much government and too much insurance. Such is the fate of a people represented by Big Lobby.
To prove his point, Schiff showed in 2009 just how clueless Americans are: The rate of increased costs for insured procedures is three times faster than for uninsured procedures.
For uninsured procedures, such as breast implants, he showed where the cost is falling because market forces, i.e., competitive cost pressures, keep costs down and quality up. Doctors want your business and compete for it. It’s the opposite with insurance, says Schiff, no one asks what the procedures cost.
We don’t need maintenance insurance, argues Schiff, we need real market force insurance for catastrophic occurrences, for those cases that would break you financially. You don’t insure your toilet against leaks, you insure your house against fire.
Insurance causes costs to go ballistic.
The same can be said of college tuition. Says Schiff, College tuition is up because of government interference--subsidies, grants, loans, parental college savings accounts used by financiers as the bottom line on which to start their fees--that have saddled young people with $100,000 debt. Tuition costs would collapse without government.
As regards “low interest rates” for college loans:
Direct Loans: Direct Student Loans are one of the Federal Student Aid or FSA programs that are available through the Department of Education. Direct Student Loans provide students with a way to borrow money to pay for their costs of higher education. The Direct Loan interest rates for loans taken, or disbursed, on or after July 1, 2009 carry a 5.60% fixed rate of interest. Direct PLUS loans, which are made to parents of students, issued in that same timeframe charge a rate of interest of 7.90% for 2010 / 2011... For the time period July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010, the interest rate for new PLUS loans are 8.50%. The interest rate on PLUS loans will vary from year to year, but will never exceed 9.0%
Stafford Loans: Federal Stafford loans follow the same guidelines as Direct Loans. The interest rate on Stafford loans disbursed starting on July 1, 2010 is a fixed rate of 5.60%. Stafford loans disbursed between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011 have a variable interest rate that changes on July 1st of each year, but cannot exceed 8.25%. The rate of interest on these student loans is 4.5% for those in repayment; and 6.80% for loans during in-school, deferment, and grace periods in 2010 / 2011.
Interest Rates on Private Loans: The interest rates on private loans can be nearly as numerous as the number of agencies writing those loans. In general, private loans in 2011 / 2012 can range from a low of around 6% to as high as 12%.Youre spot on with this. It's amazing how "cheap" cosmetic surgery is compared with say a broken arm visit to the ER.
Forcing the healthcare law was a mistake. They've hiked rates for everyone and drs and hospitals are charging more. It's a ponzi scheme, get the cheap, healthy people to buy insurance to finance the cost of the expensive patients.
Drug industry is a joke. Look at all this ads on tv for people to hound their drs for the last dr to make your dick hard or fall asleep or be happy.
Insurance is in the business to make money. They dont make money paying claims.
JR;
For the most part in this country we have chosen to fix our various problems not as individuals by through collectivism. The free market system being very efficient, has become very good at identifying the major constituent groups in their industry and lobby those groups for maximum effect. Hence the government is involved in subsidies for almost everything we consume or need. It is a well entrenched system.
i have realized recently i use to only be friends and date men that didn't have a degree from a college. they are more fun. listen up H.S. grads, just follow zerohedge every day. they cover it all. good education, from great leaders and intellect. i have learn so much following different leads. whod ta think that this government of ours, makes a lot of money on drugs, enormous amounts, and then the banks launder it. hey college grads learn to do laundry.
What about trolls?
Minor quibble with this article.
The Walmart / Amazon comparison is erroneous. As a rule, Walmart does not sell used goods. Amazon is similar to eBay in that regard. (A large, virtual garage/yard sale)
There is something about being able to sit with a teacher face to face. Once we lose the ability to breathe each others' essences, we have lost our minds. I disagree that online schools will take over, but I do agree that this education system, and more so the way it is financed, is as good as cooked.
Walled Street's biggest investors, as well as investors who are not big nor on Walled Street, have already begun to price this, the coming college collapse, in, as everyone with a brain is very aware of this bubble, and for anyone wondering, Quantitative Easing will be forever, because Bernanke and Co. will use every deflationary excuse to print so to continue to monetize the debt.
Also, the college debt system is holding America up by the seat of its pants. Plenty of college kids are taking loans while living with unemployed parents. The parents use the money to pay the mortgage etc. The fiat ponzi extends to all levels of the American Dream.
I remember taking College Physics and being proud of doing well.
Homework was hard, often taking a couple of hours to figure out
the math and show all the work. Exams were even harder, all blue
book problem solving. This was in the 70's, when colleges were
implementing dual tracks to help "disadvantaged" students get
through. The alternative course that satisfied one's natural
science requirement was called Space Physics. It introduced
the student to "concepts" of physics with lots of pictures and
easy reading about stuff most people learned in high school. A
friend of mine found it entertaining to ridicule my course
selection. He was taking Space Physics, achieving A's by scanning
the text and making the obvious selections on his multiple
choice only exams. Chumps like me just simply didn't know how to work
the system.
I have no regrets. I can only say that degrading standards of
performance, no matter how noble the justification, is a recipe for
failure, as evidenced by our consistent degradation of standards
in all dimensions of society ever since. Now, the challenge for
a "progressive" America is one of regressing to standards that
actually make us competitive. It will take a generation of two,
assuming it's possible in the first place.
If you haven't already done so, get a load of this hilarious animation exhorting folks to get even with the banksters and government:
http://youtu.be/vs7-yDO6i9Y
I wonder who all these fat-bellied ugly pigs are, who are profiting from this HUGE college scam ?!
These stinking assholes should be tarred and feathered !
They are robbing billions of dollars from the American people !
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
They are lining their pockets so they can live in their multi-million dollar homes and drive their fucking luxury cars, and dine out in their fucking gourmet restaurants in order to stuff their hairy ugly fat bellies with the newest SHIT in town, be it caviar, salmon, truffels, champaigne, mousse au chocolat, tiramisu, parma bacon or sake !
I can almost hear the sound of how they stick their filthy snouts into the feeding troughs of tuition fees !
FUCK THEM !
SCUM, SCUM, SCUM !!!
They assrape students all over !
Trickle down bitches!
With respect to the mythology regarding a college degree generating a million + in excess earnings vs. a high school diploma, has a study been done that factors out those degrees that are actually in demand (engineering, science) and also those requiring graduate school (medical or equivalent)? It would appear that if you eliminate that high paying strata, you get a very mediocre to negative return on tuition and beer money.
In the UK everyone who finishes A-Levels feels they have to go to university. I mean there was one guy at school with me who got 3Ds and still went to university.
It's about time the crap universities closed down and only the smartest go to university. How you are meant to pay off 3-4 years of student debt when you end up in a minimum wage job after studying a useless degree I don't know.
But I know: Never.
I flunked english in highschool for mouthing off at the teacher. Got horrible grades. Scored well enough on SAT's to get into MIT. My highschool algebra teacher told me that some people just can't do well with math and that she wouldn't sign my slip to allow me into algebra 2 the next year.
3 years later I got a c in rigid body mechanics 3/10ths of a percent away from a B because I couldn't remember the formula v=sqrt 2gl. During the test I looked at the formula for general gravitation and derived the formula I needed. This took 45 minutes which made me miss a couple questions.
Be careful with D students. Some of them are just playing dumb. Because well. Fuck your grades.
Based on the comments, the divide and conquer and keep the people ignorant plan is working beautifully. Wake up sheeple (are we now using crumbtards?)!
You will get out of college what you put in. If you can not compete or are better skilled elsewhere (plumbing, carpentry, electrician, etc.), do not go to college.
Even if you become a plumber, you better be good, or you won't stay in business (or employed) long. Stupid fucking Americans, wake the fuck up, stop whining about everything and become competitive. By the time these idiots get to college they have been told that "everybody is a winner". WRONG numbnuts! Everyone is NOT a winner. Only those that fail, but then get back up and make the necessary adjustments to succeed are the winners. God, what a bunch of whiners on this blog.
Awww... did da po widdle LawsofPhysics have his job outsourced to a flatscreen in India? Boo freakin' hoo.
Whiney little bitch.
No, and my business is up 35% YoY. I am doing great (just not hiring American engineers and scientists right now). Sounds like you need to turn off the X-box and move out of your mother's basement.
Of course not; why should you when you can pay someone in India 1/4 the wage and avoid all liablity for any withholding?
Actually, most plumbers are fair at best. Many do piss poor jobs. The pool of people doing this trade to begin with are less intelligent, not being insulting it's just true.
A plumber whos fair, does a quality job and is honest is very rare thing. If they took those ideals to heart they would have more business than they can handle.
Everyone is always looking for a good plumber. We all know calling the unknown guy is a crap shoot and youll get fucked over.
Americans are the hardest and smartest working group I have encountered anywhere. I've worked with the best in Europe and Asia, too. The problem with competitiveness comes with our politicians. Our government is now one of the most corrupt and stupied I have encountered likewise. Can we outsource government? Maybe the Swiss or Germans would like to run this operation.
I WOULD Be thrilled and honored to outsource to either group. Hostile takeover. Kick out the current board.
I recall reading that legislation proposed not so long ago intends to cap future student loan payments with the borrower's salary or something? Then after N years, the federal government is going to pay off the balance or some nonsense? I don't know (care) if it passed.
I suppose it makes sense, in context.. mortgages, Treasuries, foreign debts... so why not have the Treasury, then the Federal Reserve, monetize student loans as well?
I should mail Ben and ask him to buy me a Chevy and a PhD.
No catch edge that is not what happened. The truth is the Congress decided to add student loan payments into the income tax withholding schedules. Ta Da!
Land of the free? Servitude bitches!
If people choose to take out a loan i dont see it as fair to expect taxpayers to pay it back for you.
And anybody who says "the government pays....." should be punched in the junk for idiocy.
The loans are government guaranteed if/when the student defaults. You really think these english majors can afford $250k in debt?
I will refrain from reaching thru your computer screen and slapping your bitch ass if you will rephrase that and say taxpayer guaranteed.
College in your PJ's is the new fad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Kv-KYpD10
Told ya !
I know 2 people that I went to high school with who did 4 years at Columbia University in NYC, did 1 year study abroad, and are now enrolled in a 4 year PHD program, one at Stanford and another at another big north east college....forget the name.
Not to mention they took out loans for every year, AND loans for living in NYC for 4 years (plus where they are living now...cali can't be much cheaper).
By my quick calculations, each will be $250,000 or more in debt when all is said and done. Their majors? English and African American studies...
And here I am feeling good about myself because I "ONLY" paid about $8000 a year after all was said and done at a big state university....I could hardly start to pay that working 40 hours a week for $9 an hour considering I also had rent, car payment, etc etc. I can't imagine looking at a quarter mil of debt right out of school....yikes.
African American studies? Shit go live in Detroit for year. It'll be cheap and you'll know everything about them.
Internet based colleges have awful reputations. There are a few jewels, but the diploma mills like Univ of Phoenix and Strayer give the rest a bad reputation. And even then the cost of each school is going to put you in $130k of debt after 4 years.
Eventually somebody's going to come up with a $5k a year "Wal-Mart" option for colleges.
Walmart will probably have a program or college. Since jobs will get so scarce you pay them to work and maybe someday they'll hire you.
Disney world has been scamming college kids for years. They pay them so little and stuff them into dorm like apartments that they charge them for. They need loans just to survive this "work experience"
Compnies have forced Colleges that they need the Toilet Paper and end of story. What a shell game. All the education and no common sense I say.
The people that make the biggest money today are the Plumbers, Electricians, Home Improvement, Auto Mechanics. Just go to get your car fixed and find out what it costs. The more expensive the car the more it costs. Water heater broke expectantly, look at over $1,000. They are the ones making the real money today. My well pump went up. WOW, $2,500. Buckaroos. Septic back up that will really cost you. New Septic standards over $7,000. Buckaroos. Home Improvement? A definite an equity loan. Roof leaking, try over $10,000. Buckaroos.
Goes to show if you want to get your hands dirty you can make a mint.
but what about all those smartie computer programmers that are now stuck reviewing off-shore produced code?? And they aren't even coding anything themselves anymore.. how worthless is that?
That's why you have youtube to learn how to do that stuff yourself. I've been fixing my own electrical, plumbing, and BMW. Youtube, internet, and the library. I've probably saved a few thousand dollars.
“Get this -- the average college student now spends more than $900 per year just on books. Books that cost like $120 each,” say Nate on Nathan’s Economic Edge.
“Why do college books cost that much?,” asks Nate. “I say because they have a monopoly and because they are greedy and because their institutions are not really about learning, they are about promoting the storyline. Got it?
“So, back in March the Universities got together and decided to sue Amazon.com for selling the same books at discounts to their rip off prices – you know, as if $78 for a book is a good deal.“
It’s grand larceny to force these students to pay monopoly book prices, and then, when the free market tries to put its nose into the monopoly tent, have the monopolies turn around and try to sue in the courts to protect their right to steal from students
Government-connected monopolists set up the student loans that some students can’t possibly repay at bookie loan-shark rates, and then, when they get the kids to school and paying the loans and trying to get by on highly amplified tuition, it’s not enough!! They’ve got to steal on the price of books.
yes JR, nate did a nice little story on this last week. he is for sure a solid man with very balanced beliefs. he has a young family and you can just hear his pain when he explains what he reads. he is another economic blogger using his real name etc., i would like to meet. he also has a daily song up. quite the well rounded finance guy, like ZH. we just don't know who in the hell you guys are.
It would be difficult to face each economic day without reviewing first what Nate has to say. He's one of my favories. Good to see you on board, velobabe; you're a favorite of mine, too.
A good article about MBA's.. As I see it the bubble has to and will burst. I went thru college with no loans and worked 25 hrs a week plus never started college till I was 2 which gave me an opp to save up and go to college. F the bitzhezzzzzzzzzz who took out loans, not the tax payers problem.
The Plight of the MBA Generation
http://mises.org/daily/5256/The-Plight-of-the-MBA-Generation
Don't worry, the RESET is coming.
Once the younger sheeple wake up and find that their degree in "whatever" (even engineering or business) will only get them as far as the drive-thru window at Mickey D's (and then only if they speak Spanish) you'll see change.
When non-dischargeable college debt begins to really bite (no home purchase, no car, no marriage prospects), they'll lose it.... and you'll see fifty to one hundred Cairos instantly.
The only reason you haven't seen more "violence" is that times are not yet hard enough.
When unemployment for college-educated 18-30 year olds reaches 25% ( a social goal cherished by TPTB), it's game over.
As in Soviet-style collapse.
Krvkpt. laughing swordfish
DKM Trading
swordfish;
The unemployment statistic you quote is already at that percentage level. Unfortunately most people only read the positive headlines on 9% unemployment.
Your comment on times not being hard enough yet, is probably true. Nothing focuses the mind of a young father more than his inability to provide for his young children. I do not wish that feeling on anyone, but I am afraid that its what it will take to move people to action.
Things are hard for that age cohort?? Actually just the opposite. Obama mandated that health insurers cover them on parents plan until age 26 (with no increase in cost or reduction in benefits), credit card issuers tripping over themselves to issue $25,000 VISA cards to anyone over age 21 and of course every dealership & automaker offering a 'college grad' "buyer Program" to get everyone into the car that they want even if it will take the next 6 years to pay it off
Students are forced to buy $150 textbooks which are one of the biggest ripoffs in the history of publishing.
Then Bill Clinton put student loans as outside bankruptcy protection, Biden with his "Bankruptcy" bill back in 2007 or so closed the "loophole" that remained. ANY OTHER DEBT people can go bankrupt, not student loans, you pay until you croak, debtors prison style.
And for what? "Professors" who are imbeciles, being told in virtuallY EVERY class even "hard sciences" that you, as a White person, are the reason for every ill on earth. Seriously, and almost nobody says anything, of course if you DO say something, your grades SUFFER.
Since all the work visas, you know like H1-B and the rest and other legal immigration into America there won't be enough new jobs created to permit any hope of paying off these loans.
Yeah, books are expensive....but their value can inestimable.
The way I see it, a good text book is worth alot more than $150. That's the going rate for a extended weekend bender at University nowadays. It is all about priorities and values. And if you think your textbooks are shitty, maybe reconsider what you are doing in that course in the first place.
For perspective, I have a text book that I paid $50 for in 1983.
Error in story: Credit card debt is not discharged in bankruptcy. That's why there was a flurry of bankruptcies right before Bush changed the law.
I don't know where you get your information, but you are wrong. Credit card debt is indeed discharged in bankruptcy. What changed is that it is now harder to qualify for certain types of bankruptcy.
If you DO have a job well this happens, not just for ITs either, read this about a woman from India against an American White woman:
Another tech-worker, Diane Drozdowski, was forced out of her job at American Express in Phoenix, AZ. After her manager used "bully tactics and psychological warfare" to try to get her to quit, resulting in a mental breakdown, she was replaced by two Indian workers based in India. American Express flew these Indian workers to Phoenix and forced her to train them, upon threat of losing her severance pay.
Diane Drozdowski's testimony is at link:
http://washtech.org/news/industry/display.php?ID_Content=5363
We are trying this sham in the UK. More debt for more students to enrole. Thing is, I don't think there are too many jobs out there for "media studies" or "sociology" degrees. I think there was even a degree in cake making from one of our "universities".
The real agenda is to price out natives so that we can flog all the spaces (at x2 cost non-EU) to real students studying real courses from real economies with real wealth based on real industry - you know like them China and India type countries...
All of their content is free and very informative, thier predictions have been spot on for some time now, their investment section is a small portion of the website and has only made people money. I've gained a ton of knowledge from the site without buying anything. Technically all stocks are a "scam" as it is impossible for all parties to have equal information at all times. I've never bought a stock in my life and I never will but I love inflation.us.
when i smell shit you say hellthcare
.
i smell shit
flush the toilet
a girl i know took an exotic dance(!) class last fall. it sucks that the only maketable skill she's learned will go to waste. she's HUGE.
Trade school bitchez!
I am in the Boston MA area (can't wait to GTH out in August after lease expires). Most of the population are college or just out of college kids who somehow all can afford to spend $50,000 or more per year for schools that aren't harvard or MIT. I work with a bunch of this demographic at a TBTF bank in Boston (I am a lowly temp getting only $30 an hour). These kids are naive -- eventually most of the dept will be outsourced to the Philippines & India but most think they are the s****t because they have a degree from a 2nd or 3rd tier school in the area (that daddy paid for)
Check out "Knowledge Nomads and the Nervously Employed: Workplace Change and Courageous Career Choices" by Rich Feller and Judy Whichard.
http://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Nomads-Nervously-Employed-Courageous/dp/...
Its the parents who are stuck with the bill not only for the tuiton but for the credit card debt and likely auto loan debt. They don't want their precious chadwick or caitlin to drive something like a 3 year old Honda Accord, nah must be an Acura MDX or TSX. I love how many of these Obama Republican parents love to rationalize things and adsolve their kids of any personal responsibility (you know the $100,000 - $150,000 worth of debt that didn't all goto tuition and expenses) and pay the bill because they believe that the only jobs worthy for their kids are those of a managerial or AVP position at a TBTF bank paying no less than $100,000 a year.
Its the parents who are stuck with the bill not only for the tuiton but for the credit card debt and likely auto loan debt. They don't want their precious chadwick or caitlin to drive something like a 3 year old Honda Accord, nah must be an Acura MDX or TSX. I love how many of these Obama Republican parents love to rationalize things and adsolve their kids of any personal responsibility (you know the $100,000 - $150,000 worth of debt that didn't all goto tuition and expenses) and pay the bill because they believe that the only jobs worthy for their kids are those of a managerial or AVP position at a TBTF bank paying no less than $100,000 a year.
Dr. Gary North, a frequent contributor to Lew Rockwell dot com has a section of his website dedicated to the perils of student loans and presents economical alternatives to obtaining a college degree. Here's the link: http://www.garynorth.com/public/department89.cfm
From the article: "This is unnecessary. You can get the same kind of B.A. degree from an accredited university for about $15,000 in three years. I know of one man who did it for $5,000 in six months."
Gary North also argues that the college bubble will not burst because there is no indication of the government stopping the pumping of millions of dollars in to the industry. He says that the topic of college education is a religious one with no solution in sight. http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north975.html
"To speak of college as a bubble is silly. A bubble does not pop until months or years after the funding ceases. There is no indication that the funding for college education will cease.
Until there is a rebellion against tax-funding of all education, beginning with kindergarten, college costs will rise and performance will fall. The horror stories will continue."
Thank God I only owe $70,000 in student loans for my BA in Gender Studies!
What else ya' goin' ta do? Let these young whipper snappers work debt free at MickeyD's after they drink their way to an art history degree?
All the better to force them to whore for the financials while stealing from their grandma's so that they are the ones who have to go back to working at MickeyD's to keep from starving.
Make it rain Bennie boy.
So few people mention scholarships. I worked my ass of in HS, got an academic scholarship to a second-rate private college, made book and gas money during the summer, and graduated without debt. Yes, I am a white male. Granted this was 25 years ago but have things changed that much?
However, here in the Peoples Republic of Mass. a college degree is basically like a high school diploma. You have to have one for even the lowliest $14 an hour job. People here are also 'degree snobs' with their uppity holier than thou attitude because daddy likely paid the $60,000 listed price for their BU or BC education.. Here it seems like it is more of a social climbing experience and making those oh so important 'connections' than an actual education along with being able to 'summer' on the Cape.
I got my degrees from a decent state school in NY and got a MS degree from a decent school on Long Island. My student loan debt is zero and I am fortunate enough so I don't have to depend 100% on wage income from some BS corporate job (like many of these BS jobs at the TBTF banks I have contracted or temped for) due to getting back into the market in 2009
while I have to agree that the government's interference has indeed created a debt bubble in student loans, I don't agree that it will 'pop', not without substantial social upheaval (read: rioting).
The reason I say this is that student loans are NOT extinguishable, even in bankruptcy. It is a form of debt slavery.
Have a $150,000 student loan and making $15/hr? you're going to be working to pay that off for the rest of your life.
While it's good for universities to compete, one would think they should compete academically. Leave the extra-curricula to the private sector and let the students find their own extra curricula. Why should any university have a climbing wall that less than 10% of the student population would use but 100% would pay for?
"NIA believes that the future of college education is over the Internet and that Americans in the future will be able to receive a better quality education from the best professors from all around the world at only a fraction of the cost of a traditional brick and mortar college education."
Let's take the Univ of Phoenix Online (UOPC). Costs are not lower, plus there's a "discount" taken by employers in that they do not value degrees from online universities nearly as much. Also, UOPC is sucking in HUGE amounts of Sallie Mae loans. Ref http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney02042011.html
My solution would be:
1. Loans are dischargable in bankruptcy
2. Loans may only be given out to those who meet strict academic requirements.
3. I'd also probably fire (or at least make the classes elective only) all those douches who otherwise would be incapable of cooking a Big Mac to earn their daily keep.
"During the 1970s, college students were able to afford their own college tuition without getting into any debt, simply by working a part-time job year round or by working a full-time job during the summer. Not only that, but most college students were also able to afford their own car and a small apartment."
I went to college in the 1970s. I knew others that went to different schools. For at least 95% of the students back then, this was simply not true. Whoever wrote this has no idea what they are talking about.
Well they (unlike today) probably weren't blowing money on Sushi every night nor did they have a $550 a month car payment because they couldn't stomach driving a 5 year old used car (unlike today). You know that todays college kids all expect to be an AVP (anyone who works in a major bank knows what that title is) or a 'managerial' position upon graduation because they earned that piece of paper. So totally differnt mindset today than even 12 years ago when I graduated.
Well they (unlike today) probably weren't blowing money on Sushi every night nor did they have a $550 a month car payment because they couldn't stomach driving a 5 year old used car (unlike today). You know that todays college kids all expect to be an AVP (anyone who works in a major bank knows what that title is) or a 'managerial' position upon graduation because they earned that piece of paper. So totally differnt mindset today than even 12 years ago when I graduated.
What's an old fart like you doing hanging around college kids all the time?
Trying to get laid of course!
College kids are horny, impulsive, lack judgment, and open to experimentation.
That gives us older people hope!
I thought it might be so he could borrow their nice cars.