Student Loan Bubble To Exceed $1 Trillion: "It's Going To Create A Generation Of Wage Slavery" And Another Taxpayer Bailout

First, this is the total amount of student debt in real time:

While one of the biggest complaints of #OccupyWallStreet protesters, and much of the balance of middle-class America, continues to be the burden of student loans, the paradox is that, as the USA Today reports once again on one of its favorite subjects, student loans are set to surpass $1 trillion in total notional for the first time in history on what appears to be relentless demand and interest for this cheap form of educational financing, making this debt burden the single largest form of consumer debt, well bigger than outstanding credit card debt, and smaller only compared to mortgage debt. "The amount of student loans taken out last year crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time and total loans outstanding will exceed $1 trillion for the first time this year. Americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards, reports the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Students are borrowing twice what they did a decade ago after adjusting for inflation, the College Board reports. Total outstanding debt has doubled in the past five years — a sharp contrast to consumers reducing what's owed on home loans and credit cards." What explains this insatiable demand for this kind of debt? Well, it's cheap, it's easily accessible (the collateral is education), and it is fungible - a student can take out a loan, yet use part or all of the balance for tangential purchases (that iPhone 4S sure would make me cool). But this, like every other debt, comes at a price.

Per USA Today:

Taxpayers and other lenders have little risk of losing money on the loans, unlike mortgages made during the real estate bubble. Congress has given the lenders, the government included, broad collection powers, far greater than those of mortgage or credit card lenders. The debt can't be shed in bankruptcy.

The credit risk falls on young people who will start adult life deeper in debt, a burden that could place a drag on the economy in the future.

"Students who borrow too much end up delaying life-cycle events such as buying a car, buying a home, getting married (and) having children," says Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org.

Naturally, just like in the credit bubble days, when NINJA loans were fast and furious, the lines in front of banks stretched around the block. Banks may or may not have known that the loans would be repaid, but nobody pressured borrowers to live in that big McMansion that "demanded" $1 down and a 99.9% LTV. Sure enough, when the day of reckoning comes, it is never the fault of the person who probably should have shown some restraint, but no: after all everyone else is doing it.

Well, it is the same thing now. And with generations of people indoctrinated that only those with a college degree can be successful, it is only obvious that student debt is now the next big bubble.

"It's going to create a generation of wage slavery," says Nick Pardini, a Villanova University graduate student in finance who has warned on a blog for investors that student loans are the next credit bubble — with borrowers, rather than lenders, as the losers.

Full-time undergraduate students borrowed an average $4,963 in 2010, up 63% from a decade earlier after adjusting for inflation, the College Board reports. What's happening:

Granted, unlike with the mortgage bubble collapse, this time we know, as Zero Hedge reported earlier in the week, that everyone is on the fraud. We quote from "The Fraud At The Heart Of Student Lending Exposed - The One Sentence Everyone Should Read"

A key reason why a preponderance of the population is fascinated with the student loan market is that as USA Today reported in a landmark piece last year, it is now bigger than ever the credit card market. And as the monthly consumer debt update from the Fed reminds us, the primary source of funding is none other than the US government. To many, this market has become the biggest credit bubble in America. Why do we make a big deal out of this? Because as Bloomberg reported last night, we now have prima facie evidence that the student loan market is not only an epic bubble, but it is also the next subprime! To wit: "Vince Sampson, president, Education Finance Council, said during a panel at the IMN ABS East Conference in Miami Monday that lenders are no longer pushing loans to people who can’t afford them." Re-read the last sentence as many times as necessary for it to sink in. Yes: just like before lenders were "pushing loans to people who can't afford them" which became the reason for the subprime bubble which has since spread to prime, but was missing the actual confirmation from authorities of just this action, this time around we have actual confirmation that student loans are being actually peddled to people who can not afford them. And with the government a primary source of lending, we will be lucky if tears is all this ends in.

So... debtors know it's a bubble, lenders know it's a bubble, everyone knows it's a bubble, yet it is growing faster now than ever before.

If nothing this is a fantastic exercise in observing a slow at first, then fast-motion train wreck from the side. It is without a shadow of a doubt, that not only will the student debt bubble pop, but writedowns on amounts outstanding will be massive, potentially resulting in another hit of 50% to total notionals, or about $500 billion. And since the borrowers will be fully tapped out, and the lenders will plead ignorance, and control the regulators and administration any way, is there any doubt who will once again be forced to pay for this upcoming bail out? This is something that does not require a college degree to figure out...

Comments

[Element]

dental schools are $300,000!!!! guess what these dentists are going to do once they get out? They are going to rip you off so that they can pay back the loans!!!

I met a proud mother today, a very pleasant and smart woman, who told me her son would qualify as a state medical specialist next year at age 31, after starting university at age 17. An education paid for via HECS loans.  HECS = Higher Education Contribution Scheme. The 'contribution' part, is the lump you must pay back ... to the State, as debt ... 14 years of it accumulating.

Yup, if that has to be paid back via user-pays, then crucial specialist medical treatment is going to be a thing of the past.

HECS began in 1989 in Australia, and the contribution proportion, to be repaid, has gotten bigger and bigger, and all courses have gotten fantastically expensive.

[HCSKnight]

@Don Birman

True, but the difference is they got something for it.

The single biggest problem with the educational debt situation is these people went in debt for a BS program, not a Baccalaureate of Science.

Education has, thanks to government socialism, become a business. And many millions of people, who F'd off in High School, have been sold a false bill of goods.

PMP, CFP, Six-Sigma, and "online" university degrees have millions of people thinking they are now educated. They are not.

Most of the people with these certifications and degrees do not know the fundamental or advanced principals of mathematics or science that underpin the disciplines. They are taught a process and/or checklist or two, and learn a few new terms or names, that's it. Outside of those things they are just as intellectually lame as they were before they jumped into debt.

An additional fact, and proof of point, is that most can not write above a 10th grade level.

The FACT is these people aren't educated rather they are simply modern day versions of medieval craftsman who went through an apprentice program. That's the real non-economic evil that has occurred.

Economic problems that grow into "sub-prime" size are always and every where a result of ignorance and wants being pandered to by politicians with other people's wealth and future.

[smiler03]

"The FACT is these people aren't educated rather they are simply modern day versions of medieval craftsman who went through an apprentice program."

I think you malign medieval craftsmen. They were the first true craftsmen who built things like Cathedrals and great Cities. Somewhat different to the modern college student who can't even write.

[trav7777]

between all the you're and your mistakes, shit like "could of" and "would of," then/than...most people are unabashedly stupid and have no shame about it.  It's considered totally ok to be illiterate.

I write professionally at a very high level and have to be asked nearly every time to "dumb it down."  As if it is MY fault that these people are fucking idiots.

[TheMerryPrankster]

This is probably the last generation that can read and write. Once voice recognition is widespread and accurate, literacy will atrophy, you know like walking disappeared so folks could drive their Hummers with their belly fat so they can text and eat while they drive.

Reading and writing, so course and vulgar, why can't the book read itsealf to me? If the book is so dumb it cannot read itself, I don't think I care to know it may contain.

[Ahmeexnal]

Trav the functional illiterate.

You've probably never read anything longer that Britney Spears tweeting to her fans.  And even that would be way over your midget "high level" head.

[iDealMeat]

How many of them took the loan bought books, returned them for cash, and went out and bought beer for parties?  Then they call the parents who took a 2nd and 3rd on the house to feed they're own greed..

Sure there are 1 or 2 who did it right and still got screwed..  But, everyone is greed guilty..  everyone..

I'm with the honey badger.. I just don't give a shit..

[traderjoe]

Yes everyone is to blame, but the bankers set up a compounded interest fiat money scheme. This needs constant credit growth to feed the debt-money ponzi. Therefore the people are trained to be debt/consumers. So you can whine all you want, but the bankers are at the center and are truly the ones at fault.

[Quixotic_Not]

By all means Mr. Anarcho apparatchik, you and you're lil' smelly friends at OWS-NY Kamp Michael Moore are entitled to burn the entire thing to the ground, including yourselves if you'd like...up to you tiger ;-)

And now, without further adieu, the manic screams of the Lumpenproletariat :  

IV. Suggested Content of the Petition For A Redress of Grievances:

In order to facilitate the timely election of the 870 Delegates to the National General Assembly by July 4, 2012 and petition the government for a redress of grievances before the 2012 elections, the Working Group on the 99% Declaration, founded and duly announced to the New York City General Assembly on October 15, 2011, shall draft a suggested list of grievances to be respectfully submitted to the Delegates of the National General Assembly no later than June 30, 2012. The final version of the PETITION OF GRIEVANCES ratified by the National General Assembly, MAY or MAY NOT include the following issues suggested by the Working Group on the 99% Declaration:

1. Implementing an immediate ban on all private contributions of money and gifts, to all politicians in federal office, from individuals, corporations, "political action committees", "super political action committees", lobbyists, unions and all other private sources of money or thing of value to be replaced by the fair, equal and total  public financing of all federal political campaigns. We categorically REJECT the concepts that corporations are persons or that money is equal to free speech because if that were so, then only the wealthiest people and corporations would have a voice. The complete elimination of private contributions must enacted by law because it has become clear that politicians in the United States cannot regulate themselves and have become the exclusive representatives of corporations, unions and the very wealthy who indirectly and directly spend vast sums of money on political campaigns to influence the candidates’ decisions when they attain office and ensure their reelection year after year. Our elected representatives spend far too much of their time fundraising for the next election rather than doing the People's business. The current system's propagation of legalized bribery and perpetual conflicts of interests has reduced our once great republican democracy to a greed driven corporatocracy run by boardroom oligarchs who represent .05% of the population but own 38% of the wealth.

2. The immediate abrogation, even if it requires a Constitutional Amendment, of the outrageous and anti-democratic holding in the "Citizens United" case proclaimed by the United States Supreme Court. This heinous  decision, which equates the payment of money by corporations, wealthy individuals and unions to politicians with the exercise of protected free speech. We, the People, demand that this institutional bribery and corruption never again be deemed protected free speech.

3. Prohibiting all federal public employees, officers, officials or their immediate family members from ever being employed by any corporation, individual or business that they specifically regulated while in office;  nor may any public employee, officer, official or their immediate family members own or hold any stock or shares in any corporation they regulated while in office until a full 5 years after their term is completed; and a complete lifetime ban on accepting all gifts, services, money or thing of value, directly or indirectly, to any elected or appointed federal official or their immediate family members, from any person, corporation, union or other entity that the public official was charged to specifically regulate while in office. In sum, elected politicians and public employees in regulatory roles, may only collect their salary, generous healthcare benefits and pension. Any person, including  corporate employees, found guilty and convicted of violating these rules in a court of law by proof beyond a reasonable doubt, shall be sentenced to a term of mandatory imprisonment of no less than one year and nor more than ten years. 

4.  Term Limits. Members of the United States House of Representatives shall be limited to serving no more than four two-year terms in their lifetime. Members of the United States Senate shall be limited to serving no more than two six-year terms in their lifetime.  The two term limit for President shall remain unchanged. Serving as a member of Congress or the President of the United States is the one of the highest honors and privileges our culture can bestow. These positions of prominence in our society should be sought to serve one's country and not provide lifetime career designed to increase personal wealth and accumulate power for the sake of vanity.

5.  A complete reformation of the United States Tax Code to require ALL citizens to pay a fair share of a progressive, graduated income tax by eliminating loopholes, unfair tax breaks, exemptions and deductions, subsidies (e.g. oil, gas and farm) and ending all other methods of evading taxes. The current system of taxation favors the wealthiest Americans, many of whom, pay fewer taxes to the United States Treasury than citizens who earn much less and pay a much higher percentage of income in taxes to the United States Treasury. We, like Warren Buffet, find this income tax disparity to be fundamentally unjust.

6. Medicare for all American citizens or adoption of a single-payer healthcare system. The Medicaid program, fraught with corruption and fraud, will be eliminated except for the purpose of providing emergency room care to indigent non-citizens who will not be covered by the single-payer healthcare system.

7. New comprehensive regulations to give the Environmental Protection Agency expanded powers to shut down corporations, businesses or any entities that intentionally or recklessly damage the environment and/or criminally prosecute individuals who intentionally damage the environment. We also demand the immediate adoption of the most recent international protocols, including the "Washington Declaration" to cap carbon emissions and implement new and existing programs to transition away from fossil fuels to reusable or carbon neutral sources of energy.

8. Adoption of an immediate plan to reduce the national debt to a sustainable percentage of GDP by 2020. Reduction of the national debt to be achieved by BOTH a cut in spending to corporations engaged in perpetual war for profit, the "healthcare" industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the communications industry, the oil and industry, and all other sectors that use the federal budget as their income stream. We agree that spending cuts are necessary but those cuts must be made to facilitate what is best for the People of the United States of America, not multinational and domestic corporations who currently have a stranglehold on all politicians in Washington, D.C. in both parties.

9. Passage of a comprehensive job and job-training act like the American Jobs Act to employ our citizens in jobs that are available with specialized training and by putting People to work now by repairing America's crumbling infrastructure. We also recommend the establishment of an online international job exchange to match employers with skilled workers or employers willing to train workers in 21st century skills. In conjunction with a new jobs act, reinstitution of the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps or a similar emergency governmental agency tasked with creating new public works projects to provide jobs to the 46 million People living in poverty, the 9.1% unemployed and 10% underemployed.

10. Implementation of a student loan debt relief forgiveness program. Our young students are more than $830 billion in debt from education loans alone with few employment prospects due to financial collapse directly caused by the unbridled and unregulated greed of Wall Street. Interest on these debts should be reduced and  deferred for periods of unemployment and the principal on these loans reduced or forgiven by using a Wall Street corporate tax surcharge as reparations for their conduct leading to the economic collapse of 2007-2008 and current worldwide recession. 

11. Immediate passage of the Dream Act and comprehensive immigration and border security reform including offering visas, lawful permanent resident status and citizenship to the world’s brightest People to stay and work in our industries and schools after they obtain their education and training in the United States.

12. Recalling all military personnel at all non-essential bases and refocusing national defense goals to address threats posed by the geopolitics of the 21st century, including terrorism and limiting the large scale deployment of military forces to instances where Congressional approval has been granted to counter the Military Industrial Complex's goal of perpetual war for profit. The annual estimated savings of one trillion dollars per year by updating our military posture will be applied to the social programs outlined herein to improve the quality of life  for human beings rather than assisting corporations make ever increasing profits distributed to the top 1% of wealth owners.

13. Mandating new educational goals to train the American public to perform jobs in a 21st Century economy, particularly in the areas of technology and green energy, taking into consideration the redundancy caused by technology and the inexpensive cost of labor in China, India and other countries. Eliminating tenure and paying our teachers a competitive salary commensurate with the salaries of employees in the private sector with similar skills because without highly skilled teachers, there will never be a highly skilled workforce.

14. Subject to the elimination of corporate tax loopholes and exploited exemptions and deductions stated above, offering tax incentives to businesses to remain in the United States and hire our citizens rather than outsource jobs. Introducing an "outsourcing tax" to discourage business form sending jobs overseas. Providing tax breaks to companies that invest in reconstructing the manufacturing capacity of the United States so that we again make everyday products in the United States rather than importing them from countries like China and India.  

15. Implementing immediate legislation and WTO intervention to encourage China and our other trading partners to end currency manipulation and reduce the trade deficit.

16.  Immediate reenactment of the Glass-Steagall Act and increased regulation of Wall Street and the financial industry by the SEC, FINRA and the other financial regulators, and the commencement of a Justice Department criminal investigations into the Securities and Banking industries practices that led to the collapse of markets, $700 billion bail-out, and financial firm failures in 2007-2008. Introduction of a small financial transaction fee to collect a tax on each and every stock trade and all other forms of financial transactions. Uniform regulations limiting what banks may charge consumers for ATM fees, the use of debit cards and other miscellaneous "fees". Ending $4 billion dollar a year "hedge fund loophole" which permits certain individuals engaged in financial transactions to evading income tax rates by treating their income as capital gains which are taxed at a much lower tax rate (approximately 15%).

17. Adoption of a plan similar to President Clinton’s proposal to end the mortgage crisis and instead of the Federal Reserve Bank continuing to lower interest rates for loans to banks who are refusing to loan to small businesses and consumers, the Federal Reserve Bank shall buy all underwater or foreclosed mortgages and refinance these debts at 1% or less to be managed by the newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (and foreclosure task force described below) because 1% or less is the interest rate the Federal Reserve Bank loans to the banks directly who hoard the cash rather than loan it to the People and small businesses. The immediate formation of a non-partisan commission, overseen by Congress, to investigate the economic risks and possibility of eliminating the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank and transferring its functions to the United States Treasury Department.

18. An immediate one year freeze on all foreclosures to be reviewed by an independent foreclosure task force appointed by Congress and the Executive Branch (in conjunction with the  Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ) to determine, on a case by case basis, whether foreclosure proceedings should continue based on the circumstances of each homeowner and the propriety of the financial institution's conduct when originating the loan.

19. Subject to the above ban on all private money and gifts in politics, to enact additional campaign finance reform requiring new FCC regulations granting free air time to all candidates; total public campaign financing to all candidates who obtain sufficient petition signatures and/or votes to get on the ballot and participate in the primaries and/or electoral process; shortening the campaign season to three months; and allowing voting on weekends and holidays; issuance of free voter registration cards to all citizens who are eligible to vote so that they cannot be turned away at a polling station because they not have a drivers license or other form of identification and the option to mail-in voter ballots in all elections.

20. An immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and a substantial increase in the amount of funding needed for veteran job placement and the treatment of the physical and emotional injuries sustained by veterans in these wars. Our veterans are committing suicide at an unprecedented rate and we must help now.

https://sites.google.com/site/the99percentdeclaration/

Anyone that really wants to find out what OWS is really about, spend at least a day inside the kamp @ OWS-NY...

Beware, it'll take at least 2 showers to get the stink off!

P.S.  I'd also suggest spraying some anarcho-socialist repellent on your clothing, lest you become a victim...

[traderjoe]

Grab a beer dude. Don't see how you link me to ows or socialism.

But yes I do wanna burn down the private syndicate Fed and their debt-money scheme.

[Ahmeexnal]

As Michael Moore ages, he starts to look a lot like Soros.  This ain't no fuckin coincidence. 

[nmewn]

I'm not seein any smaller government, less tax thingy in this...I'll pass ;-)

[Ponzi Unit]

Much of it sounds good, although snowball's chance of balancing the budget w universal healthcare, debt forgiveness, mortgage buybacks. And nothing about the most important issue -- ending the fed!

[prains]

Quixotic_Not

it is true you are not Don Quixote but a troll you are. a troll you are.

you became a socialist the day gdubya bailed you out.

[trav7777]

we're discussing a college education bubble and we have people posting about it who don't know how to properly wield basic details of the English language such as "you're" and "your" and "their" and "they're."

Please for the love of god, stfu

[TheMerryPrankster]

Nice wall of text asshole. Why don't you just post the internet archive for your next post? Nobody reads a wall of text not even your spell checker.

[Ronaldo]

It is a banker's job to create a compounded interest fiat money ponzi scheme.  That is their line of work.  It is what they do and always have. Politicians and the self-interested professional educational system did this, bankers were just the venue after it was sold as the road to prosperity.  Choosing a degree that has no application to the business needs within America, now that is the stupid person that studied for it.  My neighbor has his PHD in philosophy and no job, how are you going to eat that? 

[Quixotic_Not]

And it's the sheeples' jobs to volunteer to take on debt; vote for Politeers that support the Banksters; and send their children to Wars of Pillage and Plunder to support the Ponzi scheme...

The sheeple have the hard job here, they should get more credit!

http://images.mylot.com/userImages/images/postphotos/2081705.gif

[Ponzi Unit]

College? For many, a social warehouse, beats unemployment or pathetic underemployment. As a prof once said, most students are there for a degree, not an education.

[mjk0259]

Ruling class doesn't want to tell the  most volatile segment of the population that their future is grim while they are young with nothing to lose. Pretending something useful will come out of college keeps them busy until they are older, calmer and more years of following rules however pointless.

[TheMerryPrankster]

Teaching them to remember, instead of how to reason and think. The memory is the 1st thing to go, especially the useless facts that were merely stacked up like ritz crackers and shoveled wholesale down the average student's maw.

The entire system is built to crush your humanity, your curiousity and your soul. If you aren't a pyschopath after 4 years, you need another degree. Wall street is a perfect pitch for higher education, the smarter you get the more you can steal.

Trouble is there just ain't enough suckers with fat wallets left, so now there cannibalizing the world including banks, governments and each other.

[sgt_doom]

"Yes everyone is to blame, but the bankers set up a compounded interest fiat money scheme."

Thank you, traderjoe, sir!

The posers are out in force:

"They are really decent, good people; it's the system."  ---- Noam Chomsky,

discussing the billionaire bankers of Wall Street.

"They are decent people. It's the system."  ---- Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law,

discussing the US Congress (later he claims that "..Wall Street took advantage of a corrupt congress." --- Riiiight!)

"They are just doing their jobs."  -- Richard Wolff, economist,

discussing the Wall Street bankers, and others.

The disinformation specialists would have everyone believe this "just happened"  -- the meltdown "magically appeared"  -- it was all "an accident."

A forensic audit of the above three's consulting fees and other assorted fees over the past fifteen years would prove might interesting!

In 1921 or '22, an ultra-leveraged run took place, ending in the Great Crash of 1929, and securitization was later ended officially in 1933.

Starting around 2000, up until mid-2007, another ultra-leveraged run took place, resulting in the global economic meltdown.

Nothing magical about it, and well planned and well designed with much effort, thought and lobbying to enact predatory jurisprudence and predatory legislation to allow the banksters to sell $100 to $1,000 worth of debt for every $1 of debt on hand.

And they made billions upon billions selling hundreds of trillions worth of debt --- then want to blame the rest of us, while claiming no one is really at fault.

[Strider52]

In my neck of the woods, there are 2 hopeless (and mostly homeless) losers, that found out about student loans. They both got loans, now they kind-of show up at school, just enough to keep getting the checks, but buy bottle after bottle, get drunk (and stoned if they can), and while waiting for the next check, mooch off their friends. These guys can't afford to pay attention, but they get free booze from their student loans.

[mjk0259]

How is it free? They have to pay back the loans with interest and if they are not going to school, they would not be eligible for loans the next semester. It would be easier to get free liquor with credit cards and not pay them. A 30 pack of beer costs $15 - 5$/day to be drunk, probably cheaper with hard liquor. Hardly requires the trouble of registering for college.

[TheMerryPrankster]

Apparently they're taking classes in finance and drinking with the hope of learning how to drink cheaper in the future. What is the price of a six pack of shit beer when it has 30 years of compound interest added on to it?

They getting Miller High Life drunk, but paying Louis Roederer Cristal prices.

They ain't there for the edumacation, theys there to socialize.

[Ronaldo]

This sure did help fund the teacher's unions, pensions, tenure, and the business of American Education. 

Good job politicians, you just earned enough money through your political and business connections and were able to brain wash American children and their parents.  Then you got to bury an entire generation in so much debt they will be paying it off forever, and it was popular, so you got re-elected at the same time.  It is a TWO-FER!!

Manufacturing jobs are still left waiting for immigrants to fill so we can actually produce something.  Our kids are broke and sitting in a park on their Iphone that the loan paid for.

Stupid kids and parents!  You believed it, now deal with your mess. 

[pitz]

Those manufacturing jobs don't even give Americans, even ones with the requisite engineering degrees, the 'time of day', and the salaries the manufacturers want to pay are not competitive.  They're not 'waiting for immigrants' by any stretch of the imagination.

[Ronaldo]

Pays more than McDonalds or sitting in a park.  An unnemployed recipient of a degree is still unnemployed.

[pitz]

Why would any degree holder give their labour away for so little when the government is paying banksters and public 'servants' so much? 

[Ronaldo]

Because maybe a person without a degree can do as good of a job as they can.  Their degree does not have the value that the educational system and the degree holder believe it does.

Give their labor away???  What the hell?  So instead they suck off of society and those that do actually work.  Pathetic!

They don't have skills that businesses need or else they would have a job, they are not labor, they are wasting oxygen!  Never in time did a person set their own worth based upon a piece of paper they got. The value of labor is set by the product that can be sold for a value that others will pay for it.  Basically their education is not worth employing at a wage they want.  So they stay unemployed.  I just hope we stop providing them money to sit and suck off of those that do work for less than they might think they are worth as well. 

Educated trash.

[pitz]

Why do guys like you talk about the 'value of labour', but then think its all right that your tax dollars used to pay massively inflated 'values of labour' to a certain priviledged group?

The more people that stop working, the quicker the system collapses and is rebuilt on principles that are more equitable, and recognize the value of work, rather than just being another typical government-supported leech.

Most grads have skills that businesses need; the businesses themselves just don't realize that they need the skills. 

[Ronaldo]

Lol, dumb business owners I guess, Peace Out Dude!  Have fun waiting for the revolution!

[Hansel]

As an example of the 'value of labor', an order came in at 7 am a few days ago into one of the triple leveraged etfs for 4 million shares.  The order crossed the market $4 and sat there for a few minutes.  One guy I know made over a million on that one trade, another 700 thou, another 110 thou.  Work doesn't correlate with financial success.  Easy, large returns in financial assets is also a reason why no one is hiring employees.

[pitz]

Well the dude probably put $100M+ at risk on such a trade.  I don't have a problem with stock traders or stock owners, which, on average, don't even beat the index, making a bit of money from time to time (how many days have your triple-leveraged ETF friends been on the wrong side of the trade....and why the fuck aren't they using futures instead of those awful leveraged ETF products???).  What I do have a problem with is that the US 30-year bonds, lending to the government, so-called "risk-free" instruments, have had returns far exceeding that of business, over the past 30 years.  Excess returns to government debt must be destroyed if the economy is to recover.  Supporting government debt, rather than letting it/forcing it into collapse in price, is prolonging the injustice. 

[Hansel]

He didn't put any of his money at risk.  Like all great traders, he trades other peoples' money highly leveraged.  Second, you seemed to overlook that this was a cross.  It was $4 of free money on 4,000,000 shares.  The guy never loses that much because he mostly trades the easy free shit, which is rare but does happen.  Rewarding a guy for clicking the right sequence of buttons one morning for what others spend their entire lives making is fucked up.

I'll generally agree with your second point.

[Taint Boil]

There is some video on YouTube with Bush signing the bill/law that made the debt un-dismissible. If my memory serves me correct there was a line of bankster backed scum behind him and they ALL had a smirk on their faces including Bush.

I know one case of a $25,000 student loan turning into a $250,000 debt once the collection agency got their shit hooks into it and added all their “fees’ It is all guaranteed to be paid by the government [not 100% sure on that] and a total no risk win for the collections company.

I am trying to get the complete and documented story mentioned above and maybe one day submit it to ZeroHedge. An incredible story of a welfare single mom to lawyer then making it to be Judge. 

[krispkritter]

It would be at that point that I'd go feral and swipe the identity of some dead guy and start over, never to repeat the mistake again. Face it, once they get their 'shit hooks' in it like you say, you're pretty much fucked and no way I'm lying down for my dirt nap because of scum like that. Time to fight fire with deceit/evasion, because no one is handing you an extinguisher. Let the sucker burn...

[bankruptcylawyer]

it's funny how unrepentent bill clinton is for this change which was done by him, and the repeal of glass steagal. what a fucking asshole that guy is, he thinks he's not responsiple for the situation we are in now and pins it on bush. to boot bush put through the 2005 bankruptcy law changes . fucking A. what will obama do? make all unsecured consumer debt non-dichargeable? perhaps he will attempt to legalize pre-civil war slavery laws in offshore u.s. jurisdictions?

ofshore banking, and offshore slavery. why not?

re-diculous.

[Vampyroteuthis ...]

Yep, a debt that can not be forgiven in bankruptcy. This is a greedy banker's dream come true. Suckering in a gullible 18 year old to a lifetime of excesssive payments. How do you get in this racket?

[JPR]

DEBTORS' REVOLT - DEFAULT EN MASSE is the coming answer to this.  The momentum grows.  The predatory lending system, and this entire distortion-riddled economy, will soon collapse.  Rebuild from there, and restore *actual* capitalism, not the current predatory model. 

[Chuck Walla]

“Gold is the money of kings; silver is the money of gentlemen; barter is the money of peasants; but debt is the money of slaves."

[Antifaschistische]

"Undischargable" - but not untransferable...

advice to students - develop a platinum coated credit score, pay off your students loans with credit cards and every other form of dischargable debt - then eat the bankruptcy and vow to never borrow another cent in your life for anything.

live free..

[JPR]

And DEBTORS' REVOLT - intentional DEFAULT EN MASSE is the only solution we have left to zero-out an unfixably distorted system.  

[kappa]

The level of inequity in our schools has become so big and we all see it now. There are so many authorities responsible for this situation and the same authorities should put some effort to fix the system. School is a luxury for many youngsters with great potential, is this what we really want for our country? To avoid a student loan I had an online masters degree organizational leadership, this way I could keep a job and pay for the things I needed during study. It really was the only solution for me.

[bob_dabolina]

How many more black people can we support? 

That's the question.

Sorry for being real and hurting feelings.

[redpill]

I can support them all except the one in the White House.

[bob_dabolina]

HAHA!!!!

[john39]

maybe we better define "black"...

[bob_dabolina]

Any DNA from Africa and looking like an ape (or chimpanzee)

[Id fight Gandhi]

There's white people in south Africa.

If they moved here they could call themselves Africian American.

[bob_dabolina]

aaayyyyooooooooooooo

[afdestruction]

Mitochondrial Eve was most likely from East Africa....so everybody has some African blood if you want to get technical, guy

[fuu]

He clings to his Neanderthal blood to set him apart.

[Use of Weapons]

Smart comment that only trogs junked.

+1

[fuu]

<bow>

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/153/wordcloudbobdabolinaext.png/

[bob_dabolina]

I can get techincal. We all techincally came from frogs. That doesn't mean we are frogs. 

White people are more evolved than black people. 

Look at intelligence for example. There is proof that whites and asians are more intelligent than blacks. It's been proven.

Blacks need to be taken care of. I mean can you tell me otherwise?

Is anything I've said not accurate?

[Fukushima Sam]

Who is writing the tests? ;-)

[bob_dabolina]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_the_Wealth_of_Nations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_intelligence

That's long reading....should take at least a full day to read it all and understand it.

Take notes.

Once you've read everything take a look at the world....fuck it, take a look at the world anyway.

[Schmuck Raker]

Bobby boy...you're a moron.

[bob_dabolina]

I feel for you...not being white/asian sucks. You just don't have "it" as in a brain capable of rational thought.

...keep studying, you might get there one day.

[Schmuck Raker]

Is it rational to assume that I'm not white or asian because I called you a moron?

[bob_dabolina]

What's your purpose in responding to me? 

Do you have a point to make or what?

Or do you just want my attention?

[Schmuck Raker]

:)

[bob_dabolina]

So you wanted my attention...

Hi...I hate you, but you're probably used to that coming from your parents.

[saiybat]

Congratulations. Mongoloids are smarter than the combined white race. The only thing this proves is that you're a bigot. I.Q. tests are the product of Francis Galton, an inbred eugenicist and believe me he wanted the see the likes of you exterminated.

10  Mongolia  

[wombats]

If you are from France you most certainly are af frog.

[Use of Weapons]

. <------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's you missing the modern world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYU_WeAW8QA Hint: Africa is bigger than the US, and has a lot more to it than mud huts, malaria and poverty. Kinda like using Gary, Indiana as an example of 'wut US is raly like, kk?'

Oh - and your IQ ain't looking so shiny here, and there's a hot bed of sharky predators who use this site. Top tip: don't let them give you any investing advice, esp. if they're taking your money. You'll end up gang-banged faster than a black woman serving whites in a cotton plantation. (Wait - you miss that bit of history?)

[Ponzi Unit]

Then the joos will take of you, Bob.

[tmosley]

You can't be more or less "evolved", dumb shit.  

There is "proof" that English are more intelligent than Irish, but their bloodlines are hardly any different.  It's a matter of socio-economics, which is clearly a subject that is above your head.  Hell, Arabs and Jews have almost exactly the same blood.  But there is a very real and clear difference between IQs in the two populations, simply because one is dirt poor and places reletively little cultural value on education, while the the other is rich, and places huge emphasis on knowledge and education starting at a young age.

Perhaps you should and Trav should start a White Pity Party.

[bob_dabolina]

We would be too successful....we would have protesters all up in our business complaining about how successful we were. 

We would be sued and investigated for being overly successful.

*infinite volatility forever and ever; silver @ $0 but also at forever and ever.

Have you come up with any price targets yet? It's only been a year of you talking shit.

[fuu]

You're so brown bobby.

[bob_dabolina]

You know what you are? You're that fuckin' thing stuck to my dingleberry. It's like that piece of hair....you know what I'm talking about.

There's no purpose for it but it's an irritant none the less.

[fuu]

I have no idea wtf you are talking about really. Glad to know I am returning the favor though.

[bob_dabolina]

Do you get paid by the hour for that kind of originality?

[Mr Kurtz]

Here is some free sartorial and literary advice, mein herr. A gentlemen always tucks is brown shirt into his trousers when coming on this site and leaves any writings of Houston Chamberlain and Arthur de Gobineau back where he found them...on the outhouse floor.

[tmosley]

Yeah, because weak little whiners like you who go on and on about race are all highly successful individuals who have much more important things to do.

LOL

[bob_dabolina]

Nice one!

How bout' that silver call by December? Ya know....price and shit

edit: 

didn't think so....never talk shit again you fuckin' pussy. 

* I have this saved that you won't make a call*

[Alvaro de Esteban]

As all europeans and have DNA that comes from Africa  ( well, I know that  supremacists are trying to play the Mesopotamian option, so they prefer to be Adhmadinejad cousins) we have only left the ape looking. So, i.e., who resembles more an ape, Sarah Palin or Halle Berry?

[Ronaldo]

Halle Berry is so hot!

[GrinandBearit]

Don't forget... Halle's momma is white.

The blend (more often than not) does create some lovely creatures.

[fonestar]

Kelis is even hotter though

[bob_dabolina]

What? You're obviously black.

[Audit the beaver]

Sarah Palin

Michelle Obama

This is the right comparison.  Now given those two options who would you fuck?  Fiesty hockey mom with a fat ass, or a WNBA power forward with an iron jaw?

[john39]

the smart bet is that michelle would do you.

[SilverRhino]

Sarah Palin has a fat ass????   Think I'll take that over your Wookie WNBA power forward with the butt two axe handles wide and teeth that look like she could bite the Terminator's dick off.

[tmosley]

I like how you are so stupid that you think that the only reason anyone would disagree with you is because they are black.

Funny, because that puts a lot of blacks as avid readers of a high level economics blog, which creates a contradiction in your thesis.

[bob_dabolina]

Funny...what's that silver prediction?

$49?

[fonestar]

Haha... even all of the white supremacists have gone multicultural.  Now accepting irishmen, slavs, croats, bulgars, etc, etc.....

[Chuck Walla]

After 50 years and 1 trillion dollars for the War on Poverty, why is it there any left that need support?

[LawsofPhysics]

Well its nice to have a fraud that we can "all agree on".  Nice.

[redpill]

"Fraud you can believe in" is the preferred terminology, Dude.

[economicfreefall]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqLfwyCTIyc&feature=player_embedded

[kaicayman]

I though part of the whole college experience was getting into debt and learning how to stay there. <sarc off>

[krispkritter]

You get a degree in 'Debt Slavery 101' before you even take the first class... These days it's enough that I pay for Public Schools that are f'ing worthless in my opinion. Kids are graded by Satisfactory, 'Needs Improvement', Unsatisfactory. I had A-F and if I got F's my ass was red for at least a day. Wouldn't want to hurt the feelings of the failing kids nowadays...and in my experience, the first year of college is a re-hash of crap they have in HS.

[Chuck Walla]

Don't for get those Dream Acts! You get to pay your kids tuition AND the tuition of his illegal competition so the illegal can train for jobs he cannot legally hold in the United States.

[buzzsaw99]

Fools.

[Bansters-in-my-...]

Don't worry...

The USAGovt will pick up the tab with Libya's gold.

I hear the fucking Killer Terrosist USAGovt got thier man.\

Seems NOT using the Federal Reserve banking system is harmful to your health.

Fucking TERRORIST

[redpill]

They are going to find those filthy terrorists in Tennessee too.  Thank god for the DHS and TSA.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/15725035/officials-claim-tennessee-becomes-first-state-to-deploy-vipr-statewide

[Lndmvr]

My little town in Iowa has decided that if you show a gun then they can determine you are going to use it. And we have open carry law here. We're all terrorists.

[Use of Weapons]

Libya's gold is being used to under-write the ESFTBO rescue plan, and as such is not available.

[1835jackson]

What future do our kids have...such a fricking shame

[john39]

that depends entirely on what we do, here and now.

[Rainman]

The growing defaults will lead to a massive underground economy of cash and barter to avoid garnishments. There will be no other choice for most in the high double-digits of debt...assuming they don't hit the Powerball jackpot. 

[XitSam]

That's a good idea.  Powerball jackpots for everyone! 

[Henry Chinaski]

Pawns pawned and pwned.

[Manthong]

If they got their degree, they could become military officers.

We'll need more for the Iranian Expeditionary Forces.

[zerotosixty]

Not to mention those of us who went back to school later in life to improve our skills to get a better job.  This isn't only a problem for America's youth.

[alphabrew]

Gee, $60,000 for a worthless liberal arts degree seemed like a great idea at the time.  And how many politicians say the way out of our current economic mess is MORE education.  Effing morons.  I guess you can't see the bubble you're in.

[Pool Shark]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiRGRvE_Wqg

[rambler6421]

That's Keynesianism for ya.

[redpill]

Well it wouldn't be a problem, RAMBLER, if those fucking Martians would hurry up and invade.  I for one welcome our new interstellar overlords.

[Texas Ginslinger]

Last week at livestream/globalrevolution OWS supporters were suggesting that corporations be taken down. 

I pointed out to that media giant Gannett (owns USA Today) funded Livestream with 10 million dollars, the very same web site where he was suggesting they be brought down.

Guy called me a liar.  Maybe its USA Today's reporting on student debt that chapped his ass..??

[mfoste1]

banks that hold this debt are fucked too. Cut checks to graduates to satisfy the debt=problem solved efficiently. On the other hand they could let all the loans default then go through lengthy costly processes to pursue the debt, along with bank bailouts. How can you make someone pay that cant get a job?  Lets not forget the increased disposable income that hundreds of thousands of students will have if they didnt have debt. bailing out graduates instead of banks would actually help the economy. One way or another, someone has to be bailed out of this situation.

[john39]

most of this is federally backed debt....  and as such, the bankers don't give a shit if you default.

[James-Morrison]

It's easy to default.  Put the student loan balance on a credit card.  Stop paying.   

[Rainman]

...damn clever I say, an AmEx Platinum would gitterdone.

[john39]

you would be fighting that lawsuit for awhile.  besides, how many of these kids qualify for a $60k credit card (or more for grad school)?

[James-Morrison]

It takes a village.

[shutdown]

Very few freshly graduated university graduates would qualify for a $60,000 or $100,000 credit card limit.  

But most would qualify for many cards with $3,000, $5,000 or $10,000 balances. All they have to do is max 'em all out at once, pay off the annoying student loans, and BAM! Default on all of 'em! Brilliant! I'll spread the news ... 

[jesse livermoore]

the debt is backstopped by the U.S. government.  People that default are in for a big surprize when there social security is conficated.

[mfoste1]

ive already written my soc security off like it never existed...........

[john39]

well, that just might be the ONLY way that young people get a benefit out of social security.

[Lets Eat Grandma]

I was saying the other day that I would gladly contribute my Social Security toward my student loan debt (which, to be honest, is much lower than it could be for a 4 year degree at a private school and another 6 for a Master's and PhD that I'm currently working on). I've worked since I was 15 and it would mostly cover what I have left in debt. It has got to be a win-win for everyone. I mean, the govt knows they're not going to get repaid for a substantial portion of student loan debt, and we know we'll never actually see our SS. Let's write it all off and call it even.

The problem is that most of the people calling for student loan forgiveness probably haven't worked enough to accrue enough SS at this point that it would even dent their student loan debts. 

[wombats]

How does bailing out an unemployeed moron with a useless liberal arts degree help society?  That deadbeat isn't paying taxes or working anyhow.  It merely is an example of why college is certainly not beneficial for everyone.

Why should that deadbeat get a bailout?  Even when employeed they cry a river over the fact that they have to spend money repaying the loan.  Nobody forced them to take those loans.  Nobody forced them to go to overpriced schools when less expensive public in-state colleges would have been fine.

I suspect that a high percentage of the deadbeats never really intended to repay in the first place...just wanted "free" handouts. 

The gov't and lenders would do the (current) college kids and high-schoolers a huge service by publicizing the fact that these loans are not free handouts and strongly emphasize that the borrowers will be held accountable.

Some of the borrowers in the subprime mess really were victims of predatory lending and fraud preying on naiive unsophistic home buyers.  I feel sorry for those that were taken advantage of.  In this case the borrowers are sophisticated, calculating and fully aware that they are trying to game the system.

Maybe it is time to bring back the concept of debtor's prison too.

[mfoste1]

whats the difference between bailing out an "unemployed moron" who cant get a job because politicians, the fed, and wallst have destroyed the labor markets, and bailing out those very ones who destroyed it? you should really think before posting......get a fucking clue

[wombats]

I do not believe that I said to bailout wall street or anyone else.  Learn to read.

[mfoste1]

If mass defaults occur, someone has to be bailed out. thats a certainty.....most likely will be banks. Any I really dont see how you can make such a generalized assumption as "a high percentage of these deadbeats never intended to pay in the first place". This is bullshit. You have no evidence for this claim.

[Bob Sacamano]

No - someone does not have to be bailed out.  The loan parties need to face the consequences of their actions.  Don't care what each loan party intended when they each signed the loan agreement -- let the loan parties deal with it on their own.

For capitalism to survive, failure must be allowed to run its painful course (understanding lots of folks not in favor of capitalism).   End all bailouts -- individuals or corporations.  

[e-recep]

WTF is a bailout?? WTF is chapter 11 protection?? Whom do you protect from whom?? If it is free market, let things happen, let companies fail, let banks be run, let depositors be fried.

No, this is not free market what we have today. This is capitalism, where money can buy anything and everything, even government officials and regulators.

[Restcase]

Occupy academia. Seize all endowment funds - use to liquidate student loans. Cap tuitions in any school receiving federal funds. Limit administrators to 3x lowest paid worker. Reimburse tuition of unemployed graduates. Professors to work in cafeteria two days per week to reduce hiring non-essential staff. Ban autos at colleges, sell off parking lots. Convert chapels to piecework sweatshops where students can earn pocket change while praying for better days.

You see, anyone can play the "occupy' game.

[pitz]

Seize all endowment funds -- sounds good.  Actually, I would force the schools with endowment funds to 100% invest them in student loans, and cut off government loans.  If Harvard and Stanford produce grads that are so great in the workforce, then putting their money where their mouths are may actually provide a greater return than in more traditional assets.

[fonestar]

I got a student loan here in Canada.  Don't care about paying it back too much...

I don't have any credit cards and don't want any either.  Actually maybe I will try and apply for 100 credit cards all at once just as a joke.  I don't care about my credit rating as that credit system won't exist in five years.

[GrinandBearit]

Don't care?, then you might as well get all the credit cards you can and rack em up, then claim bankruptcy.  Play their game, then fuck them.

[Ronaldo]

Get two hundred cards and share half of the money with ME, ME, ME!  Then go bankrupt and forget we ever met.  I will then give you half of the money back, um no really I will......

[False Capital]

I have one in the UK. Don't care about paying it back either. I live in the US and I doubt I'll ever move back there. The interest rate is below the rate of inflation, so I figure it's paying itself off in my absence.

No credit cards in the US too. In fact I apply for them regularly because I know I'll get rejected. I enjoy having BofA, Chase, etc waste their cash posting rejection letters. Helps keep my debt slave (credit) rating down too.

[Quantitative_Ap...]

No sweat kids, borrow all you want!  We'll hit the wall soon so we may as well step on the gas. You never know we might just break on through to the other side!

[Use of Weapons]

#trending J. Morrison

Sang 'This is the End' in a disused road tunnel recently - apart from the trolls giving harmony, was a beautiful moment.

[JustObserving]

You should be able to get an internet degree from the comfort of your home at one-tenth the cost of a normal degree, if not cheaper.  And then add skills as needed throughout your life.  Of course, Wall Street and its vampire squids will not be sucking your blood for the rest of your life.  There is a downside to every solution.

[buzzsaw99]

credentialism = authoritarianism.

i should be able to take a company/gubbermint test. if i score well i should get the job. the system isn't looking for those kind of qualifications, the system wants to know how much ass you will kiss and how much shit you are willing to eat along the way.

[topcallingtroll]

I am going to try to find the time to volunteer at the university of the people.

I am sick of this assembly line university system we have. UoP cannot be any worse. If anything it would have more serious students who are there actually to learn.

[Bob Sacamano]

Excellent -- more victims to care for.   No one could reasonably expect a borrower to not to take out a loan that is being offered to them.  Lenders were duped into biting at the incentives government dangled to make these loans.  

Zero borrower responsibility; 100% lender responsibility.  Borrowers were duped, had no idea what they were signing, thought they would have a good job upon graduation, can not be held even 50% responsible. 

Let's let lenders and borrowers work this out on their own with no help from taxpayers.  It will be painful for both, but that's the way it should be. 

[krispkritter]

I'd raid the kids college fund, make sure they have a computer and internet access to go to http://www.uopeople.org/ or wherever, let them travel as they feel the need to, and buy PM's to hold for their 'future'. Better than sinking a house into a worthless sheet of paper...

[Yellowhoard]

These kids will be able to pay back their loans easily. If they can't find jobs here in the US, they'll get high paying jobs in China or Germany. The world is in desparate need of Womens Studies and Black History Majors. Think of all of the lucrative Anthropology contracts being handed our to Anthropology majors around the world. And, sociologists? We're chock full of em.

[Yellowhoard]

These kids will be able to pay back their loans easily. If they can't find jobs here in the US, they'll get high paying jobs in China or Germany. The world is in desparate need of Womens Studies and Black History Majors. Think of all of the lucrative Anthropology contracts being handed our to Anthropology majors around the world. And, sociologists? We're chock full of em.

[madmike117]

I guess this is primarily a response to the fact that middle class familes aren't making windfall profits from the stock market, their savings has been wiped out trying to save their homes, etc. It's going to be wonderful when the bottom falls out of the entire economy. We'll have thousands of highly educated zombie marxists wandering the suburbs begging for change to try and pay down the trillion dollars they've piled up for useless indoctrination. I shall not weep for thee.

[James-Morrison]

I'm going back to school.  Jubilee is around the corner. 

[Belarus]

In the Great Depression, many households had 8-10 people living under one roof. In this Depression, there will be houses that seem like a perptual Dorm Parties, where hot do-eds come and go, and young males are frothing drunk. This bodes well for panty sales, beer consumption, and liability insurance....

[topcallingtroll]

Dont worry students.

President Hillary Clinton will declare a student loan bailout.

All of you who are current on your loan payments need not apply.

[mfoste1]

id like to think that, i highly doubt a jubilee will happen ever.......

[in-Credible Banker]

And oh - the other side of the trade is - tuition rates increasing at unsustainable amounts per annum.  A bit like housing prices right?  They never go down?  Same is the case here.  Tuition rates never go down....till they do.

I hope the crash comes before my two enter university....