Economics, fam
Economics, my friends: Supply and demand are the basics.
Conservatives tend to use economists as their backups to support any fiscal decision they want to make. My caveat here is that a lot of conservative policy is good for markets and eventually good for people, but at first, if say, cutting entitlements or other financial support for the disadvantaged, it really isn't that nice at all. Perhaps I'll write on that next - but if you need some reassurance about sanity in the world, please read this article.
However, supply and demand, and the reason I'm typing this morning, very nearly before breakfast: supply follows demand, not the other way around. And if supply cannot follow demand, then prices follow demand.
I'm currently reading Disinherited: How Washington is Betraying America's Young, by Diana Furchtgott-Roth and Jared Meyer. I agree with much of what it says - and so far I've read Part I, which discusses Obamacare, as well as Chapter 3 on primary and secondary school, and now I am diving into Chapter 4, on college debt.
Some way, some how, nearly everyone is convinced the only way to be successful is to attend a four-year university. Near the same time, Washington provides FAFSA and loans and Pell grants, etc.
Here's economics, fam: demand is rising. Therefore, either the supply has to go up, to increase competition and lower prices, or prices will simply go up. However, most college-going individuals, if they take out loans, don't feel the weight of the cost immediately, so demand goes up where it should go down.
My thoughts, scrambled:
1. How can financial planning education be incorporated into our primary and secondary schools which is not sponsored by local banks, who are in the business of selling people debt;
2. In what ways can we encourage the next generation to choose the schooling that is right for them, whether trade school, community college, or a four-year degree that doesn't cost them a fortune;
3. Can of worms: why are many of those who choose to attend a four-year school still un- or under-employed? Could it be that the curriculum at those schools is not what employers are looking for? The chief engineer on the team I am interning with loosely made a point that the most valuable pre-hiring work experience (for engineers, at least) comes from internships and co-ops. Should we consider that a problem?
Conservatives tend to use economists as their backups to support any fiscal decision they want to make. My caveat here is that a lot of conservative policy is good for markets and eventually good for people, but at first, if say, cutting entitlements or other financial support for the disadvantaged, it really isn't that nice at all. Perhaps I'll write on that next - but if you need some reassurance about sanity in the world, please read this article.
However, supply and demand, and the reason I'm typing this morning, very nearly before breakfast: supply follows demand, not the other way around. And if supply cannot follow demand, then prices follow demand.
I'm currently reading Disinherited: How Washington is Betraying America's Young, by Diana Furchtgott-Roth and Jared Meyer. I agree with much of what it says - and so far I've read Part I, which discusses Obamacare, as well as Chapter 3 on primary and secondary school, and now I am diving into Chapter 4, on college debt.
Some way, some how, nearly everyone is convinced the only way to be successful is to attend a four-year university. Near the same time, Washington provides FAFSA and loans and Pell grants, etc.
Here's economics, fam: demand is rising. Therefore, either the supply has to go up, to increase competition and lower prices, or prices will simply go up. However, most college-going individuals, if they take out loans, don't feel the weight of the cost immediately, so demand goes up where it should go down.
My thoughts, scrambled:
1. How can financial planning education be incorporated into our primary and secondary schools which is not sponsored by local banks, who are in the business of selling people debt;
2. In what ways can we encourage the next generation to choose the schooling that is right for them, whether trade school, community college, or a four-year degree that doesn't cost them a fortune;
3. Can of worms: why are many of those who choose to attend a four-year school still un- or under-employed? Could it be that the curriculum at those schools is not what employers are looking for? The chief engineer on the team I am interning with loosely made a point that the most valuable pre-hiring work experience (for engineers, at least) comes from internships and co-ops. Should we consider that a problem?
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