Thursday, July 08, 2010

Junkbox, Episode DDGS...

The mind wanders.


[vi mefi, mr, sullivan, FX]

    4 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    Earth stops spinning.
    I suspect the atmosphere would also compress and become the most dense at the poles.
    People would become very heavy.
    With the very long days and compressed atmosphere just how hot would he surface get?
    Could humans still live on earth?
    VADAVE

    Anonymous said...

    It should be a crime when college guidance consolers allow students to amass huge student loan debt for low paying college study programs like social work or education. These career choices are much needed and worthy pursuits. But the financial burden accumulated at “high” priced schools compared to more reasonable institution greatly diminishes the graduate’s quality of life. (The only way these students come out ahead is to get a MRS or MR degree with a high paying follow student.)

    It appears Bloomberg neglected to consider the time value of money when calculating their returns. To see the returns they are calling for, one needs to compare a high school graduate earning $14,500 per year with a college graduate earning $95,000 per year; in today’s dollars, with the college graduate’s income increasing 30% faster than the high school graduate’s (4.25% versus 3.25%) or similar relationships. When income tax estimates are deducted from both incomes, the college grad needs an income of around $135,000, in today’s dollars, to reach the return levels noted by Bloomberg. It should also be noted, most illustration, including this one, assumes the more educated and motivated college bound student would perform no better than the high school student if he/she did not receive a college degree, which maybe false.

    The point is not to belittle the value of a college education. The point is the costs are getting out of line (with no relieve is in sight) and Bloomberg maybe misrepresenting the value of a college education.

    John Phipps said...

    anon:

    Just think what college is gonna cost when state budget cuts really kick in.

    Great comment.

    Anonymous said...

    College will get more expensive and more out of reach for many people and this does not bode well for the future. We are already in a time when academics are despised, ridiculed but also envied. The fundamentalist mobs have not yet come to burn books (not many anyway) and burn down the library but I fear that is in our future. We have our violence-prone terrorist class too just like other regions of the world and there our politicians who love to egg them on. This kind of strife has torn other civilized societies apart and unless trends change it could happen here as well. When people lose their ability to think and act rationally they have lost everything.