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  • #16
    Originally posted by Albany Rifles View Post
    So again, it is arguing over who gets the creedit and money.

    One Congressman's pork is another's vitally needed project to improve (insert KEY PROJECT here!)

    Saw a report on Sunday in the Richmond paper that would have been making laugh if it wasn't so sad.

    The DEPT of STATE is funding the construction and expansion of a Diplomatic Security Training Center at FT Pickett in Blackstone, VA. It will pump $385 million into the economy of several Southside Virginia counties who are in dire need of help since the collapse of the entire textile industry. The paper was full of quotes from two members of the Virginia House about how this federal PROGRAM would help LOCALleaders grow VIRGINIA jobs.

    Yet these same 2 worthies are fighting tooth and nail against the Medicaid expansion under the ACA which will be funded with Federal dollars because it FEDERAL dollars are bad. Never mind the that plan is a Repuiblican Senators plan backed by the Virginia business community. It has its issues, sure. But meanwhile tens of thousands continue withour healthcare.....many in the very districts these 2 represent.

    Buck, this Medicare thing in Virginia portends badly for the state on several levels. Taking the Federal subsidy means accepting conditions which could place a large tax burden on the state. The subsidy is ok for year one, two and three, but after that it falls, and how far is totally up to the Feds. And taking it means adopting care standards determined by the Fed. Couple a shrinking subsidy with expanded services and future inflation and you could be looking at huge and rising costs to the state which will lead to either cut backs in other parts of the state budget or increased taxes.

    This isn't about whether Federal dollars are bad, but the fine print that comes with some of them. Gaining a federal facility in some remote county has a positive economic impact, whereas signing on to federal grant program can have a negative economic impact because of the conditions they impose on the state. The latter is what the state GOP is attempting to fend off. It's a fiscal conservative position which the voters are free to reject, but so long as the state house of delegates are in control of the GOP, the Medicare subsidies will be rejected, unless, of course, if the governor is able to run the state without a budget, as he has threatened to do. It might be unconstitutional, but will make for some nice headlines.
    To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

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    • #17
      Originally posted by SteveDaPirate View Post
      Unfortunately a lot of the people I went to college with are currently putting their degrees to use by serving coffee or bar tending. Not much of a return on investment there. When I graduated and realized how horrible the job market was, I stayed in school and got a Master's. Luckily I found a good and interesting job, but much of my peer group is severely underemployed despite a college degree and general competence.

      I think that a lot of the challenge for young adults looking for work has to do with the baby boomers not retiring. When the markets crashed, a lot of people lost big chunks of their savings, and as a result they are staying in the workforce longer than they anticipated. In addition to the private sector's slow hiring, the sequester and draw down of military forces, means the public sector isn't bringing in much new talent either.

      I expect the situation to improve when the baby boomers all retire in a few years. Yet, when that occurs, companies may not be able to fill all the recently vacated positions with qualified people, as a fair percentage of my peers have dropped out of the workforce entirely.

      I have a theory that a college degree becomes less significant as the number of people who have them grows. Employers in my day had enough positions to absorb most college grads. That's no longer true, as you've seen. It's no longer simply a byproduct of down economic times. It's a glut exacerbated by the prevalence of easy majors, like communications and social studies.

      Back in the day, a high school diploma was a bid deal and a college degree a really big deal. As the number of college grads grew, they took the jobs previously given to high school grads. Now almost everyone has a high school diploma, which is practically meaningless because standards have slipped so badly, and many have college degrees, which is becoming meaningless because they too have slipped in terms of standards.

      Now the new thing to have is a masters because that signifies that the holder can read and write, analyze and make judgements (the old expectation for college grads). In time, it too may become debased.
      To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

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      • #18
        JAD,

        I have a theory that a college degree becomes less significant as the number of people who have them grows. Employers in my day had enough positions to absorb most college grads. That's no longer true, as you've seen. It's no longer simply a byproduct of down economic times. It's a glut exacerbated by the prevalence of easy majors, like communications and social studies.
        yup, education inflation. this is also why college costs are spiraling out of control; it is seen as a basic MANDATORY so colleges are free to jack up the price.

        it also means a lot of people whom aren't ready for college or aren't fit for college get in, and basically spend the next 4 years getting drunk/laid/high.

        we really need to establish a more concrete apprenticeship program in the US, which obama to his credit has made some moves towards.

        also, we'll probably see a move towards companies more actively giving out knowledge tests vice checking off boxes. this has long been a staple of silicon valley companies.
        There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

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        • #19
          Originally posted by astralis View Post
          JAD,



          yup, education inflation. this is also why college costs are spiraling out of control; it is seen as a basic MANDATORY so colleges are free to jack up the price.

          it also means a lot of people whom aren't ready for college or aren't fit for college get in, and basically spend the next 4 years getting drunk/laid/high.

          we really need to establish a more concrete apprenticeship program in the US, which obama to his credit has made some moves towards.

          also, we'll probably see a move towards companies more actively giving out knowledge tests vice checking off boxes. this has long been a staple of silicon valley companies.

          Funny, I was going to use the same term, 'education inflation' and then decided it was hard to draw an analogy to explain it. You did it.

          One problem we have in this country is a softness toward people's feelings that causes us to bestow awards where they are not earned. You may have heard me grouse about my son's soccer league where every player on every team got the exact same trophy. When I asked why, one of the organizer's told me they didn't want any kid to feel bad because his team lost. Well, hell, that's exactly what we ought to feel when we lose. The same thing goes in education; if you can barely read, write like a 1st grader, and don't know France is in Europe, you don't deserve a high school diploma and you sure as hell shouldn't be accepted into a college. Diplomas are for many just hollow achievements with little behind them, and it's getting worse.

          Glad we agree on something. :)
          To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

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          • #20
            JAD,

            I guess this is where you and I fundamentally disagree.

            This is a Republican program. This is what was proposed to counter the Dems in 1993/1994

            I fear it will cost us more in the long run.

            But you and I can agree to disagree.

            What I cannot abide is the sheer hyprocrisy of those and others like them. Never once did they acknowledge that dollars from elsewhere in the country are coming to help their slice of Southside Virginia. And none of these jobs are generated because of great local businessmen.

            It is pork. Period.

            It may be needed pork but it is pork none the less.

            And I'd rather have my tax dollars pay for folks to be covered on Medicaid. And I will tell who else wants to see it too...all of the hospitals in Virginia who are drowning in red ink for having to be the primary care provider for the indegent. I hear this from my wife on a daily basis.
            “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
            Mark Twain

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            • #21
              On this subject, I would recommend "The Great Stagnation" and "Average is Over." These are short e-books written by econ professor Tyler Cowen, who is the co-author of Marginal Revolution. Marginal REVOLUTION

              This might explain why the US economy is generating sub-par results for a lot of college graduates. The idea is that the Industrial Revolution has fully matured and all the easy innovation opportunites are over, which has created stagnant incomes. There are green shoots of another revolution, the IT Revolution, but that requires a different skill-set, and there's a lot of winner-take-all features that punish middle-of-the-roaders. Gotta up your game or suffer (hence "average is over:.")

              The reason I suggest those is not because they are correct, but because it shifts the conversation to structural changes in the economy.
              "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck

              Comment


              • #22
                Originally posted by Albany Rifles View Post
                JAD,

                I guess this is where you and I fundamentally disagree.

                This is a Republican program. This is what was proposed to counter the Dems in 1993/1994

                I fear it will cost us more in the long run.

                But you and I can agree to disagree.

                What I cannot abide is the sheer hyprocrisy of those and others like them. Never once did they acknowledge that dollars from elsewhere in the country are coming to help their slice of Southside Virginia. And none of these jobs are generated because of great local businessmen.

                It is pork. Period.

                It may be needed pork but it is pork none the less.

                And I'd rather have my tax dollars pay for folks to be covered on Medicaid. And I will tell who else wants to see it too...all of the hospitals in Virginia who are drowning in red ink for having to be the primary care provider for the indegent. I hear this from my wife on a daily basis.

                We don't disagree on the need to get care to people who can't afford it. The question is how.

                The ACA did indeed grow out of a 10-year old Republican-backed idea advanced by a conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation. The idea was put forth long before the recent economic crisis and the original plan did not include many of the measures that ended up in the bill which became the ACA or Obamacare. Only a few core features, such as basing it on private insurance, survived from the Heritage plan, and even that plan would have had rough sailing in Congress. Romney-care is working in Mass largely because it was adapted to the state. A Federally operated plan is one-size fit all. And over-arching everything, there is that basic conservative reluctance to expand Fed powers. I agree, it will cost us more in the long run--no matter how we do it, single payer or otherwise.

                Don't know what to say about the Southside pork. You could ask our dem senators. They voted for it.

                Agree to disagree.
                To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

                Comment


                • #23
                  Originally posted by Albany Rifles View Post
                  So looking around at how trashed our infrastructure is how much should we plow into that?

                  Would public debt to pay for rebuilding infrastructure, which brings a lot of well paying construction jobs into the economy...how will that help?
                  Think of it this way: When money (interest rates) is this cheap, the return on investment sky rockets. In the case of infrastructure – new or rebuilt – the investment will have to be made someday. So, in order to save billions in interest payments at some future date, the common sense thing to do when unemployment is uncomfortably high (but falling) and money is ridiculously cheap is to issue 30+ year T-bills and “build, Baby, build!”
                  Trust me?
                  I'm an economist!

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                  • #24
                    While I agree, hurdle rates aren't based just on capital costs.
                    "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Sorry for the double-post, but my work browser does not use the edit function correctly.
                      Marginal Revolution actually had an interesting post on performance of the US vs. Canadian economy today:
                      Stephen Williamson on the United States, and Canada
                      Essentially, Canada, which should look remarkably similar to the US, doesn't: there's economic shifts going on that go beyond watering down college standards or everyone going to college. There is a global economy that is exposing Americans to competition, which has increased somewhat the unemployment and underemployment rate for recent college graduates, that does not apply to the energy-booming Canadian economy.
                      The US economy simply isn't dynamic enough to soak up these graduates. That's additionally damaged by the credit crisis and the aggregate demand short-fall, but there's a supply side issue at work, too. I expect this temper somewhat, as China slows down and enters a middle income trap, and India won't replace China.
                      "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        The US Consumer Price Index rose just under 2% year-on-year in April, the 18th month in a row below that level.
                        That’s the longest period of low inflation since 1958-66.
                        Trust me?
                        I'm an economist!

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Originally posted by DOR View Post
                          The US Consumer Price Index rose just under 2% year-on-year in April, the 18th month in a row below that level.
                          That’s the longest period of low inflation since 1958-66.
                          Great number for the macro people, but from my micro standpoint prices are rising faster than 2% a year, especially for food, building materials and anything made of metal or petroleum byproducts. Nickle is down, copper is down...maybe there's hope for some relief...
                          To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

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                          • #28
                            and we can thank Putin for driving investors away from Russia to the US, making our borrowing costs even lower:

                            http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/16/up...mir-putin.html
                            There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Originally posted by astralis View Post
                              and we can thank Putin for driving investors away from Russia to the US, making our borrowing costs even lower:

                              http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/16/up...mir-putin.html
                              Asty:

                              How long will that last? I think we're on the downhill side of this bickering over Ukraine...it'll be a bumpy ride, but where else can it go now, assuming the captains of the ships don't pull a Captain Queeq.
                              To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                JAD,

                                How long will that last? I think we're on the downhill side of this bickering over Ukraine...it'll be a bumpy ride, but where else can it go now, assuming the captains of the ships don't pull a Captain Queeq.
                                i'd say at least for the medium-term, even assuming a best case scenario. Putin just demonstrated that he's more than willing to sacrifice economic interest for short-term gain.
                                There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                                Comment

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