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Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans

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Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans

#251

Post by ultraluminous »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #226
fineng123 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moral hazard is just a price you pay for stability. It's impossible to avoid. You need a middle ground where if you do something really stupid you're still punished but if you're "still dancing" like everyone else (Chuck Prince, 2007) then you aren't completely hosed. When I used to be a banker, I remember plenty of times where others would make bids on a deal that we couldn't come close to as a small player without…

I don't see why financial organizations need a middle ground. It doesn't seem like our society (USA) wants to give individuals a middle ground so that they're not completely hosed, why should the rich have one?

Though I agree with you that bankers should face many many more personal repercussions to engaging in improper risk management, but stabilizing banks is not about bailing the rich. The financial system holds not only main street's deposits, but also future paychecks, loan re-payments, home mortgages and, well, basically anything to do with money. When that system stops working the world stops turning, so to speak. On a certain day in 2007 Ford Motors didn't know whether they would be able to make payroll the next day, because the inter-bank money market has completely dried up. That's what bailing banks is about. Though again I agree in principal - bank shareholders, executives and board members (or partners) should've paid a much much higher personal price during all this.

Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans

#252

Post by ridgeguy »

buf wrote: post #166
vminkov wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come to Eastern Europe, your student loan money is enough for a whole new life here. P.s. honestly, I don't understand how ppl who are so hoplessly indebted are not migrating here. Bulgaria offers very cheap life with the opportunity of doing business with the EU and the US. Why work 24/7 when you can enjoy a good life in a place where the local people and economy need a foreigner to lead them in the business and glo…

This. I "retired" to Bulgaria last year for 6 months and lived lavishly: restaurants, beach/mountain vacations, travel, shows, massive apartment, etc and found that my cost of living was 1/10th what I paid in San Francisco for less than half the luxury. I'm only back in the US now for a limited time. I've done the math and found that I need a few more years of work to live in Bulgaria full-time for the rest of my lif…

Curious about how it's worked for you. Why did you pick Bulgaria? How serious have you found language and cultural barriers to be? As an American (my assumption), how hard was it to open a bank account? Etc. Tnx.

Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans

#254

Post by dreamcompiler »

meritt wrote: post #225
prepend wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s an interesting perspective. What climate change factors worry you? The Midwest is one of the few regions in the US that stand to benefit from climate change. Easy/West will be worst hit.

If you think the midwest is safe, I think you should spend a bit of time reading about the Ogalla aquifer.

Water is going to be the most immediate problem facing most Americans in the 21st century. For too long we've assumed fresh water would be infinitely available by simply drilling a hole in the ground. We now know that's not true. We're going to have to get very serious about rainwater harvesting, cross-country water pipelines from desalination plants on the coasts, sewage recycling, and humidity harvesting.

Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans

#255

Post by tasty_freeze »

MR4D wrote: post #245
tunesmith wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buyer beware... "pension system that likely won't be there" is a right wing frame. In reality, social security very likely WILL be there. But fostering cynicism about it is a prerequisite towards imagining it won't be, which makes it (theoretically) easier to dismantle. "Well it's in poor shape anyway, we should just blow it up..." There are good informative comments below that are being downvoted, that are about how…

Normally I don’t unload like this, but framing this as a “right-wing” thing is both stupid and dangerous. Pensions in this country have made unrealistic assumptions for years. Just google it. Here’s one for you from the Brits, so no right/left anything: https://www.ft.com/content/456172b4-6b11-11e6-ae5b-a7cc5dd5a... And here’s another: http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/dallas-county/retired-dallas-... And another: http:…

> Pensions in this country have made unrealistic assumptions for years.

Why are you talking about pensions? The subject was social security.

Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans

#256

Post by dnautics »

marshray wrote: post #189
dnautics wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's not be too harsh on the baby boomers, they were trying to create a better world for the next generation, they chose chose to do it via an unsustainable system that relies on top-down direction of the economy using inappropriate tools. Can you blame them for that? Top down worked great at things like rebuilding europe after a war (admittedly an eminently unfalsifiable task)... True, there were minority voices cl…

> they were trying to create a better world for the next generation I don't see a lot of evidence for this, except perhaps Reagan's program of deficit spending on an arms race to bankrupt the 'evil empire'. Maybe people should be forgiven for believing in the trickle-down lie once, but it's now simply a transfer of wealth scam.

Well the current neoliberal program of low or negative interest rates to stimulate economic growth and 'reinvestment' is basically trickle-down, too, just in a less direct fashion plus actively impoverishing the poor (instead of merely taking less from the rich). So it's basically still believed - just as a more obfuscated scam.

Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans

#257

Post by dreamcompiler »

SheepSlapper wrote: post #199
jfaat wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you call a millennial getting a degree not ‘personally responsible’? Disclaimer: anecdotes ahead, but I know many, many millennials who grew up hearing ‘Just get a college degree and you’ll be in good shape’ who did and aren’t, respectively. Not everyone is geared toward being an engineer or mathematician or scientist. For those who aren’t, and followed the resounding conventional wisdom to get a degree, largely g…

It depends on the degree. I'm a Millennial and got my CS degree for $15k, which was a smart investment (and make no mistakes, degrees ARE investments). At the same time I have a friend who is going into a few hundred thousand dollars worth of debt to get a PHD in History. That's not a good investment, when you look at time + money vs return. "Just get a degree" is bad advice. I know electricians that make more money…

> I know electricians that make more money than me, and work shorter hours.

I don't know what you do for a living, but I'm guessing it doesn't involve contorting yourself into a pretzel inside a hot attic and twisting wires together all day. Electricians work hard and come home sore.

Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans

#258

Post by [deleted] »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #255
MR4D wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Normally I don’t unload like this, but framing this as a “right-wing” thing is both stupid and dangerous. Pensions in this country have made unrealistic assumptions for years. Just google it. Here’s one for you from the Brits, so no right/left anything: https://www.ft.com/content/456172b4-6b11-11e6-ae5b-a7cc5dd5a... And here’s another: http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/dallas-county/retired-dallas-... And another: http:…

> Pensions in this country have made unrealistic assumptions for years. Why are you talking about pensions? The subject was social security.

[deleted]

Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans

#259

Post by [deleted] »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #255
MR4D wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Normally I don’t unload like this, but framing this as a “right-wing” thing is both stupid and dangerous. Pensions in this country have made unrealistic assumptions for years. Just google it. Here’s one for you from the Brits, so no right/left anything: https://www.ft.com/content/456172b4-6b11-11e6-ae5b-a7cc5dd5a... And here’s another: http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/dallas-county/retired-dallas-... And another: http:…

> Pensions in this country have made unrealistic assumptions for years. Why are you talking about pensions? The subject was social security.

[deleted]

Re: Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans

#260

Post by buf »

ridgeguy wrote: post #252
buf wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. I "retired" to Bulgaria last year for 6 months and lived lavishly: restaurants, beach/mountain vacations, travel, shows, massive apartment, etc and found that my cost of living was 1/10th what I paid in San Francisco for less than half the luxury. I'm only back in the US now for a limited time. I've done the math and found that I need a few more years of work to live in Bulgaria full-time for the rest of my lif…

Curious about how it's worked for you. Why did you pick Bulgaria? How serious have you found language and cultural barriers to be? As an American (my assumption), how hard was it to open a bank account? Etc. Tnx.

Wife is Bulgarian. I discovered how great it was by accident, I guess you could say.

I speak broken Bulgarian.

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