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The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

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Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#101

Post by annabellish »

afpx wrote: post #56

Here’s a controversial perspective. Maybe most people’s expectations are too lofty, and their abilities much lower than the think they are. In 2000, less than 25% of the working popultion had a bachelors degree. Today, every young person I talk to expects to finish a Phd, JD, and MBA. And, now everyone wants to live in the trendiest (highest-cost areas). There are plenty of places in the US where a house can be purca…

What the linked article is trying to explain is that the opposite is true. It isn't that everyone wants to live in the trendiest areas, it's that they _have_ to in order to find a job that has any hope of paying off their debts fast enough for them to save up enough so that when the next huge expense comes through they can afford it... likely taking on more debt even so.

It isn't that everyone wants a degree - certainly not, given the price - but if you don't have one then you don't even have a chance of making enough savings to afford housing, healthcare, education for your children, et cetera.

People _can't_ "set their expectations a bit lower". Your options are to have no expectations, and accept that you're not going to be able to provide for your children, or to join the same rat race as everybody else and get locked into this cycle of wildly increasing prices. There isn't a middle ground for people to aim at any more.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#102

Post by pc86 »

gambiting wrote: post #12
chrisco255 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming you don't have healthcare insurance, which 90% of Americans do, it would set you back around $3000, according to: https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/considering-baby/financing...

But if I understand it correctly, for some unfathomable reason American health insurance policies usually have a deductible on them - so even if you are insured, you could still be paying few thousand dollars out of your pocket, no? That's insane.

It's much easier to have an intelligent and reasonable conversation about something if you avoid the editorializing and hyperbole by calling everything you may disagree with "unfathomable" and "insane."

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#103

Post by ahje »

gambiting wrote: post #42
TomMarius wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is absolutely not true. I am a citizen of the Czech Republic and if I stop being insured, e.g. because of changing my place of permanent residence, I'm not entitled to anything .

Then Czech Republic must be an exception in the EU - pretty much every other country that I lived in worked on the simple principle of "you are a citizen/resident = you are entitled to care". Even if you didn't make any payments ever(due to lack of a job, or being homeless or disabled for example) you would still be 100% covered.

EU citizens are able to move to another EU country are eligible for the same benefits as locals as long as they are working and paying taxes there and for X time after that (I can't remember the exact number).

In the Nordic countries that's extended quite a bit for citizens of other Nordic countries (even if the other country isn't in the EU), and I wouldn't be surprised if there are other groups of countries in the EU with their own similar agreements.

None of the above says anything about the level of welfare the individual EU countries have, however. If an EU member has a below-average welfare system then you might end up with nothing simply because you don't meet the requirements for receiving benefits.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#104

Post by VLM »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #93
mikeash wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing is stopping them, other than people not shopping medical procedures based on price, partly due to a complete lack of price transparency. Maybe you could move in and set up a maternity ward and advertise it as “only $10,000!” And then people will ask what the competition charges and you won’t be able to answer. They won’t be able to answer.

I would hope it’s common knowledge nowadays, at least amongst the educated, that you should call your insurance or check their website for in network providers. I can call mine and find out how much certain procedures or codes cost, and if it’s not an exact amount, they can usually give a pretty good estimate. Also, I would expect any service to cost 50% more in the Bay Area.

You'd do all that complicated paperwork while semi-unconscious with pain before an emergency appendectomy?

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#105

Post by falcolas »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #21
TomMarius wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It costs around the same in Europe if you don't have insurance. I'm pretty sure it's the same in the USA - this is the rate that would be charged to your insurance company. Rates are way lower for uninsured people if you ask them and tell them that you're not insured (I got a bill lowered 10 times when I broke my hand); and of course most people have some kind of insurance. To the people downvoting: please read prope…

In Denmark it costs 0, also since we're raising the next generation of payers into the tax system we get paid money quarterly (about $700 [guesstimate] for the first couple years decreasing over time, our 9 year old gets a governmental stipend of $200 per quarter [another guesstimate]) I guess what I'm trying to say as someone who lived a lot of years in the U.S - why the hell they gotta screw you so hard there? on e…

> why the hell they gotta screw you so hard there?

The same reason most things happens: Lots of short term profit, no matter the long term cost.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#106

Post by gwright »

gambiting wrote: post #12
chrisco255 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming you don't have healthcare insurance, which 90% of Americans do, it would set you back around $3000, according to: https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/considering-baby/financing...

But if I understand it correctly, for some unfathomable reason American health insurance policies usually have a deductible on them - so even if you are insured, you could still be paying few thousand dollars out of your pocket, no? That's insane.

There are lots of problems with the American health system, but the concept of a deductible for insurance isn't one of them. Insurance without deductible is really a pre-payment plan for "normal" expenses (along with its administrative overhead) wedded to a true insurance plan.

Half (or more of) the battle in these public policy discussions is coming to an agreement on terms.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#107

Post by RobertoG »

phkahler wrote: post #97

He misses what I consider a major issue. The price of college education is going up much faster than the cost of providing it. If you look at tuition vs what a professor is paid, one goes up much faster than the other. If you look at housing costs things don't add up either - renting an apartment seems to be a source of revenue for the schools. These are the obvious places the schools are making a ton of money - wher…

I don't think he is missing it, it's kind of the point of what is saying: the price is disconnected of the cost, it's a function of the money available to the customers who are, also, a captive market.

In standard economic teaching, Is not this what happens when there is a cartel acting?

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#108

Post by nerdponx »

phkahler wrote: post #97

He misses what I consider a major issue. The price of college education is going up much faster than the cost of providing it. If you look at tuition vs what a professor is paid, one goes up much faster than the other. If you look at housing costs things don't add up either - renting an apartment seems to be a source of revenue for the schools. These are the obvious places the schools are making a ton of money - wher…

These are the obvious places the schools are making a ton of money - where does it go?

This is exactly the reason why I don't donate to my alma mater, neither should most people. Less "alma mater" and more "greedy mater who funnels taxpayer money into a growing bureaucracy".

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#109

Post by nerdponx »

vermilingua wrote: post #68

I've been wondering recently if the economy has shaped to optimally exploit the most readily available and easily renewable resource available: people. There's been an explosion in computing power over the last two decades, and computing power roughly equals the ability to optimise. Has this allowed the economy, through sheer market forces, to reach an equilibrium where people are maximally exploited while still bein…

I've been wondering recently if the economy has shaped to optimally exploit the most readily available and easily renewable resource available: people.

Has not shaped of its own accord, it has been shaped. At least to some extent, this is planned, and governments are mostly complicit.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#110

Post by afpx »

annabellish wrote: post #101
afpx wrote: post #56

Here’s a controversial perspective. Maybe most people’s expectations are too lofty, and their abilities much lower than the think they are. In 2000, less than 25% of the working popultion had a bachelors degree. Today, every young person I talk to expects to finish a Phd, JD, and MBA. And, now everyone wants to live in the trendiest (highest-cost areas). There are plenty of places in the US where a house can be purca…

What the linked article is trying to explain is that the opposite is true. It isn't that everyone wants to live in the trendiest areas, it's that they _have_ to in order to find a job that has any hope of paying off their debts fast enough for them to save up enough so that when the next huge expense comes through they can afford it... likely taking on more debt even so. It isn't that everyone wants a degree - certai…

Those seem to be two very extreme options. I’m certain that there are hundreds of other options available. I mean I can think of more than a dozen just off the top of my head.

In this case, the author appears to have a degree from MIT and a background in finance and engineering. Out of curiousity, I did a job search (outside the trendy areas), and there are plenty of high-paying jobs available to them. A person would just have to live in a boring area or take on a boring job, or live a boring lifestyle. I guess I’m not understanding why seemingly few people seem to accept trade offs these days.

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