The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth • Hacker News Board

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#151

Post by hef19898 » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 2:38 PM UTC

expertentipp wrote: post #64

gambiting wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Not the case for Poland either. If one is not employed and not registered as unemployed (authorities are doing all they can to keep the official unemployment statistics low), one has to proactively subscribe to "voluntary health insurance". In case one doesn't - pronto! one has no healthcare insurance. Of course, the constitution guarantees the healthcare, free-universal-healthcare blah blah - good luck suing everyon…

Really? As long as you are properly employed in any EU country you should also be covered in that country. There are some issues regarding cross-border, meaning a German is working in Spain and needs medical attention in Germany that would be invoiced to the Spanish insurance.

In Germany free-lancers face issue, they need to get their insurance somewhere. But thay have to get, there is no such thing as uninsured German resident.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#152

Post by ikeboy » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 2:58 PM UTC

Focusing on the parts of the inflation index that have gone up the most and implying that's the "real" rate of inflation is misleading.

I could write an article pointing out that wages have stayed the same but the cost of a computer has gone down by orders of magnitude - that doesn't imply that we're richer by an order of magnitude just as this article doesn't mean we're poorer

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#153

Post by diogenescynic » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 2:58 PM UTC

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 went to a public university and on top of tuition there was some student registration fee of around $750/quarter that went to clubs and paying for the gym. It’s such a ridiculous expense to add to poor students taking our debt. College campusss have really become like luxury resorts. If they wanted to trim some fat, they definitely could.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#154

Post by WalterSear » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 2:59 PM UTC

unstuckdev wrote: post #146

throwaway5752 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since the current expectation is leisure, access to top technology, low class size from highly educated scholars, medical care, lodging, and administrative help... it costs $60k to house a prisoner per year, why do you think college costs should be much lower? I'm not defending it, but there isn't Trader Joe's or Aldi of college yet (slightly better than average generic product with low/no frills). If you want the an…

>> "I'm not defending it, but there isn't Trader Joe's or Aldi of college yet (slightly better than average generic product with low/no frills)." Community college.

Not 'slightly better' though, IME.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#155

Post by diogenescynic » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 3:00 PM UTC

ikeboy wrote: post #152

Focusing on the parts of the inflation index that have gone up the most and implying that's the "real" rate of inflation is misleading. I could write an article pointing out that wages have stayed the same but the cost of a computer has gone down by orders of magnitude - that doesn't imply that we're richer by an order of magnitude just as this article doesn't mean we're poorer

Housing and healthcare are much more significant and frequent expenses than a computer tho. They’re also necessities.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#156

Post by diogenescynic » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 3:02 PM UTC

maxxxxx wrote: post #143

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…

" 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. " That's the most important question. Same applies to health care. Where does the money actually go and how has that changed over the last 50 years? Everybody immediately complains about their favorite scapegoat but there is no comprehensiv…

Steve Ballmer was talking about how healthcare costs have gone up like 400% over a 30 year period but expected lifespans only increased by .6 years. We’re pahing exponentially more for relatively insignificant gains.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#157

Post by gcb0 » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 3:06 PM UTC

ikeboy wrote: post #152

Focusing on the parts of the inflation index that have gone up the most and implying that's the "real" rate of inflation is misleading. I could write an article pointing out that wages have stayed the same but the cost of a computer has gone down by orders of magnitude - that doesn't imply that we're richer by an order of magnitude just as this article doesn't mean we're poorer

except price of computers have been steady or rising.

electronics is the one fake anchor in that list. and there are a few. when he says repeatedly that he won't contest the official number, that is an economist joke. the official number is a joke and it only matters that the number can withold by not affecting other numbers the fed have no control. if those other number respect the ramdon number, the random number holds. if not, the random number is adjusted to meet reality as needed. so the "measure measures" joke in the article. inflation index is an index alrigth, but not of what everyone thinks it is.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#158

Post by maxxxxx » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 3:06 PM UTC

diogenescynic wrote: post #156

maxxxxx wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" 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. " That's the most important question. Same applies to health care. Where does the money actually go and how has that changed over the last 50 years? Everybody immediately complains about their favorite scapegoat but there is no comprehensiv…

Steve Ballmer was talking about how healthcare costs have gone up like 400% over a 30 year period but expected lifespans only increased by .6 years. We’re pahing exponentially more for relatively insignificant gains.

But where does the money go?

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#159

Post by dlhavema » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 3:09 PM UTC

throwaway5752 wrote: post #144

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…

Since the current expectation is leisure, access to top technology, low class size from highly educated scholars, medical care, lodging, and administrative help... it costs $60k to house a prisoner per year, why do you think college costs should be much lower? I'm not defending it, but there isn't Trader Joe's or Aldi of college yet (slightly better than average generic product with low/no frills). If you want the an…

Is that 60k a year just housing and food or guards and administration too? I'd hope there were more guards and security measures in place for prisoners than for college kids.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#160

Post by xivzgrev » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 3:09 PM UTC

I like where his heart is. The article is a bit hard to follow. He mixes broad stats with his own situation and I'm often not sure if he is referring to USA or bay area. I think with another edit, and to tighten prose up a bit, it could be a great post.