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The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

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Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#161

Post by hef19898 »

TomMarius wrote: post #133
pjc50 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it would have helped if you specified Czech rather than "Europe", because it's a big place and it looks like many of the smaller countries have this kind of non-public system. The rules appear to be complicated: https://www.kancelarzp.cz/en/links-info-en/health-insurance-... It sounds like there's a hole for people to fall in: if you're a Czech national, but not resident nor employed in Czech Republic, but in…

There are rules that are EU-wide - because they're set by an EU regulation. If you're a resident in any EU country, you get the blue card. That makes you entitled to whatever (this is depending on the country and not set by the regulation) in your country of residence and basic care of life threatening issues in the rest of EU, Czech Republic included; however if you injure yourself doing e.g. sports in other EU coun…

I'm no expert on the gritty details of the German system (who would have thought health care could be that complicated, right?) but as German resident I have some insights. Everybody who knows better, please correct me.

In Germany everybody who is employed in way that pays social insurance is also health insured, you cannot opt out of it. In that system, in addition to taxes, social security and unemployment insurance, you pay a certain percentage of your gross salary to get health insurance. This percentage varies by your choosen provider. Your employer is paying the same amount (more or less, not sure if the employer amount is fixed). You can opt out of the public system above a certain salary and pick private insurance, prices vary greatly.

Unemployed people are insured by the state, I guess using taxes or social security or unemployement budgets, I have no idea. You have to be registered as unemployed to be covered. If you do not register you have the choice of being insured with a family member (public health care) or voluntarily (private or via the public system). You are obliged to be insured oine way or the other.

Exceptions are soldiers (some kind of in-service system with cost reimbursement, don't ask for the details), public servants (something similar in a lot of cases, again, please don't insist on details), certain professions (doctors, pharmacists, artists,lawyers) with their own insurance solutions. You are screwed as a afreelancer, your only solution is a private insurance that can get quite expensiver.

TL/Dr: You are always insured one way or the other. It is not paid for by taxes.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#162

Post by ikeboy »

diogenescynic wrote: post #155
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.

Most of his discussion is about education which isn't necessity - and he ignores the subsidies, quoting sticker prices like most people don't get significant discounts

Also, looking at average cost is misleading because that includes purchases by people who gladly pay higher amounts because they can afford it. You want to look at the cheapest "reasonable-quality" cost to determine what's "affordable", not average.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#163

Post by ikeboy »

gcb0 wrote: post #157
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 h…

Citation?

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#164

Post by hindsightRegret »

maxxxxx wrote: post #158
diogenescynic wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

shareholders and management

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#165

Post by bunderbunder »

maxxxxx wrote: post #158
diogenescynic wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Here's one study on the subject:

https://www.air.org/system/files/downloads/report/Delta-Cost...

The table on page 11 summarizes the story. The big consistent increases in spending are on student services and academic support.

The growth in spending on student services covers a lot of things. One big chunk is explained by the trend toward organizing and professionalizing things that were historically handled in a sort of ad-hoc manner by a student's academic advisor, sometimes by the Greek system, or by nothing at all: Career counseling and networking, academic advising, mental health services, stuff like that. Another big chunk is non-academic, non-instructional activities like student clubs and athletics. I believe advertising costs also tend to get lumped in under the "student services" budget item.

Academic support is stuff that's related, but maybe not quite so directly student facing: Dean's offices, instructional material development, the IT department, stuff like that.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#166

Post by nobody271 »

kartan wrote: post #44

I very interesting article. This kind of numbers should be on the news all the time (like global warming) so people focus more on them instead of what is the last Twitt from the president. > "Get rich or die trying" I have always seen this as USA's major flaws. You are not supposed to have a good life but to risk everything for riches. This was working when the rest of the world was under-developed. USA citizens had…

I thought I would roll my own side gig once. The plan was to find broken cars on Craigslist and fix them for a profit. We're talking things like needs an engine or a transmission. I could do maybe ten a year. I'd be keeping a car out of the junk yard (which I imagine is good for GDP in a very small way) and making a very modest profit of $10,000/yr if I was lucky.

Well it turns out that is HIGHLY regulated. You need a dealers license which means you need a building to act as the place of business (can't be your residence), the business has to have $75,000 in assets or you have to get bonded. You have to pay insurance. You need signage. You, of course, have to pay taxes on everything. Basically by the time everyone takes their little piece there's nothing left for you.

I think this happens in any industry. It gets regulated to the point of a normal person not being able to participate. You dont own a bakery, you work for the bakery. You don't own a corner store, you work at Walmart.

What I see is a lot of closed doors yet we still act like they're open. They aren't real options anymore. So what are the real options?

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#167

Post by andrewmcwatters »

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 imagine the justification is "but everybody does it".

A member of one of the administration teams at ASU (a dean or someone of similar position) told my sister, "everyone carries debt," as if to justify that 40k a year at an honors college is a valuable investment compared to virtually any alternative.

The comment was so asinine and destructive, I can only gather as a blanket statement that the members of administration there are either incompetent to help direct students, or are explicitly volatile for one's growth in the context of broader society, and are out to protect the institution's interests. It may be sensible to assume a bit of both.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#168

Post by miscreanity »

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…

Regulation inevitably squeezes it into government one way or another. The only long-term beneficiaries are the government itself which constantly requires more funding through any means possible, and those involved in regulatory capture - typically banks and large corporations.

It is important to note that relaxation of regulation is important as well, since the direction of that easement usually favors banks and big business[1] - it's a matter of perspective. Always ask what the true purpose of a political action or movement is and follow the money; more often than not there's an ulterior motive.

"All politicians should serve two terms: one in office and one in jail." ~My Grandfather

[1] https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/28362...

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#169

Post by lotsofpulp »

VLM wrote: post #104
lotsofpulp wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I was referring to planned procedures such as giving birth.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#170

Post by throwaway5752 »

dlhavema wrote: post #159
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…

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.

Yes, but that's probably offset by professors, researches, et al. (as well as better accommodations, food, entertainment). It's not apples to apples, but it felt roughly comparable.
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