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The student loan crisis is really an underemployment catastrophe

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Re: The student loan crisis is really an underemployment catastrophe

#31

Post by ikeyany »

joelbluminator wrote: post #18
jmpman wrote: post #9

H1B compete with the newly graduated college students. Before people say that there’s no problem with STEM graduates finding a job, I’ll counter that many of my coworkers 20 years ago didn’t have STEM degrees, and were previously English majors, business majors, etc. They were people with technical aptitude who realized they had picked a field of study that didn’t quite suit their financial aspirations. They were abl…

Why can't a 28 American with an English major do a coding bootcamp and find an entry level job? I'm sure if he's reasonable intelligent and ambitious he can. There aren't that many h1b's around competing with him, most American jobs aren't h1b jobs.

For starters, H1Bs are cheaper to hire. Also, they're more desperate to stay in the US, so they won't demand too much and won't walk away from poor conditions.

That also fixes with the population issue since middle class Americans can't really afford to have kids.

Re: The student loan crisis is really an underemployment catastrophe

#33

Post by nradov »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #11
robohoe wrote: post #2

One thing that I noticed in this article and charts was the unprecedented growth of auto loans. They too have skyrocketed. That seems like another "bubble" waiting to happen.

With GPS/always on mobile data connections, the lender has a much easier time reclaiming the collateral and recouping their losses by selling or leasing it again.

Those devices are mostly only installed for subprime loans on used cars, especially by "buy here pay here" lots that handle their own financing.

Re: The student loan crisis is really an underemployment catastrophe

#34

Post by irrational »

lemcoe9 wrote: post #27
g00s3_caLL_x2 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trucks have doubled and it's insane. Jeeps as well. A base Ruby is now what...42k-ish? Friggin' stupid. I can almost buy two rental houses for that price. At least one that can be in move in condition with a splash of paint and carpet.

Where are you buying rental houses for $42k?

Maybe Detroit? Though I hear houses are closer to $10k there.

Re: The student loan crisis is really an underemployment catastrophe

#35

Post by luckylion »

lemcoe9 wrote: post #26
joelbluminator wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can't a 28 American with an English major do a coding bootcamp and find an entry level job? I'm sure if he's reasonable intelligent and ambitious he can. There aren't that many h1b's around competing with him, most American jobs aren't h1b jobs.

Why is "do a coding bootcamp" the common refrain from tech workers trying to help non-tech people?

Because it's a way into tech for non-tech people? This wasn't, as far as I understood, a general suggestion for all English majors, but for those that allegedly used to be able to simply start in tech jobs 20 years ago. Now they may need a bit of prior knowledge, which boot camps can help with.

Re: The student loan crisis is really an underemployment catastrophe

#36

Post by AmericanChopper »

qntty wrote: post #25
AmericanChopper wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but that could be a problem for any number of different reasons, and the article doesn’t provide any insight into what they might be. Are people being deceived in some way into thinking that particular degrees are more marketable than they actually are? Are degrees that are thought to be very marketable (and perhaps once were) no longer very marketable? Are people knowingly choosing to do degrees that are known…

This isn't an article about the morality of student loans. It's about the economy. If the economy is struggling because of people unable to pay student loans, that's a problem. Doesn't matter whether it was 'right' that it ended up this way. The problem is that people have student loans that they are unable to pay. How to solve it is another issue.

The article doesn’t make any case for the economy struggling. ‘Struggling’ in this context would mean that there’s less skilled employment opportunities available than there used to be. The article doesn’t put forward any argument to say that’s the case. With increasing enrolments, the economy could be doing great and still produce underemployment.

The question is why are people completing unmarketable (or not sufficiently marketable) degrees? The article provides no insight into what the answer to the question might be. ‘Many degrees are less marketable than the used to be’ is one (partial) explanation. But it’s not the only potential explanation, it’s not obviously the correct explanation, and it’s not an explanation that the article provides any content to support.

Re: The student loan crisis is really an underemployment catastrophe

#37

Post by SuperPaintMan »

lemcoe9 wrote: post #26
joelbluminator wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can't a 28 American with an English major do a coding bootcamp and find an entry level job? I'm sure if he's reasonable intelligent and ambitious he can. There aren't that many h1b's around competing with him, most American jobs aren't h1b jobs.

Why is "do a coding bootcamp" the common refrain from tech workers trying to help non-tech people?

Because tech work is magical and plentiful regardless of where you are and everyone can become a programmer /s

Re: The student loan crisis is really an underemployment catastrophe

#38

Post by cf141q5325 »

xwdv wrote: post #28
chrisco255 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't put programming as valuable than English and Math. It's clearly good to know, but honestly since we're talking about exploding debt, how about fiscal education in schools??

Practical fiscal education in schools is almost a political nonstarter. If you were to educate high school freshmen on how savings, loans, investments, taxes and retirement planning works for a semester it would greatly alter the voting habits and priorities of that generation.

Just giving out a brochure "What are taxes and how do you pay them" would already be an enormous leap forward.

I would assume going into some of the topics you suggest would lead to school getting swamped by insurance sales people.

Re: The student loan crisis is really an underemployment catastrophe

#40

Post by lemcoe9 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #30
lemcoe9 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can absolutely confirm this. I have done work (not on this particular type of system, however) for many small-to-medium car dealerships, and they will spend roughly $400 to equip many of the vehicles in their inventory with ignition interlocks that can be disabled remotely. Here is their business cycle: 1. Purchase a used car from a customer for 80% of "fair market value." 2. Sell the car on a $0-down, 7-year note…

I don’t understand your use of the term “fair market value” in quotes, implying that it’s not the actual market value. If the seller and buyer are not under duress while selling and buying, why is the dealer not buying and selling at the market value?

Because the vast majority of the customers that walk through these buy-here pay-here places' doors already have loans on their vehicle and are looking to upgrade. "Kelly Blue Book" is not a phrase used very often by their salespeople; the customer base seems to be much more interested in the appearance of the cars than the financial utility of them.
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