11–20 of 288 posts
One the key reasons for implementing the ACA -- which I supported, mind you -- was to control rising healthcare costs.
Costs might still rise, but the rate of rise should be lower than before.
This graph doesn't seem to show that.
What am I missing?
One common answer for many questions comparing past to present : "More regulations" This is not necessarily a bad thing, but often it is becoming a nightmare of labyrinthine proportions to navigate, which hinders new entrants.
There is more to it than just "more regulations". Also regulation doesn't necessarily have to come from the government, for example, the Apple App Store is heavily regulated, and yet they have some of the lowest software prices compared to other platforms.
In my opinion, competition through trade may have a stronger effect on prices; you can easily buy a TV or a car made in China, but you can't easily attend the University of Shanghai, or be treated in a Hospital in Hong Kong.
(I chose to delete this because it's not a sufficiently positive response.)
One common answer for many questions comparing past to present : "More regulations" This is not necessarily a bad thing, but often it is becoming a nightmare of labyrinthine proportions to navigate, which hinders new entrants.
huh? there’s plenty of colleges to choose from and yet costs go up every year. to me it seems like a distortion caused by a Federal Gov that guarantees payment to universities in the form of federally backed student loans.
you are right, the demand is artificially propped up by the govt. as you stated.
However, it is tied to the job market, which is more realistic, and we are starting to see the fallout where many of the colleges will be going out of business.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
huh? there’s plenty of colleges to choose from and yet costs go up every year. to me it seems like a distortion caused by a Federal Gov that guarantees payment to universities in the form of federally backed student loans.
Subsidized corn is not rapidly and consistently increasing in price.
“ Is Bloom's "Two Sigma" phenomenon real? If so, what do we do about it? Educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom found that one-on-one tutoring using mastery learning led to a two sigma(!) improvement in student performance. The results were replicated. " Does anyone know if this also true of learning & development in companies? For example sales training or training
I'd like to become much better at math than I am now. Should I be putting a lot of effort into working out a one-on-one tutoring partnership?
Figuring out why this is without fully attributing it to culture has been of great fascination to me. It really is mindblowing just how _good_ things are in Japan, perhaps they're just highly optimized for tourism? The cleanliness, the service, the great care people place in doing things and in their work is just amazing. Anyone here have more insights on this question? What are the non-cultural factors which contribute to this phenomenon that seemingly makes Japan an outlier?
> * College textbooks
I've always felt that textbook pricing is predatory and should be subject to price gouging laws.
"Why are so many things so much nicer in Switzerland and Japan?" Figuring out why this is without fully attributing it to culture has been of great fascination to me. It really is mindblowing just how _good_ things are in Japan, perhaps they're just highly optimized for tourism? The cleanliness, the service, the great care people place in doing things and in their work is just amazing. Anyone here have more insights…
You're bang-on when it comes to culture, but it has nothing to do with being optimized for tourism.
Japan is a very conservative country. Change happens slowly here, and Japan does a lot to ensure that people raised here share a common culture, with a strong focus on stability and harmony.
To provide some examples:
- NHK, the national broadcaster, has several series of popular programs showing life across all of Japan -- rural, urban, suburban, every prefecture. There are also programs showing Japanese people living overseas, and showing how they have integrated into the local culture. There is no "rural vs urban" divide in Japan.
- Japanese schools focus heavily on structure and responsibility. Students maintain their classrooms, clean their bathrooms, staff the cafeterias, etc. All of this is under adult supervision, but the kids do the actual work. Discipline is strong as well -- there are real consequences for poor behavior.
- Japan follows the Prussian education model. Compulsory schooling ends at 14 (9th grade). From there, you can immediately begin working, go to a trade school, or go to high school. There is also a professional education track separate from university.
- There is a strong culture around keeping families whole and raising kids as a whole family in Japan. Often the wife will move back home and live with her family shortly before and after childbirth, and there's a lot of cultural reinforcement there.
- Parents are very active in the education of their children, and the locus of responsibility is first on the child, second on the parent.
- The Koban system is fantastic. Police live in their communities, and interact with people every day. You never want to end up on the wrong side of the law -- the conviction rate is well north of 90%, and the accused have very few rights here -- but overall, Japanese police are very polite and professional.
There are downsides to this -- everything comes with trade-offs -- but it delivers a very stable and safe society.