The Cheapest Generation • Hacker News Board

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#211

Post by yummyfajitas » Sat, Aug 25, 2012, 12:44 PM UTC

trevelyan wrote: post #210

yummyfajitas wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have stats to back up your assertions, present them. So far all you've done is made ad-hominem attacks against the authors of my study and incorrect claims about it's contents.

Sources for health care and housing statistics are already listed above and I do not make a single ad-hominem attack on the authors. If you can point out where exactly you think I am misrepresenting their argument I will be happy to provide page references so they can disagree with you themselves. To cite just one example as evidence that you need to read AEI "research" more carefully, you can find the authors mentio…

"The AEI is a laughingstock in economic circles..." "You should also ask yourself why the authors go through such contortions to count things like rentals as purchases..." "Their "income" figures are equally shoddy since they include government transfers through programs like food stamps as part of the "market income" of poorer people..." To cite just one example as evidence that you need to read AEI "research" more carefully, you can find the authors mention the mid-1980s inclusion of mobile homes and trailer parks as new forms of "housing consumption" in the first paragraph on page 15. <- Misrepresentation. The "re-definition" was done by the government, not the AEI. It's also irrelevant, since I compared square footage in 2009 to 1989 (i.e., both stats are after the redefinition).

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#212

Post by kruh » Sat, Aug 25, 2012, 5:43 PM UTC

Hacker News is allegedly home to a surprising amount of smart people. Nobody is able to deduce that is all has to do with a reducing amount of daily oil consumption, though. America is losing its grip on the world thanks to it. And immigration. Seriously, when are you going to stop letting worthless people into your country?

Re: The Cheapest Generation

#213

Post by tatsuke95 » Sat, Aug 25, 2012, 5:55 PM UTC

ahoyhere wrote: post #204

api wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know a lot of professional people in my generation, and I know of only a few that have anything like what you describe. One managed to land a six-figure job in Kentucky , one of the lowest cost of living places that was largely passed over by the housing bubble. The major reason he's well-off is that his house was affordable and he went to a lower priced university and didn't need much in the way of student loans.…

Agreed, tatsuke95's comment is ridiculously out of proportion. My friends are all middle class, with two exceptions who are upper middle class -- myself & my husband, and another married couple who run a software business like we do. They have an expensive house and a very nice car, but they live well within their means and save a lot of money (and they worked their asses off to earn that money). They certainly don't…

>"The specter of wide swathes of middle class people who "expect" two houses"

In 2006, 40 percent of home sales were for "second homes", with the typical buyer having a household income of $80,000.

>"tatsuke95's comment is ridiculously out of proportion"

I'm glad you think it's out of proportion, based on your personal anecdotes about your friends (except for two, but you've defined them as upper middle class, so they don't count!).

But the "wide swathes" of indebtedness, bankruptcies, defaults and deleveraging in the US says otherwise. Where have you been for the past five years? Those are facts. It occurs when people "live beyond their means", which is nearly synonymous with having too high expectations: you want more than you earn. Do you think it's the rich people living beyond their means? Is it the poor people buying cars and houses they can't afford? No, it's the middle class.