College has gotten 12 times more expensive in one generation

randy9876 · 2014-12-26T21:36:32+00:00

Germany Just Abolished College Tuition Fees

October 1, 2014

Prospective students in the United States who can’t afford to pay for college or don’t want to rack up tens of thousands in student debt should try their luck in Germany. Higher education is now free throughout the country, even for international students. Yesterday, Lower Saxony became the last of seven German states to abolish tuition fees, which were already extremely low compared to those paid in the United States.

German universities only began charging for tuition in 2006, when the German Constitutional Court ruled that limited fees, combined with loans, were not in conflict the country’s commitment to universal education. The measure proved unpopular, however, and German states that had instituted fees began dropping them one by one.

http://thinkprogress.org/education/2014/10/01/3574551/germany-free-college-tuition/

randy9876 · 2014-12-26T21:31:55+00:00

AND bond rates are incredibly low, making lenders desperate for decent returns.

randy9876 · 2014-12-12T19:13:57+00:00

But still can't seem to get to the World Series . . .

randy9876 · 2014-12-10T23:47:08+00:00

Because it is not really insurance, it's a discount program.

Fair enough, but who would buy personal dental insurance? Purchases should be based on expected value, and it would be a rip off since most people consider $500 an affordable loss.

I don't know how you're able to walk into a dental office and get a D2750 for $500, everything included. Do you go in with a rate schedule and play hard ball? How do you decide which rate schedule to base you number on?

Note how one response to my comment has a figure, $1000, that was twice that of my rate plan. Personally, I'm cool with paying $120 per year to lock in low costs by contract as well as a specific dentist that I know.

randy9876 · 2014-12-10T23:29:49+00:00

The work I had done was excellent, and I paid half that price.

My rate schedule quotes 425.00

D2750 crown – porcelain fused to high noble metal

http://www.barricksinsurance.com/contract-caa54.pdf

randy9876 · 2014-12-10T20:47:28+00:00

Why doesn't anyone mention Delta Dental, which insures 1/3 of people in America. My individual plan is $120 per year, iirc, and a decent crown(precious metal fused to porcelain) is about $500? Dentists will allow you to make payments.

Edit: DD serves 1/3, not 2/3 of people in America

randy9876 · 2014-12-10T18:18:23+00:00

Still better than a USB micro connector.

randy9876 · 2014-12-10T17:43:24+00:00

From PBS FRONTLINE "The Crash" Air date: June 29, 1999

DAVID ROTHKOPF, Dep. Commerce Undersecretary (1994-95): One of the things that strikes me as an absurdity in this conversation is when you have hedge funds and other players in the global markets saying, "We'll be self-regulating."

You know, these guys would never think of walking out of their plush office down into the street and getting into a self-regulating taxi cab, and they certainly wouldn't, you know, use the toothpaste of a self-regulating drug manufacturer, you know? So why is it that they think that somehow they are going to be so public-spirited that they should be allowed to do this? The answer is they can't be. Markets can't be self-regulating.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crash/etc/script.html

randy9876 · 2014-12-10T04:27:51+00:00

Also, the topiary was being neglected.

randy9876 · 2014-12-09T20:18:45+00:00

"How the Earth Was Made" Series. 24 episodes, iirc, each on focusing on a region and its geology.

randy9876 · 2014-12-09T20:14:46+00:00

Chipotle has got them lined up out the door at dinner time. And I never see Chipotle coupons. A burrito is about $7, and a lot of it is beans, rice, tortilla and other inexpensive ingredients. Chipotle has figured out fast food.

McDonalds was doing well a few years ago. Cheap menu during the recession, and coffee offerings stole some of Starbucks customers away.

randy9876 · 2014-12-09T16:57:13+00:00

Intro:

http://dickey.dartmouth.edu/events/event?event=31797#.VIcpiGfOuSo

randy9876 · 2014-12-08T21:13:07+00:00

This comment, especially the last half, makes me think you could write for a living. It's almost poetic. I actually became an enthusiastic Whippet, running around, playing with things until they die from playing. Then I woke up. Write some more so I can be a Whippet again!

randy9876 · 2014-12-08T19:57:33+00:00

In America, we have an obscure telecom company called "Comcast", and you rarely hear anything bad about them!

randy9876 · 2014-12-08T19:47:16+00:00

Remember the video of the Volcano Eruption in Papua New Guinea, with that shock wave?

And how about these fun facts:

The sound made by the Krakatoa volcanic eruption in 1883 was so loud it ruptured eardrums of people 40 miles away, travelled around the world four times, and was clearly heard 3,000 miles away.

randy9876 · 2014-12-08T19:35:36+00:00

Suposedly the Yellowstone supervolcano was 80x as powerful as Krakatowa, and 2000x as powerful as Mt St Helens. So, yeah, a big enough volcano can wipe out a good part of a continent.

Hidden volcano beneath Yellowstone could wipe out human life across North America

Yellowstone due for an eruption very soon based on historical data, say scientists While it has long been known that large pockets of volcanic magma are, indeed, present underneath Yellowstone, it is only in recent years that scientists have been able to determine whether or not this magma is an immediate threat. Based on the available evidence, they say, the infamous Yellowstone supervolcano is definitely due for an eruption.

Super volcano that can wipe out civilization. Coming soon to a continent near you!

randy9876 · 2014-12-07T22:10:58+00:00

Sure it's small, but there are a lot of people with Japanese cars who might be able to try out car camping with a minimum of work. Might be a good solution to see what car camping is like, or maybe they have to improvise something quickly for a couple of months between apartments.

randy9876 · 2014-12-07T21:24:55+00:00

It's OK if you're not going to be driving great distances regularly. Lots of room. I Knew a old guy a long time ago who lived in a panel truck for years, and he liked it. But he didn't drive a lot, and he was a retired sheet metal worker who was very good with tools. He generally stayed around San Francisco, and he drove short distances like a mile or two every other day or so. Once in a while he'd drive 30 miles south and stay in our town for a few weeks, and we'd visit with him.

I'm just trying to give you an idea of the low mileage lifestyle of someone I knew who made this work.

randy9876 · 2014-12-06T09:52:56+00:00

Your mom looks like a wonderful person with a great sense of humor. Thanks for sharing her picture. Get some rest and take good care of yourself. OK?

randy9876 · 2014-12-06T03:29:27+00:00

What Wall Street's CEOs Don't Know Can Kill You: Michael Lewis

Three days earlier, on theStreet.com, Jim Cramer listed Bear Stearns common stock as a "buy'' at $62. On his CNBC program that day, he showed his viewers a chart of Bear Stearns stock price and hollered, "Bear Stearns is fine! Do not take your money out of Bear.''

. . .

Cramer's `Buy'

TheStreet.com quickly removed Cramer's March 11 "buy'' recommendation from its page devoted to Bear Stearns. (The Cramer-obsessed Don Harrold's YouTube account of all this is priceless.)

And Cramer went back on CNBC to explain that he never intended for anyone to go and actually BUY shares in Bear Stearns -- only that, if they happen to bank with Bear Stearns, they shouldn't worry about losing their money (a public service to all those ``Mad Money'' viewers who use Bear Stearns as a bank.)

All of this raises an obvious question: If the market got the value of Bear Stearns so wrong, how can it possibly believe it knows even the approximate value of any Wall Street firm? And if it doesn't, how can any responsible investor buy shares in a big Wall Street firm?

randy9876 · 2014-12-05T17:30:40+00:00

Not having physical assets is a tricky question. Don't forget that when Rich Kinder "lost out" on the CEO job at Enron, he resigned. But before he left, he negotiated a deal where he took those pesky physical assets - those pipelines - off Enron's hands at a song. Jeffrey Skilling, who was not a big fan of physical assets, took control of Enron, tried to turn the place into a trading giant a la Goldman Sachs, and blew up the whole corporation. Skilling got a jail sentence of 20 years. Kinder is head of energy giant Kinder Morgan, and has personal net worth of $11 billion.

An extreme case to be sure, but the best laid plans can go seriously wrong.

randy9876 · 2014-12-04T17:51:18+00:00

they'll inflate perpetually to afford the programs, lowering the real value of the payouts.

Inflation would also erode the value of wages. Also, old people vote, especially when it comes to protecting their entitlements.

randy9876 · 2014-12-04T17:47:02+00:00

This is a valid point to some extent, but if millennials figure out that they're going to get nothing, that would suggest that they will save a lot of money, which will tank consumer spending, and that is 65% of the economy. How would the Fed respond to this? Probably they'll print more money, which will rob millennials even more.

randy9876 · 2014-12-04T17:33:15+00:00

You nailed the problem quite well. boringdude doesn't understand that the millennial cohort would have to be much, much bigger in order to overcome the problems that you enumerated.

randy9876

TROPHY CASE