Times Change

So this NY Times article says that college education is so expensive because of increases in administrative costs, not because of decreasing state support.

Slate rebuts, saying it IS because of declining state support, but still talks about "administrative bloat."

However, neither take into account the realities of higher education today. Think pieces like these love to tout the anecdotes that our grandparents or even parents could go to college on their savings from their summer jobs, yada yada.

What is never really outlined is that anything other than instructional functions are labeled administrative.  Anything. So when you're referring to administration, it's not just the Assistant to the Associate Vice Provost or whatever is the conventional wisdom, it's the oh, let's say, ENTIRE information technology unit that didn't exist when our grandparents went to college.   It's the army of academic advisors that help students figure out what's a VPLA versus a W versus a linked versus a global studies requirement.  It's the financial aid offices that help students figure out Pell grants and federal work study and state work study and everything else.  Health Centers are non-instructional.  Libraries have non-instructional budgets, and you know what, online databases and subscriptions cost money.

Higher education is orders of magnitude more complex than it was in 1960 (why is that the banner year for comparison?) and complaining about non-instructional budgets just demonstrates a lack of understanding of how college actually works.  We could go back to using typewriters and course catalogs of 57 courses total, sure. That would get costs back down. But who would want to?

Inequality

These graphs at Mother Jones illustrate the widening gap in American society, but also the fact that our leaders have little reason to change the situation.  It's against their self-interest, you see.

Nerd Heaven

Austan Goolsbee explains clearly and simply the Bush tax cuts and what extension of them would mean.  I think the problem is that so many in Congress are the super stinking rich and have shown a remarkable willingness to act in their own selfish interests.  He's not going to win them over with his whiteboard.

Are the Rich Actually Rich? :Wait, What?

Update 9/21/10 I'm in good company in taking this guy on...

Sometimes things just come together in a perfect way.  Paul Krugman posted about how 30 years ago the superrich were shamed into not griping about taxes and how poor they feel.  These days, they gripe away.
Have You Left No Sense of Decency?

I wonder if he controlled for technology-that is, 30 years ago perhaps they griped at their vacation homes where the rest of us couldn't hear them, while today they gripe in blogs.

To wit,
We are the Super Rich
In which the esteemed law professor submits that he can't afford Obama's tax hikes.  Let's examine the claim, shall we? 

The tax hikes are actually the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.  Yes, the end result would be an increase in the taxes paid as opposed to last year, but it would be a return to what would have been paid (some would say should have been paid) had the cuts not gone into effect 8+years ago.  Psychologists have shown that people get more upset over a loss of something than a realization that they never would have gotten that thing in the first place.  So although the cuts were written to be temporary, and the Republican majority before the Obama administration could have made them permanent, they didn't.  But now that the cuts are set to expire, suddenly it's a sea change.

Next, let's see what his expenses are.

Money

I've been thinking about it a lot. I mean, we do think about money in that a bill comes due, we pay it. We hand over some cabbage for the morning caffeine fix. We try to plan ahead so that when the time comes for something big, we either have the cash or credit to take care of it. My family has gone through modest times, and better times, and I can honestly say that while I've never had everything I wanted, I've always had everything I needed.

But it's a whole new world. As my mom and I were saying, we're living in history right now. This particular epoch is going to be studied and analyzed, and hopefully young families will say no, we won't buy that new magnetic floating house at those interest rates, don't you remember what happened in 2008?

What's so surreal to me is that so much of the money that disappeared wasn't really even money. Just numbers on a ledger--binary blips in software. (BTW, Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, while also huge novels, are an excellent study in how the modern economies and currency systems were created.) This wealth was tied up to some extent in assets, like houses and yachts and Manolo Blahniks, but so much of it was not. I'll gladly pay you tomorrow for a dollar today.

As more information comes out, the thing we knew intellectually, that a few people had access to insane amounts of these numbers, who go to dog yoga and buy $50 salads, we now know viscerally. And we're mad. Really really mad. Even the president referred to the mob and "pitchforks."

And so I've been thinking about money. Why do I work so hard and not get all these perks? I have splurged, no question. I know the sensual delights of a high end spa. But I'm tired of worried about how to pay off education before time to pay for my son's education, and tired of moving money around because such and such agency hasn't paid my husband yet the money they owe him. Heaven help us because we are both in the business of helping other people improve themselves and reach their goals.

A different, but related topic is yet another picture of a young songstress being carried, totally trashed, out of a swank night club. Where's my money to be able to party with impunity? The bottles of booze that cost more than my entire wardrobe did? Everything is so out of whack.

Jealousy? Heck yeah! I wish someone had discovered my incredible talent :) and skyrocketed me to fame and fortune. But no, that's just for a privileged few, and really, no talent required, just something to consume. A family name, a face that launches ships.

And heaven help us if inflation does kick in and basic items become more expensive. I worry about that day.

Maybe this post is therapy, who knows. All I can do is live within my means, sock away as much as I can, keep shopping at Value Village, and just hope it all works out in the end.

But it sure would be fun to have some extra money to spend, wouldn't it?

First, Throw the Bums Out

Finally, someone has the chutzpah to say it. Don't cap their salaries--FIRE them!

http://tbm.thebigmoney.com/articles/making-bail/2009/02/04/first-throw-bums-out