Re:The inflation happening right in front of us: government-...
by jfengel on Friday March 12, 2021 @01:14PM
(#26438884)
If we want to go on about naïve economics, why aren't there more low-cost competitors arising? If there's more money being pumped into the system, new players should arise to take it up.
Creating a new college isn't easy, but it's been almost 40 years. There's more than simple supply and demand at work here.
The problem is that there's a prestige factor at work, and prestige goods don't follow plain economics. Employers are demanding four-year degrees, prefer private schools to public schools, and treat online degrees as second-rate. And maybe they are on average, but not all of them, and there are a lot of smart people who don't want to get mired in a lifetime of debt.
If the guaranteed loans push up prices for fancier sheepskins, let 'em. The problem is on the other end. The loans make it possible for poor people to get degrees, and we're denigrating them so much that people pay more for degrees that aren't necessarily any better.
Naïve economics is doing us a disservice here, as usual. But even by naïve economics, there is more than just the supply to look at. You can take advantage of the bargains it creates on the demand side (students).
Creating a new college isn't easy, but it's been almost 40 years. There's more than simple supply and demand at work here.
The problem is that there's a prestige factor at work, and prestige goods don't follow plain economics. Employers are demanding four-year degrees, prefer private schools to public schools, and treat online degrees as second-rate. And maybe they are on average, but not all of them, and there are a lot of smart people who don't want to get mired in a lifetime of debt.
If the guaranteed loans push up prices for fancier sheepskins, let 'em. The problem is on the other end. The loans make it possible for poor people to get degrees, and we're denigrating them so much that people pay more for degrees that aren't necessarily any better.
Naïve economics is doing us a disservice here, as usual. But even by naïve economics, there is more than just the supply to look at. You can take advantage of the bargains it creates on the demand side (students).