However, many economists agree that the major impact on rising tuition costs is on the demand side: A seemingly unlimited supply of student dollars, provided by an industry of lenders, is available to purchase a product that has never been in higher demand. Young adults seeking skilled employment have no choice but to enter this market; lenders have no incentive to deprive them of the funds to do so; and schools have no incentive to keep their tuition costs lower than what the market will allow.
Yet the demand for education does not tell the whole story. Total outstanding student debt in the economy has already surpassed credit card debt, and is approaching the trillion dollar threshold. But that is nothing compared the value of SLABS. That is, ‘Student Loan Asset Backed Securities,’ a repackaging of many loans into an asset backed security (ABS) that raises cash for the holders of loans so they can make more loans. A similar type of securitization in the mortgage market is widely blamed for the risk-shielding that led to the 2007 meltdown. The total value of the SLABS market at the end of 2011 was estimated to be $2.67 trillion. To compare, the total value of the mortgage securities market at its height in 2007 was $7.98 trillion, adjusted for inflation...
Has market turmoil left you feeling afraid? Well, it should. Clearly, the economic crisis that began in 2008 is by no means over.
But there's another emotion you should feel: anger. For what we're seeing now is what happens when influential people exploit a crisis rather than try to solve it.
If you would like a description of how really dysfunctional and criminal our banking system is, watch The Daily Show of tonight, and listen to the guest at the end of the show.
Go to minute 2:00 and watch 1 minute and 30 seconds of it. That is 100% correct and the absolute root of the problem that we are not addressing. It's also the only hope that we have of fixing the problem before it breaks the fundamental basis of the country.
Edit: From the video:
I would like him to go to the people of the United States of America and say, “People of the United States of America, your Congress is bought, your Congress is incapable of making legislation on healthcare, banking, trade, or taxes because if they do it, they will lose their political funding and they won’t do it. But I’m the President of the United States, and I won’t have a country that is run by a bought Congress. So I’m not going to work with a bought Congress and try to be Mr. Big Guy ... I’m going to abandon the bought Congress like Teddy Roosevelt did, and I’m going to go to the people of the United States get rid of the bought Congress." ... Until a President says that’s the problem and says he’s going to fix it, there is no policy that I can possibly see no matter how brilliant your idea may be or your idea or my idea or her idea or your idea at home, is that idea will not happen as long as there’s a capacity to basically fire a politician who disagrees with me by taking funding away from him. Is that a fair assessment?
The best-funded politician in the world still has to get people to vote for her. Yes, the funding helps get the message out: it keeps you on the campaign trail, it helps you buy ad time, keeps the supporters out there beating the bushes. But if all it took was money, Perot would have been President.
Yes, campaign finance reform is crucial. But absent an electorate that feels and acts engaged and empowered - an electorate that hasn't disenfranchised itself in favor of shiny new bread and circuses - that won't change enough.
Yes it is. Shut up. SHUT UP. SHUT UP SHUT SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALALALALALALALA YOU CAN'T MAKE ME MOMMY MAKE THE BAD DOG STOP BARKING OH GOD IT MAKES ME CRY AND NOW I'M GOING TO THROW UP!
Yes it is. Shut up. SHUT UP. SHUT UP SHUT SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALALALALALALALA YOU CAN'T MAKE ME MOMMY MAKE THE BAD DOG STOP BARKING OH GOD IT MAKES ME CRY AND NOW I'M GOING TO THROW UP!
Sorry, I couldn't get through more than 30 seconds of that guy screaming.
Go to minute 2:00 and watch 1 minute and 30 seconds of it. That is 100% correct and the absolute root of the problem that we are not addressing. It's also the only hope that we have of fixing the problem before it breaks the fundamental basis of the country.
Edit: From the video:
I would like him to go to the people of the United States of America and say, “People of the United States of America, your Congress is bought, your Congress is incapable of making legislation on healthcare, banking, trade, or taxes because if they do it, they will lose their political funding and they won’t do it. But I’m the President of the United States, and I won’t have a country that is run by a bought Congress. So I’m not going to work with a bought Congress and try to be Mr. Big Guy ... I’m going to abandon the bought Congress like Teddy Roosevelt did, and I’m going to go to the people of the United States get rid of the bought Congress." ... Until a President says that’s the problem and says he’s going to fix it, there is no policy that I can possibly see no matter how brilliant your idea may be or your idea or my idea or her idea or your idea at home, is that idea will not happen as long as there’s a capacity to basically fire a politician who disagrees with me by taking funding away from him. Is that a fair assessment?
Rachel Maddow doesn't mince words on this one. Watch the video
"The S&P report itself explains in terms that could be confused with liberal talking points that the Republican tactic of brinksmanship is what undercut confidence in America's ability to ensure payment of its debt:
The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America's governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective,and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debtceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy."
Maddow doesn't understand how things work (most people don't) however she's cherry picking this report.
Here's something a little more objective and accurate on MSNBC.
Maybe President Obama foresaw this situation when he caved on closing Gitmo. Maybe these white collar domestic terrorists need to learn alternate meanings for "taxpayer-funded Caribbean vacation".
That the raising of the debt ceiling has become a political football is obvious. We do not need an analyst to figure that part out. The apt question: How do we now back away from our precarious perch upon that precipice?
The most unfortunate part is that the Republicans don't even care about the reason why they are doing this, they are just doing it to be assholes. They don't care about the debt, the country, or the people.
That the raising of the debt ceiling has become a political football is obvious. We do not need an analyst to figure that part out. The apt question: How do we now back away from our precarious perch upon that precipice?
Maybe tell the clowns in the back to QUIT PUSHING.
