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Don't students get scholarships, grants, etc to go to school any more? In my days, no one had to take out a loan to go to college, if I remember correctly. And how did a college education become so expensive? Supply and demand?
Even with a student loan, I think they will still be way better off than those without a college degree.
Tuition has gone up because universities simply auction off seats to the family that is willing to take out the biggest loans. As I said, we have become the Great Serf Society, and those who are willing to take out the biggest debt drive up costs for everyone, whether it be homes, cars, tuition, medicine, whatever. The Feds feed the binge.
MY area, is a buyers's RE market. We are in negotiations where the seller wants sellers market rates and isn't quite ready to swallow our buyer's market offer.
The average house listing here is @ $134,188, with the average SALES PRICE @ $70,425, Down 41.9% from May'15-Aug'15. compared to the average listing for the nation at what something like $288K??? Those homes I saw listed at $120-150K in the spring, for the smarter sellers are now listed at $90k-120K, The home we are in offer on, was listed over 3 months ago, and despite 2 open houses, ours is the ONLY offer they have received. and its a nice house or we wouldn't be buying, if we even reach a deal before too long, as we won't wait forever.
The economic outlook is bleak here, with our "economic recovery being slow, with an increase in GDP of just 3% since 2007, HALF the national average". And the "average growth rate of {my} area to be among the lowest in the nation". There IS "growing optimism in the market", though, but the results are not bearing this out.
Our economy has "continues to shift from manufacturing to health care, education and service industries" {ie: minimum wage jobs}.
Our unemployment rate is the third highest of the 16 major markets in my state in the NE, and "at 6% is well above the national average of 5.3%"
Here, car sales HAVE increased, only in that people are now "replacing 12-15 year old vehicles they have held on to during the economic downturn". Used cars are in higher demand here over new cars.
The stock market is all over, one never knows now what it is going to do from one day to the next. as hte news is on now, I see the DJIA is down nearly 500 pts again.
Our area remained "stable" throughout the downturn, but now shows as lacking behind places that "reached bottom" like Detroit, and who have now a 'boom' after their 'bust'.
We have a southern state area we are also looking at buying a home in to rent out until we retire in 14 years. One can still pick up a VERY NICE 3br/2ba brick house for a mere $30k-50k IF one even wants to spend that much... SO THAT area doesn't show much in the way of "an increasing economy" either. We may get "two houses for the price of one" so to speak.
I don't see the "boom" that you refer to here, but we are not exactly representational of the entire country either.
Then again, the economy must be wonderful. We have 94,000,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 65 not working and none of them are starving to death. It must be manna from Heaven falling from the sky.
Then again, it might be that we printed $7.000,000,000,000 out of nothing and nobody noticed.
Then again, somebody actually noticed and Main Street bailed from the stock market. The remaining institutional investors who manage municipal debt and retirement funds are franticly trying to keep the paper values of their portfolios viable.
Then again, the huge banks too big to fail are swapping quadrillions of derivatives that they all know can never be paid or redeemed. (Trillions are just SO millennial going back to the year 2000.)
Then again, all of the heavy hitters on bank boards of directors know the positions they are in. Those of them who studied history know best the positions they are in and know that in Germany, the citizens hung their bankers from lamp posts outside their banks when the value of paper deutchmarks collapsed.
Then again, maybe that is why so many bankers are committing suicide now to avoid the rush.
Then again, does anybody really think the economy is better than ever?
Then again, it might be that we printed $7.000,000,000,000 out of nothing and nobody noticed.
Most of which went to the top 1% (factually and undisputed). Bankers are not refined business men. They are thugs and reached their lofty heights by ruthlessly gathering wealth.
The Feds make it easy for them. Consider a game of Monopoly where everyone starts off with $$500 and the Banker just decides to give one player $1,000,000. Who do you think wins and what do you think happens to everyone else?
2-3% GDP is healthy growth. Unemployment in California is 6.4%, which isn't sky high but a bit high. US unemployment is around the 5% mark economists look for in a healthy economy. Labor market isn't the economy. It's just one part of it and the part that's the weakest, more in terms of income growth or lack thereof than unemployment.
A 10.4% U6 unemployment rate is NOT a healthy economy. And lord help us all if that is the new normal in this country.
And when looking at regional state data, our nation's unemployment rate looks even worse. When you take Texas, just Texas, out of the equation our nation looks awful in just about every indicator. Major US status such as California, Florida, New York, Georiga, North Carolina, Pennsylvania all have U6 unemployment rates above 11%, with most being about 12% (California is at 14%!!, compared to 9% before the recession).
I don't see how the unemployment rate, the indicator that tells us the unemployed and most vulnerable in our country, is the "weakest" part of our economy.
And when looking at regional state data, our nation's unemployment rate looks even worse. When you take Texas, just Texas, out of the equation our nation looks awful in just about every indicator. Major US status such as California, Florida, New York, Georiga, North Carolina, Pennsylvania all have U6 unemployment rates above 11%, with most being about 12% (California is at 14%!!, compared to 9% before the recession).
I don't see how the unemployment rate, the indicator that tells us the unemployed and most vulnerable in our country, is the "weakest" part of our economy.
U6 of 10% is about what it's normalized around ever since it's existed, so yeah, it's kind of a healthy number for U6. 14% is kind of like a U3 of 6.8% for California. It tends to be around double the U3. Texas is 4.5% U3 and U6 is 8.8%.
If you removed areas like LA with its 16% U6, California would look a lot better. I mean, partially I see the Bay Area where unemployment rates are more like Texas or even Sacramento which is also better than LA as well. That's not to say LA has a bad economy because it doesn't. It just has a greater overabundance of unskilled labor.
Also, I do think Texas is a major state, so I'd have to disagree with you that they all have U6 over 11%.Two of the five most populous have U6 over 11, which isn't much over 10% which is around what you'd look for in a healthy economy, U6 normally being around double what U3 is. 11% is still around what you'd look for, which is a U3 of 5-5.5 (maybe even 6%) at full employment which would correspond to a U6 of 11 or 12%. When you get around the 4.5% range like the Bay Area or Texas are at, you're pushing past full employment. I mean, 4.5% isn't that far off the target and there's not big adverse affects on the economy like when you get down where ND is at below 3% or anything.
U6 has never been double the U3 rate. It was traditionally about 80% higher than U3. The U6 rate peaked during the early 2000s recession at 10.4% when U3 exceeded 6%. You can't tell me that now, with u3 near 5% and U6 at 10.4% that something isn't wrong.
U6 was 8% and u3 was 5% during the good bush years. U6 was 7% and U3 was 4% during the good Clinton years. U6 wasn't calculated back then but retrospective models show U6 at 9% during the last years of the 80s, when U3 was in the low 5s like today.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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The condition of the economy depends on your location, more than ever. People who acquire the skills and go where the high paying jobs are located are doing great. The continuing influx of people from other states and countries include well qualified people from the southeast who were recruited
by our major employers.
In our 20 years here, we have not seen it as prosperous since the dot com boom in the mid 90s. Back then homes were selling quickly in the $150-200k range, we had trouble finding one for $190k. Now those same homes go for $600-800k with multiple offers over asking price withing 3 days, and over 90% of residents own their home. Despite the median family income of $144k, it's considered solidly middle class, just making the top 25%.
The condition of the economy depends on your location, more than ever. People who acquire the skills and go where the high paying jobs are located are doing great. The continuing influx of people from other states and countries include well qualified people from the southeast who were recruited
by our major employers.
In our 20 years here, we have not seen it as prosperous since the dot com boom in the mid 90s. Back then homes were selling quickly in the $150-200k range, we had trouble finding one for $190k. Now those same homes go for $600-800k with multiple offers over asking price withing 3 days, and over 90% of residents own their home. Despite the median family income of $144k, it's considered solidly middle class, just making the top 25%.
Sounds like the 1% is buying up Seattle! With middle class incomes barely budging in decades how can housing prices increase like that?
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