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I am 65. My father never graduated high school and went to work at age of 13 when his father died. My wife parents only completed high school. They would never have signed or gotten themselfs into debt as far as many did. it does take much to realise some took very high risk based on belief that those houses would be great investments. As far as going into debt with credit that is hard to explain other than greed for things and conning oneself.Its alos commo that peopel who co themselves seek a scape goat to blame as always.
I keep hearing about the banks and their predatory lending. Who did they lend to? People. And why did those people choose to be taken advantage of by the banks? Because they were not educated in finance.
The HIGH SCHOOL my husband and I attended educated the students in business arithmetic, economics, etc. so we would never have taken on a loan that could not be paid off any time we choose and that had an interest rate that changed. Why didn't the people that took out these predatory loans know any better? Why is the United States not educating its students? Why isn't a basic general business class in the schools mandatory for graduation?
It's called over consumption, lack of true happiness in our culture and the quest for material happiness. it is multifaceted so it's not only the educational system....it is the whole culture, vibe.
It's called over consumption, lack of true happiness in our culture and the quest for material happiness. it is multifaceted so it's not only the educational system....it is the whole culture, vibe.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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There are plenty of well-educated people with advanced degrees, and experience with buying/selling property that got caught in the economic disaster. It's not a matter of education, nor really the culture. It's just overconfidence caused by the good economic times, and failure to plan for the unforeseen future. People in the 1960s, 70s and 80s also had plenty of debt, not only for homes but credit cards and student loans. When we bought our first house the mortgage interest rate was 7% and that was discounted because my wife worked at the bank.
I keep hearing about the banks and their predatory lending. Who did they lend to? People. And why did those people choose to be taken advantage of by the banks? Because they were not educated in finance.
The HIGH SCHOOL my husband and I attended educated the students in business arithmetic, economics, etc. so we would never have taken on a loan that could not be paid off any time we choose and that had an interest rate that changed. Why didn't the people that took out these predatory loans know any better? Why is the United States not educating its students? Why isn't a basic general business class in the schools mandatory for graduation?
I have been saying on the Internet that accounting should be mandatory in our schools for years.
A Libertarian told me it should not be done on the grounds that nothing should be mandatory.
A Swedish socialist who taught high school said it should not be done on the grounds that the math would make Capitalism seem logical to the students.
3 economists told me that it would not make any difference.
Personally I think that if it had been done since about 1960 it would have made a huge difference by now but there is no way to prove this. Our schools are practically designed to produce dumb worker consumers who can be used and ripped off all of their lives.
I read that in 1976. I presume the fact that I was interested as soon as I saw it in 1976 says something about my personality. But anyone reading that would not be surprised at the state of today's economy.
what difference does accounting make if the people know how to balance a checkbook? They weren't in the "red" if they made $1000 and spend $990 on mortgage... but when they didn't have that $10 for living expense, they lost their homes.
Knowing accounting doesn't mean they won't try to buy more of something even if they can "afford" it at the present, accounting doesn't teach people how to plan/prepare for an emergency/etc.
The other thing to realize that the average banker is probably the most unimaginative businessman you've ever met. No, I'll go one further. Most bankers are put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other clods who never really look up from the pre-ordained paths created for them. Oh, there are a few mavericks in the business but, for the most part, these are guys who get excited by a 1.25% return on assets and are so hamstrung by lending regulations that they can't hardly wiggle their ears. They fill out forms and toss applications out of loan committee if there's so much as a hair out of place because of bank policy, but they never look up and think to themselves, "Does this make a bit of sense?"
My mom used to work for a bank in the 1960s and she said the exact same thing about bankers as you've said here. I guess nothing's changed in 50 years.
You'd think the private sector could do a little better than that.
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