Will Pittsburgh be a bust? (income, excise tax, safe)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

True and I know first hand the inflated billing goes through them. It is sad. My doctor told me he has no control of the billing process anymore. Everything just goes through UPMC. I went there once and that was it. I just hope to stay healthy, make it to 90 and die in my sleep. Then all will be great!

AGH physicians have a lot more control and freedom. My doctor left UPMC for that reason.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Caladium

How can Pittsburgh be a bust when it's never had that big of a bubble, anyway?

LMAO! I was thinking the same thing!

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

As for health care, the abnormal growth rates in that sector have to slow down eventually--otherwise our economy will eventually be entirely made up of health care. But when that slow down in growth rates will occur is anyone's guess, and it almost certainly will not take the form of an actual contraction, barring some miraculous technological breakthrough.

Also, the biggest growth in health care revolves around seniors, and Pittsburgh has a huge population of seniors. So I think the health care biz is pretty secure there.

[SammyKhalifa]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

It sure is a relatively new process and we are not doubt blindly moving forward for the bucks. I was reading about fracking being stopped due to slight earthquakes in England.

UK shale gas drilling suspended after earthquakes - BusinessWeek

It is an interesting process to blast water into shale, it breaks up and they recapture gas. Kid of unsettling not to know the long term effects and what will really happen when you break up a shelf like that and extract something. Can it cause an earthquake? Seems we will find out at some point. My biggest concern is water. Last I checked, humans need clean water to survive.

Those are pretty much my thoughts too. I worry about just taking some corporation's word for it when it says that everything's going to be just fine.

[Bong477]

Escalating healthcare costs are a complex problem but they aren't really a result of employing too many (or overpaying) techs, doctors, and nurses. I don't think its a major concern for the city's future.

[BrianTH]

Just an aside, but they have been fracking for a long time, and the risks are relatively well-known, as are the remedies. The real problem is just making sure you have the right regulations in place, and that the regulations are properly enforced.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Well if you think about the current climate of the country, there is some truth to the article. For example:

- Healthcare costs keep rising and people simply cannot afford care. Since healthcare is the biggest game in town, this can be a problem if they cut jobs. Since UPMC just looks at the bottom line and that's it, job cuts are quite possible and high unemployment would be right along with it.

- There is a severe anti-education climate in modern American politics. The Corbett budget cuts are a great example of this, and if universities start cutting jobs we have more people unemployed.

- The student loan bubble is just about to burst. With students $800 billion in debt, this bubble is going to burst eventually and kids may not look to expensive schools like Pitt for schooling.

The city is in a slight boom period right now, but this growth is unsustainable given the conditions of the country as a whole.

[pman]

To be sure, Pittsbrugh should be looking to grow other areas rather than rely on UPMC, but to the extent it poses an immediate risk I'm not so sure. I also don't think that drilling is going anywhere given the size of the marcellus shale and the utica shale underneath it...more akin to the coal that once made PA wealthy. sure, there's no tax on it now, but it seems likely drilling will be going on for several decades, it will eventually be taxed. Two things that show health is PNC's growth and Google's presence IMO.

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

The student loan bubble is just about to burst. With students $800 billion in debt, this bubble is going to burst eventually and kids may not look to expensive schools like Pitt for schooling.

The biggest winners will be the small schools such as Cal U and Slippery Rock. BUT some of the kids who would have gone to the more expensive private schools may migrate to Pitt as a cheaper, yet still prestigious, alternative.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by trlstreet

BUT some of the kids who would have gone to the more expensive private schools may migrate to Pitt as a cheaper, yet still prestigious, alternative.

Possibly. However, keep in mind that Pitt is still the most expensive university with public funding in the nation. If they get hit hard by more budget cuts and remain that expensive they may not be that attractive for students.