11/25/14 Today's Inquiries

Not much to report today. Plenty of questions, few answers. Get excited for thanksgiving!


The Links:

Info on the Ferguson Grand Jury's decision. I don't really know what to make of this whole mess. The prosecutor certainly doesn't come off looking good. More here.

Household debt is rising again. "The deleveraging process has ended." And, home remodeling is on the rise again. 

Are single parent households the biggest reason for income inequality.

College is necessary but doesn't get you anywhere.

First, millions of people in developing nations are now far better educated, and the Internet has given them an easy way to sell their skills in advanced economies like the United States. Hence, more and more complex work is being outsourced to them.

Second, advanced software is taking over many tasks that had been done by well-educated professionals – including data analysis, accounting, legal and engineering work, even some medical diagnoses.

As a result, the demand for well-educated workers in the United States seems to have peaked around 2000 and fallen since. But the supply of well-educated workers has continued to grow.

Or is demographics to blame for out secular stagnation?

So, we have a recovery of sorts but it's been terribly unequal. Is 0% growth for 90% of the population really a successful economic model?

However, the trend in part-time > full-time job growth may be changing.

There is no technology worker shortage.

The Fed seems confused about why many young adults live at home with their parents. This guy thinks it's an attitude shift:

The Fed believes all they have to do is push a button, and people will respond the way they want. The Fed got housing prices up, but only 10% of the response they expected.

Attitudes explain why. The Fed can and did make money available, but it cannot dictate where people spend it, or even if people spend it.

Here is a link to all the articles where I mentioned Attitudes. There are pages of references. It would behoove the Fed to read a few of them.

Clash of Generations

Unlike boomers and gen-Xers whose primary focus was on money and "getting ahead" lifestyles, millennials have more of a depression-era survival mentality coupled with a completely different set of values.

Citylab argues that millennials have to choose between upward mobility and affordable housing.The trade off is basically that areas with economic growth and jobs have high housing costs which negate the effect of that income.



UVA has a serious rape problem. A followup by Rolling Stone. Content warning, obviously.

Gawker wants to end fraternities. I support this measure. They're among the least meritocratic and most scammy organizations in existence.

I've linked about each of the books reviewed here but I recommend reading the review anyway as it gives a good overview of the problems facing out educational system.

A 5 paragraph essay against 5 paragraph essays.

Life imitates art: There was a crappy movie about this starring Gerard Butler and that guy from Dexter. I think it was called Gamer.

The Onion: Iranian nuclear talk negotiating team openly building bomb in the room.