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College Conspiracy

#41
spade2you said:
Just because I haven't been unemployed doesn't mean I haven't suffered. My job is a suffer fest from the time I clock in until the time I clock out. I don't have normal hours, never will. The workload is unreasonable. The stress is unbearable. I've also had a boss that wanted to can me, but decided to use this power to more or less force me to work even harder and more hours to keep me out of the hot seat.

The stability and benefits are nice, but it's far from free or without pain and suffering.
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No offense, but until you have to decide between groceries and gas.... you don't have a clue what this feels like.

Sorry about your job stress. At least you will be able to pay your bills this month... I am still trying to figure out how... *that* is the sort of stress that terrifies me at night laying in bed....
 
#43
powderfinger said:
Debt and exchange rates aside..

Do you sir, realize that when more money is printed, and put into circulation, that the money we have is devalued? It's a simple case... increasing money supply= lower value of our currency.

This is very basic economics. Are you sure you understand?
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Yes, I do. Simply pointing to changes in money supply does not indicate skyrocketing inflation. And current price changes don't reflect skyrocketing inflation.

The fact of the matter is, the value of our currency has not dropped sharply downward relative to other currencies. Look at the US dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar vs. a basket of foreign currencies--it's down about 12% over five years, but slightly up over three years. So we lost a little ground during the pre-bear market bubble.

aborgman said:
They barely indicate inflation, much less skyrocketing inflation.

The large increase in monetary supply MAY eventually lead to inflation - but at this point, it isn't.
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Exactly.
 
#45
powderfinger said:
No offense, but until you have to decide between groceries and gas.... you don't have a clue what this feels like.
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Don'tcha think that sort of threat may have been dangled in front of me? I was used, abused, and exploited in many ways. Had I not bent over backwards, I would have been in a world of hurt and definitely wouldn't be employed.

powderfinger said:
Sorry about your job stress. At least you will be able to pay your bills this month... I am still trying to figure out how... *that* is the sort of stress that terrifies me at night laying in bed....
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Life sucks. The reason I'm employed is only due to the necessity for my position. I'm not saying you do this personally, but I know more than a few people who can't be bothered to do a lot of jobs.
 
#46
@Greg C-
Prices *are* skyrocketing man, what are you talking about? Have you filled up your tank lately? Bought a gallon of milk? Went to a movie? And prices have been increasing for years and years and years. Its just now that prices are rising expotentially faster than in previous years.

@spade2you
I apologize for assuming you dont have to deal with the same insecurities as I and others. Its just tough, and yeah, life does suck. Too bad it doesnt have to. The rich get richer... and the poor get poorer. They keep throwing money into circulation, but regular guys like us never see any of it. We just feel the pinch.
 
#47
powderfinger said:
@Greg C-
Prices *are* skyrocketing man, what are you talking about? Have you filled up your tank lately?
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Invalid Link Removed


powderfinger said:
Bought a gallon of milk? Went to a movie?
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I buy 4 or 5 gallons per week.

milk.jpg
 
#48
powderfinger said:
I apologize for assuming you dont have to deal with the same insecurities as I and others. Its just tough, and yeah, life does suck. Too bad it doesnt have to. The rich get richer... and the poor get poorer. They keep throwing money into circulation, but regular guys like us never see any of it. We just feel the pinch.
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Ain't no thang.

I'm happy to be out of the crosshairs for a change, but I also managed to use the disadvantages to my advantage. Well, 'xcept for the part about having normal life hours. The job sucks and people quit the second that they can get hired elsewhere. It sucks for me, too, but I utilize it as job security.

On a side note, after almost being canned and after economic conditions, I also managed to save up enough to help in the event that the dung hit the fan. You can't factor in everything, but I could go a while if unemployed.
 
#51
powderfinger said:
@Aborgman-

You can post all the charts you want, but when I was in high school I could fill my gas tank up for 79 cents. Today it was 4 bucks...
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The last time gas average 79 cents was about 1978.
Median household income in 1978 - $15,064

So assuming a normal 2000 hour work week - the average family could buy about 9.5 gallons of gas for an hour of work in 1978.


In 2011 average gas prices look to be around $3.50/gallon.
2011 Median household income was $51,090.

So assuming a normal 2000 hour work week - the average family could buy about 7.3 gallons of gas for an hour of work.

A SLIGHT change - but far from any sort of massive shift.

...and it's been pretty far from a consistent upward trend.

If we look at how far the average family can TRAVEL for an hours work, the numbers start to look even nicer for today.


1978 average fuel economy: 18mpg.
Average family can travel 171 miles on 1 hours work.

2011 average fuel economy: 30.2mpg
Average family can travel 220 miles on 1 hours work.
 
#52
powderfinger said:
@Greg C-
Prices *are* skyrocketing man, what are you talking about? Have you filled up your tank lately? Bought a gallon of milk? Went to a movie? And prices have been increasing for years and years and years. Its just now that prices are rising expotentially faster than in previous years.
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The data just does not support that. I also looked at gas prices--the national average in the US right now is lower than it was in the summer of 2008.
 
#53
Mark Latimour said:
I have a conspiracy theory that the OP is just a bot that posts random links to sites on forums on the internet without an explanation. :) Maybe I should start a thread and post a link to this post. :D
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I don't know how I missed this post before, but I have to agree. I'm not sure I've ever seen the OP post anything but a link. Maybe a quote to the article in question as well.
Last time I called OP out on this though, it was met with a link to images of me being a troll. It was pretty stellar.
 
#54
So taking the information we have about purchasing power with the US dollar, is the cost of a college degree actually more expensive these days or is it the same as it was 5, 10, 15, or even 20 years ago?
 
#55
Ray Salamon said:
I don't know how I missed this post before, but I have to agree. I'm not sure I've ever seen the OP post anything but a link. Maybe a quote to the article in question as well.
Last time I called OP out on this though, it was met with a link to images of me being a troll. It was pretty stellar.
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MAYBE.... just MAYBE.. the OP, unlike many of us, is too busy playing bass to take time to actually reply to us....
 
#56
I knew the OP back when I was a moderator on another bass forum. He's a good guy. He just enjoys posting links that he thinks people will find interesting and/or relevant in today's society.
 
#57
jmattbassplaya said:
So taking the information we have about purchasing power with the US dollar, is the cost of a college degree actually more expensive these days or is it the same as it was 5, 10, 15, or even 20 years ago?
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Before you look at just college, we also need to keep in mind the overall living conditions. Even 20 years ago, folks didn't all have a TV in every room, expanded cable, computers for everyone in the household, smart phones, etc.

I'd agree college seems to be growing at a rate past inflation. To a certain extent, I think there'll eventually be a time (or perhaps soon) where people simply stop going to college or chose state/community colleges over private universities.
 
#58
powderfinger said:
MAYBE.... just MAYBE.. the OP, unlike many of us, is too busy playing bass to take time to actually reply to us....
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Eh, I have a day job that I work from home. I often have a bass in hand throughout the day when possible. It's not a lack of gigging, here. Just odd how OP posts a link, inserts zero commentary, and rarely comes back to the thread again - expect maybe to post yet another link.
 
#59
jmattbassplaya said:
So taking the information we have about purchasing power with the US dollar, is the cost of a college degree actually more expensive these days or is it the same as it was 5, 10, 15, or even 20 years ago?
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Adjusted for inflation, the cost of college was gone WAY through the roof. I say mainly bc of the abundance of loans, making it easy for anyone to go to college, pay tuition, and spend the rest of their loan on stereos, vacations, and beer.
 

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