Posted on 04/21/2008 9:06:12 PM PDT by jazusamo
A front-page headline in the New York Times captures much of the economic confusion of our time: "Fewer Options Open to Pay for Costs of College."
The whole article is about the increased costs of college, the difficulties parents have in paying those costs, and the difficulties that both students and parents have in trying to borrow the money needed when their current incomes will not cover college costs.
All that is fine for a purely "human interest" story. But making economic policies on the basis of human interest stories -- which is what politicians increasingly do, especially in election years -- has a big down side for those people who do not happen to be in the categories chosen to write human interest stories about.
The general thrust of human interest stories about people with economic problems, whether they are college students or people faced with mortgage foreclosures, is that the government ought to come to their rescue, presumably because the government has so much money and these individuals have so little.
Like most "deep pockets," however, the government's deep pockets come from vast numbers of people with much shallower pockets. In many cases, the average taxpayer has lower income than the people on whom the government lavishes its financial favors.
Costs are not just things for government to help people to pay. Costs are telling us something that is dangerous to ignore.
The inadequacy of resources to produce everything that everyone wants is the fundamental fact of life in every economy -- capitalist, socialist or feudal. This means that the real cost of anything consists of all the other things that could have been produced with those same resources.
Building a bridge means using up resources that could have been used building homes or a hospital. Going to college means using up vast amounts of resources that could be used for all sorts of other things.
Prices force people to economize. Subsidizing prices enables people to take more resources away from other uses without having to weigh the real cost.
Without market prices that convey the real costs of resources denied to alternative users, people waste.
That was the basic reason why Soviet industries used more electricity than American industries to produce a smaller output than American industries produced. That is why they used more steel and cement to produce less than Japan or Germany produced when making things that required steel and cement.
When you pay the full cost -- that is, the full value of the resources in alternative uses -- you tend to economize. When you pay less than that, you tend to waste.
Whether someone goes to college at all, what kind of college, and whether they remain on campus to do postgraduate work, are all questions about how much of the resources that other people want are to be taken away and used by those on whom we have arbitrarily focused in human interest stories.
This is not just a question about robbing Peter to pay Paul. The whole society's standard of living is lower when resources are shifted from higher valued uses to lower valued uses and wasted by those who are subsidized or otherwise allowed to pay less.
The fact that the Soviet economic system allowed industries to use resources wastefully meant that the price was paid not in money but in a far lower standard of living for the Soviet people than the available technology and resources were capable of producing.
The Soviet Union was one of the world's most richly endowed nations in natural resources -- if not the most richly endowed. Yet many of its people lived almost as if they were in the Third World.
How many people would go to college if they had to pay the real cost of all the resources taken from other parts of the economy? Probably a lot fewer people.
Moreover, when paying their own money, there would probably not be nearly as many people parting with hard cash to study feel-good subjects with rap sessions instead of serious study.
There would probably be fewer people lingering on campus for the social scene or as a refuge from adult responsibilities in the real world.
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy.
“In many cases, the average taxpayer has lower income than the people on whom the government lavishes its financial favors.”
So true! I stopped donating to the local food bank when it struck me that I was showing up to donate food in my 10 year old car, while the people coming to get food were driving cars that were a year or two old.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Thomas Sowell for President!
Sowell BTT. He should know about the value of an education - dropped out of high school, joined the Marine Corps, got a GED afterward, and his academic career went Howard to Harvard (cum laude), Columbia, and University of Chicago. Not bad for a high-school dropout from Harlem.
You can say that again and he's one of the finest thinkers and writers in the country.
Brilliant piece.
I did not know that about this remarkable man. Thanks for posting it.
Semper Fi! to Mr Sowell!
You can start by reading “Visions Of The Annointed”.
Then, maybe “Race and Culture”.
Then “Black Rednecks and White Liberals”.
Then there’s about fifteen or twenty more.
(Haven’t read them all myself)
Sowell is relentlessly sane and perceptive. Very calming.
Wow, I had no idea. I just searched and verified the info. The article also stated his birthdate - he’s 77 years old. (I thought he was much younger.)
Too bad you didn’t ask to trade radials for bread.
>> I did not know that about this remarkable man. Thanks for posting it.
Sowell is the seltzer of sober thought.
Yes! He and Walter Williams are two of the finest economists.
If the black community followed their leadership instead of the obamas and the jacksons they would be lightyears ahead.
Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?
Brilliant piece.Nope. He's got the right idea, but he's too busy scoring political points to actually explain why college tuition is a socialist scam.
This article from Slate does a much better job of debunking the times.
I can't think of anyone with his ability to simplify without getting simplistic. He never talks down to his readers, yet manages to make his points clear to all.
If Obama was truly interested in transcending political and social divisions, he'd reach out to Prof. Sowell and other rightist intellectuals who are obviously making their policy prescriptions in good faith.
Sadly, Obama is no new figure of hope. He's just another Marxist, albeit with a great marketing plan.
The big question is: when will this house of cards called ‘higher education’ fall under its own weight?
I have.
By far his most important work is "Knowledge and Decisions." 50 years from now people are going to be looking at that book the way that modern economists look at "The Wealth of Nations" or "the Road to Serfdom". His other books read better, but that one is the one that will inevitably have the biggest impact IMHO.
I really like the way he has explained the basic concept of Opportunity Cost....and how only free economics will make the calculation of OC in decision making...Dr. Sowell is the best.
ping
I schooled my own children. My children saw to what lengths and sacrifices their father and I underwent so that they could be properly educated, and to be aware of but not indoctrinated with the current and trendy "idiot think" so prevalent in educational institutes in this country.
My now grown children are "winners" by current standards. Celebrity-status in the local venues. I never looked for that to be the goal nor a result of why I did what I did. They each just turned out to be the nicest, most civil and intelligent of young folks that people from all sorts of venues - dentists, receptionists, teachers, administrators, bosses, co-workers, grocery clerks all feel compelled to tell me how wonderful, unique, thoughtful, and gifted they each think my kids are.
I can only thank them for their kind words; knowing, not in a million years could I ever adequately convey to them how these results came to be in my children.
There were angels along the way who stepped in to help me protect my children from invasive and overreaching bureacracies and special interest groups. There were angels who bucked me up when I was most under attack for what I was doing. And there were angels who saw fit to bring over an extra loaf of bread here and yon, saying they'd gotten a deal. There were angels everywhere.
And not a single one of these Angels was giving me a single dime or assistance out of a bureacracy or taxpayer dollar.
That, right there, is how it all came to be. I live "Mother's Day" every single day of the year.
Dr. Sowell has written a memoir, “A Personal Odyssey.” It’s very enjoyable, and displays a personality that often doesn’t come through his more academic writing.
That's exactly how I feel! And I'm always inspired by the comments of people whose children have turned out well. (I've still got my fingers crossed :-).
When you donate to the food bank, you’re providing for someone else’s NEEDS, so they don’t have to spend their resources on those needs.
Then, they can go out and spend their resources on their WANTS, while you don’t.
The two groups are showing opposite responsibility behavior.
Time for kind hearted Christians to understand that there is huge value in the concept of “he who will not work, nor shall he eat”.
This provides incentive to work. Work builds character and independence, which is good for the individual. Everyone should work so that he will have something to give to those in need.
I have a different “order” of recommended Sowell reading, or “Sowell food”.
“Basic Economics” first and foremost lays the foundations.
“Applied Economics, thinking beyond stage one” expands your economic understanding to the effects of policy.
“Conflict of Visions” examines the mindsets involved in implementing policies that have the effects described in the first two books.
“Vision of the Anointed” examines the mindset of the left and the damage it causes.
From there, read at will, as you will have all the foundations that you need for further “Sowell food”.
bookmark
Congressman Billybob
Latest article, "The Ultimate, Inside Baseball -- the 2008 Democrat Convention"
And I wish him a long, long productive life.
For Obama to reach out to Dr. Sowell would mean Obama going through a change he’s surely not about to make.
I’m confident you’ve read what Sowell has said about him, he is definitely not one of Sowell’s favorite people. :)
You are fortunate to have children turn out so well but more importantly your children are fortunate to have you, congrats to you all.
My daughter is home schooling her three and though the oldest is only fifteen the benefits are showing. It’s a shame more don’t home school their kids but then many simply don’t have the time or the inclination to do it, it’s hard work.
This is also a human interest story. However, if college freshmen, or even better their parents were required to write an essay on the expected cost/return of their college education on Orientation Day most college students would go home and call up their local plumbers/pipefitters union.
Obama is an economically illiterate elitist Marxist. Those all go together.
He has no interest in understanding economics, because to him, it’s all about controlling the distribution of wealth from a central point of power.
Yes, Sowell writes in “good faith” - leftists NEVER argue or make policy in “good faith”.
Well said, CBB and right on the money!
I had some cloitured liberal elementary teacher gasp in horror when I said “college isn’t for everyone”.
It was pretty funny.
She has a “Bush lied, people died” bumper sticker.
oops, “cloistered” was what I was going for -
she has no friends or associates who don’t think just like she does.
That's hilarious on it's face but when you stop and think about people with a mindset like that teaching our children it's very scary. People like that should be barred from getting anywhere near a school.
I attended a speech by Dr Norman Geisler this past weekend. Takeaway quote:
“Do not sacrifice your children on the pagan altar of public education.”
Now as the service industries begin to flee overseas, followed by the financial, college is not looking like a good investment.
We are in a downward curve to a third world nation. We no longer make much, our financial house of cards is collapsing, and the only thing we have left is our agriculture. Which is going to be taken by UN fiat one of these days.
My daughter is home schooling her three and though the oldest is only fifteen the benefits are showing. It’s a shame more don’t home school their kids but then many simply don’t have the time or the inclination to do it, it’s hard work.
My praise and good wishes for your daughter and her three. Oh yes, she is doing hard work. Nothing can match the work and dedication involved with homeschooling. Nothing. It's 25/7, nonstop. It is good for the children; but it also requires mastery, self-discipline, and self-control in the homeschooling parent.
I once thought I had excellent professional management skills (in the workplace) but since homeschooling, I am the Queen of Management.
Your daughter may not feel like a Queen yet; but rest assured, her crown awaits her.
Having met your delightful children, they and you are right on track for absolute success! Recalling their ages, yes, I remember that stage. You wonder. I can now look back and I coin that particular age-stage of my children as the in "teen-transit" and "pre-launch" years. Once they are launched, there are newer hurdles. And then they begin to get a groove going. You get to put your feet up a bit more, lay that Tiara down and put on your crown and order the pets around, in between episodic newer challenges which your grown children simply MUST discuss, share, reveal, consider, worry over, with YOU. :)
I don’t suppose there’s any chance they’ll take the pets with them ... the snake is supposed to live another 15 years, and the kitten probably will, too. (But it’s my kitten :-).
Anoreth - the short girl with the orange hair and the Opinions - plans to join the military next summer. She wants to go to Iraq, have Adventures, and save the country. She also talks about dying gloriously - gets that from all the “blood and thunder” literature she reads.
We’ve put in thirteen years of homeschooling so far, and we can expect another sixteen, so it’s a good thing I can’t think of anything more fun to do with my life!
I have read every one of his books and all of them are worth reading. He is perceptive, intellegent and thinks outside the box. He is also the place to go for a sane and worldwide perspective on race relatons.
Thanks for your posts, syf. :)
Anoreth in the military would obtain an education of such an order as cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Military is an absolutely incredible educational experience, Tax-chick. And the homeschooling my kids received have stood them well in re military.
When my eldest daughter was at boot camp, and she was getting disciplined by her First Sarge(s), she'd start laughing, when all around her were shuddering and looking for rocks to climb under. And she wouldn't leave 'em alone.
Finally, one asked her what was so **)(*& funny! She told him he reminded her of her mom. SO, when I went to her graduation from boot camp at Fort Jackson, all her drill sarge's *had* had to meet me. My daughter just simply wasn't scared of 'em. (I can only imagine what they had thought I'd be like, lol). We had a great time together. (I think Anoreth and my eldest must have read the same books about "blood and thunder!".)
so it’s a good thing I can’t think of anything more fun to do with my life!
It doesn't end, even when they get out on their own. Those ties and trusts forged never go away.
I never tried to be their friend. We went through so much together, that a "brotherhood" (a strong family) was forged.
My eldest misses parachuting, btw. She's not able to do that anymore. However, that hasn't stopped her in the slightest from achieving and suceeding in any regard or desire or goal of her heart.
Nothing will stop your children from dreaming and achieving, either. And you and your groom will keep on being amazing and delighted in them. Now, they teach me so much that they have and are learning. It's really cool. :)
Just marking to read later.
I told Anoreth that if she wants a pet in the military, a fish in a jar is a good idea. (My brother had cats in Europe, but he kept having to find new homes for them when he moved, because he couldn’t transfer them between countries.) I figure the first week of Basic will knock the stuffing out of her, and after that, the immediate rewards for excelling will motivate her to excel.
All my children are fun now, even when they’re Impossible, so I’m looking forward to what they do with the rest of their lives. Pat may live in the basement with a snake and invent cold fusion :-). He walked off from us at the zoo on Monday, and when I found him, he said, “Oh, here you are! I wanted a drink of water, and I had to tell the tortoise something.”
I’m sitting here with the hugest and fondest grin on my face, Tax-Chick. Your delight in your children is the gift which keeps on giving to each and all. The world will try your children, and your children will never lose their innate innocence. That innocence is not naiivete. It’s how children are supposed to be raised, and to carry that gift with them through the rest of their lives. Yes, you do live “Mother’s Day” every single day of the year. :)
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