Posted on 03/11/2016 8:52:43 AM PST by Jim W N
Senator Bernie Sanders, presidential candidate and America’s leading socialist, announced today that he would be introducing a bill to make college “free” for students seeking bachelor degrees.
Had Milton Friedman been alive today, he would have no doubt thrown cold water on Sanders’ proposal.
First, he would have likely addressed the fallacy known as the free lunch myth. You can watch him do so below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZMxvlKxyk0
Secondly, and more specifically, he would have discussed the economics of higher education. You can watch him do so below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3-_r_t7AZU
It’s unfortunate that there isn’t a conservative/libertarian intellectual with the communication skills of Milton Friedman alive today. Many people unschooled in the basics of economics are predisposed to fall for the free lunch myth, and eager to involve the government in areas where it does not belong.
TANSTAAFL.........................
If it’s ‘free’, you’ll get what you paid for.......................
First, he would have likely addressed the fallacy known as the free lunch myth. You can watch him do so below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZMxvlKxyk0
Secondly, and more specifically, he would have discussed the economics of higher education. You can watch him do so below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3-_r_t7AZU
Thomas Paine said that about liberty but it counts for education too. I have a bachelors and a masters degree from a private university (Drake. Go Bulldogs) and while my parents contributed a lot towards the undergrad degree I had to pay for grad school myself. Which I did, through savings. Through financial aid. By working my butt off in high school and college to maintain grades and keep my aid. And because I worked so hard my education means a lot to me. It's something I earned. If it is just given away, like Bernie wants, then why should it have any value at all?
I miss Milton.
L
Healthcare was affordable BEFORE the Affordable Healthcare Act.
Now it’s outrageously expensive.
If a college education is made ‘free’, it will be worthless......................
Looking at this as a class issue, dealing only with groups since the democrats don’t see people as individuals:
College graduates would as a group break even if they made more in earnings with their degrees and then paid more in taxes to cover college for the next generation. As a wealth transfer, “free college” breaks even, or it would if college graduates were the only taxpayers. Except (and this is a BIG EXCEPT) non-college taxpayers also pay for free college.
The bottom line: “Free college” is a wealth transfer from those who don’t go to college to those who do go to college. Am I wrong in assuming the democrats are just pandering for votes, or is transferring wealth from the working class to more educated Americans what the democrats want to stand for?
It applies to all facets of life. Just look at government housing projects, in ruins a few years after they are occupied by free housing guests....................
And in reality, this proposal diminishes the hard work of others for those who would waste access and resources because they take a fancy to some career or another.
One thing that isn’t often addressed is what this would do to the (already fairly poor) quality of higher education.
If the government subsidizes all college education, then all colleges would become, essentially, public schools. Now, ask yourself, what is the quality of public schools generally, compared to private schools?
Will I also get a Sandersphone to swap for my Obamaphone at college?
“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.”
When I was a kid I’d watch my mother drain the last of the ketchup, mayo, etc. to the new bottle. I asked why for such a little amount left. She smiled and said, “When you pay for it you’ll understand.” She was right, and nowadays I do the same thing.
There’s a difference between the price of an item and what it really cost you...
Friedman? A DWM...
However, a post from yesterday, yeah another white male, living, even "they" can be correct when stating the obvious to the oblivious: Dr. Phil: Inside the mind of a Bernie Sanders supporter (Video)
... when they get that "free" education, when they get that job, the money they make will have to be given to the next person behind them to fund their education....
(This is not to imply that Dr. Phil is better than Friedman, quite the opposite, but Dr. Phil is au courant, while Friedman's being ignored by what passes for "educators" nowadays.)
Student loans should be like mortgage or automobile loans. The amount you are loaned is dependent on your ability to repay the loan.
A person making $40K a year will not be approved for a $60K car note.
So, assuming a student is employed in the chosen field of study, a more generous loan can be made for student in a STEM field of study, while only smaller loans should be made to students in courses that end in “studies”.
Wow, excellent point that I had not thought of.
Wow ... shows what a leftist David Brooks was even back then.
” ——or is transferring wealth from the working class to more educated Americans what the democrats want to stand for?”
—
A great point,one that would be easy for some libs to understand.
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