Not only can countries not tax themselves to prosperity, but they also can't tax themselves to a better education. You can steal money in the name of the so-called middle class and distribute it to unions and social welfare programs, but it won't make matters any better. On the contrary, redistribution would make matters worse because once higher taxes rob bank accounts it proceeds to rob incentive. The chain of events would eventually mean fewer rich people to slaughter but more people in line to share the spoils. This pirate economics is reckless, demoralizing, and dishonest.

Beyond outright theft, the dishonest part is not dealing with the issues. One end of the spectrum sees a lot of people made lavish promises of money and health benefits for life based on little actual financial sacrifice or investment. The other end of the spectrum is keeping the economy moving along with a workforce that doesn't have proper skills. While the administration is demanding higher pay for jobs with low skill thresholds, but high union membership, the nation is missing the boat on big money jobs that fuel massive economic prosperity.

I've been pointing out for years that the decline of educational standards is the critical problem as the best jobs require less brawn and more gray matter. With these jobs comes power because smart jobs, not smart energy, are the future. Oh ... and the future is now! Brookings Institute published a report on job openings and educational requirements. The results are a stark call to arms, not to steal from the local plumber and his family, but to send your kids to school to learn about science and math instead of victimization and self-loathing. This whole thing is getting old and real fast, too.

You can't make things right by overpaying assembly line workers; it ruined Detroit, and is holding back the rest of the nation at this very moment. Instead of calling your boss greedy, grab a book, learn fresh skills, and make your own fortune. In recent job openings, a bachelor degree was needed for 43%, but only 32% of Americans have attained that educational level. Push come to shove, a college grad can do a job designated for someone with only a high school diploma. However, it rarely works the other way around.

Just like debt, which is racing to unsustainable levels, there are many that say it would take too long to get workers up to speed. So, Plan B, punish families making more than $250,000 a year. That would actually drain the college pool further, but it would be in line with the "fairness doctrine." The Brookings report is fascinating and should be read or reviewed by all that want to understand how that, coupled with monster debt, is the true threat to the nation.

http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Papers/2012/8/29%20education%20gap%20rothwell/29%20education%20gap%20rothwell.pdf

The Market

The market is seesawing back and forth, and it's clear a major move is brewing. In many ways, it's like my commute to New York, which is building back up (I saw two school buses today), and next week it will be full blast. When everyone is back at school and Wall Street, the former will knock the cobwebs off, and the latter will have to decide if they want to party or risk missing a giant money making moment.

According to the Labor Department, initial claims during the week ended August 25 totaled 374K, flat from the 374K revised figure reported for the prior week and landing above the Street's estimate of 370K.

Personal incomes were up 0.3% in July and that was in line with consensus, while a 0.4% increase in spending was in line as well. The savings rate was down for the first time in several months.

Comments

College students and/or their parents should be responsible for paying education costs, not taxpayers. Education loans are like any other loan and should not be forgiven. Wanda Bibens on 8/30/2012 10:01:32 AM

No. A person places very little value on something FREE. gary parker on 8/30/2012 10:06:14 AM

No Chuck Reed on 8/30/2012 10:15:36 AM

Let's just do everything like CUBA so we can all be rich and prosperous like them! Steve Jobs on 8/30/2012 10:21:25 AM

No, unless we get 2 and 20. Two per cent fee yearly and twenty per cent of all future increase in earnings and benefits of the education. Douglas Roberts on 8/30/2012 10:33:20 AM

The federal government needs to get out of the subsidizing of higher education Altogether!That is the only way there could be any hope for the bringing about higher education at a reasonable price will Forrest W Byers on 8/30/2012 10:37:59 AM

No, we should not pay for college. Private sector grants and scholarships should be encouraged. Barry Yelton on 8/30/2012 10:43:03 AM

"No," and "no." Not every kid wants or even should go to college. The gov't subsidies themselves are driving up costs, along with so many ridiculous "extras" colleges buy & build to attract more subsidized loan $$$. The majority of kids could easily start earning income (and saving & investing!) 4-8 years earlier than their university contemporaries, and have NO student loan debt to pay off. Most would probably out-save the college kids at retirement if they did so. Then colleges could concentrate on the smaller # of kids who really, really need and want to be there. Because of increased technologies, higher education should be getting LESS costly, not MORE. George Stelzenmuller on 8/30/2012 10:47:24 AM

Absolutely NO! Thomas J. Zaleski on 8/30/2012 11:04:13 AM

NO. Too much government intervention already. Businesses have to be fiscally responsible. It is time institutes of higher learning also become fiscally responsible and stop spending whatever they want and then raise tuition to cover their excesses. judith lundquist on 8/30/2012 11:08:45 AM

No Way. I had to pay my way and got loans and paid them all back. Plus I worked 3 jobs for 1 year and always worked 1 job during school. I am a Computer Science Major - labs, work and school. No time to play. Lori Ford on 8/30/2012 11:12:02 AM

NO. However, our higher education system has followed the federal government model and become bloated and stagnated with overpaid faculty. The answer is to strengthen the junior college system and allow one-for-one credit and allow people to pursue a degree a course at a time. Z on 8/30/2012 11:15:40 AM

Debit is slavery. You can't climb out of a hole trough the bottom. These are true for me personally and as they are for our country. It is, I think, that simple. Oh ya, if your in a hole, stop digging. jim crouch on 8/30/2012 11:17:32 AM

If loan debt than what is next. Credit cards. Mortgages. Car loans. Medical bills. When and where does this stop. Douglas on 8/30/2012 11:50:04 AM

Only those with the inner drive to go to college should be there. Taxpayers should not have to pay for anyones education and all loans should be paid for by the one taking out the loan. It is wrong for everyone to be asked to pay for continuing education when lots of high school grads don't value even that. Norma on 8/30/2012 12:15:41 PM

NO. Everytime the govt gets involved with anything the quality goes down. K mak on 8/30/2012 12:36:37 PM

No; this country became great without this give-away. We don't need it now. Dick Kantenberger on 8/30/2012 12:50:21 PM

No! People get car loans for about the amount of school loans and they pay those back. School loans have very low interest rates and should be paid back by the person that got them, NOT by ME! Ben on 8/30/2012 1:10:58 PM

no college is a privilege and should be paid for. Where there is a will there is a way. jim cuff on 8/30/2012 1:38:33 PM

No, no, a thousand times no for SO many reasons that we could write a book on the subject. Bob Vik on 8/30/2012 1:42:35 PM

No, If colleges are free, students won't make the same disciplined decisions to get through efficiently and chose majors that will give them careers that will allow them to repay the loans. Scholarships should be competitive and liberal arts studies should be considered a luxury good. We should limit the subsidies on injustice collecting majors such as women's studies, and ethnic studies. cindy Hebein on 8/30/2012 2:13:35 PM

My daughter entered College in 2007 and the tuition was $1,356 per sem. Now, it is over $4,000 per sem but fortunately she graduated in 2011. We didn't take any student loans and I spent about $40,000(cash)for her college experience. Today, she has a job in an ice cream shop which pays $9.00--history major with honors while searching for a better job. If the Administration waives existing student loans, then somehow I out smarted myself by paying the old fashion way--with cash. In 2008 Obama won the college vote with promises and today, he is trying to buy! Rich on 8/30/2012 2:14:38 PM

No, don't make education free and don't cancel education debt. Education is a huge problem in the USA, but we would make a mistake should we assume it is the foundational problem. And we would make an even bigger mistake to assume that cost is the primary factor behind the low numbers of people with college degrees. The root problem is loss of morality in this country. I don't mean that everyone has forgotten the difference between right and wrong and the value of character, but the fraction that has is now large enough to sink the country. Why do so many kids drop out of high school? It is not because it is beyond the ability of most to complete school. It is not because the teachers are poor. It is because they do not have parents doing their jobs. The parents, if present, are not teaching their kids what matters. My dad did not teach me a lot, but he did teach me what it is to be a man. He taught me the importance of hard work, integrity, paying my own way, and honesty. This society always had bad parents who failed to teach good values, but for a long time we had schools which took up the slack. But now, a corrupt Supreme Court is dealing us blow after blow to destroy this country. All of their assaults on this country are direct violations of the 10th amendment, our right to rule ourselves. First was outlawing prayer in public schools. As our first Chief Justice said, we must remain Christian as a nation or we will fall as a nation. Without prayer in public schools, we soon lost moral discipline in those schools. Now there is nobody to make up for lousy parents. Add to that, we have the abortion, divorce, and promiscuity decisions which have greatly increased the number of kids without 2 parents. This has resulted in far too many youth who have never learned what it is to be responsible. And without understanding responsibility, they lack the character to graduate from school having learned anything worthwhile. Even when these kids do graduate, it is a toss-up whether they are employable. Many lack the character to put in a full day's work for the money, or to be trusted not to steal from the company. Even more have been passed wihout mastering the material. The basics of electronics is Ohm's Law. This is learned by most in high school, and is the foundation on which everything taught later rides. Yet, more than half of US college graduates with electrical engineering degrees are incompetent to solve a simple problem which requires only understanding that one most basic law of the universe. They have had too many open book tests and exams with specific preparation. They are lost if the question is asked in any way different than the exact way they were taught. In this way, the schools are failing in their task of teaching. They see it as their job to publish degrees rather than to instill mastery, because they are paid more for the diploma than the knowledge. Throwing money at the problem in college is no more effective than it has been in high school. First, the problem of character must be solved. The kids must want to learn. Then the problem of educational incompetence must be solved. The schools must be held accountable to require excellence. Schools should be rewarded for making it very hard on the students rather than rewarded for making it very easy. The greater the stress during school, the greater the capability of the student once he graduates. Only when those issues of student character and teaching competence are solved can we effectively address the issue of individual funding. At that point, we can work out ways to fund the students that are actually learning, and refuse funding to those who either do not apply themselves or are failing to make the grade in a curriculum in which they are not well suited. In this, we must be willing to scrap the idea of social engineering. Sex, ethnicity, and race should not have anything to do with getting funded for college. We are competing with countries that do not play those foolish games and we are losing. We can not afford to continue to support those who fail simply because we want to re-engineer our society. One last comment. Most of recognize the deep problem with issuing free amnesty to illegal aliens - it undermines the rule of law in our country. The loss of rule of law is worse than the benefit of potential hard-working citizens. Likewise for forgiving student debt. The big problem with today's students is failing character. While we may need to do something in particular instances, most can and should pay back the loans. To forgive the loans across the board is to make the basic character problem even worse through rewarding a lack of integrity. Bob G on 8/30/2012 2:16:19 PM

No. People, including my son, a college graduate working at a job so far beneath his skill and ability level that it makes me mixed up from crying and laughing at the same time, should pay their debts. Universities should also meet their responsibility to educate students for success in the actual world, not some ideological fantasy planet of their own bias. Patricia Flynn on 8/30/2012 2:21:02 PM

Yes! But only if I get to attend too with a little something $$extra for partying/living expenses. You see I've been working nonstop since I was 12yrs old and am now 55yrs old with a healthy six figure salary. I've been so busy working and raising 3 daughters including paying for each of their undergraduate degrees I've not had the time or money to invest in my own college vacation, er uh, I mean my own college education. Otherwise, hell no. Working2 on 8/30/2012 2:39:32 PM

I do not believe that loans should be forgive, especially for those who took meaningless degrees that will not lead to gainful employment. For thise who have a degree that has qualified them for an occupation where there is or will be demand for their skill set. I would however support lower interest rates for all student loans not forgiven. Roy Goodrich on 8/30/2012 2:59:30 PM

No, we should not either forgive existing student loans, nor provide absolutely free college educations. In California, we do provide nearly free community college education, which meant that students could start and quit classes endlessly, without much planning for graduation. They could readily drop a difficult class, not pay any penalty for the dropped class, wonder aimlessly in academia, taking up space than other, more directed students needed. Of course, the instructors did not mind this situation, as their classes might be full to capacity at time of enrollment, and could be sure that 50% would not show up or remain in the classes. In addition, many classes were aimed at infilling the education of the students who did not get a real high school education, and those students were ill-served a second time. Having both a financial and educational commitment to one's classes is beneficial to all, and would have protected against the disaster that is now facing California's community college system peggy Zuckerman on 8/30/2012 3:19:40 PM

Brilliant piece with which I agree in its entirety. BUT! I just picked up a catalog for a local community college (@ $80/credit [for in-state residents] + various fees) in which I found the exact same courses that could have been taken prior to graduation from our local high school. Are we wasting money on the "free education" in the high schools (supported though taxes) or are we wasting money on "higher education" (supported through taxes); how long will it be before my property/state income taxes must cover all education? I have my thoughts, but I'd like to hear yours. Gary D. Gross on 8/30/2012 4:49:41 PM

Asnwer is NO! That means the Gov't will be paying for all colleges overhead. Besides there would be a LARGE number of students who would make it a 4 year vacation. Cecil E on 8/30/2012 5:03:07 PM

It's not a question of more college graduates. It's a question of the quality and kind of college graduates we produce. Since the '60's academia has been devouring its own young with useless courses and confused thinking while extorting higher and higher tuitions from beleaguered parents hoping and praying that their kids will come home with an actual education. Miraculously, some still do. Meanwhile, much of academia could do with a trip through intellectual bankruptcy court. After that, perhaps there will be hope. Dennis Howard on 8/30/2012 5:13:59 PM

NO. Considering most U's are socialist indoctrination camps. With over taxpayer paid profs teaching how evil capitalism & private sector job providers are.Where do all the tax free foundation $'s go anyway? As soon as parents get a tax credit for X,tuition goes up by XY.Then B.H. Obama/libs get nationalised loan forgiveness vote!Foriegn exchange students? frank lights on 8/30/2012 6:39:40 PM

No, but attending college should be affordable to everyone. Universities should do their "humantarian and civilized" best to make a formal education accessible to everyone. If a higher education is for the good of the society, univerisities (i.e., executives/professors, etc.,... should take pay reductions)to cut down costly expenses that are transferred on to increases in tuition. Grace Reeves on 8/31/2012 9:03:01 AM

NO and NO. Schnozzly on 8/31/2012 1:44:38 PM

Absolutely not. Work ethic is tied to paying back a loan. Connie Helgason on 8/31/2012 2:17:42 PM

To say all student loans be forgiven would be to create another ill advised waste of taxpayer money if not subjected to a means test. Why not institute a merit based admissions policy for a free or low cost college education as for example the City University of New York and its colleges? Bill Dana on 8/31/2012 8:30:10 PM

There is a very interesting post at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States. It's WIKI, so it has some liberal verbiage, but it also has lots of organized data. There are lots of charts there, but the ones that show the clearest picture are the ones in the middle on income versus education. Income versus gender versus education can be confused by educated wives that choose to stay home and be full time moms. The income versus ethnicity or race charts are less clear than income versus education, and are likely more a result of the education factor than the genetics. Another obvious fact that shows in the charts is that the poorest 20% are that way because less than half those households have anyone working. Imagine that: "no work, no pay". That sounds like a workable policy to me. More than half of the households in the top 40% have 2 full time wage earners, aka "work more, earn more". Kinda makes Obama sound moronic when he denies that success is unrelated to how hard you work. Bob G on 9/2/2012 5:13:58 PM

No, Oh God no.....Can you even begin to imagine how fast the cost of colleges and Univ. will go up???? This could be worse than medical costs. The minute to Government got into it, costs went through the roof, why not, the taxpayers are paying for it. tomwayne on 9/2/2012 6:05:37 PM

absolutely NO! We need to get expenses under control. Universities can provide an affordable education if they cut back on the excesseive spending. Here in Tucson the private sector is at a stand still, while the UofA is wildly spending tax money on extravigant buildings. james buchanan on 9/3/2012 10:52:11 AM

Every college student knew exactly what they were agreeing to when they signed an agreement to repay their college loans. There is no difference between signing a contract for a school loan and a car loan. The main problem is not that students are not receiving college degrees, it's what they're being taught in most colleges. Many degrees are worthless for preparing graduates an opportunity to earn a decent income. Besides, I don't believe everyone is entitled to a college education as many educator's do. People are unique. Each one of us has special gifts. WE should decide for ourselves if college is right for us, not the government! Carl Maggio on 9/4/2012 9:05:19 AM

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