Is Education the Next Bubble?

December 01, 2011

That may sound like a strange question but it’s one that a lot of people are beginning to ask. What makes a bubble a bubble is that it’s hard to tell when you’re in it until it’s too late. Let’s take a look at the housing bubble. It was based on widespread faith in home ownership as a key pillar of the American Dream that had paid off well for previous generations. It was then fueled with artificially cheap credit and government incentives that led millions of people to stretch their budget and buy as much home as they could with the expectation that rising home prices would make it a great long-term investment, even if they were barely able to afford those mortgage payments. Besides, owning a nice big home is so much fun! Substitute education for housing and student loans for mortgages, and you pretty much have the current state of higher education. Continue reading “Is Education the Next Bubble?”

Why We Should Tune Out the Politicians

October 28, 2011

As someone who travels a lot for work, I spend a lot of time in hotel rooms.  And, each hotel has a very different TV lineup, so it’s impossible for me to ever remember if ESPN is on channel 29, 53, 37, or 6.  (Yeah, there are bigger problems, but knowing what channel ESPN is on is important to me!)  And, a part of my night is flipping through the dial to check out what’s going on in the world outside of sports.  I’m a bit of a news junkie too.  In the latest trip around the dials (are there even radios or TV’s with dials anymore?), I was fascinated by all of the tax proposals I saw being talked about.  You’ve all heard that the only 2 things that are certain in this life are death and taxes.  I agree that those are absolute certainties, but I think there are a few other things that can be counted on.  One of them is politicians with plans. Continue reading “Why We Should Tune Out the Politicians”