We all agree it is a complicated problem, solving it on here is not easy.
Do we really need the Fed? Couldn’t the government simply use tax policy to add/remove money from the system as needed? Cut taxes when more money is needed in the economy and raise taxes when inflation is driving price up at an unsustainable rate?
The above assumes the government was doing what it’s supposed to do, not just looking out for past & future campaign contributions.
The customers tell you what you make. You can give a day’s worth of the best sales pitches ever and if they’re not buying, they’re not buying. You get 0.
As for this, the impact will probably be small, but positive. As discussed, when kids are raised in households that devalue education, with parents/guardians who don’t care, there isn’t a whole lot teachers and schools can do. But for every student that becomes motivated by this, graduates, and goes to college, that would have dropped out and got a job at McD’s or slinging dimebags, that’s one more potential self-sufficient adult without a criminal record or public assistance.
Buff State is a foot in the door. It’s not going to make you rich, but if the economy sucks less it should get you an entry-level job as a teacher, nurse, white-collar in business, or whatever. If you can avoid having 4 kids or picking up a drug habit along the way, you’re off to a good start. The rest is up to you.
As for BED’s comments, that may have been true in past generations, but fewer and fewer of the 1% are self-made…the barriers of entry are just too great. As Gordon Gekko said, 2/3 of the wealth in this country comes from interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons. You take away their nest egg and they’d have to work for the first time in their lives…I suspect most of them would be completely underprepared.
This is a definitely a good question.
However, I feel that the Fed really is necessary and I’ll tell you why. Congress controls fiscal policy which is simply how much it taxes and how much it spends. The Fed controls monetary policy which deals solely with how much money is in the overall economy.
Fiscal policy can definitely have an effect on the money supply depending on whether Congress is in a tax and spend mode or if it is in a cut taxes and cut spending mode. You’re right about how it can use taxes to control the money supply.
What the Fed really does is regulate how much banks can lend. It can change the reserve requirement for banks, by making it higher or lower. If it raises it that means that banks have to keep more money on hand for every dollar they loan, making it harder for them to lend. For example, The Fed might say that instead of the bank needing to keep $1 on hand for every $10 it lends, it now needs to keep $2 for every $10 it lends. That would reduce the money supply in the overall economy because banks would have to hold more. It would help if inflation is out of control.
If they did the opposite and lowered the reserve requirement, making it easier for banks to lend, it puts more money into the economy and acts as a stimulus. The Fed can do that and makes those changes almost immediately. The changes are much quicker and more direct than just changing the tax code, which means the economy wouldn’t feel the effects of the change until the next year.
The Fed also has the ability to alter the supply of money in the economy by buying or selling U.S. Treasury securities. If the Fed owns them and sells them to the public, money is being taken out of the economy because people are paying for them. If they are buying them from the public, money is being injected into the economy because the public has to be compensated with money for the securities.
Having The Fed also means that our country’s monetary policy is separated from all of the political nonsense that happens in Congress. With the way Congress has been lately, how could we rely on them to manage our monetary policy and monitor the economy? It also means that professionals like Ben Bernanke, a Princeton economist, are in charge of our economy, not some idiot who gets elected to Congress like Chris Lee.
Cliffs: The Fed is needed because it can monitor our economy much more closely than Congress can, it can enact changes quicker instead of having to wait until the next year for the economy to feel the changes, and it provides for professional management of our economy. After all, would you want Chris Lee making such important decisions?
Damn I’m sick of typing!
I didn’t read the entire thread but…
I saw this on the news yesterday. Glad i paid for my education out of pocket. ANGER.
Wut? How about showing up to work for 40 hours a week and not know if you are going to make enough money? I love my solid pay check, if I do good and meet goals, I get compensated with bonuses. Lots of companies give stock and methods of profit sharing. They call these jobs careers. Part time jobs with no benefits and incentives that have high turnover don’t do this unless its in upper management which obviously has less turn over.
^^ Glad you and I see eye to eye on a lot of this.
Exactly. I worked for school, got my degree and now a career and am paying it back too. What incentives are there for people with loans in good standing?
Thanks for the well worded and lengthy reply. 
When you put it that way I can see the need for an entity that can make immediate changes. I also can see why the monetary and fiscal should be kept separate. I guess my big concern is that they have the appearance of being separate, though I don’t believe they truly are separate. At times I wonder which of them is leading the pony show but I keep coming back to thinking they work together.
I get my check every week. I have a draw. I stockpile my money in the summer and draw from it in the winter. How would you like to be able to swipe $10k one week, $5k the next, etc…
The city schools suffer for a variety of reasons. They consequently have a disadvantage in some regards.
However the city must exist for the surrounding areas to exist as well.
Yet there is no tax-base sharing, even though the city must exist many of the people who utilize it (workplace, facilities, etc) don’t contribute financially because their taxes go to their outside municipality.
It is my understanding that this is a scholarship type program. If they attend city schooling for 4+ years prior to college entry they are eligible for a subsidy of their college education. It seems the specific situation dictates how much assistance is granted. I would presume this would pertain to things such as scholastic performance, economic situation, etc.
This can provide hope. A lot of kids don’t think they will be able to have a future, and consequently don’t try.
I remember when I graduated from School #56 in 8th grade a few kids had limos. Finding this odd, I asked one of my teachers. I’ll never forget this: Ralph Steger, my social studies teacher (great teacher btw) sighed and said “for a lot of these kids, they know this is the only graduation they will ever get.”
It is my hope that this will impact the School Board’s decisions and influence their further restructuring.
I don’t quite understand why so many people are up in arms about giving children opportunity. I guess humanity in general is selfish and sour.
Excellent question. I’d love it if I were given some break on my loans for working the job I have right now. At least I’m getting my master’s degree paid for though.
this. Stop bein jelly.
and how did this turn into a debate on commission based jobs?
So poor people strike again? Why dont we just give them a hs diploma and say they went to school…
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
There is a seriously massive lack of self respect, morals and ethics in this country. This is just another handout to enable those unwilling to sacrifice in order to succeed.
Please see the quote below… it is not jealousy it is us who do well and work hard to be successful sick of those who need it handed to them.
It really does run ram[ant these days. Some ass hat kid that we just hired to work in the warehouse opened his POS car door into my edge and I saw it from my office. I walked out and confronted him to a response of “I don’t know, maybe whats it matter?” Fuck kid that truck is worth at least 10 of your shitty car, have some respect!
Life isn’t fair :gotme:
And it never will be.
We need to stop the pussification of this generation, enough hand outs and freebies and “aww don’t worry” attitudes.
Kids need to fail, they need to struggle, they need to find out that something worth having is worth fighting for. If everything is handed to them, then why bother trying?
I still think they should spend the money on getting the high school graduation rate up in the Buffalo schools instead of sending a handful to college.
It will help far more people
^^Agreed. That was the main point I was trying to send home. The money could be better spent elsewhere within the Buffalo Public School System.
Amen brother.
Amen brother.