So, I took today off, and noticed that there was a panel discussion at the college on “The State of the Recovery” put on by the college and the local NPR affiliate. I thought that it would be a hoot so I went and listened to the discussion. Even from these well-educated and fairly well-informed people (there were three business journalists and one business professor) I found it surprising that the mood of the discussion was so positively upbeat. They essentially all agreed that the economy was bad right now but that the stock market was way up from its lows of the year and we are probably at the bottom of the void or on the upward swing of the recovery. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but it was wild to listen to the panel and not hear one skeptical voice. I asked a question, I am trying to figure out how to copy that segment of the video and put it on YouTube, about what they thought about the fact that we are still living on borrowed money, it is just that the borrowing has shifted from the private consumer to the public sector (federal government and federal reserve). When I was done with the question, it is as if I asked them what they thought of the impending martian invasion. They all looked at each other like what the fuck is this guy talking about.

So, either I am completely insane, didn’t present myself in a clear way or the people on the panel didn’t know about what I brought up.

If you want to watch the video here, my question starts at about 40:10 into the video. Jeremy Hobson was the first one to respond and you can tell that initially he wants to disagree with me, but then realizes that he agrees with my premise that debt has just switched from private hands to public hands. The dean from the B School then responds mostly to what Jeremy is saying and they do not expressly respond to the monetary programs coming from the federal reserve.

Anyway, I thought it was telling how differently I am looking at current events in comparison to the way that the people on the panel are observing things. Also, Jeremy Dobson only referenced one person throughout the whole discussion and that was Peter Schiff which I thought was kind of interesting. Go Peter Schiff…

I do not take it as a surprise that the people invited to a discussion about the economy by an NPR station do not agree with my point of view or subscribe to my pessimism. I am surprised that 3 journalists were not even the least bit skeptical of the prospect of a recovery.

Oh, I also found it unnerving that in different ways 3 of the 4 panel members all said positive things about the health care sector of the economy. One comment was essentially “thank heavens that the medical field is now almost as large of an employer in Springfield, IL as the state of Illinois.” Another comment mentioned that because job growth has continued in the health care field throughout the recession, it is a good field to get into and will likely continue to grow into the future.

I think that close to a majority of America probably can’t afford the medical care they currently receive, and at some point there will be a correction downward in the amount of money that sector of the economy brings in. Whether it is through government involvement or through economic means, medical professionals are not going to be able to continue making inordinately large incomes providing a service to people that are collectively getting poorer and poorer. You can’t become a doctor making $250k/year treating patients making minimum wage, it is simply not sustainable.

The idea of higher education employment also came up as a possible growth sector in the future. Here again, I disagree, but even more strongly than before. You can’t be a college professor making $100k/year teaching students that are defaulting on their student loans as soon as they graduate. Investors won’t continue to buy the securities that back the loans once it becomes obvious that we don’t need any more kids with BA’s in Art History from Northeastern Arkansas State – it will and should become a meaningless piece of paper. It simply can’t continue. America does not need people that are so over-educated in such trivial fields – to be fair, it isn’t just art but social sciences, law and business degrees as well.

I am sorry that it has taken me so long to get around to writing on here again. To my three dedicated readers, I appreciate your patience.

educated and medicated to doom,

mike

Share on Facebook