Bennett Hypothesis: Financial Aid Increases Tuition

[videogamesrock]

Free market solutions have always worked.  Adam Smith in 1776 wrote about how efficient free markets are, and those theories remain the same today as they were back then.  As long as competition remains strong and monopolies are avoided, then the free market is perfect.  

Regulation, on the other hand, prevents competition as it prices out smaller firms that cannot handle the regulatory burden imposed on industry by governments.  One example is banking regulation.  The regulatory burden in the financial sector is so high that smaller banks cannot compete and we see very few new banking startups.  The banking industry welcomes heavy and expensive regulation because it prices out the competition.  There is a reason why banks no longer offer free checking or give out toasters as they used to when you opened an account (I'm talking about in general).  

Most people don't talk about this, but the mortgage meltdown and financial crisis were caused by government regulation.  The government imposed quotas on banks that 30% of their loan portfolios in 1993 should be for poor people, primarily to make housing more affordable.  Of course, this regulation caused home prices to rise, which wouldn't have increased that fast if there wasn't a regulatory quota.  By 2008 that quota was raised to 56%. Since poor people couldn't afford down payments on such expensive houses, and the banks still had a regulatory quota to satisfy, they then dropped their lending standards to allow zero down payments in the 2000's.  Had the laws of the free market remained, no bank would have had a substantial portfolio of sub-prime loans and more people would have been able to keep their homes.  

Everytime government interferes with free markets,  the citizens of that government get burned.  

Minimum wage laws are a form of regulation.

[sanantone]

I get it. It’s all about discrimination.

Illegal immigration creates a large pool of unskilled labor suppressing job entry for youths and those with limited work experience.  It's a large supply of people chasing a limited quantity of jobs.  

Yes, I'm totally against minimum wage increases and I am for organic wage increases from free markets.  High minimum wage increases make it harder for entry-level workers to market themselves.  Like in Europe where young people often work unpaid internships to gain experience.  

The babysitting example was to explain how people can get priced out of the market when the government determines wages instead of two people agreeing on a fee, it has nothing to do if someone has a Ph.D. in Awesome.

I feel like I've given you plenty to work with here about free markets.  If it still doesn't make any sense then I can't help you.

Hiring illegal immigrants is actually the free market system at work. Making it illegal to hire people who don't have a work visa, permanent residence, or citizenship is a regulation. Americans don't want to pick fruits and vegetables in the hot sun. That's truth. The state of Texas can't even fill its correctional officer positions. At one point, they were hiring immigrants to fill those positions. Corrections officers were getting paid about $32k at that time, and they still pay no premiums for their health insurance. People simply just don't want to work in corrections. 

If you drop the minimum wage to employ more people, then that does not do anything for increasing wages. Anyway, any smart company will do whatever possible to have as few employees as possible. Automation and AI are going to take more jobs than anything else.

Do you know how terribly workers did before minimum wage laws and extensive labor regulations? Have you ever read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair?

[dfrecore]

I get it. It’s all about discrimination.

Illegal immigration creates a large pool of unskilled labor suppressing job entry for youths and those with limited work experience.  It's a large supply of people chasing a limited quantity of jobs.  

Yes, I'm totally against minimum wage increases and I am for organic wage increases from free markets.  High minimum wage increases make it harder for entry-level workers to market themselves.  Like in Europe where young people often work unpaid internships to gain experience.  

The babysitting example was to explain how people can get priced out of the market when the government determines wages instead of two people agreeing on a fee, it has nothing to do if someone has a Ph.D. in Awesome.

I feel like I've given you plenty to work with here about free markets.  If it still doesn't make any sense then I can't help you.

Hiring illegal immigrants is actually the free market system at work. Making it illegal to hire people who don't have a work visa, permanent residence, or citizenship is a regulation. Americans don't want to pick fruits and vegetables in the hot sun. That's truth. The state of Texas can't even fill its correctional officer positions. At one point, they were hiring immigrants to fill those positions. Corrections officers were getting paid about $32k at that time, and they still pay no premiums for their health insurance. People simply just don't want to work in corrections. 

If you drop the minimum wage to employ more people, then that does not do anything for increasing wages. Anyway, any smart company will do whatever possible to have as few employees as possible. Automation and AI are going to take more jobs than anything else.

Do you know how terribly workers did before minimum wage laws and extensive labor regulations? Have you ever read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair?

We're too good to pick fruit, but a Mexican immigrant isn't?  That sounds a bit racist to me.  I know you aren't, but if you listen to your words, it could certainly be consrtued that way.

As for saying people don't want to work in corrections, that's because the market isn't being allowed to work.  You pay what you need to in order to hire people.  So if you can't get mechanical engineers to work for $10/hr, you're going to have to pay them more.  If you look at what mechanical engineers make in the open market, it's that high because that's what mechanical engineers are willing to work for, and not less.  So according to the market, Texas correctional workers need to get paid more than $32k, and want health insurance, or they won't work there.  Great, so then you raise the pay to $35k with benefits, and see what happens.  Still can't get good applicants?  Then raise it some more.  At some point, it will be worth the pay to enough people that you won't have trouble filling positions.  It works the same way in Texas as it does in the Silicon Valley for programmers, and it's the same in the oil fields, and the same at McDonalds.

And yes, the government is allowed to make SOME labor regulations.  But they go overboard, and make so many that it's just stupid.  Do you know that in many states, you have to get a beautician's license to braid hair?  There is NOTHING in the classes you learn about braiding hair, and nothing in the classes that you actually need to braid hair, but it's a $10k-$15k requirement.  Why do taxi's need medallions?  It's a money grab by cities.  In many states, the law is you can't start a moving company without the OTHER MOVING COMPANIES there giving the ok.  Who in the world thought that one up?  Oh yeah, the current moving companies that don't want competition.  There is common sense regulation, and then there is over regulation that hurts more than it helps.

[videogamesrock]

Upton Sinclair's book was written at a time where there was limited competition and mass monopolies.  When you have monopolies companies produce less to drive up prices, they, also then control the free market, and it is no longer free.

Anarchy isn't the solution either.

Yes hiring an illegal is part of the free market process.  To have a healthy economy, some sort of rule of law is necessary to protect private property rights of a countries citizens.  You cannot have open borders where the have-nots from other countries can come in and plunder the taxpayers of a nation.  Most illegals send their profits back to their home country, abuse the welfare system, and send their children to public schools when they pay very little into the system.  Their rate of consumption is higher than their proportion of production while at the same time force wages at the bottom down.  They plunder from tax paying citizens which creates a win-loss effect. 

Farm labor is being replaced by automation and AI.  But we really don't know if Americans are willing to work in farms since the wages are kept low by illegals willing to work for less.  But if there were a shortage of those picking fruits and vegetables, the wages would go up and people will work in the farm fields.  Then again there are plenty of family farms where Americans work every day, so I'm not buying the theory that Americans refuse to work on farms.  

I believe AI and automation will lead to a shorter work week long-term.  

A healthy economy has the rule of law (protection of property), low regulation, low taxes, and free markets.

Remember crime is counterproductive to a healthy economy, which of course illegal immigration is a large contributor in that area.

[icampy]

Interesting arguments.

I'm just here to add: in the local town of 1500 people, starting pay at mcdonalds is $15.00. Yes, in an area with very low cost of living, burger flippers make 15 an hour.

They had trouble keeping it staffed. Not sure what about the west Texas demographics or situation make that an issue, but it is. I would have killed to make 15 an hour as a 16 year old.

But, they maintain staff at 15 an hour. They kept bumping it up until they could maintain employees, and 15 is what it took.

[sanantone]

I get it. It’s all about discrimination.

Illegal immigration creates a large pool of unskilled labor suppressing job entry for youths and those with limited work experience.  It's a large supply of people chasing a limited quantity of jobs.  

Yes, I'm totally against minimum wage increases and I am for organic wage increases from free markets.  High minimum wage increases make it harder for entry-level workers to market themselves.  Like in Europe where young people often work unpaid internships to gain experience.  

The babysitting example was to explain how people can get priced out of the market when the government determines wages instead of two people agreeing on a fee, it has nothing to do if someone has a Ph.D. in Awesome.

I feel like I've given you plenty to work with here about free markets.  If it still doesn't make any sense then I can't help you.

Hiring illegal immigrants is actually the free market system at work. Making it illegal to hire people who don't have a work visa, permanent residence, or citizenship is a regulation. Americans don't want to pick fruits and vegetables in the hot sun. That's truth. The state of Texas can't even fill its correctional officer positions. At one point, they were hiring immigrants to fill those positions. Corrections officers were getting paid about $32k at that time, and they still pay no premiums for their health insurance. People simply just don't want to work in corrections. 

If you drop the minimum wage to employ more people, then that does not do anything for increasing wages. Anyway, any smart company will do whatever possible to have as few employees as possible. Automation and AI are going to take more jobs than anything else.

Do you know how terribly workers did before minimum wage laws and extensive labor regulations? Have you ever read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair?

We're too good to pick fruit, but a Mexican immigrant isn't?  That sounds a bit racist to me.  I know you aren't, but if you listen to your words, it could certainly be consrtued that way.

How can it be construed that way? It's very simple. Americans don't want to work out in the hot sun. That says nothing about Americans being "too good" to work out in the hot sun. They might think they are too good for those jobs, but I don't think they are. I've worked 12-hour shifts out in the hot sun. That statement actually implies that Americans are kind of lazy and don't like to get dirty. No offense, but "do jobs Americans don't want to do" is a common phrase, so anyone who watches the news or pays attention to politics periodically knows what that statement means. It would only be misconstrued as racist through poor comprehension.

How much an employer pays is also limited by how much customers are willing to pay. Taxpayers in Texas want people locked up, but they don't want to pay corrections officers $40k per year. McDonald's customers don't want to pay $5 for a double cheeseburger that usually costs $1.50 or $2.

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Interesting arguments.

I'm just here to add: in the local town of 1500 people, starting pay at mcdonalds is $15.00. Yes, in an area with very low cost of living, burger flippers make 15 an hour.

They had trouble keeping it staffed. Not sure what about the west Texas demographics or situation make that an issue, but it is. I would have killed to make 15 an hour as a 16 year old.

But, they maintain staff at 15 an hour. They kept bumping it up until they could maintain employees, and 15 is what it took.

McDonald's locations that are near booming oil fields pay more due to worker shortages. They also have a huge customer base with high salaries because these areas tend to be remote. BUT, $15 an hour doesn't go very far in North Dakota where there are a lot of oil jobs because housing costs are so high.

[icampy]

We're 100 miles or so from oil fields, but I don't see that mattering to high school kids that aren't in the oil fields anyways. Especially combined with the insane amount of welfare usage, 15 an hour goes far in my county. Maybe in 5 to 10 years oil will "get over here" and drive everything up. Hopefully I am gone by that point. It's always fun to pick out the gang tattoos standing in a long line at a gas station in an oil town.

[sanantone]

Upton Sinclair's book was written at a time where there was limited competition and mass monopolies.  When you have monopolies companies produce less to drive up prices, they, also then control the free market, and it is no longer free.

Anarchy isn't the solution either.

Yes hiring an illegal is part of the free market process.  To have a healthy economy, some sort of rule of law is necessary to protect private property rights of a countries citizens.  You cannot have open borders where the have-nots from other countries can come in and plunder the taxpayers of a nation.  Most illegals send their profits back to their home country, abuse the welfare system, and send their children to public schools when they pay very little into the system.  Their rate of consumption is higher than their proportion of production while at the same time force wages at the bottom down.  They plunder from tax paying citizens which creates a win-loss effect. 

Farm labor is being replaced by automation and AI.  But we really don't know if Americans are willing to work in farms since the wages are kept low by illegals willing to work for less.  But if there were a shortage of those picking fruits and vegetables, the wages would go up and people will work in the farm fields.  Then again there are plenty of family farms where Americans work every day, so I'm not buying the theory that Americans refuse to work on farms.  

I believe AI and automation will lead to a shorter work week long-term.  

A healthy economy has the rule of law (protection of property), low regulation, low taxes, and free markets.

Remember crime is counterproductive to a healthy economy, which of course illegal immigration is a large contributor in that area.

If there is any sort of regulation, then it is not a true free market economy. A true free market economy was seen in Somalia when it had virtual anarchy. There is an experimental place somewhere in the U.S. that has no regulations; that's a true free market economy. 

Illegal immigration is down and has been down for a while. We already know what happens when there aren't enough migrant workers. Crops are going unpicked wasting money, and farmers are struggling to afford higher labor costs 

https://www.usnews.com/news/national-new...investment

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We're 100 miles or so from oil fields, but I don't see that mattering to high school kids that aren't in the oil fields anyways. Especially combined with the insane amount of welfare usage, 15 an hour goes far in my county. Maybe in 5 to 10 years oil will "get over here" and drive everything up. Hopefully I am gone by that point. It's always fun to pick out the gang tattoos standing in a long line at a gas station in an oil town.

High school kids aren't the only ones who work at McDonald's. When I worked at fast food restaurants, most of my coworkers were adults.

[icampy]

That is unfortunate. But when I was 16/17, before I got a real job, I worked at some grocery stores/big lots, and saw adults working (but not very many). It was sad to have a 40 year old man working beside you making 8 dollars an hour. Made me want to learn some real skills after high school. Luckily I did.

[sanantone]

That is unfortunate. But when I was 16/17, before I got a real job, I worked at some grocery stores/big lots, and saw adults working (but not very many). It was sad to have a 40 year old man working beside you making 8 dollars an hour. Made me want to learn some real skills after high school. Luckily I did.

I was 18 when I was hired as a supervisor over people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. The assistant manager didn't trust any of her current employees to be supervisors. Fast food employees are...different.