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I had no opportunity to attend college, I had to support myself at 18. Is it right that I subsidize people more privileged than I? If and when they start making

I had no opportunity to attend college, I had to support myself at 18. Is it right that I subsidize people more privileged than I? If and when they start making money can I expect a discount on their services?

saint_fiasco 10y ago
Yes and yes. The fact that they are offering the service at all means you don't have to go somewhere else (possibly far away) to get an equivalent service, so that is a form of discount. The exception is for fields that are zero-sum games, such that an abundance of lawyers, for example, makes it cheaper to defend yourself from a lawsuit but also more likely to be sued.
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  > Yes and yes. The fact that they are offering the service at all means you don't have to go somewhere else (possibly far away) to get an equivalent service, so that is a form of discount. No thanks, if I'm paying for your education I expect a better discount than "my office is a little bit closer" Op is right, this is unadulterated bullshit.
  - saint_fiasco 10y ago
    It should not be controversial that with a greater supply of a service, price will tend to go down (or quality will go up) because there will be more competition.
    - cmdrfred 10y ago
      >It should not be controversial that with a greater supply of a service, price will tend to go down (or quality will go up) because there will be more competition. Firstly, if the services are in demand why is paying off the loan an issue? Secondly, they already have the degree paying off loans does not increase the number of graduates.
      - saint_fiasco 10y ago
        > Firstly, if the services are in demand why is paying off the loan an issue? That is a very good point. > Secondly, they already have the degree paying off loans does not increase the number of graduates. It depends on how the debt is forgiven. If government just pays the colleges then it will suck, but suppose they were like "You sold a defective product to millions of people and we are not paying for it. Deal with it". Then colleges will learn to stop offering useless majors and the number of graduates in bullshit will reduce while the number of graduates in useful stuff will increase.
thepompano 10y ago
> Is it right that I subsidize people more privileged than I? Probably not, but considering that the forgiveness program the government is talking about mainly targets people with debt who can't pay it back - like people who are seriously disabled and can't get a job - you would likely be subsidizing people less privileged than you, which is a good thing. > If and when they start making money can I expect a discount on their services? No, but they're not making money now and they won't be in the future and that is why the government is considering discharging their loan debt.
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  >mainly targets people with debt who can't pay it back - like people who are seriously disabled and can't get a job - you would likely be subsidizing people less privileged than you, which is a good thing. So if I become disabled, will you be paying my mortgage?
  - thepompano 10y ago
    I'm not sure if I'd be paying your mortgage per se, but I'd be paying for whatever benefits you receive through the Social Security Adminstration's Disability Benefits program. But even if I was, why would that be controversial? Why should the government not provide aid to people who are virtually derelict?
    - cmdrfred 10y ago
      Don't college educated people also receive social security benefits? Why should they receive more benefits over someone who isn't college educated?
      - thepompano 10y ago
        I would think that the program is meant to extend help to people who pursued a college-education, took out $30k worth of loans, worked hard, and became disabled or otherwise unable to procure employment post-hoc. For example, people who pursued computer science degrees and then got into car accidents and incurred traumatic brain injury (use your imagination). I take your position to be that 1. you're in favor of providing financial support to people on disability, but 2. concerned that college-educated people on disability potentially stand to qualify for more benefits than non-college-educated people on disability. If this program's stated intent was to fully subsidize education for people who would definitely not be able to procure work in their academic area of focus (like subsidizing music degrees for deaf people or whatever), I would concede that the program would be economically counter-productive. Otherwise I think the government should extend more financial assistance to people who are at greater risk of ruin.

saint_fiasco 10y ago

Yes and yes. The fact that they are offering the service at all means you don't have to go somewhere else (possibly far away) to get an equivalent service, so that is a form of discount. The exception is for fields that are zero-sum games, such that an abundance of lawyers, for example, makes it cheaper to defend yourself from a lawsuit but also more likely to be sued.

cmdrfred 10y ago
> Yes and yes. The fact that they are offering the service at all means you don't have to go somewhere else (possibly far away) to get an equivalent service, so that is a form of discount. No thanks, if I'm paying for your education I expect a better discount than "my office is a little bit closer" Op is right, this is unadulterated bullshit.
- saint_fiasco 10y ago
  It should not be controversial that with a greater supply of a service, price will tend to go down (or quality will go up) because there will be more competition.
  - cmdrfred 10y ago
    >It should not be controversial that with a greater supply of a service, price will tend to go down (or quality will go up) because there will be more competition. Firstly, if the services are in demand why is paying off the loan an issue? Secondly, they already have the degree paying off loans does not increase the number of graduates.
    - saint_fiasco 10y ago
      > Firstly, if the services are in demand why is paying off the loan an issue? That is a very good point. > Secondly, they already have the degree paying off loans does not increase the number of graduates. It depends on how the debt is forgiven. If government just pays the colleges then it will suck, but suppose they were like "You sold a defective product to millions of people and we are not paying for it. Deal with it". Then colleges will learn to stop offering useless majors and the number of graduates in bullshit will reduce while the number of graduates in useful stuff will increase.

thepompano 10y ago

> Is it right that I subsidize people more privileged than I? Probably not, but considering that the forgiveness program the government is talking about mainly targets people with debt who can't pay it back - like people who are seriously disabled and can't get a job - you would likely be subsidizing people less privileged than you, which is a good thing. > If and when they start making money can I expect a discount on their services? No, but they're not making money now and they won't be in the future and that is why the government is considering discharging their loan debt.

cmdrfred 10y ago
>mainly targets people with debt who can't pay it back - like people who are seriously disabled and can't get a job - you would likely be subsidizing people less privileged than you, which is a good thing. So if I become disabled, will you be paying my mortgage?
- thepompano 10y ago
  I'm not sure if I'd be paying your mortgage per se, but I'd be paying for whatever benefits you receive through the Social Security Adminstration's Disability Benefits program. But even if I was, why would that be controversial? Why should the government not provide aid to people who are virtually derelict?
  - cmdrfred 10y ago
    Don't college educated people also receive social security benefits? Why should they receive more benefits over someone who isn't college educated?
    - thepompano 10y ago
      I would think that the program is meant to extend help to people who pursued a college-education, took out $30k worth of loans, worked hard, and became disabled or otherwise unable to procure employment post-hoc. For example, people who pursued computer science degrees and then got into car accidents and incurred traumatic brain injury (use your imagination). I take your position to be that 1. you're in favor of providing financial support to people on disability, but 2. concerned that college-educated people on disability potentially stand to qualify for more benefits than non-college-educated people on disability. If this program's stated intent was to fully subsidize education for people who would definitely not be able to procure work in their academic area of focus (like subsidizing music degrees for deaf people or whatever), I would concede that the program would be economically counter-productive. Otherwise I think the government should extend more financial assistance to people who are at greater risk of ruin.