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Excellent, now if we can just stop manipulating risk assessment in the student loan market we'll be on track. Glad to be moving to the U.S. in the middle of wha

Excellent, now if we can just stop manipulating risk assessment in the student loan market we'll be on track. Glad to be moving to the U.S. in the middle of what appears to a policy renaissance. Maybe something can be done about the budget, though I can't exactly judge each administration for not taking on such an abstract marketing challenge. Pretty sure this only applies to banks with small holdings, so I'm not really sure why anyone's getting their panties in a knot.

frgtpsswrdlame 8y ago
>Pretty sure this only applies to banks with small holdings, so I'm not really sure why anyone's getting their panties in a knot. Definitely not small, maybe medium but even then depends how you define it. The relevant regulations are rolled back for banks with less than $250 billion in assets. So the megacorps like BoA and JPMorgan are still regulated but other very large entities aren't - American Express and BB&T were the examples I read earlier.
- microcolonel 8y ago
  American Express is not a bank, and BB&T isn't a particularly big one (though they'll possibly cross this line soon). Apple Inc. has more assets than BB&T.
  - geggam 8y ago
    thanks to fractional reserves most banks dont have any money
  - trhway 8y ago
    > Apple Inc. has more assets than BB&T. it is Apple own assets, not deposited by somebody. Apple also is the biggest by valuation and in the first 10 by revenue worldwide. Not a good yardstick to compare with to showcase that somebody isn't a big one. I mean it is like saying that USS Enterprise isn't a big one because Caribean Princess is bigger :)
ajross 8y ago
Why pick on student loans and not mortgages? The home interest tax deduction is a much, much bigger subsidy, with rather worse externalities ("housing crisis" vs. "a bunch of 20-somethings with worthless degrees).
- koolba 8y ago
  Housing has collateral, the house and land it sits on. A useless degree has zero value and can’t be resold to cover the dollars lost to unrepaid student loans.
  - geggam 8y ago
    or discharged in bankruptcy... a student loan is repackaged indentured servitude
  - ajross 8y ago
    That's talking about bank risk. The upthread point was about the government guarantee mucking with the market. And I pointed out that we're mucking with the market in much worse ways already. Leave the students alone.
  - Broken_Hippo 8y ago
    How do you figure what degree is useless? I mean, an art degree can easily lead to retail management. A business management degree often leads to the same sort of job. In some companies, you can earn these jobs working, but you are more likely to reach that management position at 30 instead of 23. These jobs don't pay all that much, true. But it is better than nothing and hey, if you went to college, you'll likely be a few years ahead of the peers that didn't. Theoretically, this will be a bonus. A teacher might not earn enough to cover their loan, especially if the person has an early childhood education (pre-school) degree as those jobs tend to be just slightly more than minimum wage. Yet few would argue that these are useless degrees. Some degrees become useless over time when a field is phased out, and others produce a few too many degrees when the field changes, rendering a few useless. Lawyers have experienced this - and not only that, but those lawyers that decide to do community work and be a criminal lawyer (especially a public defender) might not be able to afford his or her loans. This is the problem with writing degrees off as useless due to earnings. Lots of professions will fall into that category, even if I get the feeling they are talking about things like art degrees - which some folks would argue are necessary. The only real way to avoid this is to make sure the student loans are affordable even in the worst situations. Make college not cost as much. Use alternative ways to provide education other than loans. Taxes are a good start for funding since overall, college degrees are good for the college at large.

frgtpsswrdlame 8y ago

>Pretty sure this only applies to banks with small holdings, so I'm not really sure why anyone's getting their panties in a knot. Definitely not small, maybe medium but even then depends how you define it. The relevant regulations are rolled back for banks with less than $250 billion in assets. So the megacorps like BoA and JPMorgan are still regulated but other very large entities aren't - American Express and BB&T were the examples I read earlier.

microcolonel 8y ago
American Express is not a bank, and BB&T isn't a particularly big one (though they'll possibly cross this line soon). Apple Inc. has more assets than BB&T.
- geggam 8y ago
  thanks to fractional reserves most banks dont have any money
- trhway 8y ago
  > Apple Inc. has more assets than BB&T. it is Apple own assets, not deposited by somebody. Apple also is the biggest by valuation and in the first 10 by revenue worldwide. Not a good yardstick to compare with to showcase that somebody isn't a big one. I mean it is like saying that USS Enterprise isn't a big one because Caribean Princess is bigger :)

ajross 8y ago

Why pick on student loans and not mortgages? The home interest tax deduction is a much, much bigger subsidy, with rather worse externalities ("housing crisis" vs. "a bunch of 20-somethings with worthless degrees).

koolba 8y ago
Housing has collateral, the house and land it sits on. A useless degree has zero value and can’t be resold to cover the dollars lost to unrepaid student loans.
- geggam 8y ago
  or discharged in bankruptcy... a student loan is repackaged indentured servitude
- ajross 8y ago
  That's talking about bank risk. The upthread point was about the government guarantee mucking with the market. And I pointed out that we're mucking with the market in much worse ways already. Leave the students alone.
- Broken_Hippo 8y ago
  How do you figure what degree is useless? I mean, an art degree can easily lead to retail management. A business management degree often leads to the same sort of job. In some companies, you can earn these jobs working, but you are more likely to reach that management position at 30 instead of 23. These jobs don't pay all that much, true. But it is better than nothing and hey, if you went to college, you'll likely be a few years ahead of the peers that didn't. Theoretically, this will be a bonus. A teacher might not earn enough to cover their loan, especially if the person has an early childhood education (pre-school) degree as those jobs tend to be just slightly more than minimum wage. Yet few would argue that these are useless degrees. Some degrees become useless over time when a field is phased out, and others produce a few too many degrees when the field changes, rendering a few useless. Lawyers have experienced this - and not only that, but those lawyers that decide to do community work and be a criminal lawyer (especially a public defender) might not be able to afford his or her loans. This is the problem with writing degrees off as useless due to earnings. Lots of professions will fall into that category, even if I get the feeling they are talking about things like art degrees - which some folks would argue are necessary. The only real way to avoid this is to make sure the student loans are affordable even in the worst situations. Make college not cost as much. Use alternative ways to provide education other than loans. Taxes are a good start for funding since overall, college degrees are good for the college at large.