4 ms·

The infrastructure bill is desperately needed. It’s the best piece of legislation to come in my adult life. It could be the difference between America crumbling

The infrastructure bill is desperately needed. It’s the best piece of legislation to come in my adult life. It could be the difference between America crumbling into obscurity, or revitalizing the economy. The student loan one.. woof. The timing is rough. I know it’s not popular to say, but all those dollars not going to loans are going to contribute to inflation.

socialismisok 4y ago
They are going to contribute, but not much. Fundamentally we are dealing with supply constraints due to war and pandemic.
houstonn 4y ago
Only a small portion of that massive omnibus law, and every massive omnibus bill, is needed. The remainder is made up of special interest lobbying and donor class favors.
- thehappypm 4y ago
  Welcome to government, pal. Every bill in history is like that. Still worth it.
hotpotamus 4y ago
I have to say that if the economic system is dependent on siphoning off money from young people in the form of student loans, that already sounds like a system ready to crumble if those young people aren't able to establish themselves financially. My impression of the US is that it's already too far gone into various collapses to really recover, but I don't know what that means for its future.
- nebula8804 4y ago
  Who is going to replace it? Some people say China, but then the Zeihan POV says their population is too old, they lockdown every three seconds because they still haven't developed a competitive vaccine, and that capital wants to escape the country at record speed seems to indicate its not China (again according the to Zeihan fanboys). Whats the counter argument? I can't see any country overtaking the US. Maybe everyone collapses into a worldwide depression. Maybe thats possible.
- s1artibartfast 4y ago
  The economic system is in no way dependent on student loan money. where did you get that impression? It is a negligible part of revenue. The main problem with young people financially establishing themselves isn't the loans, it is their choice in careers/degrees.
  - hotpotamus 4y ago
    > The student loan one.. woof. The timing is rough. I know it’s not popular to say, but all those dollars not going to loans are going to contribute to inflation. That was the post above me in the tree.
    - s1artibartfast 4y ago
      I see. I didn't read "contribute" as equivalent to "depends". I can pour gas on house fire, but that doesn't mean it depends on the gas.
      - hotpotamus 4y ago
        I'm sure my wording could have been better, but the thought that student debt is large enough to have material effects on inflation for an economy the size of the US was a bit of a revelation to me.
        s1artibartfast 4y ago
        The federal student loan portfolio currently totals more than $1.6 trillion. The federal government receives about $70.3 billion in payments for student debt per year[1]. In relation to the 4.4 Trillion in revenue that is about 1.5% of revenue. What is more meaningful is the total amount forgiven, which is around 300 billion of debt of the students balance sheets, essentially immediately [2] That is about 7% of the entire federal revenue. Essentially folks have 70 billion more to spend this year, and also don't need to worry about payments on 300 billion in coming years. The numbers being thrown around during the pandemic are truly staggering and people don't have the context to judge their size in relation to federal revenue. For example, the US spent about $11 Trillion on pandemic relief. That was more than 3 times federal revenue in 2020, which was already a trillion dollars over budget. https://slate.com/business/2021/03/student-loan-total-annual-government-payments.html https://slate.com/business/2021/03/student-loan-total-annual... https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2022/8/23/forgiving-student-loans https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2022/8/23/forgi... https://www.covidmoneytracker.org/ https://www.covidmoneytracker.org/
AnotherGoodName 4y ago
Brave laws in general are needed. One of the problems is labor shortages. We've had policies that have led to the highest prison population and incarceration rate in the western world. There's been little effort on making those in prison employable. 2 million prisoners, many non violent stuck there unable to help with the massive problem society has post COVID. We could fix this to everyone's benefit. Daycare. It allows a small number of adults to enable a much larger number to work. There's no federally funded program towards this yet it's a massive societal force multiplier. Especially for single parents. It's amazing to think we have corporations complaining about labor shortages who also back politicians that promote policies that create labor shortages.
- PretzelPirate 4y ago
  > Daycare Beyond helping to fund daycare for the parents' sake, we should recognize that early childhood education workers are often paid less than a living wage and finding workers is very challenging. The government should fund living wages as well as subsidies for the parents. Early childhood education is important for child development, and investing in that is investing in the economy.

socialismisok 4y ago

They are going to contribute, but not much. Fundamentally we are dealing with supply constraints due to war and pandemic.

houstonn 4y ago

Only a small portion of that massive omnibus law, and every massive omnibus bill, is needed. The remainder is made up of special interest lobbying and donor class favors.

thehappypm 4y ago
Welcome to government, pal. Every bill in history is like that. Still worth it.

hotpotamus 4y ago

I have to say that if the economic system is dependent on siphoning off money from young people in the form of student loans, that already sounds like a system ready to crumble if those young people aren't able to establish themselves financially. My impression of the US is that it's already too far gone into various collapses to really recover, but I don't know what that means for its future.

nebula8804 4y ago
Who is going to replace it? Some people say China, but then the Zeihan POV says their population is too old, they lockdown every three seconds because they still haven't developed a competitive vaccine, and that capital wants to escape the country at record speed seems to indicate its not China (again according the to Zeihan fanboys). Whats the counter argument? I can't see any country overtaking the US. Maybe everyone collapses into a worldwide depression. Maybe thats possible.
s1artibartfast 4y ago
The economic system is in no way dependent on student loan money. where did you get that impression? It is a negligible part of revenue. The main problem with young people financially establishing themselves isn't the loans, it is their choice in careers/degrees.
- hotpotamus 4y ago
  > The student loan one.. woof. The timing is rough. I know it’s not popular to say, but all those dollars not going to loans are going to contribute to inflation. That was the post above me in the tree.
  - s1artibartfast 4y ago
    I see. I didn't read "contribute" as equivalent to "depends". I can pour gas on house fire, but that doesn't mean it depends on the gas.
    - hotpotamus 4y ago
      I'm sure my wording could have been better, but the thought that student debt is large enough to have material effects on inflation for an economy the size of the US was a bit of a revelation to me.
      - s1artibartfast 4y ago
        The federal student loan portfolio currently totals more than $1.6 trillion. The federal government receives about $70.3 billion in payments for student debt per year[1]. In relation to the 4.4 Trillion in revenue that is about 1.5% of revenue. What is more meaningful is the total amount forgiven, which is around 300 billion of debt of the students balance sheets, essentially immediately [2] That is about 7% of the entire federal revenue. Essentially folks have 70 billion more to spend this year, and also don't need to worry about payments on 300 billion in coming years. The numbers being thrown around during the pandemic are truly staggering and people don't have the context to judge their size in relation to federal revenue. For example, the US spent about $11 Trillion on pandemic relief. That was more than 3 times federal revenue in 2020, which was already a trillion dollars over budget. https://slate.com/business/2021/03/student-loan-total-annual-government-payments.html https://slate.com/business/2021/03/student-loan-total-annual... https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2022/8/23/forgiving-student-loans https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2022/8/23/forgi... https://www.covidmoneytracker.org/ https://www.covidmoneytracker.org/

AnotherGoodName 4y ago

Brave laws in general are needed. One of the problems is labor shortages. We've had policies that have led to the highest prison population and incarceration rate in the western world. There's been little effort on making those in prison employable. 2 million prisoners, many non violent stuck there unable to help with the massive problem society has post COVID. We could fix this to everyone's benefit. Daycare. It allows a small number of adults to enable a much larger number to work. There's no federally funded program towards this yet it's a massive societal force multiplier. Especially for single parents. It's amazing to think we have corporations complaining about labor shortages who also back politicians that promote policies that create labor shortages.

PretzelPirate 4y ago
> Daycare Beyond helping to fund daycare for the parents' sake, we should recognize that early childhood education workers are often paid less than a living wage and finding workers is very challenging. The government should fund living wages as well as subsidies for the parents. Early childhood education is important for child development, and investing in that is investing in the economy.