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There are more rich people in the US than when some of us middle-aged people were younger, the distribution of wealth has gotten much more uneven, while the num

There are more rich people in the US than when some of us middle-aged people were younger, the distribution of wealth has gotten much more uneven, while the numbers of rich have gotten larger. So, yeah, a lot more just really rich students than there used to be, rich enough to think nothing of throwing out luxury goods, finding it more convenient than doing something else with them. Then the increase of wealthy international students on top of that -- also richer than most students 20 years ago, and add on even less convenient to try to move anything back home or do anything else with it.

dfxm12 1y ago
On our current trajectory, as time moves forward, you will need to be more and more rich to attend university. Even more so for universities like Duke, compared to, say, NC State or UNC.
- TuringNYC 1y ago
  >> On our current trajectory, as time moves forward, you will need to be more and more rich to attend university. Even more so for universities like Duke, compared to, say, NC State or UNC. It is expected right? Our population has grown and we also have huge streams of foreign students...but the count of universities has largely been static. The class sizes are a bit bigger and the dorms accomodate more, but nowhere near in line with the demand. Naturally the prices have risen to meet the limited supply. Not saying this is good, rather...we should be building more universities to stay in line with the general population
jccalhoun 1y ago
I definitely remember walking through the dorm parking lot when I was in grad school and noticing that at least half of the cars were much nicer than the car I was driving.
- SoftTalker 1y ago
  That is still the case for me, and has been throughout my life. I've never thought spending a lot of money on a car made any sense at all.
  - apt-apt-apt-apt 1y ago
    It's a little mind-boggling when you compare a decent $5K car to a $60K one, and realize you could have a 12-car fleet for that one car.
    - bigstrat2003 1y ago
      Is such a thing even to be had these days? I certainly own a decent $6k car, so I know it used to be possible. But I bought that car 14 years ago now, and it would surprise me if you can still get a decent car for that price after 14 years of inflation.
      - SoftTalker 1y ago
        I bought a $4k car a couple of years ago. It’s had a few issues but nothing I couldn’t handle in my garage with fairly common tools. I’d say you can still get a very good car for under $10k and much less if you are handy with wrenches. When shopping for this sort of car look for private sellers. Used car dealers in this price range tend to be sketchy and none of them do any maintenance or repairs before the sale.
      - apt-apt-apt-apt 1y ago
        Yes, I think the private party seller comment is right. I had to sell a decent 15 year old car due to upgrading two years ago for less than $4K. It was a decently reliable car and I think they got a deal. With these, I think you can good deals if you don't mind the downsides. Reliable-ish, with one bigger problem (e.g. AC doesn't work, or has some crash damage), and no guarantee of how long it'll run or when it'll need bigger work (could be years and 50K+ miles, or sooner).

dfxm12 1y ago

On our current trajectory, as time moves forward, you will need to be more and more rich to attend university. Even more so for universities like Duke, compared to, say, NC State or UNC.

TuringNYC 1y ago
>> On our current trajectory, as time moves forward, you will need to be more and more rich to attend university. Even more so for universities like Duke, compared to, say, NC State or UNC. It is expected right? Our population has grown and we also have huge streams of foreign students...but the count of universities has largely been static. The class sizes are a bit bigger and the dorms accomodate more, but nowhere near in line with the demand. Naturally the prices have risen to meet the limited supply. Not saying this is good, rather...we should be building more universities to stay in line with the general population

jccalhoun 1y ago

I definitely remember walking through the dorm parking lot when I was in grad school and noticing that at least half of the cars were much nicer than the car I was driving.

SoftTalker 1y ago
That is still the case for me, and has been throughout my life. I've never thought spending a lot of money on a car made any sense at all.
- apt-apt-apt-apt 1y ago
  It's a little mind-boggling when you compare a decent $5K car to a $60K one, and realize you could have a 12-car fleet for that one car.
  - bigstrat2003 1y ago
    Is such a thing even to be had these days? I certainly own a decent $6k car, so I know it used to be possible. But I bought that car 14 years ago now, and it would surprise me if you can still get a decent car for that price after 14 years of inflation.
    - SoftTalker 1y ago
      I bought a $4k car a couple of years ago. It’s had a few issues but nothing I couldn’t handle in my garage with fairly common tools. I’d say you can still get a very good car for under $10k and much less if you are handy with wrenches. When shopping for this sort of car look for private sellers. Used car dealers in this price range tend to be sketchy and none of them do any maintenance or repairs before the sale.
    - apt-apt-apt-apt 1y ago
      Yes, I think the private party seller comment is right. I had to sell a decent 15 year old car due to upgrading two years ago for less than $4K. It was a decently reliable car and I think they got a deal. With these, I think you can good deals if you don't mind the downsides. Reliable-ish, with one bigger problem (e.g. AC doesn't work, or has some crash damage), and no guarantee of how long it'll run or when it'll need bigger work (could be years and 50K+ miles, or sooner).