 "Photo: Stefan Agregado | Daily 49er")
(Daily 49-er)"How dare they raise our tuition?"
That's what California State University Long Beach students say as today they clashed with cops in protest over tuition hikes. The campus newspaper, Daily 49-er, has initial reports.
http://www.daily49er.com/news/students-clash-with-police-as-csu-raises-tuition-1.2672480
It's called inflation, kids.
The problem with the cost of higher education is the same as the problem with the cost of healthcare. When you interject a third party payor, the demand goes up (the costs are the same to the consumer). The corresponding cost of the same level of supply goes up (increased tuitions/cost of medical care) to meet the increased demand.
ReplyDeleteThe actual cost of the healthcare (doctors, hospitals, drugs) doesn't change, the party paying the bills changes.
There is a big difference in the choices made when individuals have to pay for something as opposed to when someone else or some other entity pays the bills.
Insurance is a legitimate endeavor to minimize risk. In a decent free market, you could pick and choose coverages that suit your circumstances and pay accordingly ... or not pay if you choose. Insurance companies should compete for your business with different plans and coverages.
In the case of colleges, when the government pays with long term low cost loans, then you get people taking useless studies leading to useless majors because, what the hell, it is free or at least cheap. If Daddy pays and doesn't complain it is the same thing but not anywhere near the same degree of wasted money and lives that happen with a do-good socialistic government. The government just shifts the bill to the tax payers. So now you have an entitlement oriented generation who demand that things be given to them free.... or else they riot.
If they ever had a bit of responsibility in their lives, they would know to choose wisely. There would be competition by the colleges for their tuition fees.
Colleges would offer better courses, better teachers, lower tuitions, etc. to get students to enroll in those schools. In other words, they would compete.
The free market would sort it all out with millions of individual decisions every day about where resources go instead of some bureau of government officials deciding what would be the most compassionate thing to do .... regardless of the consequences. And we are certainly seeing the consequences.
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