Piece on the CBS evening “news” tonight threw out an interesting statistic. Unemployment among recent college grads is higher than the national unemployment rate 6.6% vs 4.2% The report made particular mention of a recent BSME grad, who is helping clean the community pool this summer, because he hasn’t turned up a job.
Here’s a piece I came across today: an Aussie EV fan quoting Ford CEO Jim Farley that 50% of Ford’s white collar staff will be replaced by AI. So much for the economy shifting to “knowledge workers”, eh? So, how are these STEM college grads going to pay off their student loan, if their “job” has been taken by a computer, or a foreigner that works cheaper? Of course, with governments, at both the state and federal levels, seeking to defund higher education, even more, and make student loans harder to get. seems we will see large numbers of universities be shuttered.
Private, Lutheran, college in Michigan, downsizing last year.
Small Catholic university in Michigan announced it’s closing a few days ago.
Most of the second tier Michigan public universities have seen enrollment drop 20-40% over the last ten years. Wonder when they will start closing?
A Century ago Universities were in the business of Philosophy. Then business discovered that college degrees were good job candidate selection tools which changed the nature of Universities to training bootcamps for intelectual labor. With Universities producing excess graduates, their cost is no longe supported by jobs.
You may have missed it, in the flood of “policy” coming out of the US, but government funding for higher education has been reduced to the point where it is pretty much impossible for a person of average means to pay out of pocket for college. So, students are dependent on government “guaranteed student loans” to cover the costs. There is a move afoot in DC to make universities financially liable for the debts incurred by their students, if the students default.
Now, add in the trends of USains, including those with STEM degrees, being replaced by people in other countries, who work cheaper, and, as the Ford Motor CEO projected, that half of his white collar employees will be replaced by AI systems.
Seems what is about to happen to people who graduate with a career oriented degree: engineering, chemistry, finance, and a five figure debt, is they will find themselves unable to find a job in their field, or, after working a few years in their field, are laid off in favor of a person in Bangalore, or a computer.
Now, people being replaced by a computer has been happening for a long time. There was a hilarious episode of the original “Hawaii Five-O” TV series, in the 70s, about an insurance company actuary who had been replaced by a computer and booted out on the street.
When government controls everything, directly or indirectly, it’s called Socialism and will fail We The People whose servant government is meant to be.
When the government owns the means of production, it’s Communism. When the means of production are in private hands, as long as the “JCs” toe the government line, as in the US government’s “Golden Share” of US Steel, it’s Fascism.
The US Federal government has been failing “we the people”, since it embraced “supply side economics” forty years ago.
What is it called with oligarchs and corporations own the government, then the government controls everything directly, or indirectly? That doesn’t sound like Socialism…
I agree that our current system is failing We The People, Socialism is not the problem.
In Russia and China the Oligarchs own the economy and we call them socialists. What is the difference? We need to dig deeper than just the words to the actual meaning of the facts on the ground.
Russia is far removed from its socialist past. It’s more of a clepto-market economy nowadays.
Oligarchs don’t own the economy in China. State Owned Enterprises have a much bigger influence.
Socialism gets a bad rap, for understandable reasons. Any government or economic model will not serve We The People given leaders who are self-centered and corrupt. That’s why many in the US are extremely distressed given our current conditions.
