As far as not boding well (presumably for the US economy?), I want to believe that excesses are eventually squeezed out of a free market. Academia has to be one of the most masterful case studies in marketing, ever. At some point, people will not be able to afford tuition, or rationally value the product at less than the retail price tag.

I don’t see any endemic problem. People have made these choices (paying for tuition beyond their means, spending beyond their means, etc.) of their own free will, and they will continue to act in what they believe is their own best interest. Marketing is apparently quite effective. As a consumer (not a marketer), it embarrasses me. But as a partial-share business owner, I take it for what it is.

If a cause is too much (easy) credit, that can (and will) be worked out of the system as well.

I do find that kind of shocking that the median incomes from 30 years ago have not, or barely increased at all when compared to that time there are far more college graduates that should be earning more.

So I didn’t look at the numbers as a hard and fast flag of whether or not that generation is earning more or less, but rather just looking at how little or no improvement over that span of time really doesn’t bode well.

As far as the expenses go, as you mentioned there are far more college graduates now as opposed to in 1975. That being said, again with no real improvement in the median income yet many people in their 30’s with a degree and possibly student loan debt puts them in a far worse position than someone working in 1975 in a factory with no degree and no debt.

With technology, I think this partially plays a part to today’s increased expenses, but probably not to the degree Linda made it seem. But I know when I was growing up we didn’t have cable TV, there was no such thing as cell phones, no computers (well, we did get a commodore 64 when I was 6).

Anyway, living in the 60’s and 70’s was a far simpler time with far fewer technology or luxury related expenses. Yes, technology does decrease in cost after time and like you said, some of it has to do with wants as opposed to needs, but as a whole I do think it can, and for many people is more expensive for the basics than it was 30 years ago.

What about expenses? Those cited were school loans, bigger lifestyle, computer, cell phone, broadband service. I don’t have data but am willing to put some coin on a bet that there are more college degree holders or pursuers in ‘05 than there were in the same age range in ‘75. Anecdotes abound that school expenses are much higher (even in real terms) now vs then. Depending on your view of the value of a 4-hr B.S. degree and whether it pays off in net worth later than life, you may or may not think that incurring such a higher expense helps this generation vs the one 30 yrs ago. The rest of the expenses listed were mostly technology goods and services, and in real terms technology, especially hardware, gets cheaper all the time, in both nominal and real dollars! I have a hard time believing that higher generational expenses are for necessities, but rather because people now choose to spend more on non-necessities.

I did read the full article, and was not impressed with Linda Stern’s poor analysis of Census data and suspect conclusions therefrom.