<p>there are millions of kids who do not go to college, yet do not become plumbers. AFAICT, those non college kids who go to work in less skilled blue collar fields, in retail, etc, etc make far less than the average Ivy grad.</p>
<p>Why dont all of THEM choose to become plumbers?</p>
<p>A. They are all irrational</p>
<p>B. Plumbing apprenticeships arent that easy to get into</p>
<p>C. Plumbing has non monetary aspects that make it unpleasant work</p>
<p>D. Not everyones personality/abilities make them a good candidate for plumbing</p>
<p>I suspect its not all A, and that B, C, and D play a part.</p>
<p>"Professor Kotlikoff makes his case by comparing the livelihoods of plumbers and doctors. Yes, doctors have a bigger salary. But, doctors have to endure nearly a decade of expensive education before making any real salary, after which the doctor is hit by a very high progressive tax rate. "</p>
<p>Er wait. I think the docs here need better accountants. Or maybr kotlikoff is overlooking the regressive taxes that lower income folks pay. This smells to me like a (distorted) claim about progressive taxation, less than a guide for hs students.</p>
<p>If you read halfway through the article, you find that Prof. Kotlikoff stands to make a profit on the side from his opinion / recommendation:</p>
<p>“Kotlikoff has been doing a bit of his own research on the matter as president of Economic Security Planning Inc. He’s developed software that according to the website can ‘tell you if a job change, a housing move, a retirement account contribution, and a host of other financial decisions will raise or lower your living standard.’”</p>
Great! I learned a new term. That’s why I don’t mind being addicted to this place. Now I’ve got to maneuver a conversation so I can throw it in. :)</p>
<p>Ricardian equivalence is a standard macro econ term - a big point of contention between anti-keynsians and neo keynsians - look at Krugman for a good presentation of the neo keynsian view point</p>
<p>One of my best friends in grad school had graduated from a hideously expensive all-girl Catholic school. She used to talk about how many of her classmates had plumbers for fathers, and how those girls’ families were able to afford equivalently expensive colleges after they’d graduated high school. Clearly not much has changed since the '80s.</p>
<p>The link sent me to a webcast and Professor Kotlikoff was more reasonable towards the end. He advocated going to any school you want if your parents are paying but he cautioned against taking out too much debt it a student is paying for their own education.</p>
<p>“Top professors” (or any professors) aren’t setting the tuition rate that their schools charge in the first place, so it’s a non sequitur to ask what they’re doing to reduce the price.</p>
<p>There was a story of a plumber being called to a doctor’s home to do some work. After working for about an hour, the plumber gave the M.D. a bill for $200. The doctor said, “Good Gracious Man! I have been to medical school and residency and have been practicing medicine for over 20 years and I can’t charge that kind of money!” The plumber smiled and said, “Yeah, I couldn’t either when I was in practice.”</p>
<p>I would love to have a plumber in the family…</p>
<p>Money isn’t everything. It is great to be a plumber if you enjoy it, a physician if you enjoy it…btw- there are a lot easier ways to become rich than the medical route, you couldn’t pay many people enough money to go through the hard work and/or yucky parts I and my colleagues did. </p>
<p>I get tired of the business/ economics evaluations of the worth of college. The money aspect is only one facet, there are so many more important and intangible benefits.</p>
<p>Everytime someone makes those ■■■■■■■■ ramblings that’s all I can do is roll my eyes.</p>
<p>My belief is this, just like we need doctors, lawyers, and engineers we also need our plumbers, electricians, and secretaries.</p>
<p>One is not better or worst than the other one. Each one has their place in society.</p>
<p>In my opinion, plumbers and doctors share some similarities.</p>
<p>For starters, it’s has to be something you want to do. No, it has to be more of a calling in my opionion. It sure as heck ain’t for everybody.</p>
<p>Along with that, they both deal with the human body. Both plumbers and doctors deal with the waste within the human body. One waits for it to come out and the other one takes it out. :D</p>
<p>Not only that, both of them are on call most of the time and they can both make a decent amount of money.</p>
<p>We are always going to need them both no matter what.</p>
<p>They’re two fields that I do believe you have to have the patience, a definite interest/calling, and stomach for.</p>
<p>Right. We don’t have progressive taxation in the US. Little guys pay the lion’s share, and big earners pay little; they just get a good accountant.</p>
lol. Silly? Hardly. Not all our taxes are income taxes. Those are the taxes that Bbd is referring to in his statement. I would have thought that was obvious but I guess not to everybody. ;)</p>