Actually while he was still able, Carter was still screwing up international affairs. They shoulda taken his passport.
But yeah, I had an 18% loan in 81. I laughed at my CPA BIL that had gotten a 17% loan a few months before (he said as a favor from the bank), then I had to eat my words. That’s when I learned the peril of the rule of 78ths too when two years later I went to refinance to a lower interest rate. In 75 I wanted a mortgage but you needed 50% down. In 76 it had been reduced to only 20% down and we had that.
Yeah there’s a reason why some of us have the political views we do-called experience. But I do agree with Huey some. His assassination may have been one of the first from the deep state for saying things like that.
I was a hard core Reagan supporter for his first few years but I soured some on his 'stick it to 'em" policies that were more political drama to stir up his base than meaningful leadership. I recall the REAGANOMICS RETREAT someone built near me that epitomized how desperate the average family had become in the voo-doo economic plan. It’s a shame that the poor leadership of Jimmy Carter resulted in such a desperate situation that we saw trickle down as a solution. But I won’t complain too much because the desperate economy was a wind fall for me as a shop owner. Few people could afford a new car so the smart people took extremely good care of their cars and the not so smart people were forced to scratch up the money to repair the old ones because it was impossible for them to buy another. Of course my home was paid for and I had no debts so the downturn was all upturn for me but I saw good customers and friends losing their jobs and all that they had accumulated because they couldn’t keep up with the cost of debt. Many families failed to survive the desperate 80s. And from my position things haven’t really improved much down here where people get dirty and sweat for a living.
I agree with @Scrapyard_John to the point that in this country we are blessed. And I am from another country, so I might know better.
As far as cars and reliability, I owned one Honda only, and didn’t like it. Have had a few Toyota’s which were above average but not really bulletproof, maybe my luck. Now economically, here is my problem. The Korean cars are much cheaper used (1-3 yrs old), so for me they are a better bargain. Upfront savings vs hoping that the Toyota would run for 200K miles plus without any major repairs.
Interest rates did not drop precipitously in 1981. We got a mortgage in the summer of 1983 with 17.5% interest. At the end of the 1980s we were fortunate to renegotiate the loan to 11% and cut the loan period in half. I disagree that Reagan brought interest rates down. They dropped as a follow-on to the electronics industrial revolution that started in the late 1970s and probably peaked in the late 1990s. We should credit the presidents of Zilog, Motorola, Intel, National Semiconductor, and Texas Instruments among others for lowering interest rates.
… and–unfortunately–most people have such selective memories that they have forgotten that the precipitous drop in US exports began during his administration, as a direct result of his economic policies. Every time that somebody decries the US Trade Deficit, they need to remember whose administration’s actions precipitated that situation.
That’s the way it was 30+ years ago…that’s NOT the way it is now…except for the top tier universities (Harvard, MIT, Yale…etc). Even second tier schools…MOST teachers are part time. I know one teacher who teaches at part time at BU, BC and Tufts. Brilliant woman. Been trying to get a full time position for 20 years. But the list is long with brilliant people in her field (physics) trying for the same few positions.
Small colleges are even worse. Very few full time facility. Many of these colleges don’t get any grant money. Some are good, some are just a little better then high-school.
Yup. We began years ago with an active program of reducing full time faculty through attrition and backfilling with adjunct. And most of these adjunct teach at other schools too. They have no choice. They teach on semester-by-semester contracts with no benefits and no assurance that they’ll get another contract next semester. They’re even subject to having their course cancelled at the last minute if when the course is about to start there’s insufficient enrollment. Adjunct is IMHO a rotten deal for the prof.
I personally believe that the quality of the education has suffered. An adjunct does not have the long-term investment in a course or program that a full timer does. They’re only on campus for the course… and many even have online components, meaning the adjunct is there even less, and they don’t interact with the department chair and participate in program development.
It’s amazing how people complain about the high cost of education and blame it on the professors and their salaries. Yes…at top universities the full time professors demand a high salary. But most of that is grant money. The Adjunct teachers salary is less then $30/yr. And most if not all of these teachers are highly educated (PHD’s). Most people I know who are Adjunct Professors either do it part time or have a spouse the works full time.
That’s me. I have a full time job outside of education in health care, so I use my adjunct job as extra spending money and don’t stress out when my classes get cancelled. I am extremely fortunate in that regard, as I know many of my fellow adjuncts are far more dependent on their classes than I am.
I remember many, many years ago when faculty was almost all full time… and college professors had respect. A professorship was an achievement highly respected by the outside world.
What went wrong? That discussion could be very, very long.
How do these adjunct professors with no benefits and semester-by-semester contracts survive, feed their families, pay the bills and save for a downpayment on a house?
I have a bad feeling I won’t like the answer . . .
They struggle. Many cannot afford a house.
I have friends with PhDs in sciences, mathematics, physics, and even medical subjects who have been trying to find a full time teaching position for years. A FT slot, when it does become available, is rare.
The key for them is to get themselves into a position to access grant funding. Money. Government cash. If they can do that reliably they’ll get a FT position. The shows you see on TV about scientists going to the far reaches of the earth to study geology, archeology, and even marine biology… most of this research is funded by government grants. Jacque Cousteau’s adventures from which he’s made films are mostly made in conjunction with trips funded by oil companies to research environmental impacts and/or potential new well sites. As much as I loved his specials, they’re not as altruistic as they appear. Someone has to pay for them.
High-ranking politicians are generally offered FT professorial positions… because they have the private cell numbers of those who approve appropriations. And they know where to go to find the money.
There was a story on Dateline (or one of those other news magazine shows)…they interviewed several female Adjunct professors who had other work as high-class call girls. One was a professor at an Ivy League college. They didn’t give out what college…and they didn’t show the person’s face or any other information about her.
Part of the problem IMHO is that the ones holding the short end of the stick are all adjuncts, and it’s pretty much impossible to unionize them. They’re independent contractors doing short-term contracts.
I fought to keep FT positions FT when people retired. I argued that adjuncts are not nearly as invested in the course or programs, students lose the support that full timers with offices on the campus provided, and that benefits like pensions, healthcare, and sick time can allow us to recruit better quality professors. I also provided the data that courses are often taught by different adjuncts every time and we lose continuity in the teaching. I lost. Cost-cutting won.
All those adjuncts, working for minimum wage (or less, all together, I bet) sure are bad advertising for the value of an extremely expensive education!
Just because they’re minimum wage workers, doesn’t mean they aren’t highly qualified teachers. The woman I know who does adjunct teaching has a BS from Columbia and a PHD from Yale. One of the few people I know that had a perfect score on her SAT’s. Then she did it again with her GRE’s. Her brother and I went to high-school together. She was a few years behind us.
People with degrees in English and History probably make up the largest numbers for adjunct. Even though there are more classes in English and History at most universities…there are a plethora of PHD’s in English and History around.
