Salty Ginger Talk Newsletter

December 9, 2024

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SGT
December 09, 2024

Salty Ginger Talk Newsletter

December 9, 2024

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Data shows college enrollments for 18-year-olds trending down.

CURRENT EVENTS.

Our take: According to data from multiple sources, college enrollments were down somewhere between 5% and 7% as of October 31, 2024. The article gives several reasons that may be contributing to the decline, including lower fertility rates the past 15 years, issues with the FAFSA college aid application website, and the need to work to support themselves or their family.

From our view, the cost-benefit equation for a 4-year degree has become much less clear than it was in the past. Go back a decade ago, and it was clear that a 4-year degree opened doors and created opportunities not available to non-degree holders. The rising cost of a 4-year degree coupled with the change in attitude by organizations hiring people have changed the calculus.

We think some of this change in attitude towards college graduates has at least something to do with the coddling of students by colleges and universities. The lack of freedom of speech, the commitment to “creating safe spaces” for everyone, and the cushy dorms/caféterias/common spaces that have been enabled by the skyrocketing costs of college in the past 30 years have changed the way many view students fresh out of school. If you cannot handle someone using the wrong pronouns or voting for someone other than your candidate of choice, how will you handle the rigors of the real world?

Contrast that with someone who has held a job in sales, knocking on doors and being told no over and over again, or someone who has been apprenticing as a plumber, problem solving complex plumbing systems and crawling into dark, cramped spaces to make necessary repairs, and it is no wonder organizations that hire people full-time place a premium on work experience over college degrees in many instances.

College is not a bad choice, and we are not anti-education. We hold a B.S. in Finance. That said, we have also washed trucks, mowed lawns, stocked shelves, and worked corporate jobs for a living. Both have value, but it's hard to compare the experience we had in college 30+ years ago with what we see happening on campuses today. If colleges really want to provide value to students, they will work on lowering costs to make college more affordable and stop coddling students and challenge them to face things they might not like.

COURTESY: MSN

Federal employees scurry before Trump takes office

Our take:  One of President-elect Trump’s big campaign promises was to get rid of the “Deep State” and “drain the swamp” in his second administration. The message has been received loud and clear by current employees in many departments of the federal government.

Many employees are scrubbing their social media accounts of any negative comments directed towards Trump. Labor attorneys say they have seen an increase in inquiries from federal employees looking to get ahead of possible employment issues and know what their options are. The Biden administration has worked with several labor unions to lock in or extend current agreements around work from home or other work arrangements to prevent the Trump team from taking action once they take office.

Regardless of outcome, it is good that people are forced to take their jobs more seriously. In our experience, many government employees have a relaxed approach to customer service and accountability than most private organizations, largely because there is no real threat to their employment.

It is important to not paint with too broad of a brush. In any organization, public or private, there are employees who take their role very seriously and employees that do not. With that said, when you are a taxpayer (we have literally paid millions of dollars in taxes throughout our lives, so we definitely qualify), you want efficiency and accountability from the government. We are glad this is a focus of the incoming administration. Even if we do not lower costs, we can at least get what we are paying for from these departments that are supposed to be delivering results for the people.

COURTESY: MSN

Takeaways from President-elect Trump’s interview with Meet the Press.

Our take: President-elect Trump sat for an interview with Kristen Welker of Meet the Press on Sunday. A wide range of topics were covered, with Trump leaving options open on many issues and softening his campaign rhetoric on many.

When asked about “prosecuting his political enemies," Trump stated he would not direct anyone to go after any particular people. Instead, he said if the DOJ had reason to suspect someone was “crooked or shad committed crimes,” they should be investigated. Welker seemed obsessed with this topic, asking the same question in a different way at least ten times.

Trump stated he wanted to look to the future, not the past, that he would serve all Americans equally, even those who voted against him, and that his 3 big focus items were on lowering costs, making the country safer, and securing the border and deporting those who had entered the country illegally. Trump also stated he did not expect to attempt to outlaw abortion medication, that he would pardon the convictions of some January 6th participants (he stated he would review them on a case-by-case basis), and that he did not see any reason to ask Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to resign.

No matter how you feel about the president-elect, it is good that he is willing to sit for interviews and answer questions directly. The American public deserves to know what his vision is so they can provide feedback on how they feel about the direction he wants to take the country. We have spent 4 years guessing what was going on, as President Biden has famously avoided interviews and engagement with the press, holding far fewer interviews and press conferences than any other President in the television era.

COURTESY: MSN

TIP OF THE DAY

When you are looking to change a bad habit, replace it with a good habit. Simply trying to stop doing something with no activity to take its place greatly lowers your chances of success.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

‘We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.” - Carl Jung

SOURCES: