(#196-1) April 17 2015. Greed is out of control. The U.S. economy is currently so rigged and distorted that it is hard to find the words to describe it effectively. To say it is predatory is an understatement of magnitude. Yet there is surprisingly little fight back. It’s a tragedy.

THE COSTS OF THIRD LEVEL HAVE ROCKETED WAY AHEAD OF INFLATION—TO THE POINT WHERE STUDENT DEBT HAS BECOME A NIGHTMARE FOR MANY

YET ONE OUT OF FOUR COLLEGE ADJUNCT FACULTY ARE GETTING PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

WHAT KIND OF AN ECONOMY ARE WE RUNNING? AND WHY DO WE TOLERATE SUCH EGREGIOUS DISTORTIONS?

College tuition and fees have gone up 1,120% since 1978—whereas the Consumer Price index has gone up by little more than 200%. Earnings for most of us, in real terms, have scarcely budged. As a consequence, student debt has soared to well over a trillion dollars.

This is yet another example of the havoc being wrought by the financialization of the U.S. economy. For the vast majority of Americans, it has become impossible to live without incurring major debt.

Debt now dominates the American Way of Life.

“(MarketWatch) Nearly 100,000 of these part-time faculty, generally known as adjuncts, benefit from the earned income tax credit and, to a lesser extent, Medicaid and the CHIP health-care program for children, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously known as food stamps, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, according to the study.

“It’s shocking, but it’s the reality,” said Carol Zabin, research director at the Center for Labor Research and Education. “Universities are depending much more on part-time and adjunct faculty.”

“Indeed, the American Association of University Professors reported this week that well over half of the college academic labor force is part time. That includes both graduate teaching assistants, which account for 12.2%, and other part-timers, or adjuncts, which are 46.7% of the total.”

VOR words c.100

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