User:Vtaylor/Financial stories/Unintended consequences

Unintended consequences

Definitive morals and heroes accompany a bull market; blurred morals and mixed heroes accompany a bear market. [1]

• Expecting to pay back money you borrow – that good old-fashioned moral obligation has become tangled with conflicting values in America today. Get an education at any cost to become rich enough that the amount borrowed is insignificant – this message sounds pretty good to an 18 year old and their cash-strapped families. When the reality is known to the lenders and the schools – these loans can’t be paid back from the incomes the kids can reasonably expect with this education – that’s un-American. [2]

• minimum wage > tuna industry closure > increased cost of living - piece by Peter Schiff [3] shows how raising costs killed the competitiveness of Samoan industry. In this case, it was the simple act of Congress requiring a minimum wage. And there was really only one industry – tuna canning. The cause and effect are clear. ... with fewer ships coming to Samoa to pick up tuna, goods are now much more expensive to import. That is because the round trip cost of the journey must now be factored into import prices, as ships bringing in those goods now leave tuna-free. As a result, consumer prices rose from a 2006 annualized rate of 3% to roughly 20% by 2008. So, not only is unemployment wide-spread, but the cost of living has risen sharply as well – a double whammy. [4]