jazzyk

The rapidly increasing presence of electronics everywhere (cars, "intelligent" fridges, etc), should have caused a dramatic rise in the number of engineers, so I would say "decimated" is somewhat justified.

Perhaps, but outside of the FAANG bubble, income levels have been stagnating for quite some time (if you adjust for inflation)

Legal and controlled immigration is absolutely beneficial for the US overall.

But targeting specific industries is unfair - the software industry has been the main target, lowering the income levels respective to other, protected professions (physicians, etc.), or business executives.

Since people in the trades like plumbers or electricians do not fall under the umbrella of "importing the best & brightest", their hourly rates have been going up steadily (for self-employed people).

Not sure why I am being downvoted - I run a consulting business myself and I wake up every day knowing that I may be asked not to return to work the following day - for any reason.

Yes, that comes with the territory (contract cancellations or delayed/non payments are risks associated with running any business).

Strictly speaking, their pay is delayed - they will be paid for all the work, eventually. Still, regular employees should not be going through this, though.

> If you had a kid from China draw a picture of some people they would all look Chinese

That may be OK, but I can't think of a country where 80% of people are female?

Revenues and/or profit not required.

Where do I begin?

1. Life expectancy - getting lower for the first time in generations

2. Suicide rate - at an all-time high

3. Opioid crisis - need I say more

4. Labor participation 63% - the lowest since 1978

5. Stagnant (falling for some) real wages since the Internet bubble crisis (2001)

I could go on for much longer....

https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/labor-force-parti...

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us-...

It is sad to see what The Guardian has become.

I don't mind their leftist optics, my problem with them is that they have been publishing unbalanced, poorly researched/uncorroborated articles.

Long way from the Guardian of the Snowden days.

Your conclusion is correct, your numbers are not - the spending gap is much higher (which supports your point even better)

US spending is over 18%, almost double the cost in France. Even the oh-so-expensive Switzerland spends ~12% of its GDP on healthcare.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/184968/us-health-expendi...

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-spending/u-s-healt...

>I don't believe I am able to pay enough to make a difference.

I donate money and goods to a couple, carefully selected, charities every year. Having volunteered for them on a couple of occasions, I can definitely tell you my relatively modest help DID make a big difference to at least a few families.

I am not forcing anyone else to be charitable, yet there are many people who give (much more than I do).

There are two problems with your thinking:

- the return on our taxes paid in the USA is very, very low - we pay only a bit less in taxes then people in Europe, yet the infrastructure is crumbling, there are lots of desolate/mentally ill people in the streets, etc.

- you seem to want to FORCE people to pay more tax for your noble causes. Guess what - not everyone will agree with you what they are. That's why taxes should be limited to defense, law enforcement, public infrastructure, standardization, etc.

Mr. Spiegel, you are no Steve Jobs.

There is a difference between someone convincing people about killing ALL wives vs a particular one.

The first one obviously needs medication, and will be ignored. The second one - depending on the specificity of the threat - a request to take the video down or a police visit.

What you are getting from The Economist is their opinions on the news, together with the news.

All bigger institutions certainly do. I have worked for quite a few.

If I am your client, you have fiduciary responsibility to warn me - I am paying you commission to do due diligence.

If you know it is a crappy product, and don;t warn me, it is at the very least a SEC violation, punishable. Could also be viewed as fraud, and pursued as a crime.

Ever been to Rome or Florence?

You don;t get it. Access to coast is guaranteed to be public in most countries I have visited - it simply is not for sale. This is about super-rich people demanding special treatment, saying - EVERYTHING is for sale, it is just a question of price.

He should be in jail for repeatedly violating the law.

Germany/Austria in 1939 is a completely different case.

Let's take a look at the ethnic groups in Crimea - 2014 census:

Russians - 65%

Ukrainians - 15%

Crimean Tatars - 11%

Please note that, of the 15% of Ukrainians living there, most (60%) speak Russian as their first language.

We may argue if the 97% referendum result was rigged or not - we may never know.

But based on the above numbers I think that the people in Crimea really prefer to be part of Russia - because they are Russian!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Crimea

Q: Which part of the Web is public (like the roads)?

A: None.

- Apple is a private entity.

- Verizon (and all other ISPs) is/are a private entity.

- Telecom equipment and communication hubs are private entities.

If they wish, they can make you a non-existent entity (on the Web). We have two options:

- regulate some companies as utilities

- build a public network (just like the roads).

>Black people have more heart attacks,

Nothing to do with race, more about social standing. Black people tend to be less educated/affluent. Poor diet -> obesity -> heart attacks. 33% of whites are obese, while 48% of blacks are obese. Much more information can be found here: https://stateofobesity.org/disparities/

>white people are more likely to develop Seasonal Affective Disorder in the same geographic region, etc.

Again, nothing to do with race. White people tend to live in places like Alaska, Maine, etc. which have long and cold (and dark) winters.

I agree that salaries for college-educated people are shockingly low in Spain, I think it is a reflection of the lower general (not necessarily individual) productivity in Spain - as in bureaucracy, labor laws, etc.

Please keep in mind that MANY college-educated people in the US never get to even $100K (teachers, architects, there are more).

Also, it takes at least 10 years (perhaps more) to get to $150K for software engineers (with a B.S. degree), and you need to live in one of the bigger cities (where the cost of living is higher).

The numbers are a bit skewed here because a lot of the posters on HN live/work in the S.F./Silicon Valley area, which is a world onto itself.

The BOJ will eventually run out of domestic bonds to buy (at around 50% now) They also hold almost 80% of japanese ETFs.

What happens when they buy all 100% of ETFs and bonds? Venezuela?

https://www.japanmacroadvisors.com/page/category/economic-in...

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-11/wtf-chart-day-boj-...

He did not pull us out of anything - just delayed the inevitable and prolonged the mis-mangement of the monetary policy by the Fed (with cooperation coming from other central banks).

The public debt almost doubled from 11T to 20T during his presidency). He also created moral hazard by not only NOT prosecuting people who he himself called "fat cats of Wall Street", but actually continuing to bail them out (started by W. Bush)

If you happen to work for FAANG in Silicon Valley.

Otherwise, dream on.

A lot of professions make more: all doctors/dentists, 50% of lawyers, higher-level university administrators, most MBAs (mid-management and up).

Heck, even some cops in large metropolitan areas can pull 200K+ (with overtime)

>This ensures that more time in adulthood is dedicated to what truly matters, which is....

...mindless consumption

"I'll go talk to the stakeholders to find out their requirements... in the meantime, you guys start coding."

http://www.modernanalyst.com/Resources/BusinessAnalystHumor/...

But we should not be talking about the population as a whole - just the 25-35 year-old segment who are in the dating pool. And in that age group, college-educated women may outnumber men.

You are correct, but current college graduates (so 56% of them women) are in the "dating pool" much more so than the 60-year olds (where a higher percentage of men are educated, but not much dating going on).