Weekend Buffet

Quote of the Week

"Germans are not going to retire at 67 so Greeks can retire at 58."

- Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany

Reading
Since the mess being made in Europe by the PIGS has been in the news again so much this past week, I think it's worth taking a special look at it. I came across the following article in the Washington Times and I can highly recommend it. If you want to know more about what Ms. Merkel is talking about, check this out:

www.washingtontimes.com

It's not a pretty picture. Bottom line, the Europeans in general hate each other and always have, no doubt to the chagrin of the "one worlder" types. The coming unraveling of the Euro (and I am certain that it is inevitable now) is simply the end result of that.

Chart of the Week
And if the unrest in Europe wasn't enough to bum you out, with the new unemployment numbers out this past week, check out this chart I found over at Wells Fargo, courtesy of the US Dept. of Labor:It is often all to easy to forget, when you live in a nice upper middle class neighborhood populated by college professors, scientists and other professionals, that the rest of the world is not like that. The message is clear: if you have a college education, the unemployment rate in the country for you personally is not 9.6% or 9.8% or anywhere near there. It's about 5%. And over there on the left end of the chart, not to belabor the obvious, you drop out of school at your own peril. Your unemployment rate then is almost 16%. And the recession induced hit was far larger than for those with more education.

What's the answer? I won't even pretend to know that one. What I do know is that throwing more money at the school system is definitely not the answer. New York, for instance has the third highest per capita spending rate on public education in the nation and yet ranked 32 out of 50 in 2001 (the last chart I was able to find - I wouldn't be surprised if it's even lower today).