The dismal state of Logic in the Big Ten

First of all, a comment in Powerline compares the cost of a Dartmouth education to that of a U. of Minnesota education--as if there is no difference between the quality of the two schools and their graduates.  Yes, there are some excellent Gophers and Gopherettes out there, but there is a reason that Minnesota's graduation rate is 56% currently (and that after six years) and Dartmouth's is 94%.  For that matter, when one considers cost per graduate, Dartmouth's cost is actually less than Minnesota's. 

Second, and a hat tip to Captain Capitalism, is a study from The Ohio State University (not just any old Ohio State University) comparing debt levels to self-esteem, and finding that the self-esteem boost of debt was a positive good.  Interestingly, they ignored the implications of their own data, which suggested that once students got past their mid-twenties, debt was correlated to a lack of self-esteem.

Translated, of course, it means that once the "buzz" (figurative and literal) of college and one's first job wears off, the reality sets in that it really sucks to have large student loans and credit card debts to pay off without a decent job.  Exactly what our grandmothers and grandfathers would have told us, of course, and no National Science Foundation dollars are necessary.

Or, put in terms that Gary North might commend, high self-esteem and consumer confidence is not a good thing among those who are not paying their own bills yet.