a rough sketch

found my self watching tv this evening. lot's of talk about unemployment and subprime mortgages. see "Is there a solution to the foreclosure mess that's destroying communities"? it is well done and it details the consequences of madoff type operators working in an environment lacking in mathematical literacy. take a good look at the new york city sub prime maps. pay close attention to the demographics of the communities with the highest concentration of sub prime mortgages.

this situation is in play across the country. neighbors in distress abandoning homes, leading to lower property values, crime, dwindling community resources, and ultimately to neighborhoods being destroyed. what's at issue?

A = P(1+i)^n + race + incompetence

i.e., the compound interest formula compounded by racism in the hands of incompetents. there are four thing here: A the amount you must repay, P the down payment, i the interest rate, and n the number of payment periods. there is no magic, the piper always gets paid. i digress, my initial impulse this evening was to draw your attention to the data from the labor statistics office on unemployment. two points:

1. the unemployment rate for african american folk, nationally, is already above 10%. this is no surprise to anyone who has happened to be on franklin & eastern parkway on a monday at 11am.
2. the unemployment rate of folks with bachelor's degrees or higher is the lowest. education and employment are inextricably linked. see tables from the bureau of labor statistics.

what discipline is most important in college completion?

of all pre-college curricula, the highest level of mathematics one studies in secondary school has the strongest continuing influence on bachelor’s degree completion. finishing a course beyond the level of algebra 2, for example trigonometry or pre-calculus, more than doubles the odds that a student who enters a post-secondary institution will complete a bachelor’s degree! it's time for the algebra revolution. smile. more to come.