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We receive thousands of e-mails and comments on the Your Money message board each week and read them all, though we can't respond personally to each one. Below is a sampling of some of the recent MSN Money articles that received insightful comments and feedback.
- Duhhh! The "savings" in reducing obesity would be MORE than offset by the loss in providing geriatric care to those formerly obese who now live longer. Grossly obese people don't live long enough to draw Social Security or go on Medicare, etc. The costs associated with aging are greater than for cardiopulmonary disease. With greater productivity goes a shrinking job market and more underclass. Think the whole thing through. These numbers have been "crunched" by many research boards over the years beginning more than 30 years ago, and they always come up the same. Greatly reducing obesity has only one measurable benefit that is not countered by an offsetting reduction. That benefit is the reduction of early loss to families and the blessing that comes with it, and the improvement in quality of life. That's it. There are no demonstrable financial benefits that aren't offset. Research it yourself and publish it with equal display.
- What if nobody smoked? What if nobody drank? What if nobody did drugs? I think this article just puts more prejudice and ridicule on people who already have a tough time in life. People have to eat to live. They do not need to smoke or drink or do drugs to live. Maybe you should do a little research on the costs to all of us for those things!! Try to have a little compassion -- nobody I know would choose to be fat.
- Excellent article -- proves exactly what I have been determining for the past 15 years. I am a pilot and used to work for the airlines. We had to leave some seats vacant due to the fact that the FAA raised the weight of the average American. Unfortunately, truth hurts, and since fat people are the majority in this country and are way too lazy to do something about it, healthy (thin) people are paying for it. I am tired of it, and that is what is really hurting the economy!!!
- What if no one were stupid? Then there would be no self-appointed nanny journalists to write articles like this one. That might not save much money (not having to pay the "journalists'" salaries would be a net gain, though) but it would surely save people a lot of aggravation. First it was the smokers. Next it will be fat people with morons . . . beating the drums for Big Brother government to dictate what we eat and how much we eat.
- You failed to mention the effect of healthy people living longer. Generally, obese people die of diseases that increase in risk with obesity. People who are not obese and live longer generally require far more care in the long term for chronic problems and lots things that just happen to old people. In comparison, obese people are cheap because they don't live as long. All those doctors who would supposedly lose their jobs because lots of people are healthier would not actually lose their jobs. There would be higher demand for medical professionals because of the various problems experienced by old people.
- Point No. 1, if the weight was less on a plane, the airlines would still fill the plane to weight with other cargo and burn the same fuel. Point No. 2, if Jenny Craig and McDonald's would suffer, then the health foods stores and the producer of Clif bars would be booming.
- The laws of supply and demand work ONLY when the supply of capital is limited. We're now in such a prosperous period (at least in some circles) that an overwhelming number of people can now buy products and services at any price -- even teenagers. Look at what happens on a regular basis with things like iPhones, video games, athletic events and theater tickets and such. People stand in line for hours and pay any price because they "have to have it." People are paying insane prices for anything -- how about $1,500 for a cornflake the shape of Illinois. Why? Because they have more money than they know what to do with. We have a society in which people can't pay their bills but pay $75 to have their nails done -- every week. THAT's insanity! I simply navigate my life through a sea of insanity and try to miss all the waves while watching all the other boats get battered on the rocks.
- Anytime I've ever heard any financial analyst make such a statement in the past (how often did we hear that same statement made about stock valuations during the late bubble years?), it's presaged a fairly quick contraction in price/value. I'd say this is one more sign that the commodities market is about to take a hit. Saying that a market is "playing by different rules" is one step away from saying, "These prices can't go down!" And we know what that means.
- The new rules that we're living by for commodity prices seem to be something that we've heard before -- the "new-technology economy" in the late '90s and the "housing economy" in the early/mid-2000s. We know how those economies went -- a rush to load up on limited resources resulted in bubbles that eventually popped as everyone ran for the exits. How is this current run-up in commodities prices different from the previous run-ups? At what point do we fall off the cliff of the commodities bubble as price/scarcity speculators begin to see that demand cannot possible keep increasing forever and ever, amen, and the demand line shifts backwards?
- You just described the dot-com market of 1999 and the housing market of 2005. There is no such thing as "scarcity economics." There is, however, a strong herd mentality that causes investment dollars to go into the next big thing, once the previous big thing has blown up. The commodities market is 2008-2009's version of the 2004 condo market. The crash is coming, and those shorting the market will soon be laughing.
- The problem is the devaluation of the money and the Fed Reserve Central Banksters stepping in and purchasing government securities (government-backed mortgage securities ring any bells?) and inflating the amount of the "notes" they like to print. Just go back to 1929 and see what was done to create the last depression and you will very clearly see what the hell is going on! Sorry, central planners, I happened to pass my economics class in high school.
- I don't want to speak for all Americans, but I don't feel that we are having a shortage. If the prices climb higher, there won't be a gas shortage; there will be a shortage of products being purchased. This will hurt our whole economy in the long run. If I don't buy things I normally would (due to gas prices), eventually the people manufacturing our products will not have a demand for what they make. That will create a stale environment which will lead to job losses. No matter what, people are going to need gas and food. As gas prices climb, everything will be affected on a global level, and everyone will notice it the next time they go to the supermarket! When are we going to get relief?
- I strongly believe that because Generation Y grew up with the credit card being so available and in most cases the preferred method of purchasing goods, they grew up in a world where more was available to them and "given" to them. They didn't have to expend much effort for what they wanted. Most parents want to give their children more than they had when growing up, but I believe that in doing so, their children are not given the opportunity to learn the difference between "want" and "need," doing without so that someone else might have instead, or learning to work and save their own money for something they want.
- I think it's obvious why Generation Y is broke. The majority have to borrow money to go to university or a trade school in order to compete in today's educated market. Yet, the price of tuition, books and interest rates on these government loans is outrageous. We want these kids educated, yet charge them through the nose when they try to do it. The old days of getting a good job without an education are long gone. These kids are neither stupid nor irresponsible. They're taken advantage of by a greedy older generation. Just for interest's sake, no, I'm not a kid.
- I just read your article and was really disgusted with my own generation. There is no excuse for living beyond your means; it's simple, if you spend more than what you make you're going to have problems.
- Good article, but how about we start having articles about the importance of postponing material happiness until we can all afford to actually have the things we want. I'm 23, in the military, with no credit cards whatsoever. I also will not have student loans upon completing my bachelor's and then master's degrees, because I chose the military path. I realize not everyone is cut out for the military, thus won't be able to utilize that benefit, but seriously, everyone needs to start making smart choices instead of childish ones.
- This attitude is the reason America is in a long-term decline. It is more prevalent in Generation Y (to which I belong), but cuts across all demographics. The "can-do" spirit and sense of personal responsibility is eroding fast in our society. Now, instead of "I taught myself" it's "No one ever taught me." This attitude causes and will cause a host of ills beyond the debt-to-income and savings ratios this article highlights.
Editor's note: Letters may have been edited for grammar or spelling. Due to space considerations, some letters have been condensed and are not presented in their entirety. The views and opinions expressed in the letters are those of the authors and not necessarily those of MSN Money.
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