Well, I am not sure what unmanageable means in this context. Presumably the colleges would not put on courses if they did not get paid. And presumably the banks would not make the loans if they did not recoup some money. So, yes, I assume that the degrees are paid for, by the students or their parents.
Doug, you amaze me. I had no idea that consumption rates in the US were declining. I had thought that all of those previous discussions we had about the growth of the suburbs and home ownership, about rising energy consumption, about America's runaway consumerism, and car addiction indicated that consumption was increasing. I will take all subsequent arguments about the greedy US consuming the worlds resources with a pinch of salt. At least those LBOers who were worrying about the environment can take heart from the fact that the US contribution to global warming is being held down.
Unhappily, I have to inform you that your difficulties are not reproduced over here, where most people are visibly better off than they were twenty years ago, unemployment is low, wages are if not high, certainly not falling, and consumer goods generally falling in price (with the exception of housing, in which I am very interested).
I shall get all my friends to get some food parcels together for all you starving yanks!