Boing Boing – Mars Curiosity/LFMAO parody video: “We’re NASA and We Know It”
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Mars Mission is likely a waste of money. But I must admit they’ve done a superb job of social media.
Category: economics
economists should govern, not politicians
Watching the lies, damn lies and statistics on U.S. political ads is depressing.
Obama, Romney campaigns accuse each other of lies
The misinformation. 😦
What do economists believe?
JUSTIN WOLFERS:
… There’s remarkable agreement among economists on most policy questions.
… the stimulus succeeded in reducing the jobless rate. On the harder question of whether the benefit exceeded the cost, more than half thought it did, one in three was uncertain, and fewer than one in six disagreed.
Or consider the widely despised bank bailouts … while the public may not like them, there’s a striking consensus that they helped: The same survey found no economists willing to dispute the idea that the bailouts lowered unemployment…
How about the oft-cited Republican claim that tax cuts will boost the economy so much that they will pay for themselves? … The Booth poll couldn’t find a single economist who believed that cutting taxes today will lead to higher government revenue – even if we lower only the top tax rate.
freakonomics – The Secret Consensus Among Economists
NPR Planet Money:
One: Eliminate the mortgage tax deduction, which lets homeowners deduct the interest they pay on their mortgages.
Two: End the tax deduction companies get for providing health-care to employees.
Three: Eliminate the corporate income tax.
Four: Eliminate all income and payroll taxes. … Instead, impose a consumption tax, designed to be progressive to protect lower-income households.
Five: Tax carbon emissions.
Six: Legalize marijuana.
(via Kottke)
build a 30 story tower in 15 days
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Chinese construction company Broad Sustainable Building has announced plans to build the world’s tallest building…in just 90 days.
When finished, it will be 220 stories high, 10 meters taller than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. …
Kottke – Chinese firm to build world’s tallest building in only 90 days
American College debt over $1 trillion
I normally pay no attention to Mark Cuban. But this post of his got me thinking.
Remember the housing meltdown? Tough to forget isn’t it. The formula for the housing boom and bust was simple. A lot of easy money being lent to buyers who couldn’t afford the money they were borrowing. …
Can someone please explain to me how what is happening in higher education is any different ?
Its far too easy to borrow money for college. Did you know that there is more outstanding debt for student loans than there is for Auto Loans or Credit Card loans ? That’s right. The 37mm holders of student loans have more debt than the 175mm or so credit card owners in this country and more than the all of the debt on cars in this country. While the average student loan debt is about 23k. The median is close to $12,500. And growing. Past 1 TRILLION DOLLARS.
We freak out about the Trillions of dollars in debt our country faces. What about the TRILLION DOLLARs plus in debt college kids are facing? …
The Higher Education Industry is very analogous to the Newspaper industry. By the time they realize they need to change their business model it will be too late. Higher Education’s legacy infrastructure, employee costs /structures and debt costs will keep them from being able to re calibrate to a new generation of competitors. …
The Coming Meltdown in College Education & Why The Economy Won’t Get Better Any Time Soon
Controversial. Read the many, many comments on that post.
But I think Cuban’s got a good point. In 10-20yrs Universities will be far different than today. What we are doing now is unsustainable.
Even Liberals are Big Fans of Oil Subsidies
Jeff Sutherland sent me a link to this article. It blew my mind.
Consumer Energy Report:
If you were to survey people and ask the question “Should we subsidize oil companies?” — the overwhelming majority would undoubtedly respond “No!” The notion that we are subsidizing oil companies generates outrage in many people, but in this article I will show why these subsidies aren’t going to go away any time soon. The reason may surprise you. …
… The summary of oil-related subsidies for 2010 totals $4.5 billion. That is a number often thrown out there; $4 billion a year or so in support for those greedy oil companies. …
The single largest expenditure is just over $1 billion for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is designed to protect the U.S. from oil shortages.
The second largest category is just under $1 billion in tax exemptions for farm fuel. …
The third largest category? $570 million for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. …
Many smaller subsidies are intended to keep Oil jobs in the USA, rather than overseas.
When President Obama and the Democratic National Committee complain about Oil Subsidies, they’re being disingenuous. No Democratic President is going to cut them. Much.
In fact, No money from the U.S. Treasury goes to the oil industry. Everything is a tax break.
Read the article for your self – The Hard Truth: Even Liberals are Big Fans of Oil Subsidies
related – Washington Post Fact Checker – Oil War: The ad battle between ‘Big Oil’ and DNC, Part 2
After all that, I still trust that Obama is more likely to take the side of the consumer over Big Oil. But not by much. Neither he nor Romney are going to lower the price of gas at the pump. Nor the profits of American Oil companies.
soaring Chinese wages
… China now accounts for a fifth of global manufacturing. Its factories have made so much, so cheaply that they have curbed inflation in many of its trading partners. But the era of cheap China may be drawing to a close. …
… Foxconn, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer that makes Apple’s iPads (and much more besides) in Shenzhen, put up salaries by 16-25% last month. …
… if China’s currency and shipping costs were to rise by 5% annually and wages were to go up by 30% a year, by 2015 it would be just as cheap to make things in North America as to make them in China and ship them there (see chart). In reality, the convergence will probably be slower. But the trend is clear. …
If cheap China is fading, what will replace it? …
read more on Economist – The end of cheap China
Amazon vs. Best Buy
A new business model. And an old model.
Best Buy is not dead yet.
… it plans to close 50 “big-box” U.S. stores, reflecting the shift in electronics retail as it opens 100 new “small-format” Best Buy Mobile stores. …
Or maybe it is — Cringely – Best Buy is Doomed
I wish Amazon Canada would expand their line of goods. I buy nothing from Amazon though I love the company.
(via Daring Fireball)
Money, Power and Wall Street
Frontline is doing a four-hour show about the world financial crisis …
It airs April 24th.
Click PLAY or watch a PREVIEW on YouTube.
People would be more upset about what’s happened if they could only understand it better.
(via Kottke)
TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN FOR OFFICE
I’m always complaining about the American Political system where corporate lobbyists write legislation and make decisions.
But the most recent TAL came as a big surprise.
Turns out that many times it’s the politicians hounding the lobbyists to make decisions. And write legislation. Not the other way around.
As always, well worth a listen …
This American Life BROADCAST: MAR-30-12
For anyone who has ever heard the term “Washington insider” and felt outside — we are with you. So this week, we go inside the rooms where the deals get made, to the actual moment that the checks change hands — and we ask the people writing and receiving the checks what, exactly, is the money buying?
Things are getting worse, by the way. Ever since the right leaning Supreme Court ruled on the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision.
They decided that Political action committees (PACs) may accept unlimited contributions from individuals, unions, and corporations (both for profit and not-for-profit) for the purpose of making independent expenditures for and against politicians.
The best commentary on that idiotic decision was by comedian Stephen Colbert. He set up his own SuperPAC. Then had Jon Stewart (his boss) run it. Independently.
Here’s one of the TV ads paid for by Colbert’s SuperPAC. Mitt Romney is a serial killer.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
