Monthly Archives: July 2011

Marginal Value: The Poor

Posted on July 15, 2011 | 12 comments

So, I was going through some old blogs and looking for some quick insightful nuggets and came across this little gem from TJIC:

http://pajamasmedia.com/ronradosh/2011/0…

Krugman gets to his main point: that in the national debate, his side is that of morality, justice, and reason â?? while his opponents on the conservative side are immoral, uncaring, and actually want the poor to die or disappear.

Speaking for myself, I don’t want the poor to die.

I want them to work harder, to bring themselves up into the middle class (recall: the main thing that seperates the poor from everyone else is that poor people work about 15-20 hours per week, middle class people work 40-45 hours, and upper class people work 60+ hours), or – if they prefer – I want them to keep working very little, and enjoying the trade off of potential cash for increased free time – as long as they do it with out dollars stolen from others.

So I did a little looking.  By God he’s right:

Hours Worked Number of Workers Median Weekly Earnings
1 – 34 21802 233
1 – 4 548 62
5 – 9 1203 69
10 – 14 1865 112
15 – 19 2729 156
20 – 24 6425 212
25 – 29 2953 262
30 – 34 6079 337
35 or more hours 94452 750
35 – 39 8200 485
40 67195 700
41 or more hours 19056 1153
41 – 44 1084 867
45 – 48 5294 994
49 – 59 8450 1246
60 or more hours 4228 1338

Amazingly, the more you work, the more you make.  However, there is a flip side; the more you work, the more you work.

However, as I considered the numbers, it occurred to me, “Of COURSE you earn more when you work more–you’re working more hours!  Duh!”

But check this out:

Hours Worked Rough Dollar per Hour
1 – 34
1 – 4 24.8
5 – 9 9.86
10 – 14 9.33
15 – 19 9.18
20 – 24 9.64
25 – 29 9.7
30 – 34 10.53
35 or more hours
35 – 39 13.11
40 17.5
41 or more hours
41 – 44 20.4
45 – 48 21.38
49 – 59 25.43
60 or more hours

It turns out that the more you work, the higher your hourly wage.  [Though I do admit that the two low values look abnormal.]

 

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Posted in Economics, Economy, Politics: National

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You Need A License To Fish

Posted on July 15, 2011 | 8 comments

You know, when I read about the story that suggested parents have their children taken from them if those children are morbidly obese, I recoiled a little bit.  I mean, sheesh, have we really come to that?  Are we really at the point where the state can take our kids if we aren’t feeding ’em like they think we should?

According to Dr. Ludwig, state intervention would involve placing a child in temporary foster care while his parents were taught about better parenting and weight loss. Removing a child from home would be used as a last resort, reserved for cases where the child has severe obesity-related conditions such Type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties and liver problems, the Associated Press reports. Rather than place the blame on parents, the goal of state intervention is to act in children’s best interests, and in some cases, it is “the only realistic way to control harmful behaviors,” Ludwig wrote.

Shouldn’t a parent be able to decide what’s best for their children and government be damned?

Then I saw this story:

Raleigh, N.C. — Raleigh police charged a father with misdemeanor child abuse Wednesday after his 3-year-old daughter left home and walked across four lanes of traffic on Lynn Road.

The girl was not injured.

Aaron Harris Rush, 27, of 920 Hearthridge Court, told police that he was home asleep because he “stayed up until 6 a.m. for no reason,” according to court documents. His bond was set at $1,000.

Police said the little girl, Katelynn, crossed Lynn Road and then walked several blocks down North Hills Drive before someone noticed her and called police.

It turns out that parents often times don’t have their kids best interests at heart.  For example, thousands of children are born to Democrats everyday!

I kid.

But back to the point.  If I wanna catch a fish here in North Carolina, I have to have a license.  To catch a fish.  Because if I don’t have a license  I might…um, well, I might endanger the population of fishes.

If we can arrest parents for endangering their kids, and we rightly should, is it THAT far of a stretch to think that maybe we should require parents to obtain a license to have a child?

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Posted in Liberty, Politics: National

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Minnesota: Mark Dayton Blinks – What This Means For America

Posted on July 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

The Democratic governor of Minnesota backed down yesterday.  Said governor, who claimed to be elected into office with a mandate, has realized that he’s damaging the state of Minnesota.  Unlike his election, the election of a republican congress DOES carry a mandate.  And that mandate is “no new taxes”.  So, after allowing the state to experience a government shutdown for nearly two weeks, the governor accepted a deal that the republicans had offered as far back as June 30.

Despite my serious reservations about your plan, I have concluded that continuing the state government shutdown would be even more destructive for too many Minnesotans,” Dayton wrote to legislative leaders. “Therefore I am willing to agree to something I do not agree with — your proposal — in order to spare our citizens and our state from further damage.

Dayton walked away from the edge.  I suspect that he realized his partisan agenda didn’t mesh with the responsibilities of governing a state.  And he relented.

This should serve as a guide to national republicans.  This is how the debate is to be won.

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Posted in Economics, Liberty, Politics: National

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Recession: Obama, Bush, Clinton and Reagan

Posted on July 15, 2011 | 1 comment

We are now 7 quarters into our recovery from the previous recession.  I have long thought it time to conduct a review of this current recovery as compared to previous recoveries.

I have gone back to the previous 4 recessions and their recoveries.  Above is a graph showing the growth of GDP for each recovery starting with the date in which the NBER calls each recession cycle.

The numbers above reflect the GDP growth in current dollars. Further, I have only gone out 12 quarters, or 3 years.  Anything past this and I think we have normal economic cycles taking place that have little to do with the recovery efforts put in place during the recessions described.

There has been little secret that the current administration holds the previous administration responsible for the recession.  However, if that is true, the current administration is responsible for the recovery.  So, how has it done?

At this point, the Obama’s recovery is only slightly ahead of any of the other 3.  The current quarter represented a 4.0% increase in GDP over the previous quarter.  The only other recovery that had a worse showing was the Reagan recovery of 1982; it had a 3.9% increase.  However, unlike the Obama recovery, the Reagan recovery had significant growth for the first 6 quarters.  Obama’s recovery has not shown that degree of success.

Reagan vs Obama

Here is the direct comparison:

The visual is clear, the Reagan recovery was much more vibrant than the current Obama recovery.  While Obama did better this quarter, the lack of growth in the preceding quarters is disappointing.

Obama vs Bush

Perhaps a more damning comparison, at least for this specific political cycle, is the comparison of Obama vs Bush:

Here the Obama recovery is very similar to the previous Bush recovery.  However, the pressure is on.  Beginning in the 8th quarter on, Bush had a very impressive record of strong GDP growth.

We’ll see if Obama is able to match that record.

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Posted in Economy, Politics: National

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Dear Minnesota Republicans

Posted on July 14, 2011 | 6 comments

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Republican Congress,

Congratulations on your efforts to force the liberal leftist Governor into agreeing to your deal.

Now, don’t be asses and insist on your social agenda policies. This is about the budget. Let it BE about the budget.

Love,
Pino

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Posted in Government, Liberty, Politics: National

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Markets In Everything: Domain Names

Posted on July 14, 2011 | Leave a comment

It seems that where anything is bought and sold, certain rules are true:

A new index launched on Wednesday shows for the first time that even domain names can offer a window into the economy, just as stocks do.

The first-ever domain pricing index, which was created by economist Dr. Thies Lindenthal, joins the ranks of similar economic indicators that track everything from consumer products and homes to truck loads.

…

Domain prices rapidly gained in value from 2006 through 2007 before peaking in September of that year prior to the recession. Not surprisingly, so did the Nasdaq.

Shortly after, when valuations across the board started to fall, both tumbled. The biggest drop was in the heart of the recession between September 2007 and January 2009, with the IDNX and Nasdaq sliding about 31% and 50%, respectively.

Both started to gradually rebound in the first half of 2009 and now sit at their highest valuation since the IDNX began tracking domains in 2005.

While the two are neatly aligned, the IDNX always seems to stay ahead of the Nasdaq and remains stable when compared with Google (GOOG), showing it is less volatile in the face of severe economic headwinds.

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Posted in Economics

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When the Global Is Warming And Then When That Same Global Isn’t

Posted on July 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

So, I can remember sitting in the corporate cafeteria in Minneapolis in 1998.  I remember eating my pizza and reading the Star Tribune.

I was fascinated by an article that was discussing the warming of the temperatures and the impact it would have on Minnesota.  It would turn the northern pine forests into grasslands.  Even a shift in a few degrees would be enough to change the way the landscape looked and behaved.  It would take years, but the impact would be unmistakeable.

I also remember discussing this with friends and family.  Some would disagree that we were getting warmer [though I felt things were changing even as a kid; we were getting much less snow as I grew older], others felt that while we were warming, the degree of warming would not cause the changes being discussed.  Others yet felt that yes, we were warming, but the pattern was predictable.  Nature changes.

Now fast forward to the current Global Warming debate.  I have always been interested in the topic and did my own reading.  Over time I’ve landed on the “Denier” side of the dabate.  And I’ve always felt a little uncomfortable there.

Until I bumped into Coyote.  Double Ivy, small business owner and Libertarian.

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Posted in Global Warming, Technology

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Who Can Vote

Posted on July 13, 2011 | 4 comments

Ya know, there’s been a lot of back and forth among folks on either side of the aisle concerning Voter ID laws making their way into state houses around the country.  With the massive Republican win in 2010, control of state government swung hard right.  And using those majorities and governorships, the GOP is passing laws that would restrict voting.  Now, the restrictions are common sense and are reasonable.  Basically, you have to be a citizen.  Crazy talk I know, but nothing will get a bunch of statists up in arms like a good government regulation!

Wait.

But serious.  Think about voter id laws and the reaction to ’em.  It goes back to the days when polling places, cities, counties and even entire states tried to prevent black people from voting.  For no other reason than they were black.  We’re stuck there.  We can’t escape from there.  Talk about requiring some burden of proof and the immediate reaction is the usual “Tea Party is racist!” meme.

Nonsense.

But here is something that will REALLY get the Left up in arms.  If we’re gonna restrict voting, restrict it on the basis of your Federal Tax burden.

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Posted in Government, Politics: National

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Their Fair Share

Posted on July 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

The debt ceiling rhetoric is really building steam.

As we get closer and closer to the date when the debt rises above the debt ceiling, the guys on each side continue to ratchet the discourse.

Of course I don’t think that we’ll not raise the limit.  And, even if we don’t, there is no way that we don’t pay our debt servicing.  So this whole thing is a little silly.

But I like the debate and I like the discussion being had in the offices and the coffee houses and the dance studios.

When we have Obama claiming that he can’t guarantee that old people will get their Social Security check.

“I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August third if we haven’t resolved this issue,” says Obama.

“There may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it,” said the President.

Interesting thins are gonna be said by the everyday people.

But, back to the discussion.  I still don’t get the Left’s rallying cry that the rich “have to pay their fair share!”

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Posted in Government, Politics: National

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Tribalism

Posted on July 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

We have come to the point where the pendulum can’t swing any further “our way”.  We are going to have to begin to compromise.

This is a list of Senators, ranked by their conservative/liberal slant in 2010:

Barrasso WY R
Chambliss GA R
Cornyn TX R
Crapo ID R
DeMint SC R
McCain AZ R
Risch ID R
Thune SD R
Coburn OK R
Wicker MS R
Enzi WY R
Bunning KY R
Roberts KS R
Hutchison TX R
Sessions AL R
McConnell KY R
Hatch UT R
Inhofe OK R
Isakson GA R
Vitter LA R
Kyl AZ R
Shelby AL R
Ensign NV R
Graham SC R
Cochran MS R
LeMieux FL R
Corker TN R
Grassley IA R
Burr NC R
Alexander TN R
Bond MO R
Johanns NE R
Bennett UT R
Gregg NH R
Brown, Scott MA R
Murkowski AK R
Lugar IN R
Snowe ME R
Collins ME R
Voinovich OH R
Nelson NE D
Lieberman CT I
Tester MT D
Baucus MT D
Warner VA D
Lincoln AR D
Pryor AR D
McCaskill MO D
Webb VA D
Bennet CO D
Hagan NC D
Udall, M CO D
Nelson FL D
Landrieu LA D
Feinstein CA D
Begich AK D
Klobuchar MN D
Rockefeller WV D
Feingold WI D
Kohl WI D
Boxer CA D
Cantwell WA D
Conrad ND D
Shaheen NH D
Dodd CT D
Kerry MA D
Carper DE D
Specter PA D
Bingaman NM D
Dorgan ND D
Harkin IA D
Johnson SD D
Merkley OR D
Akaka HI D
Durbin IL D
Inouye HI D
Murray WA D
Casey PA D
Franken MN D
Udall, T NM D
Lautenberg NJ D
Menendez NJ D
Gillibrand NY D
Reed RI D
Schumer NY D
Brown, Sherrod OH D
Cardin MD D
Leahy VT D
Levin MI D
Mikulski MD D
Reid NV D
Sanders VT I
Stabenow MI D
Whitehouse RI D

No one is out of order.  Every single Republican is more conservative than every single Democrat.  And every single Democrat is more Liberal than every single Republican.

Damn.

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