Quick. Below, which company would you want to own?
52 Week View Range: $0.06 - $5.10
This is one Company. See the second one below.
52 Week View Range: $1.50 - $9.14
Is it even close? One company is taking off. Not hard to do, the market has come back by some 60%. However the other company, even in one of the best markets we have seen in years, is tanking.
The first company is Government Motors.
The second one is Ford.
Go Obama!
Posted in Economy, Politics: National
Tagged Abuse of Power, Barack Obama, Democrat, Finance, Left, Liberal, North Carolina, Politics, Recovery Plan, Unions
Water water everywhere. And not a drop to drink.
Sounds like California is thirsty:
Operators of the sprawling state system that supplies water to 25 million Californians from Butte County to San Diego issued their lowest-ever estimate on the amount of water they will be able to deliver.
Officials predicted Tuesday they will be able to offer only 5 percent of the total volume of water requested by California cities and farms next year. That’s the smallest water allocation the agency has released since its creation in 1967.
Government in Action
That’s quite a gap. Now, to be fair, you can see in the chart above that there are years in which the water allocations eventually meet 100% of the need, but more than often, they don’t.
Makes you wonder why this is, right? I mean California should have plenty of water to supply their need. Why are they so short so often? What could possible cause a shortage in a specific commodity?
Well, I just finished a fantastic book: Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. And it just so happens that Mr. Sowell does indeed talk about shortages and what causes them. One word: Regulation. For example, have you ever noticed that it always seems the grocery store is out of Coke when you go to buy some? Or that gas stations always seem to be empty when you need to fill up? I know I know. Every time you go to buy a pair of sunglasses, there are none available? Huh? Never happens? Wanna know why? Because no one is regulating the price of these products. They are selling at a price the market can bare. And so supply is nearly always available.
Now, if I told you that Wal-Mart was going to be selling Coke 6-paks for a dime starting at 6pm tomorrow night, what do you think the scene would be? Packed initially and then finally, they would run out. They would run out when under normal circumstances, they would have a predictable supply for anybody to come and buy as much as they need/want. And why doesn’t someone come in and buy all of the supply of Coke now? Because the marginal cost of Coke dictates that we won’t waste or hoard it.
So, again, what cause a shortage? Regulation; specifically the imposition of a reduced price when supply remains fixed. So, why do you think that California State Water Project has problems meeting 100% of need? Because they are regulations in place that reduce the cost of water for significant portions of the population:
In 2002, the average price paid for irrigation water from the CVP (Central Valley Project-An agricultural district) was less than 2 percent of what residents of Los Angeles pay for drinking water, and less than 3 percent of what residents of San Francisco pay.
What does this mean? It means that farmers can grow crops in regions where those crops wouldn’t normally grow because it’s too dry. But because they are getting water at less than the market rate, these farming practices are continued and water is going where it wouldn’t otherwise go.
The lesson is simple, if you want there to be a 6-pak of Coke at the local Wal-Mart, you better hope that it’s expensive enough to be there.
Posted in Economics, States Behaving Badly
Tagged California, Democrat, Liberal, Politics, zEconomy
A lot of talk going on about projections and what ifs. So much so, that for many of us, we begin to lose sight of “what is” within the forest of theoretical science. Sometimes, really, a picture is simply worth a thousand words. Or maybe, a picture is not having to read a thousand words.
Who get's it? Who doesn't.
Why, you may ask, is the unemployment rate so much higher in California than in Texas?
What’s the worst state to do business in? According to readers of Chief Executive magazine, it’s California. In the same poll, Texas won first place as the best state in which to put your headquarters. As reported in The Economist, the two largest states in the nation have very different philosophies and very different success rates.
The article goes on to mention why Texas is doing a better job:
- Texans on average believe in laissez-faire markets with an emphasis on individual responsibility. Since the ’80s, California’s policy-makers have favored central planning solutions and a reliance on a government social safety net.
- Californians have largely treated environmentalism as a “religious sacrament” rather than as one component among many in maximizing people’s quality of life.
- California has placed “ethnic diversity” above “assimilation,” while Texas has done the opposite.
- Texas has focused on streamlining the regulatory and litigation burden on its residents. Meanwhile, California’s government has attempted to use regulation and litigation to transfer wealth from its creators to various special-interest constituencies.
The whole article is an awesome read as a “how to guide” for planners. It would be great if Barack Obama would read it.
Hat Tip Mark Perry and Rick Perry
Posted in Economics, Politics: National, States Behaving Badly
Tagged California, Employment, Global Warming, Green Jobs, Left, Leftist, Liberal, Politics, Taxes, zBarack Obama
The new members of the Wake County school board were sworn in last night. Immediately changes began to take place. And yet for all the change that was occurring, sadly, it all remained very much the same.
Before a packed, mostly hostile audience, the new group made ad hoc additions of major items to the agenda. That drew heated public comment from those opposed to the newcomers’ actions, a shocked reaction from members who now make up the board minority and a walkout by a group representing Wake teachers.
I feel like I’ve been punched in the mouth,” said Keith Sutton, a member representing East Raleigh.
Nothing to See Here; Move on
This time, instead of the families supporting neighborhood schools feeling left out, it’s the families supporting the diversity policy that are feeling left out. Nothing, really, has changed; only that the other team has the ball and is driving.
One of the complaints against the old board was the fact that they often wouldn’t reach out to the public on policy issues:
The board quickly took up the district’s diversity policy, which uses busing to ensure balanced populations at each school. Once based on race, those calculations have relied on the poverty of students’ families since 2000.
However, no copies of the proposal on changing the diversity policy were given to members of the public before they were voted on. Instead, an overhead projector showed a copy with the phrase “creating and maintaining a diverse student body” with a line through it. The move to change the policy was sent to committee.
Apparently the information was not only withheld from the public, but from some of the board members as well:
“I like to study the things that I am going to vote on, but this is an unusual evening,” said member Anne McLaurin, a member of the board’s new minority. “I find this an interesting proposal, but I don’t feel prepared to vote on it without further information.”
Said ousted chair Kevin Hill about the last-minute resolutions: “To me this is a process that is very new to the school board, where essentially half the members are not privy to information prior to the meeting.”
And the battle between board and public is still very much of a “We vs. They” kind of thing; complete with threats:
“Please be quiet or we’re going to ask you to leave,” Margiotta told the audience. “Don’t make an arena out of us.”
When Margiotta’s remarks drew laughs, he threatened to ask security to make the crowd leave.
Look, there are a LOT of things that a school board can impact and I really am hopeful that this new board can make improvements. Obviously, when it comes to strategies I am in favor of anything that encourages strong fiscal restraint. I support any attempt to weaken organized teacher unions or representation organizations. I like merit based pay for teachers. But to be honest, the overwhelming issue that faces this board has been the combination of the Diversity Policy and the Year Round schooling; both of which I am in favor of.
Clearly something new occurred at last night’s meeting. But just as clearly, nothing changed.
Or, wherein North Carolina looks like Minnesota. It would appear that a Government entitlement program is way over budget:
The government health insurance program for low-income children, older adults and the disabled is at least $150 million over budget through the first quarter of the fiscal year.
The best part? The best part isn’t that we are over budget. I mean really, how could a government program really be expected to come in under budget? Nope, the best part is that we are over by $150 million THROUGH THE FIRST QUARTER!
Part of the reason we are so far over?
About half of the cost overruns are because of delays in federal approval of some cuts proposed by the state Department of Health and Human Services to save money.
Yup. In order to save money we have to cut services [ only a foretaste of the Obamacare feast to come ] and then we are delayed even in doing that because one government bureaucracy can’t communicate with another in a timely manner.
Posted in Health Care, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged Health Care, North Carolina, Politics