Video animation of the Oil Rig "Malfunction"...Only 1 minute long

I can't vouch for the technical aspects of this video, but it gives an animated view of what happened with the oil platform...

Nice Graphic on the Costs of BP Oil Spill...

Cost & Effects of The BP Oil Spill

Mr Gore must have read my blog post---Can't be out-done by Gisele---Buys an even BETTER HOUSE!!

Sorry, I just can't resist this one...(previous post about Gisele HERE)

From LA TIMES:  Al Gore, Tipper Gore snap up Montecito-area villa

""Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have added a Montecito-area property to their real estate holdings, reports the Montecito Journal.  The couple spent $8,875,000 on an ocean-view villa on 1.5 acres with a swimming pool, spa and fountains, a real estate source familiar with the deal confirms. The Italian-style house has six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms.""

Want a raise at work? Then "Be a Complement and not a Substitute"...

Well worth a read if you are wondering how you can develop additional leverage at work to get a raise or to get ahead---Excellent advice from an Excellent AP Economics teacher!!

How To Use Economics To Get A Raise---By Mike Fladlien

"Be a Complement Not a Substitute"
Complementary goods are like a right shoe and a left shoe. One shoe simply isn’t sufficient. You need both shoes. If the job you’re doing can be done by a machine or done by cheaper labor, then you need to find a way to become part of the process. For example, if an answering machine can replace a receptionist, then when the machine becomes cheaper, it’ll be used in place. The receptionist has to build client relationships and answer the phone. In other words the receptionist has to be able to do the work that a machine cannot. A receptionist can also build value for the attorney, by rescheduling clients who miss appointments so that the boss doesn’t have an empty space on his/her calendar. The receptionist might call ahead to confirm appoints. This is work that a machine cannot easily do. 

Differentiate
A worker must differentiate herself from other workers. It’s not enough to be able to do the job. A worker  musst add something extra. Perhaps Juanita has specialized knowledge of accounts receivable software that can’t be duplicated or outsourced. Perhaps she has knowledge of contract law that can’t be easily learned.
When Juanita works with clients perhaps they comment about the personal attention that makes them feel special.""

A short yet excellent explanation of a Carbon Tax to reduce carbon emissions. A policy alternative to Cap and Trade

A short yet excellent explanation of a Carbon Tax to reduce carbon emissions. A policy alternative to Cap and Trade...From EconomicsBlog:

"""The production of carbon dioxide is widely held to contribute to social / environmental problems such as global warming. This carbon pollution is a negative externality. It is a cost imposed on the whole of society and not just the individual who consumes a certain product. e.g. if you drive a car, the external costs are felt by everyone else.
Because certain carbon intensive industries create negative externalities, the social cost of production is greater than the private cost.
In a free market, these negative externalities are not included in the price leading to overconsumption and social inefficiency. We can say there is a missing market, because the external cost of carbon emission is ignored.

Diagram to show Welfare loss of Negative Externality

The Purpose of A Carbon tax

The purpose of a carbon tax is to internalise the externality. What this means is that the final price of the good should include the external cost and not just the private cost.
In theory, the tax should equal the external cost. Therefore, the price consumers pay will be the social cost.
Demand will fall and the new equilibrium will be socially efficient because at this output, the marginal social cost equals the marginal social benefit.

Diagram to Show Carbon Tax

Revenue Neutral

In theory a carbon tax should be revenue neutral. This means the tax raised from taxing carbon emissions can be used to reduce other taxes. There should be no overall increase in the tax burden.


Problems of Carbon Tax
•Production may shift to countries with no or lower carbon taxes.
•Cost of administrating the tax.
•Difficult to know the level of external cost and how much the tax should be.
•Possibility of tax evasion. Higher taxes may encourage firms to hide carbon emissions.
•If demand is price inelastic, the tax may have to be very high to reduce demand significantly.
•Consumers dislike new taxes and often don’t believe that they will be ‘revenue neutral’. This is not an economic argument, but it is a political reality and explains why it is often difficult to implement."""