Friday, November 29, 2013

What companies comprise "The Dow" and how they have changed over time. I see Creative Destruction, globalization and division of labor. What do you see?

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On the nightly news (and throughout the day on cable new stations, i.e. CNN, Fox Business, CNBC) there are  updates as to how the stock mark...
Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The producers of Sriracha Hot Sauce are in some Hot Water. The sauce produces a foul odor. No, it is not what you think...

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Apparently the production of Sriracha Hot Sauce is imposing a non-monetary cost on the residents of the nearby factory: Sriracha hot sauce...
1 comment:
Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Nice Map showing the intensity of economic activity in the US. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

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Business Insider has a terrific map giving a quick, albeit shallow, geographic overview of the US economy. Green means hot economic activity...
Monday, November 25, 2013

Who is going to pay for the ACA ("Obamacare")? Nice graph here showing the age group that the Act is depending on to finance it. Is that a middle finger I see from you 27 year olds?

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This is courtesy of the US Census .  It shows the percentage (vertical axis) of uninsured by age group (horizontal axis).  A couple of obser...

How has the "Nominal" and "Real" price of a Thanksgiving Meal changed over time? I am glad you asked. See the answer here...

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Here is a handy-dandy topic you can use on Thanksgiving Day when you run out things to say to your relatives. The American Farm Burea...
Thursday, November 21, 2013

We are at the same level of beef consumption per person as we were in the 1940's. Good for people, bad for cows...

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Here is a graph (which I modified a bit) from The Big Picture Agriculture blog that shows Meat Consumption from 1900 to 2012 by type of meat...

Gift Cards are NOT a friend to GDP accounting during the Christmas shopping season. See here why.

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A little known fact to keep in mind as you think about economics while shopping this holiday season:  How Gift Cards Could Ruin the Holid...

No economics degree will be offered at a University in Washington D.C. Think about that for a moment...

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The irony.  This is happening at The University of D.C. (as in District of Columbia, you know, the nation's capitol) INSTEAD of cutting ...
Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Chicago MSA should look just like Sweden in terms of economic and social outcomes in theory. Why doesn't it in practice?

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The WSJ has a nice chart ranking countries Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and inserting the Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) for various regio...
Monday, November 18, 2013

Only in the ObamaCare discussion: Numbers are difficult. When some = millions and when millions = some. Math is hard for ideologues.

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I read A LOT of stuff from the different perspectives regarding the "Obamacare" official roll-out. Language is important and her...
1 comment:
Saturday, November 16, 2013

US production of oil exceeds the import of oil for the first time since 1994. This is either "Fracking" good news or bad news...

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Depends on your opinion of Fracking. The RED line represents imports of oil. The BLUE line represents domestic (US) production of oil. ...

List of the 50 Greatest Breakthroughs the world has seen and why they become insignificant as time passes.

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The Atlantic has compiled a terrific list of " The 50 Greatest Breakthroughs Since the Wheel ".  I encourage you to read the ar...
Friday, November 15, 2013

"Remittances" to Latin America are 8 times more than foreign aid to that region. That has to be good, right? But what the heck is a Remittance?

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An important topic we cover in AP Macroeconomics is "Balance of Payments". This is an accounting of the flow in the trade of goods...
Thursday, November 14, 2013

Even the SNAP ("Food Stamp") Program has a Wall Street Connection. Mind Blown...

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This from the Wall Street Journal Today:   "Wal-Mart estimates it rakes in about 18% of total U.S. outlays on food stamps, or about $...

Half of the Trade Deficit in September was from Oil Imports. Is this good thing? Bad thing? Or is just "a thing"?

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Below is a graph (which I modified for instructional purposes) from Calculated Risk. It shows the MONTHLY status (deficit or surplus) in ...
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