Snooki's speaking fee is $25,000 per appearance...WOW, what a bargain!!!

Is Snooki worth the speaking fee she receives? Rutgers University paid $32,000 for her to come to speak to students. However, apparently she receives a usual fee of $25,000 to cavort with paying customers at clubs.  Does the business get is money worth?  By the estimate given in the article below (full article below the fold) the change in revenue (Marginal Revenue) for a Snooki appearance is approx. $260,000. Far in excess of the extra cost of hiring her (Marginal Cost) for $25,000.  Marginal Revenue is greater than Marginal Cost...In Microeconomics, we learn that to maximizes profits, they should hire her until the change in revenue equals her speaking fee (Marginal Revenue $25,000=Marginal Cost $25,000)...guessing that might happen after (during) the second appearance....

Snookinomics: Profits from a Tan

Nice article on cost savings from attending a Community College for a year or two...Worth a read...

Nice article on the virtues of attending a Community College for the first year or two of college before transferring.  Smart adive. The only thing I would add, would to advise against taking classes in subjects that pertain to your major.  For example, if you are going to be a math major don't take math classes at a C.C., take those at the University level. Take your English or Social Studies classes instead, because they will impact your major less.  If you are going to be an English major, take your math classes at a C.C....So on and so forth, whatever you major in.

NYTIMES: Bargains on the First 4 Semesters

When Rich Johnston started college in the 1970s, four years at a standard university was out of the question financially. So he worked, knocked off two years of community college credits in 19 months and then worked some more.


He ended up graduating in 1981 from the University of Puget Sound, a private college in Tacoma, Wash. “Nobody ever asked where I went the first two years, and I don’t think anybody cares,” he said. “And I bet I saved myself $30,000.”

When it came time for his son Bret to start college, Bret decided to take the same path, choosing smaller classes, a more flexible schedule and a price that was a fraction of what he might have paid in Washington’s state university system.

He is hardly the only one. A few weeks ago, in a “Your Money” special section of the newspaper, I wrote about Mino Caulton, a high school senior in Shutesbury, Mass., who was weighing the virtues of a community college versus a more prestigious private university that would have required him to take out lots of student loans.

Advice for Mr. Caulton poured in on our Bucks blog, and it became clear that there were few centralized resources for families who had made a strategic financial decision to attend community college first as a cost-saving measure.

Let's not obsess over growing the budget pie or shinking the budget pie...Let's obsess over the crumbs instead---Nice pie chart putting the budget battle in perspective...(thanks Colin Chisholm)




Source: The Big Picture

 

How could the House budget-cutters miss this EASY program to do away with? Subsidies to install gas pumps to dispense E-85 gas with Ethanol...Please help me pick up the pieces of my exploding head...

What a way to start the day. I sit down with a nice cup of coffee and this gem pops out from the WSJ....Grants and subsidized loans to install new gas pumps so we can sell gasoline that has even more ethanol (E-85)  which everyone, but the ethanol lobby, believes is bad policy...How was this NOT low hanging budget fruit subject to cutting in the budget battle that went deep into the night? 

The Secretary of Agriculture declined to say how much the program would cost because he did not know how many station owners (or oil companies) would take advantage of the program...Fair enough, I get that. But a better question for him from would have been how much has been budgeted for such a program.  THAT he should know.  Wish the reporter had asked that. OR better yet, a budget-cutting ELECTED official...Just sayin'...

Gas Stations Get Aid to Sell Ethanol

"""The Department of Agriculture will soon be helping gasoline stations install new pumps that can dispense fuel with higher ethanol content, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said.


The USDA will soon offer grants and loan guarantees for the installation of costly new "blender pumps" so drivers can purchase fuel with a higher ratio of corn-based ethanol.

Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is 10% ethanol, but a growing fleet of flexible-fuel vehicles can run on an 85%-ethanol blend, or E85. However, there are fewer pumps available to dispense it, Mr. Vilsack said.


In the U.S., only about 2,350 fueling stations out of more than 110,000 offer E85 pumps, according to the USDA.

Gloria Bergquist, vice president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said the number of E85 vehicles in the U.S. is growing about 10% each year. In 2008, there were 6.1 million such vehicles; now, the number has increased to about 8.2 million.

New blender pumps, which Mr. Vilsack said cost about $120,000 to install, also would make it easier for drivers of conventional cars to increase the ethanol content of the gasoline they buy. He declined to estimate the total expenses, saying he didn't know how many station owners would seek the guarantees and grants. """

Dollar Depreciates overnight...get ready to pay more for "stuff"...

A nice article illustrating two AP Macro concepts.  The first is the interest rate effect on the value of currencies relative to each other.  The European Central Bank (ECB) raised a benchmark interest rate yesterday.  As interest rates increase, we know financial capital flows to the "more desirable FINANCIAL ASSETS.  In this case European financial assets.  Hence, the demand for the Euro increased in the last 24 hours and the Euro has appreciated relative to the Dollar. 

In the short run (there seems to be debate about the long run) there is an inverse relationship between the value of the dollar in the FOREX and various commodities (metals, agricultural, oil, etc).  This is because most/all major commodities are traded on world markets in dollars. When the dollar depreciates then foreign sellers of commodities need to get more dollars (relative to before the depreciation) for their product just to maintain the same purchasing power of their own currency back in the home country.  This is the blessing and the curse of having the dollar as the currency of record for international trade.

Commodities rally as dollar slumps

The dollar has hit a fresh 15-month low as traders move into euros following the European Central Bank’s rate rise on Thursday.

Investors are dumping the buck as the US Federal Reserve is seen lagging in the nascent tightening cycle, while worries about a government shutdown should Washington budget talks fail are also adding to pressure on the greenback.

Commodities are a big beneficiary of the dollar’s decline. Dollar-denominated commodities like a softer buck and it seems the market is also still fond of the greenback as an inverse proxy to broad risk appetite.

Silver is in focus after it hit $40 an ounce for the first time since 1980 as traders also ride the “bullion-as-inflation-hedge” bandwagon.

The same strategy has also driven gold to a fresh record of $1,471 an ounce, with investors pouring funds into precious-metal exchange-traded funds.

Chart of worst jobs in History...I had one in college that I think can be added to the list...judge for yourself...

I believe I have one to add to the list. In college, I had a job in the Anthropology department boiling, skinning (or de-feathering), stripping to the bone road-kill or otherwise dead animals.  I had to strip the meat off, pull apart all the bones, dry them, label them, and put them in a box for the department library....Go ahead, beat that as one of the worst jobs ever....

Watch a Live-Stream of an Eagles Nest and the potential to see new hatchlings TODAY---I find this fascinating!!

You have to watch an advertisement first, but the video is a live-stream of an Eagles nest and apparently one egg has hatched  TODAY and two others are in the process. Pretty cool to tune in on something like this...HT: CARPE DIEM...

The First one to hatch!!!

Free video chat by Ustream

If I can JUST make it to retirement age I will be able to find a job!! Huh? That does not sound right, but may be true...

Below is a chart of the "winners and losers" in the hunt for jobs in the last 15 months.  The group in the 45 to 54 range are large net losers in terms of employment.  Traditionally, these years have been the peak career and earning years for most people. The headline for this blog entry seems non-sensical, but there seems to be a grain of truth in it...at least at this point in our economic history. 
Why The Middle-Aged Are Missing Out On New Jobs

The job gains in the latest employment report ALL (almost all) went to Women!! See the incredible numbers here...

These two items from the latest Employment Report are pretty interesting (from the Household Survey,--a phone survey, not the headline establishment survey--from businesses) .  Last month, women were the "winners" in finding new jobs by a substantial margin---+4,000 for the guys and +247,000 for the gals.  Also, note that more men LEFT the labor force (decrease of 31,000) and more women ENTERED the labor market (increase of 96,000).  Any thoughts as to what is going on in the nation's labor market? 



Source: Business Insider



Engineering meets Economics on the 50th Floor of a Skyscraper---A nice graphic on the Marginal Costs of Tall Buildings...

Skycraper construction is reaching new heights, literally and figuratively. This is the last graphic from an interactive that shows a historical timeline in the engineering of these types of structures.  I like the link that is made between  engineering and economics. 

When construction of a skyscraper takes place there are lots of up-front costs, both fixed and variable. As construction is set-up and commences, then costs decrease per floor added because fixed costs become spread out over the project and variable costs, while they may be increasing, are increasing at a decreasing rate (production becomes streamlined and efficient). 

However, as the graphic shows, the variable costs will start to increase again as the engineering requirements of maintaining a strong structure become more complicated and expensive.  After a certain point, the cost of each additional floor becomes more costly than the last.  In economics, we call this the Marginal Cost of Production--the change in Total Cost divided by the change in quantity, in this case each floor of the building.  If the Marginal Cost of the next floor EXCEEDS the Marginal Revenue (the change in Total Revenue divided by the change in quantity, in this case each floor) gained from leasing that floor then the builings owners should not construct that floor.

 Alas, this may not stop them from reaching new heights. Sometimes peoples egos will over-rule the economics. We know how that usually turns out....


Source: The Atlantic



A nice, simple gasoline tax graphic for the US....

I have posted something similar in terms of the variation in gasoline taxes in the US, but this graphic is a much more simple visual.  The Federal gas tax is $.184 (18.4 Cents). So subtract that from the numbers you see and you have the State tax assessed per gallon of gasoline. It is important to recognize this when looking at the differences in the total price of a gallon of gas around the nation.


Source: Econobrowser



Those Cotton Pickin' Farmers are to blame for higher food prices! No, really, it is literally the fault of Cotton Picking farmers that food prices will increase...

In Microeconomics, farmers and the commodities they grow are used to illustrate a perfectly competitive market. The main characteristic of a firm in a perfectly competitive market is that they are a "price-taker". They have no pricing power and must accept the price dictated by the market.  Many farmers in the Farm Belt are indifferent to the commodity they grow---the land, machinery, and the know-how they possess can be used to grow corn, wheat, soybeans, or cotton.  Their main concern is which one will give them the most revenue per acre planted.  Seems like cotton is the winner in this regard. The problem is that cotton is the only one in the group you can't eat.  More land allocated to growing cotton, means less allocated to growing food. Food prices have been increasing in the past year.  These increases can be absorbed by rich countries, but not so much for those on "the margin".  Much unrest in the Middle East and elsewhere has its roots in high food prices. As more farmers make this decision, is will only makes things worse in developing/poor countries as they try to meet the food needs of their people. 

Amber Waves to Ivory Bolls

"...But this spring, many farmers in southern states will be planting cotton in ground where they used to grow corn, soybeans or wheat — spurred on by cotton prices that have soared as clothing makers clamor for more and poor harvests crimp supply.

The result is an acreage war between rival commodities used to feed and clothe the world’s population.

“There’s a lot more money to be made in cotton right now,” said Ramon Vela, a farmer here in the Texas Panhandle, as he stood in a field where he grew wheat last year, its stubble now plowed under to make way for cotton. Around the first week of May, Mr. Vela, 37, will plant 1,100 acres of cotton, up from 210 acres a year ago. “The prices are the big thing,” he said. “That’s the driving force.”

Economists, agricultural experts and government officials are predicting that many farmers, both in the United States and abroad, will join Mr. Vela this year in chasing the higher profits to be made in cotton — with consequences that could ripple across the globe.

“It’s good for the farmer, but from a humanitarian perspective it’s kind of scary,” said Webb Wallace, executive director of the Cotton and Grain Producers of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. “Those people in poor countries that have a hard time affording food, they’re going to be even less able to afford it now.”

US Energy Consumption by Energy Source---Once again, the problem is obvious...



Source: Economix



After spending a semester abroad you must work as an intern...College is no fun anymore! But getting a job in your preferred career field IS the end game...

In addition to spending a semester abroad, internships are becoming an important part of marketing yourself.  I know, I know, you say..."WHEN do I have a chance to have FUN in college!".  I am just the messenger. If you want to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack, then you must consider it. Hey, it is FUN to work in the career of your choice--and it lasts a long time!

NYTIMES: The Internship as Inside Track

WANT to land a full-time job after college? Get an internship or two, or even four or more.

Internships have long been a part of the collegiate learning experience, but have never been more closely tied to permanent hiring than they are today, said Trudy Steinfeld, executive director of career development at New York University.

Of course, internships aren’t the only route to employment. But companies increasingly view them as a recruiting tool because they are a way to test-drive potential employees, she said. Conversely, interns can test-drive the company to see if it’s a good fit, professionally and culturally.

Not only do college interns garner more job offers than applicants without that experience, but jobs that grow out of internships tend to command higher starting salaries, said Edwin W. Koc, research director at the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

We know how much a gallon of gas costs. But how much do other things you buy cost by the gallon? Nice graphic!



Source: Paul Kedrosky's Infectious  Greed