April 21, 2009
April 20, 2009
State Job Losses Since The Recession Began
This is an interesting chart showing what states have lost the most jobs since the recession began. You can click on the map to go the the Wall Street Journal interactive activity.
April 19, 2009
April 8, 2009
North Korea at Night
So as North Korea spends most of their resources on the military, there is obviously little left for everything else, like economic development and feeding their population.
April 6, 2009
Charting The Stock Market: Ups and Downs, Mostly Down
So is the market heading for a huge dip? Click on the picture to enlarge.
April 2, 2009
More Worthless Zimbabwe Paper
To Protest the massive hyperinflation, the the Zimbabwean Newspaper created an ad campaign featuring huge posters, wall murals, flyers, and even billboards all made out of trillions of Zimbabwean dollars. Check out the photos from the newspaper’s Flickr Photo Stream."The Mugabe regime has destroyed Zimbabwe. It has presided over the brutal oppression of the opposition, a cholera crises, massive food shortages and the total collapse of their economy. Furthermore anyone brave enough to report this has been bullied, beaten and driven into exile. One such group is ‘the Zimbabwean Newspaper’. However, not content with having hounded these journalists out, the regime has slapped an import ‘luxury’ duty of over 55% on them which makes the paper unaffordable for the average Zimbabwean. In order to subsidize the paper they need to sell it in England and South Africa, to raise the foreign currency. A unique campaign was devised to promote the paper to raise awareness and increase readership. One of the most eloquent symbols of Zimbabwe’s collapse is the Z$100 trillion dollar note, a symptom of their world record inflation. This note cannot buy anything, not even a loaf of bread and certainly not any advertising, but it can become the advertising, it can be a powerful reminder about Zimbabwe’s plight and the need to hold someone accountable. Link.
April 1, 2009
GDP By Country: G-20 Players
Click on the above picture for a neat interactive graphic of GDP, Debt, Inflation, and more for the G20 Countries.
There Is No Such Thing As 11,000 Free Pizzas.
That is, until some clever people found a "bailout code" and spread it on the internet, and it spread until 11,000 people bought them. Read here.
March 30, 2009
March 28, 2009
March 20, 2009
World Poverty
Tyler Cowen of George Mason University and economics blog marginal revolution (below, on the right) has some excellent insight on world poverty. Check it out!
March 19, 2009
The Minnesota Timberwolves "Recession" Season Ticket Package
It looks like the Timberwolves have a very interesting marketing gimmick to sell some tickets. If you buy season tickets for the 2009-10 season and lose your job, you can get a full refund on all unused tickets. But then, as Rick Reilly says, you still have to watch the Timberwolves. The T-Wolves also cut prices on 95% of their seats. Of course the T-wolves would see an increase in the quantity demanded of tickets as they lower the price of tickets; however the demand curve could also shift to the left, decreasing demand, and reducing the advantages of this sale to the T-Wolves due to their continued futility.
... but then again, if Latrell Sprewell were still playing, how would he feed his family with this decline in revenues.
... but then again, if Latrell Sprewell were still playing, how would he feed his family with this decline in revenues.
March 18, 2009
It's Getting Better All The Time
Here is what the average teenager could have bought, after a summer of work in 1949, at the minimum wage of 40 cents per hour in 1949, assuming a 12 weeks of 40 hours of work per week. This work would have generated $192 in total summer earnings (ignoring taxes). Using a Sears catalog for retail prices, $192 would have only purchased the following 4 items in 1949:
At the mimumum wage of $7.25 today, full-time summer job will generate about $3,500 this year, which would be enough to purchase the following list of 28 items (click to enlarge):
Economics professor Mark Perry says the following: "Teenagers today can afford things like cell phones with cameras, digital cameras, GPS systems, CD players, DVD players, laptop computers, and iPods that even a billionaire couldn't have purchased 20 years ago. As much as we might complain, just by being alive in the 21st century America, even if you're earning the minimum wage, you've "won first prize in the lottery of life."
At the mimumum wage of $7.25 today, full-time summer job will generate about $3,500 this year, which would be enough to purchase the following list of 28 items (click to enlarge):
Economics professor Mark Perry says the following: "Teenagers today can afford things like cell phones with cameras, digital cameras, GPS systems, CD players, DVD players, laptop computers, and iPods that even a billionaire couldn't have purchased 20 years ago. As much as we might complain, just by being alive in the 21st century America, even if you're earning the minimum wage, you've "won first prize in the lottery of life."
March 15, 2009
March 14, 2009
First Wall Street...Now Sesame Street
It appears no one is immune from the current recession. According to the San Fransisco Chronicle..."The crisis on Wall Street is plaguing Sesame Street.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit producer of "Sesame Street" and other kids' programs, is cutting about one-fifth of its work force because of the economic downturn.
The New York-based company said Wednesday that it's eliminating 67 of 355 staff positions.
Declaring it is "not immune to the unprecedented challenges of today's economic environment," the company pronounced a need "to operate with fewer resources in order to achieve our strategic priorities."
JR: It looks like a possibility to introduce economics to my 3 little kids at home.March 11, 2009
Economics Battle Royale: Mankiw vs. Krugman
Mankiw's best selling textbook. 
Krugman's text.
Two authors of best selling textbooks, Greg Mankiw of Harvard and Paul Krugman of Princeton have been arguing, via their columns and blogs, about the very rosy economic forecast over the President's budget. Mankiw challenged Krugman to a bet, some of his Nobel Prize million, that GDP growth will not be as large as the President's budget predicts. Krugman called Mankiw "evil" and yet has not responded to the wager. My money is on my facebook friend Mankiw.
Here's the Washington Times today: "Harvard economics Professor Greg Mankiw thinks that Mr. Obama's growth forecasts are overly optimistic and that the federal deficit will be a lot larger than Mr. Obama thinks. He was chastised by Princeton's Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, who on his New York Times blog claims that Mankiw can only make the predictions that he does because of "more than a bit of deliberate obtuseness." He titled his post on Mankiw, "Roots of Evil."
Krugman's text.
Two authors of best selling textbooks, Greg Mankiw of Harvard and Paul Krugman of Princeton have been arguing, via their columns and blogs, about the very rosy economic forecast over the President's budget. Mankiw challenged Krugman to a bet, some of his Nobel Prize million, that GDP growth will not be as large as the President's budget predicts. Krugman called Mankiw "evil" and yet has not responded to the wager. My money is on my facebook friend Mankiw.Here's the Washington Times today: "Harvard economics Professor Greg Mankiw thinks that Mr. Obama's growth forecasts are overly optimistic and that the federal deficit will be a lot larger than Mr. Obama thinks. He was chastised by Princeton's Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, who on his New York Times blog claims that Mankiw can only make the predictions that he does because of "more than a bit of deliberate obtuseness." He titled his post on Mankiw, "Roots of Evil."
Last Wednesday, Mankiw responded to Krugman's attacks by suggesting: "Well, Paul, if you are so confident in this forecast, would you like to place a wager on it and take advantage of my wickedness?" Krugman has still not responded. It seems even a Nobel Prize winner isn't willing to lay money on Mr. Obama's rosy projections."
March 10, 2009
Another $1 house in Landlord Nation.... Detroit
DETROIT – Welcome to Landlord Nation, where foreclosure notices are plentiful and for-sale signs offer at least 1,800 homes for under $10,000 that once were worth at least 10 times more. In extreme cases, homes are on sale for $1 or less (home pictured above is listed for $1 here), which has enticed investors to Detroit from as far away as the United Kingdom and Australia.
"In the past few months, I've picked up 10 new clients from out of state that are buying in bulk," said Mike Shannon, a suburban Detroit real estate agent. His office specializes in foreclosures in a city that's among the national leaders.
"They're coming to us, saying `Look, I want to buy 50, 100, 1,000.' They want to own every decent and cheap house they can find."
Despite a stagnant retail housing market, real estate sales of foreclosed homes are booming. Shannon regularly fields calls from eager prospects, and recently sold 30 homes in one day to one buyer. A trio of U.K. investors has bought a half-dozen and plans many more.
HT: Carpe Diem
March 7, 2009
Unemployment Rate Now 8.1%, Worst in 25 Years
March 5, 2009
One Economic Bright Spot - Used Car Repair Shops
Used car repair services would be considered an inferior good or service, where as incomes fall, demand increases. So, this actually is not a positive sign for the economy, or GM and Ford. But business is good for repair shops, as people fix up their old cars, rather than buy new. Read more here.
Gun Control Articles
The Latest Blue-Chip Penny Stocks
Here’s a short list of only the highest quality, bluest of blue chip, penny stocks:
- AIG (39 cents)
- Citigroup (98 cents)
- Fannie Mae (39 cents)
- Freddie (39 cents)
- Unisys (37 cents)
Now, for the not-quite-penny stocks:
- Ford ($1.83)
- GM ($1.83)
- Las Vegas Sands ($1.97)
- MGM ($1.99)
- Bank of America ($3.15)
- Wells Fargo ($7.95)
- New York Times ($4.00)
- News Corp ($6.15)
- GE ($6.75)
And after my students have studied personal finance, hopefully they know more about stocks than The Pres.
Freakonomics Article on the Death Penalty... and more.
March 4, 2009
March 3, 2009
February 26, 2009
Live Blogging From The SCSU Winter Institute Economic Outlook Presentations
5:04 - Several panelists, including Tom Stinson, MN State Economist, are unable to attend due to the weather. It looks like the weather tonight will be as gloomy as the economic outlook for 2009. Still, and excellent panel of Economists.
5:10 - Remarks from the SCSU President: Yada Yada
5:15 - Rich MacDonald, Macro Prof at SCSU is speaking
5:19 - Unemployment expected to hit 9% by end of 2009 - Ouch...and I should note that this outlook "could deteriorate very rapidly"
5:25 - MacDonald asks "When will this thing (recession) end? He says if you ask 10 different economists, you will get 10 different answers. Either way, 2009 will be a rough year."
5:28 - Just to point out how economic forecasts can differ greatly, in January 2008, people predicted the U.E. rate would be 5.2% as of January 2009. Yeah, they were only off by over 2 million jobs, and the current U.E. rate is 7.6%.
5:30 - At least by 2010 should be better, (or check previous post at 5:28 to see how accurate predictions on the economy are).
5:32 - The AP syllabus and the McConnell text state that there are 3 tools of monetary policy... and MacDonald says now there are 11. So we will study 3 in class this year.
5:39 - Big banks created this financial crisis, and small banks who managed their businesses well are affected very much affected by the mistakes of the biggies.
5:50 - SCSU Prof and blogger King Banaian is now at the mic. Already cracking jokes -- about what he said last year and how wrong he was. See 5:25 above for how accurate forecasts are.
5:55 - St. Cloud has the worst economy since 1989, and King adds "it will get much worse"
6:02 - Minnesota went into a recession in February, 2008.
6:09 - The credit crisis has hit St. Cloud, just like pretty much everywhere else in the world. The average family in the St. Cloud area has seen their net worth go down over 30%. No wonder consumption (the biggest component of GDP) has fallen here and eslewhere.
6:13 - "It is raining outside for us economically" says King.
6:14 - While the Stimulus package will increase Aggregate Demand, citizens are very worried about the huge deficits, and 1.75 Trillion in 2009. So people may not spend and save, conteracting the fiscal stimulus goals... they know someone has to pay for this debt, a day of reckoning will come... and I see their point.
6:20 - Rocky and Bullwinkel are on the last slide
6:21 - Alright. I am out the reception, where the food is not free, but of no financial cost to me.
5:10 - Remarks from the SCSU President: Yada Yada
5:15 - Rich MacDonald, Macro Prof at SCSU is speaking
5:19 - Unemployment expected to hit 9% by end of 2009 - Ouch...and I should note that this outlook "could deteriorate very rapidly"
5:25 - MacDonald asks "When will this thing (recession) end? He says if you ask 10 different economists, you will get 10 different answers. Either way, 2009 will be a rough year."
5:28 - Just to point out how economic forecasts can differ greatly, in January 2008, people predicted the U.E. rate would be 5.2% as of January 2009. Yeah, they were only off by over 2 million jobs, and the current U.E. rate is 7.6%.
5:30 - At least by 2010 should be better, (or check previous post at 5:28 to see how accurate predictions on the economy are).
5:32 - The AP syllabus and the McConnell text state that there are 3 tools of monetary policy... and MacDonald says now there are 11. So we will study 3 in class this year.
5:39 - Big banks created this financial crisis, and small banks who managed their businesses well are affected very much affected by the mistakes of the biggies.
5:50 - SCSU Prof and blogger King Banaian is now at the mic. Already cracking jokes -- about what he said last year and how wrong he was. See 5:25 above for how accurate forecasts are.
5:55 - St. Cloud has the worst economy since 1989, and King adds "it will get much worse"
6:02 - Minnesota went into a recession in February, 2008.
6:09 - The credit crisis has hit St. Cloud, just like pretty much everywhere else in the world. The average family in the St. Cloud area has seen their net worth go down over 30%. No wonder consumption (the biggest component of GDP) has fallen here and eslewhere.
6:13 - "It is raining outside for us economically" says King.
6:14 - While the Stimulus package will increase Aggregate Demand, citizens are very worried about the huge deficits, and 1.75 Trillion in 2009. So people may not spend and save, conteracting the fiscal stimulus goals... they know someone has to pay for this debt, a day of reckoning will come... and I see their point.
6:20 - Rocky and Bullwinkel are on the last slide
6:21 - Alright. I am out the reception, where the food is not free, but of no financial cost to me.
Law of Demand At Work: Chinese Scoop Up SoCal Foreclosurers
This video is a great example of market correcting forces. A demand curve tells us when the price of a product decreases, the quantity demand increases. While housing prices, especially in California, have fallen dramatically, eventually the price decreases will attract buyers in the US... and in China
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