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OICUAM2 added a blog poston Thursday
Well, it was announced today that the United States lost close to a half million jobs last month. It was also announced that the national unemployment rate is now close to 9 and a half percent. The reason I wanted to write something about this is...
If 70% of the people want a public insurance option, but it is having a hard time getting through the government, then the lobbyists and their money still have a lot of power.
I heard on CNN today that the administrative costs for most private health insurance plans average around 10 - 15% while the average administrative costs for Medicare is around 3%. Hopefully these numbers are correct and get out into the public m...
Big difference between making good policy decisions and making good political decisions. I see the same thing happening now with the Republican response to events in Iran. Many international relations experts say that President Obama is doing th...
paul added 3 discussionsJune 22
Nathan Andover added 3 discussionsJune 20
James Scott added a discussionJune 19
I'm glad the Obama Administration is putting more financial regulations into our economy. I'm not a big fan of a completely free market. I think the market needs to be balanced by democratic regulations. Otherwise, the market tells us that we sh...
OICUAM2 added 2 discussionsJune 16
James Scott added 2 videosJune 13
paul added a blog postJune 11
I hadn't really been affected by the credit freeze and recession until this week. First, my small business credit card company, Advanta, sent me a letter saying that the financial trust that back all of their loans was no longer backing their loa...
I saw Obama's announcement yesterday about PAYGO. Here's some information I found on Wikipedia about it: "These rules were in effect from FY1991-FY2002 [2] and are widely seen as having assisted the US Congress in maintaining budget discipline. ...
Looks like the two biggest expenses are the military and entitlement programs such as medicare, medicaid, and social security. Also, this seems to be the "official" military spedning number, but I think there are a lot of supplemental and off bud...
lea replied to paul's discussion 'Stop Paying Taxes?'June 4
Beck is laughable until you think about how many people are watching the show. Hopefully most people watching are doing so to get a good laugh, but I know there are a lot of Fox types who are eating up everything he says.
I agree that we need to continue global economic interdependence. Just because the system gets sick and spreads throughout the globe, doesn't make a case for dismembering the system. This is similar to the human body. We are better off having our...
theorist added a discussionMay 16
The foundation of globalization is being tested by our current economic and political environment. Economic relationships that had been based upon mutual economic dependency are starting to unravel, the ability for new credit lines for companies a...
theorist, Jorge G Rodríguez DM and lauren joined Economic ChatMay 16
 

Forum

Nathan Andover

Most Americans Support A Government Healthcare Program 2 Replies

A new poll from the New York Times and CBS News published on Saturday shows that 72% of Americans support a government-administered insurance plan similar to Medicare for those under 65 that would ...

Tagged: poll, public option, healthcare, Government

Started by Nathan Andover in Economics. Last reply by paul Jun 30.

theorist

Global Economic Interdependence: The Effect Of Protectionism 3 Replies

The foundation of globalization is being tested by our current economic and political environment. Economic relationships that had been based upon mutual economic dependency are starting to unravel...

Started by theorist in Economics. Last reply by James Scott Jun 22.

paul

Free Market Fishing?

I just read an interesting article in the New York Times about managing the fish populations in the oceans. The basic point of the article was that the fish populations are dwindling (almost to th...

Tagged: sustainable, Obama Administration, oceans, fishing, free market

Started by paul in Economics Jun 22.

James Scott

More Financial Regulation, Not Less

I'm glad the Obama Administration is putting more financial regulations into our economy. I'm not a big fan of a completely free market. I think the market needs to be balanced by democratic regul...

Tagged: economy, markets, obama administration, financial regulation

Started by James Scott in Economics Jun 19.

OICUAM2

Why Is The Stock Market Stalling?

I keep being reminded why I shouldn't take my own limited knowledge too seriously in predicting the stock market. To me, it seems like the stock market should continue to rise as there have been e...

Tagged: recession, stalling, stock market

Started by OICUAM2 in Investing Jun 16.

paul

Support Pay As You Go Legislation 1 Reply

I'm a big fan of pay as you go legislation. PAYGO would require lawmakers to offset any new tax cuts or spending increases with equivalent tax increases or spending cuts. I know there are times wh...

Tagged: paygo, legislation, pay as you go

Started by paul in Open Discussion. Last reply by James Scott Jun 10.

Nathan Andover

2010 Budget In Chart Form 1 Reply

I don't think I have ever seen the Amercian budget in chart form like this before. I thought I would share the link so people can get an idea of where the national income comes from and where it go...

Tagged: chart, budget, 2010

Started by Nathan Andover in Economics. Last reply by Nathan Andover Jun 7.

paul

Stop Paying Taxes? 1 Reply

I sometimes watch the Glenn Beck show just for fun to see how crazy he is. Last night, he had the actor who played "coach" on television who made an impassioned case for why he might not pay taxes...

Tagged: stop paying taxes, glenn beck

Started by paul in Open Discussion. Last reply by lea Jun 5.

OICUAM2

Should The Government Bailout California?

It was recently revealed that California is in huge economic trouble. Should the Federal government bailout California? My first thought is that any bailout should come with some strings attached....

Tagged: bailout, california

Started by OICUAM2 in Open Discussion May 24.

Nathan Andover

Ayn Rand Response To Economic Crisis

I wonder what Ayn Rand and her objectivist followers would have done in response to the current/recent economic troubles. According to the objectivist philosophy, I believe they would have done no...

Tagged: objectivists, ayn rand, economic crisis, response

Started by Nathan Andover in Economics May 17.

Blog Posts

paul

Personal Story Of Credit Freeze And Recession

I hadn't really been affected by the credit freeze and recession until this week.

First, my small business credit card company, Advanta, sent me a letter saying that the financial trust that back all of their loans was no longer backing their loans. For this reason, Advanta said they were shutting down all of their business credit cards.

Shutting down all of their business credit cards? I am lucky that my Advanta card was only a back-up that had no balance on it and was not needed to operate m… Continue

Posted by paul on June 11, 2009 at 8:59pm

OICUAM2

More Jobs Lost

Well, it was announced today that the United States lost close to a half million jobs last month. It was also announced that the national unemployment rate is now close to 9 and a half percent.

The reason I wanted to write something about this is because the numbers don't do justice to the reality. It wasn't just a half million jobs that were lost. It was millions of jobs being lost with millions fo jobs being gained that resulted in a net loss of a half million jobs.

For the millions of peopl… Continue

Posted by OICUAM2 on July 2, 2009 at 3:03pm

Willie

House Financial Services Committee

I was looking at the website for the House Financial Services Committees today. I found a bunch of information that I thought was interesting so I thought I would share the web addresses on this site:

http://financialservices.house.gov/

Posted by Willie on January 13, 2009 at 2:30pm

Nathan Andover

Free Market vs. Fair Market

I'm a big fan of the market.

It allows trade and advancement based on mathematical calculations that resist corruption, racism, sexism, etc...

I support an open market regulated by democracy as the referee. The condition of the referee has been changing. Our governments have become more accountable and more representative (more democratic) over time. I don't want a dictator or a king to be the referee.

While getting more democratic over time, I also understand how someone might see government… Continue

Posted by Nathan Andover on February 20, 2008 at 12:21am

Nathan Andover

Military Spending As Percentage Of GDP

I heard President Bush say that even though we are spending a lot of money on our current wars, it is a relatively small amount compared to historical expenditures. He said that we spent over 10% of GDP on the military in past decades compared to only about 4% of GDP now.

I think this is fuzzy math.

First, if I tell people that I only spend 4% of my income on trips to the casino, people might think that seems reasonable. However, what if people find out that I spend 150% of my income on other… Continue

Posted by Nathan Andover on April 11, 2008 at 10:27am

paul

Summer Gas Tax Holiday Is A Bad Idea

Senators McCain and Clinton both think the Federal government should cancel the gas tax for the duration of the summer. I think this is a bad idea and is being promoted for simple political reasons. Senator Barack Obama rejects the idea of a summer gas tax holiday as a political gimick and a bad idea.

First, the reason we have taxes on gas is to fund the transportation fund for new roads, bridges, and research. This is a good idea because it allows the people who use the roads to be responsible… Continue

Posted by paul on April 30, 2008 at 9:19pm

James Scott

Worried About The Falling Dollar

I just read an article about how European companies are looking for cheap labor in America. The basic premise of the article was that since the dollar has weakened so much compared to the Euro, labor is now much cheaper in the United States for European companies. The difference in the exchange rate also works the other way when Americans travel to Europe and discover that everything costs 20 - 30% more.


This got me thinking and a little worried because almost all of my investment port

Continue

Posted by James Scott on December 19, 2007 at 2:11am — 1 Comment

Willie

End The Lottery Tax

As corporate sponsored politicians reduce the tax burden on wealthy individuals and companies, states have used lotteries to suck more money out poor and minority communities. Here's how it was explained in a recent article:


"Lawmakers pretend that lotteries make new taxes unnecessary. But lotteries are a tax, an inefficient, badly targeted one that is having a devastating impact on poor communities and beyond. One-third of all calls to Massachusetts’ gambling hot line come from lotter

Continue

Posted by Willie on January 1, 2008 at 6:13pm — 1 Comment

paul

Starting A Business Online

One of my goals is to start a business. I have been working on a few ideas and I think I am ready to really get started. This is my first attempt so I think my main goal is to minimize my risk while I learn how to start a business.


I have a website that has been set-up. I want to start doing business online from my home so I won't need to dive right in with expensive rent, employees, insurance, and inventory. Doing business online allows me to have a very low start-up cost.


One

Continue

Posted by paul on January 27, 2008 at 6:08am

Willie

The Best of Get Rich Slowly: January 2008

Lots of good financial information collected on one convenient page.


I especially liked the post about automating personal finances.

Posted by Willie on February 3, 2008 at 6:38am


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