No Ordinary Recession

Again, just enjoying my time checking out different data series at the FRED database in St. Louis. Just amazing.

Cry Babies

Again, the entitlement mentality enrages me. How DARE you freeze our salaries during a recession!

Recession Medicine

I have been neglecting my duties as the official recession nullifier to put all of those of you at ease who are desiring for a job, but because of the utter failure of the "stimulus," have yet to find one. So here;

Remember, recessions are god's way of telling you to take a mandatory vacation. So do not despair, but rather, enjoy the recession. Because before you know it, the economy will rebound like never before and you will be back on the line.

HA HA HA HA!!

No, I'm just kidding.

You may as well just relax and enjoy the downtime because there's going to be a lot of downtime.

Attacking Glenn Beck

I don't have much time.

Ergo, I don't really believe much of anything I read in the news or what I see on TV, until I can verify it for myself.

Fortunately I've already done enough economic research that I can tell mathematically if something is even possible (for example I recall a protester at Berkeley claiming Bush spent $19 trillion on war - WOW, that's, like, 133% GDP).

But this was cute.

You read through the first page and then start to notice everything they accuse Beck of is in "quotes" and then cited with a "1" "2" etc. Furthermore the claims are nothing specific like,

"In 2005 Glenn Beck was arrested for kicking a puppy."

It's subjective character criticisms like saying he was "a wing nut" or a "schizo."

You get tired of reading that and inevitably, if you have a life, you skip to the last page to see the quotes and the references to see if there's any point or purpose in reading on.

Wow.

The Huffington Post and MEDIA MATTERS?

This passes for journalism?

Thankfully I figured out this was nothing more than a guy plugging his book disguised as a hit-piece.

So do yourself a favor - buy my book instead.

No character assassination.

No lies or bias.

Plus you'll actually learn something aside from how to hate Glenn Beck in new ways.

How Low Can You Go?

Wow, Greece demanding reparations from Germany so they can continue their bloated public sector spending binge.

I am just speechless at how ingrained an entitlement mentality can become.

Frances Gallo for President

Sorry, this is the stuff that needs to happen. The schools are not institutions to employ people for the sake of employing them.

They are to (gasp!) educate children.

Unemployment, Mean Duration of Unemployment and Labor Force Participation

The loss of economic production due to idle labor is astounding. I am particularly shocked with the mean duration of unemployment.

More Stick Swinging and Sphere Throwing

C-R-I-P-E-S

I would go into this in more detail, but frankly, I already have.

I will merely point out this additional tidbit of related fact.

Boy, I sure do hope they throw the ball a lot and the guy runs real fast. Ooo!! Ooo!!! Maybe somebody will CATCH the ball real good too!

Because Teaching is Easy Work

I teach.

And in more disciplines than one.

And the reason I teach is because;

1. I enjoy it.
2. It's fun
3. It's easy.
4. It's an ancillary source of revenue.

It is however, NOT DOING.

In other words, you are not "doing" what you are teaching. You are teaching what you are not doing.

Now of course, I do go and dance in the real world. And I do invest in the real world and I do research in economics in the real world. But teaching unto itself has no practical economic production or purpose until it is applied to doing.

Ergo, I've never looked at teaching as a real career. I look at it as a semi-professional hobby, in that inevitably we all can't be teachers, some of us have to go out and actually produce the GDP.

Ergo, you can understand the breakdown of academia's political affiliation.

Movers and shakers they aren't.

Greece's Economy

I was doing my research as to why Greece's economy is in the tank on the simple account I keep hearing about it's financial problems in the news, but never an explanation for it (further leading me to believe the reason may be being buried). However, I found this interesting;


It behooves the question of our fine authors at the CIA,

"If government spending was 60, 70 or say 100% GDP, would Greece still be capitalist?"

It's Called Opportunity Cost

That's a lot of X-Box 360 games, scotch, Chipolte fajitas, or just plain weeks' worth of not working.

And sadly the opportunity cost is starting to have more economic utility than a rock set on a ring of metal that does nothing but exist.

Project Mom

Now, can you guess what seemingly vital part is missing?

Filed under "we don't need no stinking fathers!"

And also filed under "women who make it painfully obvious I don't want to date them."

Achievements in Bachelor History

Let it be known that another milestone in Bachelor History has been achieved.

I, your beloved Captain, flew out to Las Vegas for a 3 day weekend. I then drove to Utah to visit Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park. Along with Natasha we did some hiking and fossil hunting, but the pinnacle achievement of the trip was that I was able to pack ALL that I needed in…

one laptop case.

Yes, 3 days worth of clothing, hygiene products, a laptop, cell phone charger and cell phone, all packed in ONE laptop case.

The technique that made this possible is a simple one. The clothes that take up the majority of volume are clothes that needn’t be washed all the time. Jeans, sweaters, shirts, etc. Thus if you only bring one pair of jeans, a sweater and a shirt, and transport it by simply wearing it on your body, you only need to pack underwear and socks, both of which conveniently fit in a laptop case.

If things get dire, you can always wash the jeans in a hotel sink, or if you’re out camping, in a stream. However, this was unnecessary as our trip was so short.

Regardless, this new achievement reminds us bachelors about one of the Principles of Bachelortude – Minimalization.

Minimalization is arguably the most important tenet of bachelortude. Your goal is to be able to move anywhere, live anywhere and cheaply so. With too much stuff, you have to spend time hauling, moving and transporting physical assets, most of which have no real value, let alone even sentimental value.

Of course, as fair warning, you will get eyes rolled at you by any females in your life. And perhaps some will even lecture you about “why didn’t you pack more jeans? My god, you’re shirt is going to get dirty by the end of the trip. And what about blah blah blah blah blah….”

These criticisms can be ignored as you grab your one laptop case, sling it over your shoulder and walk effortlessly the 4 miles it is from the main entrance to the airport to the terminal. You will be the first to get through the security checkpoint as the Department of Homeland Security people salute you for making their jobs that much easier. And then people will start to ponder, “Why, if the whole population was as efficient as this one bachelor, imagine the increase in productivity. Imagine how short the lines would be. Imagine how much traffic would improve.”

Yes, all because of that vital principle of minimalization.

Yet ANOTHER Reason Not to Move to, Live In, or Invest in California

Cripes. Can we turn them back into a territory?

I love it.

It's Called "Capital Flight"

So I will give a shinny new quarter to any leftist that tells me how much an increase in tax revenue results in this.

Federal Budgets Under Obama

I like it when people make charts for me.

But you see, Obama's deficits are "good" deficits. Whereas Bush's deficits were "bad" deficits, because well, the MSM told you so.

Dr. James Eelkema

Guess who's going to be my new doctor.

Ah, Community Colleges

Doing the job high schools and parents were supposed to do.

Reminds me of the good ole days.

10 Year Rolling Average Returns of Berkshire Hathaway

In doing my research to update the charts for my online classes (which you should take), I noticed that Warren Buffett never lost money until the two most recent stock market crashes; Dotcom and today's.

It then got me thinking, what has been the rolling average return of Berkshire Hathaway?

Pretty hard to make a buck when the whole country is tanking, isn't it Warren? Or perhaps a better question is;

"Precisely what assets do you buy or invest in while sitting on the decks of the Titanic?"