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Neat trick - reminds me of people that actually think
2012-02-02T14:28:06Z
Using differential coefficients of thermal expansion constructively  so to speak... destructive construction is more apt.
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/39519/?nlid=nlmat&...
Income source changes - 1996 - 2006 for lower 80% & upper 1%
2012-02-02T14:29:32Z
Data published comparing the proportion of income from different sources for 1996 & 2006 for various income groups shows that the net after tax income for the top 1% increased by 5x that of the lower 80% income group!.  95% of the 5x difference is due to a shift of income from saleries to dividend & interest income ...
About that Capital Gains 15% rate and 35% Corporate Tax being "additive"
2012-02-02T14:44:52Z
It has been widely promoted by conservative propaganda, and by some (Romney for example) who pay 15% or less in federal taxes because they derive most or all their income from capital gains on investment earnings, that the effective rate they pay is really much higher (circa 50%) because the corporate earnings are taxed twice --...
At least there's one economist who might "get it"
2012-02-02T14:51:34Z
Reference to Mark Thoma's last sentance in the last paragraph in his article The Purpose of Macroencomic Policy?:
...
Gingrich seems to be misinformed
2012-02-02T14:52:48Z
In a stump speech today, he thinks the US shouldn't be a secular state:
"I think we need to have a government that respects our religions," Gingrich said, appearing visibly agitated.  "I'm a little bit tired of being lectured on respecting every other religion on the planet. I want them to respect our religion."  (...
China & currency "manipulation"... recent opinions ignore one side of equation
2012-02-02T14:56:30Z
Referring to Gagnon's opinion  (of the conservative Peterson Institute) he describes the effects of fixing the currency manipulation by foreign ...
Still working on it - Median Family Income & GDP per Capita: 1947 to 1979 compared to 1979 to 2007
2012-02-02T14:58:40Z
I haven't forgotten about the following divergence in income beginning in the lat e 70's shown in the charts below  I'm still working, actively, in finding the reasons for the divergence.  I've been looking into various possible aspects -- the 1st one being directly related to the economics of incomes (of population in general),...
Post Secondary Educational Inequality Increasing
2012-02-02T15:38:43Z
A new report (link to the full report) studying post-secondary educational completion rates over time show that lower income entrants have improved completion rates by only 22% relative to those of upper incomes over the period 1960's to 1980's. Most of the increase in post secondary educational inequality has ...
The Poor --- deserving or un-deserving of their condition?
2012-02-02T15:49:25Z
This article discusses why the subject question / issue is irrelevant. 
 
The question discussed in the article hinges on whether morality supports that the poor remain in that caste unless and until they do something to get themselves out of their condition... i.e. the moral position that the poor are poor because they made bad ...
What value patriotisms / nationalism?
2012-02-09T20:56:05Z
Thought provoking subject: What is the value of patriotism & nationalism?
 
These attributes are mechanisms of support for the state.   They directly infer that one's state is in some facet or another, several or all, or in composite superior to some other state.   What is the value therefore of believing one's own state ...
Percent of Families at Various Income Levels - US State's Average & CA
2012-02-09T21:00:23Z

I was curious about Family Income levels, and especially the proportion of families at lower income levels, relative to the median income and upper incomes.  The following table shows the % of Total Families in 2009 (lastest available)  as the average for all States, and excluding D.C. and P.Rico.   The State Average ...

State of Poorness - a societal political choice
2012-02-09T21:02:50Z

The chart says it all.

Thought this might be enlightening --- several countries proportion of poor by income and after taxes and transfers (2005 data).  Note that Scandinavian (and other european) nations have similar rates of poor to US classified by income levels, but after taxes and transfers the US's proportion of poor ...

How to turn U.S. federal law upside down
2012-02-10T16:36:18Z
The supreme court will soon hear and pass it's judgement on the health care law passed by congress.  The bone of contention is that the congressional statute violates the constitution.  
 
The 1st order of business for the court is to decide whether it has jurisdiction to review the congressional statute's constitutionality ...
Reason why US near bottom of Social Expenditures as function of GDP across OECD Nations
2012-02-10T16:54:46Z

The following chart is lifted from this study: HOW EXPENSIVE IS THE WELFARE STATE?  GROSS AND NET INDICATORS IN THE OECD SOCIAL EXPENDITURE DATABASE, OECD SOCIAL, EMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION WORKING PAPERS, 2009.

The source for the above link came via a course study list published from P. ...

Neat little article about transition from communism to capitalism
2012-02-12T18:17:20Z
Interesting general observations by an economist... link provided from Economist's View website.
...
Interesting Data on Computer's effect on Productivity
2012-02-14T15:47:00Z

I came across this document while researching why median family income growth diverged from GDP growth beginnning in the late 70s.  ... specifically I was looking into historic potential gdp growth ---- and more specificaally what it's based on an how it's derived.  The paper linked to below is referenced in a CBO paper that ...

More info on Intergenerational Mobility
2012-02-14T15:53:44Z

For your educational entertainment another report about economic mobility.  I've been writing a bit lately about the moralist's belief system that poor are deserving of their condition because they make poor decisions and choices.  I've also shown that the condition of poorness is largely the direct result of having had ...

Enlightening Paper on Potential Output Gaps
2012-02-15T14:22:40Z
In case you're interested in this subject at all, here's a good, recent, but tedious (i.e. highly wonkish) econ. paper that discusses two types of measures of potential output (GDP).http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/09/07/Basu.pdf  
My particular interest ...
Evolutionary mechanism's produce some amazing things -- Enhancing your knowledge of trivia
2012-02-20T16:16:24Z
I happened across this little factoid article when pursuing "smallest chameleon" article.  Far more interesting & amazing than micro chameleon's. 

 
If evolutionary mechanism's can provide for the survival method of a ...
Economic Cycle Causes or Blind leading the blind
2012-02-20T16:20:12Z
I have been interested for several years in understanding the fundamental reasons for what are termed economic cycles, but I haven't spent much effort or time to research the fundamental causation(s).  Most of the literature I've come across over the years deals only peripherally with cause, and even then most often selectively ...
What is an "economic cycle" anyway?
2012-02-20T16:23:58Z
Let me give a stab at defining "economic cycle":
 
An economic cycle refers to an oscillation over time of economic activity characterized by a decline from a maximum level reached to that point in time and which is above a longer term economic trend and a subsequent reversal of the reduction to a level above the depth of decline and ...
Economic Cause & Effects
2012-02-20T16:26:20Z
 The article I referred to yesterday about causes of business cycles contains a particularly interesting summary of a study by a guy named Sims that analyzed US cycles from1948 to 1997 (page 12).  What he found is that monetary (Fed) adjustments of interest rates were responses to economic measures of production movements, ...
Business & Society --- Are incentives mutually beneficial in an open economy?
2012-02-20T16:30:02Z
In the aggregate business's seek to maximize profits without significant exposure to maintainable or improvement to long term competitiveness, or they seek to improve long term competitive capability (thus long term maintenance or improvement of profits) without significant short term loss of profitability.  If it is assumed that ...
China's wage rate
2012-02-20T16:34:48Z
It's highest minimum wage is in Shenzehn at $1.30/hr (40 hr week basis on $207/mo).
It's highest hourly wage is in Beijing at $2/hr. (source)
 
Those are the upper ends of labor wages.  The highest hourly wage is nearly 50% greater than the highest minimum wage.  If this were the case in the US, then  $10/hr average ...
Median Family Income divergence from GDP per-capita - a tid-bit only
2012-02-20T16:40:00Z
I've come across a couple of economic studies of the subject phenomena... on based on US, the other the UK.  The UK's divergence didn't occur until the mid 90's though, while the US's occurred in the late '70's, so I looked at both paper to see if there some drivers of divergences in  both but which occurred 20 ...
Economist Reich on US Manufacturing - he agree's with me on this aspect
2012-02-20T16:52:57Z
Reich's post today points out that despite all the recent rhetoric by both GOP contenders for GOP presidential nomination and Obama's administration about bringing mfg'ing back to the US it just ain't going to happen --- reasons fundamentally those I point out in my post yesterday 
"China's wage rate", and in other prior ...
The effectivness of propaganda
2012-02-20T16:57:22Z
Speaking of red-state's reliance on gov't programs:
"But why do regions that rely on the safety net elect politicians who want to tear it down? ...
Cornell University's Suzanne Mettler points out that many beneficiaries of government programs seem confused about their own place in the system. She tells us that 44 percent of Social Security ...
Cause(s) of Divergence of GDP/Capita & median family income - Part 2
2012-04-03T15:29:36Z

This is the 2nd note in the series Cause(s) of Divergence of GDP/Capita & median family income . 

 

As a reminder, the divergence I'm seeking to find the cause(s) for refer to the reduction of median family income growth with respect to the growth of GDP per Capita beginning in the late '70's.  Chart on left ...