Haua (Projects Ningmaster)'s Blog Posts Tagged 'economy' (6)

Because there is a bit of confusion about what IPOs are and, really, what the stock market is and how it works, I thought I'd take the IPO of Facebook as an opportunity to discuss it. In general, the "financial" part of our economy seems kind of crazy and embarrassing. Especially as, these days, a lot of what our economy does is just re-investing in our economy, seems…

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In which John discusses Canada's heroic elimination of the penny and how divisive political discourse--on both sides of the aisle--hurts both the American people and the American economy. Examples of poor policy making include congress's failure to secure long-term funding for the FAA (which should be easy, since it's paid for entirely by a tax that most travelers are more…

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In which John discusses the U.S. public debt, our dangerously high debt to GDP ratio, the S&P's downgrade of America's credit rating, and why our debt may not be as unmanageable as it seems. There's also some general discussion of economics, currency, the gold standard, and the worldwide financial system's dependence of the American dollar.



My tumblr: http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com

Hank's… Continue

My favorite web site: http://willallpreorderedcopiesofthefaultinourstarsbesigned.com/



In which John discusses the denomination effect and argues that we should stop printing one-dollar bills and transition to one-dollar (and two-dollar) coins, which according to the nonpartisan GAO will save the United States government 5.5 billion dollars over the next 30 years. (Also, John… Continue

In which John celebrates financial independence by explaining how minimum-wage summer jobs can become incredibly lucrative if only you save some of your money in a retirement account. In the US, the most common retirement accounts are called IRAs (IRAs have tax advantages), but any investment account will do. Just sock the money away in a low-fee diverse mutual fund, wait 50 years, and enjoy the magic of compound interest.



Caveat: Obviously, I am not a… Continue

Fix the Budget: http://dft.ba/-58L Pizza shirts: http://dftba.com/pizza In which John discusses the New York Times's web-based application allowing each of us to examine the extent and complexity of the United States federal budget deficit and the difficulty of balancing the budget. Do we increase taxes or cut spending? Or, more plausibly but less politically viable, both raise taxes and lower… Continue