Mark Thoma, writing for Money Watch, identifies the three basic types of unemployment. Frictional unemployment arises mainly from the combined movements of a free people. Cyclical unemployment, what most economists believed was the cause of the current recession, is the normal ups and downs of the business cycle. There is a growing body of...
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There is a moment in every horror movie between the first appearance of a ghost and the pretty lady’s scream. It begins with an unrecognizable shape, a strange color, or the glimpse of a sudden unexpected movement on the periphery of vision. The heart leaps, the adrenaline flows, and the brain begins a wild...
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A few weeks ago, a Chart of the Day showed the rise of consumer credit in America since the end of World War II. The hook at the end is the beginning of the housing market collapse and cut-backs in credit card purchasing. What are the ramifications of this major trend reversal? Certainly the...
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their projected unemployment numbers for June 2010 yesterday. The 0.02% rise in unemployment to 14.2% no doubt caused some anguish in Carson City. The BLS stat sheet also included total workforce, total employment, and total unemployed. By looking at some of these other numbers, another story appears....
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There is quite a lot in the financial press these days about whether our government should be piling up more debt or cutting expenses. It’s all politically motivated, and therefore as a matter of economics, is safe to ignore. This chart showing congressional spending demonstrates why. Courtesy Pajamas Media. One would not be going...
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In a strange twist of fate, I’ve begun to cheer for the Democrats. My thinking is that the faster they build their progressive utopia, the sooner rational people will see it for the Orwellian nightmare that it is. Many Republicans believe this is already happening, and all will be well in November. I believe...
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“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” –John Kennedy Putting a man on the moon was easy. What people often forget is that doing so without killing him was the...
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Yep, summer is upon us, it is time once again for yours truly to dip his toe into the storm tossed sea that is internet dating. My primary interest is in “50ish” women, and as such, I have a few observations that I would like to relate. Young fella’s take note, it‘s a possible...
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I ran across a short article with big implications in the latest issue (spring 2010) of American Heritage magazine about historians and cell phone technology. Historical parks and museums have been using cell phones for guided tours for a while now, but it looks like we are on the verge of a great leap...
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Ever since I started blogging a couple of years ago, there has been a question nagging me that I can’t seem to shake. “What is your blog about?” It came back again when the subject of this years Nevada Interactive Media Summit came up. I attended last year and had a great time. I...
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