Don’t Quit Your Day Job – Personal Finance, Economics and Investing

Enlightened Discussion for the Night and Weekend Crowd.



Neuroeconomics: A New Way of Examining Markets

When we think about the study of economics, we usually think of the mathematical models we were taught in high school and college. The entire corpus of economic studies has been founded on the notion of people as predictable, “rational” actors. Neuroeconomics, a relatively new field that is acquiring more and more intellectual currency, closely studies human behavior and its influences, based largely on stunning advances made in neuroscience over the past few years. (Post by Lauren Bailey)

The Employment Ratio

Amid all of the talk about unemployment duration and the unemployment rate is a little known ratio, touched upon in this Wall Street Journal editorial. You’re curious, however – because the unemployment rate calculation has been messed around with quite a bit, how does it line up with the ratio? Lucky for you, I’ve got a graph here.

Tax Incidence

The incidence of a tax (who truly pays for it) is very significant in welfare analysis. Cameron Daniels analyzes this concept using the real life example of gas prices.

‘Bush Tax Hikes?’

I recently posted on the ‘Bush Tax Cuts’, however, as Dr. Mark Perry points out, another way of looking at the Bush tax law is the ‘Bush tax hike’! Compared to the top marginal rate under Bush I and Reagan, the Bush II tax ‘cuts’ had a higher marginal tax rate on the highest bracket. In fact, as one of Dr. Perry’s commentators points out, the 2011 retirement of the Bush tax law could be considered another ‘Bush Tax Hike’ – as President Bush was the one who put an expiration date on the law.

Credit Cards: Unfair Subsidy to the Rich?

How about this title in the Wall Street Journal? “Credit Cards Take From Poor, Give to the Rich” is the name, in reference to a Boston Federal Reserve Bank report on credit card reward programs. The paper says just that: credit card rewards programs and merchant fees for credit card usage are increasing the overall cost of goods for check and cash customers.

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Quick, Happy Spending Graph

Posted by PKamp3 On July - 7 - 2010ADD COMMENTS

You know what’s depressing? A graph of spending versus revenue, which is updated through 2009. The Heritage Foundation recently uploaded one of these graphs, and I’m happy to share it with you today.

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The Rich are Already Paying More

Posted by PKamp3 On July - 1 - 20101 COMMENT

Fresh off of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s classic quote to the Brookings Institute, “The rich are not paying their fair share”, it’s nice to see a few publications with proof that thought may be a little wacky. The Congressional Budget Office released a timely report they named “Average Federal Taxes by Income Group”. What does that report show? Strangely, that the share of the burden of taxation for the rich in this country has actually been increasing. Shocking, I know, with all of the quotes you can find to the contrary. Let’s take a look…

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When Monetary Inflation is Tame…

Posted by PKamp3 On June - 24 - 20101 COMMENT

…enter grade inflation. This site has recently touched twice on the topic of the spiraling cost of advanced education. Recently the New York Times covered something that the schools are giving back for the increased attendance cost – higher grades. Yes, grade inflation is increasing at a pretty decent clip right along with college costs.

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Links and Carnivals, Week of June 14

Posted by PKamp3 On June - 18 - 2010ADD COMMENTS

Carnivals and article links for the week!

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Short End of the Stick: Private vs. Public Wages

Posted by PKamp3 On June - 15 - 20103 COMMENTS

That treasure trove of data the Bureau of Labor Statistics has a fascinating report that it calls the “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation” report. Last Wednesday it released its report on the compensation costs at various employer types (and locales) for March 2010. One of the interesting things it does, as picked up on Mark Perry’s (great) blog, is to spin out the government’s estimate of overall hourly wages – for private industry, and for state and local government workers. The government workers win in a first round knockout…

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Ed-uflation Continued…

Posted by PKamp3 On June - 9 - 2010ADD COMMENTS

As I mentioned in my last article, education is one of the categories where spending has increased the most over the last decades. However, it’s unclear if the product students are receiving is even worth the cost they have been paying. At issue: this article from the New York Times, heavily digested all over the internet. Setting aside the fact that our protagonist majored in Religious and Women’s studies, what is the value (in expected weekly salary) of a graduate or an undergraduate degree?

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Ed-uflation

Posted by PKamp3 On June - 2 - 20102 COMMENTS

What’s grown faster than inflation the last 40 years? No, not medical expenses. What’s grown faster than that? You guessed it (from the title of this post) – education costs increased almost 1000% from 1978 to 2008, compared to about 300% in the generally price level as measured by consumer inflation. Yes, inflation is one of the categories of spending which is increasing at an off-the-chart-rate.

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Oh No! Volatility!

Posted by PKamp3 On May - 27 - 2010ADD COMMENTS

My friend sent me an article the other day which really summarized my thoughts succinctly – he sent me this piece from Evan Newmark writing at the Wall Street Journal. If you haven’t noticed the crazy action in the stock market in recent weeks and days, let me be the bearer of bad news: the major US indicators are down from their yearly peaks. You’ve probably lost some money on paper, even. Between oil in the Gulf, the Greece Drama, and even North Korea, there is a lot to be worried about. Here’s the thing – these are all known unknowns, and generally priced into the stock market already.

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Stabilize the Debt!

Posted by PKamp3 On May - 24 - 2010ADD COMMENTS

Thanks to the Committee for a Responsible Public Budget, you too can play Dictator/a for a day! It’s no surprise that the United States has a high national debt. The United States has around $13 trillion in public debts. The United States is also the largest economic engine in the world, with a GDP of $14.2 trillion in 2009. How would you balance the expenditures of the government?

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Checking in on Inflation

Posted by PKamp3 On May - 18 - 2010ADD COMMENTS

I haven’t recently taken a look at what the Treasury market is telling us about inflation… but that’s now changed, and I’m here to share with you. The market predicts continued smooth sailing on the currency front. My method is the very crude subtract real treasury yields from the yield curve. Currency stability is probably here to stay in the meantime, what with the only reasonable alternative in flux and everything… and the market reflects that truth.

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“Don’t Quit Your Day Job” is a resource for people who wish to discuss personal finance, economics, and investing with other like minded individuals. It isn’t required that you work in the industry; just that you have an active interest in passing on your knowledge or learning from others. Disclaimer: Nothing on this site should be construed as investment advice. Do your own due diligence. None of the writers on this site is qualified to give you advice on your situation. Your situation is unique; see a financial adviser. Copyright 2009. InfoPortfolio, San Jose, CA.

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