Coin Scalping? Buffalo Nickel Sells for $965 on Ebay
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Professor Mark J. Perry's Blog for Economics and Finance
Economics has long been called the dismal science. The general economic outlook today is indeed dismal, but that doesn't mean job prospects in the field are. "There is no unemployment among Ph.D.s in economics," declares John Siegfried, a Vanderbilt University professor.
A commenter writes ".....with Mark running nanny patrol with comments...."
The Yankees decided when they opened their new ballpark, that they would outsmart the scalpers and just raise ticket prices to levels where the tickets had normally sold on the secondary market in previous years. It seemed pretty smart at the time and then the first 6 games happened and the seats were glaringly empty at new Yankee Stadium. Now the Yankees have announced that they are going to go ahead and lower some prices.
Federal spending is growing by leaps and bounds. The budget hit $3.9 trillion this year, double the level of spending just eight years ago. The government is also increasing the scope of its activities, intervening in many areas that used to be left to state and local governments, businesses, charities, and individuals.
By 2008, there were 1,804 different subsidy programs in the federal budget. Hundreds of programs were added this decade—ranging from a $62 billion prescription drug plan to a $1 million anti-drug education grant—and the recent stimulus bill added even more. We are in the midst of the largest federal gold rush since the 1960s.
~From the study "Number of Federal Subsidy Programs Tops 1,800," by Chris Edwards, Director of Tax Policy Studies, Cato Institute
5. Isn't naming professional sports teams after foreign animals (Tigers, Lions) somewhat unpatriotic? If a team is named for an animal, wouldn't it really be better to name teams after American animals instead? If you support "Buy American," shouldn't you also support a "Name American" practice for professional sports teams?
According to the Federal Reserve's recently released financial statements for 2008:
Industrial production is also one of the main variables used by the NBER to determine recessions:
A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.
MP: But is industrial production still as relevant as an economic indicator as it used to be? Probably not, since industrial production is a measure of manufacturing output and manufacturing jobs as a percent of total payroll employment have declined significantly from 26.5% in 1969 (more than 1 out of every 4 jobs was in manufacturing) to the lowest-ever level of only 9.25% (about 1 in 11 jobs is in manufacturing) in March 2009 (see chart above, data are from the BLS via Economagic).
Since fewer than 10% of all U.S. jobs are now in the manufacturing sector, should we continue to rely on industrial production as a key economic variable, when the manufacturing share of overall employment continues to decline to record low levels? Probably not. While it might have made sense to rely on industrial production as a key economic indicator in the 1960s and the 1970s during the Machine Age, it probably doesn't make sense any longer in the Information Age.
Decriminalizing the possession and use of marijuana would raise billions in taxes and eliminate much of the profits that fuel bloodshed and violence in Mexico.
According to a recent Standard & Poor's study comparing index funds to actively-managed funds for a five-year period ending in 2008:
What feature do 15 out of the top 16 states for economic outlook have in common?
WASHINGTON (October 18, 2006) -- Postage stamps can be purchased by mail, at the supermarket, even from many bank cash machines. But there's one place you won't be able to get them in a few years - vending machines at the post office. The U.S. Postal Service plans to eliminate its 23,000 vending machines by 2010, the agency said in a recent internal memo.
After a 15% collective pay cut in 2007, chief executives of the 500 biggest companies in the U.S. (as measured by a composite ranking of sales, profits, assets and market value) took another reduction in total compensation, 11%, for 2008. The last time the big bosses took a pay hit for two consecutive years was in 2001 and 2002.