economy | Ain't Complicated

What Good Is Algebra?

Wherein an ex-algebra teacher makes a case for not being gullible

OK, students, get a piece of scratch paper and a sharp pencil. It’s time for a good old-fashioned Algebra story problem. (No, you may not use your iAnything or your calculator. Paper. Pencil. Period.)

Sam took his second semester English test. The task at hand was to find all the spelling and grammar errors. He found 92. He flunked the test. His teacher told him he only found 6.7% of the errors! What was the total number of errors to be found on that English test?

(Remember this post is intended to show you just how useful Algebra is in Real Life!)

If you know elementary Algebra, you know that asking the right question is key to writing the right equation. And that is key to getting the right answer. Here’s The Question: Read it all

Do You Know How to Trust?

I believe that my Heavenly Father will provide for me as His child.

I believe that Jesus the Good Shepherd will meet my needs as one of His sheep.

I believe that the Comforter will do exactly that for me.

I believe all that because the Bible tells me so.

But I still struggle against doubt and fear and…well, never mind.

What do you know about trust?

Do you believe this chapter (from a book my friend Steve H loaned me)?

He Always Provides for Our True Needs

Have you asked the Lord to fulfill all your needs? This mighty request requires no intercession from others, for God will provide for all of your needs in Christ Jesus without their asking Him to do so. He is your heavenly Father, and as such, He has obligated Himself to meet your necessities.

Any anxiety we have concerning temporal necessities issues from unbelief. We need never worry about what we shall eat, drink, or wear. These things our Father knows we need, and so we must not fret about them as do those who are not in living union with the Lord.

The reality is that if I do not have something, I do not need it. God is meeting all of my needs at every moment. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not lack. That is always true. Read it all

Brian Moynihan, a Tip

First, a tip of the hat in congratulations to you for this:

Bank of America’s board late Wednesday named its 50-year-old consumer and small business banking chief, Brian Moynihan, as president and CEO.

Next, a tip about this problem:

Moynihan takes over at time when the bank faces continued loan losses in the billions of dollars. It lost more than $2.2 billion in the third quarter as bad debt kept rising as consumers still struggled to pay their bills. Bank of America, which has about 53 million consumer and small business customers, is considered particularly vulnerable to unemployment, which remains at double-digit levels.

I am one of your customers. But you have not suffered any loan losses from me.

By God’s grace, you won’t.

And you could help by lowering my interest rate. That’s my tip, Mr. Moynihan. Lower my interest rate, thus reducing the financial pressure on me, thus making it less likely that you’ll suffer any loan losses from me.

Seems mighty sensible to me.

So, to anyone at Bank of America reading this, please email the link to this blog post to Brian Moynihan.

Lower my interest rate, please, and do your bank (and me) a big favor.

Thanks anyway. 🙄

Source: Brian Moynihan to succeed Ken Lewis as BofA CEO

The Highest Rate in Thirteen Years

I read that expression over at Mexico Today a week or so ago:

The National Geography and Statistics Institute said that unemployment reached 5.24 percent of the Economically Active Population in the second quarter, the highest rate in 13 years. (Comment: What I don´t understand is that the US unemployment rate is higher than Mexico’s. If this were true, wouldn’t there be waves of people coming down to Mexico to find a job… Any job?)

That struck me as a potentially interesting search term. Alas, it turned out to be a dud for for current results.

Here’s one of the results, via Forbes.com:

What’s more, the U.S. normally runs a negative savings rate, which means consumers spend more than they have and live off credit. Now, with the economy cratering, Americans are stashing their cash and have boosted the savings rate to 5%, according to the Commerce Department, the highest rate in 13 years. That’s bad news for state governments, as money being saved instead of spent cannot be taxed.

With less money coming in, and less to do, maybe that means tax men will be America’s next round of mass layoffs, a cause for which citizens are unlikely to support a bailout.

PS: “In thirteen years” produced some current news results, though.

Pope: “Charity in Truth”

So he released his latest encyclical:

Pope Benedict on Tuesday called for a “world political authority” to manage the global economy and for more government regulation of national economies to pull the world out of the current crisis and avoid a repeat.

The pope’s call for a re-think of the way the world economy is run came in new encyclical which touched on a number of social issues but whose main connecting thread was how the current crisis has affected both rich and poor nations.

[…]

The pope said every economic decision has a moral consequence and called for “forms of redistribution” of wealth overseen by governments to help those most affected by crises.

Benedict said “there is an urgent need of a true world political authority” whose task would be “to manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result.”

Such an authority would have to be “regulated by law” and “would need to be universally recognized and to be vested with the effective power to ensure security for all, regard for justice, and respect for rights.”

Global economic political authority? No, thanks!

But it’s coming anyway.

The Bible tells me so (as I recall).

(Your) Cash for (My) Clunkers

Just so you know, I have three clunkers. All of them have over 200,000 miles on them. And two have over 300,000!

I’d take $3000 for any of them.

(I think I would, that is. I suppose the best way to test that is for you to make me an honest offer! )

If I were to have the opportunity to do so, should I participate in the government’s cash for clunkers program?

A so-called “cash for clunkers” measure approved by the US Congress could help reignite sluggish auto sales, although the overall impact may be modest, analysts and industry officials said.

[…]

The bill will provide up to 4,500 dollars in incentives to consumers who trade in certain fuel-hungry vehicles for autos which consume less fuel.

Edmunds.com, an automotive research firm, estimates that the measure will spark relatively modest sales — probably less than the 250,000 estimated — and would only provide an incentive for a small number of car owners whose vehicles are worth less than 4,500 dollars.

“Most qualifying ‘clunkers’ are at least 10 years old. Their owners are either not looking for an increased car payment or cannot afford to purchase a new vehicle, which averages nearly 30,000 dollars,” an Edmunds.com report said.

[…]

To qualify, the vehicle traded in must have a fuel economy rating of 18 miles (29 kilometers) per gallon (3.8 liters) and be in drivable condition. The new car must offer at least 22 miles (35 kilometers) per gallon.

So…does new mean brand new?

Or could I take the government’s (that is, your) $4500 for my 1983 Chevy van and use it for a new-to-me rig (say a Chevy Suburban) even if it’s five years old?

Half Alive?

Circuit City died.

This morning, in my email, this:

So it sounds as though they’re now an online-only enterprise. Does that mean they’re half alive?

Probably not.

They set up a page on Twitter — so they must not be too dead. Check this out, though:

Only 20 updates and 516 followers!

Well, I upped that to 517.

(Update: Oooops. I messed up the graphic. Til I fixed it, the number of followers had changed.)

They even have some good We’re Back from the Dead deals. Here’s one that I actually added to my cart:

Transcend TS4GJFV30 JetFlash USB Flash Drive - 4GB -- on sale at Circuit City for $2.99

check it out!

Four gigs! (Mine is 512. Megs, that is.)

At $2.99, I’m guessing that’s a Really Good Deal. But I’ve never heard of Transcend before. And paying $6.99 for shipping kinda takes the Really Good out of the Deal. Even if I took that DVD bundle as well — which is quite enticing to me, too.

So, even though I signed up for an account, no sale.

Oh, hey — I was surprised that I had to open an account. It didn’t let me sign in using my old Circuit City account. In fact, it didn’t even recognize my email address.