Capitalogix

Funny Video: Using "S*** Happens" to Explain Economics

You don't normally see an economist do a stand-up routine.

And you could assume that economist Yoram Bauman doesn't usually swear while giving a speech ... but it's unavoidable in this routine ("S*** happens: the economics version").

 

 

This take-off on the old joke about explaining world religions (using the same construct) was filmed at the 2012 American Economic Association humor session.

It's even a little funny that the AEA had a humor session.

Click here for more Stand-up Economist videos.

Related articles

• What's so funny about money? (newscientist.com)
• Interview with Stand Up economist Yoram Bauman (calculatedriskblog.com)

Social Media Explained with Donuts

So much social media ... so little time.

This photo of a whiteboard (titled "Social Media Explained") went viral on many social networks last week.

So, chances are you've seen it.  If not, it's worth a glance.

Simple, clever, and so true.

 

 

For me, Twitter is a serendipity engine;  I dip into it and hope to find something cool. LinkedIn is a bit more serious and I often find a link worth spending some time reading.  While Facebook is a guilty pleasure, where I browse to catch-up on what people are doing and to get a glimpse into their lifestyle and interests.  The rest ... (and texting) ... not so much.

What about you?

Related articles

• 10 Social Media Tips for Bloggers (mashable.com)
• Your Friends Are Now Your Customers (blogs.hbr.org)

Expect Extraordinary - Here's a Video of Something Not to Try at Home

Sometimes normal isn't enough.

Playing safe is often a good strategy ... But, sometimes you have to expect the extraordinary.

Did you see the strange guy doing a modified tight-rope circus routine during Madonna's Super Bowl half-time performance.

 

 

 

 
Well, it was more than that ... did you see the guy bounce up and down as though that little rope was a trampoline?

What in the world was going on?

Well, the short answer is: slacklining. Or, if you want to get technical and specific, tricklining. According to California's Adventure Sports Journal , slacklining was invented in the early 1980s by two rock climbers.

As you may have guessed, the Super Bowl halftime cameo was a big moment for the young sport of slacklining—and for the talented, curly-haired slackliner who got the spotlight: Andy Lewis, aka Sketchy Andy . You've got to watch what he can really do!

 

 

 

Imagine what went into developing this skill.  Was it thought ... or something you forgot you could exercise?

What are you committed to expecting extraordinary about ... starting now?

Related articles

• Acrobatic Urban Films - The 'Slackline Trickline Video and Project X' is Full of Stunts (TrendHunter.com) (trendhunter.com)
• About Slacklining (neatorama.com)

Ten Links for Your Weekend Reading

A sprinkling of dark humor ...

 

 

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Short-Term Thinking Is Often Our Biggest Problem: 3 Ways To Fight It Now. (FastCo)
• China’s Push to Put Astronaut on the Moon. (FT.com)
• There’s an Ape for That: Orangutans Use iPad to Communicate. (TheDaily)
• Take Two & Call Me In the Morning: Discovery of an Exercise Pill? (TechReview)
• Guys vs. Cartoon: It's not for knowledge that we went to college ... (Video)

 

Trading Links:

• Why is the Economy Doing So Well ... And Can It Continue? (Inc)
• Forecasting Toolkit Challenged by the ‘New Abnormal’. (FT)
• Update on Global Food Commodities. (Stratfor)
• The Visible Hand: Is State Capitalism a Viable Alternative to Free Markets? (Economist)
• What You Can Learn From Mitt's Tax Return. (WSJ)

More Ways to Visualize Big Numbers, Like a Trillion

Back in the 1960s, Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen famously quipped, "A billion here, a billion there -- pretty soon, you're talking real money."

To get a sense of how Trillions currently are discussed in Congress, watch this.

How quaint ... Recently, Trillion has become the new billion; especially when we're talking about government debt, government budget, and the budget deficit.

So, let's put a "Trillion" in better context.

What follows are a few creative ways to look at the U.S. government budget and what's happening to our national debt.

1. The U.S. Government Budget Compared to an American Household


This has been making the rounds.  I saw several copies on social media sites, and it puts things in a format most of us can understand easily.

 

 

 

I'm not sure of its source, but you can also see a version of it in this video showing CNBC correspondent, Rick Santelli, explaining the government budget and the budget deficit.

2. U.S. Government Debt Illustrated in Pictures

The national debt clock continues ticking.

Here is what the $15 trillion U.S. debt looks like when it is piled up in stacks of $100 bills.

Do you see the the tiny-in-comparison tractor trailer?  Squint, and you can see the barely visible human in front of it.

 

 Well, that put things in perspective.

 

So does this video.

 

 

 

You don't need the national debt clock to get a sense how big the deficit is becoming, or how hard it is to start reducing it meaningfully.

3. Or If You Just Like Simple Math...

The circumference of the earth is 24,738 miles.

If laid $15 trillion one-dollar bills end-to-end, it would be 1,444,000,000 miles long ... Enough to circle the earth's equator 58,390.5 times.

If you were to drive around the earth in your car 58,390.5 times at an average speed of 70 mph non-stop, it would take you 2,385 years to finish.

Click here for some other facts about "a trillion" ... or here too.

So What Does it All Mean?

These are some big numbers. But as Nicholas Vardy points out, the focus on U.S. debt ignores once crucial factor -- the value of the balance sheet or accumulated wealth of the United States. That figure probably stands between $150 trillion and $200 trillion. That amount is 10- to 13-times the size of the current U.S. government debt.

In other words, the U.S. is not going to the poor-house anytime soon.  But the trends are sobering, nonetheless.

Related Articles

• 34 Shocking Facts About US Debt (lewrockwell.com)
• Biggest Holders of US Government Debt - Yahoo! Finance (opsudwinger.wordpress.com)
• It's Not What You Owe, It's Who You Owe (reason.com)

Explaining Modern Finance and Economics Using Booze & Broke Alcoholics

Here is little story that makes it easy to understand what's been going wrong in Europe (and perhaps modern finance in general). 

From reszatonline

Helga is the proprietor of a bar.

She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar.

To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later. 

Helga keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers’ loans).

Word gets around about Helga’s “drink now, pay later” marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Helga’s bar. Soon, she has the largest sales volume for any bar in town.

By providing her customers freedom from immediate payment demands, Helga gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Consequently, Helga’s gross sales volume increases massively.

Ahh, an opportunity.

A young and dynamic vice-president at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets and increases Helga’s borrowing limit.

He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts (of the unemployed alcoholics) as collateral!!!

At the bank’s corporate headquarters, expert traders figure a way to make huge commissions, and transform these customer loans into DRINKBONDS.These “securities” then are bundled and traded on international securities markets.

Naive investors don’t really understand that the securities being sold to them as “AA” “Secured Bonds” really are debts of unemployed alcoholics.

Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb! And the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation’s leading brokerage houses.

Perhaps this isn't a great idea?

One day, even though the bond prices still are climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Helga’s bar.

He so informs Helga.

Helga then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons.

However, her clients, being unemployed alcoholics, cannot pay back their drinking debts.

Since Helga cannot fulfill her loan obligations, she is forced into bankruptcy.

The bar closes, and Helga’s 11 employees lose their jobs.

Overnight, DRINKBOND prices drop by 90%. The collapsed bond asset value destroys the bank’s liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.

The fall-out?

The suppliers of Helga’s bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms’ pension funds in the BOND securities. They find they are now faced with having to write off her bad debt and with losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds.

Her wine supplier also claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers.

Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multibillion dollar no-strings attached cash infusion from the government.

The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, non-drinkers who have never been in Helga’s bar.

Feel like having a drink?

Send the Year Out with JibJab's "2011 Buh-Bye" Video

From Charlie Sheen's #winning tweets, to the debt ceiling crisis, and global protests ... it seems the whole world went nuts in 2011. Let's reminisce about the most notorious moments of the year!

Here is the video.

 

Oh well ... crazy how fast time flies.  Best wishes for a great day and an even better year in 2012.

 

People Are Awesome [Video]

Start the New Year with a Wow! This will give you a different perspective on what's possible.

 

Worthy of full-screen mode viewing.

How committed do you believe these people were to to pursue and master such amazing ventures?

What could you do if you were willing to commit that fully?

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2012

During this holiday season, I hope you are grateful for the things that are great in your life,
that you choose what you can use from the things weren't great …
and that you invest those lessons in your future.

The hardest part of finding a better way is often just remembering that there might be one.

___________________

 

Best wishes to you for a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year.

 - Howard

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Uncle Jay's Singing Year in Review - 2011 Edition 2011

Silly, clever, and with a more than a hint of the truth ... Watch as Uncle Jay sings his year-end summary of the news.

 

 

 
Uncle Jay has a website he says "helps small minds understand big news".

Happy Holiday Season, and Best Wishes for the New Year.