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TwitterBear With the Design Changes
In an effort to continually serve our visitors we are undergoing a design change in the blog. You'll still see the simple newspaper layout we have, but we're trying to have it load automatically depending on your screen size. This will give those with larger screens a chance to view the text without a microscope, and those with smaller resolutions the change to see the entire page without anything being cut-out. Read the rest of this entry »
Alberta Conservatives Are Loosing Support – Heritage Fund Takes Beat Down
Great Oil Sands Article in the Globe Interviewing ex-Premier Peter Lougheed
One thing that Albertans under the age of 30 just don't comprehend is why those over 45 are ripping the natural resources from the ground to fatten their already grossly overpaid bank accounts. What's even harder to swallow is the government in charge is doing everything in their power to facilitate the process.
There used to be a bumper sticker in the early 80's: "Oh lord, give us another boom and i won't piss it away." We got another one, and yes, the conservatives have pissed most of it away.
The development of Alberta's oilsands is in full swing despite economic recession. The breakneck speed is chewing up the oil while simultaneously ripping up the environment. That's a double whammy for the generations of tomorrow. Of course, to politicians and their voters it makes zero difference what tomorrow gives. Since the Lougheed there has been no attempt to reclaim the value placed in oil revenue for future generations. One could argue that Ralph Klein managed to eliminate the debt thereby paving the road to future investment in infrastructure, health, and of course the 'Heritage Fund' (endowment fund made of oil revenues).
The Stelmech government has not only gone into debt, but no additional payments have been made into the AHF because apparently 11 billion is enough (which is where it's at now given it's latest 3 billion dollar loss). Alaska has an endowment fund that has pretty much eliminated the need for state tax, Alberta can't be bothered to add money to their fund for a few reasons: Read the rest of this entry »
The Economics of Property Law – Coase Law
Here is an article that deals with Coase laws and the economics of property law.
The lack of defined property rights leads to the abuse of certain activities as a result of a differing perceptions regarding how choices affect marginal private benefits and social costs. How does this impact society and what does this say about how private enterprises make choices? let's use the example of pollution and the effects on property owners.
A particular firm that is polluting the air will continue to do so because to the firm, the private cost of polluting is zero, and the social costs need not be considered. The external costs imposed on society (the social cost of the pollution) will not be factored into cost analysis of the firm.
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Reducing Taxable Income and Debt Help Management Tips
Reducing Taxable Income and Debt Management
This article features a debt management theme, let's use a real-life example to help you understand how to take these concepts and apply them to your situation.
Take you or your family's gross, (yes I know you think it's gross,) before tax income. Annual salaries under $35,000 will be taxed at 26% (figures for Canada). If you earn between $35,000-$70,000 tax owing will be 32%. Salaries above $70,000 but below $113,804 will be taxed at 36%, above $113,804 will be taxed at 39%. This includes provincial (state) tax.
Step 1 - Subtract tax owing from your monthly salary.
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The Rule of 72 in Reverse – Helping Your Personal Finances
How many of you would purposely spill ten dollars worth of quarters down the grate of a sidewalk? Would you leave your five-dollar bill on a windy open windowsill?
Wallet Woes: The Rule of 72 in reverse.
Which would you prefer, paying a parking or speeding ticket or having strangers (*cough* the banks *cough*) help themselves to money from your wallet? Here's one of our more popular posts originally released in 2006.
Foreign Exchange Markets: Devaluation and Revaluation
We are re-posting this popular article about the foreign currency and the devaluation and revaluation systems. After all, what's the point of trying to predict foreign exchange markets (FOREX) if you don't even know how the market moves and reacts to change? The world's largest market that is open 24 hours does react to certain changes and you need to know how to watch and interpret these movements. Why let some third-party web application make predictions for you when you can do the work yourself?
Devaluation and Revaluation of Currencies
The Pros of Import Quotas In Comparison to Tariffs
This is a response to an article from about.com about the cons of import quotas, we decided to suggest a few pros and expand on some more cons. Now don't get me wrong, the article brings up 3 smart points, but let's not all hurl insults at import quotas. Here are some more cons and some pros.
Using his analogy of cricket bats (why not something more useful like barley? barley=beer, anyways,) if the government used an import quota they are in fact restricting the supply of bats domestically. That means the local producer benefits from less competition, higher prices for his goods, but the consumer will in turn pay more.
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TARP/Financial Stability Plan Funds Transparency
In congressional testimony this morning, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner outlined where TARP money has been allocated and how much is left. Here is Treasury’s estimate, our question, is this the extent of accountability? certainly not, but still, a loose 200 billion here or 100 billion there isn't exactly transparency... Read the rest of this entry »
May 15, 2009, Crude Inventories Down – Markets Up
What does it mean when crude inventories decrease? Well here is the latest release from the Department of Energy.
U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 14.1 million barrels per day during the week ending May 15, down 315 thousand barrels per day from the previous week's average. Refineries operated at 81.8 percent of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production remained relatively unchanged from last week, averaging 8.7 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production also remained unchanged from last week, averaging 4.1 million barrels per day. Read the rest of this entry »
Big Banks Should Fail? Links Collection on the Subject
In the free-market enterprise--that which North America is founded on and so cherishes--you're suppose to permit the market to shed uncompetitive and incompetent firms. When push comes to shove, if you under perform or make huge mistakes that not only make you uncompetitive, but threaten your survival, you're permitted to die a slow (or sometimes fast) death.
Alas, this is true for our capitalist system, however, it doesn't always happen this way. In fact, if you're really big, and you control assets for many others, it turns out you don't necessarily fail.....Big banks do not fail when the market collapses. At least that's what we've been shown in the past six months (less Lehman Bros of course).
Is this right? What are economists saying? Here is a survey of articles on the topic:
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