Say It Visually is a useful reminder to make your blog attractive, as well as easy to read.
I saved Frugal Dad, FuelEconomy.gov, and Gas Temperature Map for future reference.
Feed the Pig was entertaining, though not useful to me. I tried every tool. It's a good example to go with Say it Visually.
The .gov sites offer good online reference materials. How quickly things have change! To ignore/scoff at the compound interest lesson is short-sighted. A savings account or cd yields nothing at the moment, other than more security than your shoebox, but the principle is valid.
Banking 2.0 may be useful to some. I reviewed each of the sites in the Learn section. Our experience reinforces the need for self-discipline.
We do online banking with Wells Fargo. We do not pay bills electronically. We balance the check register off-line. We enter income, savings, daily cash, check, and credit card expenditures to a hand-written 14-column journal. My wife keeps her business journal on an Excel Spreadsheet.
I use Yahoo Finance portfolios and related research tools to consolidate information from several brokerage accounts and my 3M retirement 401k. TDAmeritrade, Schwab, Wells Fargo, and 3M all provide useful tools. At times I've paid for premium services from Morningstar, Zacks, Investors Business Daily, and the Street.com.
I tried Quicken a couple of times, as it came bundled with other pc software. We don't use it. I know several people involved with non-profit organizations who use Quick Books, and still struggle to get the balance sheet and summary reports in a form that board members can understand. It helps to have an accountant set it up, and make sure the IRS and State Attorney General get all the paper forms and attachments they need.
One thing I might I add to this Thing is a list of useful blogs and rss feeds. I consolidate mine in Google Reader. My favorites are
The Economist http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/
The Economist's View http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/
CNBC's Bob Pisani http://www.cnbc.com/id/20398120
Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts
Monday, May 18, 2009
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Economics
This may not be the best time to admit that I have a BA in Economics, from Macalester College in St. Paul. I also have graduate certificate in Meteorological Engineering, from the University of Oklahoma. Both institutions may invalidate my certificiates based on my entries to this topic. I like the first Richard Daley's regard for experts, so I do not call myself one. My record as a successful weather forecaster is not great, but it's better than most TV weather forecasters in the Duluth Market.
Weather forecasting and attempting to forecast a way out of a global financial collapse have some dynamics in common. There are multiple layers of complexity. There is a tendency to ignore The Major Force (the Sun) imposing change on the global system. We often fail to notice a major change before being swept away by disasters. Then we stop our ears at the clang of the Earth ringing like a bell.
One of my favorite weather observers described the Indian Ocean Tsunnami and its after effects as that bell. There may or may not be an esoteric relationship between natural disasters, political change, terrorism, and multiple layers of complexity emanating from that same region.
By the way, if you try to sell me something because Netflix, DirecTV, and facebook identify me with the Duluth Market, you haven't done your homework. Duluth dominates, but we're on our own for jobs, economic development, or services of any kind in Lake and Cook counties of Minnesota.
I have been following some of the blog postings from the Economist, "Free Exchange" and " The World in 2009". They're not all outrageous, but here are two
One expert hopes the economic downturn marks the end of such "fads" as nutritional supplements and organic foods. She hasn't done her homework at American upscale markets or among the "buy local" crowd.
Another expert thinks a total ban on imports of all kinds should be imposed to bring about an immediate spike in American GDP. If you want a really Great Depression that idea would be a fast track to it. A rats nest of bureauracy would spring to life. It would take more than the 40 years it took to undo the consequences of protectionism imposed during the 1930's. If you work in the U.S. Department of Commerce or the European Economic Community in Brussels, you might think the idea sounds like fun. At least you would get renewed attention from multinational giants who know how to work the system. How about returning to the gold standard instead of the petro dollar standard. Would that be like vaporware in the tech bubble?
Weather forecasting and attempting to forecast a way out of a global financial collapse have some dynamics in common. There are multiple layers of complexity. There is a tendency to ignore The Major Force (the Sun) imposing change on the global system. We often fail to notice a major change before being swept away by disasters. Then we stop our ears at the clang of the Earth ringing like a bell.
One of my favorite weather observers described the Indian Ocean Tsunnami and its after effects as that bell. There may or may not be an esoteric relationship between natural disasters, political change, terrorism, and multiple layers of complexity emanating from that same region.
By the way, if you try to sell me something because Netflix, DirecTV, and facebook identify me with the Duluth Market, you haven't done your homework. Duluth dominates, but we're on our own for jobs, economic development, or services of any kind in Lake and Cook counties of Minnesota.
I have been following some of the blog postings from the Economist, "Free Exchange" and " The World in 2009". They're not all outrageous, but here are two
One expert hopes the economic downturn marks the end of such "fads" as nutritional supplements and organic foods. She hasn't done her homework at American upscale markets or among the "buy local" crowd.
Another expert thinks a total ban on imports of all kinds should be imposed to bring about an immediate spike in American GDP. If you want a really Great Depression that idea would be a fast track to it. A rats nest of bureauracy would spring to life. It would take more than the 40 years it took to undo the consequences of protectionism imposed during the 1930's. If you work in the U.S. Department of Commerce or the European Economic Community in Brussels, you might think the idea sounds like fun. At least you would get renewed attention from multinational giants who know how to work the system. How about returning to the gold standard instead of the petro dollar standard. Would that be like vaporware in the tech bubble?
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