Churnin’ and Turnin’: High Turnover in Forbes 400
Monday, May 31st, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »In a study by Federal Reserve economist Arthur Kennickell titled "A Rolling Tide: Changes in the Distribution of Wealth in the U.S., 1989-2001," he looks at the considerable amount of churning that take place in the composition of the annual ...
People Pay With Time, Not Money, For Health Care
Monday, May 31st, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »The RAND Health Insurance Experiment shows that: 1. Patients are responsive to out-of-pocket costs; if people face a high deductible, rather than first-dollar coverage, they will reduce their health care spending by about 30%. 2. This reduction in health care spending ...
The Accountants’ Full-Employment Tax Code
Monday, May 31st, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »From Don't Mess With Taxes: Above is a graphic showing the number of pages in the tax code from its inception in 1913, when the code contained 400 pages. That number held pretty steady until 1945, when it ballooned to ...
What Were They Thinking?
Monday, May 31st, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »1. A Wall Street Journal editorial today lists about 2 dozen deserving and courageous, but overlooked, candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize from some of the world's most dangerous places (Burma, Colombia, N. Korea, Lebanon) who actually "put their own ...
Africa Leads the World in the Creation of Red Tape
Monday, May 31st, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »The World Bank just released its "Doing Business 2008" report, an annual study that tracks a set of regulatory indicators related to business startup, operation, getting credit, trade, payment of taxes and closing a business, by measuring the time and ...
Proximity and Power: The Teachers’ Union is #1
Monday, May 31st, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »Of the 25 most influential interest groups, the teachers’ union is the closest to the capitol in 14 of the 50 states. By contrast, the AFL-CIO is the closest in seven states. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) ...
Election Odds: Obama Now Almost a 6:1 Favorite
Monday, May 31st, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »From trading on Intrade.com for politicial futures contracts: 2008 Democratic Nomination: P (Obama) = 85% P (Clinton) = 15%
Futures Trading for Nobel Prize in Economics 2007
Monday, May 31st, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »Front runner Robert Barro: The Nobel Prize in Economics will be announced in the next few days. Based on futures trading on Intrade.com for the contract "Nobel Prize for Economics Winner 2007," Robert Barro is the front-runner, with a 22% ...
Google Trends Search for “Recession”
Monday, May 31st, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »The chart above (click to enlarge) is from a Google trends search for the word "recession" - search volume is above, and news reference volume is below. Singapore is the city in the world with the most searches for ...
Why Concern About Subprime Loans is Overblown
Monday, May 31st, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), there are about 75 million homeowners in the U.S., and about 1/3 (or 25 million) own their homes free and clear of any mortgage and 2/3 (about 50 million) have some kind ...
