Blog Archives

On Google Plus: There Are No Jobs

On Google Plus: There Are No Jobs

On  Google Plus, one can find circles and communities where it is possible to have civil discussions. Here is an example. The card to the left was posted and got 10 +clicks and 3 repostings. One of the comments was notable. I am ambiguous about this notion – and it is fundamental. Are there enough jobs to go around? If you are over 55 the…

Read more »

News Media: Succumbing to Lower Standards

News Media: Succumbing to Lower Standards

Brett Arends has a very interesting post on MarketWatch  - Why the NewsMedia is Worse Than You Think. He states his case succinctly: There have been the high profile goofs — by CNN, in its coverage of the Boston bombings, and by Howard Kurtz, the famous media “critic,” in a blog post about gay athlete Jason Collins. The Tribune Company faces a potential takeover by…

Read more »

Coursera and Group vs Individual Decisionmaking

Coursera and Group vs Individual Decisionmaking

I have been taking Coursera’s  Irrational Behaviour taught by Duke Professor Dan Ariely. The course concentrates on individual decision making and how decision methods depart from traditional rational  and economic utility models. There are compelling experimental and neuroscience proofs that a)individuals use different model or methods of decision making depending on circumstances[ the Kahneman and Tversky fast versus slow methods] and b)many, often non-intuitive factors such as…

Read more »

Cracks in the GOP’s Base

Cracks in the  GOP’s Base

Image from Streetlog For the past five years, the GOP has been able to marshall block votes against most  Democratic critical legislation in Congress. Given the continued exploitation of the filibuster rule in the Senate where a 60-40 vote is required to pass any legislation that Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell cares to oppose. Because the GOP has 46 Senators and leader McConnell can rely…

Read more »

The Real Obama Flaw: Wall Street Now Too Big To Jail

The Real Obama Flaw: Wall Street Now Too Big To Jail

WhatNowCartoons The GOP has been attacking President Obama for all the Wrong Reasons: Benghazi Libyan embassy fight when the GOP had previously cut the State Departments defense funding. Or No New Taxes when there is general consensus that  tax revenues have dried up and tax reform is way overdue. Or the constant return to Obama’s birth certificate. Yet for the past four years, the  Obama administration…

Read more »

The Score: GOP/NRA 46 to 54 for Gun Reform: Gun Reform Loses

The Score: GOP/NRA 46 to 54 for Gun Reform: Gun Reform Loses

Only in the USA could a majority vote for Gun Reform be turned upside  down in the US Senate. This is on Universal Gun Buyer Background checks which currently have majority popular support reaching as high as  91% of the US electorate in over a half dozen polls. No matter how you ask the question, a majority of the Public supports background checks. But because it…

Read more »

Another View: Moores Law Slowing

Another View: Moores Law Slowing

Three weeks ago this blog presented Moores Law is Alive and Well.  But reader reaction was mixed because the post emphasized growth in  computing power rather than number of transistors per chip. But really Moores Law has two meanings in electronics. The strict original circuit design  definition was that the number of transistors on a 2D integrated circuit chip would double in number for the same cost about every 18-24 months.How…

Read more »

One More Time: How Goes Executive Pay?

One More Time: How Goes Executive Pay?

The NYTimes had a recent story, The Infinite Pool of Executive Pay. It is  a little hit and miss. The report  comes down on the increase of 18.7% percent in corporate perks. But then we also learn  that overall median pay for the  top 100 CEOs  increased by just 2.8%. However, I had a devil of a time resolving this with the following direct quote:…

Read more »

How are the US Job Creators Doing?

How are the US Job Creators Doing?

The US Job Creators are doing critical things very right by many Business standards. First and foremost,  US Job Creators are making big , yes record profits. As seen in this chart for 2012. US Job Creators profits reached a new record level as a 11.3% of the total output of the economy: US Corporate Profits in 2012 as a Percentage of Total US GDP…

Read more »

This Week Moves Way Ahead On Sunday Morning

This Week Moves Way Ahead On Sunday Morning

The Sunday Morning News Talk Shows on the major networks have been courting disater. ABCTV’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos has moved up to a new level of competence The formula for the Sunday News Shows in which two talking heads from the major parties are brought on the show to debate an issue but actually  a)demonstrate they are indeed  artful dodgers by not responding…

Read more »