Aug
6
Postal Service blames mail decline for loss, I blame them
August 6, 2009 | 3 Comments
This is nothing new but the USPS is having some problems. They reported a $2.4 billion loss in their most recent quarter Wednesday, blaming plunging mail volume and rising retiree health care costs. They lost $1.1 billion a year earlier.
The long and short of it is that they blame a decline in mail use. The [...]
Jun
25
Airlines Launch More Fees At Fliers
June 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I'll be honest. The airlines really piss me off. Everytime you turn around, they have a new fee taking a bite out of your wallet. You know, we might not mind so much, except that they can't seem to keep a damn plane in the sky lately. Which brings me to another gripe I have [...]
May
1
The Swine Flu Has Everyone Making Money, But You
May 1, 2009 | 1 Comment
A week into the Swine flu "epidemic", it seems clear that this is the usual over-reacting that our government is famous for post 911. It's bad for you that they over-react, but good for those doing the over-reacting.
Let's take a look at those who are benefiting from this scare.
Surgical mask companies. Wouldn't you love to [...]
Nov
11
Worry About Yourself First
November 11, 2008 | 1 Comment
When asked about their current economic condition, most people respond with something like "I'm fine but the guy down the street is really in trouble." I think it's time that to stop worrying about the people down the street and worry about your own problems.
If everyone in the country would just take care of their [...]
Oct
6
Are Scandals Inevitable in Regulated Industries?
October 6, 2008 | 1 Comment
As the financial system comes crumbling down, the 20/20 hindsight begins. Of course the casualty of this latest fiasco will be free markets. But when you examine the industries that have had massive scandals, you'll find a list of the most highly regulated industries including telecoms (WorldCom), energy/utilities (Enron, NorthWestern) and banking (too [...]
Sep
24
Bailout Sounds Like Bad Spam Email
September 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
This is hilarious. I'm sure you've gottem an email from an "official" in Africa. This official has millions waiting for you, you just need to send them your bank account info. Well what if the scammer in Africa was suddenly the most powerful man in the world. Well Secretary of the Treasury Paulson is the most [...]
Jul
9
The Stimulus Payment Was a Ridiculous Political Stunt
July 9, 2008 | 5 Comments
Now that most of the payments have been sent, we can analyze the Economic Stimulus Package of 2008. Was the economy stimulated? Did the payment really help people? Was it all worth it?
I've answered so many questions about the stimulus payment that I've quite frankly gotten sick of the whole thing. It's ridiculous how much [...]
Jun
13
The economic stimulus payment program has been a fiasco. Hundreds of readers have shared their horror stories. You'd think the government could figure out how to get checks to people. Put the check in the mail, what's so hard about that? When government gets involved, simple things get complicated fast. If the government can't mail [...]
Mar
24
Don’t Ask What Causes Poverty.
March 24, 2008 | 1 Comment
We are conditioned by society to view poverty as something that happens to people. Dr Madsen Pirie believes that wealth happens and that poverty is the default or “rest” state of humanity.
According to a post on adamsmith.org, Dr Pirie claims there are no causes of poverty. Simply that its the "default" option.
There [...]
Feb
9
Small Stuff
February 9, 2008 | 2 Comments
One problem I have with most existing personal finance blogs is the fascination with small stuff. Many of these blogs create top 5, 10, 20,100 lists by the truckload in order to rank highly on Digg, Reddit and other social bookmarking sites.
The problem is these blogs usually don’t have enough content to fill these [...]