Yeah, I guess many of them are fixed costs. There would be some volume costs (fewer drops and stuff from the armored car). I'm surprised your grocery is that high on credit, when I was a clerk it was 40% check 40% credit 20% cash and that was only about 6 or 7 years ago. I haven't spent a Franklin in many a moon, but I'm not surprised. I don't honestly remember the last time I've seen a bill larger than a $20. Probably 90% of my transactions are on one of my cards (I use a couple to stretch the float period).
Frequently in the US, credit card companies will offer 0% introductory interest with a series of complicated terms counting on either people not being ready to pay off the balance or making a mistake in the payment structure, and then having the rate change to 18% or higher (applied retroactivly). You can pretty easily beat that introductory rate with almost any term deposit.
US banking has better opportunities than European banking for some users to pay no fees.
Good analysis, although it's really the cash payers who are eating the cost of the subsidy. They are also paying the higher prices but without the rewards.
There's an arguement that cash sales have costs as well (you have to protect the cash) and there's a non-insignificant amount of float required to make change), and with pay point stations, I think credit transactions are now much faster than other payment forms. So I'm not sure the all in cost of a credit transaction is that much higher than other payment forms.
Yeah but it wouldn't take a whole lot of study to make a few educated guesses (almost everyone in a state knows the conservative areas and the liberal areas). In the reform level, the independant rep got a free veto based on compactness that was undefined, you could still fit plenty of Gerrymandering within their definition but some seemingly legit methods of districting were refused for not being compact. I like the idea of allowing the committe to pick n points (alternate between D & R) and then do a regression around them minimizing the distance of the most households to their assigned point. It might take a night, but would be difficult to predict.
Ah but this isn't about a national election. In the US, almost all elections are for regional representatives and each district will have a single representative in congress.
Actually it doesn't shift to the unpopulated states either (when was the last time a President had a whistle stop tour through the Rockys? It shifts attention to the biggest states that are closest to 50/50.
I think that's by design, Manny Pulative (the hint is in the name) is there only because of Gerrymandering. Remove the Gerrymander district and he can't continue to get elected. The people of the river valley thank you. Why did the R state legislature vote down the plan that gave them another seat.
Also, the whole concept puts an awful lot of pressure on the "independant" member of the comission (she didn't like my districts several times for being not compact enough but the final change was excedingly minor. I doubt the Tanner Act would change much from the current system.
I agree! After not owning a TV for the last 7 years, DVDs on the PC have been great. I was very pleasantly surprised to pick up almost 20 HD stations (benefitted by 3 PBS stations all broadcasting 4 different HD fees) with my rabbit ears (well most of them were UHF, but little round deally wouldn't mean much). My jaw almost hit the floor the first time I saw a movie broadcast in HD.
The point is that the services of a maid or cook (or restaurant) is essentially the purchase of time (that would have been spent cleaning/cooking). Sure, there will be specialization that allows the maid to clean faster than I (because they invests in tools that I don't and knows how to clean that stain off the wall the first time rather than try three different things (two that don't work too well). But mostly maids and gas station attendents save time of the people willing to pay for their services. Cooks are sort of different, I can make a sandwich pretty much as well as the one I had for lunch (so I was paying for time) but I can't cook as well as Wolfgang Puck.
Why do you think that we have a strategic petroleum reserve? That oil isn't for regulating the price, it allows a war to take place without imports. Since WWI militaries have depended on oil to operate. Oil was one of the key strategic resources and it was most certaily the reason for the direct engagement of the US/Japan portion of the war.
Paragraph 8: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2129.html
In 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam) upon agreement with the French Vichy government, and joined the Axis powers Germany and Italy. These actions intensified Japan's conflict with the United States and Great Britain which reacted with an oil boycott. The resulting oil shortage and failures to solve the conflict diplomatically made Japan decide to capture the oil rich Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and to start a war with the US and Great Britain.
Paragraph 6: http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/a ureview/1981/jul-aug/becker.htm
At the outbreak of the war, Germany's stockpiles of fuel consisted of a total of 15 million barrels. The campaigns in Norway, Holland, Belgium, and France added another 5 million barrels in booty, and imports from the Soviet Union accounted for 4 million barrels in 1940 and 1.6 million barrels in the first half of 1941. Yet a High Command study in May of 1941 noted that with monthly military requirements for 7.25 million barrels and imports and home production of only 5.35 million barrels, German stocks would be exhausted by August 1941. The 26 percent shortfall could only be made up with petroleum from Russia. The need to provide the lacking 1.9 million barrels per month and the urgency to gain possession of the Russian oil fields in the Caucasus mountains, together with Ukrainian grain and Donets coal, were thus prime elements in the German decision to invade the Soviet Union in June 1941.3
Did you think that the war was just about some land in Poland?
The war was most definitely about oil, Germany and Japan needed it, and the Allies sold their souls to the then leaders of the Middle East to keep them from supplying the Axis with oil. I'm very happy that the Allies won, but most of the war was entirely about who would control access to cheap oil in the Middle East and South Asia. A decent amount of the indirect blame why Germany lost was because they were cracking oil (in limited supply) from coal rather than getting it from Saudi Arabia.
All who said nothing (which would be lower than 230 million--those under 18 don't get a say yet), effectively voted for the winner by consent. Go write in Mickey/spoil your ballot if you don't like the candidates.
Almost nothing you said applies to me or most of my city. I'm in the USA, too. I love the job, it has it's moments (good and bad) and I spend about 1/18 of my life commuting (during which I am reading the paper or am walking a fairly scenic route). My city is very clean and not too ugly. There are a few hoods that aren't but even in the poorer areas there are gardens and trees. Some people might be disgusted, but that's sort of a personal view, I guess. Violence has been declining for 10 years (and non-violent crime as well).
I've noticed that there are lots of unhappy people trying to make it in one of the most expensive couple of cities in the nation but they are miserable (and generally not pulling ahead). To them, I say, Move! There are a dozens of wonderful places (yeah you might have to exercise some additional creativity in planning a few Friday night activities but overall you'll be much happier and less stressed than you can imagine).
Oh and for those worried about corporations running their lives: unplug your TV, you'll notice a very refreshing change in a few weeks.
Most of the mess that is currently in the Middle East now is due to promises made to both sides (Israel and the Arabic countries) to keep them from allying with the Axis in WWII. Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor was the result of our blockade on Indonesia (which was Japan's source of oil). Pretty much since the development of the internal combustion engine/tank/airplane every facet of geopolitics has been primarily about oil. Before that it was about coal (for steam ships).
Yeah, I picked up 2 GB for my mini the other day and it was very cheap. Under $100, unfortunatly economics and Apple's lack of additonal expansion slots means my old ram is pretty near useless (perhaps I can make keychains or something from it.
Sugar and meat (chicken and fish) are pretty basic commodities. When those are unavailable your markets are very, very screwed up! Why on earth wouldn't imports increase at the same rate as eaters? Global food markets are very large, liquid, and pretty good examples of how markets work (shoot most rich developed nations inject huge subsidies into the markets driving prices below fair market value). The reason they can't buy food is step three of my cycle. This will not end well!
The governement that robs Peter to pay Paul can usually count on the support of Paul. Chavez nationalized all sorts of large landownings to redistribute to barrio dwellers (who know little about farming but vote early and often), so Venezuela is undergoing a food crisis (if you grow too much food your land gets taken and becomes unproductive, farms become less productive, so the price increases, so the government puts caps on the price, so farmers grow less food; go to 2)
It's not an urban myth, the state oil company of Venezuela owns Citgo, but not buying Citgo gas would have almost zero impact on Venezuela. Citgo stops selling retail gas but makes almost the same revenue and profit selling wholesale gas to BP/XOM/Shell etc.
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Scud missiles are the same design as the old V-2.
Yeah, I guess many of them are fixed costs. There would be some volume costs (fewer drops and stuff from the armored car). I'm surprised your grocery is that high on credit, when I was a clerk it was 40% check 40% credit 20% cash and that was only about 6 or 7 years ago. I haven't spent a Franklin in many a moon, but I'm not surprised. I don't honestly remember the last time I've seen a bill larger than a $20. Probably 90% of my transactions are on one of my cards (I use a couple to stretch the float period).
Frequently in the US, credit card companies will offer 0% introductory interest with a series of complicated terms counting on either people not being ready to pay off the balance or making a mistake in the payment structure, and then having the rate change to 18% or higher (applied retroactivly). You can pretty easily beat that introductory rate with almost any term deposit.
US banking has better opportunities than European banking for some users to pay no fees.
Good analysis, although it's really the cash payers who are eating the cost of the subsidy. They are also paying the higher prices but without the rewards.
There's an arguement that cash sales have costs as well (you have to protect the cash) and there's a non-insignificant amount of float required to make change), and with pay point stations, I think credit transactions are now much faster than other payment forms. So I'm not sure the all in cost of a credit transaction is that much higher than other payment forms.
Yeah but it wouldn't take a whole lot of study to make a few educated guesses (almost everyone in a state knows the conservative areas and the liberal areas). In the reform level, the independant rep got a free veto based on compactness that was undefined, you could still fit plenty of Gerrymandering within their definition but some seemingly legit methods of districting were refused for not being compact. I like the idea of allowing the committe to pick n points (alternate between D & R) and then do a regression around them minimizing the distance of the most households to their assigned point. It might take a night, but would be difficult to predict.
Ah but this isn't about a national election. In the US, almost all elections are for regional representatives and each district will have a single representative in congress.
Actually it doesn't shift to the unpopulated states either (when was the last time a President had a whistle stop tour through the Rockys? It shifts attention to the biggest states that are closest to 50/50.
These districts have very little to do with the Electoral College except in one or two states. These are House of Representitives districts.
I think that's by design, Manny Pulative (the hint is in the name) is there only because of Gerrymandering. Remove the Gerrymander district and he can't continue to get elected. The people of the river valley thank you. Why did the R state legislature vote down the plan that gave them another seat.
Also, the whole concept puts an awful lot of pressure on the "independant" member of the comission (she didn't like my districts several times for being not compact enough but the final change was excedingly minor. I doubt the Tanner Act would change much from the current system.
I agree! After not owning a TV for the last 7 years, DVDs on the PC have been great. I was very pleasantly surprised to pick up almost 20 HD stations (benefitted by 3 PBS stations all broadcasting 4 different HD fees) with my rabbit ears (well most of them were UHF, but little round deally wouldn't mean much). My jaw almost hit the floor the first time I saw a movie broadcast in HD.
The point is that the services of a maid or cook (or restaurant) is essentially the purchase of time (that would have been spent cleaning/cooking). Sure, there will be specialization that allows the maid to clean faster than I (because they invests in tools that I don't and knows how to clean that stain off the wall the first time rather than try three different things (two that don't work too well). But mostly maids and gas station attendents save time of the people willing to pay for their services. Cooks are sort of different, I can make a sandwich pretty much as well as the one I had for lunch (so I was paying for time) but I can't cook as well as Wolfgang Puck.
I knew I wasn't crazy. I'd remembered that game, but no one else I knew did. Didn't it have Mexican's attacking as well as Indians?
Why do you think that we have a strategic petroleum reserve? That oil isn't for regulating the price, it allows a war to take place without imports. Since WWI militaries have depended on oil to operate. Oil was one of the key strategic resources and it was most certaily the reason for the direct engagement of the US/Japan portion of the war.
a ureview/1981/jul-aug/becker.htm
Paragraph 8:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2129.html
In 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam) upon agreement with the French Vichy government, and joined the Axis powers Germany and Italy. These actions intensified Japan's conflict with the United States and Great Britain which reacted with an oil boycott. The resulting oil shortage and failures to solve the conflict diplomatically made Japan decide to capture the oil rich Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and to start a war with the US and Great Britain.
Paragraph 6:
http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/
At the outbreak of the war, Germany's stockpiles of fuel consisted of a total of 15 million barrels. The campaigns in Norway, Holland, Belgium, and France added another 5 million barrels in booty, and imports from the Soviet Union accounted for 4 million barrels in 1940 and 1.6 million barrels in the first half of 1941. Yet a High Command study in May of 1941 noted that with monthly military requirements for 7.25 million barrels and imports and home production of only 5.35 million barrels, German stocks would be exhausted by August 1941. The 26 percent shortfall could only be made up with petroleum from Russia. The need to provide the lacking 1.9 million barrels per month and the urgency to gain possession of the Russian oil fields in the Caucasus mountains, together with Ukrainian grain and Donets coal, were thus prime elements in the German decision to invade the Soviet Union in June 1941.3
Did you think that the war was just about some land in Poland?
The war was most definitely about oil, Germany and Japan needed it, and the Allies sold their souls to the then leaders of the Middle East to keep them from supplying the Axis with oil. I'm very happy that the Allies won, but most of the war was entirely about who would control access to cheap oil in the Middle East and South Asia. A decent amount of the indirect blame why Germany lost was because they were cracking oil (in limited supply) from coal rather than getting it from Saudi Arabia.
All who said nothing (which would be lower than 230 million--those under 18 don't get a say yet), effectively voted for the winner by consent. Go write in Mickey/spoil your ballot if you don't like the candidates.
Almost nothing you said applies to me or most of my city. I'm in the USA, too. I love the job, it has it's moments (good and bad) and I spend about 1/18 of my life commuting (during which I am reading the paper or am walking a fairly scenic route). My city is very clean and not too ugly. There are a few hoods that aren't but even in the poorer areas there are gardens and trees. Some people might be disgusted, but that's sort of a personal view, I guess. Violence has been declining for 10 years (and non-violent crime as well).
I've noticed that there are lots of unhappy people trying to make it in one of the most expensive couple of cities in the nation but they are miserable (and generally not pulling ahead). To them, I say, Move! There are a dozens of wonderful places (yeah you might have to exercise some additional creativity in planning a few Friday night activities but overall you'll be much happier and less stressed than you can imagine).
Oh and for those worried about corporations running their lives: unplug your TV, you'll notice a very refreshing change in a few weeks.
Most of the mess that is currently in the Middle East now is due to promises made to both sides (Israel and the Arabic countries) to keep them from allying with the Axis in WWII. Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor was the result of our blockade on Indonesia (which was Japan's source of oil). Pretty much since the development of the internal combustion engine/tank/airplane every facet of geopolitics has been primarily about oil. Before that it was about coal (for steam ships).
This has been the case for some time, but is masked by Apple's lack of a low end model (so they don't offer things at the sub $500 price point).
Wouldn't he only be rolling in his grave if you try to observe him?
Yeah, I picked up 2 GB for my mini the other day and it was very cheap. Under $100, unfortunatly economics and Apple's lack of additonal expansion slots means my old ram is pretty near useless (perhaps I can make keychains or something from it.
I had no idea there already was a Google mars (www.google.com/mars) until today
Sugar and meat (chicken and fish) are pretty basic commodities. When those are unavailable your markets are very, very screwed up! Why on earth wouldn't imports increase at the same rate as eaters? Global food markets are very large, liquid, and pretty good examples of how markets work (shoot most rich developed nations inject huge subsidies into the markets driving prices below fair market value). The reason they can't buy food is step three of my cycle. This will not end well!
The governement that robs Peter to pay Paul can usually count on the support of Paul. Chavez nationalized all sorts of large landownings to redistribute to barrio dwellers (who know little about farming but vote early and often), so Venezuela is undergoing a food crisis (if you grow too much food your land gets taken and becomes unproductive, farms become less productive, so the price increases, so the government puts caps on the price, so farmers grow less food; go to 2)
It's not an urban myth, the state oil company of Venezuela owns Citgo, but not buying Citgo gas would have almost zero impact on Venezuela. Citgo stops selling retail gas but makes almost the same revenue and profit selling wholesale gas to BP/XOM/Shell etc.
In the fine print it says see 2 Peter 3:8.