> So now I count my calories (reasonably roughly) mainyl by weighing my > food when I'm cooking it. I've cut down my portions by around 30% - > which sounds like a lot, but honestly isn't considering I was eating > past when I was full.
I am lucky in that I don't seem to gain wait very easily, for whatever reason. However, I sit at a desk all day and this year I have not been as active as last year, and I can tell that I am slowly gaining wait beyond where I ever have before.
Something as simple as not insisting on clearing our plates could do a lot to avoid wait gain. As stupid as it sounds, the simple decision to stop eating when I'm full (not when my plate is clear) coupled with a bit of activity each week has already turned the trend backward for me. I don't claim that it's that easy for everyone, but I do think you hit on something important in that our culture encourages us to finish our meals even if we are done eating. I can remember my parents pressuring me to do this as a kid, in the spirit of taking portions that match my hunger level; but all it really did was instill a habit of eating until the plate is clear rather than eating until I'm satisfied.
> There is no such thing as real deflation from increases in efficiency.
This is incredibly incorrect. If you simply convert the average dollar prices of goods into average hours worked and compare prices in work-hours over the last century, there is a HUGE price deflation that was consistent and gradual over that century. This made us all richer because our time could buy many more goods.
> Change in the price level, inflation or deflation, is a monetary phenomenon.
No, this is the manipulated effect. The natural effect is due to falling prices as inputs become cheaper and competition maintains or decreases the profit margin.
> It's a function of the amount of money chasing the amount of goods and > services produced. Holding the money supply constant while the economy > grows (or shrinks) is no more "real" than changing the money supply > while the economy is unchanged.
No, it's not the same thing. Inflating the money supply punishes savers and rewards debtors. It is not a huge conspiracy; it is the government's short-sightedness and officials' understanding that they will be ousted when GDP growth falls. It's very logical from their standpoint. But between the erection of safety nets and the depression of interest rates by the FDIC and the Fed and the inflation of the money supply, we either spend or have our savings destroyed. It is no coincidence that savings rates were at 12% in the 80s and negative 1/2% at the height of our most recent bubble. If our savings rates were still at 12% at the time of the crash (if there even would still be a crash), we would not be in nearly as bad shape.
A legitimate question (not a set-up): Have you investigated protectivist measures your government may have enacted against "cheap" imports to favor your domestic goods during this period of relatively weak currency?
I love the anti-globalization people. You don't have a single economist, on the left or the right, who agrees with you, yet you won't let that stop you from being loud.
Your example is unintelligible, I think due to a couple typos and the lack of any indication of which dollar figures are real and which are nominal. If you care to reformulate, I'll respond.
But feel free to mock. To say that manipulating the money supply in order to cause nominal prices to seem to rise in opposition to real deflation from increases in efficiency isn't trickery is a bit odd. From what I could make of your very explanation, the whole intent of this practice is psychological.
Where does it say in the Constitution that the private banking system has the power to create money?
The rabble about banking ceasing when there is deflation is rubbish. In a capitalist economy, there is supposed to be gradual deflation because we become more efficient in producing the same goods, so prices fall gradually and steadily. This has nothing to do with loaning, although it would affect the nominal (but not real) inflation rates. Loans are based on the time value of money, which (again, real not nominal) is based on how much I want in order to tie up my capital for x months and how likely I am to get it all back. That has nothing to do with the future value of the currency.
The manipulation of the money supply is a trick government is playing in order to make asset look like they are constantly appreciating. They are not. Only one asset (the dollar) is depreciating. That has only one real effect: it punishes every saver, and rewards every debtor... including the US government and their $53,000,000,000,000 in debt.
The difference is that the government has already valued these coins at $50. Again, I go back to the penny example. A penny is 1 cent for tax purposes, even though the material is worth more than 1 cent. According to the US government $50 of paper money and $50 in gold coins are the same amount of currency, therefore it doesn't matter whether the workers were paid in the paper version or the coin version of $50.
I don't know what to tell you, buddy. This is airline revenue management 101. First class tickets as well as full coach fare tickets are sold to business travelers so that Ma and Pa can take their trip to Florida for the weekend. This is why Orlando flights are so much cheaper for vacation than Daytona Beach (MCO is a big biz destination, DAB is not). This is also why tickets without a Saturday night stay are suddenly 2x as expensive and tickets purchased less than 7 days in advance are suddenly 3x as expensive.
I know way too much about the fare buckets and the various ways that the airlines price discriminate in order to be competitive in the leisure travel market. I also fly 2 times a week for business and have purchased tickets under just about every scenario, putting me in just about every fare bucket available.
If you think it's a lie, I guess that's fine. But if that were the case, it's a lie that makes a ton of sense and I should probably sell my idea to one of the carriers. They'd have a huge advantage over their competitors for being able to offer much lower fares (below the per-seat cost, even!).
As for Southwest, they have lower costs for completely different reasons. They bought oil futures just before the oil bubble, so when everyone else was paying $120/bbl for oil, Southwest was paying $40/bbl. That makes a pretty big difference. They also do not have a hub structure like legacy carriers do. They fly only to select, profitable locations and that's it. Their low fares get people driving 3 hrs to one of their airports. These are the reasons they can offer marginally lower fares than the legacy carriers.
First, if they were to trade the $50 coin for $1000 in paper bills, then the gain would be subject to commodity capital gains tax, not income tax.
Second, there is no requirement to trade the coin for paper bills. It could be traded for goods directly. Technically if a $1000 product were traded for a $50 coin, that is likely a taxable event, but it's the same taxable event you would have if you traded your crappy bicycle worth $15 for a crappy fridge worth $100 on craigslist.
It's value is set by the US government. The US government set the value at $50, and you're saying he's lying by reporting that the value was $50? What are you smoking?
These are not collectors items any more than dollar bills are collectors items. This is minted legal tender created by the US government and with a face value set by the federal government. The same situation happens with pennies and nickels, where the materials are worth more than the face value set by the US government.
You better not pay your employees in pennies and nickels, then! The IRS will be knocking on your door for not reporting the higher material value and trying to avoid taxes by using their face value.
The value of those shoes can't be destroyed by the government printing presses. I don't understand your comment implying parent has no economic understanding. It sounds like his understanding of economics is what is driving his issue with paper currency.
We all get what he was trying to do. The point is that the US is minting a legal coin that is worth $50. The fact that people in the market will pay a lot more for these $50 coins is not relevant.
Pennies and nickels are worth more in metal than they are at face value (which is why there are laws making it illegal to melt them down). Do I need to report the elevated materials value or the face value?
It doesn't make sense, and this guy is exploiting inherent contradiction in the law.
That's because environmentalism is a luxury good. When your decision is between saving a rainforest or cutting down the trees to feed your family, you do the latter. When you're spending $8 on a latte, you have room to crusade for saving the environment.
No. Most priority lines are first class, business class, or frequent flyers. By the way, this is where the TSA got the family-casual-expert lines idea (which I think is one of the few things they've ever done right).
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I am not sure why I kept typing "wait" instead of "weight"...
> So now I count my calories (reasonably roughly) mainyl by weighing my
> food when I'm cooking it. I've cut down my portions by around 30% -
> which sounds like a lot, but honestly isn't considering I was eating
> past when I was full.
I am lucky in that I don't seem to gain wait very easily, for whatever reason. However, I sit at a desk all day and this year I have not been as active as last year, and I can tell that I am slowly gaining wait beyond where I ever have before.
Something as simple as not insisting on clearing our plates could do a lot to avoid wait gain. As stupid as it sounds, the simple decision to stop eating when I'm full (not when my plate is clear) coupled with a bit of activity each week has already turned the trend backward for me. I don't claim that it's that easy for everyone, but I do think you hit on something important in that our culture encourages us to finish our meals even if we are done eating. I can remember my parents pressuring me to do this as a kid, in the spirit of taking portions that match my hunger level; but all it really did was instill a habit of eating until the plate is clear rather than eating until I'm satisfied.
Unless you are planning on making a bridge from my home to work out of discarded GPS units, I don't see how this helps.
Have it report mileage at gas stations.
Congrats? How about all the stuff that gets covered by those news organizations but would never, ever be covered on BBC?
What if the transaction is happening online but wholly within in a state?
Oooo ooo tax haven!!!! Cheaters!!! Unpatriotic!!!! Et cetera...
> There is no such thing as real deflation from increases in efficiency.
This is incredibly incorrect. If you simply convert the average dollar prices of goods into average hours worked and compare prices in work-hours over the last century, there is a HUGE price deflation that was consistent and gradual over that century. This made us all richer because our time could buy many more goods.
> Change in the price level, inflation or deflation, is a monetary phenomenon.
No, this is the manipulated effect. The natural effect is due to falling prices as inputs become cheaper and competition maintains or decreases the profit margin.
> It's a function of the amount of money chasing the amount of goods and
> services produced. Holding the money supply constant while the economy
> grows (or shrinks) is no more "real" than changing the money supply
> while the economy is unchanged.
No, it's not the same thing. Inflating the money supply punishes savers and rewards debtors. It is not a huge conspiracy; it is the government's short-sightedness and officials' understanding that they will be ousted when GDP growth falls. It's very logical from their standpoint. But between the erection of safety nets and the depression of interest rates by the FDIC and the Fed and the inflation of the money supply, we either spend or have our savings destroyed. It is no coincidence that savings rates were at 12% in the 80s and negative 1/2% at the height of our most recent bubble. If our savings rates were still at 12% at the time of the crash (if there even would still be a crash), we would not be in nearly as bad shape.
True, but the politicians will be re-elected.
A legitimate question (not a set-up): Have you investigated protectivist measures your government may have enacted against "cheap" imports to favor your domestic goods during this period of relatively weak currency?
I love the anti-globalization people. You don't have a single economist, on the left or the right, who agrees with you, yet you won't let that stop you from being loud.
Your example is unintelligible, I think due to a couple typos and the lack of any indication of which dollar figures are real and which are nominal. If you care to reformulate, I'll respond.
But feel free to mock. To say that manipulating the money supply in order to cause nominal prices to seem to rise in opposition to real deflation from increases in efficiency isn't trickery is a bit odd. From what I could make of your very explanation, the whole intent of this practice is psychological.
Where does it say in the Constitution that the private banking system has the power to create money?
The rabble about banking ceasing when there is deflation is rubbish. In a capitalist economy, there is supposed to be gradual deflation because we become more efficient in producing the same goods, so prices fall gradually and steadily. This has nothing to do with loaning, although it would affect the nominal (but not real) inflation rates. Loans are based on the time value of money, which (again, real not nominal) is based on how much I want in order to tie up my capital for x months and how likely I am to get it all back. That has nothing to do with the future value of the currency.
The manipulation of the money supply is a trick government is playing in order to make asset look like they are constantly appreciating. They are not. Only one asset (the dollar) is depreciating. That has only one real effect: it punishes every saver, and rewards every debtor... including the US government and their $53,000,000,000,000 in debt.
The difference is that the government has already valued these coins at $50. Again, I go back to the penny example. A penny is 1 cent for tax purposes, even though the material is worth more than 1 cent. According to the US government $50 of paper money and $50 in gold coins are the same amount of currency, therefore it doesn't matter whether the workers were paid in the paper version or the coin version of $50.
I don't know what to tell you, buddy. This is airline revenue management 101. First class tickets as well as full coach fare tickets are sold to business travelers so that Ma and Pa can take their trip to Florida for the weekend. This is why Orlando flights are so much cheaper for vacation than Daytona Beach (MCO is a big biz destination, DAB is not). This is also why tickets without a Saturday night stay are suddenly 2x as expensive and tickets purchased less than 7 days in advance are suddenly 3x as expensive.
For more info, try here http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=airline+revenue+management and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_management#Airlines
I know way too much about the fare buckets and the various ways that the airlines price discriminate in order to be competitive in the leisure travel market. I also fly 2 times a week for business and have purchased tickets under just about every scenario, putting me in just about every fare bucket available.
If you think it's a lie, I guess that's fine. But if that were the case, it's a lie that makes a ton of sense and I should probably sell my idea to one of the carriers. They'd have a huge advantage over their competitors for being able to offer much lower fares (below the per-seat cost, even!).
As for Southwest, they have lower costs for completely different reasons. They bought oil futures just before the oil bubble, so when everyone else was paying $120/bbl for oil, Southwest was paying $40/bbl. That makes a pretty big difference. They also do not have a hub structure like legacy carriers do. They fly only to select, profitable locations and that's it. Their low fares get people driving 3 hrs to one of their airports. These are the reasons they can offer marginally lower fares than the legacy carriers.
First, if they were to trade the $50 coin for $1000 in paper bills, then the gain would be subject to commodity capital gains tax, not income tax.
Second, there is no requirement to trade the coin for paper bills. It could be traded for goods directly. Technically if a $1000 product were traded for a $50 coin, that is likely a taxable event, but it's the same taxable event you would have if you traded your crappy bicycle worth $15 for a crappy fridge worth $100 on craigslist.
It's value is set by the US government. The US government set the value at $50, and you're saying he's lying by reporting that the value was $50? What are you smoking?
These are not collectors items any more than dollar bills are collectors items. This is minted legal tender created by the US government and with a face value set by the federal government. The same situation happens with pennies and nickels, where the materials are worth more than the face value set by the US government.
You better not pay your employees in pennies and nickels, then! The IRS will be knocking on your door for not reporting the higher material value and trying to avoid taxes by using their face value.
The value of those shoes can't be destroyed by the government printing presses. I don't understand your comment implying parent has no economic understanding. It sounds like his understanding of economics is what is driving his issue with paper currency.
We all get what he was trying to do. The point is that the US is minting a legal coin that is worth $50. The fact that people in the market will pay a lot more for these $50 coins is not relevant.
Pennies and nickels are worth more in metal than they are at face value (which is why there are laws making it illegal to melt them down). Do I need to report the elevated materials value or the face value?
It doesn't make sense, and this guy is exploiting inherent contradiction in the law.
That would be capital gains and is taxed differently.
Yes, government price fixing... That's what we need to save the car industry and promote innovation!
That's because environmentalism is a luxury good. When your decision is between saving a rainforest or cutting down the trees to feed your family, you do the latter. When you're spending $8 on a latte, you have room to crusade for saving the environment.
For every animal you don't eat, I'm going to eat three.
No. Most priority lines are first class, business class, or frequent flyers. By the way, this is where the TSA got the family-casual-expert lines idea (which I think is one of the few things they've ever done right).