Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Credit Crisis Explained
Check out this great video that I think does a great job explaining the basics of what's gone wrong with the financial system in the US. Thanks GetRichSlowly.com!
The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.
The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Fair Trade vs Free Trade (They're NOT The Same Thing)
Good old Fox News with their cute little conservative bias... (not that a non-conservative bias is any better - it's the consistent bias that is the problem I think...)
Listen to a MI Mayor lay down the Fair Trade vs Free Trade spiel here. Admittedly he's a little worked up, but I think I would be too if my entire State was being slowly picked and torn apart like MI is right now. Despite being a little too forceful, I think he's hitting the nail on the head.
Also I'd like to set something straight that I think many people providing commentary on the issues of the auto industry are getting wrong. People who want to see the Detroit makers pay for all their 'bad decisions' (and they did make some, though I'm not convinced their decision making can be blamed for all their current problems) always seem to head right for the issue of pay disparity.
They claim US workers in US plants working for foreign makers receive a lower average pay than workers employed by the Detroit makers. Usually they cite figures of about $30/hour for workers at foreign makers' plants and about $70/hour for workers at Detroit makers' plants.
I will track down an article to back this up, but to my knowledge, although the Detroit makers claim it /costs/ approx $70/hour in total compensation per worker to run their business, this includes pension payments, the health care plan, the job bank system, injury compensation, and all benefits related to retirees (and BTW, they are taking care of a century's worth of retirees and their spouse's pensions and health care!! These costs are often referred to as 'legacy costs'). All these things were conceded willingly and in good faith by the Detroit makers through contract negotiations. AND, I might add, all of which are on the chopping block as possible concessions that the UAW may be willing to make in return for job and wage guarantees.
The pay workers who are employed in the plants and working day-to-day actually receive in both 'domestic' and 'foreign' plants is actually about the same, though. I think it is slightly higher at the UAW shops, but it's not a lot. This is why this mayor guy gets so fired up when the interviewer starts asking about pay cuts for UAW workers.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
OTA TV
Check out this super awesome page that will let you search for over the air television broadcasts. It has a 'search by distance' function that lets you search based on distance from a specified long/lat, which is REALLY cool.
