Tag: economy

Musings for Labor Day Weekend

One legacy of the COVID pandemic is people re-evaluating work: what kind of work we want to do; what risks we are willing to take at the workplace; where we want to work; even how we want to be treated at work.

This is as good a time to point out as any that President Biden — neither the best nor the worst president we’ve had in my living memory — said in the State of the Union address that he both wants to reduce gas prices and get people back to working from their doggone offices. Seems to me that gas prices could be reduced by reducing demand and letting people work from home. But I digress.

This weekend we celebrate changes in our workplace made in the 19th and early 20th Century, giving us such things as a 40 hour workweek, overtime pay, the end of children working in factories, safe workplaces, and even a minimum wage that was originally intended to provide a living wage. It is an admission that we would not have the things this nation has without labor.

The status of regular workers has been declining for decades. Wages simply haven’t kept up with inflation, even the undercalculated inflation that currently is reported.

And so the Great Resignation happened. According to many, is still happening. Workers collectively said “Nah, we’re good. I’ll find something else.” You can measure the churn with the JOLTS report. And many who didn’t actually quit started dialing back what they actually did at work, or Quiet Quitting.

The name makes it sound like they stop coming to work. But no, they do come to work. They do their job and nothing more: no picking up slack, no adding additional duties, no overtime, no calls or emails after business hours. And sometimes they proudly proclaim it on social media. Another name for it is “acting your wage.” In short, it’s taking “they aren’t paying me enough for this” into practice!

Of note, there’s also such a thing as Quiet Firing.

Good news, there’s lots of articles out there about trying to combat Quiet Quitting: why people do it, what managers can do about it. Bad news is that the problem might be bad managers, who are unlikely to implement any of those strategies.

Wishing you a happy Labor Day. Furthermore, wishing you a safe job that pays more than enough to cover your bills, and leaves you glad you actually do it.

Happy Death Shorties 2U

Hey folks, time to get some tabs closed and share a few ideas.

On AirBnB: Now let’s be clear here. Clark County Nevada (where The Strip is) does not allow short term rentals of private homes. And no, it’s not because the hospitality industry has them by the throat. It’s because the locals don’t want party houses in their neighborhoods. But here’s some actual research on the impact these short term rentals have on the local housing market — where legal.

A few items on health insurance in the United States: It’s in a state of crisis.

And a few words on Abortion: I understand that Vice President Pence wants to End Abortion In Our Time. I hope that also means he wants to end rape and severe birth defects and risks to maternal life too. Here’s a few words about some of the issues.

Measles: As long as we’re on health related topics, here’s an infographic about how fast it can spread.

Green New Deal?: I know this is not a popular position right now, but I think this idea needs some work. No mistake, I want to see more clean energy such as solar and wind. But there’s too much wrong with what’s on the table. Switching to electric cars is not an end all solution. First, it does nothing about the fact that so much sprawl has made cars a necessity — and made it almost ridiculously difficult for anybody without a car to work outside certain large metro areas. Second, it only moves the pollution from the car itself to the dirty coal plant it comes from. And finally, it’s not ready for prime time. The range on a Tesla 3 is estimated at 264 miles. Per Google, it’s 270 miles from Vegas to Los Angeles. Lots of people make that trip regularly, and sometimes traffic gets backed up. Until the day you can do it without a stop to recharge (and I only know of one charge station in between) and a comfortable margin of error, it’s a no-go.

Huh, maybe that’s why the kids are not happy: turns out most people under 40 have been shafted by the economy.

But let’s end on a fun note: Some of the best pens you can buy, at a variety of price points.

A Shorties Place

Hello everyone, and sorry for the delay in posting.

Good news: Hospital acquired infections are down.

Not so good news: things are not so great economically for the class of 2018.

Don’t ask questions you don’t want answered: Turns out people think a living wage is a good idea. I find a good argument to be “if you like eating a fast food lunch, somebody has to prepare it. And students should be in school, so it needs to be an adult.”

On Democrats: Ok, I get it. Not all candidates are viable. But the party can’t keep running corporate-owned candidates under a mantle of “be reasonable! Who else are you gonna vote for?” Gee I don’t know, Republicans? Maybe somebody who actually has the appearance of caring for voters? Maybe we could have something like a “primary” to determine who “viable” candidates are? I hate when an election boils down to “which one do I hate least”.

We could really use Fred Rogers: Seriously. I think I’d even vote for him. Oh but who am I kidding, I’d vote for Teddy Roosevelt if he were alive.

On Child Marriages: Thought they only happened overseas? Wrong.  But oddly enough they only seem to happen to girls….

Mandatory Insurance is not Universal Health Care: Nurses think Democrats could get a few votes out of the idea of true single-payer universal health insurance. But no, that idea has had no political traction since the administration of  Richard M. Nixon. Insert sarcasm here about leftists and socialists.

And last: Fun with Naval Tats.

 

The Shorties on the Train

What do Dave Johnson and Donald Trump have in common?: Both agree that we have infrastructure that needs to be fixed. But I’m not hearing mainline Democrats or Republicans joining in. It’s not a brave political statement to say “Maybe we could put some people to work fixing some roads.”

Speaking of American Politics: I’m not the only one who noticed it’s crazy out there. Hillary has her share of foot-in-mouth disease. And Bernie is closer to the true center — the one that wants decent jobs and affordable healthcare — than anybody in the establishment wants to admit (which is why Trump is more welcoming to Sanders followers than Hillary; see the speech text above).

The Noose Gets Tighter: The Senate failed by ONE VOTE to pass a law allowing the FBI to look at your browser history for funzies. Remember come November. Meanwhile, US Customs wants to know the social media accounts of people entering the country. Because no terrorist is smart enough to say “no I don’t have Twitter” or give a username more generic than the one they use to keep up with the latest ISIS jihabi memes. Meanwhile, the TSA is still pushing their “get out of the security line free” card as a way to shorten lines at the airport. One user gave the ringing endorsement of “not so hard as signing up for Obamacare.”

Free Electronic Music: Moby wrote himself some yoga and meditation music. He decided to share. Very nice of him.

Not sure what to say about Brexit: So here’s one of the more intelligent things I’ve read on the issue.

Obligatory Economy Item: Wages have been stagnant for over 40 years when adjusted for inflation. Maybe some of these ideas could help. Oh, and don’t let anybody scare you about Social Security. Forbes is hardly a “liberal rag,” and they say that the latest scaremongering is way overblown.

Good Signs?

Yesterday there was a report on jobs and employment in the United States. And the news was good. In fact, the news was better than anybody expected! Unemployment is at a 7 year low. The economy is not just showing signs of growth, but robust economic growth.

Nor was this “growth only an economist could love.” Many things I’ve been harping on for years got better: wages grew faster than inflation; more people are working; there’s growth in more areas; more people are working full time! I’m not ready to say yet that the economy is all healed up — I know too many people who are unemployed or underemployed — but I’m willing to say that the light at the end of the tunnel is probably not a train.

Now all the Very Smart People are talking about how the Fed will now have an excuse to raise the interest rates banks charge one another when they meet next month. Some are saying that’s a bad thing. However, I think it’s long overdue.

 

Hindsight

Apparently, former Fed chief Ben Bernanke has a new book about how he saved Christmas the economy. That means a bunch of econ bloggers and Serious People have to say something about it. The NYT Sunday Book Review likes it, although they called it “a bit of a slog.” You can buy your own copy here.

In Closing: least of our worries; unfortunately I don’t see a way to solve this problem; I bet we laugh at this fashion trend a decade from now; yeah that’s a problem; breaking the rules; maybe you could have educated the patient up front?; and voting.

Shorties Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Hope everyone had a safe Halloween. Happy All Saints Day.

Dave Johnson Telling the Truth: on the economy; on secret trade deals.

Enough to drive you crazy: Meat is bad for you, unless it isn’t; calories are the only thing that matter, but what the study says depends on who is reporting. The researchers concluded “When compared with dietary interventions of similar intensity, evidence from RCTs does not support low-fat diets over other dietary interventions for long-term weight loss.”

Unlikely source: The Economist isn’t where you would expect to find a report on a new canid species.

All Asking For It: On average, police in America killed 3 people every day of October. ThinkProgress has some highlights of police brutality.

Damned Liberal Media: with their facts and bias.

Pretty In Pink: Even the editors of the Las Vegas Sun noticed the pinkwashing of girls Halloween costumes and toys, publishing this NYT article.

TIL: Some cultures have a “Toilet God.”

Gilligan!: 22 shipwrecks found off the archipelago of Fourni.

See everyone tomorrow for some Music Monday!

Tilting at Windmills

Today’s 2016 Election news — and remember, despite the clown car of candidates, the actual election is still over a year away — is perhaps the only time that Jim Webb will be the top story. He’s dropping out of the race. The next part is just bizarre. Reuters put this best:

Former U.S. Senator Jim Webb said on Tuesday he will drop his long-shot bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination and explore an independent run for the White House.

Yeah. Low in the polls, but he claims that’s because Anderson Cooper is a big meanie who let Hillary talk twice as long as him. So even though by his own admission independents don’t win, he thinks he’s got a shot.

Maybe he should invest in lottery tickets instead. They’re a better bet.

In Closing: Love this guy’s art; it’s in the stars; Bronies are now apparently a subject of scholarly research; at the very least, taxpayers should not be funding unsafe activities for children; I still think PreCheck is a bad idea if the TSA is really trying to stop terrorists (and a brilliant one if they are really trying to control the masses); on the economy; oops! and pizza alternatives — most can be made vegetarian, a few can probably be done vegan, some can be done gluten free.

A Whole Weeks Worth of Economy in One Post!

So USA Today has helpful hints for people of my generation towards saving for retirement. Unfortunately they forgot Step 0: have a job with a retirement plan and that pays well enough that you can actually save money.

So then, about jobs. Earlier this week, the jobs report came out. The good news is that there are more jobs. They’re even paying a bit more — by a whole $0.05 per hour (don’t spend it all in one place, kids). Yet still, unemployment claims are up and Very Serious People are speculating about plateaued progress and  The Next Recession.

Just maybe that’s why consumer spending and factory orders are down.

Even so, I am NOT among those calling for the Fed to avoid raising interest rates. For one thing, the Fed doesn’t have as much control as many people think. Second, the last several years should have proven that the interest rates banks charge one another really doesn’t have much to do with whether or not your boss gives you a raise. Third, I’ve been saying for a decade now that super low interest rates don’t actually stimulate the economy. Yeah, we’ve had super low interest rates for a decade now. Maybe if interest rates went up, corporations would spend some of their cash.

Of course, if you are very wealthy, the economy looks just great. Remember that when you listen to the 2-ring circus we’re calling “2016 presidential candidates.”

In Closing: Warren Buffet has single handedly prevented many unwanted pregnancies (and probably a few cases of cancer); The TPP is on life support, but still out there and it still is a no good very bad thing for average people; ain’t nobody but spies like us; more studies tell us the same damn thing; I am still not sure why anybody ever thought this was a good idea; to hell with the H-1B program.