Month: September 2011
The Friday File: The latest Easy Bake Oven comes with a new instruction: no light bulb needed! Consider it an unintended consequence of the government’s move to phase out incandescent bulbs. Designers of the EBO adapted and the ovens now…
Read MoreStarting 1/1/12 Europe will impose a cap-and-trade system on airlines to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Airlines will initially get free permits to cover 85% of their existing carbon-dioxide emissions but will have to buy any additional permits. While the…
Read MoreThe DE Supreme Court has ruled that insurance companies can challenge the legitimacy of life insurance policies that have changed hands. This has dampened enthusiasm of investors who buy policies from people in order to collect the proceeds when the…
Read MoreGovernment action is touted as a solution to “market failures” like imposing a tax on polluters to make them aware of the costs they impose on those who inhale their fumes. But, the cure (government intervention) may be worse than…
Read MoreWhile tough mortgage-lending standards are hurting housing, so is a lack of wealth. A census report shows 33% of Hispanics have zero or negative net worth in ‘09 up from 23% in ’05. For blacks the portion rose to 35%…
Read MoreThe Friday file: Because Rembrandt was an economical painter, his works tend to be small and portable. And, because his works sell for tens of millions, Rembrandt’s are stolen more often than any other artist save Picasso. About 80 of…
Read MoreWhile low interest rates are designed to encourage consumers and businesses to borrow and invest (with little success) the policy has hurt millions of older and retired persons. With money market funds paying 0.10%, 5-yr Treasuries paying 1.0% and 10-yr…
Read MoreRecently there has been massive realignment in college football resulting in fewer “major” conferences with more teams. I wonder if Congress will get involved. Might a Senator from a jilted school get the DOJ/FTC to investigate the idea that these…
Read MoreThe August Employment Report showed the average work week for all employees on private non-farm payrolls fell by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours. While seemingly uneventful, the decline equates to the loss of 325,000 jobs across the broad economy. The…
Read MoreThe recent $2.3 billion trading loss reported by UBS begs the question, what are these guys doing? The activity is called Delta One (D1) trading and involves trading derivatives. It’s appealing because buying derivatives is more lucrative than buying the…
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