The Bowtie Economist's Daily Dose of 70-Word Wisdom


Damn Drugs

10/04/2013

The Friday File: Use of performance enhancing drugs is rampant despite the fact that there are tests and getting caught often results in huge penalties. The reason, inspectors don’t take testing seriously. Otherwise, they would catch to many athletes, sponsors…

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Presidential Path

10/03/2013

With the debt ceiling fast approaching, President Obama is caught between borrowing no more than Congress will allow him, or paying what Congress has instructed him to do, but not both. Either way, he breaks the law. Given the huge…

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Changing Faces

10/02/2013

By 2018, non-Hispanic whites under 18 will be less than 50% of the population under 18, with Hispanics, Asians and blacks collectively being the majority. By 2043, more than half the entire US population will be Hispanic, Asian or black…

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Furlough Farce

10/01/2013

With federal workers averaging $108,500/year in salary and benefits, if all 820,000 furloughed federal workers never came back, the total savings to the Treasury would be $90 billion/year. In a budget of roughly $3.5 trillion, that’s just 2.6% of all…

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Lower Limits

09/30/2013

While Capitol Hill talks about housing finance reform, Fannie and Freddie’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is doing something. They have already repeatedly raised the guarantee fee borrowers pay to insure their mortgages are paid off should they default.…

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Spectacular Sailing

09/27/2013

In a remarkable comeback, Team USA reeled in eight straight wins to capture the America’s Cup competition 9 to 8. They actually won 11 races but were docked two wins for infractions before the series began. The $300 million US…

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Pricey Policy

09/26/2013

To save lives, Congress requires all new cars and trucks to have backup warning systems to prevent the killing or injuring of pedestrians while driving in reverse. If installing a camera (the cheapest solution) costs $75/vehicle, the cost/life saved is…

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Petroleum Pricing

09/25/2013

In a sign domestic oil prices are expected to fall in the future, the price of futures contracts on West Texas Intermediate oil are cheaper the further into the future the settlement date. Futures prices are usually higher than current…

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Loathsome Lawmakers

09/24/2013

After excluding 590,000 postal employees and 1.4 million active military personnel, that leaves 2.15 million civilian non-defense federal workers. Should the government close, 40% of them, or 860,000, would stay home as they are non-essential. A one month shutdown would…

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Manufacturing Mojo

09/23/2013

While the number of manufacturing jobs in the US is rising, it’s primarily in sectors where plant is expensive, labor cost/item is low, and energy and transportation costs are high such as autos, chemicals, energy and refineries. However, where labor…

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