Re: financial leverage

2003-10-31 Thread alypius skinner
Short-term I would lose about 1-2% percent on the borrowed fund but in the long-term I would gain 1-2% when I lock in a long-term bond that has a coupon rate that is above the borrowed rate. I don't see how bond would be a loser if interest rates goes higher since I will locking in a bond

Re: MVT and policy portfolios

2003-10-18 Thread alypius skinner
- Original Message - From: fabio guillermo rojas [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: alypius skinner [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2003 11:47 AM Subject: MVT and policy portfolios - people spend an inordinate time satisfying extreme voters, even after

Re: Median Voter Theorem, Part Deux

2003-10-17 Thread alypius skinner
- people spend an inordinate time satisfying extreme voters, even after winning a party nomination They're trying to put together a winning coalition by targeting a variety of market segments. You don't see General Motors or Altria/Philip Morris targeting just the median car buyer or median

Re: immigration: net gain or net drain?

2003-09-18 Thread alypius skinner
Of course, if the losses from immigration restrictions are greater than you might think, the gains of weaker restrictions are also greater than you would think. When you double the number of immigrants, you will be admitting a lot of people with a lot of surplus, not just marginal

Re: Economics and E.T.s

2003-09-18 Thread alypius skinner
Well, we have reaches a level of life exactly equal to our own, and we haven't colonized anything beyond our planet. The tehnology is probably there, but the costs are high and the benefits are unclear. The same maybe true 200 years from now. (Gee, I hope this is on topic!) Anyway, a

Re: HEAVEN'S DOOR AFTER A YEAR - George J. Borjas

2003-09-05 Thread alypius skinner
billion--that's a .001% benefit to the average US citizen, and it may well be canceled out or worse by net negative externalities, which are much easier to enumerate than positive externalities, perhaps because there are more of them. ~Alypius Skinner

immigration's effect on per capita GDP

2003-09-04 Thread alypius skinner
enter under such an arrangement would be hostile to libertarian political thought. ~Alypius Skinner http://www.vdare.com/pb/cc_times.htm Contra Costa Times December 4, 1999 Immigration policy stupid, evil and hurting Americans By Peter Brimelow IN AMERICA, WE have a two-party system

US housing price trends

2003-08-14 Thread alypius skinner
Around U.S., a House Is a Home but Not a Bonanza August 6, 2003 By DAVID LEONHARDT FORT WAYNE, Ind. - On a tree-filled boulevard known as Doctors' Row, the four- and five-bedroom brick Tudor homes that are the jewels of this city's housing stock were selling for about $150,000 two decades ago.

Re: Absolute vs. relative income level

2003-07-23 Thread alypius skinner
Dear armchairs, i think there is a at least partial contradiction between the hypothesis of diminishing marginal return of income and the hypothesis that people care about consuming more than their neighbors or about earning more than their neighbors (Frank: Luxury Fever). If the latter is

Re: broadcast spectrum rent

2003-06-06 Thread alypius skinner
The spectrum leaseholders should be free of any content restrictions (other than the usual laws about fraud). That would create a market for the highest and best social use of the spectrum. I was cheering you on upto here. Banning content restrictions (which I think is a decision that

stock trade patterns could predict financial earthquakes

2003-06-04 Thread alypius skinner
Public release date: 14-May-2003 Contact: Denise Brehm [EMAIL PROTECTED] 617-253-2700 Massachusetts Institute of Technology http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www/ Stock trade patterns could help predict financial earthquakes CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--The stock market has its share of shakeups, but who would

Fw: Ruppert on ASPO Conference

2003-06-02 Thread alypius skinner
Bush Advisor Matt Simmons Who Advised Cheney's Energy Task Force Confirms Peak Oil is Major Concern of Bush Administration Peak Oil Symptoms More Apparent Recoverable Reserves May Be Less Than Hoped Natural Gas Shortages May Appear in US This Year Hydrogen

Re: Cost benefit analysis

2003-02-13 Thread Alypius Skinner
Does anyone know how often CBA is actually used in making policy? What percent of the federal budget (or state or local) has been determined by CBA?Cyril Morong I'm sure it's used frequently. It's probablyapplied something like this: "what's the minimum amount of

Re: Median Voter, Welfare State and World Power

2003-02-13 Thread Alypius Skinner
Bullshit or not? Assumption 1: There is a trade off between welfare state spending and military spending. Assumption 2: The more you spend on military, the more a gov't can project power abroad. Assumption 3: The Median European voter prefers more welfare state than Americans, who

book review: in defense of free capital markets

2003-02-05 Thread Alypius Skinner
http://www.derosa-research.com/barrons.htm July 2, 2001 IN DEFENSE OF FREE CAPITAL MARKETSBy David F. DeRosaBloomberg Press, $27.95, 230 pp. Reviewed by Gene Epstein This book is the proverbial tall drink of water after a long trek through an intellectual desert.

Re: Bubblemania

2003-01-30 Thread Alypius Skinner
Thanks for the accurate data. Elsewhere, I have read that the pre-war baby bust began in the mid-1920's--before the great depression--and so could not have been entirely a result of the difficult times of the '30's. If it isn't too much trouble, can you either confirm or disconfirm this

Fw: economic projections of the IPCC

2003-01-16 Thread Alypius Skinner
http://www.webace.com.au/~wsh/cool4.htm Issue 4 November/ December 2002 Concise and comprehensive paper by Dr Chris de Freitas pointing out myths and fallacies in the entire IPCC position. Dowloadable pdf file just over 1 Mb. CSIRO and the greenhouse game:

Re: FW: History shows paths to market crashes, but lessons seem forgotten

2003-01-07 Thread Alypius Skinner
should drive down both the price of stocks and the yield on bonds. ~Alypius Skinner

FW: History shows paths to market crashes, but lessons seem forgotten

2003-01-05 Thread Alypius Skinner
http://www.mail-archive.com/futurework@dijkstra.uwaterloo.ca/msg05751.html http://www.ardemgaz.com/tech/D4bcrashes6.html History shows paths to market crashes, but lessons seem forgotten LARRY ELLIOTT THE GUARDIAN, LONDON In the spring of 1720, when all of London was clamoring for shares

Study disovers Swedes are less well-off than American blacks

2002-12-29 Thread Alypius Skinner
This article can be found at several sites on the net. This link is to a left-wing site where the feedback was almost uniformly negative, but, as so often in leftist critiques, factually empty.Does anyone on the list have any comments about this story?Despite the fact that the left-liberal

Fw: Japan: Divorces and parasites upset the balance

2002-12-28 Thread Alypius Skinner
http://lists.his.com/smartmarriages/msg00075.html Japan: Divorces and parasites upset the balance Financial Review February 21, 2000Divorces and parasites upset the balanceTokyo Observed,By Andrew CornellOne of the enduring images of Japan, even in these recessionary days, is

Fw: Brains and Capital

2002-12-27 Thread Alypius Skinner
The Clout of CapitalFriday, April 19, 2002Donald LuskinThere's an important new book that every investor should read.First published as Luskin's Ahead of the Curve column for SmartMoney.com on April 19, 2002.THE FORCE OF FINANCEReuven BrennerTexere: 2002The Force of Finance is an important

can economists end recessions?

2002-12-19 Thread Alypius Skinner
(REUTERS) UPDATE 3-Argentina says to default again on World Bank debtUPDATE 3-Argentina says to default again on World Bank debt(Adds World Bank confirmation, separate bond, paragraph 6) By Brian Winter BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Argentina'sgovernment said it would default

is japan faking it?

2002-12-15 Thread Alypius Skinner
Eamonn Fingleton, Is Japan Faking It? The Australian Financial Review, Friday 22 November 2002, in the Review section: For a decade now, the Western consensus has been that Japan is an economic basket case. But this is a dramatic misreading of a perennially secretive society. ... The

Fw: cost of subsidizing a prodigal son

2002-12-10 Thread Alypius Skinner
In my opinion, here is another fine example of domestic political expedience triumphing over economic rationality. Of course, money isn't everything, but one also has to ask: what will we ultimately have to show for our national "investment?" And why do our politicians persist

Fw: Israel, An Economic Basket Case

2002-12-09 Thread Alypius Skinner
The social cost of the occupation by Nehemia Strasler Ha'aretz This week the parliamentary commission that investigated social disparities in Israel published a 55-page report dealing with the reasons for the increase in the socioeconomic gaps in Israel over the past 20 years. Even

James Rossi reviews Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz

2002-12-08 Thread Alypius Skinner
http://human-nature.com/nibbs/02/stiglitz.html Book Review Globalization and Its Discontents By Joseph StiglitzW.W. Norton Co., May 2002. 282pp. Reviewed by James M. Rossi. For most of the world's people, globalization has not worked out as

self-funding wars

2002-12-07 Thread Alypius Skinner
is that Iran will be our next conquest after Iraq--do they have enough oil left to pay for a war, too? If not, maybe Iraq could pay for both wars. ~Alypius Skinner http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/12/6/152909 Friday, Dec. 6, 2002 $2 Trillion to Fight Iraq? War with Iraq

Re: U of Cal scientists question efficient market hypothesis

2002-12-06 Thread Alypius Skinner
the typical mutual fund manager possesses--to take advantage of it. ~Alypius Skinner

Fw: Median voter theorem

2002-12-05 Thread Alypius Skinner
, are in many ways less striking than the parallels.) ~Alypius Skinner I've never really studied the Median Voter Theorem. Recently I read where someone claimed that the U.S. political system was designed to keep the two parties nearly identical by keeping other parties out. I assumed

U of Cal scientists question efficient market hypothesis

2002-12-05 Thread Alypius Skinner
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns3124 Statistical physics predicts stock market gloom 11:5902December02 NewScientist.com news service A statistical physics model is predicting that the US stock

Re: U of Cal scientists question efficient market hypothesis

2002-12-05 Thread Alypius Skinner
--- Alypius Skinner [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: A statistical physics model is predicting that the US stock market recovery suggested by recent rises will only last until spring next year, before tumbling yet further. Why would this contradict efficient markets? I originally called

Re: A Short Review of *Hard Heads, Soft Hearts*

2002-12-01 Thread Alypius Skinner
Jacob W Braestrup wrote: Alypius Skinner wrote Thus some sort of balance must be struck between compassion for our fellow man and maintaining the incentives for temptation-prone people (who are often the same as the incompetent or semi-competent people) to resist temptation

Re: A Short Review of *Hard Heads, Soft Hearts*

2002-11-28 Thread Alypius Skinner
is a policy guaranteed to increase abuse of taxpayer generosity. ~Alypius Skinner

The Fed's options

2002-11-22 Thread Alypius Skinner
(COMTEX B: Mortgage market commentary--Low rates require persistent panicNov 22, 2002 (Inman News Features via COMTEX) -- The tone of financial marketsshifted suddenly this week, favoring stocks and hurting bonds and mortgages. Byyesterday, 30-year fixed rates touched 6.25 percent in the

Fw: True costs of oil and gas (3 articles)

2002-11-10 Thread Alypius Skinner
Higher energy prices are needed now to signal the real scarcity to come. Without higher prices we will not invest in the alternative energy technologies needed for a smooth transition to the post-petroleum age. Without higher prices we will not conserve the fossil energy needed to manufacture

TEST--IGNORE

2002-11-03 Thread Alypius Skinner
problems with email lately; this is only a test; please ignore

Fw: America's Second Plutocratic Gilded Age Pt. 1

2002-10-28 Thread Alypius Skinner
Krugman tries so hard to make his case that he ignores some other factors (perhaps even more controversial) that contribute to some of the new social developments that Krugman describes. Unfortunately, I don't have time to comment on them, but they would not in any eventcancel out the

Will Britain succumb to Japanese disease?

2002-10-22 Thread Alypius Skinner
http://www.observer.co.uk/economy/story/0,1598,776295,00.html Will Britain succumb to Japanese disease? The spectre of deflation is haunting central bankers around the globe Faisal IslamSunday August 18, 2002The Observer In Waco, Texas, at President Bush's 'economic forum', the pom-poms

Re: (book review)The Case against Government Science

2002-10-16 Thread Alypius Skinner
greater practical results, equal results, or poorer results? Does anyone have any idea? ~Alypius Skinner

How the Greenspan bubble burst

2002-10-16 Thread Alypius Skinner
http://www.observer.co.uk/economy/story/0,1598,787908,00.html How the Greenspan bubble burst William KeeganSunday September 8, 2002The Observer There was a period during the chancellorship of Nigel Lawson when some Treasury officials favoured the 'spritzer' as a drink. This is neither

Global crash fears as German bank sinks

2002-10-15 Thread Alypius Skinner
so highly leveraged that it constantly dances on the precipice of disaster? Is the global economy really that fragile, or are the risks of catastrophe over-rated? Does anyone wish to venture an opinion? ~Alypius Skinner http://www.observer.co.uk/economy/story/0,1598,805683,00.html Global crash

Re: (book review)The Case against Government Science

2002-10-14 Thread Alypius Skinner
government funding of scienfic research? I am not convinced that this is the case, but, as they say, stranger things have happened. We ought to look and see. ~Alypius Skinner

Re: (book review)The Case against Government Science

2002-10-13 Thread Alypius Skinner
science? ~Alypius Skinner The review didn't seem to indicate that that was addressed. -jsh --- Alypius Skinner [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://www.cycad.com/cgi-bin/pinc/apr2000/books/ff_govscience.html The Case against Government Science The Economic Laws of Scientific Research

A man for all markets (interview with Galbraith)

2002-10-12 Thread Alypius Skinner
http://www.observer.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,805309,00.html A man for all markets At 93, the scourge of contemporary economics, JK Galbraith, is on the attack. The author of The Great Crash tells William Keegan that President Bush's moves against recession are no use at all Sunday

Re: WWII Germany - Olson - American South

2002-10-09 Thread Alypius Skinner
done in the north? If anyone has the answer to these questions, we might understand why the post-War South was for so long impoverished. ~Alypius Skinner

When Economics Shifts From Science to Engineering

2002-10-06 Thread Alypius Skinner
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/29/business/29SCEN.html When Economics Shifts From Science to EngineeringBy HAL R. VARIAN CONOMISTS think of themselves as scientists; their primary goal is to understand how the economy works. But scientific knowledge is not their only goal; as a famous

Re: Why does tenure exist?

2002-10-05 Thread Alypius Skinner
such as those of the Hutterites)? If so, they might shed some further light on the conditions necessary for tenure systems and lifetime employment policies. ~Alypius Skinner

Stock market shock explained

2002-10-04 Thread Alypius Skinner
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020923/020923-18.html Stock market shock explainedPhysicists model recent trading frenzy. 1 October 2002 PHILIP BALL

Re: charlatanism

2002-08-18 Thread Alypius Skinner
, but I don't think it is in print anymore.) ~Alypius Skinner

Re: Nations as Corporations

2002-08-18 Thread Alypius Skinner
their recommendations are. Free-riding might be dealt with by worker peer groups and by closely tying worker pay to the profitability of the profit center. ~Alypius Skinner

China Will Soon Be Second Only To The US

2002-08-18 Thread Alypius Skinner
Title: China Will Soon Be Second Only To The US http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2002/08/02/200208020048.asp China Will Soon Be Second Only To The USThe Korea Herald8-4-2 Over the coming decades, China will

Re: In Praise of Pay Toilets

2002-05-29 Thread Alypius Skinner
in some countries prefer policies which are economically irrational? How would either a businessman a priori or an economist after the fact go about estimating or determining which policy was more profitable? ~Alypius Skinner

Re: In Praise of Pay Toilets

2002-05-27 Thread Alypius Skinner
the point. The few pay toilets that I have seen in my life were in the very places you describe as 'competitors.' Why don't McDonald's, convenience stores, etc., make their restrooms pay their own way? Why pay for the maintenance out of their profits? ~Alypius Skinner