More on inflation

Flowing Data posted this nice graphic on the latest inflation numbers. Obviously, if you have a long commute everyday, then your wallet is getting thinner. Gas prices are arguably the most visible prices in our society. But most people are much less aware of other prices. A few other observations:

• Now could be a good time to start a plant-based diet, if you need that extra financial incentive. Meet, poultry, fish, and eggs have prices have grown at least twice as much as food and beverage category.
• It is also better for your pockets to be an alcoholic than a chain smoker (although these are not mutually exclusive and I am not taking future heath care costs into account!). Inflation of tobacco products is around 5%, whereas inflation of alcoholic beverages is about 2%.
• It is also a great time to buy a computer, with personal computer prices falling by about 8% over the last year. Here is more info on the so called "Great Deflation."

Click on the diagram below to expand. What strikes you here?

 

Great Economics RSS Feeds

Greg Mankiw’s Blog – although some posts pertain to his EC10 students, this Harvard econ professor, textbook author, and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers for President Bush posts some very interesting information, with an economics comic every now and then.

Marginal Revolution – this frequently updated blog is written by two professors of econ at George Mason University, Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok. A wide range of topics are covered, so there is something for anyone interested in economics.

The Sports Economist – this blog is run by a group of economists and scholars. While posts come fairly infrequently, they are very interesting and insightful.

Tim Harford – this RSS feed is a compilation of Harford’s work that is published in various publications such as the Financial Times. Harford is a economics columnist and has a Masters in Economics from Oxford University.

The Becker-Posner Blog – two great thinkers from the University of Chicago, Gary Becker and Richard Posner, offer their own opinions similar topics each week.

Freakonomics Blog – blog founded by the writers of Freakonomics. IMHO, I am starting to like this blog less and less because it is losing its focus.  There are less and less posts by Dubner and Levitt, and now a whole host of other writers are posting. While there is some good information here, I liked the blog better 2 years ago than I do today.

Daily Chart – The Economist – usually interesting and relevant charts that help tell the story of a major about economic issue.

Honorable Mention…

The Curious Capitalist, Economists Do It With Models

The Economist Goes Groupon

That's right. This morning when checking my email, the first email in my inbox read "60% Off Subscription to 'The Economist'". I thought I was dreaming... Seeing the Economist on Groupon was strange at first, given that previous purchases of mine include Redbox rentals, restaurant discounts, a winery tour, and an afternoon of paintball. I guess that is the beauty of it though. Anything can be sold on groupon if discounted enough so that people will buy it.

Anyway, here is the proof from today, $51 for 51 issues, just one dollar per issue. This includes full-online access as well. Currently, their best regular rate is $2.19 per issue, and their student rate is about $1.50 per issue, so this is a significant savings if you were planning on subscribing soon. If you are interested, there is only one day left to buy. This groupon is for new subscribers only, so unfortunately that excludes me. 

Some thoughts: I'm curious how profitable this is going to be for the Economist. I would imagine that their marginal cost of a magazine is close to a dollar, but they are likely planning that their new customers will like the magazine and a portion of them will renew next year and in future years. For more talk about the business of Groupon, check out Planet Money's podcast here.

To be honest, I'm pretty disappointed that I can't take advantage of this deal. If anyone knows of any other good ways for getting the print edition of the economist at or close to $1 per issue, please share in the comments below. I looked on ebay, and there are subscriptions to be had, but I am not sure how reliable subscribing via ebay would actually be. 

Amazon warms up to libraries

I am excited by the recent news that Amazon has decided to allow users to check out e-books on the device from public libraries. As a Kindle owner, I found it somewhat annoying that they were the last major e-reader platform to hold out.

In addition to Amazon's reluctance to enter this market, two of the biggest publishers in the US are still refusing to offer their e-books to libraries. The reluctance of Amazon and the publishers to jump quickly into this market makes sense. The library lending model could potentially be less profitable if it causes readers who would have otherwise bought the book or e-book to simply check it out from the library. But, opening up the platform could also allow content to reach more price-sensitive users who would not have read the book. Another benefit for Amazon specifically is that this strategy could encourage a new group of customers to go out and buy Kindle's at $100 a pop.

Now, if only Amazon would integrate the Kindle with Google reader so that I can read all of my RSS feeds for free... because right now it is a royal pain in the neck to use the experimental browser. What do you think Jeff Bezos?

A shortage of teachers

From Walt Garder's Reality Check.

The Commission on Teacher Credentialing said that the number of credentials issued annually fell 29 percent over the past five years, from 28,039 in 2004-05 to 20,032 in 2009-10. Although the decline was most evident in state colleges and universities, private colleges and universities also saw decreases. Even National University, a nonprofit school that offers mainly online credential classes, reported a drop of about 30 percent since 2006.

 And more...

The changing landscape is not limited to California. Virtually all states are undergoing similar experiences. The result is that teaching has lost its appeal for far too many college graduates. The timing couldn't be worse. Large numbers of baby boomers are starting to retire from teaching just when even larger numbers of children enter elementary school. Who will teach them?

With US demographics changing and less people deciding to enter the teaching profession, what can the public education system do to solve this problem? What is scaring potential teachers away from the profession? What can be done attract more teachers as well as brighter teachers to the public education system? When will teaching "get it's groove back" and be the highly respected profession that it deserves to be? These are some of the challenges that education policymakers are facing, and it is obvious that something needs to be done.

US Population Infographic

If you are curious about the demographics in the area in which you live, I recommend checking out this fascinating infographic from the NY Times. Using this interactive applet, you can explore population trends, population density, racial breakdown, and even data on vacant housing units broken down by each census tract.

I posted another infographic before from the NY Times, the CPI Interactive Chart. I find it impressive how enormous data sets can be presented in accessible formats. Feel free to share your favorite infographics and applets in the comments section.

Budget Deficit

Apparently my Dear Government post did not make it to Washington. The cuts thus far are a move in the right direction, but not substantial enough. Here's a chart from the Economist.

We'll be running a budget deficit for at least the next five years. Although the deficit is projected to shrink as a percentage of GDP, debt as a percentage of GDP is expected to grow. Hopefully reality plays out differently than is expected at this point. If serious changes are not made by policymakers, I am predicting a US government default sometime roughly in the next three to six years.

Closing the Gap

People in education love to hate on Michelle Rhee due to the painful changes that she championed in DC schools. Well, how did DC schools do under Rhee's leadership? Although her methods were unpopular, aren't student gains (or losses) what truly matters?

Despite the poor press, Paul Peterson says that "a case against Rhee has yet to be established," in a recent article. He refutes a couple of major studies, one by Alan Ginsburg and one by the the National Research Council. We all know that academics can never agree! Based on Peterson's analysis, the acheivement gap appears to have closed under Rhee on NAEP test data - although admittedly the time horizon was fairly short. What about the cheating scandal you might ask? The suspicious erasures appear to be limited to the DC high stakes tests to my knowledge. The only subject that lagged during Rhee's tenure was 8th grade reading. See the graphics below via Educationnext.org. The article is here,and here is a brief podcast with Paul Peterson. Does he have a point?

 

Additional links:

The Rhee DC Record by Alan Ginsburg that Peterson refutes.

My Favorite Things About the Economist

Anyone with an interest in economics, business, finance, politics, technology, war, current events... ok you get the point! Just about anyone with an interest in anything can find something that they like at The Economist. I wanted to share some of my favorite things from the Economist and how I consume the content.

• The Daily Chart
• I subscribe to this RSS feed in Google Reader. They post one interesting chart, map, or infographic every day. I will occasionally share a chart or two here on the blog.
• The Economist App

• I had been looking for an Economist app since I got my iPod touch a couple of years ago. It finally hit the app store last November. I can only imagine how useful the app must be on the iPad (sadly I do not own one). But given that it is free, I find it pretty useful to have on my iPod. (I still prefer reading on the computer if it is handy though). Having it on the iPod has been nice while travelling because I can preload several magazines worth of reading material onto my device, so even when I have no wifi reception I can read articles. I'll even listen to articles on long drives.
• They say on the website that complete access is only free to print and digital subscribers, but I have complete access to all of the articles. I must have found a loophole. I used to be a print subscriber and still have a username and password, but I am not paying any sort of monthly fee.
• They also have audio for each article if you prefer listening to reading
•  The Magazine
• Nothing can replace the experience of paging through the actual magazine. While I am not currently subscribing due to the high cost, if I can afford it in the future I will definitely indulge. It is only $2 to $3 per magazine depending on your plan, but magazines come out every week so it starts to add up.
• There is also a student rate that is a little bit more affordable if you have a student email.
• Economist.com
• Even if you are not a subscriber, there is a ton of free material on the website. I always learn something new every time I visit.
• The Global Perspective
• As a US citizen, it is easy to focus on domestic issues only. I really enjoy the global perspective that the economist offers whether or not I agree or disagree with the conclusions. 
• The Science & Technology Section
• This might be my favorite section of the website. There are articles about cutting edge energy technologies, global warming, diseases, and scientific breakthroughs, all dumbed down enough for an economist to understand.

A Life Changing Article

I was looking through some old emails the other day, and I came across an article from 2008 that I had filed away. That article is called The End by financial journalist Michael Lewis. If you have not read it, take the time right now. It is lengthy, but well worth the read.

Rereading Lewis's account of Wall Street reminded me why I chose not to go into finance and continues to make me question aspects of the industry today.  It also made me question my own motives and what type of life I wanted for myself. I never aspired to work on Wall Street, but I studied finance in college and seriously considered working in the finance industry outside of Wall Street. I am not suggesting that finance is evil. I do not regret studying it in college and think that it is great stuff to know as a consumer and business person. I am just acknowledging what greed and twisted incentives can do to people.

Image: Ji Lee @ Portfolio.com