JakeLopata Profile
Jake Lopata
Join Date:
2012-01-11
Blogs Owned
1. Common Sense
Common sense doesn't seem so common these day, therefore, the purpose of this blog is to make sense of current events and news, explaining what it means for you.
Latest Blog Posts
- Tired of Telecom?on Mar 29, 2013 in RegulationComplete list here For those of you who don't know about the Better Business Bureau (BBB), their purpose is create a buffer between bad businesses and customers. Complete mission statement here. I think of them as a national custo...
- Why China Does Not Own Uson Mar 28, 2013 in International Affairs economyRead this article from Krugman this morning and it reminded me of how annoying it is to hear people say things like, "China owns the U.S.". Xenophobia is no doubt the root cause for this kind of thinking and to clear it up r...
- Guest Post: The Value of a Higher Educationon Mar 18, 2013 in guest post EducationGuest author Angie Picardo is a staff writer for NerdWallet. Her mission is to help students stay financially savvy and save money with NerdWallet’s student credit cards. The Value of a Higher Education The value of...
- Raising the Minimum Wage: The Impact On Unemployment (Wonky) "If you raise the minimum wage, it will cause unemployment to rise". Intuitively, this makes sense. Raising the minimum wage increases a businesses expenses, so much so, that they may have to let some of the...
- Raising The Minimum Wage: Why Now?on Mar 4, 2013 in minimum wage Politics and PolicyThe above graph describes the basic argument as to why the minimum wage needs to be raised. If we adjust the minimum wage to account for inflation over time, it would seem the minimum wage has failed to keep up with the...
- Two Cows and Socio-Economic systemsA Tale of Two Cows infographic by kylatomdesign.
- Company Contributions To Political Parties Interesting graphic that shows a company's political allegiance (use the scroll tab on the right). It is sorted by "largest total contribution", so the more left or right a company is, the more they have donated. If you go to the...
- Raising the Minimum Wage: Good Idea or Bad Idea? Raising the minimum wage is back in the spotlight and as usual, there are vividly different views on whether raising (much less having) the minimum wage is a good or bad idea. As a scholar in economics, the concept of the minimum...
- Breaking News: Doctors Discover Economics BBC reports, doctors have discovered economics. The words "study" and "alcohol" initially captured my attention, but while I was reading the article it occurred to me; this article was really about doctors discovering eco...
- 100th Anniversary of the Tax System Yesterday was the anniversary of the tax system, CNBC provides us with some famous quotes about tax systems.The Republican War Cry: "I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's p...
- Economists In The News: Dr. Doomon Feb 5, 2013 in Economists In The News economyNouriel Roubini on CNBC Nouriel Roubini is an economist who is well respected around the world, when he speaks a lot of people listen. His economic outlooks are generally bearish, hence his nickname "Dr. Doom", but his latest out...
- Market Efficency or Employer Leverage?Wingham Rowan: A new kind of job market As Rowan mentions, these kinds of "National E-Markets" (NEM) are already beginning to pop up. For example Care.com, allows you to find care givers in your area based on your needs. They have...
- Democrat & Republican Economics John Maynard Keynes is to economics what Jesus is to the Bible. Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration but Post-Great Depression, Keynes introduced a whole new way of thinking about economics that continues to dominate economic di...
- Sequesters Lead to Austerity Above, is a video of an interview with George Osborne, basically the head of the United Kingdom Treasury. He is more or less charged with the responsibility of carrying out the United Kingdom government austeri...
- The Sequester Cliffon Jan 23, 2013 in Government Politics and PolicyIt really isn't too surprising we have a Debt Ceiling Delay, but, with the can now officially kicked down the road, it's time to get ready for another cliff! For those of you who want to have a good understanding of the seque...
- Debt Ceiling Delay...on Jan 22, 2013 in Government Politics and PolicyHere we go again, more delaying and less problem solving. Tomorrow (Wednesday, 1/23) congress will vote on suspending the debt ceiling limit until May 19th. Will this pass? Given congress's track record, it would seem puttin...
- Companies Do It, Why Not Employees?on Jan 16, 2013 in International Affairs JobsOutsourcing at its finest. This is a different spin on the usual outsourcing stories we hear, but not all that surprising if we think about the forces at work here. First, companies generally outsource...
- Law Requiring You To Register Your Name Online ....If you live in China. The idea of this sounds nice on the surface; people take responsibility for their comments and it cuts down on trolling. But in China, the Chinese government is watching your every move online. A...
- Obesity, Heart Disease, and Life Expectancyon Dec 26, 2012 in Healthcare GraphsLife expectancy by county and sex (US), 1989-2009 Follow the link to the interactive graphic. Something jumps out at me immediately (and it should to you too); life expectancy is lower in the southeast. This reminds me of anoth...
- Artful Representation of International CashflowsWhere does it come from, where does it go?
