Economics
How to Lower NC’s Gas Price
North Carolina has the highest gas price in the lower 48 states. That’s the latest news on the gas price front. There’s a good reason that this is the case, too. North Carolina’s gas tax now sits at a whopping 27 cents per gallon. Unlike sales taxes, gasoline taxes are paid by the gallon, as [...]
Oil Company Boycott? Not Workable
I’ve just gotten another one of those viral emails calling for a day of boycott against the oil companies. These things seem so reasonable, on the surface. Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on your economic knowledge), the whole concept is unworkable. The standard line starts out something like this. “If we all used no oil for [...]
The Lorax – An Ecomonic Fable Revisited
Most anyone under the age of 40 who has read a book has read “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss. It is widely understood to be a book about how uncontrolled greed can cause environmental and economic ruin. Is that all there is to it? The Commons Blog puts an interesting spin on the story. “The [...]
More on the EU and the Euro
I know, I’m a bit of an economics geek. Disinterested Party has some quotes on the problem with the Euro that are quite interesting. There are some notes on the varied economics of the countries within the EU and how this poses problems. Heck, Italy alone has a widely divergent economy depending on where you [...]
Will the Euro End?
In a previous entry, I speculated on the valuation of the Euro -vs- the Dollar, should a widespread adoption of the European Union Constitution fail. I proposed this as a good question for the folks over at Marginal Revolution. Well, similar questions are popping up over there now, with speculation over whether the actual monetary [...]
Paper Recycling is Bad for Your Butt AND The World
So there I was, on the toilet at work. We have a fine restroom, with beautiful stainless steel sinks, track lighting and jazz music piped in from above. It’s really nice. When I reached over for some toilet paper, I found that this company, like so many others, uses that horrible recycled paper that’s less [...]
France’s EU Vote and Monetary Valuation
In recent weeks/months, the US Dollar has been losing value against other currencies, including the Euro. This brings a couple questions to mind. One, what happens to the Euro if widespread adoption of the EU constitution fails? Two, what happens to the value of the Euro, and the dollar -vs- the Euro, if widespread adoption [...]
Henry Ford -vs- The Selden Auto Patent
While reading a post on the pharmaceuticals market over at Marginal Revolution, I noted a link to the story of Henry Ford’s fight against the Selden Auto Patent. In a nutshell, George Selden conceptualized a poorly designed vehicle that ran on a gasoline engine. No part of it was terribly feasible, and no automobile was [...]
Black Market Candy – The Underground Economy
I was reading Bruce Bartlett’s article on underground economies, and it got me thinking. What is an underground economy, and how can we learn from them? This led to my own thoughts about what underground economies I had witnessed, and before long I was ready to spew forth with an anti-public-education screed when my browser [...]
Oil 101
A classic post from Lockjaw’s Xanga Page One respondent to yesterday’s blog pointed out that some have tried to tie the higher gas prices to President Bush, VP Dick Cheney and Haliburton. One of my favorite arguments is that Bush is pushing gas prices up so Haliburton can make more money. This concept is laughable. [...]