You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2008.
No explanation is needed for this story. The headline says it all:
Clinton Pushes Housing Market Fixes As Campaign Manager Sits on Board of Bankrupt Lender
The US already has a war on everything else. Why not a war on all things econom-ish?:
The Treasury Department will propose on Monday that Congress give the Federal Reserve broad new authority to oversee financial market stability, in effect allowing it to send SWAT teams into any corner of the industry or any institution that might pose a risk to the overall system.
Baseball season is ramping up. May as well drag out the old Who’s on First routine.
Turns out, Abbott & Costello’s Who’s on First routine is so enduring that it spawned an urban legend that they’ve been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
I came across an invoice for a computer my parents bought back on March 30, 2000. Interestingly enough, almost 8 years ago to the day!
It was a Dell, Dude! (whatever happened to that annoying guy anyhow?)
Dell Dimension L550r, Pentium III Processor, 550 MHz.
Mouse, Keyboard, 128 MB of RAM, 56k Modem…modem???
8x/4x/32x CD-RW CD Burner, a couple of cheap speakers, 17″ E770 Monitor (certinaly NOT LCD/Flatscreen)
One 1.44MB Floppy Drive, a 20 GB ATA Hard Drive (I was told it would “never” be filled up), random throw in software, Windows 98, Basic graphics card.
Shipping and Handling….$95.00.
How much for all of this computer goodness back in the day?
$1,460.05.
What’s it worth today? Yeah….that’s what you call deflation.
Electronics are notorious for being deflationary. VCR players. CD players. Walkmans. TVs. DVD Players. “Regular” DVDs. And on and on.
Gadgets and electronics companies must continually reinvent themselves or they are toast. The business model: make it cool, make it fast, don’t overcomplicate (or you sell only to the uber-nerds), make it at low cost, sell as many as you can to capture your margins. If you can, try to separate yourself from competitors as long as possible…they will be trying to knock you down as fast as possible. Think Apple iPhone. Think Wii. They’ll hang on a little longer than most, but even they will tumble.
Regardless of how ‘game changing’ the technolgy is, 5 to 8 years from the first sale, it will no longer exist…or be a commodity of sorts and be near worthless. Remember Atari? Remember $20 CDs? Remember cell phones with the bags that only the rich could afford?
While things these days feel expensive (gas, food, etc), take a closer look around and you’ll realize that life is pretty darn affordable. Especially if you don’t constantly buy all of the deflationary ‘doo-dads’ while not prioritizing for the more important things in life. Enjoy your gadgets and doo-dads. But don’t surround your life with them. They won’t be worth much for very long.
Here’s a nice piece from Mark Perry’s blog, Carpe Diem, on DVD Players as an example.
Well, eventhough the Red Sox and A’s played 2 official games…in Toyko…they are back playing exhibition games again, atleast for a short time.
In MLB’s attempt at showcasing the game in, well, creative manners, they went to the LA Coliseum. Yeah, that’s right, the stadium where David Beckham plays…..soccer.
Since they were trying to squeeze a baseball field in, the left field foul pole was only 201 feet. To put this in perspective, many Junior League (kids in early teens) baseball leagues have fences that are about that “deep”. Add a mix of athletic (and perhaps “juiced”) professionals and you can start understanding how ridiculous that is. They did try to compensate for the extremely short distance with a 60 ft high screen net. But, yes, there were not one but two homeruns (the linked article calls them “cheap”) hit over it nonetheless. I can guarantee you there were bets on both teams (lefties and righties) about who could hit the first ’softball’ over it. Kinda neat…but kinda feels a bit like WWE meeting MLB. Gimmicks for dollars.
But no matter if you’re a baseball purist or not, you can’t deny from a business angle, the gimmick worked. 115,300 ticket payers. For a game that doesn’t count.
The game was supposed to help commemorate the Dodgers move out west from Brooklyn 50 years ago. If this was the only “odd themed” type game this year, then I’d have a better time believing it. MLB is showcasing around as if it’s a traveling circus. And it’s not even Opening Day yet. Oops, no we already had Opening Day…in Japan.
I wouldn’t expect to see inflationary pressures from week to week, but I’ll record the price I paid for some more items I bought. Maybe it’ll help show the inflationary pressures, maybe not. Or maybe it’ll show that I’m not a savy shopper. Or that I buy some pretty boring stuff. So data collecting doesn’t sound fun, but actually it’s pretty cool when you have an theory you’d like to prove or disprove. I know, I know…my ‘data collection’ method may not satisfy the hardcore statisticians out there, but if that’s the case, then I encourage you do tell me how to improve…or collect your own damn data! Go grocery shopping and stimulate that economy! I dare you to be a glutton in the name of science, economics or just for fun! 
1 Gallon of Skim Milk = $3.09
5 Pack of Kroger Brand Active Lifestyle Chewy Bars (sounds like dog treats!) = $2.29 – $0.30 = $1.99 (Oats & Chocolate gotta be part of the inflationary pressure, right?)
1 Box Kellogg’s Raisin Bran (25.5 oz) = $3.78
0.90 lbs of Broccoli = $2.79
1 White Onion = $0.89
I think that’s about it as far as the stuff that should be inflationary due to the whole ethanol boondoggle going on.
If anyone has their own grocery shopping list numbers they’d like to share, write us! Data collecting is even more fun when we collect data together….in harmony (cue the feel good music).
Fuel costs. Food costs. Put entertainment costs on the list. Including Major League Baseball.
I’d like to see some detailed study about the supply/demand economics works in the entertainment industry. Dating myself, I remember when going to see a premium rock concert was around $18-20. And I gasped when movie tickets jumped from $3 to $5. And when my beloved Tigers stunk (ok, I know you give away tickets to cash in on the overpriced hotdogs, popcorn, pop, and beer) tickets for bleachers were $2.
Now…I seriously have to consider if I really want to see a band anymore. The question that I hate that keeps creeping in my head is, “is it worth it?” That includes comedians, plays, etc. I orderd up 6 games worth (2 tickets per game) for my Tigers this season….and I was having slight buyer’s remorse. Why? Because the tickets (for a decent seat) are so damn much! I’ll be going on a 4 game roadtrip to see the Nationals, Orioles, and the 2 F’in New York teams…but I seem to not mind that as much because they’ll be new experiences in new cities. That is, it’s the overall “trip” I’m paying for and not “just” the games.
So how, who, why, what are driving prices of baseball tickets to go up? Baseball has the most games of any major sport (ok – I can see high tickets for football since you only have 8 home games) and with a ton of seats…heck, Detroit is squeezing in almost 800 new seats this season, the Red Sox, Cubs, and several other teams have been creative in getting more people through the turnstiles, too. So…that’s more supply, right? And the demand apparently is still there?? At higher prices???
I’ll be honest. When I can, I’ll bring my own bottle of water or pop. Maybe even a snack or two. Peanuts work out quite well. I’ll get the hot dog or nachos or beer sometimes….but I hate having that stupid buyer’s remorse…for food! WTF.
I don’t know how families enjoy going out for entertainment ‘anything’ together much these days. Maybe it’s more family time and board games or bowling nights or DVD renting and popping your own popcorn. Maybe I think too much about this stuff. But at the end of the day, even if you don’t think about it, wouldn’t you notice it at the end of the month when you look in your wallet or bank account? Then again, I’m not one of those fill up the credit card types.
So that’s my gripe for today. Well, that and for the fact that MLB is going to have the Nationals play the Braves at the Nats new ballpark on Sunday…for a ONE GAME SERIES! The next day they go to Philly for a ‘normal’ series. Huh? Why? There’s weird things this season already…including teams having exhibition games in Major League ballparks for a couple of games. I have an idea of why. Simply, it’s money. Major League stadiums hold way more people than any Grapefruit or Cactus League park.
Which leads me to a question for another discussion for another time: all of these ‘creative’ ways of collecting revenue is certainly going to pay off the new stadiums and the huge contracts, but like the stock market, could this lead to a bubble of sorts? Especially when consumers are feeling the economic pinch and losing their homes? Something to ponder while having a beer at the pub while watching the ballgame on TV.
…as I was walking past a cubicle:“I was trained to not believe root causes.”
That was one of my co-workers, on whom our employer relies, at least a little, for its continued existence, and as a result, my own continued employment relies, at least a little, on the guy who said that.
I’m hoping that he just chose his words poorly. I’m hoping that he meant something different, like, “I was taught to verify root causes,” or, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to blindly accept the first plausible cause as the root cause.”
I’m hoping that was just an ill-formed utterance, because this is supposed to be a place where a high degree of precision is required to do one’s job, so hearing that scares me, just a little.
I’ll leave all the sloppy parking I see every day for another rant.
Some things just don’t mix well. Oil and water. Cats and dogs.
And, of course, drunks and swords.
Die hard baseball fans will often claim that they love the game because of it’s ‘purity’. It’s romanticism to say the least. And romance is nice. But the reality is, it’s far from ‘pure’. I was reminded of that again when I watched started watching the DVR recording of Opening Day in Japan (Red Sox v. A’s).
I remember the “good ol’ days” at Tiger Stadium when there were minimal advertisements…a good number of which were locally based, too. As the years moved on, I noticed more and more of the stadium’s real estate was being consumed by ads. They got bigger and brighter, too.
Well, I guess it’s partly “the Japanese version” of baseball since they do advertise on their uniforms (as well as other countries – think Mexico, Cuba, etc). But these were American teams. With their regular home and away jerseys. It’s not like the World Baseball Classic from a couple of years ago. The uniforms for each team were specifically designed for the ‘fun times’ tournament. It was an international ’softball’ league style of play.
What was noticeably different in today’s game? There were 3 ads per player. The first I saw was a RICOH in large letters on the batter’s helmet. That was my first “WTF” moment watching this game. Then I saw the pitcher come to the set position before delivering the ball. What’s that on his shoulder? A patch. For EMC. The data storage company. WTF again. Then there was some other patch on all of the ballplayers baseball caps. I don’t know, and at this point don’t care who was advertising there.
We exported baseball to Japan (it IS tied as Japan’s most popular sport…along with Sumo Wrestling). Will they export advertising on uniforms to the U.S.? It’s not a new idea. It’s been an idea that’s been discussed but considered taboo for quite some time. So there’s been talk, too, about players not giving it their all because they are afraid of getting hurt with huge contracts (or the potential for huge contracts)….would they/could they be influenced by potential sponsorship, too? Or even at a team level, could that happen? I don’t know the rules/regulations involved with ads on players in these various countries, but it’s concerning that it could soon be here in the U.S.
Increased advertising was supposed to help offset the contracts and keep ticket prices in check for the fans. Well, that hasn’t really happened from where I’m sitting. It’s too bad for a baseball fan like myself to get all giddy about watching season’s first Opening Day game and be disappointed that a) it was in Japan to begin with and b) I now have an unexplained desire to buy a new RICOH camera.
