Scarcity

Due to an evil chief information officer, my training class was canceled. I hate the new CIO.

Holy Maneki Neko Batman!

I attended an Economic Conference in the DC area this week. I witnessed one of the worst presentations ever (WPE). This person created a presentation about how creative products/intangibles should be classified or estimated in the System of National Accounts.

Here is why this presenter sucked.
1. You finished your presentation by saying your summary wasn't worth it!
2. You contradicted yourself in your examples.
3. Your English was incomprehensible.
4. I'll never have those 15 minutes of my life back.

You have no excuse to speak so poorly. If I were presenting in another language...I would have written my speech and practiced. There is no excuse for poor planning, especially at this level.

How to run with the Economist Herd

Hi,

Based on observation and life experience I recommend the following to "fit in" with a group of economists. This is very helpful at economic conferences or safari as I like to think about it.

1. Wear funky glasses
2. Laugh at stupid jokes from the Federal Reserve presenter, He/She knows we'd give our souls to work there.
3. Have bad hair (this is a sure indication of genius!)
4. Develop a squint and head tilt
5. Run a chair-to-coffee-pot 5 second sprint and sometimes grab a pastry

That is all.

Irrational Consumer Behavior

Today I would like to rant about irrational consumers and the economists who love them.

1. I think that mortgage firms and borrowers are equally to blame for the crisis. On one hand, you have mortgage companies that makes money off of lending money to as many customers as possible. Then you have borrowers who want to pay as little as possible and who opted for adjustable rate mortgages or subprime loans which are very high risk. You have consumers that can barely pay and little or no penalites to the mortgage companies that finance these loans. Now you have state governments trying to intervene in real estate markets to reduce the number of foreclosures. Stupid consumers! Stop buying crap you can't afford! Stupid greedy mortgage firms, you should have done your due diligence! Dumb state governments, let them eat cake!

2. I don't understand consumer behavior at all you can eat breakfast buffet lines. I don't understand why people pile a ton of food on one plate. I mean they can theoretically go back for more. Why do consumers insist on piling eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, syrup, toast, oatmeal, more pancakes and crab legs (just kidding) all on one plate. Are they that lazy they can't walk up to the buffet to reload? I have a pet theory. They think if they don't get it now, it could be gone, so why don't they take it ASAP. They are inherently selfish and don't want to share the syrup. Thats my unscientific opinion.

If I got into the PHD Econ program, I planned to test my crazy ass theories in the experimental economics lab. But alas, perhaps it was not meant to be. Well, I will eventually apply to a higher ranked program so there! Hah!