Donuts 'n Disaster

By Ron Knowles

The chatter was noisy around the table this past Friday as we were eating out weekly ration of donuts. Trying to focus on one conversation was difficult but when someone brought up the subject of Oregon's unemployment it was like being in outer space, it got so quiet. We're experiencing over twelve percent joblessness in Oregon overall with outlying counties well over that number. I can't figure out why this state is always one of the first to get hit the hardest and one of the last to recover.

The donut crew as we've labeled ourselves are all over sixty five. And no, we're not immune to the Obama administration's Socialistic policies (as I call them) which are resulting in the economic demise of our U.S. economy. I know it's a little late for pointing fingers at the democrat voters as we're all suffering as Americans from high prices and job losses. And we don't know who exactly is behind it all, anyway.

Sitting on my right was Maria. She is 85 and is considered to be the matriarch of our group. She's got a good retirement income from the Fed. and lives worry free. She has a yard man mow her lawn, she travels a lot and sure doesn't do without. That doesn't mean she doesn't have a deep concern for her adult kids who all live in the chaotic state of California.

On my left sat Pete, in his seventies who suffers from a type of palsy but has a great sense of humor and tries to live out his days not thinking too much about economics. His wife Doris however, is very concerned. They've already had to sell their home because they just couldn't afford to stay there any more and now they live in a much smaller apartment. I'm sure she wonders what will become of her when Pete dies.

Then there was Bob and his wife Paula at the table. Bob is a diabetic who recently had stomach surgery. He's in his mid-sixties and officially retired, as is his wife, also in her sixties. But Bob still does accounting and taxes for small companies and organizations to bring in extra money. They're not immune to the economic pinch, either..

Being a sixty-six year old guy it would be nice to retire. So many people just assume that I'm enjoying the fruits of my past labor and living the good life. Here's a wake-up call for all of those that think everyone my age is actually retired. Many, many of us can't afford retirement. In fact, I predict that it's going to get a lot worse for seniors in the future if the economy continues as it is.

Take me for example; I write articles. This is one of many that I have published all over the Internet. This is how I can still make a living. I can't survive on Social Security income and I don't have a pension. I'm not complaining but this is what I do and will continue to do until I can't anymore.

This coming Friday the donut crew will no doubt seat themselves around the table again and chatter about whatever is on their minds. Life will continue, I suppose until one of us, some of us and eventually all of us pass into eternity. Until then however, our small group of seniors represent a microcosm of folks who are pretty much non-existent to most folks in this country. Who cares, really how this sabotaged economy is affecting us?

The politicians all want our valuable votes and promise us the world, which is not theirs to give away. And when many of us are swayed by their sweet talk and vote them into office, they promptly dismiss us knowing that we'll probably die off pretty soon anyway and besides, there will be a new crop of seniors coming down the pike to bamboozle come the next election cycle. - 31384

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When Too Big To Fail Becomes Too Big For A Lot Of Other Things

By Tom Wald

By Tom Wald

Anyone who knows me knows I hate the Wall Street bailouts. I think the concept of "Too Big To Fail", or TBTF as its now commonly abbreviated, is perhaps the greatest oxymoron of our times. If Too Big To Fail made any sense Aaron Gibson and Slavko Vranes would be considered the two greatest professional athletes ever. Never heard of those two guys? Well I guess that's sort of my point.

However, unlike a couple of athletes too large to keep pace with faster and more agile competitors, the TBTF bailouts on Wall Street have been what I call the non-violent crime of the century. You see when you take the taxes paid by millions of hard working Americans and hand that money over to billionaires so they can use it to pay themselves more billions after they've sabotaged the economy for everyone else, well I'm afraid at that point you might as well argue to free Bernie Madoff, at least his theft wasn't government funded.

Yet even after all of this our nation's new class system took a bizarre and deeply concerning turn last week when reports filtered through the news that Wall Street bailout recipients Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup had received doses of the H1N1 vaccine in quantities greater than and on delivery schedules well before those of public hospitals and doctor's offices. So in addition to getting their seven and eight figure bonuses financed by our taxes, these bankers and traders who created the economic mess that manifested itself in ten-plus percent unemployment last week are also getting the Swine Flu vaccine before our kids.

So now TBTF has become TBTWILFTV - Too Big To Wait In Line For The Vaccine. What might we see next? Commuter lanes on our highways for Wall Street employees designated TBTHTSIT - Too Big To Have To Sit In Traffic. Or perhaps government classified hot lines into Disney for Wall Street parents deemed TBTWOLFHMT - Too Big To Wait On Line For Hannah Montana Tickets.

Sound crazy? No crazier than a few hundred billion out of our pockets and first dibs on vaccines might have sounded a year ago. I wonder what kind of a response you would have gotten had you floated those ideas at an Obama victory rally. - 31384

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Reasons To Think About Selling Gold For Cash

By Hank Grey

Since the beginning of time, gold has been valuable, even when it was hard to come by. Back to the third millennium B.C, gold was used to signify wealth. It is still used in that capacity today. The Egyptians used gold as expensive jewelry decoration, with their leader on each necklace or medallion. Then there was the Great Gold Rush in California in the'00s. Nothing was more important to the people than finding gold. Some would sell gold, while others kept it as their most prized possession. Gold has always held an important place in our lives.

Today the price of pure gold is very high, going for over $1,000 per ounce. Some people have predicted that it might even get up to $2,000 per ounce in the near future. This is reason why many people are selling gold items they no longer use. If you have any used jewelry that is just collecting dust in your jewelry box, it may be time to turn it into cash. But what is the right price for your gold?

Since the cash for gold business is booming, there are a lot of gold buyers eagerly waiting for you to turn your gold into cash. They will take just about any kind of scrap gold that you have but example might include: broken necklaces where more than just the clasp or single link is missing, a single earring where the other is missing, out of style bulky gold chains, or just any other gold jewelry you don't wear anymore. Any of this type of scrap gold can be used to turn into cash which you can then use however you'd like. And this stuff doesn't even have to be broken. It can just be jewelry you don't wear anymore like a class ring. Think about this - if you never even take it out of the box anymore, any price is a good price.

Now comes the more difficult part of finding a gold buyer. Normally you're going to want to contact a gold refiner with a good reputation who is BBB accredited. Then they'll send you a gold kit to mail in your gold into them. You may have more gold around your house than just jewelry, so do a quick search around before you seal up the package. The kit generally has labels with the address already on it so you just have to stick them on and pack away your gold and mail it in. When the company finally gets your jewelry, they will appraise it and then send you some kind of offer. At that point you can either accept or reject it. If you turn them down, they will send you your gold back (which is one of the important reasons to pick a reputable buyer since some may not).

Let's look at a few factors that will impact the amount of cash offered for your gold. Pure gold may be close to $1000/ounce but jewelry is almost never pure gold because pure gold is too soft for jewelry making. Depending on pure your gold is will depend on how much an ounce gold buyers will pay you. Another issue is that the price of gold fluctuates minute to minute like the stock market. Your offer price will not change minute to minute but it is easy for it to change from day to day depending on the gold market. Some gold buyers may let you lock in a price when you contact them but if the price goes up then you lose out. - 31384

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Economic Thinking And Substance

By Peggy Stein

Econometrics unites economic theory with economic statistics and mathematics. The end goal is to analyze and test economic relationships, using different scenarios and theoretical situations to predict what might logically happen. Students who do well in this discipline are generally bright in financial economics, economic research and statistics. What started in the thirties following the Great Depression is now being offered by leading economists at universities around the world.

It's a common misconception that economic statistics and econometrics are exactly the same thing. The difference is that statistics are performed in controlled experiments with known data sets, whereas econometrics deals with data as is or data that is subjected to hypothetical possibilities too. Regression analysis is often used in this technique, which determines the mean of random variables is predicted based on the mean of previously measured variables. Other tools used include time-series analysis (measuring variables over a period of time) and cross-sectional analysis (studying the correlation between two variables at a certain point in time).

As such, econometrics is an important area of economic research today. Rather than just relying on theory, economists can ground their assumptions in mathematical evidence in a more practical way. In the end, they may find that reducing interest rates leads to rises in lending, based on past activity. Or one may note that income levels increase in a straight line with levels of education. Governments use this method when determining international trade policies and projected budgets. Businesses use it when planning salary increases, crafting performance expectations and deciding their budgets. While it may not be perfect, it is an important tool used in economics today. Institutes who require quantitative methods of analyzing data, forecasting, modeling and forming policy need this.33333333

Economics research experts say there have been 32 recessions since'54. The average economic recession lasted 17 months and began to expand for another 38 months before a full rebound was achieved. In recent history, we suffered a---month recession from July'81 through to November'82, an 8-month recession from July'90 through March'91 and another 8-month recession from March 2001 to November 2001. The current recession began in December 2007. While it caught average Americans off-guard, top market analysts were shaking their heads, saying they saw it coming for years.

According to "macro economics" professors Antonio Fatas and Ilian Mihov at the INSEAD International Business School, there were some "classic macroeconomic imbalances that predicted the crisis." They argue the best way to avoid an economic recession is to have a stable pattern of consumption that matches national GDP, as we see in countries like Germany and France. In the US, the GDP went up 1% in the first quarter of 2008, which is extremely low, and then retracted 0.5% in the third quarter, which is the worst decline since 2001. When advanced economies build insurmountable deficits and their Gross Domestic Products decline, you can be rest assured a recession is on its way.

"Economists are frequently interested in relationships between different quantities, for example between individual wages and the level of schooling. The most important job of econometrics is to quantify these relationships on the basis of available data and using statistical techniques, and to interpret, use or exploit the resulting outcomes appropriately" (A Guide To Modern Econometrics, Marno Veerbeek, 2008). In essence, this technique combines basic economics, observed data and statistical methods. The textbook goes on to say, "It is the interaction of these three that makes econometrics interesting, challenging and, perhaps, difficult."

Economic theory has become a popularity issue, even a political football of the elitists. Sound Friedman school economic theory has been put in the box by politicians favoring the drunken spending theories proposed by Keynesian economic theory. Theory need building on quantifying realistic relationships and accounting for potential cyclical explosions.The economic recession has spread its insidious tentacles outside of the U.S. to global economics, hurting countries like Latvia, Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Seychelles, Venezuela, Ukraine and Jamaica. Economics research shows that even the UK, Japan, China and Canada are feeling the pinch of America's pain. There's no telling how long we'll be in this recession or what the formula is for digging out, but many Americans are willing to trust the Obama-Biden administration with the task, while simply hoping and praying that we'll see a turnaround soon. - 31384

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Do You Know HowTo Accurately Compare Automobile Insurance Quotes?

By Nigel Vazquez

There are two main things one must do in order to get low-cost quality auto insurance for their vehicle, first you must get yourself quotes from all of the auto insurance companies you are interested in and then you must compare each quote side-by-side to locate the best deal available.

It is all too easy, and common I might add, for people to simply focus the comparison on the price. This is a very easy approach however it often doesn't pay in the long run. You see there are many other factors that can affect what you might end up having to pay further down the road.

Let's take a look at something's you should be considering

Payment Sizes

One thing to consider when you compare auto insurance quotes is whether you're being quoted for three months, six months, or a year; a great deal can turn out to be not so good if you read the fine print and realize that your quote is for shorter than the standard six month coverage period.

How the payments are structured may also matter to you when you compare safe auto insurance quotes.

An example of this for instance could be if you came across two companies that offer a similar amount of service at a similar price range but one requires you to pay a big deposit upfront where as the other does not. Naturally you may want to go with the company that does not require a big deposit.

How much coverage?

Just how much coverage do you want? You should come to a decision on this and then see how each safe auto insurance quote compares when it comes to how much you pay for that amount of coverage.

So if you find that a company's got a great offer and you have money left over in your budget, consider adjusting the coverage you request with that company.

In other cases, you'll have coverage amounts dictated by whoever's in charge of your car loan, so make sure that inexpensive insurance gives the coverage you need.

Just how stable and well known is the company?

It is important to do some research into the company you are considering going with, especially if this is a company you know nothing about, like with every industry there are scams to be avoided.

It is not unheard of for auto insurance companies to come up with excuses as to why they do not have to pay for your damages in accidents. These companies can be identified by doing a few searches to see what their customers have to say about their record in this regard.

So be knowledgeable about the insurance company you do choose when you compare safe auto insurance quotes, compare coverage and rating periods, and you should end up with good coverage at a low price. - 31384

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Locating A Vehicle Insurance Quote In Washington State

By Prebin Newcastle

Locating good auto insurance is normally a first priority for people moving into the Washington State. These people will generally do some calling around for Washington auto insurance quotes in search of the best possible rates and service for their money.

It might be with the same company that people had before moving, but it doesn't mean that this is what should be done. The bottom line is to get quality insurance by getting a few Washington auto insurance quotes to compare.

Washington State has a large number of auto insurance companies you can pick up quotes from. While doing this you must remember to always give each company the same data so that later on when you are comparing quotes you will be comparing like with like.

Make sure that when they give a quote it is based on the same information that every company was provided. The Washington auto insurance quote is the one piece of paper that shows the results of each of the companies. They will honor their quote for at least thirty days.

Some more info about quotes from Washington auto insurance companies

When going the manual off line approach, one thing that the insurance companies can do but usually don't do is to send the quote to the person looking for coverage. Doing this eliminates the possibility that the companies all get confused.

All details relating to the customer are generally kept on a piece of paper by the auto insurance firm. It is possible for the customer to keep this information also and use it further on to help them make the best decision in regards to which company to go with.

Do not forget however that most auto insurance companies these days provide quotes directly through their websites which can be e-mailed directly to the user saving him or her a lot of time.

By using the internet, a person can get all of the quotes and not lose them as stacked papers might be lost. All the person has to do is look on their computer for the saved file and compare with the other companies quotes.

With the computer, Washington auto insurance quotes are fast and the only part that takes any amount of time is the person's availability to reference all of the different emails to look for and choose the best coverage and over all deal. - 31384

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