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Friday

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  Is Increasing Federal Infrastructure Spending Helpful For The Economy? From the Stossel video, link below: The way the infrastructure projects are picked is the survival of the unfittest. The projects picked by politicians look good on paper, show costs will be very low and demand for use will be very high, but this never happens. Nine out of ten public infrastructure projects have massive cost overruns, most of the time 50% or more above the promised cost. The government has the worst types of incentives to serve the public, it’s not their money and if they lose it it’s not their own cost. … From article: Infrastructure Gap? Look at the Facts. We Spend More Than Europe To convince a wary public to spend more, piling onto our ever-growing trillion-dollar debt, big federal government advocates gin up national infrastructure emergencies claiming safety, jobs, and well-being are being threatened. Public spending lobbyists are ready to oblige with D+ report cards for “aging and unrel...
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Thursday

  Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 9 The Real Economy in the Long Run Chapter 27 of 36 Basic Tools of Finance Section 4 of 16 … If you are given the choice of receiving $50 now or $100 in ten years, which should you accept? Use the present value formula: · if r is the interest rate · then an amount X to be received in N years · has a present value of X / (1 + r)ᴺ · with an interest rate of 5%, the present value of $100 received in ten years is · $100 / (1.05)¹⁰ = $61 So, you should choose to receive $100 in ten years, its present value is $61. … In the previous section 3 one question was: would you choose to receive $100 today or $200 in 10 years? The answer depends on the interest rate. If the interest rate is 8 percent · $200 in 10 years would have a present value of $93 · $200 / (1.08)¹⁰ = present value of $93 · in this case you should take the $100 today Why does the interest rate matter for your choice? The higher the interest rate ...
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Wednesday

  Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 9 The Real Economy in the Long Run Chapter 27 of 36 Basic Tools of Finance Section 3 of 16 … If someone offers you $100 today or $100 in 10 years, which would you choose? Getting $100 today is better. You can deposit the $100 in a bank savings account and in 10 years still have it plus the interest you earn on it over the 10 years. Money today is more valuable than the same amount of money in the future because of interest. … If someone offers you $100 today or $200 in 10 years, which would you choose? To decide, you must compare money value at different points in time. This is done with a present value calculation. The present value of any future sum of money · is the amount of money today that would be needed · at current interest rates · to produce that future sum … Question#1: If you put $100 in your bank account today, how much will it be worth in 10 years? In other words, what will be the future v...
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Tuesday

Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 9 The Real Economy in the Long Run Chapter 27 of 36 Basic Tools of Finance Section 2 of 16 … Almost everyone eventually deals with the economy's financial system, including: · deposits in bank accounts · take out a mortgage to buy a house · invest in stocks, bonds, and funds for retirement account There are two related elements in almost all financial decisions: time and risk. The financial system coordinates the economy's saving and investment which are main determinants of economic growth. The financial system involves decisions and actions we make and take today that affect our lives in the future. But, we cannot know the future. When a person decides to save money for retirement or a firm decides to borrow money for an investment the decision is based on a guess about the likely future result. The actual end result can be very different from what was expected. … In this chapter some tools are intr...
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Monday

  Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 9 The Real Economy in the Long Run Chapter 27 of 36 Basic Tools of Finance Section 1 of 16 … Chapter 27 of 36 – Basic Tools of Finance – Topics Present Value: Measuring the Time Value Of Money The Magic of Compounding The Rule Of 70 Managing Risk Risk Aversion The Markets for Insurance The Peculiarities of Health Insurance Diversification of Firm-Specific Risk The Trade-Off Between Risk and Return Asset Valuation The Efficient Markets Hypothesis Random Walks and Index Funds Neurofinance Market Irrationality … … rationality and irrationality gōri-sei to higōri-sei 合理性と非合理性 … … Grok chapter 27 summary: Chapter 27 introduces the basic tools of finance, focusing on how people make decisions involving the timing of resources and uncertainty. The chapter begins with the concept of present value, which recognizes a dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future because money can earn interest. Present ...
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Scot and Fumiko pictures and information

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  Fumiko Scot's information: Weight at 166 pounds, got to 160 pounds five years ago and have recently been bouncing between 163 and 168. Common sense ways to lose and keep off weight are eat right and light and get lots of exercise. Main exercise is walking, do 1~2 miles most days. Over career worked as a salesman in the steelmaking, fasteners, and auto manufacturing industries, lots of travel in U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Japan. Have visited every U.S. city with a major league, MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, sports team except Sacramento, have gotten as close as Travis Air Force Base. Often traveled on Sundays, much time on the road so could not eat right and get enough exercise so got heavy, up to 200 lbs. Was on commission and made enough to retire early, able eat good food and get enough exercise. Now spend most time reading and writing. Our Wick branch goes back to the brother of owner of the Wick House at Morristown National Historical Park in Morristown New Jersey, and on back to Staine...
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HAT Manifesto Part 1/2 - Rubric Cube - 260405 edit

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  “The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.” - William James “All experience has shown mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” - Thomas Jefferson “Wherever good fortune enters, envy lays siege and attacks it. And when it departs, sorrow and repentance remain behind.” - Leonardo da Vinci “Struggle is the indispensable accompaniment of progress. If men were entirely social, man would stagnate. A certain alloy of individualism and competition is required to make the human species survive and grow. Without qualities of an unsocial kind men might have led an Arcadian shepherd life in complete harmony, contentment, and mutual love. But in that case all their talents wou...
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