Anyone hoping to have hip replacement surgery done in India will have to look elsewhere.
Category: Politics, Religion & Money
Tied to the Trailer Hitch
A few posts ago I commented on a report of institutional investors getting into residential real estate. Before that trend they were into mortgage-backed securities, and we know how that turned out. But now it’s actual property that big money is after, and it’s not just in the luxury market. The acquisitions go all the way down to the lowest rung of home ownership — trailer parks — as covered in a recent article in The New Yorker.
Flippin’ Off Investors
It’s one thing for individuals to try their hand at flipping houses, but now big money institutional investors are getting into the “we buy junk houses” business. This will distort residential real estate markets, especially for first time home buyers.
Wacky Over Khaki
Another 1943 cartoon by Bob Clampett that pokes fun at a Disney feature is the controversial “Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs.” What makes it controversial is the fun is at the expense of Black people. This video commentary was posted yesterday.
https://youtu.be/E5hnDTNB4Nw
In 1980, four years before Clampett’s death, Leonard Maltin wrote in defense of the cartoon that, “Many independent film makers have labored for years to create a short film as personal and unique as COAL BLACK, which was just one of a dozen shorts Clampett had to put on the assembly line in 1943.”
Between Two Ears
Behind the high school version of me in the picture above was a pair of Realistic MC-1000 speakers from Radio Shack. MC-1000’s are now a butt of jokes in audio circles, but only my steady girlfriend had more of my undivided attention than my stereo system did at that time.
Consumer Reports gave the MC-1000 a Best Buy rating. I bought a pair with money earned working at a restaurant (following my night working as a carny). At the time they cost $100. That’s equivalent to $600 today, which will still buy a very good pair of speakers.
When I quit the restaurant at the end of high school I was earning $1.85/hour, or about $11.50 today. The summer after graduation I worked for the town’s school system at the incredible rate of $3.00/hour, or $18 when adjusted for inflation. I could easily have been killed by an accident that happened while doing unsupervised and dangerous work for that job, but I escaped unscathed.
Even with the money spent on girlfriends, comic books and related items, and the stereo and records for it, I managed to save $2500 for college. That’s $15,000 in today’s money, which wouldn’t get anyone past their freshman year at even a public 4-year college.
P.S. to mih — We met 50 years ago this month. You were the one who told me I should get a job.
The Flawful Truth
If you have Amazon Prime, you can watch The Flaw. This documentary is an outstanding explanation of income inequality in America, and its role in helping to cause the Great Recession. Both the good and bad of Capitalism are laid bare. Spoiler: the bad comes from a lack of regulation.
I like that the starting point is one my favorite 2008 post-crash moments, when Alan Greenspan admits that his Ayn Rand Objectivist view of the world is wrong. Duh! I knew that after reading Atlas Shrugged on my own in college, while studying for my Economics degree.
The Flaw is very well produced, with a less foreboding tone than Frontline’s usual approach. There is no narrator, the interviewers are never seen or heard, and old film clips and animation are used effectively for entertainment value. The graphs are enlightening, and there are many memorable quotes from experts who know their stuff. The Flaw gets a DogRat ***** rating.
What’s changed over the past 10+ years on Wall Street? Nothing, thanks in part to the Fed still holding interest rates artificially low. I don’t see the $1400 windfall spiking inflation, and certainly not for very long; although I wish it were possible to target the payments more effectively, for those who really need it for necessities. The thing that could bring a return to inflation is narrowing income inequality. Which means it will be very difficult for the Fed and Treasury to manage, when and if it finally becomes a reality.