I had to do a page for our real estate site on cheap homes. The result is here: Cheapest Houses for Sale in the U.S. I have to say I was shocked when I came to the Detroit listings. I knew Michigan was struggling economically, but there were more than 100 homes listed for under [...]
As reported in Reason magazine (July 2010) federal government employees generally make much more than their private-sector counterparts. Broadcast technicians working for the government make an average of $90,310 annually, while those working for private companies make an average of $49,265 per year. Government dry cleaners make $33,100 while those hired by private companies make [...]
I have a couple new pages up. First, I just put up a page about the concept of belief, and how sloppy we are in saying we believe something, as though the word means the same thing each time we use it. That page is here: What is Belief? Then there is my page about [...]
The education bubble is still inflating, and it seems that no matter how much college costs or how much debt people take on to attend, almost everyone assumes it is worth it to get that degree. Nothing can be worth any price, of course – something somehow forgotten during bubbles. With college there is the [...]
After some reading on the way international loans and what we call “economic development” programs really have worked historically, I have to ask a serious question. Is our wealth really ours? Let me explain very briefly why it might not be right to claim it is–at least not entirely. An outline of many true stories: [...]
Most people prefer simple ideas. Even geniuses like Albert Einstein like to keep it simple when possible. But Einstein understood that we can oversimplify things. He said “Simplify as much as is possible, but no more!” That last part is crucial, which gets us to today’s topic, the idea that SUVs are somehow bad because [...]
When talking about financial freedom, different people can mean entirely different things. For some it means getting to do what they want because they have enough money. For others it means having enough income from investments that they are free of any financial concerns. Of course, few people are actually unconcerned about financial matters regardless [...]
People have money trouble for different reasons. On the other hand, there are some mistakes and bad financial habits that are common in these situations. This explains why some people have these problems with money over and over. See if any of the following apply to you. 1. Not wanting to think about money. If [...]
Things are often not as reasonable as they appear to be when it comes to government regulation. They also are often not what they appear to be. With that in mind, here’s a different perspective on mandated auto insurance. First we start with the obvious – at least what is obvious to those who understand [...]
Forbes magazine recently did a profile of Victor Li from the the University of Michigan, and his newest innovation; flexible self-healing concrete. Great idea (and you should see the photo of the concrete bending without breaking). But that is not exactly what this post is about. Instead I want to look at another idea that [...]
