Are You Misinformed?

This is for policy wonks, 

think tank types, 

and those who like to stay well informed.

Over 20 minutes long

Idiot's Guide to Wealth Production.

H/T Fausta

Remember "The Customer is always right"

Don Otto forgot

“Don Otto’s Market wants to say we had few customers that understood customer loyalty and its importance to our business,” a message on its Web site reads, later adding: “If you came in only for baguettes, the occasional piece of cheese, the occasional dinner . . . you can not tell yourself you were a supporter of our market.”

The scalding remonstrance was written by Erin McLaughlin, 28, who ran the shop and is engaged to the owner, Michael Otto, 31.

“It was quite frank,” she acknowledged yesterday. “People don’t understand their purchases make a difference, and that by buying something that wasn’t exactly what you want, it gets you closer to what you want. It’s an investment.”

Barney Frank was a customer. The owners must have learned economics from Barney.

Hey Erin, Customers don't shop for "something that wasn’t exactly what you want". They shop for what they want. Next time, give the people what they want. No one is a "supporter" of a store. A store is there to supply a need or a desire. If your store does not supply that need or desire, then there is no need for the store.

QE2 The Last Gasp of a Monetary System: A Message to the World

See more at Inflation.us

Richard Trumka AFL-CIO is a tad dillusional...

No Deficit problem......
Maybe he is a tad short sighted?
A little Micro vs. Macro Economics problem?

WSJ quiz on economics. UPDATE

Zogby asked nearly 5000 people 8 basic economic questions. They also asked their political identification, given 6 choices: Very conservative, conservative, libertarian, moderate, liberal, and very liberal/progressive. It was in the Wall Street Journal

"Restrictions on housing development make housing less affordable." People were asked if they: 1) strongly agree; 2) somewhat agree; 3) somewhat disagree; 4) strongly disagree; 5) are not sure......

The other questions were:
1) Mandatory licensing of professional services increases the prices of those services.
2) Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago .
3) Rent control leads to housing shortages .
4) A company with the largest market share is a monopoly .
5) Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited .
6) Free trade leads to unemployment.
7) Minimum wage laws raise unemployment .

How did the six ideological groups do overall?
Here they are, best to worst, with an average number of incorrect responses from 0 to 8:
Very conservative, 1.30;
Libertarian, 1.38;
Conservative, 1.67;
Moderate, 3.67;
Liberal, 4.69;
Progressive/very liberal, 5.26.

UPDATE , The Answers..........

Restrictions on housing development make housing less affordable-(True/Agree)

Mandatory licensing of professional services increases the prices of those services-(True/Agree)

Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago-(True/Agree)

Rent control leads to housing shortages-(True/Agree)

A company with the largest market share is a monopoly-(False/Disagree)

Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited-(False/Disagree)

Free trade leads to unemployment-(False/Disagree)

Minimum wage laws raise unemployment-(True/Agree)

I got them all right. WSJ quiz on economics.

Zogby asked nearly 5000 people 8 basic economic questions. They also asked their political identification, given 6 choices: Very conservative, conservative, libertarian, moderate, liberal, and very liberal/progressive. It was in the Wall Street Journal

"Restrictions on housing development make housing less affordable." People were asked if they: 1) strongly agree; 2) somewhat agree; 3) somewhat disagree; 4) strongly disagree; 5) are not sure......

The other questions were:
1) Mandatory licensing of professional services increases the prices of those services.
2) Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago .
3) Rent control leads to housing shortages .
4) A company with the largest market share is a monopoly .
5) Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited .
6) Free trade leads to unemployment.
7) Minimum wage laws raise unemployment .

How did the six ideological groups do overall?
Here they are, best to worst, with an average number of incorrect responses from 0 to 8:
Very conservative, 1.30;
Libertarian, 1.38;
Conservative, 1.67;
Moderate, 3.67;
Liberal, 4.69;
Progressive/very liberal, 5.26.