Category: Economics

Categories
Economics Environment

[340] Of OPEC and gas prices in Ann Arbor

The gas prices here are crazily high. The last time I checked, it was around $1.95 per gallon. The lowest was probably $1.85 per gallon and that was in Ypsilanti. I can’t imagine the gas price in California; it has probably long passed beyond the $2.00 per gallon benchmark. I believe the cheapest gas price would be in Indiana, somewhere near Michigan City.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the OPEC President Purnomo Yusgiantoro believed there is an oversupply of oil in the market. Of course, Saudi Arabia and a few others oil producing nations have been saying the same thing in the past few months.

I on the other hand am not so convinced. Seeing the rising gas price certainly signals shortage of supply. Saying otherwise is anything but the truth unless the traditional downward sloping demand and the upward sloping supply curves are somehow wrong.

There are only three ways price could go up; the increase of the generic demand curve while everything is constant, the fall of the generic supply curve while the demand curve is unchanged or when both of the previous cases happen at the same time.

At the same time, despite the talk of inflation, I believe inflation has nothing to do with this; the only explanation is the supply and demand graph.

Therefore, OPEC is not telling the truth, or at least they are not telling the whole story. In my opinion, there are only two viable explanations and one conspiracy theory.

One, the quantity of crude oil is fast declining and they do not want to alarm the world. And thus, they are keeping saying the opposite of the obvious – there is an old saying that goes if you keep telling a lie, it becomes the truth – there is an oversupply of crude oil.

Second, OPEC is simply trying to capitalize on its monopoly power by charging the consumers above its marginal revenue. Before the rise of price, I am sure OPEC charges the consumers above its marginal revenue. Right now, if the second scenario is true, I am sure that they are increasing the distance between their marginal revenue and demand curve and thus, gaining great profit.

The conspiracy theory is that the Muslims countries, which make up the majority power in OPEC, jack up the price in order to punish the US. Yet, this sounds too fictionous if you ask me.

In any case, we the environmentalists are laughing our ass out seeing those SUV drivers pumping up the increasingly expensive gas into their tanks. And hey, it is fun to utilize the economic theory that describes the income and substitution effect of these SUV drivers. It is economics at work for us and cruel humor to savor by us.

Alternative energy now!

Categories
Economics Liberty Politics & government

[337] Of May Day

Capitalism is the unequal distribution of wealth. Communism is the equal distribution of poverty.

I dedicate this post to Keynes and Hayek on this Labor Day. They saved us from socialism and communism.

Categories
Economics Politics & government

[335] Of outrageous gas prices

Maybe, we need to reprioritize our wants and needs.

taken from Speedbump.com. Fair use.

Well, back to econometrics. Wish me luck for the exam.p/s – a major skirmish between the Thai authority and Pattani rebel had just happened, resulting more than a hundred dead. The event occured quite close to the Malaysian border and as a result, Malaysia is beefing up its security up north as to prevent a conflict spillover.

Earlier, Thailand Prime Minister had accused Malaysia of harboring these rebels but that misunderstanding has been solved a few weeks ago amicablly.

But make no mistake (love that cliche), something is really brewing up too close to home.

To come to think of it, it seems that only Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei could be considered safe and stable in the Southeast Asian region. In stark contrast, Indonesia has its Aceh and recently the reemerging Maluku problem while the Philippines with Mindanao and Sulu.

Well, maybe Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar sound stable for the moment but, pardon me, I don’t consider these countries as Southeast Asian. Their politics and cultures seem too disconnect with their archipelagoes friends – I could be wrong though; you could say almost the same thing for France and Cyprus.

Categories
Economics Environment Politics & government Science & technology

[332] Of Gmail, Climate Stewardship Act and a great satire

I have been invited to Gmail! w00t! 1 GB of space baby!
The layout seems to be very simple and I like it. Simplicity with a extraterrestrial free space is good. And just to show off, here is what Google sent me:

First off, welcome. And thanks for agreeing to help us test Gmail. By now you probably know the key ways in which Gmail differs from traditional webmail services. Searching instead of filing. A free gigabyte of storage. Messages displayed in context as conversations. So what else is new?

Gmail has many other special features that will become apparent as you use your account. You’ll find answers to most of your questions in our searchable help section, which includes a Getting Started guide. You’ll find information there on such topics as:

How to use address auto-complete
Setting up filters for incoming mail
Using advanced search options

You may also have noticed some text ads or related links to the right of this message. They’re placed there in the same way that ads are placed alongside Google search results and, through our AdSense program, on content pages across the web. The matching of ads to content in your Gmail messages is performed entirely by computers; never by people. Because the ads and links are matched to information that is of interest to you, we hope you’ll find them relevant and useful.

You’re one of the very first people to use Gmail. Your input will help determine how it evolves, so we encourage you to send your feedback, suggestions and questions to us. But mostly, we hope you’ll enjoy experimenting with Google’s approach to email.

Speedy Delivery,

The Gmail Team

Of course, there is a talk that Gmail violates privacy by scanning the private mail in order to display ads. But for the time being, the opportunity cost is low for me. I am willing to sacrifice a bit of privacy for one of my favorite firms. It’s Google for God’s sake. Who hates Google?

Maybe Yahoo! and MSN but hey, almost all of us hate MSN, don’t we?

And Earth Day is two more days. Do your bit for Mother Earth by reading the mail below!

Dear Mohd Hafiz, This Thursday, April 22, is Earth Day, and I have some great
news! Thanks to the incredible support from more than 850 online
donors, we have set a one-week online fundraising record for
Environmental Defense. We are now over $150,000 toward our June
1 goal of $725,000.

This is tremendous first week, and we thank everyone who joined
the 51 Club. Your commitment to Environmental Defense Action
Fund and our work to pass the McCain-Lieberman global warming
bill has gotten our campaign off to a terrific start!

If you have not yet joined the 51 Club with a minimum donation
of $51, don’t wait any longer! If you have already joined,
please consider a second or a third gift now —
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/n11Lsyp1SaI_/

Your support is critical if we are to win the 51 votes necessary
to pass the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act in the
Senate.

The odds are against us. Passing the most comprehensive and
practical global warming proposal ever offered in Congress will
be tough. Frankly, the opposition from special interest
lobbyists remains strong. It is precisely because
McCain-Lieberman takes such an important step toward reducing
pollution that the big polluters and many oil, energy and auto
companies are spending millions to stop it.

ExxonMobil is one such company. The extent of ExxonMobil’s
cynical public relations campaign came to light in a recent PBS
report on NOW with Bill Moyers, which reported that the company
has funneled millions of dollars to organizations that raise
doubts about global warming. Their basic strategy was laid out
in a confidential memo that blatantly spelled out their
disinformation tactics. The memo, titled “A Global Climate
Science Communications Action Plan,” reads: “Victory will be
achieved when uncertainties in climate science become part of
the conventional wisdom.”

Let us be clear: any type of “victory” ExxonMobil will claim in
pulling the wool over the public’s eyes will be short-lived.
There is scientific consensus about the dangers of global
warming, and corporate interests should not sway you from this
fact. We are up against some mighty foes, and the stakes are too
high to back down. This is why we are asking for your help
again.

So, this Earth Week, act now and join the 51 Club today with a
minimum donation of $51. Together, we can counter the special
interests and win this critical vote —
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/n11Lsyp1SaI_/

Sincerely,

Ben Smith
Manager of Online Activism
Environmental Defense Action Fund

PS: Thanks to the over 260,000 people who have signed our online
Emissions Petition supporting the McCain-Lieberman bill. Thanks
also to the hundreds of people who have mailed and faxed in
print petitions, which continue flooding into our mailroom every
day.

Fifty one bucks?
What can I say? Die Grunen: ekologisch, sozial, basisdemokratisch, gewaltfrei.
Anything for a noble cause.

One more thing, today in the Michigan Daily, Jess Piskor has written one of the best pieces the paper has ever published this semester:

The leaders of this worldwide revolutionary message are without doubt Electronic Arts, Chevrolet and Nike. Their slogans, taken together clearly spell out what needs to happen: “Challenge everything.” “Start a Revolution” – “Just do it.”

Kudos. Finally, after a lot of crap, somebody actually tries to reinstitute glory to the Daily editorial board.

p/s – Monaco is on fire.

Categories
Economics Politics & government

[328] Of Ann Arbor and David Brooks’ Liberal Air

Today, Ann Arbor gets two spots in the mainstream media. One concerns the latest longevity progress done by the University of Michigan and the other is about a satire – the satire proposes a “direct flights between Madison, Berkeley, Ann Arbor and the New School for Social Research“. Via Ann Arbor Is Overrated.

Finally, somebody mentioned Michigan and in particular, Ann Arbor’s liberalness (if that is really a word) in a nationally circulated newspapers.
I have no doubt, Bush will not get Michigan for November, no matter how hard he tries.

Crossing the Pacific, in The Star’s words, “Malaysia is set to become the sole global manufacturer of two models of Steyr assault rifles with a joint-venture agreement signed between the National Aerospace and Defence Industries (Nadi) and Austrian weapons-production giant Steyr Mannlicher Holding GmbH”.

I am looking forward to see the Free Aceh Movement to use the Steyr assault rifle smuggled in from Malaysia against the Indonesian national army in the future. Oh, the joy of a second Konfrontasi!

Not…