Potraits of Power

What do Bill Gates, Condi Rice, and the MySpace founders have in common? They are proviled in this article about the 25 people who have made the most impact in 2006. The article has the catchy name: "Portraits of Power".

Portraits of Power

The man who broke the Bank of England

In class this week, I mentioned the famous currency speculator, George Soros. He famously "broke the Bank of England", earning over $1 billion in a single investment move.

Read more about how he did it and his very interesting type of philanthropy here:

George Soros

Time article about Soros

Is a burrito a sandwich? Someone pays $160K for a mushroom?

Some funny articles about food that I've run into recently.

First one shows the type of litigation that companies will resort to in order to maintain barriers to entry in their particular markets. Panera Bread apparently sued a shopping mall claiming that "a burrito is a sandwich". "The difference, the judge ruled, comes down to two slices of bread versus one tortilla."

Read about the details here:

Is a burrito a sandwich?

Second one reports that a Hong Kong property tycoon recently purchased a rare white mushroom, which he will eat, for the unbelievable sum of $160K!

A $160K mushroom?

What happened to the budget surplus?

Back in 2001, the government predicted a budget surplus of $5.6 trillion between 2002 and 2006. So, what happened to that surplus? This table from the CBO illustrates how recent policies and incorrect forecasting led the government from a $5.6 trillion surplus to a deficit estimated at $2.9 trillion!

Note the two largest factors: $1.8 trillion in tax cuts and $1.6 trillion in increased defense spending.

Cracking the college admissions code

For those of you applying to four-year colleges, I ran into this article summarizing the basics of the college application process.

Cracking the college admissions code

Economic challenges for the future

Now that the election is over, what are some of the main economic challenges this country faces? The budget deficit, health care spending, global warming, and living standards.

Time to tackle reality

Trade dilemnas facing the U.S. and China

Nice analysis of the consequences of our huge trade deficit and the corresponding problems that China faces with its huge trade surplus.

Trade traps facing US and China

Trade deficit hits record in August

Here is the article I showed you in class this week regarding the record trade deficits we are incurring.

Trade deficit hits record

Best jobs and employers in America

Thought this was kind of interesting. I like the #2 best job in America...

Best Jobs in America

Here's a list of the top 100 employers.

Best Employers

A measure of economic profit

In our recent micro classes we've discussed the distinction between economic profit and accounting profit. Here's a company that trying to measure "true profit", a measure very close to the idea of economic profit.

Measuring true profit

Great finance books

For those of you interested in finance and investing. I've updated my instructor website (link to the right) with some new finance book recommendations- under "Finance".

A great one I've been reading is The Future for Investors by Jeremy Siegel.

Future for Investors

Young voters can make a difference

A recent poll indicates that 32% of voters aged 18 to 24 plan to "definitely vote". If this pans out, it would be a record. The previous record turnout by that age group for a midterm election was set in 1982 — 26.6%.

Also, check out this article about how young people are becoming more involved with the world around them. This is a great development for generation Y. This article features an 18-year old Los Gatos resident who's now a freshman at American University.

Make sure everyone votes this November 7!

Poll suggests young voters could sway election results

Generation Y gets involved

The dollar must depreciate

This week we learned about the causes and consequences of the huge U.S. trade deficit. Here's an article that nicely sums up the issue and predicts that the dollar is in for some sort of depreciation in the future.

Gambling against the dollar