More Madison Avenue manipulation

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Feb 17, 2010 in Blog | 0 comments Watching the Winter Olympics the other night I saw yet another manipulative advertisement, this time from Chevrolet.  Specifically for the Chevy Equinox model.  The ad boldly states as one of the reasons to buy the car that it gets 600 miles per tank.  I am certain that the intended implication is that the car is fuel efficient.  Yet the relevant measure of fuel efficiency is not miles per tank...
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The asymmetry of market rises and falls

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Feb 16, 2010 in Best of the Blog, Blog | 1 comment The financial markets are largely moving sideways, neither strongly up, nor strongly down.  In my opinion this is a proper response to unexciting economic and business news.  Firmly stated, stock markets are fairly, to slightly over-valued at this point.  This provides a convenient backdrop for today’s post which I hope serves as a cautionary tale. In life to create something wonderful and...
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An article in the WSJ

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Feb 13, 2010 in Blog | 0 comments The Wall Street Journal ran a story yesterday of import.  It is entitled, “Economists Expect Shifting Work Force.”  In it, the article states that the consensus amongst economists is that fully 25% of the 8.4 million jobs lost so far in the recession will never return. Analysis: While this article represents estimates by economists as opposed to cold, hard data, it is nonetheless...
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The anemic economic growth of the EU

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Feb 12, 2010 in Blog | 0 comments Fourth quarter 2009 GDP in the EU grew at a very anemic 0.1% relative to the third quarter of 2009.  That is the same growth rate as in Great Britain in the fourth quarter.  What’s more, when compared with growth the previous year GDP actually shrank 2.1%.  Not only that, but only Analysis: Yet another time on the blog when I am going to say: “This is not good news, folks.” ...
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Rescue plan for Greece?

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Feb 11, 2010 in Blog | 1 comment This morning the financial press are abuzz that a deal has been made by the EU to help its ailing member, Greece.  However, no details have been released as of yet.  Hmmm.  Not only that but comments from Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor, have been non-commital.  Comments off the record from German officials were also explicit that Greece will not be receiving funds anytime soon and...
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Imagine pay matching performance

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Feb 11, 2010 in Blog | 0 comments That scion of crazy executive compensation, AIG, today announced that it is changing the way it awards pay to its top executives.  Specifically, the Company is ranking employees on a scale from 1 to 4.  That rank will be based upon a comparison to other employees and upon the amount of pay already received, including bonuses.  It sounds as if the company will be compensating its employees based...
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The Fed Chairman addresses how to deal with inflation

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Feb 10, 2010 in Blog | 0 comments There are two major levers for economies around the world.  The first is fiscal policy.  That is, the collection of budgetary, taxation and legal choices made by the legislatures of the world’s nations.  The second is monetary policy.  That is, the interest rate and money supply choices made by the central banks of the world.  Within that framework, I would argue that this most recent...
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