Putting the "De" in Deregulation

R.I.P. Alfred Kahn. You were the reason why I was once able to fly from Buffalo to NYC for a mere $19.00.

Happy holidays from all of us at the Georgia Council.

Georgia Ports

Georgia Trend magazine has a great piece about the state-wide economic impact of Georgia's ports. Thousands and thousands of jobs directly and/or indirectly associated with the ports. Billions in annual revenue generated as a result of the ports and plenty of tax revenue going to the state because of the very same ports.

Include this article in your next International unit as a way to highlight Georgia's unique position as one of the leading states for global trade and commerce. I bet everyone in Idaho, Montana and Arkansas must be jealous of our bustling ports.

Your Weekend Reading

The "Economists Can Take the Fun Out of Everything" edition.

SMG Champion, Fall 2010

Super-huge congratulations to the team from Parkview High that came from behind to claim 1st place in the fall 2010 Stock Market Game simulation during the last week of competition. With an impressive final portfolio total of $276,235.02, the team bested the 2nd place team by more than $80,000.00.

The winning team, coached by Mark Leviton, will be honored at the annual Stock Market Game simulation luncheon in May.

Thank you to all of the students and teachers that participated.

Uneven it Is

And Flow it Does

Those Are Some Expensive Turtle Doves!

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 Christmas Price Index.

Anyone want to loan me $23,000.00?

Hans is the Man

Do yourself a huge favor and show this to your students. They will thank you for it...I promise.

I want to hang out with Hans Rosling for a day or two. Seems like the kind of guy who I could learn about 50 zillion things from by just standing near him.

Tax Breaks R Us

Today class we will be spending a little time talking about taxes. Everyone hates paying them. Nobody enjoys being taxed. Everyone is in the same boat when it comes to paying taxes right?

Well, maybe not. VERY interesting AJC article about tax breaks and who gets them. My favorite of the bunch? Easily this beauty...."materials used to construct an eligible corporate attraction that is dedicated to the history and products of a corporation which costs at least $50 million and has 60,000 square feet of space, including parking and landscaping."

Now that is one narrowly written tax break. I wonder how many companies would/could qualify for that one? Hmmmm.

Here is my idea for a tax break- it should go to 44 year-old guys who drive silver Honda Fit's who were born in a city that rhymes with Shuffalo who used to teach high school econ in a school that is less than 12 years old. Sounds perfectly fair to me!

SMG Week 9

Five more days to go and here is what we have...

1st place...Youth Middle School with $186,904.61
2nd place...Mountain View High School with $181,149.36
3rd place...Loganville Middle School with $174,359.70
4th place...Loganville Middle School with $162,574.16
5th place...Oliver Elementary School with $156,682.52

The finish line is near.

Your Weekend Reading

The "Good Question" edition.

Inside Job Review

Finally got out to see Inside Job over the Thanksgiving break. Going in I knew many of the details of the movie so I was not really surprised at what I saw but I still had a few "damn" moments along the way. As in, Damn!, that is totally nuts or wrong or unbelievable, etc.

I don't know if I will ever be able to get my head around the fact that some people at the center of the global financial collapse walked away with hundreds of millions of dollars ($470,000,000.00 in the case of Mr. Angelo Mozilo) while us lowly taxpayers were left holding the bag.

"Financial engineers build dreams, when those dreams turn out to be nightmares other people pay for it." I concur.

More here.