On the one hand, I want to be a great programmer. I want to be highly skilled and capable in my field, and I want to become a technical go-to person in software. On the other hand, I do not love computers, or programming, or work. They are merely interesting, things that I typically enjoy […]
Category: Economics
Thoughts on Cars
There’s one ideal way to own a car: Pay $0 for one that never breaks down. Wouldn’t that be great? Wouldn’t that be one of the best deals ever? Yeah, well, too bad. Every car decision is some combination of risk. You can pay a ridiculous portion of your net worth for a new car, […]
Personal Returns on Education
One clever life strategy is to carefully select your post-secondary education to maximize its ROI in your personal life. I’m not talking so much about monetary earnings as I am about the utility of specific skills in your life when they are used for you. For example, my degree is in Anthropology. This was a […]
The Ubiquity of Cyclical Spending
In a theoretical economy, the wages individuals earn through the value of their labor would be spent on the labor of others. A lawyer would use the wages he earns practicing law to purchase groceries from one who distributes groceries, he may also use part of his wages to make car payments to another who […]
The Power of Cash Position
My cell phone bricked itself this morning. Just completely shat itself out. Coma-inducing diarrhea. One moment it was running just fine, the next it was black-screened, and after several half-successful attempts to turn it back on, the damage seemed final. It even feels slightly lighter now, like its soul has leapt from its fleshly bonds […]
The Pernicious Lie
“It will always be tough.” Several years ago, I experienced a significant pay raise at my job and found that my money was melting away and I wasn’t sure where to. I was living with my parents to avoid paying rent and was using a large part of my paycheck to pay off my student […]
Assessing the True Cost of Things
One of my pet economic theories is that all items you can purchase can be analyzed from three cost perspectives: the initial cost, the inherent cost, and the extended cost. I’m certain I’ve picked this up subconsciously from real economists or economics classes, but it has proven quite useful in my purchasing decisions. Initial […]