Recession?

So preliminary reports of GDP are saying that in the third quarter, real GDP decreased at an annual rate of 0.3%. It should be noted that this isn't official yet - that should be released around November 25. But this leads to the question, "Are we in a recession?"

The problem with answering this question is there is no cut and dry definition of a recession. Obviously it's a shrinking of real GDP (as opposed to a slow down - there has to be negative growth), but the question is how long (how many consecutive quarters) does there have to be this negative growth. A rule of thumb is two - which means that we're not in a recession. There was positive growth (around 2%, I think) in the second quarter, thanks to all those tax rebates.

But when it comes down to it, nothing is expected to change for the fourth quarter, which would mean two consecutive quarters of negative growth, which would mean, according to the rule of thumb, we're in a recession.

But does this really surprise anybody?

Family Ties

What is with the stupid little stick family stickers that I see all over the SUVs of Bakersfield? Now, these have been around for a long while, but I never noticed that I only see them in Bakersfield. I never see them in Sacramento or the surrounding area. You may say this is a result of spending most of my time around a college campus where there aren't a lot of family owned vehicles, but I also spend a lot of my time around soccer fields, where there are a lot of families. Did some car dealership decide that every family that buys a new SUV needs to have a sticker of them on their back window?

Musings while driving

As I was driving down I-5 and saw all sorts of SUVs cruising down the 5 with only one person inside at 80 MPH +, it occurred to me that there should be a tax that these people have to pay for unnecessarily increasing the demand for gas. I think a lot of people would claim that the market breeds efficiency, but that just isn't true. What it does breed is people who can afford to do so wasting resources, and making them more expensive for those who can't. So in addition to paying for the resource they are wasting, they should also have to pay for the increase in price due to the shock that their tastes and preferences causes to demand.

Of course I realize that this can't happen, but I can dream, can't I?

Note to self:

Don't ask questions when you don't want to know the answer.

Being right

So this weekend my team is playing in a tournament, and I won't be there. Part of me is very worried that things are going to go horribly wrong, while another part of me is kind of hoping that might happen so that my superiority might be proved. The main problem is that the other coach and I have distinctly differing coaching methods, and I happen to think that mine is better - I'm sure he thinks the same way. It would just be nice if I was proved to be right.

Also, apparently I use way too many economic terms in my political philosophy class. Now, this was never a problem when I was a undergrad, and I think it mostly has to due with the subject in this class - in particular, social justice that we've been looking at recently. This has hugely economic implications, and I find it difficult to not discuss without mentioning things like 'factors of production,' 'marginal productivity,' and 'utility of income.'

Today in class I pointed out that if one does not accept redistribution, than that implies one thinks the current distribution is just, and you can't do that without looking at the factors of production and determining if the current scheme - something like marginal productivity, but I would argue not exactly - is just. There are surely people that would say no (Marx comes immediately to mind).

See, see! I was right; they do exist together!

Newness!

A friend of mine sent me an old router, and I now have very decent internet access in my room. I'm also able to (finally) play Guild Wars up here, and we'll see about WCIII (which has previously been disconnecting me after a short amount of time.

Of course, this has happened right during midterms, which isn't the best timing for my grades, but I really don't care. I'm just so happy that I no longer have to brave silly teenage boys watching stupid YouTube clips if I need the internet any time after about 1:00 pm. Plus, I am no in charge of the home network, and no more shall the phrase "No, I don't know what the router's password is," be uttered in this house (at least while I'm here).

At least they're consistent

In a completely expected, yet oh so painful move, Fox has canceled The Riches, which will not be coming back for a third season. Please, Fox, do something unexpected - keep a good, quirky show around for more than 2 seasons. It must be admitted that the show was lacking in its second season, but I have to believe a lot of that came from the strike, and how can you cancel of prolong any show based on last season?

I love this commercial

If you haven't seen this yet, I don't know where you've been hiding. It makes me happy every time I watch it. If you've already seen it, you should probably watch it again, just because.

Discovery Channel

Boom-de-yada!

I also love this comic.

Exercising what I can

Apparently I need to google all words in potential titles of my blogs to make sure that I don't get people excited for steamy details about my life. I apologize. But really, you should know better.

I think my two weeks of no sleep officially begins tomorrow, although I should be getting enough sleep this weekend. In the span of two weeks, I have two midterms, a paper due, 1/4 of my semester's math homework, and two weekends of traveling. Yay me. It should, however, all be worth it.

As long as I survive.

I'm getting to experience the fun that the hive mind of female teenagers brings. I don't really remember being as bad as the girls I have to deal with, but that's possibly because I never found that much in common with my soccer teammates (other than the fact that we all played soccer) and so never got into the giggling/squealing fits that they seem to love. I've had parents tell me on numerous occasions that I will make a good mom because I understand very well how to handle teenagers, and that coaching this team is just a good exercise in patience. Yay, just what I need - exercise.

No more swinging

I feel like I'm back in the swing of my traditional fall, and I wish the oscillation would stop. Traditionally, fall has always been the busiest season for me, mostly because it was the season of soccer. When you're weekends get eaten up by something, you feel as if the weeks go a lot faster.

This is true again, but now my classes are getting into the swing of things, and midterms are just around the corner. Once again I have a group project where my group members refuse to communicate, or respond to communication, regularly. How fondly I look back upon those high school projects now.

I hate to say it

I hate to say it, but well, yeah. I just hate to say it.

The title to this comic read, "Except for anything by Lewis Carroll and Tolkien, you get five made-up words per story. I'm looking at you, Anathem." (I wikied it, and Anathem is a book by Neil Stephenson, which I now need to read). I'd also like to point out that this function is true of another series, which I think would be much improved if the author wasn't infatuated with his own ability to make up words and use language.