news
Bye-bye Sun
Jan 30th
Sun Microsystems used to be one of my favorite tech companies. Here’s the SEC filing delisting them now that Oracle owns it:
NOTIFICATION OF REMOVAL FROM LISTING AND/OR REGISTRATION UNDER SECTION 12(b) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934. Issuer: SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. Exchange: NASDAQ Stock Market LLC
Unemployment post-recession
Jul 15th
This graph has been making the rounds (I got it from Barry Ritholtz’s). It shows the percentage change in unemployment (Y-axis) and the months since the official start of the recession.
What’s particularly dramatic about this is employment continues to worsen and over a much longer period of time than past recessions. E.g. this recession is going to be deeper and longer than past ones.
What I don’t like about this chart is that it is the percentage change in a rate. For example, the unemployment in 1960 was ~6%. A 50% increase brings it up to 9%. In 2007, unemployment was 4.5%. A 100% increase brings it up to 9%, too.
Closer to a new car?
May 6th
It’s one step closer to happening! Getting a new car based on a trade in might actually happen. It hasn’t passed the House yet (much less the Senate) but the leadership of both parties agree on doing it.
From House Reaches a Deal on ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Program:
Under the House plan, a car trade-in that improves fuel efficiency by at least 10 miles per gallon would qualify for a $4,500 voucher, as would the trade-in of a small truck that improves efficiency by 5 miles per gallon. The new vehicle must have a minimum fuel efficiency rating of 22 miles per gallon for cars and 18 miles per gallon for small trucks.
Stimulus and the Economy
Feb 18th
This chart from the Fed shows how far below capacity the economy currently expressed as a percentage of total capacity.
It’s the counter argument to the proposition that the stimulus is just going to crowd out private investment. Businesses have cut back on production because of reduced demand which further reduces demand.
Job losses as a percent of peak
Feb 9th
Ah, here’s the version normalized to the peak employment level before recession a started. From calculatedriskblog.com:
TED and Saturn
Feb 9th
I watched this TED talk on the Cassini probe to Saturn.
You can grab images here. It’s a great collection especially for setting as backgrounds. Here’s one from Nov 2007:
or this one from Oct 2007:
Job losses and consumer spending
Feb 9th
Is the past prelude? Here’s a comparison of job losses in all the post-WW2 recessions. Note how bad the slope is for the current recession. Be careful though, these are absolute numbers and not relative to population.
And here is the change in consumer spending over the past 50 years smoothed to six months — meaning some bad months have gotten smoothed over with the surrounding better months. Is this really the only the second time it’s gone negative in five decades? And that first time was only barely negative.
The world is getting better one step at a time
Jan 26th
It’s William Kristol’s last op-ed in the NY Times — ending one year of the worst written columns in NY Times history. Or as Political Animal “His columns combined the three worst qualities a columnist can have: Kristol’s work was wrong, predictable, and boring.”
From Will Obama Save Liberalism?:
This is William Kristol’s last column.
Warren Buffett and Obama
Jan 19th
Here is Warren Buffett interview by Tom Brokaw on Dateline NBC. Buffett is very positive on Obama’s leadership. (7 min):
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Interactive map of Gaza fighting
Jan 19th
This is a great map from the Wall St Journal about the fighting in Gaza. Click on the image below to go to the interactive map. Once there, you can click on the calendar for day to day events.
From 
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