The 6 Pack Economist

If you ever hear someone tell you that “everybody makes money with ‘something’ ”.  This is a clue that the bubble that is “something” is going to burst.  Some common examples and the time periods of this are the following:

1.       Late 1920’s “Everybody makes money with stocks!” 

2.       Late 1990’s “Everybody makes money with tech-stocks!”

3.       Mid 2000’s “Everybody makes money with real-estate!”

Granted most of this is hind sight but I did warn those around me in late 2006 that this whole housing thing was getting out of control.  I know that I am freaking genius (sarcasm). Many people lose their head when it comes to the purchase of investments.  What people should look to when it comes to any investment be it a house that your live in (not really an investment) or a share of a business is what is it really worth. 

In the case of house, are the mortgage payment and other expenses, worth the joy and security you get by living in it?  How much is it really worth to stay dry when it rains. How much is it worth to have all your friends envy your place of residence?  How much is it worth to not hear the whore in the apartment next to you?

Is the business you are becoming part of worth the initial investment?  Will the business turn a profit quickly or will it take years to turn a profit?  Will the business be such a thorn in the side of another business it will be bought out (which was a viable tactic in the dot.com days)?  Or finally can you convince some other fool that it is worth more then what you paid for it (this is the case of just about every tech stock in the late 90’s)?

I think I just approved a bunch of comments that were actually spam, but it made me feel like someone was reading.  I personally think that I should just immediately purge anything from a cn or rus domain but I will wait till its a serious problem.
“circular logic gets me through the day”

I just wanted to put something out there because I am getting tired of the argument that the “public option” would just add much needed competition to the healthcare market.  For those liberals who now, after deriding competition in every other portion of their lives, have found a love for competition.  Then again when you are playing for the team that that referees bet on before the game, competition seems great.

Do these people really think that the public option will compete on a level playing field? Of course it will not.  The public plan will be able to run at a severe loss and just ask for more tax payer money.  The private plans will not be able to do this.  Ironically the profits the private companies will be making will be taxed, and this tax will go to help the public plan undercut the profits for the private company.  In addition, because current private insurance will be taxed as income, the private insurance companies will have to drop the prices of their plans to account for increased cost of the plans. 

I think many of the regular Joe’s pushing for the public opinion are primarily looking at this through hate filled eyes.  Much of this is probably warranted as the private insurance companies have pulled some very dirty tricks on people.  Issues from pre-existing conditions, dropping people for minor infractions, and just charging too much are all valid reasons.  I think in this case the cure is worse than the sickness.