Tag: Business

ECONOMICS: Inflation reduces real wages

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/05/fed-raise-interest-rates-shaft-american-workers-robert-reich

The FED is about to raise interest rates and shaft American workers – again
Robert Reich — Sun 6 Feb 2022 01.00 EST

  • Policymakers fear a labor shortage is pushing up wages and prices. Wrong. Real wages are down and workers are struggling

*** begin quote ***

Fed policymakers are poised to raise interest rates at their March meeting and then continue raising them, in order to slow the economy. They fear that a labor shortage is pushing up wages, which in turn are pushing up prices – and that this wage-price spiral could get out of control.

It’s a huge mistake. Higher interest rates will harm millions of workers who will be involuntarily drafted into the inflation fight by losing jobs or long-overdue pay raises. There’s no “labor shortage” pushing up wages. There’s a shortage of good jobs paying adequate wages to support working families. Raising interest rates will worsen this shortage.

There’s no “wage-price spiral” either, even though Fed chief Jerome Powell has expressed concern about wage hikes pushing up prices. To the contrary, workers’ real wages have dropped because of inflation. Even though overall wages have climbed, they’ve failed to keep up with price increases – making most workers worse off in terms of the purchasing power of their dollars.

*** end quote ***

It’s a fact of life the at the FED’s 2% inflation target is a joke.  The FED has debased the currency of 99% of its value with its “2% target”!  But over and above that, the inflation has been robbing poor people, working slobs, and senior citizens on fixed income.

So maybe a good liberal like Reich might be enlisted into the “End The Fed” movement.

IMHO we need to go back to “real money” aka gold and silver.

Under hard money, prices go down and real wages go up naturally.

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TECHNOLOGY: Add your COVID vaccination … but should you? (IMHO NO!)

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4034897/posts

You can add your COVID vaccination certificate to the Apple Wallet… but should you?
TNW ^ | 2/2 | Callum Booth
Posted on 2/2/2022, 5:01:47 PM by nickcarraway

*** begin quote ***

Spoiler: Yeah, why not?

The modern world hurts my brain. Let’s take the news that Apple enables users to store their COVID vaccination certificates in the Wallet and Health apps as an example.

When I first heard about it, I was pumped. Flashing my QR code to enter a restaurant or grab a coffee would be far simpler if it sat in my Apple Wallet. Friends, the time I’d save!

But, of course, the world had something to say about that.

We talked to 4 successful entrepreneurs This is what they wish they knew before getting started

While putting my digital certificate of vaccination in an easy-to-access place is cool… is it safe? And because I can do it, does that mean I should?

Something that seemed simple on the surface is actually a minefield. I wanted some clarity on this issue.

*** and ***

COVID vaccine certificates in the Apple Wallet app: not a huge concern To put it bluntly: there are no obvious dangers of moving your vaccine certificate to the Apple Wallet. This does come with a large caveat though, as this is only true if you tightly control what apps can access your data.

In this way, vaccination certificates differ from digital IDs. The majority of the former are digital by nature, while the most common forms of identification (driver’s licenses and passports) are paper-based. Digitizing them opens a huge and wriggling can of worms — while the vaccine pass system could actually benefit from being incorporated into the Apple Wallet.

So, there you have it! A little bit of respite before the modern world messes with our heads again.

*** end quote ***

It’s just too easy for the Gooferment make this the digital version of “show me your papers”!

It’s a BIG “NO” for me.

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Why can’t the USA be more like Estonia?

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

http://www.impactlab.net/2017/12/17/estonia-the-digital-republic/

December 17th, 2017 at 11:54 am
Estonia, the digital republic

*** begin quote ***

Its government is virtual, borderless, blockchained, and secure. Has this tiny post-Soviet nation found the way of the future?

The Estonian government is so eager to take on big problems that many ambitious techies leave the private sector to join it.

*** and ***

I asked Kaevats what he saw when he looked at the U.S. Two things, he said. First, a technical mess. Data architecture was too centralized. Citizens didn’t control their own data; it was sold, instead, by brokers. Basic security was lax. “For example, I can tell you my I.D. number—I don’t fucking care,” he said. “You have a Social Security number, which is, like, a big secret.” He laughed. “This does not work!” The U.S. had backward notions of protection, he said, and the result was a bigger problem: a systemic loss of community and trust. “Snowden things and whatnot have done a lot of damage. But they have also proved that these fears are justified.

*** end quote ***

There’s a plethora of great ideas in this story. So many that it’s hard to absorb them in one sitting.

I love the citizen is in control of their data. 

In the USA would be IMPOSSIBLE without the (unconstitutional) Social Security “number”.

Why can’t “we” have all these benefits here?

Simple Crony Capitalism. What would all the “info protection”, credit reporting, Gooferment “suppliers”  and consultants to the Gooferment do? All those lost “campaign contributions”! 

And, imagine all the waste, fraud, and abuse that would be found.

If DJT45 wants to drain the swamp, then here’s how to do it.

Argh!

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INTERESTING: 80% of doctors are expendable

Published on by reinkefj1 Comment

http://www.impactlab.net/2012/09/11/technology-will-replace-80-of-doctors-vinod-khosla/

September 11th, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Technology will replace 80% of doctors: Vinod Khosla

*** begin quote ***

Health care must be more data driven and about wellness, not sick care.

Eighty percent of doctors could be replaced by machines.

Khosla assured the audience that being part of the health care system was a burden and disadvantage. To disrupt health care, entrepreneurs do not need to be part of the system or status quo. He cited the example of CEO Jack Dorsey of Square (a wireless payment system allowing anyone to accept credit cards rather than setup a more costly corporate account with Visa / MasterCard) who reflected in a Wired magazine article that the ability to disrupt the electronic payment system which had stymied others for years was because of the 250 employees at Square, only 5 ever worked in that industry.

hosla believed that patients would be better off getting diagnosed by a machine than by doctors. Creating such a system was a simple problem to solve. Google’s development of a driverless smart car was “two orders of magnitude more complex” than providing the right diagnosis. A good machine learning system not only would be cheaper, more accurate and objective, but also effectively replace 80 percent of doctors simply by being better than the average doctor. To do so, the level of machine expertise would need to be in the 80th percentile of doctors’ expertise.

*** and ***

Can we do better in being more reliable, consistent, and creating a system process and design that is comparable to highly reliable organizations and industries? Of course. Can we be more systematic and doing the right things every patient every time on areas where the science is known to level of the molecule? Yes. Care must be incredibly simple to access, extremely convenient and intensely personal.

*** end quote *** 

Well, I am not a fan of America’s current “health care” system. Unless you’re trying to change it to the “socialized medicine” system found in the UK, Canada, and Europe.

I want improvement; not a retro grade or down grade to something worse.

And, of course, I think to the way to that is with less Gooferment and more liberty freedom.

After watching Deep Blue play Jeopardy, it’s seems possible. Doctor House could be a less smelly less crazy diagnostician. I’d have  gladly liked my wife’s case presented to Doctor Deep Blue. It couldn’t have had a worse outcome. 

Then look at all the regulation and costs imposed by that regulation.

The FDA, Medicare / Medicaid, Doctor licensing, Nurse Licensing, Pharmacist Licensing, Pharmacy regulation, Hospital regulation, Insurance regulation, State regulation, Federal regulation, financial regulation, tax code manipulation, Medical education regulation, anti-trust legislation that allows the AMA a monopoly, …  

Did I miss any?

Sigh!

How do we get out of this mess?

Let people make mistakes. Shade tree mechanics. Turn it over to WalMart.

Medicine should be patient driven.

Look at pet care. Competitive. “Cheap”. Easily found. No forms. No real regulation.

Imagine if a Nurse could have her own “practice”. Finding sick people and getting them to the doctor or hospital. Physician’s assistants would be an extension of the system. Everyone says early detection is crucial to good outcomes. Everyone says that rapid care is essential to good outcomes. Everyone says that over use of the ER is driving up costs and wait times. 

Yada, yada, yada …

It could be so much better.

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GOLD: Asian gold theft crisis in the UK

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/31/gold-theft-asian-families

The great Asian gold theft crisis
With its value at a record high, gold has never been more attractive to thieves. Now burglars with metal detectors are targeting the homes of British Asian families for their collections of high-quality ‘Indian gold’ jewellery
Emine Saner        Emine Saner        guardian.co.uk
Tuesday 31 January 2012 15.00 EST

*** begin quote ***

Five weeks ago, she came home one evening to find the door ajar. The downstairs floor of her house was relatively untouched but upstairs the bedrooms had been ransacked – drawers opened, wardrobes emptied, clothes and belongings scattered everywhere. “It was such a huge shock,” she says, sitting on the sofa, her voice breaking slightly. Her husband, Mr Rashid (neither want to give their full names), a big man sitting across the room, shakes his head. “They took it all,” he says.

The thieves who broke into this semi-detached house in Earley, near Reading, stole around £70,000-worth of gold jewellery. To those who are not from a south Asian family, it might seem remarkable to own so much valuable jewellery, but families such as the Rashids (Mr Rashid runs a small business) live in ordinary houses and are not particularly wealthy. Their gold collection – elaborate necklaces, rings, earrings and bangles – is treasure that has been handed down from generations of their families in Pakistan or bought as wedding gifts. It’s our savings, our security, says Mrs Rashid, visibly upset. If, in future, the family needed money, they would have sold some pieces. “It’s like paying a mortgage for 20 years and then having a house worth thousands of pounds afterwards – it’s the same thing with gold,” she says. “Our parents gave it to us, we would have given it to our children, they would have given it to their children,” says her husband. They tried to put their gold in the bank, but “there were no lockers available. Everyone is looking for one.”

*** end quote ***

Camouflage!

You have to not look like a victim. And, make it hard to find.

Crazy that you can’t be secure in your own home.

Tie that back to the UK’s dole, gun laws, and generally tolerant attitude towards crime.

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INSPIRATIONAL: A dozen differences

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

http://www.impactlab.net/2012/01/23/top-12-things-successful-people-do-differently-than-the-rest-of-us/

January 23rd, 2012 at 11:40 amTop 12 things successful people do differently than the rest of us
in: Analysis, Business, People Making a Difference

*** begin quote ***

Over the years I’ve studied the lives of numerous successful people. I’ve read their books, watched their interviews, researched them online, etc. And I’ve learned that most of them were not born into success; they simply did, and continue to do, things that help them realize their full potential. Here are twelve things they do differently that the rest of us can easily emulate.

1. They create and pursue S.M.A.R.T. goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

2. They take decisive and immediate action.

3. They focus on being productive, not being busy.

4. They make logical, informed decisions.

5. They avoid the trap of trying to make things perfect.

6. They work outside of their comfort zone.

7. They keep things simple.

8. They focus on making small, continuous improvements.

9. They measure and track their progress.

10. They maintain a positive outlook as they learn from their mistakes.

11. They spend time with the right people.

12. They maintain balance in their life.

*** end quote ***

This blows me away. Wish I could be like that. Should print it and put it on my bathroom wall. Right next to the affirmation: “I’m thin at heart.”

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