Category / Economics

by Hoosier Econ

Oil Rig Production Continues Plunge

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Oil rig production continues its plunge and gas prices are starting to show that. Here is the latest data on oil rigs:

The number of active U.S. land rigs plunged by 98 this week in one of the biggest declines in the past three decades as fallen oil prices continued to pummel the industry’s drilling ambitions.

Baker Hughes’ 71-year-old U.S. rig count, one of the industry’s go-to indicators of future oil production and demand for rigs, was down by 406 drilling units compared to Feb. 13, 2014. The last time the rig count fell by 98 was in January, 2009 – the two declines are tied for the biggest drops since 1987.

H/T Fuel Fix

by Hoosier Econ

Environmentalists Became Their Own Disaster

Entering the arena of “predictions” is tricky. When making a prediction you must have valid evidence that something is about to happen or is just happening along with a time frame. Environmentalist and their followers take it to another extreme. They had a nice run in the early to mid 2000’s but more and more evidence grows that a lot of the data they showered the public with was very manipulated.

The bloggers over at Economic Policy Journal put a post up having a little fun of the dire predictions from environmentalists over the dedcades. Here is the full write up but I’ll post some of the predictions below.

In 1971, Stanford University professor Paul Ehrlich, who is perhaps best known for his 1968 book The Population Bomb, said in a speech at the British Institute for Biology. “By the year 2000 the United Kingdom will be simply a small group of impoverished islands, inhabited by some 70 million hungry people,” he claimed. “If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000 and give ten to one that the life of the average Briton would be of distinctly lower quality than it is today.”

In 2001, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted in its global-warming report, that the planet would see “warmer winters and fewer cold spells, because of climate change.”

In the years. 2007, 2008, and 2009, Gore publicly warned that the North Pole would be “ice-free” in the summer by around 2013 because of alleged “man-made global warming.”

by Hoosier Econ

Inflation Alert: Toilet Paper

toilet paper
Inflation is not just prices going up, but also the size of a product shrinking while staying the same price as before. Clark Howard who is a consumer watchdog on many levels in trying to save you money put out this alert for consumers:

When I talked about this a couple of years ago, there were a few companies reducing the size of packages by doing tricks like making the tubes fatter and putting less paper on the roll.

Now The Dallas Morning News reports the average square of toilet tissue has been reduced by 26%. So you’ve got 26% less paper in that square when you’re doing your business.

I was at Costco the other day and I wanted to see if this downgrade was universal. Turns out it is. It seems everybody has reduced their sheets to a 4.5 x 4 inch rectangle — down from a perfect 4.5 inch square just a few years ago.

by Hoosier Econ

Inflation Alert: Notre Dame Tuition

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Univeristy of Notre Dame is raising their tuition again. Get ready to pay according to the Indianapolis Star:

The University of Notre Dame is raising undergraduate tuition by 3.7 percent to $47,929 next school year.

The university says with average room and board rates of $13,846, the annual cost of attending Notre Dame will be $61,775.

The school said the 3.7 percentage increase in tuition and fees is the lowest at Notre Dame since there was no increase in 1960. Tuition had increased 3.8 percent for three straight years.

For the “there is no inflation” crowd, in just the last four years tuition has now increased 15.1%.

by Hoosier Econ

Robots Being Trained to Fight Fires

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Via The Washington Free Beacon:

The US Navy has begun to test the firefighting abilities of a humanoid robot it has been developing for several years. The Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot (SAFFiR) walks on two legs, operates a fire hose, and even wears a track suit. The Navy is hoping SAFFiR can one day supplement its traditional human firefighting teams.

“This is a program that’s been going on for about five years basically to develop a humanoid capable of fire suppression,” Thomas McKenna said in an Office of Naval Research (ONR) video about the project. “There’s substantial losses incurred when you have a major fire and you can’t suppress it at an early stage.”

John Farley of the Naval Research Laboratory said that he sees the robot’s quick learning curve as a likely lifesaver.

by Hoosier Econ

Illinois Facing Debt Payments

Illinois is starting to get hit with rising interest payments on debt borrowed. Illinois Policy points out how compound interest is a vicious beast once it takes hold:

According to the fiscal year 2015 budget summary from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability the cost of debt service in fiscal year 2015 is nearly $4 billion on outstanding bond debt of nearly $32 billion. The debt service amounts to more than 11 percent of the state’s anticipated revenues for the fiscal year – 11 percent that can’t be used for essential programs.

Illinois will not be the only heavy spending state to start getting hammered on debt payments. But here is how a debt situation gets out of control:

Primarily as a result of these nontraditional uses of bond debt, the state began fiscal year 2015 saddled with $32 billion in bond debt requiring $4 billion, or 11 percent of its general funds budget, to pay the annual debt service. This represents nearly a 400 percent growth in debt service, more than 300 percent growth in outstanding bond debt, and more than 200 percent growth in debt service as a percentage of general revenues since 2002.

by Hoosier Econ

Cost of Political Correctness

This is just one example of political correctness having an actual cost associated with it. Story courtesy of College Fix:

PUBLIC UNIVERSITY SPENDS $16K ON CAMPAIGN TO WARN STUDENTS TO WATCH WHAT THEY SAY

‘Inclusive Language Campaign’ debuts at University of Michigan

Dozens of posters plastered across the University of Michigan caution students not to say things that might hurt others’ feelings, part of a new “Inclusive Language Campaign” at the state’s flagship public university that cost $16,000 to implement.

Words declared unacceptable through the campaign include “crazy,” “insane,” “retarded,” “gay,” “tranny,” “gypped,” “illegal alien,” “fag,” “ghetto” and “raghead.” Phrases such as “I want to die” and “that test raped me” are also verboten.

University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald told The College Fix in an email the campaign aims to “address campus climate by helping individuals understand that their words can impact someone and to encourage individuals to commit to creating a positive campus community.”

You can read the rest here.

by Hoosier Econ

Federal Government Spending For the Next 10 Years

Economics 21 had an interesting graph in their article titled “How to Fix the $960 Billion Budget Deficit”.

Here is how federal government spending will be broken up the next ten years.

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Almost two-thirds of additional spending will be driven by entitlements, primarily Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare. America’s aging population is the primary contributor to the growth of Social Security and Medicare, while the Affordable Care Act substantially expanded the scope of Medicaid.

Adding interest payments to the budget brings the total increase in the debt from mandatory spending to 85 percent. Spending is projected to grow by $2.3 trillion annually by 2024.

by Hoosier Econ

How Much Does NBC’s Brian Williams Make

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Per Breitbart News Brian Williams makes $13 Million a year.