Save us all from regional ignorance

Recently, Bonnie posted a link to an article on the rather unsettling fact that only about 60% of employable Californians are working.  Yes, that doesn't necessarily mean they're looking for work – but it's a lower percentage than previously (the peak was 65% of the population working, which doesn't sound very excting either).  What I find most intriguing as this news rockets around the internet is that a lot of posters commenting on it don't really seem to know what they're talking about – which is a valuable lesson for relocation.

As I am a person that moved to California a few years ago, I quickly became aware that California is best understood as a country because of its level of complexity.  I also became painfully aware that, when it comes to California, most people don't know what they're talking about – this is a state with a huge constitution, complex politics, interesting issues in raising taxes on the state level (think it can be done with a simple majority vote?  Wrong, it takes 2/3), a prominent place in the US and world economy, and more.  Some Californians seemed clueless, but they were nothing compared to people I'd encounter in other states who assumed that, somehow, they were experts on where I'd relocated to.

And this is why all my past advice on using your fandom contacts and good research to understand targets of relocation is important.  California is on the high end of Incredibly Complex States, but it's not the only one.

And when you assess relocation, there's often a lot of misinformation.

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Let Me Bore You: Review of Econompicdata

Review of:http://econompicdata.blogspot.com/

PROS:  A site that explains economics with pretty graphs, actual english, and a good sense of humor.
CONS: Can get a bit too "economist-like".  Subjects chosen can be erratic.

SUMMARY: A colorful, effective site on economic issues that makes economics a bit easier to learn and understand.

I do love a good econoblog.  This is not necessarily because they're easy to understand – they often art – I just value the information I get.  The problem of course is communicating this to other people less inclined to analyze these things in depth or without the background to understand what the people at econoblogs are TALKING about.

Econompicdata is a refreshing change.  With the subheader "Darn Nice Economic Eye Candy" this is a blog that mixes good explanations and good graphs to discuss a variety of issues in a bite-sized way.

Econompicdata's blogger, Jake, picks whatever seems to come to mind or be interesting and discusses it with one or more helpful graphs.  YOu can see info on plane crashes, the housing market,oil, liquidity, and more.  The graphs help you understand what's going on – and Jake's explanations usually (but not always) are easy for non-economics to understand or at least get a grip on the issue.

The blog, the graphics, and the writing are refreshingly clear and easy to read.  No clutter, no fuss, no mess, just the subject, the information, and the analysis so you can get an idea of what's going on.

If there's one real flaw it's that you're never sure what's going to get posted here, so unless you're deeply into economics, you can be pretty sure not all of it is going to be of interest to you.  It's a testimony to Jake's depth that he covers so much, but be aware that the blog isn't always going to be up your alley.

I strongly recommend putting this into your blogfeed of business and economic information.  You can be pretty sure at some point something of use to you is going to pop up – and be understandable to you.

– Steven Savage

The Economic downturn and Profans

I've wondered if the Economic downturn is encouraging or discouraging profans and progeeks.

On one hand the economy is bad and people don't want to take chances.  It's hard to live your dreams when you're worried about layoffs, health care, housing prices, etc.  It's often a taking a chance to try and go live your dreams, and its hard when you want to be sure you can pay the bills.  Worse, a tough economy means less chance to fall back on friends and family if there's a crisis.

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