economics

Frustration Friday: Be a little worried

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Let's not mince words.

The world economy is not in good shape, and the economy that affects you directly, dear readers (mostly US, North America, and UK judging by my records) has problems.  The economic situation for many is at best a recession, and at most a growing catastrophe that still has yet to play out in our lives, bank accounts, and futures.

Yet I meet a lot of people who don't care, or don't pay attention.  Some are in this state due to apathy or indifference.  Others don't care out of ignorance.  The worst are people who are very convinced they know what's going on, and of course are dreadfully wrong.

If you are not at least a bit worried about the economy you are either very well off or wrong.  There's no middle ground here.

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Geekonomics and the Spontaneity Economy

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I've been looking at the world of geekonomics and fannish economics – of video games, anime, movies, sports, and of course, online transactions.

As I write this I've been watching some things I found casually on Netflix, using our X-box (cheesy movie trailers, if you must know).  I was watching them spontaneously.  Come to think of it, I'd maintain my Netflix and X-box subscription just for these opportunities.

Or perhaps we can turn our attention to my gaming habits.  A few demos on the X-box are always amusing, and purchases are cheap.  I've enjoyed many Wii games for only a few dollars.  Best of all, things are not only easy to get but cheap.  A bad purchase is only a few dollars lost.

Very, very easy to be spontaneous.  In fact it's never been easier for so many to get so much so quickly and so easily (if I may wax poetic).

We've got an increased spontaneity economy.  I expect it to increase as well – e-books, web comics, downloadable comics, etc.  Everything is easier and easier to get to – or even try it out.

What does this mean?

  • Demographics are going to get harder.  Spontaneity can distort studies and information on purchasing populations (and it may make long tail calculations harder).
  • Questions of initial sales.  Are initial sales of a product going to be all that reflective?
  • Questions of reason for interest.  Was someone interested in a purchase or was it just easy.
  • Questions of reimbursement.  When spontaneity plays a large (or potentially large) role in the purchasing decisions of people, what is the best way to reimburse producers or share profits?
  • Questions of marketing.  How much did your marketing pay off?  How will you know.
  • Questions of durability.  How easy is retention of an audience when the new shiny things are so easily accessible?

Welcome to the spontaneity economy.

– Steven Savage

Let Me Bore You: Review of Econompicdata

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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