Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - August 30, 2015
Please note: These show notes may be in various stages of completion -- ranging from brainstormed notes through to well-polished monologues. Please excuse anything that may seem rough around the edges, as it may only be a first draft of a thought and not be fully representative of what was said on the air.
This week
Earthquakes are inevitable. Disasters are not.
Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, a reminder: Natural disasters are inevitable. But prosperity and the discipline to use some of that surplus in order to prepare for the inevitable are two very good ways to resist suffering.
Theo Epstein is up for a contract extension in 2016
The Cubs had better show up with a blank check. His value to the franchise is incredible.
Is the Chinese government really backing off intervention in the stock market?
China's government can't prop up the stock market any longer
The market is a natural force much bigger than our power to coerce it effectively in most big cases. Britain's stock market took a big hit, too. Tremendous buying opportunities exist in the stock market when people lose their minds like this.
Tin Foil Hat Award
Going to cash right now is a dumb financial move
But people are doing it in droves
Yay Capitalism Prize
Burger King brilliantly proposes "McWhopper" in the name of Peace Day
Burger King: Looks clever and fun in their proposal. Looks engaged. Nothing to lose by tweaking your larger rival. McDonald's, on the other hand, looks sanctimonious in response. But rumor has it you shouldn't try building your own McWhopper.
We ran out of time to cover these worthwhile stories
The face of refugees arriving right now in Europe
Let's not forget that millions -- literally millions -- of people are on the run in Syria. They're people, not wild animals.
Consumer Reports is crazy for the Tesla Model S
Tesla got one very important thing right: They went upscale with their electric car, rather than trying to achieve mass appeal but at a cost $15,000 above the comparable non-electric cars.
Facebook claims a billion users per day
The Federal Reserve looks at different exchange rates than Wall Street
Because the relative strength of the dollar affects our imports and exports, that affects the size of the economy. So it's not a trivial distinction what the Fed uses to establish how much inflation is occurring.
New orders for durable goods are down a lot from last year
This is a problem, especially because capital investment by businesses has also been lagging for quite a while -- and there's really just no way to escape the fact that you need things in order to make other things
Angela Merkel reminds Germans: Migrants are people, too
Refugees trying to escape troubles south of Europe are really just doing what any rational person would try to do
Japan has so many people turning 100, it's busting the government's gift budget
Selfies in the voting booth
On one hand, an expression of free speech. On the other, a risk to the secrecy of the ballot. Who can tell for sure that a photo of a completed ballot wasn't coerced?
NYSE Rule 48
How the stock exchange tries to put the brakes on an erratic market
Quote of the Week
"Any public corporation that seeks vast expansion has a conflict with shareholders, who follow the daily market and are not thinking of future gains." - Abram Pritzker
Listen on-demand
- Podcast of this episode - segment 1 (the stock market isn't the economy, and why a stock-market panic is the same as a clearance sale)
- Podcast of this episode - segment 2 (following the herd is a terrible financial plan -- as is counting on government intervention)
- Podcast of this episode - segment 3 (Burger King's clever tweak of McDonald's)
- Podcast of this episode - segment 4 (capitalism leads to surplus -- and wise capitalists divert some of that surplus to preparing for disasters)
- Official station page for this episode (forthcoming)