There is something strange about the health insurance brokers market. I just got seven phone calls from from health insurance brokers in less than two hours after looking for health insurance on-line.
I think I just stumbled across another easy money, no work scam. Health insurance brokers must be raking in easy money for little work, few qualifications and no value add. I guess I found out where all the "hot-money" mortgage brokers moved to. These guys also sound like the placement "brokers" who have presented job candidates to me in my former position. And currently "peddle" my resume to prospective employers.
So here is the story. A friend, who is currently, not working, as me to find some alternatives to the COBRA policy his old job offered. I went to http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ which seems a little too snazzy. A good website does not self-promote (ie, run ads for itself) on it's own website. So, I was a little suspicious. I enter my basic info; birth date, tobacco use (yes, I Know, I am stupid) and wieght. It also asked me for my address and contact phone number which I entered without thinking.
The site gave me a couple of quotes in different price ranges. I review them briefly and then started watching the boondocks. Two minutes later, my phone started ringing of the hook. I got four calls in ten minutes asking me if I was looking for health insurance.
Someone had clearly thrown some meat in the shark tank. I declined the offers and explained I was just looking. One guy even called back to ask if I was sure I didn't need health insurance.
I hear the used car market is taking off in the recession. Maybe these guys can upgrade.
v1
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Cost of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
I am trying to get my hands around three big public policy issues and their related economic costs.
1) Cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And related 9/11 security expenditures.
2) Jobs and income lost to outsourcing of manufacturing and services
3) I can't remember I am getting old.
1) Cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And related 9/11 security expenditures.
2) Jobs and income lost to outsourcing of manufacturing and services
3) I can't remember I am getting old.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
CBPP: Income gaps between very rich and everyone else tripled in last 30 Years
The Council on Budget and Policy Priorities has an interesting report on their web site stating that the income gap between the top 1% and the rest of the country tripled over the past 30 years.
Bush tax cuts also accelerated the gap during the 00's.
During the study period income for the top 1% increase by 280% while middle fifth increased by only 25% and the bottom fifth by 16%
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3220
Bush tax cuts also accelerated the gap during the 00's.
During the study period income for the top 1% increase by 280% while middle fifth increased by only 25% and the bottom fifth by 16%
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3220
Conference Board Employment Index
This is more of a note to my self. I was looking for a data series on consumer confidence but instead I found a conference board index for employment. However the trouble I have is that the of the eight indicators, only one is actual conference board original data, six come from the government and one a small business research foundation.
If all the variables are significant then a free, public index without the conference board data would be almost as good. One could guess the proper weights from regressing consumer spending on unemployment indicators. So, just where is the conference board value add. Shoot, I know jobs are hard to get. I don't need a survey.
The eight labor-market indicators aggregated into the Employment Trends Index include:
1) Percentage of Respondents Who Say They Find "Jobs Hard to Get" (The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey®)
2) Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance (U.S. Department of Labor)
3) Percentage of Firms With Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now (© National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation)
4) Number of Employees Hired by the Temporary-Help Industry (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
5) Part-Time Workers for Economic Reasons (BLS)
6) Job Openings (BLS)
7) Industrial Production (Federal Reserve Board)
8) Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis)
If all the variables are significant then a free, public index without the conference board data would be almost as good. One could guess the proper weights from regressing consumer spending on unemployment indicators. So, just where is the conference board value add. Shoot, I know jobs are hard to get. I don't need a survey.
The eight labor-market indicators aggregated into the Employment Trends Index include:
1) Percentage of Respondents Who Say They Find "Jobs Hard to Get" (The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey®)
2) Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance (U.S. Department of Labor)
3) Percentage of Firms With Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now (© National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation)
4) Number of Employees Hired by the Temporary-Help Industry (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
5) Part-Time Workers for Economic Reasons (BLS)
6) Job Openings (BLS)
7) Industrial Production (Federal Reserve Board)
8) Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis)
June unemployment report is a cause for concern
June unemployment report is a cause for concern
The report for June is bad news for US employment in several areas. We will cover the highlights.
Private employers added on 83,000 jobs. Total non farm payrolls drops by 125,000 workers as 225,000 census workers were let go. Also both manufacturing hour declined which signal slack demand and inventory fill-ups were completed.
Finally the average hourly wage dropped by 2 cents to $22.53.
The construction industry employment dropped by 22,000 jobs.
The general unemployment rate dropped to 9.5% because 652,000 people gave up looking for work and dropped out of the civilian labor force. The number of discouraged workers was 1.2 million up from 414,000 a year ago. Discouraged worked are persons who are not looking for work because they believe there are no jobs available for them.
The general unemployment rate (U-3) dropped to 9.5% because of a reduced labor force
The unemployment rate for Blacks stayed at 15.4% and 12.4% for Hispanics. The estimate U-6 for black hovered around 22% with drops in black unemployment and general jobs seekers.
On average 125,000 to 150,000 new jobs are needed to keep pace with population growth and maintain a stable unemployment rate.
The report for June is bad news for US employment in several areas. We will cover the highlights.
Private employers added on 83,000 jobs. Total non farm payrolls drops by 125,000 workers as 225,000 census workers were let go. Also both manufacturing hour declined which signal slack demand and inventory fill-ups were completed.
Finally the average hourly wage dropped by 2 cents to $22.53.
The construction industry employment dropped by 22,000 jobs.
The general unemployment rate dropped to 9.5% because 652,000 people gave up looking for work and dropped out of the civilian labor force. The number of discouraged workers was 1.2 million up from 414,000 a year ago. Discouraged worked are persons who are not looking for work because they believe there are no jobs available for them.
The general unemployment rate (U-3) dropped to 9.5% because of a reduced labor force
The unemployment rate for Blacks stayed at 15.4% and 12.4% for Hispanics. The estimate U-6 for black hovered around 22% with drops in black unemployment and general jobs seekers.
On average 125,000 to 150,000 new jobs are needed to keep pace with population growth and maintain a stable unemployment rate.
NYTimes: Memphis -- Black majority city slides down
All, here is a compelling story on Memphis and it's economic slide from the NY Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/business/economy/31memphis.html
The story details how hard Memphis has been hit by the recession especially the Black middle class. The article also discusses some of the lending practices by banks that led to the real estate collapse.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/business/economy/31memphis.html
The story details how hard Memphis has been hit by the recession especially the Black middle class. The article also discusses some of the lending practices by banks that led to the real estate collapse.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Not working again
So, I am not working again which leaves more time for Blog writing and research. It is tough without the discipline of a daily job to guide your routine. I enjoy working and get some intrinsic satisfaction from working and being measurably productive. So during this second bout of unemployment, I am going to be much more organized and productive.
EBE
EBE
The popsicle: Consumer Marketing Overload
Big company marketing folks are out of control
Where the heck is my popsicle ??
In the push to make more money, corporations over doing everything. They are trying to get consumers to spend more, consume more, up size more. This constant pressure to sell up; sell more; add more value to products is getting really annoying. It is ruining some basic products I use to like.
Here is what happened. I was at a park and I wanted a popsicle. A plain red Popsicle. or lemon. But the vendor did not have it. They had creamsicle cherry swirl, chocolate cover vanilla indulgance, super bubble gum candy sicle and klondike bars. No plain popsicle anything. He had nothing without milk or chocolate in it. Dag. Can't even get a plain Popsicle.
I see the same behavior at KFC: you want the value meal, right ?? Starbucks: "With this receipt, you can get $2 dollars off a tall beverage, the same day." And shoe retailers: "BOGO sale going on now !!!"
Everyone is trying to sell more even if it is not needed. Of course there is a lot going on with that missing popsicle. The vendors, distributors and manufacturers all make more profit from selling high end products. The vendor can only stock a certain amount of product. They have fixed costs to cover. Gas for the van and refrigeration for the popsicles, his labor all have to be covered. So why spend it on a low margin products. Distributor encourage volume buying. They try to squeeze out competitors products and provide incentives for their own higher margin products. Sames as manufacturers. They try to cover every niche and encourage distributors to carry the "full line" of products.
Of course, when I skipped the Popsicle I was not thinking all of that stuff. I got a Italian ice instead.
Corporate addiction to, rather US addiction to the quick fix like MBA marketing killed my popsicle. Hopefully flat and declining sales spur the vendors to offer a wider choice.
v2
Where the heck is my popsicle ??
In the push to make more money, corporations over doing everything. They are trying to get consumers to spend more, consume more, up size more. This constant pressure to sell up; sell more; add more value to products is getting really annoying. It is ruining some basic products I use to like.
Here is what happened. I was at a park and I wanted a popsicle. A plain red Popsicle. or lemon. But the vendor did not have it. They had creamsicle cherry swirl, chocolate cover vanilla indulgance, super bubble gum candy sicle and klondike bars. No plain popsicle anything. He had nothing without milk or chocolate in it. Dag. Can't even get a plain Popsicle.
I see the same behavior at KFC: you want the value meal, right ?? Starbucks: "With this receipt, you can get $2 dollars off a tall beverage, the same day." And shoe retailers: "BOGO sale going on now !!!"
Everyone is trying to sell more even if it is not needed. Of course there is a lot going on with that missing popsicle. The vendors, distributors and manufacturers all make more profit from selling high end products. The vendor can only stock a certain amount of product. They have fixed costs to cover. Gas for the van and refrigeration for the popsicles, his labor all have to be covered. So why spend it on a low margin products. Distributor encourage volume buying. They try to squeeze out competitors products and provide incentives for their own higher margin products. Sames as manufacturers. They try to cover every niche and encourage distributors to carry the "full line" of products.
Of course, when I skipped the Popsicle I was not thinking all of that stuff. I got a Italian ice instead.
Corporate addiction to, rather US addiction to the quick fix like MBA marketing killed my popsicle. Hopefully flat and declining sales spur the vendors to offer a wider choice.
v2
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Weekly Unemployment Claims: Downward trends stops cold
We could be cursed with high unemployment for years to come
Since December 1st, 2009, weekly unemployment claims have average about 460,000. A figure is is stubbornly high for a growing economy. You have to ask if we have reached a new bottom on unemployment and things won't get much better.
You can clearly see the flat trend from the past six months in this historical graph of claims since 1999
Since December 1st, 2009, weekly unemployment claims have average about 460,000. A figure is is stubbornly high for a growing economy. You have to ask if we have reached a new bottom on unemployment and things won't get much better.
You can clearly see the flat trend from the past six months in this historical graph of claims since 1999
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Dismal unemployment report; no new private sector jobs
The department of labor, bureau of labor statistics released the May unemployment situation report on Friday, June 4,2010. The report shows no significant change in private sector employment. The private sector added only 41,000. The non farm payrolls increased by 431,000 jobs but 411,000 were temporary census jobs.
There was a small increase in manufacturing jobs of 29,000 and temporary help (+31,000), but construction decline by 35,000.
Economists, policy makers and government officials are worried that the recovery related hiring is slowing down. Some have speculated that the reducing hiring is a structural change as employers fore go hiring and squeeze workers for additional hours and productivity.
The unemployment rate dropped to 9.7% nationally.
The unemployment rate for Blacks (Black U-3) dropped to 15.5%. But the under employment rate has been above 23% until recently. The teenage unemployment rate remain about 40 percent (38%).
There was a small increase in manufacturing jobs of 29,000 and temporary help (+31,000), but construction decline by 35,000.
Economists, policy makers and government officials are worried that the recovery related hiring is slowing down. Some have speculated that the reducing hiring is a structural change as employers fore go hiring and squeeze workers for additional hours and productivity.
The unemployment rate dropped to 9.7% nationally.
The unemployment rate for Blacks (Black U-3) dropped to 15.5%. But the under employment rate has been above 23% until recently. The teenage unemployment rate remain about 40 percent (38%).
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