Econoville

We’re Not Dead, Just Busy!

adir1 — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:30:14 +0000

You probably thought this site was dead — but in fact we are hard at work on something so Grand, that I can not even discuss it right now. And Yes, the Grand Vision will take serious time to happen, please be patient.

Meanwhile, let me tell you about very interesting Podcast series which I am enjoying lately: EconTalk

They explore a broad range of Economics related topics, from current Financial crisis to pricing theory and of course some history and others! Highly recommended, and there is easy link to grab it via iTunes (and others) or listen directly on their web page.

CCI, Credit and the Works

adir1 — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:17:33 +0000

I know you are very upset with me – Abandoning you in such tough economic times… So it is time for me to make it up to you!

Today’s topic – Importance of Consumer Confidence Index (aka: CCI). Complete information about the Index can be found at The Conference Board. To quickly summarize my interpretation: The index surveys consumers to understand their sentiment. Lets take this simple, real world example:

Your Sentiment (aka: your outlook on unknown future, your state of mind, your psychological tendency) changes for the worse, so you decide to crack down on the obvious, and go on family restaurant outings only 25% Less a month.

Assuming other consumers do something similar, what we end up with is a local Restaurant getting 25% Less business in a month. As with most businesses, they are not equipped to deal with such a big fluctuation in income, so naturally they will need to lay off some staff, and for remaining staff, there will be probably less Tips to distribute, that month.

What this does, is turns our purely theoretical “Sentiment”, just turned into real life hit on the economy. The let-go employees may take some time to find work, and surely will not be splurging in the meantime, and even after later finding a job (psyche kind of works that way).

In fact, this turns into somewhat of a cycle, as next month even less people are in a condition to “splurge”, either based on more theory (now hearing from friends about tough times), or on painful reality.

This is a little primer into Consumer Confidence Index, and of course it is oversimplification of sorts. Many industries actually able to adopt, to manufacture less, sometimes below demand even (driving item prices and consequentially earnings up, for that company). I am open for input, and discussions, so comment away!

Welcome to EconoVille!

adir1 — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 01:43:57 +0000

You can get pretty much anyone engaged in interesting debate with you, if you start talking about The Economy. Yet, very few people get as excited if you start with mentioning Economics instead. I think this is because most people get bored with formulas and statistic analysis and theories making up the science, especially when it is proven, again and again, that on a grand scale Economics don’t hold up.

This site attempts to engage in a study, with full community participation, of the real reasons behind Economy swings, and ultimately, whether there is a way we could direct economy to everyone’s benefit.

Do remember, however, that economy is just a collection of people, so we will be talking a lot about what we all can and should do to benefit everyone’s bottom line.

Yep, emphasis on Talking. I don’t pretend to be the World’s Authority on all things Financial, but together, through comments and conversation, we can definitely become such an authority.

Again, Welcome! Great things to come, so Subscribe and make sure to Join the discussion!

PS: First Conversation that we need to have, though, is administrative! Tell me how much you like / hate this web site layout/theme!!!