Below is the text of a Letter to the Editor I sent today to The Des Moines Register:
By increasing room and board fees at state universities by 3-5% (April 29 article, "Regents OK Room, Board Increases for Fall"), the Board of Regents cited inflation as the main reason. A similar excuse was used only a month ago to justify tuition hikes for next year.
Yet using our country's most recent core measure of inflation, the March 2011 Consumer Price Index, inflation has actually risen less than 3% in the past twelve months. And excluding food and energy costs, the CPI has risen only 1.2% since March 2010.
The fact is, inflation doesn't justify increasing fees by as much as 5%. No for-profit services organization would be able to survive in this economy by raising prices like that, so why should it be OK for a non-profit, taxpayer-subsidized organization to do so?
If we want to keep higher education affordable in Iowa, we need more intellectual honesty - not to mention budget accountability - from our state academic institutions and their governing body.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Best (Effing) Song Lyrics (Part VI)
When rap music - or as I call it, c-rap music - was trying to get a mainstream foothold in the 80s, it had acceptance problems related to both its subject matter and explicit 'lyrics' (if that's what you want to call them). Over time, mainstream rap has transformed into hip-hop, and the subject matter has been toned down, but the language generally hasn't.
Unfortunately, we're now seeing that language spill over into popular music. A recent look at the current top hits include two with the F-word in title. Not just buried somewhere in the lyrics, but in the often-repeated song title. In the words of the DeAndre Cole character on Saturday Night Live, What's up wit dat!?
Now for purposes of radio play, the F-words in these songs have been changed or eliminated. I've listened to both versions, and guess what - the song means the same thing! And it's not like these songs need some sort of urban edge to them for audience appeal, so why do this? Oh, that's right - because today it has to be more about the singer than the song, to help monetize the product.
Bob Dylan would be rolling over in his grave about this, if he was dead. As it is, he's lost too many brain cells to care. But before all of that, and before money mattered so much in music, he wrote some fantastic songs, with lyrics as meaningful today and when he wrote them in the 60s. Look at these lyrics from The Times They Are A-Changin' and you'll see they are still applicable. (Sadly, this might mean we haven't changed.)
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’
Unfortunately, we're now seeing that language spill over into popular music. A recent look at the current top hits include two with the F-word in title. Not just buried somewhere in the lyrics, but in the often-repeated song title. In the words of the DeAndre Cole character on Saturday Night Live, What's up wit dat!?
Now for purposes of radio play, the F-words in these songs have been changed or eliminated. I've listened to both versions, and guess what - the song means the same thing! And it's not like these songs need some sort of urban edge to them for audience appeal, so why do this? Oh, that's right - because today it has to be more about the singer than the song, to help monetize the product.
Bob Dylan would be rolling over in his grave about this, if he was dead. As it is, he's lost too many brain cells to care. But before all of that, and before money mattered so much in music, he wrote some fantastic songs, with lyrics as meaningful today and when he wrote them in the 60s. Look at these lyrics from The Times They Are A-Changin' and you'll see they are still applicable. (Sadly, this might mean we haven't changed.)
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’
Thursday, April 14, 2011
How To Become A National Joke
As a regular viewer and Twitter follower of The Colbert Report, I see some of the best political satire there is to offer. Colbert and his writers regularly ridicule the self-importance of others in a genius way.
Nothing has been better than this week when Colbert took on Tyson Zone member Bob Vander Plaats. I saw this when it originally aired - it doesn't hurt that it starts with a few digs at Tea-Party goofball Michele Bachmann:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/381487/april-12-2011/threat-level--rainbow
Congrats, Bob. You have now officially been upgraded from local joke to national joke.
Nothing has been better than this week when Colbert took on Tyson Zone member Bob Vander Plaats. I saw this when it originally aired - it doesn't hurt that it starts with a few digs at Tea-Party goofball Michele Bachmann:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/381487/april-12-2011/threat-level--rainbow
Congrats, Bob. You have now officially been upgraded from local joke to national joke.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Post #100
When TV shows reach their 100th episode, they usually have a retrospective show that replays some memorable clips. Since this is my 100th blog post, it seems a good time for a retrospective of some of the themes of this blog.
Let's start with this one, from Post #1 on July 26, 2009: "Too many people simply believe what others tell them, with the unfortunate consequence of allowing those who control the message to also control them.....Think about it, then make up your own mind."
Since then, I've tried to get you to think about how taxes, obesity, commissions, and political parties and fringe politicians are bad. On the other hand, medicinal marijuana, some lyrics, fee-based advice, and Caddyshack are good.
Speaking of Caddyshack - in honor not only of the 100th post, but of this weekend's 75th Masters golf tounament, here's my post from February 3, 2010: [standing in an ornamental flowerbed] What an incredible Cinderella story! This unknown, comes out of nowhere, to lead the pack at Augusta. He's at the final hole. He's about 455 yards away, he's gonna hit about a 2-iron, I think... [swings, pulverizes a flower] Oh, he got all of that! The crowd is standing on its feet here at Augusta. The normally reserved crowd is going wild...for this young Cinderella who's come out of nowhere. He's got about 350 yards left, he's going to hit about a 5-iron, it looks like, don't you think? He's got a beautiful backswing... [swings, pulverizes another flower] That's...oh, he got all of that one! He's gotta be pleased with that! The crowd is just on its feet here. He's a Cinderella boy. Tears in his eyes, I guess, as he lines up this last shot. He's got about 195 yards left, and he's got a, looks like he's got about an 8-iron. This crowd has gone deadly silent... Cinderella story, out of nowhere, former greenskeeper, now about to become the Masters champion... [swings, pulverizes yet another flower] It looks like a mirac- it's in the hole! It's in the hole!
Here's to the next 100 posts!
Let's start with this one, from Post #1 on July 26, 2009: "Too many people simply believe what others tell them, with the unfortunate consequence of allowing those who control the message to also control them.....Think about it, then make up your own mind."
Since then, I've tried to get you to think about how taxes, obesity, commissions, and political parties and fringe politicians are bad. On the other hand, medicinal marijuana, some lyrics, fee-based advice, and Caddyshack are good.
Speaking of Caddyshack - in honor not only of the 100th post, but of this weekend's 75th Masters golf tounament, here's my post from February 3, 2010: [standing in an ornamental flowerbed] What an incredible Cinderella story! This unknown, comes out of nowhere, to lead the pack at Augusta. He's at the final hole. He's about 455 yards away, he's gonna hit about a 2-iron, I think... [swings, pulverizes a flower] Oh, he got all of that! The crowd is standing on its feet here at Augusta. The normally reserved crowd is going wild...for this young Cinderella who's come out of nowhere. He's got about 350 yards left, he's going to hit about a 5-iron, it looks like, don't you think? He's got a beautiful backswing... [swings, pulverizes another flower] That's...oh, he got all of that one! He's gotta be pleased with that! The crowd is just on its feet here. He's a Cinderella boy. Tears in his eyes, I guess, as he lines up this last shot. He's got about 195 yards left, and he's got a, looks like he's got about an 8-iron. This crowd has gone deadly silent... Cinderella story, out of nowhere, former greenskeeper, now about to become the Masters champion... [swings, pulverizes yet another flower] It looks like a mirac- it's in the hole! It's in the hole!
Here's to the next 100 posts!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
The Net Truth
Last year, a prominent financial planning newsletter editor asked his subscribers to estimate long-term future stock returns after inflation, expenses and taxes – call it a "net-net-net" return. Several dozen leading financial advisers responded. Although some didn't subtract taxes, the average answer was 6%. A few went as high as 9%.
They cannot be serious. Historically, inflation has eaten away three percentage points of return a year. Investment expenses and taxes each have cut returns by roughly one to two percentage points a year. So, in order to earn 6% for clients after inflation, fees and taxes, these financial advisors will somehow have to pick investments that generate 11% to 13% a year before costs.
Where will they find such huge gains? Since 1926, according to Ibbotson Associates, U.S. stocks have earned an annual average of 9.8%. Their long-term, net-net-net return is under 4%. All other major assets earned even less. If, like most people, you mix in some bonds and cash, your net-net-net is likely to be more like 2%.
Even the biggest investors are too optimistic. The Investment Fund for Foundations (TIFF), which manages $8 billion for more than 700 nonprofits, recently asked trustees and investment officers of these charities to imagine they can swap all their assets in exchange for a contract that guarantees them a risk-free return for the next 50 years, while also satisfying their current spending needs. Then TIFF asked them what minimal rate of return, after inflation and all fees, they would accept in such a swap. In TIFF's latest survey, the average response was 7.4%. One-sixth of the participants refused to swap for any return lower than 10%!
Faith in unreasonably high returns isn't harmless. It leads many people to save too little, in hopes that the markets will bail them out. It makes others ignore common sense, and believe in the claims of disreputable insurance and financial services agents who claim to offer ‘guaranteed’ but false returns. The end result is the same – a shortfall in wealth late in life, and more years working rather than putting your feet up in retirement.
Investors must seek the net-net-net truth. If a financial advisor says he/she can earn you 6% annually, net-net-net, say you’ll take it, right now. In fact, say you'll take 5% and let them keep the difference. In exchange, you will sell him/her your entire portfolio at its current market value. You've just offered the functional equivalent of what Wall Street calls a total-return swap.
Unless the advisor is a fool or a crook, your offer will be declined. Then you can determine a more rational rate of return, which is the number you should use for financial planning and analysis.
They cannot be serious. Historically, inflation has eaten away three percentage points of return a year. Investment expenses and taxes each have cut returns by roughly one to two percentage points a year. So, in order to earn 6% for clients after inflation, fees and taxes, these financial advisors will somehow have to pick investments that generate 11% to 13% a year before costs.
Where will they find such huge gains? Since 1926, according to Ibbotson Associates, U.S. stocks have earned an annual average of 9.8%. Their long-term, net-net-net return is under 4%. All other major assets earned even less. If, like most people, you mix in some bonds and cash, your net-net-net is likely to be more like 2%.
Even the biggest investors are too optimistic. The Investment Fund for Foundations (TIFF), which manages $8 billion for more than 700 nonprofits, recently asked trustees and investment officers of these charities to imagine they can swap all their assets in exchange for a contract that guarantees them a risk-free return for the next 50 years, while also satisfying their current spending needs. Then TIFF asked them what minimal rate of return, after inflation and all fees, they would accept in such a swap. In TIFF's latest survey, the average response was 7.4%. One-sixth of the participants refused to swap for any return lower than 10%!
Faith in unreasonably high returns isn't harmless. It leads many people to save too little, in hopes that the markets will bail them out. It makes others ignore common sense, and believe in the claims of disreputable insurance and financial services agents who claim to offer ‘guaranteed’ but false returns. The end result is the same – a shortfall in wealth late in life, and more years working rather than putting your feet up in retirement.
Investors must seek the net-net-net truth. If a financial advisor says he/she can earn you 6% annually, net-net-net, say you’ll take it, right now. In fact, say you'll take 5% and let them keep the difference. In exchange, you will sell him/her your entire portfolio at its current market value. You've just offered the functional equivalent of what Wall Street calls a total-return swap.
Unless the advisor is a fool or a crook, your offer will be declined. Then you can determine a more rational rate of return, which is the number you should use for financial planning and analysis.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Some Of You Should Read This Book
Six years ago, the writers of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart published one of the best books of political satire I've ever read, America (The Book). This so-called "Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction" chronicled the history and workings of democracy in civics textbook form, including inforgraphics and sidebar opinions (from the likes of Stephen Colbert).
Spring Break gave me a chance to finally read through the latest book from the writers of The Daily Show, Earth (The Book). This "Citizen's Guide to the Human Race" may be the most entertaining, sharpest, and cleverly written book I've ever read. It again takes the textbook format used in the prior book, but this time to an even higher level.
Earth (The Book) is aimed at an audience of aliens who find the Earth deserted after the human race spectacularly manufactures its own demise. The subject matter has shifted from US politics and education to the planet and world civilization. And while America (The Book) was mostly written with many text passages and included commented infographics, Earth (The Book) is basically the opposite, with more commented infographics making for dozens of satice-laced jokes per page.
To give the history of the world some focus, the chapters are broken down into things like society, religion, science, and culture. A great example of the book can be found in the chapter on commerce, where newspapers float in the high-supply, low-demand quadrant of a supply/demand graph, just below ketchup packets and slightly above blogs.
One warning about this book - it will help tremendously if you have above-average intelligence, enjoy satire, follow pop culture, and have watched The Daily Show. If you aren't into any of those things, you aren't going to get this book. If you are into at least 2 of those 4, you will be entertained.
4 out of 4, and it will be one of the best books you'll ever read.
Spring Break gave me a chance to finally read through the latest book from the writers of The Daily Show, Earth (The Book). This "Citizen's Guide to the Human Race" may be the most entertaining, sharpest, and cleverly written book I've ever read. It again takes the textbook format used in the prior book, but this time to an even higher level.
Earth (The Book) is aimed at an audience of aliens who find the Earth deserted after the human race spectacularly manufactures its own demise. The subject matter has shifted from US politics and education to the planet and world civilization. And while America (The Book) was mostly written with many text passages and included commented infographics, Earth (The Book) is basically the opposite, with more commented infographics making for dozens of satice-laced jokes per page.
To give the history of the world some focus, the chapters are broken down into things like society, religion, science, and culture. A great example of the book can be found in the chapter on commerce, where newspapers float in the high-supply, low-demand quadrant of a supply/demand graph, just below ketchup packets and slightly above blogs.
One warning about this book - it will help tremendously if you have above-average intelligence, enjoy satire, follow pop culture, and have watched The Daily Show. If you aren't into any of those things, you aren't going to get this book. If you are into at least 2 of those 4, you will be entertained.
4 out of 4, and it will be one of the best books you'll ever read.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Beached Whales
Took last week off for a Florida vacation, and came back with a lot of things worth blogging about. Let's start with people at the beach.
I was at a prominent Gulf coast beach for several days, and I'm sorry to report that for the most part, the people-watching wasn't pleasant. Oh sure, there are some young hardbodies out there. The problem is, for every 1 of them there were 10 overweight slobs who have no business wearing a swimming suit.
It was universal, too - men and women of all ages and colors (including the color of sunburned) were showing off their rolls like proud bakers. I even noticed a few who hit the 'beach sloth trifecta': Fat, sunburned, and smoking cigarettes.
To add injury to insult, most of these folks were crammed into swim suits that were too small. Probably fit them a couple of years and several dozen pounds ago, but not anymore. It was hideous, it really was.
I support the development of a new flag symbol at the beach, to go with the ones lifeguards fly for dangerous weather conditions. Something to warn beachgoers of a higher than normal population of unattractive people in ill-fitting swimwear.
I was at a prominent Gulf coast beach for several days, and I'm sorry to report that for the most part, the people-watching wasn't pleasant. Oh sure, there are some young hardbodies out there. The problem is, for every 1 of them there were 10 overweight slobs who have no business wearing a swimming suit.
It was universal, too - men and women of all ages and colors (including the color of sunburned) were showing off their rolls like proud bakers. I even noticed a few who hit the 'beach sloth trifecta': Fat, sunburned, and smoking cigarettes.
To add injury to insult, most of these folks were crammed into swim suits that were too small. Probably fit them a couple of years and several dozen pounds ago, but not anymore. It was hideous, it really was.
I support the development of a new flag symbol at the beach, to go with the ones lifeguards fly for dangerous weather conditions. Something to warn beachgoers of a higher than normal population of unattractive people in ill-fitting swimwear.
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