School is Fun, but Demanding
Reality-based Educator asks, "Hey PT, how is school?" Well, as the title of the post suggests, I'm enjoying it quite a bit, but it is taking an awful lot of my time. I've finished ethics, but I still have to do the project and take the exam. We are also half-way through the financial accounting course, which is very demanding.
The class is amazing. From 21 students, we have 9 nationalities represented. Several people have quite high positions in very large companies. Everyone is working together and helping each other. It is quite different from my undergraduate studies. Taking notes on a laptop rules!!!
In the meantime, I snuck out to Amsterdam for a friend of mine's bachelor party. He just finished 2 years as a foreign correspondent in Iraq for USA today. As you can probably guess, I picked his brain extensively and he has given me permission to quote him here on this blog. That will be my next post of substance.
Stay tuned (now and then).
The class is amazing. From 21 students, we have 9 nationalities represented. Several people have quite high positions in very large companies. Everyone is working together and helping each other. It is quite different from my undergraduate studies. Taking notes on a laptop rules!!!
In the meantime, I snuck out to Amsterdam for a friend of mine's bachelor party. He just finished 2 years as a foreign correspondent in Iraq for USA today. As you can probably guess, I picked his brain extensively and he has given me permission to quote him here on this blog. That will be my next post of substance.
Stay tuned (now and then).
posted by Praguetwin at
1:45 PM
6 Comments:
Sounds like you'll have an interesting post for us soon, can't wait, and I'm glad you're enjoying your studies. It can be tough to get out in the world, work, etc and then go back into academia, but it sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it.
By
Anonymous, at 2:41 PM
Good to hear that you're having fun at it, pt. Can't wait to read your Iraq post. It's been a very bloody two months there. I see that the U.S. death toll for May is over 100, following the 104 dead in April.
By
Reality-Based Educator, at 10:47 PM
PT, given your economic smarts and the fact I am in election mode again, How do I determine the figures; IE. The ratio between earnings and living costs, in the Australian market?
I know you are busy, but… The following was off RBE’s blog and interested me
"Trickling Only Upward"
A generation ago, American men in their thirties had median annual incomes of about $40,000 compared with men of the same age who now make about $35,000 a year, adjusted for inflation. That’s a 12.5 percent drop between 1974 and 2004, according to the report from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Economic Mobility Project.
I know the Aussie figure are similar, but I’m not good enough to dig the real numbers ;)
By
Cartledge, at 6:21 AM
Ok,
The first point is either very easy or very complicated depending on how you view it.
What exactly are living costs? Do you only figure the ones that have always traditionally been there (like housing) or do you figure in new costs (like mobile phones and broadband)?
The best you can probably do is compare the inflation adjusted mean income. That way, you essentially get the cost of living vs. income ratio.
The problem is how to measure inflation. I don't know enough about the Aussie system to know your inflation indicators.
Here, we particularly like the CPI, but the Fed prefers the CPE core deflater.
1. Pick your inflation indicator, and get the yearly totals for the period you want to look at.
2. Figure the cumulative rate of inflation for the period by multiplying each successive year by 1.0x where x is the percentage of year on year inflation.
3. Get the mean income for the beginning of the period and the end of the period.
4. Inflate the mean income at the beginning of the period by the amount of the cumulative inflation that you have figured.
5. Compare that figure with the mean income for the end of the period and VIOLA!
Now, your figures will vary wildly depending on which measure of inflation you use, thus the expression....
"Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics."
Enjoy!
p.s. If you send me some raw data, I will do the calculations or at least check them for you.
By
Praguetwin, at 7:12 PM
Thanks PT :) Dazzle them with science. Don't bust your bum on this. I'm finding some figures, but not tight enough in just yet.
I'm sure they will start coming out in the next month or so.
The fact that a growing number of Australians are seriously pissed off with the situation suggests a serious problm.
But I will work through your list...
By
Cartledge, at 10:20 AM
PT, just so you don't waste your time. Our economic commentators have noted a growing disparity between wages and profits - and the various other factors.
They are begging serious economists to come up with the real explanations.
I'll probably touch on it soon, but the answers aren't easy to find :(
By
Cartledge, at 10:30 AM
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