The Current Blog Queue

I'm quite busy at the moment studying for Level 1 of the CFA examination in a few weeks. As that concludes, I plan to write much more often, with daily being an ambitious goal. I will also be trying to focus my writing on a more constant topic or idea, but still need to figure out how to give the blog a focus, yet still be able to write about all my interests, which seem to know no connection. Here are some topics I look forward to writing about:

I will chronicle my economics interest and education, how it has changed, and my current views.

I read an insightful Wall Street Journal piece on liberal arts colleges, and how they fail their students career wise. Needless to say, I have a few thoughts on this matter.

Taxes, how they are perceived by the public, unconsidered effects, and the likeliness of change from our government.

The Big Short by Michael Lewis: The story of how the sub-prime mortgage market dragged the U.S. into the current financial mire. Many highlighted points have application beyond that isolated time in U.S. history.

Morningstar and why I love the company. In a financial world fraught with opacity, corruption, and poor incentives, Morningstar rises above and gets it right.

Why conversations and especially arguments with friends are some of my favorite and invaluable moments in life.

The lyrics of Meatloaf analyzed in an exhaustive manner, to show the utter insanity that they convey.

The National Deficit, and the National Deficit Commission. In short, if such a commission exists, shouldn't they have all been fired yesterday?

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, and the movie. Why it rose above my expectations, affected me, and stirred thought.

The photography website of a good friend, why I view many photographers as I do law students, and even some graduate students, and why Hello Love Photography is different. (If she's alright with me extolling her virtues).

Incentives and why they are the backbone of everything we do.

The Catch-22 of needing experience to advance in the current job market, but not being able to get that experience because you don't have experience. I will unpack this maddening reality and attempt to find a solution.

Crowdsourcing, does it work, is it valuable, and where can it lead?

Theorized Major League Baseball inefficiencies after the discovery and re-valuation of OBP and defense in the last decade or so.

Depending on how ambitious I feel, I will rank the job sites of many companies. I find it amazing that many sites are tough to navigate and provide precious few bits of relevant information.

Are we suffering from information overload as Bing proposes? Where can we benefit from simplification?

Our education system needs changing, and will demand the breaking down of ideas we accept blindly. Also, the two qualities of a truly great teacher, and how to make your kids intelligent.

Why I find people like Theo Epstein, Don Boudreaux, Jonah Keri, Tony Hsieh, Safra Catz, Nate Silver, and others so interesting.

I'll also dig into companies that fascinate me and sprout thought within me: Oracle, The Container Store, Zappos, Virgin, and whatever grabs me.

MLB Trade Value

Dave Cameron, who writes for USS Mariner, Fangraphs, and the Wall Street Journal, among others, is concluding a fantastic series on Fangraphs. He is ranking the top 50 assets in Major League Baseball. Players amass Wins Above Replacement (WAR). A team composed entirely of replacement level players wins about 50 games, so it takes roughly 35-45 WAR to be a playoff team. This past offseason, teams paid roughly 4.5 millions per WAR on the free agent market. As you can see, teams cannot buy their way to the playoffs; their payroll would be at least 180 million. So players that are within their six years of team control and quite valuable. Taking into account WAR, projected WAR, current and projected salaries, date becoming eligible for arbitration, date becoming a free agent, risk, potential, and scarcity, Cameron is exposing the masses to a new way of valuing baseball players. No longer are Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, and Manny Ramirez the most valuable players to their teams. Evan Longoria, Hanley Ramirez, David Wright, Albert Pujols, and Matt Wieters hold those spots now. I've included links to the series below. The top 5 will be revealed Monday on Fangraphs.

Introduction

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Financial Sector Regulation Legislation

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124510939421616939.html#mod=rss_whats_news_us

I'm a big fan of the opposite opinions sought for by the current administration; and I'm a huge supporter of Lawrence Summers, his intellect, and the way he goes about things. However, the proposed legislation (at least the way it was described in this article, I haven't read the legislation per se) gives the federal government way too much power. Limiting the amount of risk that institutions can take on, being able to break them up, and being able to change the way loans are scrutinized are places that the government should have no place. Limiting the variety of functions that a single institution can provide is one major step to lessen the size and impact of single institutions that I think the government can take. Legislating how much risk to take on drastically undermines any sort of free market system.