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Inflation might be higher than the government is publishing
On March 1, the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) released a fascinating and helpful set of statistics regarding inflation. The study analyzes the popular and widely reported Consumer...
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The Quiet Surge in Bond Prices
Just recently, long term bond yields have been on the rise. Specifically, ten year Treasury bond yields just hit a five month high on Monday, March 19, 2012. (Late October 2011 was the last time it was...
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Politicians value your consumer behaviors
Many political analysts predict that the upcoming 2012 presidential nomination will be one of the hardest fought ever. Analysts are anticipating unprecedented amounts of money will be spent on both...
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Fed reports a significant decline in net worth under two measures, but in...
Last week, the media quickly dispersed the jaw dropping statistic just released by the Federal Reserve in its Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF): household median net worth fell by almost 40% from 2007...
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Why are the Fed’s net worth statistics so different?
There is still much talk in the media about the Federal Reserve’s recent statistics published in its Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), namely that household median net worth fell by almost 40% from...
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Do Long Commutes Cause Health Risks?
Recently, MSNBC warned “Beep! Beep! That creeping commute is hurting your health,” citing a newly published article entitled “Commuting Distance, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, and Metabolic Risk” by Dr....
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Which Country Is Most Successful at the Summer Olympics?
It depends on how success is measured. If the total number of medals won is the metric used, the United States is the most successful by far with a total of 2,299 medals since 1896. This is certainly...
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Even the NCAA stats keepers stick it to Penn State
One of the classic and inevitable moments of backyard football (the height of my own football career) is “the dog pile”. Somebody fumbles the ball and a few players dive for it. A pile of bodies forms...
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UK’s Grading System Gets an F
A recent article in the Guardian addressed the UK’s current university grading system and its flaws. For those unfamiliar with how the British grading system works, both the Fullbright Commission and...
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Why News Coverage of Polls is Even Worse than the Polls Themselves
Recently a major national news site contained the headline ‘polls show race still close in swing states’. Of course they are close! If they aren’t close then they wouldn’t be the swing states, would...
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Cities that Purchase Lots of Sweatpants: More “Comfortable”—or just Colder...
Experian Marketing Services recently identified the top 20 supposedly most “comfortable” cities in the United States. Experian based their list on a survey in which respondents reported whether they...
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Developed Countries Urn More, While Christianity Buries the Effect
In honor of today’s celebration of the Day of the Dead, this post ponders why some countries practice cremation more than others. The Cremation Society of Great Britain estimates the cremation rates...
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The decline in California’s exodus fizzles out
The good news for California is that not as many of its residents are leaving the state now as they were six or seven years ago. The bad news is that the exodus continues to march onward, together with...
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Where have all the Californians gone?
California ranks #49 in domestic migration, edging out only New York, according to data reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of people from other states moving to California (468,428) falls...
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Super Bowl XLVII Expected to Flood New Orleans
This past Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers battled their way uphill from an early 17-0 losing position and still managed to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 28 to 24 in a particularly exciting game. Now the...
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High School Graduation Rate Highest Since 1976
A study of the 2010 school year by the Education Department shows that the nation’s four-year high school graduation rate is the highest it has been since 1976. The national dropout rate has also...
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67% Chance the 49ers Will Win, Pretty Good Chance the Prediction is No Good
Predictionmachine.com ran 50,000 iterations of its statistical model to give a 67% chance the San Francisco 49ers will win the Super Bowl. Such a large number (50,000 iterations) and “computer model”...
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Whether Simulating Super Bowls or Financial Portfolios, the Assumptions Matter
Statistical models are created by identifying influential random variables and then assigning characteristics to those variables. In the case of football, how many rushing yards the 49ers will gain is...
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Fumbling the Interpretation: Statistical Models and the Super Bowl
Predictionmachine.com generated a statistical model for the 2013 Super Bowl that reports a 67% probability of the 49ers winning. The probability of this outcome is different than predicting that the...
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A Career in Agriculture May be One of Your Better Choices
More economic data supports an increasingly talked about practical career choice: agriculture. Most students do not even consider the study of agriculture. Most schools/colleges do not even offer...
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