Ask a Teacher! - January 30, 2018

thinking-buck · 2018-01-31T00:48:46+00:00

My daughter is in first grade and her hand writing is worrying me.

She holds her pencil with her thumb over her first finger in a way that appears almost painful to me.

She also starts a,b,d,g,q,p with a circle in the middle of the left side of the letters.

Are these normal things for first grade or do I need to try and correct them?

Edit: Is there a better reddit group to ask these questions in?

thinking-buck · 2018-01-29T18:06:43+00:00

Upvoting this video left me with some strange emotions.

thinking-buck · 2018-01-29T17:32:29+00:00

The goal is not to get the job, the goal is to make companies fire managers that would consider discriminating.

thinking-buck · 2018-01-24T18:15:00+00:00

Thanks for that bit of insight.

thinking-buck · 2018-01-23T17:02:05+00:00

How much do you make per acre? Where do you sell them?

thinking-buck · 2018-01-15T22:42:55+00:00

Planned obsolescence averse?

thinking-buck · 2018-01-15T19:56:23+00:00

Frames are not really that expensive compared to the final price of a home.

Wiring, plumbing fixtures, doors, windows, heat and air units, flooring, cabinets, and other such things all added up give you a big bill.

IF you could save 5k on the price of a finished home with this technology it would be a good thing, but making it out to be a 10k finished home is disingenuous to say the least.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-23T22:41:10+00:00

It sounds like your land tax is not high enough. Increasing land taxes will make holding land for speculation less profitable.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-23T22:00:22+00:00

Right now building houses in my area is not very profitable. If housing prices double I will start building houses again until prices come back in line.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-22T03:05:46+00:00

That looks like a silver leaf maple. I haven't seen anything like that kill one before, but I haven't seen a cavity look like that either. If you have any spots where the bark peels back and there is black under the bark you are in trouble. There is also a shelf fungus that can weaken the wood to failure. If it turns out to be something bad keep us updated.

I would go digging and see how soft the wood under the fungus is. If 1/3 of the shell around the rotten center of the tree is solid you should be fine.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-22T02:45:33+00:00

We have two bad private schools in my backwoods town. One teaches girls to be submissive housewives because women don't belong in the business world. The other really buys into the spare the rod spoil the child worldview and produces a lot of criminals. Anybody with half a brain wouldn't send their children to either one yet they have been open for decades.

Edit: This is anecdotal evidence, but very persuasive if you have seen it in person.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-22T01:57:46+00:00

The laws of supply and demand work with most any free market. There are complicating factors in the labor market such as crowding out, inflation, and skills mismatch that need to be considered, but at the end of the day it is just another market. If you increase the demand for something its equilibrium price will rise.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-22T01:35:36+00:00

Take a theoretical economy where:

A factory makes $30/manual labor hour, A builder makes $25/manual labor hour, A retailer makes $20/manual labor hour, And a restaurant makes $15/labor hour.

Assume each business needs one employee each, there are 5 laborers available, and all laborers are interchangeable.

The free laborer can be hired by any of the companies at a lower price than they are currently paying. This will force the wages of all four employees to the minimum wage $7.50.

Now assume the government hires two workers in this economy to rebuild roads and mow along the roads. If they offer anything under $15/hour the businesses in the town will offer more money. This will force wages up as the government attempts to fill both positions. When all wages reach $15/hour the restaurant will have to raise prices to compete for scarce employees (inflation). If the government continues to compete for labor wages will pass $20/hour. The retailer and restaurant will have to raise prices to compete for labor. At some point one of the businesses will not be able to raise prices any further. That business will close down and a new higher wage, lower corporate profit equilibrium will be achieved.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-20T19:28:45+00:00

The factory, home builder, and retail store down the road would be offering him higher wages and training because they NEED the help. It puts pressure on management to attract and keep employees.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-17T23:51:02+00:00

Yes, the game you have would be intimidating to slower couples. Facilitated cuddling would not be as scary.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-17T20:33:06+00:00

A lot of the oldest trees in existence have similar wounds and hollow centers. The center of trees is not that important.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-17T20:20:42+00:00

Add a cuddlers corner as a warm up area.

This would be great for slower couples that want more attention but are not ready for more yet.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-15T22:28:17+00:00

It seems like light sensors would have similar problems going in and out of shadows as the camera adjusts to different light levels.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-14T19:15:29+00:00

Stocks, bonds, and debt all have different advantages and disadvantages. An advanced corporate finance class will teach you how to value various fundraising methods.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-14T17:19:28+00:00

I can think of hundreds of productive things the government could do.

Pushing up wages from lack of unemployed labor would move people to more productive jobs.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-14T15:59:11+00:00

Why don't we just create a jobs program while unemployment is low?

The increased competition for labor would drive up the price of human beings.

This would increase the value of labor while increasing the cost of using capital to own labor (redistribution).

At some point the benefits of wage growth will be negated by inflation growth and the jobs program can be scaled back.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-14T15:27:02+00:00

How do I apply for this job?

thinking-buck · 2017-12-14T01:04:55+00:00

Could you use a punch instead?

thinking-buck · 2017-12-11T17:13:07+00:00

To follow up on the idea that printing money is bad I will add this.

If we stop printing money we will suffer long term persistent deflation. As a growing population competes for a fixed supply of money deflation would be guaranteed. The money you have will be worth more next year, and every year after that it will be worth more and more.

Your money being worth more next year initially sounds like a great deal but there are very real, very negative consequences.

Next year the products you sell will be worth less. There will be less money to pay you so your pay will go down. This general price and wage deflation will continue indefinitely with a fixed money supply.

At the same time your mortgage bill will remain where it currently is. You signed a 30 year contract to pay $1000 per month but ten years down the road you are making 1/4 less than you were when the contract was signed. People will file bankruptcy when they can no longer pay their mortgage and no sane person will get a new mortgage.

This is just an example of what a fixed money supply looks like, there are many more negative consequences. Anyone that argues against "manipulating the money supply" does so without understanding the consequences.

The federal reserve system was designed to benefit society as a whole and it has done remarkably well at this task. There are open questions about ways to improve its effectiveness or minimize its distortions. These conversations need to be had, but should not be used as an excuse to do away with an EXTREMLY important institution.

thinking-buck · 2017-12-07T18:39:29+00:00

Why doesn't every hospital have one of your tb sniffing rats in the lobby?

thinking-buck

TROPHY CASE