Sloan West Conference on STEM Workers

My account of presenting at the conference is here:

http://programmersguild.blogspot.com/2008/01/programmers-guild-presents-...

I appreciated the opportunity to present my perspective to this audience, and meeting Phil Martin and fellow presenters.

We Have Too Many PhDs

Universities Produce too many PhDs

The latest federal data show about 45,600 Ph.Ds were awarded in 2005-2006, 5.1 percent higher than the year before. It was the fourth straight increase and tied for the highest percentage gain since 1971

Books & Papers

Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests - Ralph E. Gomory William J. Baumol.

Gomory is President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Baumol is Director, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics. Through mathematics and general conceptual overview, Gomory, Baumol show the difference between classical economics and today's complex and modern economies. This text also highlights scenarios where global trade isn't necessarily a "non zero sum game". An excellent primer on global trade theory.

Nevada GOP primary exit polls

The raw exit polls via CBS are here.

Americans are Producers, Not Consumers

Have you ever noticed that the only attention Americans get from this administration is when they stop shopping?

Bush announced a $145B Economic Stimulus plan that is in the form of tax rebates. He wants to put a whopping $800 dollars into the pocket of every single tax paying American.

Even Bruce Barltett, a former Bush administration member, said:

Building up members

How do we get members to interact more on the blogs and post. Is this a
good method?

IV has grown rapidly and they utilize web 2.0 technologies. We need to
do the same.

Wordpress does not have this functionality we are using here, as far as
I can find.

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2008 Economic Predictions article

Carlini's Commentary writes about the predictions for the 2008 economy. This is particularly interesting for he is talking about the foreign investments plus the constant drive to (and consequences of) pushing technology, expertise offshore.

War on Greed - The Film

Brave New Films has released a new film, War On Greed. It's about the type Private Equity firms, focus on Henry Kravis, which takeover a public company and produce pretty much nothing but wealth for themselves.
_{Note Kravis is supporting John McCain}

Here Comes Inflation!

AP reporting inflation is the highest in 17 years

Consumer prices rose by 4.1 percent for all of 2007, up sharply from a 2.5 percent increase in 2006, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Consumers felt the pain when they filled up their gas tanks or shopped for groceries. Prices for both energy and food shot up by the largest amount since 1990.

In a second report, the Federal Reserve said that output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities showed no growth in December, adding to a string of weak economic reports showing that the economy was slowing at the end of last year.

Supreme Court rules against Investors on Fraud

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against investors seeking to sue businesses for scheming to manipulate stock prices of publicly traded companies.
In a 5-3 ruling, the court gave a measure of protection from securities suits to suppliers, banks, accountants and law firms that do business with corporations engaging in securities fraud.

January 2008