Specialization is for Insects.
I KNOW you’ve been hassled by beggars about 100 times at least in your life. And nothing drives me crazier than people standing around begging. I absolutely NEVER give them money.
So, do you think that makes me an a-hole? Because I’m not. I’ve donated more to charity than most people will in a lifetime. What it makes me is not a sucker.
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It goes without the saying that comparing wealth and spending in different countries is almost impossible: people work, earn and even spend differently – moreover, their ways of life and views can be too different to compare.
However, we still try to compare because people move around the world and they want to know what they can expect in different corners of the globe.
Here are the 10 greatest examples of information graphics comparing money, spending and earning around the world:
Last night I went to pick up a few groceries to replace items for the week. While moving through the cereal aisle I saw a box of a generic brand of granola bars that I wouldn’t normally purchase. But the price had been reduced to $1.99, so I decided I would grab a box. Later at home I was putting them away and I started to wonder why I had gotten the things in the first place. I didn’t especially like them, and while my kids would enjoy them they were so packed in sugar that I wouldn’t normally give it to them.
I had fallen for an old sales trick that researchers say is a highly effective on in today’s market. Studies have shown again and again that when a customer sees the tell-tale $.99 ending on any price, they are more likely to buy than if there is a cent more in price, pushing the tag to show $.00. This is such an extreme compulsion that someone might even spent $1,299.99 on a television without considering the price as closely as the same person who would reject buying a similar television for $1,300.00.
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I found this fascinating. A few weeks ago we celebrated Mother’s Day here in the US, and when I was watching the news they reported that Americans will spend $2.5 Billion on jewelry, and another $3 Billion taking moms out to eat. And there was more money to be spent in other categories too ($Billions).
When I saw that, it kind of floored me. After all, we’re talking about $5.5B on food and entertainment in a single weekend. Which is actually more money than the 50 poorest nation’s entire annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Seriously, if you head over to Google’s public data explorer you can graph out these GDPs and see just how excessive things are.
So, next time you’re whining about how crappy our economy is right now, let me remind you that you probably spent like $300 on food and a gift for Mom – and that is more money than people in Afghanistan earn in a year. So quit your whining and get back to work!
For a long time now I’ve been hearing people predicting the death of traditional media (you know: television, radio, books and newspapers). “Old Media is dead! Long live New Media!”
This is 50% crap, but it’s also 50% true. And since I’ve been fielding a lot of questions about this lately, let me see if I can break it down for outsiders in terms that are a little easier to understand and have some actual logic behind them.
The real magic of “new media” has nothing to do with the people. It is quite simply all about the delivery mechanism.
In any industry, the cost of goods produced are ultimately borne by the buyers of the finished product. So, for example, if the price of steel goes up, the price of automobiles goes up as well.
But imagine a situation where a radical new material is developed that costs 1/100th the price of steel, but which is actually stronger, can be made in an ordinary kitchen, and can be used to build cars just as well!
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As I wrote over on the WealthNation.FM blog…
Well, I guess they were bound to catch up to us sooner or later. Our supreme editor, Dave Moyer, has compiled the first ever set of Wealth Nation bloopers for your listening enjoyment. Now you can get a real listen “behind the scenes” to see what he has to deal with when he’s cleaning up the episodes.
This will teach us not to be taking extended periods of time off from the show in the future!
Just select the play button below and you can listen to the show right here. You can also visit iTunes and subscribe, follow Wealth Nation on Twitter, or join our Wealth Nation group on Facebook!
I’ve had many people asking about what it takes to actually put together WordCamp Dallas, and there have been a lot of questions specifically involving the costs associated with the event.
I’ve been hesitant to share all the details up to this point for a variety of reasons including:
However, I’ve decided that in the interests of the community I will share as many details as possible so that others who are looking to put on an event of this kind will understand what it’s going to take before they attempt to do it. The last thing we need are surprises, especially where money is involved.
Keep in mind that the costs outlined here were to cover around 350 attendees, plus live streaming of the event to a few hundred more around the world. Also know that WordCamp Dallas 2008 had a similar outcome, but at around 65% of the values here.
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Folks, a few weeks ago I went to the doctor to get a physical. Nothing special whatsoever. Just a routine annual physical. It was a two part visit. The first time I went they took blood to run the normal tests (I’m healthy). Then I went a few days later to see the doctor and get checked out.
So, I leave the office and a couple weeks later I get some paperwork from my insurance company informing me that the doctor has billed them $2,550.00 for the visit, and they were paying $2,046.00 after the healthplan discount. What the FXXK?!?
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The story begins when I decided I wanted to obtain a domain, related to OneMansBlog.com, that was already taken and which I quickly determined was parked and had been registered at Sedo.
Sedo is a large, accredited top level domain registrar. So, I first did a quick search on their site to see if the domain was listed for sale, and when it wasn’t found I decided to check out their offer to “broker” the purchase for me.
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