Archive for September, 2011
September 30, 2011
Punch line: Last weekend I was displeased by Starbucks. Why? Because they razed the local KFC (and neighboring Popeye’s) to erect a new super-Starbucks.
Bummer.
So, I was ripe for a satirical video ripping SBUX.
Too bad the guy got fired
Excerpted from AOL: Singing Starbucks Employee Fired For YouTube Video
A Starbucks employee with a knack for satire uploaded an acoustic ballad about his employer that quickly went viral.
Starbucks – demonstrating no sense of humor – fired the dude.
In the song, the former barista admits to various behaviors that gave the corporate bigwigs pause:
- giving customers decaf when there’s no fresh regular,
- mocking rich white women for thinking a skinny vanilla latte is a sensible diet drink,
- giving free stuff to his friends,
- secretly making not nonfat cappuccinos
- making Frappacinos out of whipped cream.
In general, he paints an unflattering portrait of the world’s largest coffee chain: customers who are terrible people, food and beverage offerings that will induce heart disease and diabetes, and an oppressive grind of a workday for minimum wage.
See for yourself …
Thanks to MET for feeding the lead.
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Tags:Satirical video, Starbucks, YouTube
Posted in Starbucks | Leave a Comment »
September 30, 2011
Punch line: Netflix got into a hole by initially giving away its video streaming offerings … in essence, pricing based on marginal cost.
That can work, when everybody isn’t a marginal customer …
Excerpted from The Atlantic by Megan McArdle:
The Qwikster and the Dead
Netflix tried to build their streaming video service by giving it away for free, as an add-on to their snail-mail service.
This was a good way to add customers. But the history of the internet indicates that once you convince people something is supposed to be free, or close to it, you will have a devilishly hard time getting them to pay for it.
People decided that they were supposed to be able to stream unlimited movies for free.
This never made any sense; people were confusing the marginal cost with the average cost.
You can always get a sweet deal if you are the customer who gets marginal cost pricing.
Medicare does this — reimburses hospitals at above their marginal cost, but below their average cost, so that private insurers have to pick up most of the hospital overhead.
European countries do this with prescription drugs: reimburse above the marginal cost of producing the pills, but below the total cost of developing the pills, so that the US has to pick up most of the tab for drug development.
The problem is that as voters and as customers, we often get the notion that marginal costing can be extrapolated to everyone.
So liberal policy wonks want to save money by putting everyone on Medicare, or some equivalent program that uses the government’s monopsony pricing power to get lower prices for everyone.
But, it doesn’t work that way.
Everyone cannot be the marginal cost consumer.
Someone has to cover things like overhead and development costs.
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Tags:Economics, Free, Marginal Cost
Posted in Economics, Marginal Costing | Leave a Comment »
September 29, 2011
Punch line: According to Gallup a record-high 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the country is being governed
As Gomer Pyle would say “surprise, surprise, surprise.”
Ken’s Take Carter tanked it, Reagan brought it back, Clinton held it, Bush re-tanked it, Obama sqandered hope & change to all-time lows.
* * * * *
Drilling Down
Majorities of Democrats (65%) and Republicans (92%) are dissatisfied with the nation’s governance.
69% say they have little or no confidence in the legislative branch of government, an all-time high and up from 63% in 2010.
57% have little or no confidence in the federal government to solve domestic problems
43% have little or no confidence in the government to solve international problems.
53% have little or no confidence in the men and women who seek or hold elected office.
Americans believe, on average, that the federal government wastes 51 cents of every tax dollar
49% of Americans believe the federal government has become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens.
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Tags:Dissatisfaction with Government, Gallup, Government Approval
Posted in Gov't Waste & Inefficiency, Government & Politics, Polls & Surveys | Leave a Comment »
September 28, 2011
Punch line: As part of an ad campaign featuring “real people” explaining their decision to buy Fords, a guy named “Chris” says he “wasn’t going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government,”
Team Obama didn’t like the ad, and Ford pulled it so that Team Obama could stay focused on Gibson Guitars, S&P, and the tanning salons.
According to the Detroit News …
Ford pulled the ad after individuals inside the White House questioned whether the copy was publicly denigrating the controversial bailout policy.
With President Barack Obama tuning his re-election campaign amid dismal economic conditions and simmering antipathy toward his stimulus spending and associated bailouts, the Ford ad carried the makings of a political liability when Team Obama can least afford yet another one. Can’t have that.
The ad, pulled in response to White House “questions” (and, presumably, carping from rival GM), threatened to rekindle the negative (if accurate) association just when the president wants credit for their positive results and to distance himself from any public downside of his decision.
In other words, where presidential politics and automotive marketing collide — clean, green, politically correct vehicles not included — the president wins and the automaker loses because the benefit of the battle isn’t worth the cost of waging it.
Once again, nothing like the Administration’s Chicago style politics.
Step out of line, and BAM !
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Tags:Ad campaign, Bailouts, Chicago-style politics, Ford
Posted in Autos - Travel, Obama | Leave a Comment »
September 28, 2011
Based on a new Gallup poll, 69% say that Bush gets at least some of the blame for the bad economy … that’s down 10 points from a couple of years ago … as memories fade.
And, for the first time, a majority of Americans (53%) thinks that President Obama has some culpability for the current condition of the economy. Only 25% of Dems think so, but 69% of independents give Obama some blame … apparently, blaming Bush, tsunamis, Arab Springs, etc. is running out of steam.
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Tags:Blame for the economy, Bush, Gallup, Obama
Posted in Economy, Obama, Polls & Surveys | Leave a Comment »
September 28, 2011
Punch line: Netflix tried to ‘seed’ their steaming video business with an irresistible offer: free. But, customers revolted when asked to pay.Now, trying to be clever, Netflix is trying corporate fission: breaking into 2 parts.
I’m betting the under …
* * * * *
Excerpted from the Atlantic, by Megan McArdle:
The Qwikster and the Dead
Netflix admits that they’d really messed up the transition when they announced the end of free streaming, and that in order to fix it, they decided to more decisively split their DVD and streaming services.
The DVD part will now be called “Qwikster” and have its own website; the streaming service will retain the Netflix brand.
The internet’s collective reaction sits somewhere between foaming rage, and an enormous collective “What the hey, Netflix?”
It’s so bizarre.. What problem does this solve?
Netflix does have a huge problem.
The company never wanted to be in the mail-order DVD service long-term; it’s not a good business.
Redbox was threatening to carve off the casual users, leaving them with the high-traffic movie buffs who don’t make them money.
Plus any idiot can see that the future is likely to be in painlessly streaming movies over the internet, not putting physical discs in little envelopes and mailing them.
The fact that the Postal Service is near bankruptcy tells you a lot about the viability of business models based on mailing things.
The problem is that they tried to build their streaming service by giving it away for free, as an add-on to their snail-mail service.
This was a good way to add customers.
But the history of the internet indicates that once you convince people something is supposed to be free, or close to it, you will have a devilishly hard time getting them to pay for it.
Unfortunately, users had been conditioned to expect unlimited free ice cream; they didn’t like having to pay for it.
Subscriptions dropped instead of rising.
Netflix stock went into a rapid decline.
So I understand that Netflix was in a bad place.
But I don’t understand how Qwikster solves any of these problems.
It doesn’t improve their bargaining position with the content providers.
It doesn’t soothe angry customers who don’t like having to pay for stuff they used to get for free.
Thanks to Tags for feeding the lead.
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Tags:Free, Netflix, Perils of Free, Quickster
Posted in Mktg - Free - Power, perils, Mktg - PLC, Mktg - Pricing | Leave a Comment »
September 27, 2011
Well, well, well.
According to the WSJ: “The SEC has given S&P a so-called Wells notice alleging that S&P violated federal securities laws with respect to its ratings for a collateralized debt obligation known as Delphinus CDO 2007-1”.
Hmmm. About 4 years after the fact … but only a month or so after S&P lower the U.S. credit rating.
Coincidence.
Probably so.
And, here’s another twist: Moody’s was also up to its eyeballs slapping AAA ratings on CDOs.
But, Moody’s isn’t under investigation.
Did I mention that Warren “Please Tax Me More” Buffet owns a big chunk of Moody’s.
Double hmmm.
Probably just a coincidence.
But, it doesn’t smell right, does it?
Gotta love that good, old fashioned Chicago politics.
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Posted in Buffett, Warren, Financial Crisis, Obama | 1 Comment »
September 27, 2011
In marketing jargon, it’s called “unbundled pricing” … charging a price for a base product and then charging separately for add-ons.
In concept, price unbundling allows suppliers to flash lower base prices to potential buyers … and enables buyers to only pay for the specific product features that they want.
The downside: unbundling highlights the price of the add-on … which folks may have previously perceived to be free. Think airlines charging for bags
Another case in point: a family member just got back from Europe …. where he was dismayed that McDonald’s was charging extra for ketchup.
For McDonald’s, it’s a way to to list a lower burger price.
For non-ketchup eater, it’s a way to save money … not paying the ‘hidden price’ for something that they don’t use.
For ketchup users?
Well, it certainly feels like Mickey D is screwing them.
Thanks to SMH for feeding the lead.
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Posted in Mktg - Pricing | 1 Comment »
September 26, 2011
Punch line: Chasing after a couple of thousand rich dudes seems like a wild goose chase to me.
I’m more concerned about the 50% of folks who don’t have any skin in the game … who pay no taxes and think other folks should pay more.
Old refrain: “Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax the guy behind the tree.”
Tax Policy Center analysis reported in The Atlantic …
76 million people won’t legally owe individual income taxes in 2011
The vast majority of this group is poor. They won’t owe individual income taxes because they won’t earn a lot of money to start, and various exemptions, like the earned income tax credit, will wipe out any tax liability … maybe even getting them a refundable credit – a check in the mail from the Feds.
Among families making more than $100,000, there will also be half a million tax units that will also pay no income tax.
And, 7,000 millionaires will pay no individual income tax.
How can that be?
Couple of ways:
- Tax-free income … think gov’t bonds
- Catastrophic losses … e.g. mansion gets wiped out by a hurricane, very high uninsured medical expenses
- Discretionary deductions … think charitable deductions
- Fraud and other shenanigans …
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Tags:millionaires, Rich, Taxes, Who doesn't pay income taxes
Posted in Buffett, Warren, Taxes | 3 Comments »
September 26, 2011
Punch line: You can register a dot-com domain name with GoDaddy for about 10 bucks.
For an additional $184,990, you’ll soon be able to register a “dot-brand” domain name like “.homa”.
Tempting, but I think I’ll wait until the price drops to $19.99
* * * * *
Excerpted from CnnMoney …
Trusty old Internet addresses we know and love — the .coms, .nets, .orgs — are about to get some new competition.
Way back in 2000, the organization decided to expand the domain-name system. Since then, it has gradually rolled out a handful of new domains, including the controversial .xxx domain that got the green light in March.
ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) – the Global Internet regulator – is finalizing rules for a major expansion of “generic top-level domains,” that will clear the way for new offerings like .law, .coke or .nyc. Sites with those endings are expected to start rolling out late next year.
Experts think dot-brand sites will be a hit with major companies.
“The decision will usher in a new Internet age … a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration.”
In addition to marketing benefits, they could help on the security front: HSBC, for example, could tell customers that a purported HSBC site isn’t legitimate unless it ends in .hsbc.
But these benefits don’t come cheaply — or easily. ICANN charges at $185,000 per domain application, which Crawford says typically must include about 150 pages of policy documents.
Technical setup takes another $100,000 or so, he says, and upkeep can cost an additional $100,000 each year.
ICANN is slated to begin reviewing applications in November or December, and says that new domains should roll out in July 2012.
Thanks to MET for feeding the lead.
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Tags:Branding, Domain names, dot-brand, dot-com, ICANN, Internet
Posted in Internet - General, Internet Marketing - eCommerce - | Leave a Comment »
September 23, 2011
Headline: Pres. Obama hires, hangs with and pays off folks with “little or no credibility among grassroots businesspeople”
Interesting read with some notable snippets from Forbe’s: How The President Helped Kill Progressivism, Capitalism And Moderation
Obama’s progressivism is shaped by his fellow academics, who have enjoyed unprecedented influence in this administration, as well as closely aligned classes such as affluent greens, urban land interests, venture capitalists and the mainstream media.
Obama’s stimulus … largely missed the recession’s biggest victims: minorities, the working class and the young. The president instead chose to service the needs of organized constituencies such as public sector unions, large research universities and “green capitalists.”
Obama … has surrounded himself not with entrepreneurs but consummate crony capitalists — chief of staff Bill Daley (scion of the Chicago machine family), General Electric‘s Jeffrey Immelt and proposed Commerce Chief John Bryson, who has spent much time as a master manipulator for a large regulated utility.
These figures have little or no credibility among grassroots businesspeople. They are seen as being more adept at working the system than succeeding in the free market.
Ken’s Take: There won’t be a significant economic turnaround until business is on board. Period.
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Tags:Anti-business, Obama
Posted in Anti-business, Obama | Leave a Comment »
September 23, 2011
Takeaway: While irreverent, Keystone Light’s spokesidiot Keith Stone has won over a cult following… but, the campaign’s success begs the question about where the brand will go from here.
* * * * *
Excerpted from brandchannel.com, “Keystone Light Mull(et)s Next Steps for Pervy Pitchman Keith Stone”
“In developing the Keith Stone campaign, we wanted to literally bring the brand’s ‘Always Smooth’ essence to life in a way that is impactful and relatable to our Keystone Light drinker. We did this through the creation of an ownable brand hero, Keith Stone is the MC of Smoothness.”
Like the Old Spice Guy, the success of Keith Stone relies on a number of unpredictables.
First, there’s the “guy” himself …
The Keith Stone character aims to “elevate the key traits and values of Keystone Light at the core,” taking as its motto “Always Smooth” …
And yet, Keith Stone is extremely popular … When large numbers of Americans are dressing as your spokesperson for Halloween, it’s a pretty good sign you’re forming strong connections with your consumers …
Consumers identify with Keith “because, in many ways, [he] emulates characteristics of themselves. He’s easygoing and confident. He’s clever, resourceful and creative in unexpected ways. He’s lovably imperfect … He’s your laidback buddy who always has a 30-stone in tow.”
Keystone has extended the reach of its popular pitch man with additional virals and various tie-in partnerships.…
The brand uses the web to promote brand interaction through engagement with Keith’s fans, “his 21-34 year-old buddies who are looking for laughs across various content platforms” …
It’s impossible to assume Keith Stone would ever mature beyond his current self, which could pose a challenge for Keystone when it comes to growing its brand beyond the name recognition and “always smooth” positioning its locked down with the current campaign.
As for their pitchman’s future … “It’s been a fun ride and we are currently discussing the possibilities for the brand in the coming years.”
Edit by KJM
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Tags:Halloween, Keith Stone, Keystone
Posted in Mktg - Promotion | Leave a Comment »
September 22, 2011
OK, this poll cuts to the chase.
This is why many folks – me included – resist tax increases (oops, I mean ‘revenue increases’) … because there’s enough wasted money to pay for everything the gov’t needs to do … including debt reduction.
Interesting note: even liberal Dems who push hard for tax increases think that at least 45 cents of every dollar are wasted. … yet, they keep pushing for tax increases.
Huh?
According to Gallup:
Americans estimate that the federal government wastes 51 cents of every dollar it spends, a new high in a Gallup question first asked in 1979.
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Posted in Gov't Waste & Inefficiency, Polls & Surveys | 2 Comments »
September 22, 2011
TakeAway: Wendy’s remakes its hamburger, after 42 years, to boost sales and grow share in the fast food wars … New burger or New Coke? … The market will ultimately decide.
* * * * *
Excerpted from USAToday.com, “Wendy’s remakes its burgers; here’s how it did that”
Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy, named after late Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas, is Wendy’s new burger — with extra cheese, a thicker beef patty, a buttered bun, and no mustard, among other changes …
“Our food was already good. We wanted it to be better. Isn’t that what long-term brands do? They reinvent themselves.”
Wendy’s started Project Gold Hamburger two and a half years ago to boost lackluster sales and fight growing competition from McDonald’s and expanding fast-casual chains, such as Five Guys …
But the biggest issue was that Wendy’s, which hadn’t changed its burger since the chain began in 1969, let its food offerings get stale over the years while its competitors continued to update their menus …
“We have a lot of catching up to do in some areas. But after we launch this hamburger there will be folks who need to catch up to us.”
Wendy’s polled more than 10,000 people about their likes and dislikes in hamburgers. It found that people like the food at Wendy’s but thought the brand hadn’t kept up with the times.
So, executives were shipped off to eat at burger joints around the country and measured each sandwich on characteristics like fatty flavor, salty flavor and whether the bun fell apart.
Then, it was time for Wendy’s researchers to consider the chain’s own burger, ingredient by ingredient. Each time they made a change, they asked for feedback, visiting research firms around the country to watch through two-way mirrors as people tried each variation.
Many suggestions sounded good but didn’t ring true with tasters.
- They tried green-leaf lettuce, but people preferred to keep iceberg for its crunchiness.
- They thought about making the tomato slices thicker but decided they didn’t want to ask franchisees to buy new slicing equipment.
- They even tested a round burger, a trial that was practically anathema to a company that’s made its name on square burgers.
Wendy’s ultimately did not go with the round shape, but changed the patty to a “natural square,” with wavy edges, because tasters said the straight edges looked processed.
Tasters said they wanted a thicker burger, so Wendy’s started packing the meat more loosely, trained grill cooks to press down on the patties two times instead of eight, and printed “Handle Like Eggs” on the boxes that the hamburger patties were shipped in so they wouldn’t get smashed.
Wendy’s researchers knew that customers wanted warmer and crunchier buns, so they decided that buttering them and then putting them through a toaster was the way to go.
In the end, Wendy’s researchers changed everything but the ketchup. They switched to whole-fat mayonnaise, nixed the mustard, and cut down on the pickles and onions, all to emphasize the flavor of the beef.
They also started storing the cheese at higher temperatures so it would melt better, … a change that required federal approval.
Wendy’s faces the reality that some customers may not like the new burger — or its likely price increase of 10 or 20 cents, because of the higher-quality ingredients.
Edit by KJM
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Posted in Food & Drink, Mktg - Consumer Behavior, Mktg - Product & Innovation | 1 Comment »
September 21, 2011
The press were abuzz yesterday debunking O’s key premise that millionaires pay taxes at a lower rate than teachers making $50,000.
Yesterday, we showed that a married teacher with 2 kids who earns $50,000 pays at a 5.5% rate. Even if you add 7.65 in payroll taxes to that, the resulting 13.15% is still less than a millionaire who pays only capital gains taxes at 15%.
That was a micro analysis.
The WSJ presented the macro analysis:
In 2008, the last year for which such data are available, the IRS reports that those who made more than $1 million in adjusted gross income paid an average income tax rate of 23.3%.
That’s slightly lower than the 24.1% rate paid by those making between $500,000 and $1 million, probably because the richest are like Mr. Buffett and earn more from capital gains and dividends.
The rate for a relative handful of the rich — 400 people — fell to 18%.
But nearly all millionaires still paid a rate that is more than twice the 8.9% average rate paid by those earning between $50,000 and $100,000, and more than three times the 7.2% average rate paid by those earning less than $50,000.
The larger point is that the claim that CEOs are routinely paying lower tax rates than their secretaries is Omaha hokum.
I think the President should modify his Buffett Rule to read: anybody who earns more than $1 million … and who has accumulated wealth greater than $25 billion … and who plans to bequeath practically all of his estate to a pal’s “foundation” shall pay an effective income tax rate of 90% … unless he /she whines that they’re being coddled, in which case the tax rate escalates to 100%.
My real recommendation: limit the charitable estate exemption to $1 million so that Buffet has to fork about half of his estate over to the government … that’ll keep him from bring coddled in the grave.
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Tags:billionaires, Buffett, Buffett Rule, millionaires, Taxes
Posted in Buffett, Warren, Obama, Taxes | 1 Comment »
September 21, 2011
Last week, Speaker Boehner spoke about the Obama’s Jobs Plan and the state of the economy”
House Speaker John Boehner said President Barack Obama’s jobs plan would do little to get the economy moving again because “job creators in America are basically on strike.” Source
Well, we told so … going back to a July 2009 post titled: “Why private sector jobs won’t be coming back any time soon … hint: it’s called passive aggressive resistance.”
Back then, we were saying:
The bottom line: businesses will resist government policies passive aggressively.
Fewer jobs will get added back than history would suggest, and those that get added back will materialize later than past patterns. Businesses will add jobs as a last resort rather than trying to build capacity ahead of the economic growth curve.
Why should companies increase their costs and risks any more than is absolutely necessary ?
Companies will continue to off-shore jobs, but will be more clever and clandestine about it, e.g. by vertically disintegrating and simply buying goods and services from 3rd parties.
Given the Administration’s anti-corporate rhetoric, actions, and proposed game-changing rules, I doubt that many CEOs will be taking on added costs and risks to boost the administration.
More likely, they will let unemployment continue to creep up, and will slow roll the process of rehiring.
Corporate chieftains will sit back and watch the President squirm and spin his “4 million jobs – saved or created”.
As Rev. Wright would say “the chickens will have come home to roost”.
Passively aggressive resistance at its very best.
There’s more in the original post.
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Tags:Boehner, Employers on strike, Jobs, unemployment
Posted in Jobs - Unemployment | 1 Comment »
September 20, 2011
The AP published a nice summary of the Solyndra fiasco. Here are some highlights …
* * * * *
Projected Losses
Solyndra was hemorrhaging hundreds of millions of dollars for years before the Obama administration signed off on the original $535 million loan guarantee in September 2009.
The company’s SEC filings outlined losses prior to the loan and said bluntly: “We expect to continue to incur significant operating and net losses and negative cash flow from operations for the foreseeable future.”
“We have incurred significant net losses since our inception, including a net loss of $114.1 million in 2007, $232.1 million in 2008 and $119.8 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2009, and we had an accumulated deficit of $505 million at Oct. 3, 2009,” the company said in a December 2009 filing to the SEC. “We expect to continue to incur significant operating and net losses and negative cash flow from operations for the foreseeable future.”
The DOE brushed off the losses, saying: “Of course start-up companies incur early losses.”
But, the company said: “ … net losses and negative cash flow from operations for the foreseeable future”.
Hard to brush that off.
* * * * *
Subordination of Gov’t Loan
When Solyndra started imploding earlier this year, “The Obama administration restructured the half-billion dollar federal loan to Solyndra in such a way that private investors — including a fundraiser for President Barack Obama — moved ahead of taxpayers for repayment in case of a default, government records show.
The Administrations defense:
Administration officials defended the loan restructuring, saying that without an infusion of cash earlier this year, solar panel maker Solyndra Inc. would likely have faced immediate bankruptcy, putting more than 1,000 people out of work.
Even with the Administration’s agreement to subordinate the gov’t loan to private creditors, Solyndra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a few months later and laid off its 1,100 employees.
Remember the auto bailouts when the Administration subordinated secured creditors beneath the unsecured union obligations?
I guess the new rules are simply that Obama supporters get priority claims in bankruptcy proceedings …
* * * * *
Political jitters
Emails show the White House was worried about the likely effect of a default by Solyndra on Obama’s re-election campaign.
“The optics of a Solyndra default will be bad,” an OMB official wrote in a Jan. 31 email to a colleague. “The timing will likely coincide with the 2012 campaign season heating up.”
The budget official, whose name is blacked out in the email, wondered whether Solyndra should be allowed to restructure its loan.
“Questions will be asked as to why the administration made a bad investment, not just once (which could hopefully be explained as part of the challenge of supporting innovative technologies), but twice (which could easily be portrayed as bad judgment, or worse),” the email says.
News flash: even without a 2nd round of money down the rat hole, the gov’t loan guarantees reads through as “bad judgment, or worse”.
* * * * *
Ken’s big question
Why hasn’t anybody been fired?
If DOE’s head Steven Chu – you know, the Nobel winning scientist — signed off on this loan guarantee, he should be terminated immediately.
That’s what happens to in private VC firms when a partner loses a half-billion dollars in 18 months on an indefensible investment.
P.S. I don’t think Chu’s Nobel prize was for either oil spill remediation or high tech venture capital work. If I’m wrong, let me know.
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Posted in Obama Scandles, Stimulus Plan | Leave a Comment »
September 19, 2011
In his speech, the President’s teleprompter hammered that millionaires and billionaires have lower tax rates than teacher’s making $50,000.
Hmm.
Let’s think about that.
A high earner who makes all of his money from dividends and capital gains pays 15%. Maybe a tad less after deductions – but the deductions (charity, state & local taxes, mortgages) should be rounding error. So, let’s call it 15%
What about a teacher earning $50,000 – all from his teacher’s pay?
Well, let’s assume that he’s married with 2 kids.
What does he pay in taxes?
Answer: 5.5%.
A married person filing jointly gets a standard deduction of $11,400
A married taxpayer with 2 kids gets $14,600 in exemptions (4 times $3,650)
So, the taxpayers taxable income is $24,000 ($50,000 less $11,400 less $14,600)
Taxes on $24,000 are $2,762.50 ($1,675 plus 15% of the taxable income over $16,750)
That’s an effective rate of 5.5%
You see, the standard deduction and exemptions are what analysts call statistically significant.
Come on Mr. President … at least get the numbers right !
* * * * *
Relevant Tax Facts
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040tt.pdf
Exemptions directly reduce your taxable income. You are allowed a personal exemption for yourself, your spouse if married filing jointly, and each person you can claim as a dependent. For 2010, the exemption amount is $3,650.
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Tags:Buffet Rule, Obama, Taxes
Posted in Taxes | 5 Comments »
September 19, 2011
Punch line: Ford hit the airwaves with a potentially controversial ad touting the fact that it’s an American company that stands on its own … unlike its bailed out competitors.
I like it …
Excerpted from US News: Ford TV Ad Slams Obama Auto Bailouts article & video
America is still fighting over President Obama’s costly bailout of Chrysler and General Motors. Especially the owners of Ford, the only member of Detroit’s “Big Three” who rejected the government dole and emerged perfectly healthy.
In its most political ad in the so-called “Drive One” ads where real drivers are thrust before cameras to explain why they picked Ford, a real Ford F-150 pick-up driver is featured.
His name is Chris. After he sits down the “reporters” bark “Chris, Chris.” One asks him to explain why “was buying American important to you.”
Sitting and looking sincere and serious, Chris says:
“I wasn’t going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government.
I was going to buy from a manufacturer that’s standing on their own: win, lose, or draw.
That’s what America is about is taking the chance to succeed and understanding when you fail that you gotta’ pick yourself up and go back to work.
Ford is that company for me.”
Now, let’s see if Chris the Ford buyer gets tax audited like Joe the Plumber …
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September 19, 2011
Punch line: Georgetown’s Big East Conference may be losing its 4th and 5th teams to the ACC … whacking the Big E’s stature and money-making capacity.
Georgetown is caught in a pickle since it’s a ‘major’ in basketball but not in football.
Excerpted from WSJ
The Atlantic Coast Conference has received application letters from Pittsburgh and Syracuse to join the league.
If the move goes forward, Pittsburgh and Syracuse would become the fourth and fifth schools to leave the Big East for the ACC in the past decade. Virginia Tech and Miami joined in 2004, and Boston College followed a year later as the ACC’s 12th member.
Syracuse is a founding member of the Big East, and Pittsburgh joined the league in 1982.
The Big East’s situation is tricky because of seven non-football members such as Georgetown and Villanova that help make it one of the nation’s strongest basketball conferences.
The basketball schools and football schools often have different agendas.
Losing Pitt and Syracuse would be a huge blow to Big East basketball as well as football.
The other football-playing members of the Big East are Rutgers, Connecticut, Louisville, South Florida, Cincinnati and West Virginia.
There already has been speculation that West Virginia would be a target for the SEC
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Tags:ACC, basketball, Big East, Georgetown
Posted in Big East, Georgetown, Sports & Athletics | Leave a Comment »
September 16, 2011
No surprise, but the President’s Son-of-Stimulus plan seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
According to Gallup, after a week of selling the plan, Obama’s approval rating is back below the 40% political Mendoza line …
I guess the attempted political coup of serving up a plan that stood no chance of being passed didn’t fool folks.
Hot surprised …
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September 16, 2011
Flamethrowers from the right and left respectively (not respectfully)
Glenn Beck is running promos for his new vid show via his internet site.
Big step down from early prime on Fox and thousands of followers on the DC mall.
Olbermann has set up shop at Current TV – whatever that is.
Step-down from MSNBC … though viewership there was pretty low, too.
Question of the day: anybody miss either of them?
I sure don’t …
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September 16, 2011
TakeAway: New ultra-low calorie products celebrate America’s love of over-indulgence … They give folks ‘normal’ portions with fewer calories.
About the taste? You decide …
* * * * *
Excerpted from courier-journal.com, “Marketing to your inner glutton: Ultra-low-calorie foods allow bingeing without guilt”
There is a recent wave of ultra-low calorie products — such as, Artic Zero’s 150-calorie per pint dessert Artic Zero, 20 calorie per serving Tofu Noodles, and MGD 64, a 64 calorie beer — are aimed to direct appeal to our national sense of gluttony …
“What we’re seeing here is a strategy that says Americans like to stuff their faces … And these mean we don’t have to sacrifice.”
“It’s fine to eat one serving of ice cream, but I can’t remember the last time I sat down with a pint and ate half a cup,” said the CEO of Arctic Zero., whose pints of “ice cream replacement” prominently feature the 150-calorie message. “We feel like a serving is an entire pint.”
Tofu Shirataki noodles from House Foods America., offers two 20-calorie servings per 8-ounce package, but “most people eat the whole bag for a meal,” said Yoko Difrancia, the company’s marketing supervisor. “The whole bag is more realistic.”
Consumers seem to be buying it. Sales of Arctic Zero, introduced in 2009, have grown 15 to 20 percent per month for the past 18 months … ‘
“The idea is not that you can or should eat a much bigger volume than you typically
do,” Penn State Professor Barbara Rolls said. “It’s that if you eat your usual amount, you’re going to feel full but with fewer calories.”
… Health advocates and dietitians remain committed to the idea that portion sizes must come down. But they say these products could offer baby steps to people struggling to control their weight. They might also be useful when you feel that binge coming on …
Edit by KJM.
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September 15, 2011
Talking AGT, of course.
What a disappointment.
First, the 2-hour results funale show.
Boring. Filled with real celebs performing with each of the final acts. Had a certain thrown-together-in-a-day look to it. I guess that’s because it was thrown together in a day.
And then, the results …
The guy does a nice job crooning Sinatra, but get serious. There are already at least a dozen Sinatra impersonators in Vegas. He’ll fade fast.
Silhouettes will get some great gigs … and will inspire many copycat acts.
Team iLuminate will be big in Vegas — most unique act since the Blue Men.
Enough on AGT …
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Tags:AGT, America's Got Talent, Silhouettes, Team iLuminate
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September 15, 2011
Punch line: Chipotle Chipotle has contributed more than $2 million to initiatives that support sustainable agriculture,
It’s latest effort: an animated video featuring Willie Nelson’s cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist” that highlights the importance of a sustainable food ecosystem.
* * * * *
Excerpted from brandchannel.com, “Chipotle score sustainable hit with Willie Nelson’s Coldplay cover”
Featuring a cover of Coldplay’s The Scientist by Willie Nelson, the two-minute animated short, “Back to the Start,” follows a farmer who turns his family business into an industrial animal factory, but sees the light and reverts back to a more sustainable approach…
Available on iTunes, this song sells for 99 cents, with 60 cents going toward the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, which supports family farms, and is sponsoring the first Cultivate sustainable food festival, a free event uniting “food, farmers, chefs, thought leaders, and musicians.”
To date, Chipotle has contributed more than $2 million to initiatives that support sustainable agriculture, family farming and culinary education including: The Jamie Oliver Food Revolution, the Lunch Box, the Nature Conservancy and Veggie U, Niman Scholarship, Culinary Institute of America, The Land Institute, and FamilyFarmed.org.
Edit by KJM.
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Tags:Chipotle, Ecosystems, Sustainability, Willie Nelson
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September 15, 2011
Punch line: Along with Obama’s Son-of-Stimulus comes a provision to prohibit discrimination based on a job applicant’s unemployment status … that is, whether they are currently unemployed or have had gaps in their work record.
Excerpted from Wash Post: “Bill to protect unemployed job applicants could hurt employers”
With no more pressing priority in Congress than creating jobs, the House and the Senate recently proposed near-identical versions of the Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011 to prohibit discrimination based on a job applicant’s unemployment status.
The proposals prohibit considering the present or past unemployment of employee candidates.
And, the proposals severely restrict an employer from inquiring into gaps in the work history of employee candidates — standard fare for any job interview.
Certainly, in a bad economy there are millions of Americans who are unemployed through no fault of their own.
But in good and even troubled economic times, long bouts of unemployment may bespeak a bad work ethic or some other improper behavior — a legitimate consideration for any employer.
Simply put, the potential unintended consequences of Congress’s proposal may exacerbate the disease that members of Congress so desperately seek to cure.
You just can’t make this stuff up …
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September 15, 2011
Interesting retro piece republished by the Daily Beast …
Punch line: Famous quote from some dude in the patent office: “all things have already been invented”
Tom Watson, IBM CEO of long ago, predicted at most 6 computers would be bought.
And, in 1995, Newsweek stepped forward to declare the internet “nothing but a bunch of hype”.
Oops.
Excerpted from Newsweek: The Internet? Bah!, Feb 26, 1995
Hype alert: Why cyberspace isn’t, and will never be, nirvana
After two decades online, I’m perplexed. It’s not that I haven’t had a gas of a good time on the Internet. I’ve met great people and even caught a hacker or two.
But today, I’m uneasy about this most trendy and oversold community – the internet.
Visionaries see a future of telecommuting workers, interactive libraries and multimedia classrooms. They speak of electronic town meetings and virtual communities.
Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common sense?
The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works.
How about electronic publishing? Try reading a book on a computer. At best, it’s an unpleasant chore: the myopic glow of a clunky computer replaces the friendly pages of a book. And you can’t tote that laptop to the beach.
Yet Nicholas Negroponte, director of the MIT Media Lab, predicts that we’ll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Intenet.
Uh, sure.
The Internet is one big ocean of unedited data, without any pretense of completeness.
Lacking editors, reviewers or critics, the Internet has become a wasteland of unfiltered data.
Then there are those pushing computers into schools.
We’re told that multimedia will make schoolwork easy and fun. Students will happily learn from animated characters while taught by expertly tailored software. Who needs teachers when you’ve got computer-aided education?
Bah.
Can you recall even one educational filmstrip of decades past? I’ll bet you remember the two or three great teachers who made a difference in your life.
Then there’s cyberbusiness.
We’re promised instant catalog shopping — just point and click for great deals. We’ll order airline tickets over the network, make restaurant reservations and negotiate sales contracts. Stores will become obselete.
So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month?
Even if there were a trustworthy way to send money over the Internet — which there isn’t — the network is missing a most essential ingredient of capitalism: salespeople.
What’s missing from this electronic wonderland?
Human contact.
Discount the fawning techno-burble about virtual communities.
Computers and networks isolate us from one another.
A network chat line is a limp substitute for meeting friends over coffee.
A poor substitute it is, this virtual reality where frustration is legion and where — in the holy names of Education and Progress — important aspects of human interactions are relentlessly devalued.
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Posted in Internet - Soc Networking, Internet Marketing - eCommerce - | 3 Comments »
September 14, 2011
Punch line: Many execs say “you can’t cost reduce yourself to success”.
Apparently, Sen. Claire McCaskill agrees and looks to marketing to save the USPS from its financial woes.
* * * * *
U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is a big supporter of the United States Post office.
McCaskill is against closing costly, non-essential post offices.
She thinks the USPS can market its way to success.
“I had an opportunity to go through a box of letters that my mother had from my grandmother’s house that were my letters I sent to her in college … My kids are in college now — I don’t have a box like that.”
Rather than cost-cutting, McCaskill is has suggested a marketing campaign stressing the “value of the written letter.”
Might work …
You just can’t make this stuff up.
* * * * *
Click to see the video
Thanks to Tags for feeding the lead.
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September 14, 2011
A month ago, we blogged why hiring incentives are a bad idea.
Apparently the stumblebums at the White House don’t follow the HomaFiles.
Last week, one of the globs that Obama threw against the wall was a one-time $4,000 tax credit for every person hired – provided that they’d been unemployed for at least 6 months. .
At first blush, it sounds like a good idea.
But it’s not.
First, no sensible employer is going to make incremental hires for a single year of benefits. If they do, there are equal odds that they’ll jettison the employees when the waiver expires.
More important, the program punishes “responsible” companies by rewarding hard-hearted ones.
Let me explain.
Say, company A laid off 20% of its workforce during the recession – largely due to the business slowdown, but also the result of opportunistic house-cleaning – getting rid of slackers and dolts.
Comparable company B laid off a couple employees due to the downturn, but – took its lumps – and kept most of its employees on the payroll, even though many weren’t really needed.
Along comes the hiring incentive.
Which company gets it?
Yep, company A – the company that shed employees.
What does company B get for standing by its employees.
Nothing.
Sound fair to you?
Sounds like punishing responsible behavior … again!
And, the program is likely to encourage dysfunctional behavior.
For example, now that the idea has been proposed … why in the world would any company hire employees until the legislation is either passed or killed?
My bet: there will be a marginal decrease in hiring as companies wait and see.
Further, ruthless companies may start forcing attrition among recent hires, in order to replace them with tax-incentivized folks off the unemployment rolls.
Net gain: zero.
Behavioral note:
How can they force attrition?
Easy.
Just start assigning low seniority employess undesirable work schedules, e.g. split shifts
Most often, companies won’t step-up their hiring, they’ll just bag the tax credit for folks they were going to hire any way ((think Cash for Clunkers and Home Buying Credit).
In marketing parlance, it’s called “dilution”.
Never ceases to amaze me how naïve the Administration is re: how businesses work …
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September 13, 2011
Team iLuminate will win, but there’s going to be controversy.
First, Team iLuminate — one of my favs — knocked it out ot the park with their techno dance routine. Unbelievably clutch performance.
But, Silhouettes– the artsy shadow dancers — didn’t get a a fair shot.
There were tech problems on the live show, so their act was delayed — while techies fixed the problem.
It’s reported that the large back doors of the stage wouldn’t open, so the crew couldn’t get Poplyfe’s set off the stage.
Silhouettes didn’t get the emotive run-up that other acts got — no poor neighborhood, no disease, no nothin’.
Finally they got hustled to the stage,
But, on my cable system, about 30 seconds of their 90 second act was blacked out.
Great beginning and GREAT ending, but no middle … not their fault — NBC’s.
Ouch.
Update: The plot thickens.
Apparently the blackout isse was localized and only indirectly lrelated to the tech set-up problem.
I was watching a Baltimore NBC affiliate via Comcast-Annapolis. Part of Silouettes’ performance was blacked out.
I’ve gotten reports that the full performance was visible on DirecTV.
My hypothesis: I didn’t realize it at the time, but NBC let the show run into the 10 o’clock time slot.
I’m betting some local affiliates didn’t get the word and tried to switch to local commercial content … causing a temporary disconnect … a blackout.
Quickly corrected … but still part of the performance was blacked out.
Raises another issue: for folks DVR’ing the show — rather than watching live — most or all of Silouhettes’ performance wasn’t recorded — since the show ran unexpectedly long.
That’s a problem, too.
Some part of AGT’s regular audience might not of even seen Silouhettes’ performance.
What a mess.
Biggest TV problem for NBC since they swithced from a close football game to Heidi-the-movie in 1968.)
My opinion: other 2 acts weren’t close to iLuminate (video) or Silhouettes (video).
So, what’s NBC going to do?
Fair thing: name co-winners: Team iLuminate & Silhouettes.
But, NBC will just go with the vote, and Team iLuminate wins.
You heard it on the Homa Files first,
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Tags:AGT, America's Got Talent, Controversy, NBC, Silhouettes, Team iLuminate
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September 13, 2011
Punch line: Obama performance is now approved by about 1 in 3 whites and only 1 in 2 Hispanics … still holding strong with blacks.
According to Gallup …
“President Barack Obama earned the lowest monthly job approval rating of his presidency to date in August, with 41% of U.S. adults approving of his overall job performance, down from 44% in July.
He also received term-low monthly job approval ratings from both Hispanics (48%) and whites (33%) and tied his lowest rating from blacks (84%).
Note: All data is pre-jobs speech.
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September 13, 2011
OK, I keep harping on the point, but …
At 7:25 pm last Thursday, Obama repeated the tired refrain about how Warren Buffet pays less taxes than his secretary and wants to pay more – his fair share.
Cutting to the chase: Buffett pays more in dollars, but pays at a lower rate.
Why?
Because most of Buffett’s income is “unearned income”.
English translation: capital gains and dividends.
So, there are only two ways to get Warren-the-sage on an equal rate footing with his secretary: (1) lower marginal tax tax rates on the secretary’s earned income or (2) increase Buffett’s tax rate on his capital gains … to be taxed at the same rate as “earned income”.
Here’s the good news for Buffett: thanks to the ObamaCare bill, Warren will be paying a higher tax rate on his cap gains and dividends starting in 2013 (after the next election, of course).
So, the Buffett-secretarial gap will narrow.
Technical note: The ObamaCare Surtax on Investment Income takes effect Jan. 2013.
It’s a new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single).
Other unearned income includes (for surtax purposes) gross income from interest, annuities, royalties, net rents, and passive income in partnerships and Subchapter-S corporations.
Source
But, even then there still may still be a gap.
So, either the rate on earned income comes down or rate on cap gains goes up.
I’m betting the latter.
So, to stop Warren from whining, Obama will likely raise the cap gains and choke capital flows – in order to stimulate the economy.
Huh?
Or, maybe Obama doesn’t understand the implications of his applause lines.
Hmmm.
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September 13, 2011
Punch line For-profit colleges are facing a tough test: getting new students to enroll.
Excerpted from WSJ: “Party Ends at For-Profit Schools”
Enrollment at for-profit colleges soared during the recession, amid heavy advertising that appealed to suddenly jobless people needing new skills.
But recently , new enrollments are down by as much as 45%
Why?
Responding to government investigations, a number of for-profit schools including Corinthian, Apollo. and others have tamped down aggressive recruiting … and are tightening admissions standards.
- State and federal investigators began turning up the heat last year on for-profit schools as default rates on federally backed student loans began to climb.
- Even before the enrollment boom, default rates—at 11.6% in 2008, the latest year available— were about double that of public colleges.
Washington Post Co.’s Kaplan Higher Education now requires certain students to participate in a trial program before enrolling and paying tuition.
More fundamental, many students are re-considering their options, including attending community colleges.
The would-be students are questioning the potential pay-off for degrees that can cost considerably more than what’s available at local community colleges.
Surprise, surprise, surprise …
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September 12, 2011
Punchline: “Slacktivism” is a term that caught our eye.
Slacktivism characterizes a trend of consumers’ behavior … supporting an issue or social cause through small – sometimes very small efforts on social media.
Cynics suggest that this is not enough, and that true engagement is needed to make a social impact.
Really?
* * * * *
Excerpted from Wikipedia, “Slacktivism”
Slacktivism describes “feel-good” measures, supporting an issue or social cause, that have a limited effect …
Slacktivist activities tend to require minimal effort, but may include:
- signing Internet petitions,
- joining a community organization without contributing to the organization’s efforts,
- copying and pasting of social network statuses or messages, or
- altering one’s personal data or avatar on social network services.
While there is limited behavioral research behind this activity, the general perception is that consumers engage in this behavior 1) to feel satisfaction about helping a cause, or 2) to present themselves as socially benefiting people to other social networkers …
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS describes the term “slacktivist”, saying it “posits that people who support a cause by performing simple measures are not truly engaged or devoted to making a change“.
Edit by KJM
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September 12, 2011
Punch line: One reason the Stimulus was, at best, marginally successful … and, why Son-of-Stimulus is unlikely to spike the economy … is what economists call the liquidity trap.
Translation: people paying off debts and saving for a rainy day … just like they’re supposed to.
Econo-journalist Robert Samuelson summarizes the situation as follows …
Since 2007, households have lost $7 trillion in wealth, mostly from lower home and stock prices.
To restore that wealth, many Americans are saving more, spending less and repaying debt.
That’s why the past year’s continuing massive stimulus (huge budget deficits, low interest rates) didn’t do more for economic growth.
The answer, I think, is psychology.
Small changes in precautionary behavior by anxious consumers and companies offset stimulus.
Suppose, for example, consumers raised their savings rate by three percentage points; that would neutralize three quarters of Obama’s program.
The surprise and brutality of the financial crisis left a powerful legacy of risk aversion.
Companies — like consumers — have become defensive. They accumulate a cash hoard against unknown threats.
Our political leaders have also compounded the caution and fear; indeed, government policies sometimes cause unwanted behavior.
The liquidity trap, among other reasons, is why O’s proposed $450 billion debt-financed slush fund is a bad idea.
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September 12, 2011
President Obama – and most lib-pundits – seem to have completely forgotten the debt ceiling and credit downgrade.
Pssst … we have no money !!!
And, they appear hopelessly confused re: what’s “debt” and what’s a “deficits”.
Let’s review …
A deficit is an annual shortfall — when spending exceeds revenues.
In a gov’t context, a deficit happens when spending exceeds tax receipts in the current year !.
Debt is the amount of money that is owed to other people or entities. It is the sum of annual deficits.
Now, the important point …
A deficit needs to be funded by borrowing, which adds to outstanding debt.
OK, with that as clarifying background …
Obama said a couple of times that his laundry list of potential job creating ideas ” … will not add to the deficit.”
Here’s what the AP had to say about that:
It’s hard to see how the program would not raise the deficit over the next year or two because most of the envisioned spending cuts and tax increases are designed to come later rather than now, when they could jeopardize the fragile recovery.
Deficits are calculated for individual years.
The accumulation of years of deficit spending has produced a national debt headed toward $15 trillion.
Perhaps Obama meant to say that, in the long run, his hoped-for programs would not further increase the national debt, not annual deficits.
Said differently, the only way that the 2012 deficit doesn’t increase is if other spending is cut or taxes are raised in 2012.
Neither is likely to happen (a) because there isn’t time (b) because there isn’t will, and (c) because either would neutralize any impetus from O’s spending.
So, it’s practically certain that the deficit will increase, and that short-term debt will increase.
Most interesting: the added borrowing may push Obama up against the debt ceiling again before the 2012 election … his only real line in the sand during the debt ceiling negotiations.
Hmmm.
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September 9, 2011
Simple.
The GOP-led Congress should draft and pass the “Barack Obama Stimulus Act of 2012 (aka. “American Jobs Act”) containing substantially all of the program that the Presidential teleprompter channeled through Obama.
Why?
First, let’s acknowledge that the money will be a complete waste. There’s no reason to expect that Son-of-Stimulus will be any more successful than its predecessor.
And, I’m assuming that the price tag really is $450 billion – chump change in this era of reckless spending that rewards irresponsibility and mortgages the future…. especially since the President promised that it would be paid for (yeah, right).
The biggest political downside (to the GOP and the country) is that Obama will have a $450 billion election year slush fund to sprinkle across his constituencies – unions, blue-state governments, etc.
But, passing Stimulus Deux would clearly put the economic recovery — or lack thereof — on Obama’s shoulders.
If it turns the economy around, Obama gets the credit. That’s fair.
If it bombs, Obama loses his major campaign pitch: the GOP tied my hands.
He’d be left with the silly claim: “woulda been worse, I saved you from Armageddon again”.
I say pass it and sit back.
If it works, we have an economic burst.
If it fails, we get a president who understands business and economics.
For the country, it’s a win either way.
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September 9, 2011
At the 19 minute mark of Obama’s job speech, he channeled Warren Buffett’s whine about how his (Warren’s) taxes are too low.
A week or so ago, in a WSJ op-ed, Harvey Golub – former MxKinsey partner and AMEX CEO – responded to Warren Buffett’s plea to pay higher taxes.
One of his answers: lose the estate & income tax deductions for gifts to charitable foundations – especially personal family foundations and foundations set-up by their friends.
Gifts to charities are deductible but gifts to grandchildren are not.
The super-rich could pay higher taxes if they choose.
They could voluntarily write a check or they could advocate that their gifts to foundations should be made with after-tax dollars and not be deductible.
They could also pay higher taxes if they were not allowed to set up foundations to avoid capital gains and estate taxes.
HomaFiles has been advocating such a change for quite awhile.
If Buffett thinks the gov’t works so well, let’s see him pony up …. and not just continue wield his influence under the cover of gifts to his buddy Gates
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September 8, 2011
Punch line: In August, the unemployment rate for blacks surged to 16.7% in August, its highest rate since 1984; unemployment rate for whites fell slightly to 8%.
Black men have it the worst, with joblessness at a staggeringly high 19.1%, compared to 14.5% for black women.
Black unemployment has been roughly double that of whites since the government started tracking the figures in 1972.
According to CNNMoney …
Economists blame a variety of factors:
- The black workforce is younger than the white workforce
- Fewer numbers of blacks get a college degree
- Many blacks live in areas of the country that were harder hit by the recession
But even excluding those factors, blacks still are hit with higher joblessness.
“Even when you compare black and white workers, same age range, same education, you still see pretty significant gaps in unemployment rates suggesting that racial discrimination in the labor market continues to play a role.”
* * * * * *
And according to Gallup, 83% of blacks approve of the job that Obama is doing as President …
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September 8, 2011
TakeAway: Brands are searching for more ways to connect causes with marketing, and evolve consumer’s “slacktivism” to more significant social good.
Now, just “like” them on Facebook or tweet a specified phrase and some brands will donate to a cause.
You know what?
It works …
* * * * *
Excerpted from Brandchannel.com, “Cause Marketing Does Affect Brand Purchase”
The Integer Group queried 1,200 Americans about factors influencing brand preference when choosing between two companies with both benefiting a cause, and selling a product similar in price and quality.
Survey results reveal that the brand’s philanthropic activities can influence shopper behavior and ultimately purchase decisions, and that gender is a factor:
- Both men and women are influenced by “personal relevance of cause“
- Women choose brands that promise instant gratification with each purchase, while for men, it’s less important
- “Brands need to appeal to men’s rationale side, delivering a more rational benefit for their participation in a cause program, which can lead to higher engagement”
- Men are more likely to support organizations, such as The Salvation Army or Goodwill, while women support disease prevention causes, such as breast cancer awareness
So, which brands do this well?
Top brands purchased based on their affiliation with a cause:
1. Yoplait
2. Anything Affiliated With Breast Cancer
3. and 4. (tied) Susan G. Komen for the Cure & Newman’s Own
5. General Mills
6. Yogurt in general
7. and 8. (tied) P&G and RED
9. Boxtops for Education
10. and 11. (tied) Kellogg’s, Campbell’s & Girl Scouts
12. Dawn
13. Avon
Edit by KJM
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September 7, 2011
Exactly as we called it:
AGT Final Four
- Team iLuminate … techo dance group
- Silhouettes … artsy shadow dancers
- POPLYFE … young, high energy band
- Landau Murphy … Sinatra crooner
Longshot: Landon Swank … illusionist
They said that 1% separated Landon from POPLYFE (for the 5th slot).
Finals are next Tuesday.
My early pick: Team iLuminate
* * * * *
P.S. We may change the header to News & Views on Marketing, Economics, Politics and Pop Culture …
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September 7, 2011
Cutting to the chase, here’s my take:
Final Four
- Team iLuminate … techo dance group
- Silhouettes … artsy shadow dancers
- POPLYFE … young, high energy band
- Landau Murphy … Sinatra crooner
Longshot: Landon Swank … illusionist
Breaks my heart, but little Anna Graceman won’t make it … she’s the charming kid with wide vocal range … she came dressed like a woman and sang a bland song … whose idea was that ???
Hat tip to the Smage Brother who got smashed in the head by a motor bike and never stopped smiling.
Results show is tonite …
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Posted in Entertainment | 2 Comments »
September 7, 2011
Garett Jones & Daniel Rothschild — George Mason economists — surveyed employers to determine the impacts of Obama’s trillion dollar Stimulus.
Their report “Did Stimulus Dollars Hire the Unemployed?” presents several interesting conclusions.
Most noteworthy:
Just 42.1 percent of the workers hired at Stimulus-receiving organizations, were unemployed at the time they were hired.
More were hired directly from other organizations (47.3 percent)
A handful of hires came from school (6.5%) or from outside the labor force (4.1%)
Thus, there was an almost even split between “job creating” and “job switching.”
Bottom line: Hiring isn’t the same as net job creation.
Technical note: To be fair, there are 2nd and 3rd order effectc. That is, firms that get poached may need to hire replacement workers — who may be drawn from the unemployment roles. So, the Stimulus may have reduced unemployment more than the survey indicates.
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Posted in Employment - Jobs, Stimulus Bill | 1 Comment »
September 7, 2011
Punch line: Why do two identical-looking products that get the same score in acceptability tests, perform wildly differently in the marketplace?
“Emotional research ” tries to find out why, and create profiles of prime prospects.
Excerpted from CPGmatters “Kraft Foods Develops ‘Emotional Profiling’
Kraft Foods has been developing a sophisticated new science of “emotional profiling”.
Kraft has been working on emotional profiling for three years as part of its sensory and consumer-testing work.
“The theory behind emotional profiling is uncovering the difference between ‘liking’ something and ‘preferring’ it.”
“The idea is fairly basic.
Even if an individual likes two different products, they may still prefer one over the other.
We’re trying to figure out that difference or gap so that we can make the best possible products that consumers will truly prefer.”
Traditional research tools may not be enough to capture the implications of emotion on food shopping.
“We use emotional research to define unique points of difference and create a new hierarchy of attributes that go beyond ‘liking.’
Qualitative research usually includes in-depth interviews exploring sensory reactions with target customers who represent a variety of positions along the brand-loyalty scale.
So, tell me again why kids love artificial-looking, artificial-tasting Kraft mac & cheese …
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Posted in Mktg - Consumer Behavior, Mktg - Market Research | Leave a Comment »
September 6, 2011
How many lectures had the President given Republicans on civility?
Usually, it follows one of his name-calling, accusatory hissy fits..
Well, here’s one for the books.
While warming up the crowd for President Obama in Detroit, Michigan on Monday, Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa said:
“We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party.
And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war.
The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what?
They’ve got a war, they got a war with us and there’s only going to be one winner.
President Obama, this is your army.
We are ready to march.
Let’s take these son of bitches out …. “
No surprise, no reprimand from Obama when he started speaking.
I expect that the jobs speech on Thursday will include another call for civility…. selectively applied, of course.
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Posted in Civility, Obama | Leave a Comment »
September 6, 2011
Punch line: Like everything in tech, personal computers were always fated to become commodity appliances.
Excerpted from WSJ:”Steve Jobs and the Death of the Personal Computer”
Great technology industries usually die with a whimper.
But last week the curtain came down with a bang on the most famous tech industry of all — personal computers — thanks to Steve Jobs’s retirement from Apple and the less high-profile announcement that Hewlett-Packard was leaving the PC market.
Hewlett-Packard’s announcement was more surprising. H-P was until recently the world’s largest maker of personal computers.
In recent years, though, cost-cutting competitors, market saturation and alternative hardware platforms have sucked most of the profits out of PCs.
Like everything in tech, personal computers were always fated to become commodity appliances.
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Posted in Mktg - PLC | 1 Comment »
The Homa Files 