MBTI Test

Have you guys ever taken the Myer-Briggs Typology Indicator? It's a personality test based on Carl Jung's theories on different personalities. It is considered to be the most used personality test.

Here's a link to the test.  http://www.personalitytest.net/cgi-bin/q.pl

If you don't want to answer all the questions here's a much more succinct version, although it may be less accurate. http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html (Just scroll down)

Anyway, I'm an INTP which stands for Introverted, iNtuitive, Thinking and Perceiving. Which pretty much means I think a lot.

What are you and do you fit the description?

Leadership vs First Follower

Here's an interesting video on leadership.

Do you think it's more important to be the starter or the first follower?

Ways to Make Money

So I started reading the Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman recently. He basically talks about all he learned through self-teaching and he promotes this philosophy instead of going to a business school and spending insane amounts of money.

He talks about ten different ways in which a business makes money.

• Product: make a product and sell it for more than it costs to make. Ex. cars, books
• Service: Provide a service, then charge a fee. Ex. barbershop, repairman
• Shared Resource: Create a shared resource that can be used by many, then charge a fee. Ex. Gym
• Subscription: Provide a an ongoing benefit, then charge  recurring fees. Ex. Magazines, Cable
• Resale: Buy something and sell it for a higher price. Ex. Walmart, Grocery stores
• Lease: Acquire an asset and let someone use it for some time for a fee. Ex. Leased cars, houses etc.
• Audience Aggregation: Make and distribute information, then sell to an interested third party. Ex Advertisement, Direct Mail.
• Commission: Sell something on behalf of another and make a percentage of the selling price. Ex. Realtor (houses)
• Capital: Purchase a stake within a business and collect a portion of the profit over time. Ex. Stocks, Bonds

Many business use one or more of these ways to make money.

And, here's a link to his site http://personalmba.com/

Keynesian vs Classical Economics

So I'm currently taking macroeconomics and we are currently learning about Keynes vs Classical Economics.

Classical
This is considered the first school of economic thought. It was founded by Adam Smith who wrote The Wealth of Nations. He basically supported the idea of no government intervention. Some of you may have heard of Say's Law which states that supply creates its own demand. Smith would say that the economy will eventually correct itself without government intervention.

Keynesian
Keynes would disagree with the classical school of thought and say that the market is imperfect and cannot sustain itself. Therefore, government intervention is necessary and should stimulate demand. When the government stimulates demand, there is economic growth. Pretty much, he is saying that the government should give money to people so people can buy things and this will stimulate the economy.

Of course there is a middle ground to this which includes Neo-Keynesian and Neo-Classical economics.

Which would you choose? Government intervention or no government intervention?

Espresso Basics

There are four M's of Espresso.
Miscela (coffee blend), Macinacaffe (grinder),  Macchina (espresso machine) and Mano (skills of a barista).


When all these nuanced variables are met, we can then produce great espresso.

Unemployment

So, according to the BLS, (Bureau of Labor Statistics) the unemployment rate in California for January was 12.4%. Contrast this to 2001 where it was at 4.7%.

I recently lost my job and things are not looking so great. Add that with higher food and gas costs (over $4 a gallon). Hershey's announced that candy prices would rise by 9.7%.

At least it seems like more people are finding work. It is reported that there is about 100,000 fewer discouraged workers out there. This means that more people are finding work which encourages others to try and find work.

Also, interest rates are pretty low which would be great only if I had some money.
So, how's life?

New blog

So, this is my new blog and I will be talking about whatever is relevant to my interests.
Enjoy.