From Yahoo! Finance: 2019-01-04
AAPL
CNBC Videos • Fri 1:57 PM
Trump: China is paying us tremendous tariffs
AAPL
Fox Business Videos • Fri 1:59 PM
Trump: I want Apple to make their products in the US
AAPL
CNBC • Fri 2:53 PM
Trump says he's not concerned about Apple because it builds products in China
Who is paying the “tremendous tariffs? It is not the Chinese. They just pass those tariffs on to the U.S. customers.
But the complexity gets worse. Do U.S. manufacturers cut their costs by manufacturing in other countries. If they cut their costs, do they pass those savings on to their customers or do they just add them to their profits.
If the savings are passed on, the customers benefit. If the savings are considered profits, do those at the top get bigger bonuses or do the share-owners get bigger dividends or bigger profits when they sell their stock.
Showing posts with label savings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label savings. Show all posts
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Friday, February 17, 2017
Mining landfills better than digging new mines?
Sometime ago I read or heard about landfills being mined for gold in Japan
Looking into landfill mining, I found a large number of sites, mostly positive. One I found a few weeks ago is Landfill Miners.
A search for “mining gold from landfill” or “mining copper from landfill” turned up a variety of sites about landfill mining, mostly positive. It seems more recent articles are more positive than older articles. Many projects reclaim a large variety of materials, many of which can be sold for less than mining the original materials. Aluminum and copper are major materials in this category.
Looking into landfill mining, I found a large number of sites, mostly positive. One I found a few weeks ago is Landfill Miners.
A search for “mining gold from landfill” or “mining copper from landfill” turned up a variety of sites about landfill mining, mostly positive. It seems more recent articles are more positive than older articles. Many projects reclaim a large variety of materials, many of which can be sold for less than mining the original materials. Aluminum and copper are major materials in this category.
Friday, September 26, 2014
A less obvious shrinkflation
Do you see many refills for liquids in pump dispensers?
Once upon a time, I bought liquid soap based on the availability of larger refill bottles. When I checked a local supermarket earlier this week, there were no refills to be found, neither for soap nor sanitizer.
The groceries and the larger manufacturers make more money per unit selling only the pump containers.
Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth bucks this trend. Not only does it have refill bottles but it also has bulk containers so you can refill your own container.
Many people don’t shop at co-ops because many items often cost more. They don’t realize all the savings in plain sight that are available at co-ops.
See also “Smaller package? Blame Shrinkflation”.
Once upon a time, I bought liquid soap based on the availability of larger refill bottles. When I checked a local supermarket earlier this week, there were no refills to be found, neither for soap nor sanitizer.
The groceries and the larger manufacturers make more money per unit selling only the pump containers.
Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth bucks this trend. Not only does it have refill bottles but it also has bulk containers so you can refill your own container.
Many people don’t shop at co-ops because many items often cost more. They don’t realize all the savings in plain sight that are available at co-ops.
See also “Smaller package? Blame Shrinkflation”.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
A bad tech week
Besides the problem of my iPhone not turning on yesterday, I spilled coffee on my laptop keyboard this morning. I tried holding too many things at the same time. Now the shift key on one side doesn't work and both option keys don't work.
Besides that, I've been trying to sync my calendars among my laptop, my iPhone, and my iPad. I've read post after post on this problem and have found no satisfactory answer. People on one device never get transferred to another device. I used Contact Cleaner on my laptop address book and wound up deleting a couple hundred people on my iPad. Needless to say, I did not sync my address book to my iPhone.
Then I received a letter from my bank that they had moved money from my savings account to my checking account. On my first try to access my account, their system was unavailable. When I finally got on, I found that there had been yet another transfer made. As I reviewed the online statement, I found that I had transferred money from checking to savings instead of the other way around. At least I have an account that makes sweeps rather than overdraft charges.
Now I'm off to Best Buy to find out if the Geek Squad can repair my keyboard with little time and no charge. I assume there will be a charge because it was my fault rather than Apple's. I do hope that I move money the right way to pay any charges.
Besides that, I've been trying to sync my calendars among my laptop, my iPhone, and my iPad. I've read post after post on this problem and have found no satisfactory answer. People on one device never get transferred to another device. I used Contact Cleaner on my laptop address book and wound up deleting a couple hundred people on my iPad. Needless to say, I did not sync my address book to my iPhone.
Then I received a letter from my bank that they had moved money from my savings account to my checking account. On my first try to access my account, their system was unavailable. When I finally got on, I found that there had been yet another transfer made. As I reviewed the online statement, I found that I had transferred money from checking to savings instead of the other way around. At least I have an account that makes sweeps rather than overdraft charges.
Now I'm off to Best Buy to find out if the Geek Squad can repair my keyboard with little time and no charge. I assume there will be a charge because it was my fault rather than Apple's. I do hope that I move money the right way to pay any charges.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Cost savings – Penny-wise, pound-foolish?
Wisconsin has a cost-cutting commission of some kind in operation. One of the recommendations was that schools could save $177 million by getting cheaper health insurance.
But what is the true cost of cheaper health insurance? Do employees pay more for premiums? If so, won't they want higher wages to offset their increased costs? Do employees pay more health care costs out of pocket? If so, will they be less willing to get needed medical care? If they get less medical care, will they be taking more sick days? If they take more sick days, will costs of staffing the schools go up or the effectiveness of staff go down? So, will the savings from cheaper health insurance be more than offset by higher costs elsewhere?
If any government wants to reduce costs, I have a couple of suggestions. Let's take away computers from police cars. Even assuming they cost as little as $1,000 each and if we have 1,000 police cars across the state, that would be one million dollars in savings. Let's stop using full-size especially equipped sedans for police cars. Let's replace them with Tatas from India. Instead of $30,000 plus sedans we could replace the police cars with $3,000 mini-cars. Gosh, if we have 1,000 police cars across the state, that would be a savings of 27 million dollars! Wow! Of course, what would be the cost of less effective law enforcement? I bet it would exceed 28 million dollars.
I have a better suggestion. Legislatures should write fewer and simpler bills. Then they could spend more time considering the costs and benefits to all of their constituents rather a select noisy or high-paying few. I think this would really make our 18th century politicians proud.
But what is the true cost of cheaper health insurance? Do employees pay more for premiums? If so, won't they want higher wages to offset their increased costs? Do employees pay more health care costs out of pocket? If so, will they be less willing to get needed medical care? If they get less medical care, will they be taking more sick days? If they take more sick days, will costs of staffing the schools go up or the effectiveness of staff go down? So, will the savings from cheaper health insurance be more than offset by higher costs elsewhere?
If any government wants to reduce costs, I have a couple of suggestions. Let's take away computers from police cars. Even assuming they cost as little as $1,000 each and if we have 1,000 police cars across the state, that would be one million dollars in savings. Let's stop using full-size especially equipped sedans for police cars. Let's replace them with Tatas from India. Instead of $30,000 plus sedans we could replace the police cars with $3,000 mini-cars. Gosh, if we have 1,000 police cars across the state, that would be a savings of 27 million dollars! Wow! Of course, what would be the cost of less effective law enforcement? I bet it would exceed 28 million dollars.
I have a better suggestion. Legislatures should write fewer and simpler bills. Then they could spend more time considering the costs and benefits to all of their constituents rather a select noisy or high-paying few. I think this would really make our 18th century politicians proud.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Fair share or share fairly
Many say "the rich" should pay their "fair share" of taxes, but what really is a "fair share"? I think often the argument is that since the rich have more money, they can afford to pay more taxes, and that they should pay at a higher marginal rate without a lot of gimmicks that allow some to pay even less taxes than some earning less.
I think that this is the wrong approach. What one should add up the "benefits" that the rich get for their taxes.
How often do we consider that those involved in commerce benefit from a good transportation network? Every part of the network is paid for in full or part by taxes. Almost all roads are paid for by taxes, local property taxes, state and federal taxes, and probably some by income taxes. Airports are built and operated partly from landing fees and partly from taxes from all levels.
How often do we consider that those in business depend on a trained work force? Without taxes we would have far fewer schools and a far smaller trained work force. Kids could only go to school if their parents could afford it. We have examples of this imbalance all over the world and even in our own country's past.
How often do we consider that business depends on a court system to settle disputes? Some say we need "tort reform", meaning reduce the ability of individuals to sue corporations. But does anybody consider how much corporations sue each other, sometimes resulting in settlements in billions of dollars.
How often do we consider that business depends on public safety, sanitary systems, and many other aspects of tax-supported infrastructure? Would every business want its own fire department and security department. If they are going to have their own security department, are they going to have their own courts and detention centers to do something with those who harm people or things on company property?
If businesses need all these government services, shouldn't they pay the taxes for them, either directly or through the income of those profiting from the business?
Many argue that "taxing the rich" limits their ability to invest and create jobs. But how many of them are putting money into new ventures or expansion? Or are many of them just moving money around? The answer is both but I would say more of the latter than the former.
For those of you who have what you consider a good amount of savings, how much of it have you put into helping somebody start or expand a business? More than likely you have put it into mutual funds, stocks, and bonds. What happens when you invest. Directly or indirectly you buy stocks and bonds from somebody who already owns them. Does that money go into creating jobs? Probably not, except for the transaction fees pay the salaries and bonuses of those working for mutual funds or brokerages.
The only real benefit of your buying stock and bonds is providing liquidity to the market. This is necessary but it really doesn't really do that much for creating businesses and jobs. Liquidity has many advantages but let us look at only one. You put $1,000 into some investment. It may go up or down, but let's assume not by much in either direction. Now something happens to your car or house that you need about $1,000 to pay for. Assuming you have no other savings, you want to quickly get your $1,000 back. If there was no liquidity, you would have as much chance of getting your $1,000 back as you would have of quickly selling a film camera on eBay.
I could go on with many more "yes, but" considerations about taxing and investment. I do hope that this little bit of text does help you consider almost all the arguments in print and on the blogs are over-simplifications of something that needs more than just taking a position. And taking a position may be a way to invest, but it is not the way to run a country.
I think that this is the wrong approach. What one should add up the "benefits" that the rich get for their taxes.
How often do we consider that those involved in commerce benefit from a good transportation network? Every part of the network is paid for in full or part by taxes. Almost all roads are paid for by taxes, local property taxes, state and federal taxes, and probably some by income taxes. Airports are built and operated partly from landing fees and partly from taxes from all levels.
How often do we consider that those in business depend on a trained work force? Without taxes we would have far fewer schools and a far smaller trained work force. Kids could only go to school if their parents could afford it. We have examples of this imbalance all over the world and even in our own country's past.
How often do we consider that business depends on a court system to settle disputes? Some say we need "tort reform", meaning reduce the ability of individuals to sue corporations. But does anybody consider how much corporations sue each other, sometimes resulting in settlements in billions of dollars.
How often do we consider that business depends on public safety, sanitary systems, and many other aspects of tax-supported infrastructure? Would every business want its own fire department and security department. If they are going to have their own security department, are they going to have their own courts and detention centers to do something with those who harm people or things on company property?
If businesses need all these government services, shouldn't they pay the taxes for them, either directly or through the income of those profiting from the business?
Many argue that "taxing the rich" limits their ability to invest and create jobs. But how many of them are putting money into new ventures or expansion? Or are many of them just moving money around? The answer is both but I would say more of the latter than the former.
For those of you who have what you consider a good amount of savings, how much of it have you put into helping somebody start or expand a business? More than likely you have put it into mutual funds, stocks, and bonds. What happens when you invest. Directly or indirectly you buy stocks and bonds from somebody who already owns them. Does that money go into creating jobs? Probably not, except for the transaction fees pay the salaries and bonuses of those working for mutual funds or brokerages.
The only real benefit of your buying stock and bonds is providing liquidity to the market. This is necessary but it really doesn't really do that much for creating businesses and jobs. Liquidity has many advantages but let us look at only one. You put $1,000 into some investment. It may go up or down, but let's assume not by much in either direction. Now something happens to your car or house that you need about $1,000 to pay for. Assuming you have no other savings, you want to quickly get your $1,000 back. If there was no liquidity, you would have as much chance of getting your $1,000 back as you would have of quickly selling a film camera on eBay.
I could go on with many more "yes, but" considerations about taxing and investment. I do hope that this little bit of text does help you consider almost all the arguments in print and on the blogs are over-simplifications of something that needs more than just taking a position. And taking a position may be a way to invest, but it is not the way to run a country.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Amazing energy savings to be made across the country
Almost anytime I visit a hotel in the the warmer months, I almost get knocked off my feet as I enter the room. It is "freezing". Generally the dial on the air-conditioner is twisted way over to the cold side. At a recent stay the room had a digital setting. It was set at 65° F. (18° C.)!
Many people would not tolerate a temperature that low in the winter. Many energy experts recommend a heating temperature of 68° F (20° C.). On the other hand, they recommend a cooling temperature of 77° F (25° C.). That is the temperature of a nice balmy day in the summer.
I tried looking for something about the actual savings with Google, but most of what I found was either about guests complaining about rooms being too cold or about replacing old equipment with newer, more efficient equipment.
I did see one item about a hotel saving $21,000 per year by improved A/C.
Many people would not tolerate a temperature that low in the winter. Many energy experts recommend a heating temperature of 68° F (20° C.). On the other hand, they recommend a cooling temperature of 77° F (25° C.). That is the temperature of a nice balmy day in the summer.
I tried looking for something about the actual savings with Google, but most of what I found was either about guests complaining about rooms being too cold or about replacing old equipment with newer, more efficient equipment.
I did see one item about a hotel saving $21,000 per year by improved A/C.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)