Random Thoughts

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Correlation Between Finger Length and Aggression/Success/Homosexuality

I came across an interesting article on BBC (Finger length 'key to aggression' ) today and The Economist has a similar article ( Neuroeconomics: Digitally enhanced ). They report a positive correlation between the length of mens' ring fingers and their success in high-stress securities trading. Actually, the more correct comparison s between the ratio of the ring to index finger and success/aggression. In women, the ring and index fingers are comparable, however the ring finger is significantly longer than the index finger in men. In this study, the researchers only looked at men's fingers. Apparently the level of testerone in a fetus is exposed to during pregnancy affects length of fingers as well as the level of aggression. More aggressive traders tend to have longer ring fingers and they happen to be more successful, after factoring out the effect of experience. They also reached a similar conclusion when looking at college students. Having a short ring finger

Slimy Kobe Trying to Rip People off

I have been a fan of Kobe Bryant's game ever since I saw him in the 1999 playoff loss to the San Antonio Spurs. While I have always enjoyed his creativity, skill and finesse, my perception of the man has never been glamourous. He is selfish and narcisstic beyond I can defend, even though I have for many many years. Almost everything he does on the court has a certain motive which is rarely wholesome. What ticks me off about Kobe now is his latest marketing ploy for his Nike shoes. His official website claims that he wore his Nike Hyperdunks (which came out in the middle of 2008) until December 16, 2008. At that point, he switched to the new (and not-yet-released) Nike ZKIVs. Here are his stats with the Hyperdunks and ZKIVs. 24 GAMES WITH HYPERDUNK: OCTOBER 28 – DECEMBER 16 PPG: 25.0 FG%: 46.1 3-PT%: 29.5 12 GAMES WITH ZKIV: DECEMBER 19 – JANUARY 11 PPG: 30.8 FG%: 52.0 3-PT%: 48.9 They go on to say: His game has been elevated to amazing new heights over the past month, and the

Chances of U.S. Government Defaulting - REmote

In my previous post, the mounting federal budget deficit had me worried about the possibility of the U.S. government not being able to pay back its debt, effectively wrecking the global economy as a result. The odds of the U.S. government defaulting on its bond payments are very small but not totally negligible, according to the Greg Ip's article on the subject . The chances of default remain pretty remote. But remote does not mean impossible. The best way to keep those chances remote is for policymakers to vow to get the deficit down once the recession is over -- and mean it. I am encouraged that the author approves of Obama's stimulus spending plan despite the country's mounting debt. The Obama administration should not focus on debt reduction now, which could actually undermine the prospects for a recovery in the real economy. With households and businesses trying to spend less and save more, the federal government must spend more and save less -- that is, borrow more -

$1.2 trillion deficit EXCLUDING Obama's Stimulus plan?!?!? WOW!

It is remarkable tha the Congressional Budget Office is projecting a federal budget deficit of $1.2 trillion without including Obama's expensive stimulus plan. Assuming Obama's stimulus plan costs $800 billion over two years, you are looking at deficits in the order of $1.6 trillion for the 2009 fiscal year!! Obama tells us that trillion dollar deficits are here to stay , for the coming years. These numbers are scary!! I like to think of the gravity of a federal budget deficit as a percentage of federal revenue (as opposed to be the GDP as everyone else does). Considering the federal tax revenue is about $2.5 - 2.7 trillion, the deficit for 2009 is going to be anywhere between 44-64% of the federal tax revenue!! Imagine if you are a household spending 44-64% more than you make. How long would you survive? Not for long!! I don't think even the money-printing Uncle Sam can pull this off for too long. This country is on an unsustainable path to a devastating nationa

Digital Health Records: A Worthwhile Investment

Obama has been talking about including digiization of health records as part of his stimulus plan. I was delighted this morning to see concrete numbers showing the cost and benefit of Obama's plan. So, the estimated cost of establishing the system is $75-100 billion over 5-10 years, which is about $10-20 billion per year. That number is minute (<1%) compared to the $2.3 trillion the U.S. spends on healthcare. Once the system is up and running, it will cut healthcare costs by $200-300 billion every year. That is an investment I can believe in. I wonder if anyone would have any serious opposition to this plan.

The Economics Graphs - 3

I am a big fan of The Economist magazine because it always has neat graphs that get the message across without the need to read through articles. The reading, I save for people who love nuance or those who can't decipher graphs.