(no subject)
Conveniently ignoring the fact that I'm in debt for the first time in my life (see below), I consider myself to be rather financially responsible. But I wonder if in order to be so, you either have to be raised that way, or gain it through learning from your mistakes. For a person or a family, there can be some pretty serious repercussions for spending beyond one's means. And taken en masse, these can lead to a larger financial crisis (e.g., the current recession). But what about a government? I don't doubt it can learn from its mistakes (though how long its memory lasts is a subject for debate), but what are the consequences for the community at large? Sure, there's layoffs of government employees, but also the drastic cut in civil services. Columbus is asking for (and I just voted for) a 25% income tax increase to effectively maintain the same amount of city services. I'm all for higher taxes, but I have to wonder if this levy passes, will the city learn from its mistakes, or are we being extorted for a 100 million dollar inefficiency tax?
As for why I'm personally in debt (not by too much, should be back in the black by October), I've spent a bunch of my money in the last 12 months (obviously). My theory of personal economics still holds: if my income will be steadily increasing (at a rate greater than any investment rate I can get), then saving money is relatively stupid. In August, Ivana and I went to China to see the Olympics (which was awesome). In January, I got LASIK (rather expensive, but over the next 20 years or so it pays for itself, and now I don't have to deal with contacts or glasses, so it was worth it). Last month we went to Colorado for a few days, and then to Florida for a few more days. Last week, I traded in my POS thunderbird for a new Hyundai Accent because the government decided to pitch in $4500. It's not so much my baby as much as say a cousin that I think is cool, but it runs well, has good gas mileage, and a great warranty, so I'll probably run this car into the ground too. If the government is going to spend its money poorly (see above), I might as well be the one who takes advantage of it.
On a separate note, I completely forgot that I posted any entries here while I was procrastinating on my candidacy exam. Three years of grad school (and a masters degree) down, _____ more to go. I'm thinking about getting a license plate for my car that says PHD20XX. Then it's both a perpetual grad school reference and a MegaMan reference.
As for why I'm personally in debt (not by too much, should be back in the black by October), I've spent a bunch of my money in the last 12 months (obviously). My theory of personal economics still holds: if my income will be steadily increasing (at a rate greater than any investment rate I can get), then saving money is relatively stupid. In August, Ivana and I went to China to see the Olympics (which was awesome). In January, I got LASIK (rather expensive, but over the next 20 years or so it pays for itself, and now I don't have to deal with contacts or glasses, so it was worth it). Last month we went to Colorado for a few days, and then to Florida for a few more days. Last week, I traded in my POS thunderbird for a new Hyundai Accent because the government decided to pitch in $4500. It's not so much my baby as much as say a cousin that I think is cool, but it runs well, has good gas mileage, and a great warranty, so I'll probably run this car into the ground too. If the government is going to spend its money poorly (see above), I might as well be the one who takes advantage of it.
On a separate note, I completely forgot that I posted any entries here while I was procrastinating on my candidacy exam. Three years of grad school (and a masters degree) down, _____ more to go. I'm thinking about getting a license plate for my car that says PHD20XX. Then it's both a perpetual grad school reference and a MegaMan reference.