Economics

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Wednesday Link-Off: Falling

genevieve-morton-cleo16-06I was listening to the Attitude Era Podcast this week and they randomly used the Twin Peaks theme for background music. I forgot how much I loved that show until then. It’s an amazing show and hopefully the continuation will be as awesome as the original. Of course, it won’t be half as weird as the world is now. The Black Lodge is a bastion of normality compared to the world today. I’d just stay in there if I was Dale Cooper.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday so it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick things off with South African model Genevieve Morton.

We keep talking about this and probably will until it’s proven to be a terrible idea. Finland is about to trial personal basic income. (Demos Helsinki)

The Ontario Progressive Conservatives want to kill sex-ed in Ontario. You don’t have to do much digging to find out that comprehensive sex ed leads to lower teen pregnancy and STI rates which is why we need sex ed. (CBC News)

Is the Cold War back? Russia is meddling in US politics and security experts are concerned that their top sleeper agent is the Republican Presidential candidate. (Newsweek)

At least 110 prominent Republicans have publicly stop supporting Donald Trump. Here is what it took for them to abandon ship. (New York Times)

The Presidential debates are upcoming. Trump is being himself when it comes to debate prep. (Daily Intelligencer)

A former KKK Grand Wizard says that Trump knows exactly what he’s doing by hiring Breitbart’s Steve Bannon to head his campaign. (The Wrap)

It’s not just Brexit. Republican primary voters also want a do-over. (The Hill)

NFL star Richard Sherman believes that the billionaire owners of the teams should pay for new stadia that they profit from rather than burdening the taxpayers. He should get out of the NFL before the concussions ruin great ideas like this. (CBS Sports)

It’s not just EpiPens that have seen massive price increases. Drug company Mylan has been raising prices on damn near everything. (NBC News)

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Wednesday Link-Off: A Voice from the Past

olivia-wilde-oscars16-03Joining yours and mine. Adding up the layers of harmony. And so it goes, on and on… Final Fantasy fans know how that one finishes. I’ve had a long day writing before writing this post and could really use Square Enix hustling the FF9 PC release out the door. It would be nice to unwind with a game that I absolutely love. It’s like they’re Blizzard with the Soon™ release date.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick off with Olivia Wilde.

You can call them Generation Y’ers. You can call them Millennials. But you can definitely call them worse off than the generations the preceded them. (The Guardian)

The Washington Post is backing Hilary Clinton. Well, it appears that way after they ran 16 stories that are perceived to be negative towards Bernie Sanders. (Fair.org)

The German Vice-Chancellor said that Donald Trump is a “threat to peace and prosperity.” When one of the leaders of the free world says that, people may just listen. (International Business Times)

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Sunday Link-Off: Hey Now! You’re an All-Star!

emily-ratajkowski-svedka16-02Well, I don’t know about the rest of you but I’ve had a busy couple of weeks. I’m sure you’ve noticed that by the content on the blog. I’m still playing Rise of the Tomb Raider for review. I’ve started writing my Until Dawn review as promised on the last podcast. I’m also doing a story on the Fine Bros react bullshit and will run that on here because it’s a big deal to the YouTube world. So I’m still writing but it’ll be a bit hit and miss.

Anyway, it’s Sunday which means that you’re here for the links. Let’s kick things off with Emily Ratajkowsi.

Another charity has been accused of being a waste. Wounded Warriors has been accused of blowing millions on admin expenses and executive. (CBS News)

Saudi Arabia is supposed to be helping matters in the Middle East but a UN report says that they’re busy bombing civilians when they’re supposed to be fighting rebels in Yemen. (The Guardian)

Add the World Bank to groups who don’t see a benefit to the TPP. They say that the Trans-Pacific Partnership will have a minimal impact on Canada, Australia and the US. Oops. (Tech Dirt)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The New Economy

hayden-panettiere-criticschoice16-05There are a lot of funny and terrifying economic stories in today’s links. The price of oil has tanked. The TPP is probably bad for you. Basically, unless you’re in oil, it looks like the economy is only going to benefit the rich. Those income inequality charts are just going to keep getting worse.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday so you know what that means. Let’s kick off with Hayden Panettiere who certainly doesn’t look like she did on Heroes.

Bernie Sanders might be onto something when he says that big pharma should be to blame for the opioid problem in America. (Vox)

With the falling price of oil, a barrel costs more than the oil that goes in it. (The Independent)

NYT has a look at how El Chapo was captured by Mexican authorities. (New York Times)

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Sunday Link-Off: Making America Great

minka-kelly-artofelysium16-01It’s not often that I have a set of links that give you some semblance of hope but here we are. Today’s links might just be enough to make you think that all is not lost for the United States of America. Granted, that could all change in November.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick things off with Minka Kelly.

Very quietly, the death penalty is slowly dying in America. What is behind this change? (Economist)

Americans are mad as hell and they’re probably going to keep taking it. (Esquire)

Michael Moore has an actual plan to make America great again. (The Nation)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Follow the Money

adrianne-palicki-shield15-02There are a lot of stories that tie back to American politics in today’s linkdump. From John Boehner resigning as the GOP launch a battle to kill Planned Parenthood to the constitutionality of any cuts to Planned Parenthood, the politics of America are heating up. To think that we’re having the election here in Canada in three weeks but it’s the Yanks who have the interesting stories.

Anyway, I suppose we should get on with the links. Since we’re talking about US politics, how about we start with Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division agent Adrianne Palicki.

Stephen Harper’s campaign focus is his economic record. Is there really anything there for him to stand on? (MacLean’s)

John Boehner is resigning from the House of Representatives and as Speaker of the House. You may not agree with his politics but he was one of the increasingly fewer progressive Republicans and the only man who could keep Congressional Tea Partiers in line enough to keep the government functioning. (Mother Jones)

Good news, Matt Damon! Mars shows signs of having flowing water. This should quite quickly re-prove the relevance of NASA. (New York Times)

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Sunday Link-Off: All About the Money

Now that I’ve had a chance to write-up the Sunday links, I’m not entirely certain that I didn’t burn all my good links on the entertainment links. All I really have left for today are politics links though everyone probably expects that for a set of the Sunday links.

Anyway, let’s actually get on with the links. Let’s kick things of with Victoria Justice.

A writer created a fake company to see if she could use various online services to make it look real. (Fusion)

While the rest of the EU is fighting over who has to take how many refugees, Turkey has spent $7.6 billion hosting over 2 million Syrian refugees. (New York Times)

Bernie Sanders might be instantly written off as a “tax-and-spend liberal” but his economic plan could save America trillions. (US Uncut)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Money and Politics

sarah-silverman-hfpagrants15-01I know that I usually have a lot of links about politics in these posts but I’m throwing a few economics links in for good measure. You’d be amazed how dependent economic confidence is on just who is in office. You’d think that what they do would be the key factor but who is in charge and what they might do seem to be the biggest driving forces of the market.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday and that was a terrible intro so I suppose I should placate you with some links. Let’s start with Sarah Silverman.

Stock markets around the world have gone for a nasty drop over the last few days. The problem is that there aren’t many options left for governments worldwide to make a quick course correction. (Daily Intelligencer)

The trouble with lobbyists is how frightening their influence can be. H&R Block and Intuit got US Congress to make filing taxes harder for the layperson. (Vox)

Canadian defense minister Jason Kenney is a pretty key player in the Conservative government. He might actually help the election campaign if he was capable of regularly telling the truth on a more regular basis. (Press Progress)

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The Economics of Star Wars (Infographic)

Star Wars is a tale of good vs. evil, the little man against the oppressive regime, and how self-belief begets shrewd negotiations that allowed the creator to retain the rights to sequels, merchandising and a significant portion of the box office gross.

Okay, Star Wars isn’t so much about the last point but that doesn’t mean that a little sci-fi movie that no studio really believed in didn’t become the poster child for the mega movie franchise. Star Wars (AKA Episode IV: A New Hope) was made for a tiny $14 million. It made over $775 million at the box office and nearly double that when adjusted for inflation. That’s just one of the cool facts about the dollars and cents of Star Wars we have for you in this handy infographic.

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Is Ubisoft Overcharging Canadian Steam Users?

ubisoft-cad-price-headerDuring Steam’s Monster Summer Sale, I noticed something during the Tom Clancy franchise sale. The price of the upcoming Rainbow Six: Siege is $80 CAD. The US dollar price is $60. If you were to pay for the game in USD and have your credit card company convert it to CAD, a Canadian customer would spend $73. That’s an inexplicable loss of $7 as a sort of living in Canada tax (when no sales tax is charged by Steam in Canada) from a company whose biggest development studio is in Canada and receives subsidies from various levels of Canadian government.

It’s not just the Canadians who are losing out for not living in America. According to the Steam All Region Price Checker extension, British customers are being charged the equivalent of $80 USD and others in the EU will be paying the equivalent of $68 USD.

So why are certain countries paying more than other and who is at fault for the price discrepancies?

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