Economics

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: More Equal Than Others

miranda-kerr-wonderbra15-14Orwell once wrote, “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.” The frightening thing is how prophetic Orwell’s writing is today. I was actually just saying that Orwell’s 1984 is more relevant today than it was when it was published. The man was good and his books are just getting better with age.

And I realized something while putting this post together. I was supposed to do a Valentine’s themed picture to start the links. Let’s ignore that I forgot and just pretend I was on time with this photo of Miranda Kerr.

The fall and rise of American inequality. (NPR)

And your leading House Republicans aren’t rushing to change things. Paul Ryan thinks that the poor need to comply with the tax code more strongly. Of course. They’re the ones who can afford tax loophole finding accountants. (Washington Post)

Meanwhile, in Canada, the Quebec Education Minister says that strip searches of high schoolers is allowed if they’re “respectful.” If that isn’t among the most ridiculous things you ever heard, I don’t know what is. (Montreal Gazette)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: The Story Behind the Story

anna-kendrick-britishfashionawards14-02We’re getting to that point in the year where posts are a little harder to come by. I try to plan posts a week or two ahead but that doesn’t mean that I’m always able to figure out all that I want to put on the blog ahead of time. For example, I know that there will be a video game review this week and one early next week. However, I’m missing a Thursday post in the mean time. I have to pull something together quickly.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Let’s bring back old blog favourite Anna Kendrick.

Kathryn Borel talks about when the CBC ignored her when she told them about Jian Ghomeshi harassing her on the job. (The Guardian)

A little while back, we ran a link to a story about a rape and the rape culture at the University of Virginia. Here’s the story behind the story. (Washington Post)

A program in Tampa claims to help homeless people find jobs and get back into society, it looks like it’s all a front to make the program money. (Tampa Bay Times)

Continue reading →

1 Comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: Dollars and Sense

samantha-hoopes-maxim14-04Sunday’s link-off was mostly about current events in Canada. Today, it’s the latest developments in Ukraine. You’d think that someone would try to be very apologetic about accidentally shooting down a civilian airplane but I guess that’s not how it works in Russia. It’s starting to look like things in Ukraine might once again get worse before it gets better.

First, let’s start this post with Samantha Hoopes.

The more Putin tightens his grip on Ukraine, it seems that more money is slipping through his fingers. Russian billionaires are worried about making money in an increasingly isolated Russia. (Bloomberg)

In other economic news, if the American economy is to grow, business have to start spending rather than saving. Apparently lowering taxes isn’t encouraging them to do so. (The Upshot)

The FCC wants to open up broadband to be available as a public-owned utility for municipalities to run themselves. It would be a great way to get around net neutrality by offering competition so no ISPs could hose customers. The Republicans are opposed to it, obviously. (Vox)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Columns, Video Games

How Steam is Striking Gold with the Summer Adventure

steam-summer-adventure-headerWhen Steam launched the 2014 edition of the Steam Summer Sale, it came with a new wrinkle that no one saw coming. No, I’m not talking about the four packs of Community Picks. This time out, Steam introduced the Summer Adventure to the sale. While it looks like a little competition between users for prizes, it’s actually another quiet way for Valve to make a few dollars more from Steam.

Continue reading →

2 Comments Posted on by Steve Murray Columns, Video Games

The Economics of Steam Trading Cards and the Steam Wallet

steam-trading-cards-headerIt’s been six months since Steam introduced their Trading Cards. When they first launched, I was utterly confused as to why anyone would be interested in virtual trading cards that had no purpose and no value. It just seemed like a way for Valve to make some money that no one would buy into.

However, having just completed the Steam Holiday Sale, it’s readily apparent that Valve has hit a home run with the Trading Cards. It’s not just the transaction fees that are making Valve money. The spin-off effect from Trading Cards does just as much to make Steam even more profitable.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Should’ve Voted For Kodos

lauren-cohan-maxim13-06Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. I have to admit that Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday. You have this great spread with comparatively few family visits. Sure, there’s still family visits but not as many as Christmas.

Even better, The Walking Dead is back today. Wait, I’m not sure that’s a good thing after last season’s finale. Oh well. At least the show still has Lauren Cohen on it.

A poll says that 40% of Americans say that the rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s health care marketplace hasn’t gone well. That same poll says that 7% of respondents attempted to use the marketplace. In other words, the media is creating the message. (Washington Post)

And while Obamacare is suffering a shaky rollout, the GOP have lost any opportunity to capitalize by continuing the lost cause that is the government shut down. (The Guardian)

An examination by The Economist shows that while politicians said that becoming protectionist would harm the global economy following the Great Recession, many went protectionist with their economies. (The Economist)

Continue reading →

1 Comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: Forces of Good and Bad

kate-upton-vogue13-07It’s the middle of the week which means that it’s time for the links. Things have been a bit quiet on the blog lately but I’m hoping that inspiration will strike and I’ll write some more interesting things soon. Let’s kick it off with Kate Upton who I’m pretty sure hasn’t been on the blog since she landed her second SI Swimsuit Issue cover.

The mainstream media would have you believe that Anonymous are evil but the hacking group have been a force of good who have been a leading force in uncovering evidence of rape that the police just aren’t interested in finding. (Mother Jones)

Not only does austerity prevent much economic stimulation but it also has a real world effect on people. Austerity measures also affect the social safety net that so many people rely on. (New York Times)

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says Canadians are entitled to know what the government is up to… Only if it can be spun positively for the governing Conservative Party. (MacLean’s)

Continue reading →

1 Comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Economics 101

adriana-lima-victoriassecret13-03I didn’t have a lot of time to write this up yesterday. I’ve been busy building a PC… Or trying to build a PC. Let’s hope that it works as advertised. I’ve read good things and bad about that graphics card I got. It came in a bundle. I could’ve gone for something different and paid more. Still, I was amazed how much cheaper going AMD was than Intel & NVIDIA when gaming performance is similar. Right now, my biggest complaint is that it’s not as powerful as I expected but I’ll see if I can’t tweak a bit on that.

Right, it’s Sunday which means it’s time for the links. Let’s kick it off with Adriana Lima who surprisingly hasn’t been featured on the blog in nearly two years. It’s about time that I corrected that.

So the US deficit is being reduced but at what cost? Economists say that the cost cutting and tax increase plans agreed upon by both parties is slowing economic recovery. (The New York Times)

Remember Instagram? It was big before Facebook bought it and Twitter dropped integrated image support for the app. Anyway, here’s a look at the rise and Zuckerberg-ification of Instagram. (Vanity Fair)

One social network that isn’t in danger of going away anytime soon is Reddit. If you want news and memes fast, Reddit will have it first. (Ad Age)

Continue reading →

3 Comments Posted on by Steve Murray Video Games

The Dollars and Cents of BioShock Infinite

bioshock-infinite-alternate-box-artAt the beginning of January, I wrote up a detailed breakdown of how much a publisher actually makes for each new copy of a game they sold. With today’s release of BioShock Infinite, I thought it would be a good time to apply these numbers to a practical example to show how profitable games actually are.

Continue reading →

1 Comment Posted on by Steve Murray Columns, Video Games

Why March is the New Video Game Christmas

gamestop-black-fridayIt used to be that all the big products were launched in time for the Christmas shopping season (or your religion’s December equivalent). This included video games. Last year wasn’t much different with big releases in the run up to Christmas including Far Cry 3, COD: Blops 2, Hitman, Assassin’s Creed 3, among several other triple-A releases.

The reason for releasing games in the fall in the run up to Christmas is obvious. Christmas is the biggest shopping season of the year. Everyone is asking for and looking for Christmas gifts so what better time to get your big products out there than when people are spending scads of money anyway.

So why do I bring up March? If you’ve checked the release calendar, you’d have noticed that this month has more noteworthy games coming out than seemingly any single month in the past year. We’ve already had reboots for Tomb Raider and Sim City start the month and BioShock: Infinite will close it up. In the intervening time period, there you can buy StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, prequels for Gears of War and God of War, and The Walking Dead cash in from Activision.

So why has March turned into such a hotbed for big game releases?

Continue reading →