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My name is Sarah
I am but three,
My eyes are swollen
I cannot see,

I must be stupid,
I must be bad,
What else could have made
My daddy so mad?

I wish I were better,
I wish I weren’t ugly,
Then maybe my Mommy
Would still want to hug me.

I can’t speak at all,
I can’t do a wrong
Or else I’m locked up
All the day long.

When I awake I’m all alone
The house is dark
My folks aren’t home.

When my Mommy does come
I’ll try and be nice,
So maybe I’ll get just
One whipping tonight.

Don’t make a sound!
I just heard a car
My daddy is back
From Charlie’s Bar.

I hear him curse
My name he calls
I press myself
Against the wall.

I try and hide
From his evil eyes
I’m so afraid now
I’m starting to cry.

He finds me weeping
He shouts ugly words,
He says its my fault
That he suffers at work.

He slaps me and hits me
And yells at me more,
I finally get free
And I run for the door.

He’s already locked it
And I start to bawl,
He takes me and throws me
Against the hard wall.

I fall to the floor
With my bones nearly broken,
And my daddy continues
With more bad words spoken.

“I’m sorry!”, I scream
But its now much too late
His face has been twisted
Into unimaginable ****.

The hurt and the pain
Again and again
Oh please God, have mercy!
Oh please let it end!

And he finally stops
And heads for the door,
While I lay there motionless
Sprawled on the floor.

My name is Sarah
And I am but three,
Tonight my daddy
Murdered me.

There are thousands of kids out there just like Sarah. And you can help.

It sickens me to my soul, and if you just read this and don’t pass it on I pray for your forgiveness, cause you would have to be one heartless person to not be affected by this email. And because you are affected, do something about it!! So all I am asking you to do, is take some time to send this on and acknowledge that this stuff does happen, and that people like her dad do live in our society, and pray for child abuse to wither out and die, but also pray for the safety of our youth.

Please pass this poem on as a Blue Ribbon Against Child Abuse because as crazy as it might sound, it might just indirectly change a life. Hey, you NEVER know.

Please forward if you are
*~*~*AGAINST CHILD ABUSE *~*~

By: slick_chik316

What else can Google Earth do? Anything mindblowing?

By: The Shepherd

2.Which of the following statements about the short-run production function is true?
a.MP always equals AP at the maximum point of MP.
b.MP always equals zero when TP is at its maximum.
c.TP starts to decline at the point of diminishing returns.
d.When MP diminishes, AP is at its minimum point.
e.None of the above is true.

3.Assume a firm employs 10 workers and pays each $15 per hour. Further assume that the MP of the 10th worker is 5 units of output and that the price of the output is $4. According to economic theory, in the short run
a.the firm should hire additional workers
b.the firm should reduce the number of workers employed
c.the firm should continue to employ 10 workers.
d.more information is required to answer this question.

4.A firm using two inputs, X and Y, is using them in the most efficient manner when
a.MPX = MPY
b.PX = PY and MPX = MPY
c.MPX/PY = MPY/PX
d.MPX/MPY = PX/PY

5.Average fixed cost is
a.AC minus AVC
b.TC divided by Q
c.AVC minus MC
d.TC minus TVC

6.Diseconomies of scale can be caused by
a.the law of diminishing returns.
b.bureaucratic inefficiencies.
c.increasing advertising and promotional costs.
d.all of the above.

7.Which of the following cost relationship is not true?
a.AFC = AC - MC
b.TVC = TC - TFC
c.the change in TVC divided by the change in Q = MC
d.the change in TC divided by the change in Q = MC
8.When a firm produces at the point where MR = MC, and the price of its product is higher that the cost per unit, the profit that it is earning is considered to be
a.maximum
b.normal
c.above normal
d.below normal

9.Which of the following is not characteristic of perfect competition?
a.A differentiated product
b.No barriers to entry
c.Large number of buyers
d.Complete knowledge of market price

10.Suppose a firm is currently maximizing its profits (i.e., following the MR = MC rule). Assuming that it wants to continue maximizing its profits, if its fixed costs increase, it should
a.maintain the same price
b.raise its price
c.lower its price
d.not enough information to answer this question

11.Which of the following is true about a monopoly?
a.Its demand curve is generally less elastic than in more competitive markets.
b.It will always earn economic profit.
c.It will charge the highest possible price.
d.It will always be subject to government regulations.

12.If an oligopolistic firm decides to raise its price,
a.other firms will automatically follow.
b.none of the other firms will follow.
c.other firms may follow if it is the price leader.
d.None of the above.

13.If nothing else changes, an increase in fixed cost will
a.decrease the break-even quantity point.
b.increase the break-even quantity point.
c.will have no effect on the break-even point.
d.may either increase or decrease the break-even point.

14.The degree of operating leverage can be defined as
a.the change in profit for a $1 change in quantity.
b.the change in quantity for a $1 change in profit.
c.the percentage change in quantity for a given percentage change in profit.
d.the percentage change in profit for a given percentage change in quantity/sales.
15.If a company wants to break-even at 20,000 units, its variable cost per unit is $3, and its fixed cost per period is $40,000, its selling price per unit will have to be
a.$5
b.$5.50
c.$6
d.$6.50

16.For a given percentage change in sales, the higher the degree of operating leverage,
a.the higher will be the percentage change in profit.
b.the lower will be the percentage change in profit.
c.the higher will be the absolute change in profit.
d.the lower will be the absolute change in profit.

17.Prices under an ideal cartel situation will be equal to
a.monopoly prices.
b.competitive prices.
c.prices under monopolistic competition.
d.marginal cost.

18.Barometric price leadership exist when
a.one firm in the industry initiates a price change and the other may or may not follow.
b.one firm imposes its best price on the rest of the industry.
c.all firms agree to change prices simultaneously.
d.one company forms a price umbrella for all others.

19.When state universities charge higher tuition fees to out-of-state students than to local students, the universities are practicing
a.first-degree discrimination.
b.second-degree discrimination.
c.third-degree discrimination.
d.fourth-degree discrimination.

20.If a product which costs $8 is sold at $10, the mark-up is
a.$2.
b.25 %.
c.20 %.
d.impossible to determine.

21.Moral hazard is the
a
21.Moral hazard is the
a.outcome of a Prisoner’s Dilemma.
b.result of market signaling.
c.risk associated with a Dutch auction.
d.risk that one party to a contract may alter its post-contract behavior to the detriment of another party.

22.The Prisoner’s Dilemma is an example of
a.market signaling.
b.a zero-sum game.
c.a non-zero sum, noncooperative game with a dominant strategy.
d.adverse selection.

23.A proposed project should be accepted if the net present value is
a.positive.
b.negative.
c.larger than the internal rate of return.
d.smaller than the internal rate of return.

24.Other things being equal, the higher the cost of capital,
a.the higher the NPV of a project.
b.the higher the IRR of the project.
c.the lower the NPV of the project.
d.the cost of capital has no effect on the NPV of the project.

25.Two projects have the following NPVs and standard deviations:
Project AProject B
NPV200200200
Standard deviation 75 100
25.Two projects have the following NPVs and standard deviations:
Project AProject B
NPV200200200
Standard deviation 75 100
A person who selects project A over project B is
a.risk seeking.
b.risk indifferent.
c.risk averse.
d.None of the above.

26.A stock whose rate of return fluctuates less than the rate of return of a market portfolio will have a beta that equals
a.1. ; b.less than 1.; c.more than 1.
d.Either A or C above.

27.The internal rate of return of a project can be found
a.by discounting all cash flows at the cost of capital.
b.by averaging all cash inflows, and calculating the interest rate, which will make them equal to the average investment.
c.by calculating the interest rate, which will equate the present value of all cash inflows to the present value of all cash outflows.
d.None of the above.

By: Soni Kuri

p.s. any good sights you think we should hit?
sorry, the united states.

By: Manda

Last week the Dow Jones industrial average fell 4.2%, the steepest drop since March 2003. Financial shares took a beating on growing evidence that problems in the sub-prime mortgage market are spreading, making financing the corporate buy-outs that drove the market’s rally more difficult.
Many financial market participants are of the view that there is a definite deterioration in credit conditions, which means less liquidity for private equity, stock buy-backs, and business expansion. Fed officials, however, have downplayed this claim.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on July 24 the president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, Charles Plosser, said that the present slump in the housing market is not going to trigger a liquidity crunch and a consequent general economic recession. The reason for this is that banks are unlikely to curtail lending since their balance sheets are in good shape. Plosser attributes this to financial innovations (financial engineering) in the last 10 to 20 years that have enabled banks to distribute much of the risk.
Plosser adds:
Does that say nothing bad can happen? Of course not. But it means I’m a little more sanguine that that whole view of a credit crunch is probably not as applicable now as it might have been 10 or 20 years ago…. Banks in this district are pretty healthy …. Their biggest complaint is not housing mortgage defaults and credit crunch, it’s the yield curve. They’ve got money to lend.[1]
(Banks as a rule lend at long-term rates and raise funds at short-term rates. Hence they prefer an upward sloping yield curve — when long-term rates are higher than short-term rates. At present the yield curve is relatively flat, which undermines profits from lending.)
Fed officials including Plosser present the current housing slump as the outcome of irresponsible lending by mortgage brokers and various other mysterious forces. On this logic it is the role of the Fed to monitor the situation in the housing market and, if required, to interfere in order to prevent the housing slump from spilling over to the rest of the economy.
We suggest that what we are currently observing in the housing market is the deflation of the housing bubble, which could be a precursor to a widely spread liquidity crunch. The deflation of the bubble is the result of the Fed’s boom-bust monetary policies. Here is why.
We define a bubble as activity that has emerged on the back of the loose monetary policy of the central bank. In the absence of monetary pumping this type of activity would not have emerged. Since bubble activities are not self-funded, their emergence must come at the expense of various self-funded or productive activities. This means that less real funding is left for true wealth generators, which in turn undermines real wealth formation.
When new money is created, its effect is not felt instantaneously across all markets. The effect moves from one individual to another and thus from one market to another. In short, monetary pumping generates bubble activities across all markets as time goes by.
It is quite likely that the loose monetary policy of the Fed between January 2001 and June 2004 has laid the foundation for the emergence of various non-productive activities. (The federal funds rate target was lowered from 6.5% to 1%.)
An easy monetary stance coupled with fractional-reserve bank lending has given rise to an abundance of money out of “thin air.” Between Q3 2001 to Q4 2004 the average yearly rate of growth of our monetary measure AMS stood at 7.5%. This should be contrasted with the rate of growth of 2% in Q2 2001 and 0.9% in Q4 2000. The illusory prosperity that the bubble activities have generated in fact amounted to the consumption of real savings and to a weakening of the pool of real funding — the heart of real economic growth.

Since June 2004 the Fed has reversed its monetary stance. The fed funds rate target was raised from 1% to 5.25% currently. In response to this the growth momentum of our monetary measure AMS has been in visible downtrend since Q4 2004. The yearly rate of growth fell from 7.1% in Q4 2004 to 1.4% in Q2 2007.

Once the Fed tightened its stance this started to undermine various activities that emerged on the back of the previous loose monetary stance. In short, these activities have come under pressure.
We have seen that the effect of changes in money supply (i.e., creating and supporting various non-productive activities) on various markets operates with a variable time lag. As a result of this, the effect from past changes in money supply can continue to assert its dominance notwithstanding more recent changes in the money supply. (Past loose monetary policies can still provide support to various bubble activities despite more recent tight monetary stance.)
We suspect that the tighter stance since June 2004 is only now starting to gain momentum with the housing market being hit first. This means that sooner or later the various other parts of the economy are likely to exhibit difficulties.
In short, the fall in the growth momentum of money is going to put pressure on activities that sprang up on the back of previous loose monetary policy. (Remember that bubbles are supported by means of loose monetary policy that diverts real funding from wealth generating activities. Once the money rate of growth slows down, this slows the diversion of real wealth, i.e., slows down the support for these activities.)
When various non-productive activities start to deflate, this tends to exert a direct and indirect effect on the quality of bank assets notwithstanding financial innovations. Obviously once this happens banks tend to curb their lending growth.
Does this imply that the United States is heading for a serious liquidity crunch and severe economic slump? We suggest that this will be dictated by the state of the pool of real funding.
If the pool of real funding is still growing then commercial banks are unlikely to curtail their lending — at the worst, they might reduce the rate of lending expansion. This means that instead of being liquidated, various false activities might be forced to slow down their pace of expansion.
Obviously, if commercial banks were to significantly curtail their lending then this could be indicative that the pool of real funding at the disposal of Americans is in trouble. Should commercial banks trim their lending it is likely to lead to a fall in money supply and to a liquidity crunch, all other things being equal.
For the time being, overall commercial bank lending is still expanding although at a slower pace. After climbing to 11% in November last year the yearly rate of growth fell to 8.3% so far in July. (In the week ending July 18, bank loans increased by $23.3 billion.)
Another possible source for a liquidity crunch is the Fed’s policy of targeting the federal funds rate. In the week ending July 25, the Fed’s balance sheet (also called Fed Credit) fell by $3.669 billion. The yearly rate of growth fell to 2.7% from 3.1% in June and 4.2% in March.
The decline in the pace of monetary injections by the Fed could be indicative that the current fed funds rate target of 5.25% is too high relative to economic activity. In short, a weakening in economic activity puts downward pressure on interest rates. To protect the target of 5.25% the Fed is forced to slow down its monetary pumping.

It follows that liquidity could come under severe pressure if the Fed decides to cling to the current fed funds rate target whilst the economy is weakening.
We can thus conclude that as the effect of the tighter monetary stance of the Fed since June 2004 gains strength the chances for a widely spread liquidity crunch are rising. The entire issue could further exacerbate should the Fed cling to the current fed funds rate target whilst the economy is weakening.
________________________________________
Frank Shostak is an adjunct scholar of the Mises Institute and a frequent contributor to Mises.org. He is chief economist of Man Financial, Australia. Send him mail and see his outstanding Mises.org Daily Articles Archive.

By: MISES.ORG