Standing-Room Only Flights

From the Daily Mail:

Ryanair wants passengers to stand during its flights so the budget airline can squeeze more people onboard.

The Irish air carrier plans to cut costs by making fliers perch on stools with seatbelts around their waists.

Interesting proposal.

The Right Aid

“For too long, our primary response [to fight hunger] has been to send emergency [food] aid when the crisis is at its worst,” Ms Clinton said last month. “This saves lives, but it doesn’t address hunger’s root causes. It is, at best, a short-term fix.”

-from FT, as G8 plans to announce new initiative to increase investment in farming to developing world

I can't say that hunger prevention is something I know much about, but what Mrs. Clinton has said above sounds logical to me. Like that Chinese proverb: "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life." I hope that this initiative will not only battle hunger, but also will also lead to economic development.

Trickling Down of Wealth?

From BW (a bit dated, but I just now came across it):

Private sector job growth was almost non-existent over the past ten years.

Between May 1999 and May 2009, employment in the private sector sector only rose by 1.1%, by far the lowest 10-year increase in the post-depression period.

Over the past 10 years, the private sector has generated roughly 1.1 million additional jobs, or about 100K per year. The public sector created about 2.4 million jobs.

But even that gives the private sector too much credit. Remember that the private sector includes health care, social assistance, and education, all areas which receive a lot of government support. I’ve been talking about the HealthEdGov sector.

The article goes on, listing industries most affected/changed in the past 10 years. Manufacturing is the industry with most job lost during the period. I guess that makes sense, considering we have been losing that battle to China and/or other low-cost countries. Job lost in the construction industry is surprising at first, but I think it's due to the fact that we've gained migrant workers who are willing to work longer hours with same pay, so pushing off higher-wage workers. The industry with the highest job growth goes to private healthcare, which is almost laughable to me considering it's one of the most problematic sectors (but that's another discussion). The numbers cited in the articles are still thought provoking enough.

It Pays to be Financially Responsible

From WSJ on how banks take your money:

Late fees, loan-origination fees, over-the-limit and overdraft charges helped generate 53% of banking-industry income in 2008, according to R.K. Hammer, up from 35% of income in 1995. The average bounced-check fee is $28.95, up about $1 from last year, says Greg McBride, senior analyst at Bankrate.com. And it's a charge that rises every year.

Like they say, the difference between banks and loan sharks is that banks don't break your legs for stiffing their loans. But are banks really that much better at this point? ...