Cash flow is not the same as well-being (Jack Bog's Blog)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on August 11, 2009 4:35 AM. The previous post in this blog was "Fill it up, please". The next post in this blog is New money pit to open. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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« "Fill it up, please" | Main | New money pit to open »

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Cash flow is not the same as well-being

Here's an elegant argument that our economists are pushing the wrong numbers.

Posted at 4:35 AM | Permalink

Comments (6)

Fantastic! Another way to measure "jobs saved or created"

Posted by Brian | August 11, 2009 6:49 AM

Interesting points, even when the gratuitous adverbs are removed.

Posted by David E Gilmore | August 11, 2009 9:20 AM

Measuring cash flow provides us one very valuable tool: It offers a reality check on the other numbers that a country, corporation, or individual may be pushing. And it's harder to fudge this number. Looking at Enron's cash flow in the 2000-2001 time frame, one may have concluded that their increasing profits reported could not possibly be supported by their relatively flat cash flow (actually, this was reported, but it was lost in the din of favorable reports).

But I agree, there ought to be a more appropriate "official" measure of economic output.

Posted by john rettig | August 11, 2009 9:46 AM

Onr tool in the toolbox is not the toolbox.

Posted by Lawrence | August 11, 2009 10:06 AM

Shame on all you horrible people in our country. Buying things they really don't want or need or which make themselves and their families better off and provide a living to others. Go back you all to horse manure (and the stench and spread of disease), oil lamps (there must be another O'Leary cow out there somewhere to destroy the slums)and women doing women's work. Just what we need. Hey, how about passing a law requiring all that?

Let's forget about a market economy. Isn't 9 or 10 percent unemployment enough? How about 15 or 20 percent? Why be shy -- let's shoot for a 25 to 30 percent reprise of the Great Depression.

Any well-informed economist knows there are dozens of measures of economic output. Virtually all these relate to things that people value to the point that they are willing to pay for the goods/services. Anything this author claims to value is subject to this put up or shut up form of measurement. If you value items then pay!!!

Anything that's not measured in the National Income Accounts can be measured the good old fashioned way -- by counting and reporting the results.

If this guy wants to make up values for non-market transactions I would love to see it -- and critique him to oblivion. In his view of the world the explosion of Krakatoa would have been the most economically valuable event of the last millenium. Go to it!!!

Posted by Grady Foster | August 11, 2009 10:25 AM

Wouldn't it be intesting if the City of Portland, instead of only calculating the increased "gross domestic" tax revenue of infill development, was forced also to calculate the real costs of filling every nook and cranny with skinny houses and condo bunkers? These costs could include the environmental (loss of tree cover, more runoff from roofs and pavement, more local pollution from traffic, increased summer temperatues), the financial (more wear & tear on an aging sewer system, more need for road repairs and maintenance), and the emotional (a loss of privacy and light in adjacent houses, increased noise pollution from traffic, and the aggravation (and economic costs) of more and more time lost to sitting in traffic. As it is, it seems these costs are only calculated for areas outside the urban growth boundary, not within it. Sure, some neighborhoods in town may be getting some benefit from development (you gotta love that streetcar, kids), but not mine. We get the infill and its costs and see none of the benefits. Where's the economic justice in that?

Posted by SE Portland Nature Girl | August 11, 2009 4:37 PM

In Vino Veritas

Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007

The Occasional Book

Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269