Comments for Jason William Keith's Blog

Comment on Greg Mankiw Weighs in on the National Debt, Balanced Budgets, and the VAT by Billy Parrish

Billy Parrish — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:21:11 +0000

Mankiw goes a little Keynesian.

So I’ll go a little Miltonian.

When is someone going to stand up to the AARP and increase the beneficiary age. Just that action alone will get the government back into the black by the time the boomers retire (and yes, JWK, I consider you a boomer).

damn proud,
bp

Comment on The $555,000 Student-Loan Burden by Billy Parrish

Billy Parrish — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:18:16 +0000

Think Physicians have it bad when it comes to college debt/salary? Take a look at airplane piolts. Most of those guys end up on welfare, seriously.

Comment on Should More People Voluntarily Default on Their Home Mortgage? by Billy Parrish

Billy Parrish — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:15:08 +0000

I’ll add a bookmark to this page along with my daily dose of Mankiw & Krugman.

I just don’t understand the logic behind this decision, long term. Even in the extreme cases where something becomes worth half as much, like a $200,000 mortgage on a home now appraised for $100,000.

You could either:

A) Make a short-term profit by pocketing difference between rent vs. mortgage…but ruin credit and be destined as a renter for years and in the process not build any equity through a home

B) Understand that in the cycle of a 30 year mortgage, this is probably the bottom, and it will go up (just through 30 years of inflation it will have to go up), but maybe not neccessarilty to the full $200,000. You may lose some money, but in 30 years you’ll still have maybe $150,000 to $200,000 of equity at your disposal.

It’s not like their mortgage payment went up all of a sudden. The temporary value of their house went DOWN, their payment didn’t go UP (unless we’re talking varitable interest rate mortgages).

So why panic and ruin your credit. It’s hard getting that back, and in the meantime you’re not eligible to buy anything of worth, like a car, and may not even be able to get a better job with this new practice of having credit checks performed by employers.

Whatcha think JWK.

Damn proud,
bp

Comment on Housing Market Still Strong in Conway by Mike Morris

Mike Morris — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:26:53 +0000

Why do you think the housing market in Conway Arkansas continues to climb despite the fall of the economy?

Comment on Economy Got You Down: The Federal Reserve Has Your Cure by Stacey Derbinshire

Stacey Derbinshire — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:30:59 +0000

Nice writing style. I look forward to reading more in the future.

Comment on The 65 mpg Ford That You Can’t Get by Bruce McIntire

Bruce McIntire — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 03:00:03 +0000

I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

Comment on Smart Financial Services By Kroger by Mike Morris

Mike Morris — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:26:09 +0000

They are Free to the customer. The comment was how much the companies are giving to Kroger not how much Kroger is charging the customer.

Comment on Another Benefit to High Gas Prices: Less Traffic Fatalities by Jason

Jason — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:27:26 +0000

No One –
I am not sure the case of “benefits” versus “incentives” isn’t a bit of a debate in semantics, but I would gladly accept the notion: “higher fuel costs are providing additional incentives for these behaviors.”

I am not sure I understand your point about the commuting/moving. But I do think the incentive is there. Some anecdotal evidence: I asked a friend and fellow UCA Alumni if she was attending the Bears opening game this Thursday, she responded: “There is no way I spending the money on gas to come to Conway tomorrow.” She lives about 15 miles down the road in Maumelle.

Nonetheless – Thanks for the feedback. I began this blog with the hope that others would challenge some of the ideas I presented here. As you can see – traffic is still slow.
~JWK

Comment on Another Benefit to High Gas Prices: Less Traffic Fatalities by No One

No One — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:04:11 +0000

I agree that lower traffic fatalities are definitely a positive attribute to the ever increasing gas prices, however with that said it can be argued that some of these “benefits” are simply a growing and changing soicial economic future. Three of the so-called benefits to high gas prices in the list can be partially and/or completely accredited to social evalution. Meaning, obesity has been an ongoing global problem for many years and this has a lot to do with the decrease in adolecent activity behavior, advanced technology, and an increase in fast-food establishments to name a few. There is something to be said for commutes and the fact that there is a percentage of people choosing to move closer to work, I would argue that people as a whole however are moving to lower cost of living areas and also to less dense populated communities/states and thus end up living closer to where they work by virture of the move, but there is no proof that the sole reason or should I say top reason they are moving is because of gas prices. And lastly, the entrepreneurs, I will not bore you with history statistics that fully support the fact that from the beginning of man and the climb of the social ladder we have strived to better ourselves. For the better part of 40 years Earth as a whole has looked at alternative resources, not just fuel. Several inventions have replaced products that were harmful to both humans and earth over the last decades thus proving that incentives for entrepreneurs can not be soley attributed to high gas prices. I do agree that there are positives to the increase in fuel but they can hardly be called benefits when they are not the sole outcome or reason for the increase. I do want to applaud you for your blog. Very interesting read.

Comment on Another Benefit to High Gas Prices: Less Traffic Fatalities by Jason

Jason — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:40:43 +0000

Great Point. I should have referenced my two previous posts.

A quick summary of benefits include:
*Less obesity as people are more apt to walk or ride a bicycle.
*Less pollution as more people use mass transportation, walk, or bicycle.
*Shorter commutes as people relocate (over time) closer to the places they work thus giving them more leisure and family time.
*An increased incentive for entrepreneurs to invest in alternative fuels and create more American jobs.

~JWK