It seems the Indiana Pacers, who was in last place in attendance, despite a more successful season than in several years past. Have come up with their own Economic Theory. Actually it is not an original theory. And I have discussed this before so forgive me if I occasionally repeat myself. For some reason the Pacers have decided if you can’t sell more tickets just raise the cost per ticket. What is the effect of this? Apparently they subscribe to the theory that if you charge more it increases the value of your product. How about decreasing overhead. I know Indiana is a small market, and to compete with the larger market teams, You have to pay players more to keep them. But there is always the path taken by the Chicago Cubs. Player development. What kept the Cubs going through all these losing years. Developing players for other teams. How many top players in the last 30-40 years were brought up by the Cubs only to go on to other teams. Think about it, I remember the rumors always that Wrigley made more money by taking players other teams wanted to develop, doing just that and collecting his money. As I have stated before the way to increase profit is to decrease ticket prices, which will put more people in your seats. This serves three purposes. 1 IMAGE. It looks better if you have seats filled. It gives the impression that you are more successful. 2. Increased CONCESSION, and SOUVENIR sales. Souvenirs equal ADVERTISING. 3. Do the math. 50% seats filled with a 9% ticket increase. or 100% seats filled without a 9% ticket increase. If you are filled to capacity every night then you can experiment with raising prices. That Is How I See It. several years Views: 115
Category: Economy
Foreclosures Down
Government reports FORECLOSURES are down for the seventh straight month. Well that makes sense. After all the foreclosures began, what, 3 years ago at extremely high rates. The wealthy bought these foreclosures for pennies on the dollar. Three years of foreclosures, eventually the supply of houses to foreclose on has to drop. After 3 years of foreclosures we are probably getting down the the last of the people who still have jobs, and are able to make their payments. Let me point out that not all foreclosures were due to the actual mortgage payment. Many were due to our government greed. Like my house the government raised my taxable property value to twice the actual market value. Which meant I was paying 12.85 times more than my neighbors. I was told the reason my taxes were so much higher is because my house is brick. Not a brick facade, but 3 brick thick. This raised my mortgage payments by over $250.00 a month. Now my Income did not match that kind of increase. Eventually my attorneys, advised me to spend the money for an independent appraisal. This showed the true market value. I took it to the clerks office for an appeal. I won and they finally lowered my tax value to my market value. I was still paying more than my neighbors. Then a year ago,, they finally reached the levels my neighbors were paying. But now with property values falling all around. (In fact our county government raised our tax rate because the property values had fallen so much. But my house remained the same as 3 years ago when they agreed to the independent appraisal value. So my property tax is on the rise. (good thing I always pay extra to my escrow account), But back to the foreclosures, the report said that ONLY 69,532 houses were foreclosed last month. Isn’t that still quite a few houses. Fewer houses to foreclose equals fewer foreclosures. Now that the wealthy have the foreclosed houses, they are more people are renting. According to the recent report I read RENTS, are rising more than the cost of owning a house which is finally falling. We’ll just have to see where this trend takes us. Sorry if this was hard to follow. BUT anyway That Is How I See It. more than Views: 101
Illegal Aliens Protest, But Not Deported
I admit I am getting farther behind the NEWS, than I would prefer. There is just so much happening right now that I can’t keep up. Just remember I am not a professional writer, and know little of the art of writing, I do not have at my disposal all the tools the professional has. This is just a way to get things off my chest. So here I go again. Dateline Indianapolis Indiana. Undocumented (ILLEGAL) students, slipped into Governor Mitch Daniels office to protest SB 590 (I think it is), which would penalize businesses who hire illegal immigrants. Also HB 1402 which would deny lowered in state tuition rates for undocumented aliens. One of the Illegal aliens said she could afford the $8,00.oo tuition. (Good for her, I can’t), but felt she would not be able to continue her education if she had to pay the usual out of state tuition. Also SB 590 could prevent her from obtaining gainful employment upon graduation. (I can’t find gainful employment either). However these law breakers will not be deported, as they should be. Why? According to Immigration and Custom agents. “It isn’t the best use of our agencies resources”. You can form your own conclusion. I have stated mine. That Is How I See It. find find find Views: 240
GAS Supply and Demand
There has been much said about the rising cost of gasoline. When I had my first gas station, gas was 32 cents a gallon. Diesel was a side product of gasoline production, and I sold it for 16 cents a gallon. Now this by product costs more than gasoline. WHY? You have heard the stories about the crazy people driving up the cost of oil. People who know nothing about the oil business paying more than the oil is worth (for future profits). This is what I have learned. Like all business, the oil companies are in it for the profit. PROFIT is what they are getting. Posting unusually high profit margins every quarter. Every quarter the profit margin gets higher. Why is this. We the consumer let them jab us at every turn. While it is true the uneducated oil buyer is doing his share to raise the cost of oil, the Oil companies, do their share too. What are the oil companies doing? A simple thing called SUPPLY AND DEMAND. They are controlling the supply end of it. Currently the big Oil Companies are operating at approximately 80% of capacity. (Artificially; as I see it; decreasing the supply). What else are they doing, you ask. They are exporting more oil products to foreign countries. Our American oil companies are supplying probably more diesel fuel to the African Continent than we use here in the USA. I don’t know what these other countries are paying. But I would bet it is like our medical companies, who sell medicine to other countries for less than we have to pay. Again USA pays other countries benefit. That Is How I See It. more than Views: 117
Dollars equal Taxes
Have any of you considered how much tax is generated by a single dollar bill over it’s life? If anyone knows will you please let men know? Say I make $1 a day. Out of this dollar I pay taxes. First right off the top is Federal Income Tax, FICA, State Income tax, and Local Option tax. I’m probably forgetting something here (remember I haven’t had a check in 3 years now. Then we have State sales tax, property tax, excise tax, wheel tax, we pay sales tax on anything we buy except some food. We have gas tax, NOT just STATE, FEDERAL, (don’t forget the sales tax here too) and we have road tax. There are probably, I’ll bet taxes we do not know we pay. So now you take all these taxes on my dollar, multiply it by everyone who gets my dollar. Because they have to pay these same taxes. You know I think could retire on the tax that only one dollar makes. That Is How I See It. they have Views: 151
Local Government Waste
As you may recall, in a previous post “Dying Cities/ Towns”, (posted February 2, 2011), I was telling how a once busy city is now dying. Now from the same area, I have received word of more government waste that contributes to the fall. It is in the state mentioned in April 15, 2011 post titled, “Property Tax Capped/ Raise Rates. This once bustling city, has fell on hard times with the loss of most of it’s major employers. But the latest DUMB thing. Are you ready for this. The local primary election is coming up in May. Actually I think it being held today. As I, most likely, told you this county is primarily Republican, and will blindly vote for anyone who is Republican, with few exceptions. (As I have stated in other posts I am neither Republican, nor Democrat. I do not see any place for politics in government). In case there are a few people who do not know the purpose of a primary election, it provides all Republicans to vote for who will run on the Republican ticket in the fall, for the various offices. It also allows the Democrats, the same opportunity. Those of us who affiliate with no party are left with whoever they pick. Guess what. All candidates of both parties, are running against NO ONE, Uncontested. HOWEVER, the county is going to spend about $20,ooo.oo to hold this unnecessary election. WHY! The county does not want anyone to feel they did not have a chance to vote for their favorite candidate. LOL. Perhaps it is just me. Maybe I am the dumb one, (most likely), but does anyone see anything being accomplished for this $20,000.oo? I’ll bet they have a big turn out. Don’t you? Oh well it is just $20,000.oo, I’m sure they could not find a better use for that drop in the bucket. BREAKING NEWS. It appears in the election mentioned they had a 5.57 % turnout to vote for their favorite, unopposed candidate. Which according to my calculations cost the taxpayers $39 a vote. But at least those 517 people got to vote. That Is How I See It. they have find find find Views: 114
Property Tax Capped? Raise Rates
Our state implemented a 1.1% cap on property taxes about 3 years ago. The 1.1% is of appraised value. (You have to watch what the governments appraised value is. The last time they appraised my property at 2 times the market value. I had to pay for a private appraisal, and file for a hearing to get the proper appraised value). Anyhow, the people were happy with the cap. After all the government had previously did away with business inventory tax, not to mention the tax abatement that big business received. Finally, We The People, were receiving some relief from the higher taxes we were paying to offset the breaks business was getting. WRONG!! it was just announced in our local paper the County Government has decided, (now get this). Due to the many foreclosed homes, and the decreased value of property, it is deemed necessary to raise the tax rate. That means the assessed value tax stays at 1.1% we just pay a higher rate on that 1.1%. We were paying “$ X” per $1000,oo appraised value. Now we will pay #$ 2X” per $1000.oo appraised value. “Gotcha again” says the Government. That Is How I See It. Views: 133
Multi Level Marketing
Multi Level Marketing, pyramid scheme, whatever you want to call it. Only the people at the top make any money. These schemes vary in structure, but only slightly. I am not saying that you cannot reach the upper levels. It generally depends on how good you are at USING other people to your own ends. One scheme I refused to get into was “AMY” (not their real name). One reason was the fact that I needed a job. Being a single parent. I asked if this was “AMY”. No was their reply. I went for their interview/presentation. Guess what it was “AMY” . I knew of “AMY” through relatives who had fell into their hype. They told me the company was so saturated with agents, the only sales they could make was to themselves. Another company. I did get involved with actually had and still does have a great product. A product I still believe in, and use. The trouble with this company was that they were so behind in technology, and sales methods, it made it almost impossible to sell the product. The rules they had were archaic. They even wanted to reprimand me for an article that appeared in our local newspaper, and on the papers website. (I had no contact with the paper. My name was listed as an agent). We had a plan for businesses to offer as a benefit to their employees. A member of our local group talked to a representative of the paper (indirectly) about this plan. The paper was so impressed (although they were turned down by upper management, from accepting our offer), one of the reporters wrote a story about our product. Good way to get out the word in an area that had not heard of it. Right? Not according to the corporate offices. I was told to take down the posting. Which I could not, as it was not my website. In a word I was told that I could not talk to anyone about the product. Just sell it. Doesn’t make much sense does it. Our team had sold more of the product than anyone in our area. How you make it to the top. Not by selling the product. By getting more people selling it. If you had about 1000 people selling under you, it would be possible to make money. The company made their money, by requiring you to Pay for a website they owned. (I could build my own website, and cost a lot less). They had a customer service group which you had to pay for, that would help you retain your customers, But to my knowledge did nothing to help. Old customers that I had lost told me they were never contacted. They were to handle all questions, and assist clients in the use of the product. You had to BUY all sales brochures, contracts, etc from them. You could only use Business cards they made, at an inflated price. You were also responsible to buy any promotional items from them. You were expected to attend their monthly and semi-annual pep talks. Which you also had to pay to attend. Like I said this last one was and is a great product I would recommend it to all of you. But since I cannot talk about it. I guess I can’t tell you what it is. Multi Marketing, Pyramid schemes. I only know of one person who made any money. He did it by accident. He was in his Senior year at college and signed on to work with this company. (NOT the one I was just talking about) to get his parents off his back, not helping himself earn spending money. It had something to do with retirement plans. He was sitting in a bar. A fellow sat down beside him and they began to talk. He told him what he was doing and the company. (They also had a great product, but it was also a pyramid scheme. The fellow happened to be an executive with a large corporation that was looking at building a new factory in the area. A couple of days later the fellow contacted him and wanted a presentation to be made in front of the Company Board. Not knowing much about his new job he contacted his upper line. A High up in the pyramid went with him and gave the presentation. He landed the account. He Got about $1 million dollars for landing the account, and as far as I know he is still getting around $250,000.00 a year in residual income. He went on to be a teacher like his parents. Beware Pyramid/Multi Marketing schemes. That Is How I See It. involved Views: 225
Women Vs Men Shopping
Men how many times have you had to go shopping with your wife? TOO MANY? MEN : Have you ever noticed that when men go shopping they enter the store knowing what they want. They go straight to the place it is, pick it up and walk out. The only exception I have noticed to this rule is when it comes to clothing. Not just clothing but special occasion clothing. Face it we like to look good on those rare occasions. On the rare occasion we don’t know where to find it. Or we are with our women. Men will usually walk into a store, move to the farthest aisle to the right. Walk down it, check the aisles to our left and right, If we happen to see something that strikes our curiosity we may venture down and take a gander. We continue this until we reach the farthest aisle to our original left. Satisfied we have seen anything that may strike our fancy. WOMEN: Women generally have an idea of what they went in for. But once they enter the door all that seems to have gotten lost. They may be in the front of the store, then the back, then in the far left aisle, the middle of the store, then the far right aisle then who knows. You know I’m right Girls. How they know if they have covered the entire store, I have no idea. It must be a Gal thing. For women it is more of a complete sensory thing. They can not just walk by and see a thing. they have to touch it. Smell it. Imagine what it will look like on, or in the home or car. Then feel it again. Lastly they will look at the price and then they have to decide if they can afford it. Is it really worth what the store wants. Aisle after aisle it is the same thing. Then just to be sure about things they considered they go back to check it out again. The same pattern wander, touch, feel, smell, etc. When they finally get to the checkout they forget how to read by entering the express lane with twice the items allowed. Now I’m not talking about all women on this subject. Just many of them. Then guess what. They know they are going to write a check. They wait until all items are rung up, bagged, then search through their purse to find the checkbook then a pen, and finally start writing the check. Men: Watch the cashier scan in the items and watch to be sure the price comes up right. Women: Stop at the checkout or somewhere in the aisle and block it. While they check the receipt to see if something rang up with a wrong price. Then if they find something wrong they go to the Customer Service ares. Stand in line. So they can get that extra nickle they were charged back. I love women. They just think differently. And it perturbs me. But I guess that is what makes us love them. That Is How I See It. Views: 246
Extended Warranties
Extended Warranties. You know those things you asked to purchase every time you purchase an appliance, electronic equipment, or even a car. Ever wonder why? The fact is the retailer gets as much as 50% of the price you pay. ALL PROFIT. Do you really need it. Most likely not. The manufacturer’s warranty usually covers less time than they figure the item will last. If something goes wrong it is generally during the manufacturer’s warranty period. I usually divide the expected life of the purchase by the price I give. I find, unless I do something stupid and break it, my extended warranty goes unused. My first experience with extended warranties came many years ago, (when they were something new). I purchased a VCR from a well known outlet store. They talked me into purchasing the EW, (extended warranty). After 1 month it broke. The manufacturer’s warranty was still in force. Of Course. But here is the kicker. The store would not replace it. Give me a loaner, or anything. The extended warranty did not entitle me to anything. It was another 3 months before I got my VCR back. I had to make the payments for 3 months, without having the product. A contract is a contract. I live up to mine. My second encounter was when I purchased my first Big Screen TV, about 11 years ago. I still have that TV everything works fine. Knock on wood. The warranty went unused. Another TV I purchased 16 years ago is still running just fine. I did not purchase a warranty on this one. It is up to you whether you purchase the extended warranty. As for me I don’t have the money to donate. That Is How I See It. Views: 227
