The Stravager

The thing about being employed by a company that does consulting work and being between contracts is it creates a mix of feelings.  I have time to think about stuff, specifically work related stuff, but also I start thinking about being 51 years old and sitting on my ass in an office trying to justify my existence.  I know that my life is good, and I travel a lot, but the bucket list is long and time is running out.  Next week by this time I'll be in Tokyo.  I'll be getting ready to celebrate my 51st year on this planet and after Christmas Midori and I will be heading to Vietnam for a few days.  Last year around this time we were coming down from the excitement of spending almost 3 weeks in Italy and Switzerland.  So it's not like we have been sitting idle, but what about the Great Wall?  Giza?  Bali?  Paris/London/Prague/Munich?  So many places I want to go.  Also looking forward to next year musically.  In January I wil...

Supply-side economics, (AKA trickle down, Voodoo, Horse and Sparrow) operates on the premise that if the government allows wealthy (business owners and private citizens alike) to keep more of the money they earn that they will then re-invest that money into job creating endeavors like increased production or increased investment in companies that will then hire working class folks down the economic food chain.  It's called supply side economics because it comes at growth from the perspective that it all starts from the supplier or goods and services. The problem is, this totally ignores the supply/demand dynamic.  Let's look at the one of my favorite metaphors used to explain this; The Horse and the Sparrow.  The idea is, if you feed a horse enough grain, some of it will come out the other side for the sparrow to eat.  The metaphor breaks down quickly because with a horse, there is a biological necessity for it to defecate.  What if the horse could just sto...