Cowboy Economics News - February 2009 Archives

Second, more realistic estimate can reduce planning and purchasing errors (2/28/2009)

The next time a contractor tells you the kitchen remodeling will be done in six weeks, you might ask him to get real and reconsider his estimate. ...> Full Article

Investors who 'gamble' in the stock market have same characteristics as lottery players (2/27/2009)

The socioeconomic characteristics of people who play state lotteries are similar to investors who pick stocks with a lottery quality -- high risk with a small potential for high return, and just like the lottery, returns on average are lower for those who invest this way in the stock market, research from the University of Texas at Austin shows. ...> Full Article

Money may not buy happiness but neither does poverty (2/26/2009)

In the past 50 years, individual levels of wealth have increased but so have crime, deprivation, depression and addictions to alcohol and drugs. Most of us believe that more money will make us happier; however, as societies become richer, does that wealth positively impact on our happiness? ...> Full Article

Learning from our mistakes: Consumers won't be deceived twice (2/25/2009)

Sometimes a high price tag, a label, or an ingredient can lead us to believe that we're purchasing a high-quality item. But what happens if the attribute that attracted us to the product is false or meaningless? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research examines consumer responses to "biasing cues," features that consumers assume are related to the quality of the item. ...> Full Article

New working-class task force faces broad challenges, labor expert says (2/22/2009)

A task force launched by President Obama to boost America's middle class will have to help retool beleaguered US workplaces facing their most sweeping changes since World War II, a University of Illinois labor expert says. ...> Full Article

Arizona environmental economist says invasive species is part of the price of doing business (2/21/2009)

When the sun rides low on the horizon and winter chills wrap us all in down and fleece, global trade brings blueberries from South America, oranges from Israel. But trade in exotic goods also comes with significant local economic costs, explains Charles Perrings, professor of environmental economics at Arizona State University. ...> Full Article

Making a game of economic theory (2/20/2009)

How game theory and insights from cognitive psychology can shed light on the economic choices people and corporations make will be the focus of a topical lecture presented by California Institute of Technology behavioral economist Colin Camerer at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. ...> Full Article

New study says to look at more than just price to find the best travel bargains (2/19/2009)

If you're looking for bargain air travel, a new study finds that you should look at more than just the ticket price. Instead, a researcher at North Carolina State University who co-authored the study says that consumers need to consider the quality of the flights being offered in order to get the best "price efficiency." ...> Full Article

Ethanol plants no panacea for local economies, study finds (2/18/2009)

Just over a year ago, the US ethanol industry was still in overdrive, fueling a wave of new factories to keep pace with surging demand for the corn-based gasoline additive. But the boom has since stalled amid a deep economic downturn that has stifled demand, one of many threats to the fledgling industry that were forecast in a 2007 study by two University of Illinois researchers. ...> Full Article

US petroleum dependency factor of history (2/17/2009)

When the Drake Oil Well in Titusville, Pennsylvania began seeping crude oil 150 years ago, humanity allowed itself to become engulfed in the ecology of oil, according to a Penn State environmental historian. Now in the midst of an energy transition, the US and the world need to keep moving forward toward alternative methods of power generation. ...> Full Article

Financial risk taking: Blame it on the genes (2/16/2009)

A new Northwestern University study provides provocative insights that relate to the question of the day: "How in the world did so many financial titans take such huge risks with out nation's well being?" For the first time, the Northwestern research pinpoints the roles specific variants of the serotonin transporter gene and the dopamine receptor gene play in predicting whether people are more or less likely to take financial risks. ...> Full Article

Research reveals best paths for success as microfinance sector grows (2/15/2009)

As the microfinance sector passes the 150 million customer mark, an intense debate continues over the movement toward greater commercialization of an arena once led by nonprofits. "Microfinance Meets the Market," just published in the new Journal of Economic Perspectives, by Jonathan Morduch of the Financial Access Initiative, housed at NYU Wagner, and Robert Cull and Asli Demirgüç-Kunt of the World Bank, reveals complementary paths to a successful expansion of the microfinance industry. ...> Full Article

New research reveals increasing impact of climate change on investment decisions (2/13/2009)

A survey by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) reveals that three-quarters of 80 global institutional investors factor climate change information into investment decisions and asset allocations. Some investor institutions are now willing to ask companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. ...> Full Article

Basic research critical to America's economic recovery (2/13/2009)

Science Coalition releases examples of local impact of federally funded research ...> Full Article

Public support grows for spending on mass transit and infrastructure (2/12/2009)

Spending on education and health care continue to top the list ...> Full Article

Biofuels can provide viable, sustainable solution to reducing petroleum dependence (2/11/2009)

An in-depth study by Sandia National Laboratories and General Motors Corp. has found that plant and forestry waste and dedicated energy crops could sustainably replace nearly a third of gasoline use by the year 2030. ...> Full Article

Height, style of 'McMansions' are what turn off neighbors (2/7/2009)

A new study provides a first glimpse of exactly what people find offensive about super-sized houses which have sprouted up in neighborhoods around the country. Researchers found that people particularly dislike when these large homes, often derisively called "McMansions," are more than two times as tall as surrounding homes, and when their architectural style is not compatible with the neighboring homes. ...> Full Article

Rich man, poor man: study shows body language can indicate socioeconomic status (2/6/2009)

A new study in Psychological Science reveals that nonverbal cues can give away a person's socioeconomic status (SES). Volunteers whose parents were from upper SES backgrounds displayed more disengagement-related behaviors compared to participants from lower SES backgrounds. In addition, when a separate group of observers were shown 60 second clips of the videos, they were able to correctly guess the participants' SES background, based on their body language. ...> Full Article

Researcher says happy employees are critical for an organization's success (2/5/2009)

When employees have high levels of psychological well-being and job satisfaction, they perform better and are less likely to leave their job -- making happiness a valuable tool for maximizing organizational outcomes. ...> Full Article

Slash in corporate investment creating long-term problems (2/4/2009)

A deep and lingering credit crisis is throttling investment in moneymaking projects that could help jump-start a US economy mired in its worst downturn in decades, a new survey of corporate executives shows. ...> Full Article