Butler on Business Internship
Butler on Business is a business talk show that airs from 10 am to 12 Monday through Friday on Biz 1190 AM and is currently the highest rated talk show in Atlanta. It champions free market economics and entrepreneurship and frequently hosts renowned economists and policy makers. In fact, the professor of my Money and Banking class, Dr. Selgin, was recently interviewed. Here is a brief snippet where they mention me:
It was a short 3 months, but I think I left an impression. From time to time I still send out a tweet from @ButleronBiz and I still keep in touch with the show hosts. I will hopefully return for a week on winter break. I have to say though, I am extremely thankful for the opportunity Alan Butler and Jason Riddle gave me and I certainly got a lot out of it. This was one of the most enjoyable summers I’ve had.
Love Infographics? You’ll LOVE Visual.ly
I got bored studying MGMT, so I made an App!
Have you ever started cleaning out your hard-drive and got this popup? I seem to get it all the time. Maybe its because I have hardly any space left or maybe its because I try to do too much at one time, but either way the item won’t delete until you restart your computer.
For me, this has been a problem for ages. I learned that you can kind of force delete the trash by choosing “Secure empty Trash”, but that doesn’t always work. My app works every time; read on to see how it works and to download it for yourself!
Short thoughs on the Federal Deficit
The other day, my Finance professor gave a fascinating rant about the Federal Deficit. He gave a mini-lecture over the United States’ budget problems. He showed us an alarming pie-chart where it cut up government spending into different sections. He showed us that the government is spending $1.30 for every $1 it receives; this is a major problem because our federal deficit could soon reach 15 TRILLION dollars, an unprecedented high. Also, according to the Wall Street Journal, many major states are startlingly close to bankruptcy and will receive no Federal government bail-out. When one student noted a seemingly glaring hypocrisy, the Federal Government will bail out large private companies but not states, Professor Laplante countered with one of his favorite quips: “Those are just peanuts [compared to what it would take to bail out California].”
Above is a very telling graph of the 2010 federal budget. You can see that the largest expenditures are Social Security, the Department of Defense, Medicare, and Unemployment/Welfare/mandatory spending. You can see that two of the top four expenditures are related to the elderly and otherwise incapable of holding a job. When we are spending thirty percent more than we have, doesn't this seem like a problem? The government has made a promise that it can't hold in the long-run. In the short-run they are acting irrationally.
My professor's awesome and impassioned response to this dilemma will forever remain etched in my memory. When speaking about what politicians will have to do to fix the problem, he noted that the four pieces that represent the largest slices of the pie are what needs to change and that "everything else are peanuts". In the most impassioned voice I have heard in years, Professor Laplante spoke:
"Any politician who wants to blows sunshine up your dress and tell you it can all be done... is a fucking liar."
New Media
I learned today that Rapidweaver 5 has come out! I immediately found it and installed it. I can firmly say that it is a much need upgrade to the application and I am glad I found it. However good it is, Rapidweaver has never seemed $79 good to me.
In more interesting news, my group New Media presentation was chosen to present at a special lunch/honorary event. Our teacher, Dr. Shamp, loved our idea of a sustainability quiz and a point system built into a website. I will be presenting on Saturday, 12/4 at the New Media Institute.
Finally, I would like to thank my beautiful girlfriend for the year of love and support she’s given me. Thank you, baby.