Economics

Larry Ellison, one of the world's richest men, is struggling to stay within his $1 billion persona line of credit [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/31/MNG62H06991.DTL&type=printable] . Plus, he burns $20 million a year on personal

> There is only one way to know if a company is paying "too much" (i.e., more than it has to to attract qualified labor) or too little. If there are significantly more job applicants than there are jobs, then the company is overpaying. If it is

Frugal is as frugal does. At $30.00, I might have to get one of these: Kill a Watt [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001EY6P0/thedailyeudem-20]. From an endorsement at Boing Boing [http://www.boingboing.net/2005/12/27/killawatt_electrical.html]: > The Kill-A-Watt

Mildly interesting study: > Barbie, that plastic icon of girlhood fantasy play, is routinely tortured by children, research has found. > The methods of mutilation are varied and creative, ranging from scalping to decapitation, burning, breaking and even microwaving, according to academics from the University of Bath. > The findings

> In the era of the $10-plus movie ticket and $3,000-a- month studio apartment, it was inevitable: A top-notch lawyer is charging $1,000 an hour. > Benjamin Civiletti, who served as attorney general under President Jimmy Carter, is the first lawyer known to reach the

The New York Times points out this morning [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/national/11credit.html?hp&ex=1134363600&en=ab89cbe431f36eb0&ei=5094&partner=homepage] that people who file for bankruptcy are inundated with credit card offers (it's always been this way,

The boorish person who earns a lot of money doesn't become demure. In fact, he becomes more boorish. Likewise, the low class person who wins the lottery stays low class and, it appears, becomes even more low class. NYT Link [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/05/national/

Sebastian Mallaby at WaPo says India and other formerly-third world countries are ready to jump into the automobile market [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/04/AR2005120401094.html] . Can our car makers continue to pay factory workers $30 an hour and executives tens of millions?

The debate about correlation between abortion and crimes continues. This time, in the Wall Street Journal [http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB113314261192407815-R9vuq3EXAQIdQHvUx9yXwYodMXo_20061128.html] : > The "Freakonomics" chapter on abortion grew out of statistical studies Mr. Levitt and a co-author, Yale Law School Prof.