Specifically, the groups want the FTC to require advertisers to alert consumers when tracking cookies and other such files are present on sites, and then let consumers choose whether they are willing to be monitored. “Most consumers have no idea of the extensive system of online data collection and targeted marketing that has evolved,” says Chester. “They need to know that data is being collected about their viewing, that data is being sent back to a computer based on their tastes…there needs to be an opt in.” Some companies that specialize in behavioral advertising are already getting the message.
The complaint says Microsoft (MSFT) and TACODA, the largest behavioral targeting ad network, are among companies that use behavioral targeting without sufficiently alerting Web surfers. A Microsoft representative didn’t return a call seeking comment. TACODA says it plans to be more upfront about targeting practices.
Wisconsin 27th in “Entrepreneur Friendliness”
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council [PDF]:
The Small Business Survival Index ranks the 50 states and District of Columbia according to some of the major government-imposed or government-related costs affecting investment, entrepreneurship, and business.
This eleventh annual Small Business Survival Index ties together 29 major government-imposed or government-related costs impacting small businesses and entrepreneurs across a broad spectrum of industries and types of businesses:
- Personal Income Tax. State personal income tax rates affect individual economic decision-making in important ways. A high personal income tax rate raises the costs of working, saving, investing, and risk taking. Personal income tax rates vary among states, therefore impacting crucial economic decisions and activities. In fact, the personal income tax impacts business far more than generally assumed because roughly 90 percent of businesses file taxes as individuals (e.g., sole proprietorship, partnerships and S-Corps.), and therefore pay personal income taxes rather than
corporate income taxes. Measurement in the Small Business Survival Index: state’s top personal income tax rate.1- Capital Gains Tax. One of the biggest obstacles that start-ups or expanding businesses face is access to capital. State capital gains taxes, therefore, affect the economy by directly impacting the rate of return on investment and entrepreneurship. Indeed, capital gains taxes are direct levies
on risk taking, or the sources of growth in the economy. High capital gains taxes restrict access to capital, and help to restrain or redirect risk taking. Measurement in the Small Business Survival Index: state’s top capital gains tax rate on individuals.2
Honda’s Fuel Cell Car
This car “is not just some far-out, pie-in-the-sky exercise in what may or may not come to fruition some day in the distant future,” said John Mendel, Honda’s senior vice president. “This is a real car.”
Honda has said it will put a fuel-cell vehicle into limited production in 2008. Company insiders say it will closely resemble the FCX Concept. The company hasn’t said how many will be made or how much it will cost to lease the car.
Madison #5 in US in % of “Exurban” Population!
Alan Berube, Audrey Singer, Jill H. Wilson, and William H. Frey of [1.5MB PDF] The Brookings Institution:
- Madison 2000 Census Population: 501,774
- Total Exurban Population: 110,127
- Percentage Exurban: 21.9%
AMT Overhaul on the Way?
The focus on the AMT is hardly surprising, given that victims of the tax have been concentrated in high-cost urban areas such as Washington, New York and San Francisco — places that tend to vote Democratic. Rangel, Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the presumptive House speaker, all represent states hit hard by the AMT, which is sometimes called the “blue-state tax.” To map states with the highest concentrations of AMT taxpayers is to draw bull’s-eyes over California and the Northeastern seaboard.
Third Quarter Real Estate Market Data
Dave Stark [PDF]:
We are currently witnessing a phenomenon that I have not
seen in my nearly 30 years in real estate brokerage. For the first
time in anyone’s memory, we are seeing a noticeable slowdown in sales despite continuing record low interest rates. I’ve experienced many soft markets before; most (1980 – 1982 particularly) were far more severe than this. But all of those were precipitated by rapidly rising interest rates. This one seems to be occurring even though rates have actually fallen (that’s right, fallen) over the past 60 to 90 days by nearly two thirds of a percentage point, remaining near all time lows. At this writing, 30 year rates are around 6.375%. What’s going on?I’ve heard many explanations offered, and many have some validity. For starters, the Federal Reserve has raised short term interest rates steadily over the last two years. This has probably led many consumers to assume that mortgage rates were rising too. They did rise a little, but not much… they’re still within a percentage point or so of their lows. It’s also true, as you see below and on the following pages, that inventories have continued to rise, leading many to assume that the market is “slow,” since they see more for sale signs than they’re used to. Perhaps most importantly, the media has been relentlessly predicting a “bursting real estate bubble” for two years now, and they’ve seized on any evidence of a slowdown to fuel the gloomy predictions. While fears of a bursting bubble are utterly unfounded, especially here (see page 2), we’re hearing that many buyers are afraid to buy, thinking that real estate has become a bad investment on which they’ll lose money. A self fulfilling prophecy if ever there was one. Add in the fact that the fall is normally the slowest time of year anyway, and the market appears just plain tired after a sizzling 5 year run.
Cold Temperatures and the Onset of Winter
Talking with a Texan friend this morning and bemoaning the chilly temperatures on the way he used a great colloquial expression:
“Jim, we don’t have to shovel sunshine here.”
Indeed.
Kinsley on the Dem’s Tax Plans
Democrats call for ending the “Disabled Veterans Tax” and the “Military Families Tax.” The what? There cannot be any such thing as a Disabled Veterans Tax. It is a label dreamed up by people wanting special treatment, like the Republicans’ brilliant “Death Tax” for the estate tax. Maybe they deserve it, maybe they don’t. But why can’t we leave this bullying by terminology to Newt Gingrich?
The problem with tax credits in general is that they never appear in the budget, so they never get the same scrutiny as direct spending, although their impact on the deficit is exactly the same. By definition, they cost more than whatever benefit they are intended to achieve, since no one is going to be induced to spend an extra dollar on, say, dance lessons (because some member of Congress has decided that it would be good for the country if more people knew how to dance) unless the subsidy is worth more than a dollar.
Tax credits are the worst possible tax policy from the standpoint of economic growth. They are distortionary: they cause consumers to divert spending from higher-valued to lower-valued uses. They are a clumsy way to solve externality problems: if you want less of something, tax it. They are not transparent, so people have a very hard time finding out how much the government is spending on, say, dance lessons. And they may actually discourage work.
For almost everyone except rock stars, leisure and work are basically perfect substitutes: a decision to work less is a decision to consume more leisure. The basic intuition of supply-side economics was that if you cut the taxes on people’s labour, they would work more, since to them, the tax cut would essentially be the same as a wage increase. This intuition is simple, easy to grasp, and widely accepted. Unfortunately, it is also wrong.
Interesting Data Mining Article: “I have Nothing to Hide”
But you need to understand the basic principles of data mining to understand why the world of spooks and the world of search engines are about to overlap, and why you should be nervous about this.
The lesson here is one I call “The Sainsbury’s Lesson” when doing presentations for technical audiences, because I was taught this by a data miner who worked for the giant British supermarket of that name.
The story, summarised, is that Sainsbury’s was spending an absurd amount of money sending people promotional coupons, money-off special offers, and other junk mail to encourage them to swing by the Sainsbury’s supermarket next time, rather than Waitrose or Safeway or Asda – and it was pretty hard to be sure it was actually doing any good.
The trouble was simple: they were sending girly shampoo promotions to households with six rugby-playing male students, or home improvement promotions to households with one elderly pensioner with osteoporosis, or bulk beer deals to households where they were all strictly teetotal. Not profitable stuff. And their IT staff heard about this and said: “But you don’t have to do that!”Worry about governments who will make “pre-crime” a reality.
