| TravellingProfessor 
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Quitman, AR
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In Malaysia
Registered Apr 22, 2011
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TravellingProfessor's most recent comments:
- On 20 May 2012
in
,
TravellingProfessor said:
That sounds interesting.
I lived and visited many places around the world. My travels are posted on my website at www.ken-szulczyk.com I have been to Thailand.
You have to be careful with Thailand. The cost of living is low, but Thailand usually offers 30-day tourist visas. You need to speak to the consulate for long-term visas. Those Thai women usually do not leave the guys from the West alone.
I found Malaysia cheaper than Thailand. I live in northern Malaysia in the middle of the jungle. I work for a university, and Northern Malaysia is cheaper than Thailand. My rent is $200 per month, utilities, including internet is another $100, and eating out rarely exceeds $3 per person.
My internet connection is not the best, but I call the U.S. frequently using Skype.
If I had a choice, I would live in Kuala Lumpur, Alor Setar, or Georgetown, Malaysia. Those cities are clean and quite nice.
Although Malaysia is a Muslim country, it has a thriving population of Chinese and Indians. Malaysia also offers a program, Malaysia - My Second Home that offers 10-year visas.
The only problem I have here is getting used to Malay time. Malay time is Latin time squared. The Malays are very laid back, and are never in a hurry.
I also keep getting chased by the big male monkey, when I feed crackers and cookies to the baby monkeys that live across the street. - On 11 Mar 2012
in
A question for the math whizzes,
TravellingProfessor said:
Patrick, that is an interesting question. I have been writing some finance programs in Javascript for a class I am teaching. If free time crops up, then I will look at your question.
By the way, the U.S. has never experienced hyperinflation. Using Cagan's definition, hyperinflation is inflation exceeding 50% per month.
Hyperinflation causes many problems, so I restrict myself to five.
(1) Interest rates will also with inflation. If the inflation rate is 600% per year (12*50%), then the interest rates will be slightly higher than this rate. If you have a fixed interest rate loan, then loan balance is reduced to nothing. If you have an adjustable rate loan, then this could be dangerous.
(2) Savers are severely penalized if they keep their savings in that currency. Furthermore, the financial sector would not survive a hyperinflation episode.
(3) People stop using the currency as a medium of exchange. Barter would make a come back. The key is you do not have to buy gold or precious metals. Anything of value becomes a medium of exchange, like bullets, seeds, medicines, cigarettes, bottles of gasoline, etc. Foreign currencies could also become valuable.
(4) Hyperinflation would destroy the U.S. government's budget along with the state's and local governments. (Would people still pay their taxes?) Government will put its survival before its people. I would not be surprised if government would start confiscating the precious metals.
(5) Wages are not likely to keep pace with hyperinflation, so most people will literally be shoved into poverty overnight. The good question would policemen, firemen, soldiers, and medical personnel still report to work? When the Soviet Union collapsed, people still reported to work, even when they were not paid in months. I do not think Americans would do the same.
Vladimir Lenin has a great quote, "The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency." - On 9 Jan 2012
in
Stephen Colbert tears into Obama Over The NDAA Bill,
TravellingProfessor said:
Sorry to rain on your parade, but I serious doubt the U.S. Supreme Court would rule the NDAA unconstitutional and the law could stay on the books for years.
(1) First, someone has to be detained and seek legal consul to challenge the law. However, if a person could be indefinitely detained, would the U.S. government prevent visitation, especially by attorneys.
(2) Second, it takes years for a court case to trickle through the system. Also, the U.S. Supreme Court picks and chooses which court cases to review.
(3) If we look at some of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions and group the decisions as "increase power of the government" or "increase citizens' rights," the Supreme Court tends to rule in favor of the government.
(4) The real sad news is U.S. news tends to be shortsighted with very few details. On some issues, I had to read British newspapers to get a better sense of the issues. (I think U.S. reporters are afraid of the government and they censor themselves).
Unfortunately, the U.S. is moving towards a government controlled economy. It's something we have to go through. Government officials think they have the right, duty, and conviction to control the masses and the economy. Unfortunately, they are wrong.
Remember, the Soviet Union was not created to murder citizens, perform nighttime police raids, and control every aspect of society. The goal of Communism was to create a Utopian, classless society. Workers would become enlightened and be paid the value of their work.
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