Interesting despite being a bit over-the-top with stereotyping, this delves into the German economy’s state and influence in the Eurozone.
A Year in the Life of Dow Jones
When the Dow plunged yesterday I was flipping through cable news and couldn’t find anyone, anywhere who would contextualize what the numbers meant.
Yes, 630 plus points (or about 5.5%) were lost from the day before but how did that compare to the year? For that matter, where were we last August?
Enter data gleaned from Wolfram|Alpha. Above is the monthly low, mean and high of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from August 2010 to yesterday.
For those wondering, here’s a flashback of past August lows:
- August 2011: 10810
- August 2010: 9986
- August 2009: 9135
- August 2008: 11284
- August 2007: 12846
- August 2006: 11076
- August 2005: 10397
Now watch as we jump back in time a bit:
- August 1995: 4581
- August 1985: 1313
- August 1975: 791
- August 1925: 125
And all that because the cable wouldn’t tell me that one little thing I wanted to know.
1 in 7 Congressional chiefs of staff has previously worked as a lobbyist. That and other fun facts in this Mother Jones graphic based on data compiled by Remapping Debate.
slow going - how the current recovery measures up
Interesting to see how the current ‘recovery’ from recession compares.
Mmechanic sez, “Andrew Marantz wondered how BPOs [ed: Business Process Outsourcing, AKA call centers] train Indians who have never even known a Westerner to sound and act like one. Since the call centers wouldn’t let a journalist in to their culture-training sessions, Marantz decided to become a trainee himself. The resulting article from Mother Jones magazine is alternatively funny, sad, and thought-provoking.”
