A Lot of Money

Can anybody get their brains around the kind of numbers in President Obama's budget?

an astonishing $1.75 trillion federal deficit that would be nearly four times the highest in history. [and about 12% of GDP, highest since 1945]

the plan would close the deficit to a a more reasonable — but still eye-popping — $533 billion after five years. That would still be higher than last year's record $455 billion deficit. [3/4 of the reduction will come from reduced spending in Afghanistan and Iraq]

And the national debt would more than double by the end of the upcoming decade, raising worries that so much federal borrowing could drive up interest rates and erode the value of the dollar.

Also, to narrow the budget gap, Obama relies on rosier predictions of economic growth — including a 3.2 percent boost in the economy next year — than most private sector economists foresee.

Large Swings in a Small Economy

Singapore's economy is subject to much more volatility than a big economy like the US, where 1% change is huge...

2007 +7.8%
2008 +1.1%
2009 -4.8% (projected)

official data showed the economy grew 1.1 per cent for the whole of last year, significantly lower than the 7.8 per cent recorded in 2007.

OCBC Bank, for one, now believes the Singapore economy will contract 4.8 per cent this year, instead of its previous prediction of a 2.8 per cent decline.

Which Diet to Choose?

The low-calorie one you can stick with...

Two decades after the debate began on which diet is best for weight loss, a conclusion is starting to come into focus. And the winner is . . . not low-carb, not low-fat, not high protein but . . . any diet.

That is, any diet that is low in calories and saturated fats and high in whole grains, fruits and vegetables -- and that an individual can stick with for a lifetime -- is a reasonable choice for people who need to lose weight. That's the conclusion of a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, representing the longest, largest and most rigorous test of several popular diet strategies.

In light of another highly regarded study published last year that reached a similar conclusion, medical experts are embracing the back-to-basics idea that the simple act of cutting calories is most important when it comes to losing weight. The conclusions could finally end the often-contentious debate over the comparative effectiveness of diets that are predominantly low in fat, high in protein, low in carbohydrates or marked by other specific configurations of nutrients.

"This study is saying it doesn't make any difference what diet you choose. Calories have always been the bottom line,"

Magic Water

This story sounds too good to be true. But I think we will see more and more of these kind of inventions displacing traditional chemicals and probably all kinds of products that we now manufacture. The age of molecular engineering is dawning...

It's a kitchen degreaser. It's a window cleaner. It kills athlete's foot. Oh, and you can drink it.

Sounds like the old "Saturday Night Live" gag for Shimmer, the faux floor polish plugged by Gilda Radner. But the elixir is real. It has been approved by U.S. regulators. And it's starting to replace the toxic chemicals Americans use at home and on the job.

The stuff is a simple mixture of table salt and tap water whose ions have been scrambled with an electric current. Researchers have dubbed it electrolyzed water -- hardly as catchy as Mr. Clean. But at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica, some hotel workers are calling it el liquido milagroso -- the miracle liquid.

That's as good a name as any for a substance that scientists say is powerful enough to kill anthrax spores without harming people or the environment.

Classic critique

Here is a hilarious article by the LA Times sarcastic sports columnist TJ Simers. Poking fun at himself through evaluating the Times' coverage of the Academy Awards show.

I don't get it. Why do writers always have to be so negative? Why are they so intent on just tearing things down?

Has Mary McNamara ever worn a top hat, sang and danced in front of millions? Who made her an expert on such things?

Here's Hugh giving it his all, while we have another Times columnist, Patrick Goldstein -- and catch the smirk on this guy's mug in the paper -- beginning his know-it-all column this way: "I guess reinventing the Oscars is harder than it looks."

What kind of cheap shot is that? Let's see him do better.

A slow-growth recession

This is the kind of statement that makes normal people scratch their heads and figure nobody can understand an economist:

In 2008, the economy grew 1.3 percent despite being in recession the full year, according to government data.

I have a degree in economics, and I don't understand what they mean. Didn't a recession used to be defined by contraction instead of expansion?

On the other hand, they expect things to get better pretty soon, which is a lot different than the previous doom and gloom scenarios I have read:

The central bank said it saw the economy recovering in 2010 better than previously expected, at growth between 2.5 percent and 3.3 percent, up from a 2.3-3.2 percent forecast in October.

Growth in 2011 would accelerate to between 3.8 percent and 5.0 percent, significantly higher than 2.8-3.6 percent increase seen in the last forecast.

What the world needs now...

Seth Godin says that people are looking for authenticity. He defines it as doing what you say you will do, not in terms of "being yourself."

I think of that as integrity. But I still think he is absolutely right.

In the end, what you act like is who you really are. All our actions add up to our identity.

You could spend your time wondering if what you say you are is really you. Or you could just act like that all the time. That's good enough, thanks. Save the angst for later.

How Do You Spell Bi-Partisanship?

Apparently, the Obama Administration has not found out yet. Up until now, their efforts seem targeted at getting Republicans to vote for Democratic plans.

Will that failure to woo Republicans to their side lead them to start compromising with the opposition, so that agendas are pushed that satisfy the interest of both parties? Or will they give up and say that they tried being bi-partisan, but the Republicans were not interested?

Not one Republican voted for Mr. Obama’s plan in the House and just three voted for it in the Senate as it headed to final passage on Friday night. The party-line schism, coupled with the withdrawal on Thursday of a Republican senator, Judd Gregg, as a nominee to Mr. Obama’s cabinet, made clear the futility so far of the president’s effort to move Washington toward post-partisanship.

Their unrequited overtures to Republicans over the past several weeks taught Mr. Obama and his aides some hard lessons.

Unfortunately, the reality is...

that as valuable as the symbolism of an economic stimulus package is, someday it will have to be paid for. And we might not actually get much for the money that is spent.

This from a couple of the world's leading economists:

Our own view is that the short-term stimulus from the legislation before Congress will be smaller per dollar spent than is expected by many others because the package tries to combine short-term stimulus with long-term benefits to the economy. Unfortunately, short-term and long-term gains are in considerable conflict with each other. Moreover, it is very hard to spend wisely large sums in short periods of time. Nor can one ever forget that spending is not free, and ultimately it has to be financed by higher taxes.

Signing Day

I am a UCLA Bruins football junkie. Though I live in Singapore, I avidly follow my beloved Bruins (both football and basketball) on internet sites.

This past Wednesday was one of the biggest days of the year for college football fans - National Letter of Intent signing day. My team had their best recruiting results of the past ten years, and I am happy, along with the whole Bruin Nation, who feel we are headed back to where we belong as one the the top programs in the country. Just as Ben Howland has turned around the basketball program to bring in elite talent and challenge for the national championship every year, we feel that Rick Neuheisel will have the football team among the top tier of programs in another year or two.

This article on ESPN gives a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what goes on in the coaches' office on signing day.

Before the defensive end makes his announcement Neuheisel will have another UCLA recruit on the phone, congratulating him for faxing in his paperwork to the Bruins' office: "Way to go, 'A-bomb'! Can't wait to get you here. You and I are gonna have some fun!"

The day is off to a good start. Upstairs the Bruins' fax machine is humming. But the real dicey stuff doesn't begin for another 90 minutes or so, when the first of their announcements is scheduled.