Category Archives: Economics

A Suspicion about Bubbles & Inequality

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Richard Heyduck

When I’ve read about retirement planning I’ve often seen references to savings earning a return averaging 8% a year (just recently I’ve seen the 6% figure used). That’s been tougher to find lately, as “safe” investments (federally insured accounts) are … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Economics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Devaluation

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

Reading this post from Tyler Cowen reminds me of one of my perceptions of our current economic crisis: Whether deflation is happening in the US or not, we are facing an major societal pressure toward devaluing. 1. We see increased … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Economics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Great Devaluation?

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

I could be all wrong, but… We’ve been raised to call that socio-economic event of the 1930s the “Great Depression.” So what do we call our recent (current) socio-economic event? It’s clearly not been as bad as the “Great Depression.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumerism, Culture, Economics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Capitalism and Epistemology

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Richard Heyduck

Inasmuch as markets exist to provide knowledge (what I/we should do with regard to the resources at our disposal or over which we have influence) modern capitalism is a reductionism parallel to centrality of epistemology in modern philosophy (the requirement … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Economics, Epistemology, Philosophy | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Real estate & the economy

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Richard Heyduck

Feel free to take the comments below with a grain of salt. I am not in the real estate business. I have never owned real estate. I have never studied real estate, and have had only one course in economics. … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumerism, Economics | Leave a comment

Corporate Social Responsibility

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Richard Heyduck

Apparently President Obama recently made some comments about corporate social responsibility. “Businesses have a responsibility, too,” said Obama in his weekly address on Saturday. “If we make America the best place to do business, businesses should make their mark in … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Economics | 3 Comments

More on Generosity

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Richard Heyduck

Ran across this from Seth Godin’s new (free, online) book: When the economy tanks, it’s natural to think of yourself first. You have a family to feed a mortgage to pay. Getting more appears to be the order of business. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Generosity, Immanuel Kant, Seth Godin | Leave a comment

Generosity

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Richard Heyduck

Our congregation has faced more financial challenges this year than we have in several years. While finishing our apportionments (the money United Methodist churches send to the general church for ministry beyond our own locale) was fairly easy for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Local church | 2 Comments

Clunkers

Posted on August 1, 2009 by Richard Heyduck

My cars don’t quite count as clunkers. Sure, all of them have over 100k miles. Sure, the newest of them is a 2000. Sure, the car I drive doesn’t get great mileage. But none of them are listed as clunkers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Economics | 1 Comment

Cult of Accountability

Posted on April 3, 2009 by Richard Heyduck

In his essay on the epistemological problems underlying the current economic crisis, Jerry Z. Miller refers to the “cult of accountability:” The cult of “accountability” was linked to key innovations that turned out to have unanticipated undersides. One was the … Continue reading →

Posted in church growth, Economics, Epistemology, Texas Annual Conference | Leave a comment