Q: 1.What are the majour economic activity in an economic? 2.What are majour quetion in economy? 3.Explain the term scarcity? 4.Clearly define the terms factor of production/type of resources?

Submitted by Rinsana from Sri Lanka

A: Not going to do your homework, but nice try all the same.

Answered 11/02/11 19:09:13 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: Your knowledge and experience brings me knocking for advice and possible direction in today's scattered career market. I wish to begin by sharing a bit of background information to help cater your response to my potential. As a recent (May '09) college graduate from Chico State, my journey into the real world has been quite an adventure. Having been awarded a BS in business management with an emphasis in entrepreneurialism, I immediately chased my interest to develop a big business concept into a venture. A classmate of mine became a business partner and together we founded Distilled Solutions, LLC (DS). Our goal was to create a modular and sustainable technology for water distillation. As the CBDO, the business development process was a phenomenal learning experience. I enjoy calling it my street MBA. Due to the economy, we ran out of personal funding and could not raise venture capital without furthering R&D to match our envisioned market opportunity. Simultaneously, I worked evenings at an independent gas station/convenient store. Within five months of folding DS, I achieved the position of store manager. Eight months later, I make an hourly rate I could earn with a high school diploma and therefore, have been looking to make a career move. My education, experience and ambition allow limitless opportunity for placement in any industry and company. I am asking you and McClatchy for advice and leads. Thank you, Jacob Mattos

Submitted by Jacob Mattos from Chico, CA

A: Thanks for reaching out to us ... not sure how much help I can be but I will print this so that any reader who may have some ideas can follow up with you ... watch the site I guess. If it is any comfort, there are tons of young folks in the same precarious position as you... it's a period in our economic history that has only been worse in the Great Depression. People seem to forget that when making pithy comments that anyone who wants a job can get one, or that the media should focus on the nine out of 10 that have a job, not the one in 10 that don't have a job. It misses the point that our rate of full employment is thought to be under 5 percent unemployment... so we are in a downturn of historic proportions. In places like Spain, unemplyment is 25 percent, that's in the Great Depression range. we are in tough times and it's going to take a few more years to work through. best of luck.

Answered 11/02/11 19:08:49 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: On any given day losses and wins should equal zero. Do they? Can there be no winners? the euro debt crisis, USA’s credit crunch, Japan’s fall. Where is the money? Goldman was backing the oxymoronic notion of privatizing social security. Did they need more money? Was there a rational? Our exports - cars to junk to smoke and mirrors? Where are the jobs? % of population employed in finance v. manufacturing v. unemployed, disabled, locked up, retired. When did trends break? Why?

Submitted by catie from tucson, AZ

A: Not sure how to answer this, certainly not in a short forum like this. exports are not anything to sneeze at, some of it is farm product, which employs people and helps both the domestic and foreign part of our balance sheet. we also export a great amount of higher value goods, construction and medical equipment etc.. finance as a share of GDP has soared in the past 15 years or so... and that has got a lot of attention since much of it has been proven to be akin to alchemy. as to winners and losers, every day there are winners and losers in the stock market etc but the average folks are played against a stacked field if they're trying to trade against the flash traders who move at speeds of micro seconds, or the market makers. it's certainly not your father's stock market anymore!

Answered 11/02/11 19:04:50 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: Why do commodity prices drop with the fear of a recession? Aren't commodities like gold and silver more valuable in an unstable economy?

Submitted by Cory Klein from Salt Lake City, UT

A: Some do, some don't. Gold and silver are products whose demand is limited, so their attractiveness to investors is more to do with alternate stores of value should the dollar collapse and the world financial system go bonkers. other commodities such as cotton, coffee etc should fall in value when recession looms but that isnt happening so much now because of the so-called index fund investors who split up their investment into a range of commodities and play the futures market as if it were the stock market with a buy and hold strategy. this is thought to create short term losses but they are focused on the longer horizon, betting a global economy will mean a hunger for commodities and rising prices over time.

Answered 11/02/11 19:01:33 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: You do realize that your continued reliance on the Fed loans to BofA immediately following the financial crisis of Sept '08 is made moot by the fact that the bank paid back thoses loans with interest to the US Treasury, or did they?. The more important aspect of all these current shenanigans is the question of why: 1) The financial industry "walls of separation" haven't been proposed in any legislation emanating from Capitol Hill or the White House since 2009, and 2) Not a word about breaking up these many, newly created, financial giants that are obviously structured as "TOO BIG TO FAIL" 3) Why did/have we forgotten that separation of the banks and the brokerage businesses from each other was the most important lesson learned in the post-depression analysis of the 1929 financial calamity???? There are a lot of unanswered questions that are not being surfaced by either the government or the media. Where is all the cutting edge investigative reporting hanging out these days????

Submitted by Walter Andrews from Folsom CA

A: These questions have gotten attention, especially teh breaking up the big banks question. The volcker rule which separates investment banking from investment for clients was just published in draft form ... so i'd politely dispute that there hasnt been anything written, but in an election cycle, with high rates of unemployment and a European crisis threatening to blow up financial order, think some of these more technical questions get pushed to inside pages or secondary coverage. hard reality of everyone trying to keep pace with fewer bodies.

Answered 11/02/11 18:58:25 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: Why on earth is oil still high? Prices haved stayed above $3 a gallon far too long. Is it because of speculation? Or is it because the government has taken its eye off the oil industry for the time being? It would seem to me that during a recession oil would also fall. Thanx guys.

Submitted by Dave Walker from N. Dartmouth,Ma.

A: Great question.... surely it can't be supply and demand as Europe heading into recession, US growth slow and consumers cautious. Oil raced up to $94 last week as prices of everything rose, including the dollar's value against other currencies... which supposedly is supposed to trigger the opposite response.

Answered 11/02/11 18:56:07 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: Keep Your Home Calif. (KYHC) is a U.S. Treasury "Hardest Hit" program to help homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure. We have $2 billion in our State Treasury for this. It is fully staffed and funded, yet families and children continue to be kicked out of their homes because of excessive red and tape and rules that keep just about everyone from this benefit. Our state should be lobbying for revision of the red tape that makes this program the same or worse than the failed "HAMP." The program manager at the California's agency running the show, Mr. Linn Warren, California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) has a major conflict of interest with the loan servicers (banks) he is supposed to oversee. This is because he is both a board member for AES, Inc. (a major property developer that works with banks and is funded by CalHFA) and senior staff at CalHFA running KYHC. This is no different than if he were concurrently a board member of a community bank or non-profit hospital and a hospital or bank investigator or auditor of the same institution. How can this be? I believe that KYHC is not well served by this man. We need an advocate for our citizens. This man should not be allowed to stamp "no" on any more applications for this fund. Who is he to deny anyone State monies? Also, how can he hold banks "feet to the fire" and increase loan servicer participation (a big reason KYHC is failing to help) if he's in a position to develop properties with them thru AES, Inc.? Thank you for considering this matter for your investigative team. Sincerely, Gail

Submitted by Gail Burke from San Clemente, CA

A: tx for your suggestion, passing it along...

Answered 10/19/11 18:06:43 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: How do the programs of the World Bank stimulate developing countries' economies?

Submitted by Judner from jacksonville,fl

A: try the World Bank website, they have plenty of explanatory material for this question and your others. look for their annual reports too

Answered 10/19/11 18:05:32 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: How do circumstances in developing countries affect the economies in wealthier nations?

Submitted by Judner from jacksonville,fl

A: Sounds like homework question to me

Answered 10/19/11 18:04:42 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: Why are the goals of the World Bank closely tied to transforming its clients' societies?

Submitted by Judner from jacksonville,fl

A: Sounds like homework question to me

Answered 10/19/11 18:04:27 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: What improvements to living conditions have been achieved in recent years? What challenges still remain?

Submitted by Judner from jacksonville,fl

A: Sounds like homework question to me

Answered 10/19/11 18:04:20 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: Why report on impoverished critical thinking ability as a college problem? Critical thinking, the basis for being fully human, needs to be the foundation of earliest child upbringing. Treating it and related cognitive functions as a task for 'higher' education reflects and results in perpetuating stultifying class and 'race' privilege, creating ignorant and compliant masses.

Submitted by lizburbank from sea., wa

A: not sure you are looking for a response so posting it as sent

Answered 10/19/11 18:03:55 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: For Kevin and Tony: A response to your response of 9/21 re- tax havens (and Medicare that you included). That problem is much more vast than discussed. In the real world there are some people that run to the Dr for every hang nail. When one has a problem that is difficult to diagnose, it is unimagineable how many hoops one has to jump through in order to learn to treat it; better yet instructed how to change one's lifestyle, as opposed to taking medication. Maybe I'm romantisizing the good old days of the family Dr.?

Submitted by Lola Vestal from Lacey, WA

A: I dont doubt that some folks run to the doctor for every little thing, but for most people it is also a lot more expensive to do so, higher deductibles, more co-pays etc. Even if it is a problem it pales compared to the cost drivers. we know what they are: end of life care, diabetes and heart disease. the three often are interlinked. and when the first lady pushes fitness and healthy eating, both of which really would shave a lot off the system-wide costs, she's ridiculed for meddling in people's lives. we need to take a good look in the mirror and think about how to address those three cost drivers, every thing else is gravy methinks.

Answered 09/29/11 12:08:30 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: McClatchy is the best! Wish more people would make you a source. you have a great product.

Submitted by d from b

A: no argument here

Answered 09/29/11 12:05:29 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: My friend tells me that the 12 members of this "super congress" committee has already been assigned. Apparently I totally missed this on any news source. Can you tell me who the members are, from both Democrats and Republicans and from which States they are represented?

Submitted by Susan A. Ferrell from Melbourne,Fl

A: sorry on the very delayed response, it fell through the cracks. there are a number of stories about members out there and challegnes etc... here was an original CNN piece that briefly profiled the members.... http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/11/news/economy/debt_committee_members/index.htm

Answered 09/21/11 11:19:39 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: I was told because of all the natural disasters around the world the U.S. government is selling off our food reserves. Is this true? If so, I need to get to canning.

Submitted by donnahayden from east greenville, pa

A: First I've heard of it, hard to imagine how it would be true. There are perceived shortages, driven by Wall St, that have raised food prices ... coffee recently, rice a few years back. As for canning, given the risk of tornados, bad weather and the normal threats of natrual disasters, perhaps canning is useful, but not because the govt is running out of food supplies.

Answered 09/21/11 11:18:07 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: Fed said that it will keep rates low till 2013, the expectations for economic growth lowered and USA was downgraded. Which risk the investor will face in context of all these events.

Submitted by Gevorg from Yerevan, Armenia

A: This a very delayed answer, but the downgrade had little to do with the current economic situation and everything to do with the political will to address longer-term structural problems in our budget, namely soaring Medicare costs projected after 2020 ... not in th enext few years. As for investor risk, it's hard to gauge whether today's risks will be tomorrows. for example, inflation is quite tame and the Fed was worried about deflation when it muscled up its balance sheet. Two years from, inflation could be more of a threat, the Fed's expected purchase of longer-term Treasuries could push down rates and lower borrowing costs over time, that's bearish on bonds. it's just impossible to have a clear picture forward, lots of moving parts these days.

Answered 09/21/11 11:15:59 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: Why did you write that your findings are "surprising"? Surely the only people surprised by the relative lack of impact from regulations and taxes are those who - for some odd reason - actually believed ("fell for", is a more accurate) the silly, and self-serving, propaganda that is being promulgated. Thanks, nevertheless, for your good work.

Submitted by Bart Zehren from Evanston, IL

A: Sorry on the delayed response, they were surprising because they flew in the face of the political rhetoric. Not everyone believed the rhetoric, but for those who were unsure, it would be surprising. I actually thought there would be some folks who had some complaint, there was one woman in Mississippi who complained of regulation but then could give no specifics so she was left out. another person referred to an EPA change 20 years ago, but then also said it was the right call to protect the public. but most everyone said the same thing, i need customers.

Answered 09/21/11 11:12:36 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: Why did you not point out to Jerome from Wichita that 300*10^6*80=24*10^9 which is 0.024*10^12. In other words $24 Billion which is 2.4% of $1 Trillion not 24 Trillion and 24*10^9/24*10^12 or 0.1% of $24 Trillion. The sale of the oil would be 17*10^12-24*10^9=16.976*10^12 or $16.976 Trillion short of paying off the national debt.

Submitted by Ken Hall from De Kalb, New York

A: Several comments on a rounding error, not sure if it is directed at me or the original writer, so publishing this for whomever is viewing.

Answered 09/21/11 11:10:26 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh

Q: Regarding your answer to the question from Jerome in Wichita, KS which you answered on 8-11-11: Maybe a better answer would have been: Because selling 300 million barrels of crude oil at $80 per barrel would only produce 24 BILLION dollars, and not 24 TRILLION dollars as stated. Since 24 billion dollars is only 0.024 trillion dollars, it is easy to see why this suggestion would be of little value when confronting a Nation Debt of 17 trillion dollars. To generate 24 trillion dollars, it would be necessary to sell 300 million barrels of oil every day for 1000 days (2.7 years) -- not a viable plan! Actually, the current National Debt (14.2 trillion)could be paid off in ONLY 592 days (1.6 years) at the quantity, rate, and price proposed. Except for engineers and computer geeks who are familar with the difference between a trillion (tera) and a billion (giga), the average person (and apparently some others too) have not yet assimilated that a trillion is 1000 billion.

Submitted by Bernard Hass from Camp Springs, MD

A: Several comments on a rounding error, not sure if it is directed at me or the original writer, so publishing this for whomever is viewing.

Answered 09/21/11 11:10:21 by Kevin Hall and Tony Pugh