#Applied Economics

[subsidystadium]

Applied Economics teaches the Sacramento Kings how to polish a small turd into a large diamond

Today, I saw an unbelievable story. Did everyone see that the NBA’s Sacramento Kings Arena, the Golden 1 Center, was continuing “to stand as a powerhouse contributor to the economic vitality of the Greater Sacramento region metropolitan area”? This report included all sorts of massive numbers that really stunned me. Who knew that the team and arena had contributed in 2022-2023 alone about $665…

[liesmyth]

My Coronabeth Dominant Twin manifesto is simple and it's as follows: there's no way the twins could have planned for Canaan House.

John requesting new Lyctors wasn't something anyone in the Houses would've expected to happen in their lifetimes with any meaningful probability. This means that when the Tridentarii started the double necromancer ruse, they expected to carry on for life. It was an arrangement that benefited Corona vastly more than Ianthe.

What Ianthe got out of it, as far as we know: Corona would rule Ida, which she isn't keen on (as per NtN). But it also meant that Ianthe signed up for a life in her sister's shadow, with everyone regarding Corona as the perfect heir and Ianthe as the lame spare. Worse, for Ianthe, everyone believed Corona was the better flesh magician (as per As Yet Unsent). There's a lot more in for Corona in this arrangement and a lifetime of mild humiliation for Ianthe. As we see during the reveal in GtN, she was just dying to tell anyone that SHE is the necromantic genius of the pair, actually.

On their relationship with Babs: in GtN, Gideon notices that Babs obeys Ianthe's orders over Corona's. She also notices that Corona looks shocked about this — to me, this means that it's NOT something Coronabeth is used to. Pre-Canaan House, they are equals in their ruse. At Canaan House, it becomes obvious that if Ianthe ascends she'll leave Corona in the dust, and their relationship has to change. I don't think the way they act around each other from Canaan House onwards is at all representative of their relationship back on the Third, and I don't think Babs deferring to Ianthe over Corona is something that has happened often before, if at all.

There's the bit where Corona routinely threatened suicide to get her way since they were teenagers. In NtN she's doing it to save Camilla's life, but she reminisces fondly about it like it was something she did often to get her way, like it was a fun mind game they played with each other.

You've also got Ianthe calling Corona a bimbo and insulting her and whatever, and me arguing that Corona pulled the few strings doesn't make Ianthe good but as things stand I'm much more inclined to believe that, before Ianthe attained Lyctorhood, Corona was the one in charge — and I’m also firmly convinced that she’s using BoE for her own ends, and we’ll see her Fuck Shit Up in AtN.

[alexo-lotl]

doing some research on parapsychology as a field. in short, it's the study of how the supernatural relates to psychology, and is largely regarded as pseudoscience with only a handful of people studying it, and very very few universities will even offer a parapsych program.

so… martin, buddy, did you just google 'what degrees do people get for paranormal research' and go with the first one that popped up? you did didn't you. idiot.

[kyouka-supremacy]

Do you think Akutagawa considers the PM as his family, in a similar way to how Chuuya sees the PM?

I don't. I think I've mentioned here and there how whereas Chuuya hosts true loyalty for the pm, and indeed sees it as his family, for Akutagawa it's much more of just a job– a job that suits him, a job that's convenient for him at the moment, but a job nonetheless.

We haven't seen Akutagawa interact with the pm establishment as much as Chuuya to tell exactly– but actually, I find this lack of information plenty meaningful by its own of how Akutagawa doesn't have a particular relationship with the pm or considers the other members as his family (minus the ones that are closest to him, namely Higuchi, who he protected in more than one occasion. I'm not going to count Gin, since they're already family.) And it's very significative to me how when Fukuchi suggested he'd join his organization, not once he said “I already work for the mafia”; it was all about how his master is Dazai already and how Atsushi's life was that important to him, never that his loyalty actually lies somewhere else. I believe Chuuya would have reacted very differently in the same circumstance.

Akutagawa joined the pm because Dazai told him that's where he would have found his reason to live; but I am not under the impression that he ever got overly attached to the place. Even then, I would guess that Akutagawa still believes that staying in the pm is his better chance at finding that reason for his existence. On that note, I find it remarkable how when Dazai left the pm, Akutagawa didn't leave too. It might have been an option: at that point, Akutagawa was so obsessed with Dazai, it would have made sense for him to see no point in staying if Dazai wasn't there anymore. But he didn't, and I think it was for multiple reasons: it was Akutagawa's very rock bottom; I don't think he would have been able to think freely for himself after having been manipulated by Dazai for so long, couldn't come up with such a life-changing decision for himself in the immediate; then staying was just the result of lack of action, something about habit persistence. Another reason is that, again, he still held on a tiny hope that he could find a reason to live there. Lastly, I think maybe he could have felt like the pm was the place for him. Not on an intimate level like Chuuya, but still, a place he could work in and that could work for him. Akutagawa wants to become stronger more than anything else, right? I think he sees in the pm the kind of environment that can offer him constant challenges to prove his strength.

One thing I'd like to point out is that even if Akutagawa doesn't consider the pm his family, a lot of pm members do consider Akutagawa family. Mori's words at the conclusion of the Guild arc (chapter 37) sound almost paternal. Tachihara includes Akutagawa in his pm family flashbacks and calls him “aniki”. Chuuya (as shown by the little interactions they share in bonus content) is often harsh with Akutagawa, but it also feels a lot like how an older brother would try to educate their reckless and stubborn and a little self-destructive sibling: a bit condescending, a bit too stern, misinterpreting the other more often than not, but overall only acting out of genuine care.

And I've said all of this; but if I have to think about not what Akutagawa is like now, but about his future, then I like to believe he will slowly grow a little fonder of his comrades. It takes a lot of time, but Akutagawa is generally doing better, right? He's improving and becoming a better man. Like I said, I think it would reflect a lot in the improvement of his relationship with Higuchi and newfound partnership; but I also headcanon he would start going out with drinks with Chuuya eventually; and the times he nearly stabs Tachihara's foot are almost playful now. He's coming from a very bad place and it took him a long time to climb up again and get comfortable and familiar with his environment; but I like to think he'll get there!

I've elaborated some more on the kind of relationship Akutagawa has with his job here, so check it out if you'd like!

[catenary-chad]

Early uses of electric trains (that may surprise you)

This doesn’t explicitly apply about any canon characters, though you could use it to expand on/reinterpret Electra, the Nationals, or make OCs. I’ve just noticed a lot of people in the Stex fandom, and even just general railfans, that don’t realize that electrification historically has had waaaay more uses than environment friendliness and high speeds. Here are some other things it was used for in the days before global warming was on anyone’s radar and smoke was considered a sign of prosperity (the early-mid 20th century)

TUNNELS- burning things in enclosed spaces is a pretty well known way to get carbon monoxide poisoning. Even open-ended but long, slow-speed tunnels had issues with smoke and exhaust from steam and even diesel engines lingering and blocking vision/suffocating people, leading to gas masks or cab forward engines being used. So these became some of the first places to require electrification. And it wasn’t just subways, you also had underground mines and long tunnels through the mountains like the Cascades Tunnel.

HILLS: Due to electric motors being strongest at low speeds (and steam engines being strongest at full speed) and much better power to weight ratio, electric trains are REALLY good on steep, long inclines, especially if there’s any stopping involved. The Milwaukee Road’s Pacific Extension, the Virginian Railway, and basically the entire country of Switzerland are fun examples of early electric lines on rugged mountainsides where even very large steam engines struggled. On top of that, running downhill with regenerative brakes dramatically axes the amount of total power used. And as an added weird bonus, extreme low temperatures and lower oxygen at high altitudes impaired the performance of combustion engines on parts of the Milwaukee Road but electric engines saw no losses or even outright benefits due to enhanced motor cooling (cooling traction motors is a big deal and why a lot of older electric engines have such loud fans)

ACCELERATION: Electric engines and EMUS especially are great at stopping/starting quickly, making them great for commuter trains with frequent stops. This allows greater train frequency without increasing tracks, and is a major benefit of electrification even today (see Caltrain’s electrification project). Also see the GER Class A55 for how extreme steam engineering had to get to compete at the turn of the century.

SHEER POWER: It’s hard to overstate just how much more powerful individual electric engines can be vs diesel or even steam, not having to carry their own power source allows them to access a lot more. Just take a look at the “most powerful locomotives” wikipedia list, and that one actually leaves off a LOT of mostly older electric engines that would outclass steam/diesel ones included. There are a surprising number of huge early electric engines like the PRR FF1 with a similar tractive effort to later large steam engines (albeit a lot of these were slooow due to the aforementioned trait of motors being strongest at lowest speeds). This is also why high speed trains are almost all electric, their monstrous HP numbers are more to pull moderate loads at 200+ mph.

HYDROELECTRICITY: Using hydroelectric power was a practical and not environmental choice in the early 20th century and where it was readily available (especially where fossil fuels weren’t), electrification became very lucrative. Switzerland is the most extreme example, without much of a domestic supply of coal but a lot of hydropower. The Milwaukee Road and Pennsylvania Railroad also used dams as a major power source

MAINTENANCE AND LABOR COSTS: This was a bigger advantage in the steam era because the gap between them and steam engines in terms of maintenance and availability was so wide, and you can run multiple electric engines with one crew but double/triple heading steam engines requires one for each engine. They’re still competitive if not cheaper than diesel power today, especially on high-frequency routes, and especially when the costs of pollution are included. Electric trains are generally the lowest maintenance and most reliable of all traction, and tend to last longer due to fewer moving parts (50+ year lifespans are not rare). Now it’s more a matter of paying more up front and less on maintenance vs less up front and more on maintenance. The actual wires and infrastructure are a BIG up front cost that’s very hard for private businesses to do alone without government help (just see how many lines got bankrupted by these projects in the US in the early 20th century)

BONUS: this is technically a promo by the company itself, but it’s relatively willing to admit their faults, The Milwaukee Electrification

Goes into a lot of the points made above in a pretty fun and concise package

[thahxa]

ok so when doing some (extremely basic) research for the reply for the pin thing i was looking on alibaba just to see the working conditions/processes of some factories i found this one in guilin which, alongside making DND dice also seems to be doing some more professional stuff on the side, for the US like high school sports metals or whatever, that makes sense

and then i see this

wait. that looks a bit official... zoom in?

isn't that the logo of CBP? and uhhh homeland security??? ok this is weird... maybe it's not real

well, it turns out CSI is like. a real thing, and it does operate in panama, so... well that's weird, maybe its just for a LARP or something? that's really weird to LARP for though... "yes i work for the container security initiative panama port task force", 20 minutes ago i didn't even know the container security initiative was a thing

wait are those police patches???

huh. looks like the DPS of fairfield university, and two from "plainville, CT" which I didn't even know was a real town until now, i would assume these were fake if it weren't for the fact that the first one matches the police car in the twt acct of the first and the last two seem to match real badges of the police department, with the last one being on sale on ebay (for some reason?)

at which point i can only conclude that this factory in guilin which makes DND dice and challenge coins also for some reason sometimes makes shoulder badges for various american police forces

in conclusion:

[rachandruin]

The ongoing disgrace that is people continuing to fuck w H*rry P*tt*r while putting "fuck JKR" and similar things in their tags like that makes the slightest bit of difference whatsoever has taught me a valuable lesson that I think people need to work through themselves:

There is nothing in this world I love so much that I wouldn't drop it like a stone if it emerged that it actively supported and aided fascists.

If something is so important to you that you would sooner indirectly support fascism than give it up, then that is an enormous moral failing on your part and you need to do better.

[adhdo5]

Xiyao at the store JGY doing his impressive best to compare prices without looking like he's comparing prices and LXC thinks this is the most attractive thing he's ever seen

[cherry-rose-sunset]

my grandma dropped lore that her brother (my great uncle i guess??) was a greaser in the 60’s and um that’s literally so fucking cool???

[legitimatesatanspawn]

Random thing that bugs me? When a setting supposedly taking place before the 1500s has sugar-glazed or chocolate chip cookies.

Let's... ignore the chocolate chips for the moment because that's a whole other mess but you have any idea how expensive cane sugar was? "But it could be beet sugar-" discovered in the mid 1700s and factory made in the 1800s for a cheaper alternative!

In short, I know it's not intentional or even implied but I can only imagine how rich af Rosas is if random teenagers who may not even work in the castle are allowed to gobble up a whole batch of lemon sugar cookies specifically said to be made for royalty. It's kind of like making edible gold leaf sundaes and then just shrugging your shoulders when your friends flock to the table.

...also the fact that they're apparently lemon cookies is weird since lemons were widely considered ornamental/medicinal plants until around 1500. At least what I could find of Middle Ages Europe specifically. And not like... ginger tea or something like to settle stomachs or cure headaches that but in the sense of inducing vomiting to purge toxins kind of medicinal plant.

I know this is applying Modern Era standards to Past Era settings but I'm completely blaming Disney wizards and magical beings like Merlin and Genie for anachronisms like this.

(I'm also working under the assumption that Wish is set in the 1400s since it's supposed to be before Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, but it could be older for all I know.)

[rustyrailways]

Everyday I wish they explored the class/house system in Piltover further so we could see just how vast the differences in economic status and quality of life exists in the city. We know there is a house system at the very least, but to what extent does it effect things?

[anime-academia]

Consequently, she finds the binaries of Western/Third World and North/South misleading in the current political arrangement of the globe and, after Gustavo Esteva and Madhu Sun Prakash (1998), prefers to use ‘One-Third World/Two-Thirds World’. The latter term highlights the inequalities of wealth not just between nation states, but also the internal conflicts and power-dynamics of a country within the global North/South. (S. Arora 2020: 16 - "Walk" in India and South Africa: Notes Towards A Decolonial and Transnational Feminist Politics. SATJ, 33:1)

[fincrif]

Can Economic Uncertainty Impact Your Loan Approval Chances?

Economic uncertainty affects everything from employment stability to interest rates, and if you’re considering applying for a personal loan, you might wonder how it impacts your chances of approval. During uncertain times, lenders reassess risks, tighten approval criteria, and adjust loan terms to minimize potential losses. Understanding these changes can help you improve your loan eligibility and secure the best possible terms.

How Economic Uncertainty Affects Personal Loan Approvals

When the economy is unstable, financial institutions adopt more cautious lending practices. Here’s how economic uncertainty influences personal loan approvals:

1. Stricter Lending Criteria

During economic downturns or market volatility, lenders tighten their requirements to reduce the risk of loan defaults. Borrowers may need to meet higher credit score thresholds, show stronger financial stability, or provide additional documentation.

2. Higher Interest Rates

To offset the risks associated with lending during economic uncertainty, financial institutions may increase personal loan interest rates. A higher rate means increased borrowing costs, making it crucial to compare lenders before applying.

3. Reduced Loan Amounts

Lenders may limit the amount they are willing to offer borrowers due to potential financial instability. This means applicants may receive lower loan approvals than they would in a strong economic climate.

4. Longer Approval Times

With increased scrutiny, lenders take longer to process and approve personal loan applications. They conduct more thorough background checks, verify income stability, and assess repayment capacity before approving loans.

Key Factors That Influence Loan Approval During Economic Uncertainty

Even in uncertain economic conditions, some factors can improve your chances of securing a personal loan. Here’s what lenders look for:

1. Credit Score and History

Your credit score remains one of the most critical factors in loan approval. A higher credit score can increase your chances of securing a personal loan at a lower interest rate. Maintain a strong credit profile by:

Paying bills on time

Reducing outstanding debt

Avoiding multiple loan applications within a short period

2. Stable Income and Employment

Lenders assess your income stability to determine whether you can afford to repay the loan. If your job is secure, you have a higher chance of getting approved. If you’re self-employed, providing proof of consistent income can strengthen your application.

3. Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI)

Your debt-to-income ratio compares your total monthly debt payments to your income. A lower DTI signals to lenders that you have enough financial flexibility to handle additional debt. Ideally, lenders prefer a DTI below 40%.

4. Collateral or Secured Loans

If you’re struggling to get approval for an unsecured personal loan, offering collateral (such as a car or savings account) can increase your chances. Secured loans reduce the lender’s risk, making them more likely to approve your application.

Strategies to Improve Loan Approval Chances During Economic Uncertainty

If you need a personal loan during uncertain economic conditions, follow these strategies to increase your likelihood of approval:

1. Improve Your Credit Score Before Applying

Take steps to boost your credit score by:

Paying down credit card balances

Avoiding late payments

Checking your credit report for errors and disputing inaccuracies

2. Consider a Co-Signer

A co-signer with a strong credit history can improve your chances of approval. If you have a lower credit score or unstable income, a co-signer provides additional security to lenders.

3. Opt for a Fixed-Rate Loan

With fluctuating interest rates, a fixed-rate personal loan ensures your monthly payments remain consistent, making budgeting easier.

4. Apply for a Loan You Can Comfortably Repay

Borrow only what you need and ensure the loan terms align with your budget. Overborrowing can lead to financial strain, especially if the economic situation worsens.

5. Compare Multiple Lenders

Different financial institutions have varying approval criteria. Comparing multiple lenders can help you find the best terms, lowest interest rates, and most flexible repayment options.

The Role of Government Policies in Loan Approvals

During economic uncertainty, governments may introduce financial relief programs, interest rate adjustments, or stimulus packages that affect personal loan approvals. Some government measures include:

Lowered interest rates to encourage borrowing

Loan forbearance programs to assist struggling borrowers

Credit guarantee schemes to support lenders and borrowers

Understanding these policies can help you make strategic borrowing decisions and take advantage of any financial support available.

Conclusion

Economic uncertainty can impact personal loan approvals, but with the right approach, you can still secure financing. By maintaining a strong credit score, ensuring income stability, and choosing the right lender, you can improve your chances of approval even during uncertain times.

If you’re considering a personal loan, be strategic, borrow wisely, and stay informed about economic trends to make the best financial decisions. Always compare loan options, negotiate terms where possible, and ensure that your repayment plan fits your long-term financial goals.

[starbuck]

HATE when i’m taking a class that i KNOW would be a piece of cake for people who are fans of objective definitions with no exceptions and unexamined moral outrage…

[multimousenette]

Conservative leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch has faced criticism after a report she endorsed suggested people with autism get “economic advantages and protections” and “better treatment or equipment at school”.

Genuinely evil woman

[heehoee]

abhi-abhi dhang se finals ka syllabus dekha maine 🤡