Tag: statistics

The insurance industry has come under fire previously for using other non-driving-related tools to predict risk – most notably, credit scores. In fact, in 2012, three members of Congress – Reps. Hansen Clarke (D., Mich.), John Conyers Jr. (D., Mich.) and Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.) -proposed the Ban the Use of Credit Scores in Auto Insurance Act.

“There is an urgent need for the federal government to protect consumers from powerful auto insurance companies whose rate-setting policies are immoral, illogical, and unnecessary,” said Rep. Conyers at the time the legislation was proposed. (Like similar proposed bills in several state legislatures, the act didn’t receive the requisite support to make into law.)

http://www.marketwatch.com/sto…

Of course there was no support.  Romney isn’t the only one who doesn’t give a damn about working class folks – you know, the vast majority of the population.

So what is wrong with charging more to higher risk drivers?

The trouble is the lumping of people into boxes that don’t fit.  Kurt Vonnegutt’s hilarious grouping of people with the same birthday points out the problem.  

Another way of looking at it would be higher rates for people with darker skins.  Well why shouldn’t the Obamas and Conyers pay more? 🙂

Women used to be charged more for the identical item of clothing as men when it was bought in the women’s section.  I suspect that got fixed when word got around.

Don’t really know if it was fixed.  Obama and Larry Summers can tell you that women just are no good at financial matters like men are. [Yes, this is snark.  Why do so many nitwits not get that on the internet?]

Best,  Terry

 

Paul Craig Roberts is, in many ways, one of the most interesting political commentators of our time. I’m not going to say he is always right but he is very happy to think outside the box of our traditional political arrangements. He is on the left and the right–he is an example of the sort of thinking we need that will transcend the traditional “liberal/conservative” categories which have become just our version of competing soccer hooligans. My few years of commenting on Daily Kos showed me how vicious so-called liberals are when confronted with ideas that go beyond slogans.

Robert’s latest essay deserves some attention and is available here. What he is saying, essentially, is what he has been saying for some time that our “recovery” is not really a recovery if you factor in real inflation. He makes the point that current government announcements about the economy are similar to government announcement on the wars we undertake, i.e., they are false.

I would go further I don’t believe we are in a long-term depression or recession in the traditional sense–what we are undergoing is a major structural change in our political economy and our society that reflects the current cultural reality.

The single most important thing to understand about the culture we live in is that it is now not based in creating a vibrant economy or even maintaining and expanding an empire. Its focus is on enabling most Americans to live in a world of custom fantasies because, for a variety of reasons, that is what most Americans want. Most Americans do not want to face reality or think beyond their daily tasks that put them in a position to watch reality shoes, sports, pursue various addictions and create their little interesting dramas. Larger-scale interests where we act in common are devalued. The source of meaning for us, increasingly, lies in fantasy role-playing because, without ever realizing it, the plutocrats have cut off our political legs by creating a system of propaganda and mind-control, sometimes using science and often just creative genius, to make people believe that they need product X or need to vote for candidate Y. The ability for the corporate state to control its subject population through capturing, not so much its consent, but its subconscious is what marks our age. Thus we do not question the phony statistics on inflation or unemployment or anything else. Thus we are unable to put two and two together to make four unless some authority says it’s so.  

Paul Craig Roberts: One More Jobs Mirage

No surprise here, just more smoke and mirrors.  

The answer is that there were not 192,000 new jobs.  Statistician John Williams estimates the reported gain was overstated by about 230,000 jobs.  In other words, about 38,000 jobs were lost in February.

I noticed a very interesting thing while doing promotions tonight, namely, the web site statistics for Presidential Candidates.  There is a correlation between current standings in the voting booth and current rankings on the internet.  It is not a perfect correlation but I think it is important enough to mention to the group.

See Hillary vs Barack vs Edwards here  on Alexa.

See Huckabee vs Rudy vs Romney here on Alexa.

Google stats below the fold: