Posted on 05/09/2014 8:48:55 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Here’s a frightening fact via The Atlantic’s Moises Naim. Roughly half of the world can’t answer these three questions correctly:
1. Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2 percent per year. After five years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow? A) more than $102; B) exactly $102; C) less than $102; D) do not know; refuse to answer.
2. Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account is 1 percent per year and inflation is 2 percent per year. After one year, would you be able to buy A) more than, B) exactly the same as, or C) less than today with the money in this account?; D) do not know; refuse to answer.
3. Do you think that the following statement is true or false? “Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.” A) true; B) false; C) do not know; refuse to answer.
Even worse – 70% of Americans can’t answer all three questions correctly. And we wonder why the world seems to have so many persistent financial problems. We don’t even come close to understanding the construct of money or how it should be used.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
This is a good exercise to show someone who asks why can’t you divide by zero?
Because if you allow it you can “prove” that 1=2.
1. – C) Less than $102
Since all money belongs to the Gov’t, whatever you think you had in the first place is irrelevant.
2. – A) More than
Inflation means the Gov’t prints more money & gets in more debt, and if you do the same you’ll be able to “afford” anything you want
3. – C) Do not know
It depends on the type of company invested in; if it’s a Government-owned entity like GM or a favored Crony Capitalist, just put your money there & don’t worry about it…
Dr. science can and does divide by zero (it’s very dangerous though).
“Dear Dr. Science: Why can’t you divide by zero?”
“I don’t know about you, but I can and often do divide by zero... but only after I’ve taken the proper precautions. First of all, I fast for 48 hours, consuming only mildly fluoridated water during that time. Next I don a special Mylar/Teflon suit and put on a digitally recorded CD of Gregorian chants.”
“I begin by dividing very small numbers by other very small numbers. As the numbers get smaller and smaller, the sparks begin to fly. If all goes well, I take a deep breath and divide a very small number by zero.”
“There’s a flash of light, a muffled roar....and when I come to, the lab is filled with smoke and the scent of burning Mylar. So you see, you can divide by zero if you really want to. But chances are, you just don’t want to badly enough!”
Most people under 50 do not save money, no incentive since interest rates are less than 1% on savings. Most people do not pay any income tax or less than 5%, therefore they do not have their eye on finance. Our country is doomed.
Are you trying to confuse people with facts?
Depends on what the meaning of the word “live” is. Of course if this question is asked of liberals, they would say if anyone has a million dollars, they don’t deserve any interest.
No...it’s a real problem. (no pun intended)
http://collegeinsurrection.com/2013/12/common-core-calculates-completely-unsolvable-math-problem/
Few of our economic policy makers know it either.
We have an interesting (and very poorly thought out) law in Kentucky. It was passed with the supposed goal of limiting future tax increases. In practice it has done just the opposite. And our local taxing authorities love it and use it to its fullest.
How it works:
Taxing authorities, county, city, library board are allowed to set tax rates to raise up to a maximum of 4% more total revenue than was taken in the previous year. This is key. There is NO limit on the actual RATE of taxation, just that no more than a 4% increase in total revenue can be done (without a public hearing; to go over 4% they have to hold public hearing and they hate doing that).
Now our local government(s) as well as our idiot local leftest rag can’t understand that rates and revenue are not the same thing. IMO it’s 6th grade math in my youth.
Here is a typical example of how they are raping us and smiling the whole time, and most of the people are too damn stupid to get it.
Our county library board (appointed, not elected) can unilaterally set rates on our property taxes. A few years ago as the economy slowed and revenue dried up because so many were out of work, this board set a tax rate that increased revenue by 4.1% from the previous year. BUT, in order to get that 4.1% more revenue they had to increase our property tax millage rate by 25%. Fewer cash cows (taxpayers) in the county.
The local rag trumpeted headlines praising the board for only “raising rates” by 4.1%. I had a long conversation with the woman who ran the board (typical “it’s for the children” lib) and she insisted over and over that it was a 4.1% *rate* hike, that I was just interpreting it wrong. Keep in mind that 4.1% required a public hearing. So I told her I would be at that meeting to explain the real rate hike and that I would hold her accountable to the math in a very public way.
I next wrote a letter to the local liberal rag, which surprisingly published it. I showed the math whereas a millage rate increase from 5.6 to 7.0 was a NET increase of 25% in the RATE and that we would be paying 25% more in taxes. I stated that anyone that couldn’t understand that needed to go back to the 6th grade.
Quietly and suddenly, the board had a private meeting and dropped the revenue increase to 3.9% which meant that they could cancel the public hearing. Consequently, our taxes only went up 22% that year!
Because the average numbnuts American can’t do math, we in KY keep getting these outrageous tax increases while being told that they are less than 4%. When I talked to the legislator (republican) that was instrumental in the passage of that law, he did not understand or care what the hell I was talking about.
I can’t disagree with your reasoning.
To depress you even further, read my post #69. Even the people that make the laws don’t understand simple percentages.
This assumes that Juanita won't have any stickers for herself. It might make her friends feel bad if she didn't also get stickers, so she might consider doing the process using the LCM of 4,6, and the number of friends plus 1.
Nobody with knowledge of variables, set theory, and scalar multiplication should have any trouble with that problem....if they can take a half-hour walk while pondering it. I would also like to point out that in order to get full credit for a correct solution the test taker should include a chart or diagram which illustrates the process.
0-bama.
“What could go wrong if you divide 0 by 0?”
Exactly. I can show you mutual funds that are going to perform poorly, and can show you individual stocks that have an excellent track record. It's a loaded question.
But that wasn’t you voluntarily going somewhere to take a survey, that was forced on you.
E) Raise Taxes.
F) No one should have $100
G) Children and minorities hardest hit.
While, like many other FReeper responders, I do not like question #3 for being too simplistic, I would like to include #s 1 & 2 as a voting qualification (grin)!
As for #3, how about this rewording for the same sensibility?
3) Purchasing a Mutual Fund instead of a single company stock results in; a) More risk, b) Same risk, c) Less risk, d) Duhh
The third equation is 0 = 0.
You have to factor this in,too....while you are saving for that car, allowing for inflation,when you think you have enough saved.......it is not a $25000 car at that point. Also,the manufacturer may have discontinued that model & you wouldn’t want the new one,which by then is probably a downsized piece of crap.
Yep. Sold house now rent, there is little reason that I see to be a cash cow for a bunch of pols that need a little extra green to hire more fat, stupid nieces. In the small town in Ky where I live I noticed at one in the morning the Christmas lights were still on and so called the mayor’s office. Got a hold of his female assistant and asked why in early March the Christmas lights were still on? She said it drew business to the downtown. I said the businesses downtown are closed after 9 in the evening and why were timers not set up to shut them off at 9. She said I would have to ask the city engineer why, trying to get rid of me. I then said what is our cut of the extra business being generated for the downtown businesses because of the lights? She did not understand. I explained that the lights were paid for by our tax money and we should share in the extra profits they generated for the local businesses, at the very least to the extent of our cost. She got off of the phone hurriedly but by midmorning all the lights were off downtown except for two, which I hope the benefiting businesses were paying for. I explained to her that I was just an ignorant redneck from E.Ky and we may leave our lights hanging on our trailers year around but we were smart enough to cut em off after the New Year. For some reason they no longer take my calls to the mayor’s office, can’t imagine why.
Don’t touch my social security!
//sarcasm
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