Economy 📍

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Nice lady called about my car warranty. 🤔

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I was like, oh, it’s time already to throw away my car – with so many expensive problems certain to happen shortly! I asked if I just take my old car to the landfill? And do I get to push it over the edge? She’s like no, no, this about your warranty. I’m like but if my warranty is about to expire, I need to get rid of my car at the landfill so I’m not held financially responsible. She is like we can help you with your repairs if you sign up today. No, I’m just concerned with the high cost of landfill tipping fees – my car is nearly 3 tons. Can they recycle cars – I’ve heard they charge less at the landfill for recycling. She hung up.

Doesn’t she understand how our throwaway society works? You buy, you use, you throw away shortly thereafter. Nobody repairs anything anymore. Must not be a Real American.

Map: Charleston State Forest

Why I unplug my microwave when it’s not in use

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It might seem silly but I always unplug my microwave when it’s not in use.

A while back, I plugged my microwave into my Kill-a-Watt meter and found it was using 2 1/2 watts per hour, when the microwave was off to power the clock and controls 24-7. 60 watt hours a day, doesn’t sound like a lot but there are 365 days a year, and that works out to be nearly 22 kW/h a year.

At 15 cents a kilowatt hour, that’s $3.30 a year. Not a real big expense, but every little thing adds up. Not to mention the carbon emissions, the pollution from the extraction of coal, uranium and natural gas to spin the turbines.

Not a lot, but electricity isn’t free and unplugging the microwave isn’t a lot of work.

Planet Money : NPR

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How much will tariffs raise prices? Trump’s economists just revealed their answer : Planet Money : NPR

There are a couple of major assumptions in Trump's math. The biggest assumption involves how much the tariffs would cause prices to go up. Here, the administration makes an eyebrow-raising admission: It guesses that for every 10% hike in tariffs, there will be a 2.5% increase in prices.

Translation: Trump's economists think that about a quarter of his tariffs will be passed onto American consumers in the form of higher prices.