There is no such thing as a free lunch.

So here’s my first somewhat serious blog post. I’ve just finished a great book called The Age of Turbulence, written by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. The first half of the book is essentially a chronological story of his life and career, including his stint as Federal Reserve Chairman from 1987 to 2006. All told he worked for seven presidents in some economic leadership role, and the insight and stories he shares from working in those administrations is absolutely fascinating. The second half of the book is more devoted to his views on economic policy and the challenges that the United States faces as a result of globalization, rising energy and health care costs, and the continued threat of terrorism.

I certainly share Alan Greenspan’s libertarian economic views and his belief that the country needs to maintain as much of a free-market society as possible if we want to look forward to continued economic prosperity. I was definitely reading this book with an eye on the upcoming presidential election. It seems that if we want to put and end to our economic woes we will need to elect the candidate who will do the following:

• Embrace globalization. If we elect a candidate who favors trade barriers or government assistance to protect and U.S. manufacturing jobs lost in the short-term, we will become less competitive in a global market in the long-term, and our economic standing in the world will fade.




• Exercise fiscal restraint. The U.S. federal budget in 2008 was $2.9 trillion. Of this, the mandatory budget items in order were Social Security ($608 billion – 21%), Medicare ($386 billion – 13%), Unemployment/Welfare ($324 billion – 11%), Interest on the National Debt ($261 billion – 9%), and Medicaid + SCHIP ($209 billion – 7%). As for discretionary spending, the Department of Defense leads ($481 billion – 12%). Included partly in this number are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ($190 billion – 7%). The entitlement programs account for 52% of government spending and are set to increase as more baby boomers hit retirement age. Comparatively, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are relatively cheap. Additionally, interest payments on our debt are up to 9%. Hopefully our next president will reign in federal spending and at least try to balance the budget.




• Lay the groundwork for energy sustainability and independence. I think everyone knows that we need to find new sources of energy that are cheap, abundant/renewable, clean, and produced at home so that the cost of energy doesn’t hamper economic growth, so we don’t destroy the planet, and so we can be less involved in the affairs of the ever-unstable Middle East.




• Reduce income disparities. Note that this is NOT equivalent to income redistribution. Greenspan says that there are two reasons why there is a growing wage gap in the U.S. which leads to social unrest and politicians touting populist economic policies. One reason is that skilled workers are overpaid on the high end because there is a shortage of them. We can reduce the shortage by loosening up immigration restrictions to make it easier for engineers, scientists, and doctors to come to work in the U.S. A larger supply of skilled workers will reduce the salaries commanded by those workers (perhaps much to my chagrin!) Additionally we can improve our education system so that we produce more skilled workers. A by-product of an improved education system is economic mobility on the low-end. If we can get more people educated and into high-skilled jobs, then there will be less people working in low-skilled jobs. Consequently, the people left in low-skilled jobs will probably be paid more because of the low supply of those workers.

Not surprisingly, neither Barack Obama or John McCain has released a substantial amount of detail about his economic policy. We’ll have to keep an eye out for more of that information.

Costa Ricans have a saying, “Pura Vida!” which literally means “pure life,” but contextually means something like “full of life.” I think this refers mostly to the touristy things you can do in Costa Rica – relax on beautiful beaches, swim in natural hot springs, explore the rain forest and volcanos, and do some miscellaneous adventure-seeking. Indeed the slogan “Pura Vida!” is also used by the country’s most popular local beer company, Imperial.

I did do a lot of the conventional tourist activities, but since I stayed for a week with a friend and his family who are native Costa Ricans, I got a sense of what it is really like to live in the country. Here are a few notes that I made to myself during the trip:

• Costa Rica is largely the envy of the other Central American countries. They’ve had the longest run of democracy compared to those other countries, so the government and economy is relatively quite stable. They’ve taken great care of their natural environment, so tourism (and especially ecotourism), is booming and their economy has been a major benefactor. One resident told me that Costa Rica is to lower Central America what the United States is to Mexico.




• Since Costa Rica is a small country with a fairly homogeneous population in a historically turbulent area, the residents are a tight-knit group. If you’re a native Costa Rican, it seems that you can talk to a complete stranger like you’ve known him/her for years.




• Globalization is evident and high-tech is already there. IBM, HP, and Intel take advantage of some corporate tax-free zones near the capital city, San José.




• I expected the weather to be quite humid, but it wasn’t at all. I did visit during the rainy season, but during the day it was warm and dry, usually with a nice breeze blowing. It would usually rain in the late afternoon, and then cool down nicely at night.




• Surprisingly (or not), very few people outside of the major tourist areas speak English. If I wasn’t with a friend who spoke fluent Spanish, I would have had a lot of trouble getting around and finding things.

Overall, I had a lot of fun on the trip and it was a great experience to see a different part of the world that I hadn’t seen before. I’d definitely recommend visiting Costa Rica to anyone, whether you’re going to be a conventional tourist or not.

I’m planning on taking some time off and going to beautiful Costa Rica for a vacation.  One thing I plan to do while I’m there is take a canopy tour:

I’m a bit scared of heights, so we’ll see how it goes!  Also I’d like to try out surfing while I’m there.  Check back later for a summary of my trip and some pics.

Ok, so I’m a little late getting on the blogging bandwagon, but I’m here.  So who am I?  Well, I’m about to turn 30 and I’m an Internet addict who’s into such things as social networking, science, sports, politics, and finance – all this seems to make me sound like almost every other dude that’s not surfing the web for porn at 11:30 on a Wednesday night.  I’d like to share my opinions on those subjects, and hopefully the process of writing will help me organize my thoughts and maybe spur some interesting debate somewhere – if anyone else is reading, that is!