10 Thoughts for September 10, 2014

1. First thing in the morning when I checked my emails, I saw and almost immediately grabbed this Rakuten promotional price of ZyXEL's 2-bay NAS for $80. This deal is good through 9-14-2014.  I've got an external hard drive attached to my network, but my movies on the drive are not backed up anywhere else (because they're so large).  I jumped on it because there are no other 2-bay NAS devices out there, for lower, with decent reviews.
2. PBS NewsHour's Gwen Ifill asked her guest to identify the most innovative thing Apple had introduced today.  I had to laugh.  The guest said that it was Apple Pay.  I laughed twice.  Apple Pay is most definitely not innovative, but it's the most important announcement Apple has made in years.  Androids with NFC can use Google Wallet to pay in-store; the difference is, with Apple Pay, even Android users can cheer for the hope that more retailers will install NFC readers.
3. With all of the hacks these days, I think it's important to highlight the value of Google Wallet.  Let's say that I go to an online or brick and mortar store and buy something with Google Wallet.  The store does not process your payment, Google does.  Google, Apple and Microsoft spend a lot more time paying attention to vulnerabilities and patch them far faster than retailers, even the largest ones.  Bypassing the retailer's processing system is a huge advantage to stopping your info from getting hacked.
4. So what was the last, interesting industrial design coming out of Apple?  The redesigned Mac Pro.  That was earlier this year, and stands as the most impressive work from Apple, since Steve Jobs' death.  I'm not impressed by the Apple Watch or the newest iPhone models.
5. So, are you worried about hacks?  Use this site -- https://survela.com -- to check your accounts.  As usual, I stumbled upon it and checked its web reputation before using it.  As expected, Adobe's leak showed up for me, but nothing else, including credit cards.
6. Just weeks after Iraq gained a new Prime Minister, they've come together to form a coalition government, which stands in contrast to the two years that, under Nouri Al-Maliki, failed to build a coalition.  Interesting that Al-Maliki was the Bush Administration's pick early on in the reconstruction, don't you think?  Perhaps a wiser choice would have completely saved Iraq from the current threats it faces today, and saved the US from $billions wasted.
7. From a macroeconomic standpoint, I think we should take note that raising taxes is difficult when you're still stuck under threat of deflation.  The key is inflation targeting.  If you're below inflation targets, raising taxes will push you towards deflation and the zero lower bound.  We have two prominent cases: France and Japan.
8. Then there's the macroeconomic case of why you shouldn't slash taxes on the rich.  Our favorite poster child: Kansas and the Republican conservative Sam Brownback.  By far, the most interesting race this year is the office of Kansas governor.  In one corner is Sam Brownback whose tax cuts for the rich, has led to a shocking drop in state income and slashed spending with lower-than-average job growth.  In the other corner is a Democrat who has gained support from moderate Republicans who are freaking out at the huge drop in revenue.  Right now, Paul Davis is leading Sam Brownback big.
9. Speaking of races, Monica Wehby continues to trail Jeff Merkley by double digits.  In fact, the only polls to have ever shown Wehby within single digits are all GOP-led pollsters.  Some races are predictable months ahead of election day -- Oregon's gubernatorial and senatorial races fall into this category.  The Koch Brothers could run another 10,000 ads between now and election day and it won't budge the polls by much.
10. On Obama's delay of issuing presidential orders on immigration: It's a huge political gamble.  Let's say that battleground Democrats asked for the delay.  Well, it also lowers Hispanic voter turnout in those states.  It's a double-edged sword.  I think the President should push ahead, let Republicans push back, then push back hard against the Republicans who opposed and blocked immigration reform.  Nonetheless, I found it amusing (in a hypocritical way) that John Boehner complained that President Obama acquiesced to politics on immigration reform when it came to delaying presidential orders, considering that it was John Boehner who complained about the President's expansion of power using presidential orders.