October
2008
Episode 63 of Upon Further Review!
We’re back with your antidote to terrible economic news and uncertainty about the state of the world–with a healthy dose of opinions and entertainment in Episode 63 of Upon Further Review! In this episode we thank our loyal listeners and welcome a, er, “guest star” before moving on to the meat of the show: first, we buy low (or is it sell high?) in our review of the stock market; second, we create a universe (well, basically) as we look at the video game Spore; and finally, we go to the movies with our review of the Scene Unseen podcast. As always, we appreciate your feedback and suggestions, and as always, we ask that you spread the word about the show! (As usual, podsafe intro music is provided by Sharif (”You’re My Girl”), outro by David Henderson (”We Gotta Go”).)
Reviewed in this show:
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Buying stock is a loan to a company. By making the investment, companies have the ability to develop products faster. The likelihood is that for every investment that works out a greater number of investments fail. Investors take this into account when determining which companies and products to invest in. (In my old job they had an entire floor that was devoted just to exploring new ideas – kind of like Google labs – in my 3 years with that company products over 10 projects failed and only 1 was able to move on.)
This is true not only for technologies like cell phones, but also for drug companies.
I do think there’s a lot to be said about the greed of corporations and traders, but the essential services of the stock exchange shouldn’t be thrown away wholesale.
Wow! What a comeback!
thanks for reviewing my suggestion, and sounds like you enjoyed it a little. i agree that it’s a hit-and-miss cast, but worth a look among the sea of conversational podcasts floating out there.
i think you have some great points, DI, about not throwing out the baby… G&C, your points about the lack of checks and balances (well, you said ‘regulations’, but tomato/tomato…) is also on the money. someone wasn’t minding the store, which happens all too often in our country, and we all end up paying the price. fortunately, i had a little career hiccup (or is it hiccough?) earlier this year and took my whole 401K out and put it in a money market savings acct. i bet that even after all the extra tax penalties, i still probably didn’t lose as much as if i had left it in the market. still, calculated financial risk — that is, the loan market — if handled responsibly, is what fuels progress, like DI says. it just needs to have the right checks and balances in place, activated and enforced to keep it from getting out of control. that might never mix with our American sense of entitlement and desire, but maybe someday some administration will be able to start it going in the right direction… great topic!
your descriptions of ‘spore’, and clea’s recollection of ultima, remind me of that great fad of the 90’s: the tomagotchi. kind of interesting but maybe plays itself out. does seem like an advance in gaming, though. i was never a big fan of the sims b/c it was too stressful. i mean, if i’m worrying about taking out the trash, cleaning the dishes and maintaining the house and social relationships, am i really enjoying a game? spore makes the sim concept a little more intriguing.
and, well, i see how the ‘deprivation’ modifier could have thrown the topic of sleep off the radar, but you could always review sleep, itself, couldn’t you? i’m sure there are lots of pros and cons, and there’s even research to show that too much or too little sleep has various impact on your body… maybe it’s worth a second look?
great to hear you three again! and thanks, again, for taking my suggestion. looking forward to 64!!!
– chris
DI: Good to hear from you again! And you make an excellent point: Greg acknowledges that the stock market probably has value, though he does continue to be concerned about the obsession much of America seems to have with it.
Chris: Thanks as always for the kind words, and reviewing sleep, eh? I think Clea will be particularly interested in that topic, as soon as she wakes up from her nap with the baby. :)
Thanks as always for the feedback!
T.R.
I would give sleep a ten… in fact I’d like more of it.
Good show as usual, guys.
AJ
Hey, welcome back, AJ! Glad you’re still in the fold. We’ll have a new show out soon, assuming we’ve gotten sleep by then. ;)
T.R.