Mind Over Money

Gas prices are falling. Thank goodness! Something happens to my psyche when the number at the pump goes over $50, and I have a fuel efficient car and a short commute. Nationally, we only spend about 6 percent of our income on all energy. That includes transportation costs. In Mississippi, the number is a bit [...]

I’m shocked! The governor just signed a bill to allow beer in Mississippi to increase its alcohol content from 5 percent to 8 percent. Where were all the good Baptists when this was going through the legislature? Were all the temperance women otherwise occupied when the vote was taken? Did the citizens of the dry [...]

Davy Jones died. I know that may not mean much to you, but he was an integral part of my growing up years. It was the Monkees. It was the transition to the 70s, and I was just a kid watching each Saturday morning as that zany foursome sang and schticked their way through a [...]

Mississippi is in the middle of a conversion from a two-party system to a one-party system. Currently, all but one statewide office is occupied by a Republican. The citizens of Mississippi went to the polls, and this was their decision. Democracy in action. Apparently, “all but one” is not enough. Now, the Republican House is [...]

I grew up on the Coast of Mississippi — before the casinos. Ingall’s Shipbuilding anchored the industrial business in that part of the country, but there was little else. Tourism was important to the area, but it was small-time tourism: souvenir shops, sno-cone shacks, and seafood restaurants. The people of the Coast are an eclectic [...]

So, I wondered how much my average or effective tax rate was. All this talk of Gov. Mitt Romney’s millions and his low tax rate of 14 percent made me pull out my tax returns from the last two years. We have a good income, better than most in the state, but we’re not even [...]

The median household income in Mississippi is about $35,000. We’re the lowest in the nation. Thankfully, our cost of living is less than in many states, but, as a whole, we have modest incomes and limited wealth. Making six figures in Mississippi makes you rich. The top public office in our state is that of [...]

Mississippi is a paradox. On the one hand, our history is littered with the horrors of racial strife. On the other hand, we really are the hospitality state, welcoming all kinds to our fair country. We talk bad about illegal immigrants, then invite them in for coffee. We sing about Jesus on Sunday, while we [...]

Sometimes we choose by not choosing. Behavioral economists have long recognized our tendency to avoid making decisions. The more difficult the decision, the more we avoid the question all together. Thaler and Sunstein wrote a book called “Nudge.” In it, they cite all kinds of instances of this tendency to avoid choosing. Of course, the [...]

I love reading letters to the editor from all over the country. A recent local letter was titled “Entitlements making America collapse.” The author said “entitlements is a dirty word,” and reported that 50 percent of Americans are receiving some form of entitlement. He was convinced these were all a bunch of deadbeats. In 1950, [...]