About The Site

"But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny" --Mark 12:42

How the actions of this poor widow challenges a slightly irreverant, Linux-using, business school educated Christian. And his money.

Can a Pay Raise Make You Less Happy?

Yes, apparently it can.  Strange, isn’t it?  I’m not talking about employees grumbling about smaller-than-expected annual raises.  Nor am I talking about those who get a sizable raise but still feel shafted.  I’m talking about an honest-to-goodness raise.
Unhappiness from a pay raise is rare.  It only applies to specific work situations.  A pay raise might [...]

Phelps Mints $100 Million Worth of Olympic Gold

Now that Michael Phelps has achieved his Olympic quest of winning eight gold medals, a new quest begins: monetizing his Olympic success.  Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan have transformed themselves from great athletes to global sporting brands.  Phelps seeks to do the same.
Phelps’ agent, Peter Charlise, says that marketing requests have been rolling in daily, [...]

My Place in the World

Earlier this week, I published a blog post detailing my economic discussions with Dr. Hickey, who is both my boss’s boss and a self-described old school hippie.  After I published my last post, Dr. Hickey’s brother, Jeff Hickey, commented on my site.  He kindly pointed out that I left myself off of the diagram and [...]

Even Bleeding Heart Liberals Understand Economics

My boss’ boss is a successful Silicon Valley start-up technologist, a self-described old-school hippie, and an outspoken derider of the free market.  He often complains about large corporations and capitalistic pigs.  We affectionately call him Dr. Hickey.
Last week, it was the football-weekend pricing of a South Bend hotel that prompted Dr. Hickey’s oft-used “greedy corporation” [...]

Praying for Lower Gas Prices… Literally

When I teach Sunday school, I often encourage the children to pray. I would explain that praying is just talking to God. I tell kids that you can pray to God about anything.
Grown-ups seem to have taken this childhood message to heart, especially Rocky Twyman, a community organizer from Maryland. This community organizer [...]