The reason why people are struggling with one tag may also be exactly because it’s only one tag.
It’s difficult to categorize gray as black or white, after all.
Imo, the real issue is how not to go overboard, adding more and more tags, and keeping things easy to filter.
Finance management major here, I’d argue that governments aren’t inherently inefficient.
On a local level, government organisations are essentially the same as non-profits. The only difference is in who they are accountable to. Even KPI are pretty much the same.
The inefficiency of a government in contrast to the free market is in its inability to adjust to people’s needs quickly on a global scale. Imagine a company that has to sell a little bit of everything and then some. What kind of resource does it need to have to fully satisfy the demand? It’s practically impossible to make a vertically integrated system that would do this amount of research, let alone organize all the production and supply chains. It doesn’t matter if it’s a government or an entity. They all will drown in beurocracy, except the government is usually stricter as they tend to play it safe.
Hence, it’s really a non-issue if a government takes control over parts of the market. And because they can’t facilitate it all, they take over socially significant parts of it, like municipality governance, military, and healthcare.
Also, you (the person reading, not the person I’m responding to) should never be mistaken in thinking that the free market is perfectly efficient. It isn’t. Creating points of inefficiency drives a lot of revenue. Think purposefully limiting demand to drive prices up. This is what’s happening with insulin in the US, for example. If you have perfectly inelastic demands, you can make your product infinitely expensive.
The real question isn’t if it will or not, but by how much. If I were to guess, not a whole lot.
You could probably find some research done on this topic already.
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Price policy is a whole different topic. Only monopolies can afford to increase them just because they’re not meeting the expected quota.
Don’t know about “retaliatory measure”, it’s hard to imagine companies uniting like that over it. Usually, they just play by the rules, and those could be the new rules (strong emphasis on “usually”). In fact, if the management is competent, it’s likely that they have already accounted for it, just in case, after the news dropped.
Let’s assess the effects this change could cause on real numbers.
Note: This is a duplicate of a part of a comment I’ve written here above as a response, but I don’t want it to be buried. Hope that’s fine
I’ll take Nutrien’s 2023 audited financial statement as an example. (Numbers in brackets are what’s deducted to get what’s not in brackets)
Out of cost of goods sold (2858) is cost of labour, let’s also add (626) from general administrative expenses, and just say it’s all wages.
Let’s see what happens to our efficiency if the changes take effect.
All of costs can be divided into Fixed and Variable ones. Labour, in this case, is Variable because we can manipulate it by employing more staff to compensate for reduction in working hours and keep the sales at the same rate. (Contract workers are usually Fixed Cost, but it’s all relative, as no Fixed Cost is ever truly fixed.)
Going from 40 => 32, we have a 20% reduction in working hours. Mind you, this doesn’t mean there will be a 20% hit to productivity. It may be more, it may be less (most likely less), for simplicity let’s say it’s 20%. So, we need 20% more workers to compensate. (2858+626)*120%=4180.8
So, our net profit margin went from 1282/29056 = 4.4% to 2.8%. Looks bad at first glance, but it’s also a bad year. A year prior net profit margin was at whopping 20.3%, so a decrease from 4.4% to 2.8% would be nothing in comparison.
Will it result in increased prices? Yes, but it will also lead to economic growth, because more free time = people spend more money = companies earn more = companies grow faster, but so does inflation. If they can manage the inflation, I don’t see why this couldn’t be possible.
Edit: you said “but nobody’s explaining the economics to me”, here you go, here’s the basics of corporate financial management with real numbers and a tiny bit of macroeconomics at the end.
Wait, I don’t get it. You’re saying if you pay a worker 1000$ a week and get revenue of 1100$, then you have a profit margin of 10%. But that’s NOT profit margin (at least not the one one would use for analysis). Not to mention that those numbers are unrealistic because you’d be working at a loss for a very long time, almost guarantee.
You can’t just pull numbers like that and say, “unprofitable!”. Of course it isn’t. You made it that way.
Besides, you’re ignoring the rest of the expenses that often outweigh the payroll fund.
Back to what you called “profit margin,” I’d call it “Return on Payroll Fund.” It’s weird, I don’t like it, it ignores all of the other costs that go into creating a product, don’t use it. In financial management, we use RoS, which is EBIT/Revenue. That’s probably what you were thinking of. Another name for it would be “operating profit margin,” likewise net profit margin would account for ALL of the expenses and not just operating ones.
Now, let’s look at real numbers. I’ll take Nutrien’s 2023 audited financial statement as an example. (Numbers in brackets are what’s deducted to get what’s not in brackets) Sales - 29056 Freight, transportation, distribution - (974) Cost of goods sold - (19608) EBIT - 8474 EBT - 1952 Taxes - (670) Net earning - 1282
Out of cost of goods sold (2858) is cost of labour, let’s also add (626) from general administrative expenses, and just say it’s all wages.
Effective tax rate - 670/1952*100% = 34,3% (wow, that’s a lot for where I live, also ignoring mining tax for simplicity)
Let’s see what happens to our efficiency once the changes take effect.
All of costs can be divided into Fixed and Variable ones. Labour, in this case, is Variable because we can manipulate it by employing more staff to compensate for reduction in working hours and keep the sales at the same rate. (Contract workers are usually Fixed Cost, but it’s all relative, as no Fixed Cost is ever truly fixed.)
Going from 40 => 32, we have a 20% reduction in working hours. Mind you, this doesn’t mean there will be a 20% hit in productivity. It may be more, it may be less (most likely less), for simplicity let’s say it’s 20%. So, we need 20% more workers to compensate. (2858+626)*120%=4180.8
New EBT = 1952 + 2858 + 626 - 4180.8 = 1255.2 New net profit = 1255.2*(1-34.3%) = 824.7. Mind you, the effective tax rate will probably be lower if employment affects deductibles.
So, our net profit margin went from 1282/29056 = 4.4% to 2.8%. Looks bad at first glance, but it’s also a bad year. A year prior net profit margin was at whopping 20,3%, so a decrease from 4.4% to 2.8% would be nothing in comparison.
Will it result in increased prices? Yes, but it will also lead to economic growth, because more free time = people spend more money = companies earn more = companies grow faster, but so does inflation.
I was interested in VR for a very long time. Recently, I got to actually try it out.
I primarily view Apple Vision Pro as a proof of concept type of device. Sales being limited both in quantity and territorially indicate that. It has brought 3 major improvements to the table, compared to other headsets:
When you think about it, however, it’s not that much to make it an obvious choice over other devices.
Passthough is needed for navigating through space. It does not help with productivity as your vision would be focused on the interface and not the environment. Remember warping on Quest 3? Much less noticeable than on videos for the exact same reason.
There is no buts with the user interface and display. They are simply great, best that there is.
Now, for the part that makes Vision Pro from a great productivity device on paper into a “dev kit available to masses” (I like that description, it does feel that way a lot, ty Ghostalmedia)
Eye strain is a major issue. It is very difficult to use the device for more than a couple of hours without getting tired. This goes for all of the VR headsets out there. I guess you can get used to it over time, though.
Limited usability. Quest 2/3, Pico 4, Valve Index, they all do things you wish Vision Pro could. Primarily usage of physical controllers. Imagine sculpturing without controllers because I can’t. Hand tracking is just not up to par.
Battery solution is another issue. Not being able to swap what is otherwise a Power Bank without disabling the device and being unable to use any other battery than Apple’s own is at the very least annoying. Not exactly an issue if you’re too tired by the time it runs out.
Finally, the VR space itself is unfortunately not mature enough. There’s a lot of work still to be done. Even when talking games, despite some amazing titles like Half-life Alyx, the vast majority where controls wouldn’t make you dizzy are all pretty much like arcade mini-games, where you either teleport from point to point or not move at all. Developers simply have yet to figure out an organic way of user navigating through virtual space. (Doesn’t mean they aren’t fun, though)
Overall, I believe Vision Pro isn’t really a mass consumer product, but it did do a lot by bringing more attention to VR as a whole, as well as pointing out additional user-cases for the technology. Because of Vision Pro, Meta started paying more attention to details, which ultimately will benefit the consumer (in fact, it already has yeilded results).
CPU 3600, Mobo b450m, GPU 6700(xt), RAM 16Gb 3200mhz
Something like this: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/WC2VTY
Comes out at 637€. A little over budget, but that’s also all new parts. It’s definitely enough for 1080p, often 1440p even.
To get the most out of the budget, I’d definitely be looking at the used market.
Definitely used 3600 for CPU. They go for very little and will pair nicely even with 3070 class cards.
Used 6700 or 6700xt for GPU, but since they aren’t as robust as CPUs, do pay closer attention to damages, dust, performance compared to benchmark, and etc.
Used case, because they don’t matter unless for looks. Just make sure it allows for air to pass through.
Heatsink can sometimes come together with CPU. I’d be spending no more than 20$ to cool this one. (However, PA120 is kinda too good to pass on, despite being overkill for the CPU).
RAM may as well be new, they aren’t very expensive. SP Xpower Turbine, Ripjaws, or Kingston Fury 2x8Gb 3200 or 3600 are all good options.
Motherboard, wouldn’t buy used. And I wouldn’t be buying the lowest chipset either. b550m DS3H would be reasonable here or b450m (“m” means mATX, which are smaller than non-m, and usually cheaper), depending on if you need the extra features of b550 chipset.
Power Supply should never be bought used, look up tier lists, and go with middle range one for reliability. 550W and over should be enough for the build. Try not to cheap out on these.
Storage, also never to be bought used. Look for M.2 NVMes. SN770 is best bang for the buck imo, but even Kingston NV2 will do fine. 256Gb is enough for OS and some additional software. Imo, that’s too little. Get at least 500Gb. Ideally, 1Tb. Mind you, you could always add more later.
Very much illegal where I live.
Not to mention, if the company has to implement such practices, it means it has a problem retaining staff.
If it has problems retaining staff and solves it not by addressing the underlying issues but by extortion, why would you work for such a company? Their management is clearly incompetent.
That’s not always true.
There are a few reasons as to why one would keep low/no profit or even completely unprofitable projects going.
It’s all tied to their value proposition. For example, if you can sustain a no profit project, it will bring you new customers despite creating no revenue. A glaring example of high-value yet unprofitable product would be Twitch, all because it brings in data.
Storyteller
A short but memorable puzzle-type game where you have to put together scenes and characters to create a story. Actions in previous scenes affect how characters behave or appear in later ones.
Really liked that one, it’s fun.
Regular Galaxy S22 256Gb
Was choosing between S22, Pixels, and Nothing Phone. Ultimately, I went with the former because I happened to accumulate Tab S8 as well as Galaxy Buds 2. If not for those, probably would’ve saved a buck with first Nothing.
Pros: Easy cloud sync, good processor, nice materials, could be found for a very affordable price, and rest of the features that come with premium phones
Cons: No headphone jack, no SD card slot, some bloat you can’t remove, battery
Would’ve probably still rocked my Poco F1 if it didn’t get obliterated by a 0.5m drop onto a quartz floor. It never fully recovered from it.
In my experience, the longer you type, the faster you get at typing.
That’s like getting into the rhythm. If you do it a little and then stop, then you never become proficient as you never got into that flow.
Try learning a guitar by pulling a few strings a day. Try learning to read in a different language by reading a few letters each time. Try running by taking a few steps.
Doesn’t it sound ridiculous?
Have you ever tried learning a different language? You don’t become proficient by reading one sentence, then stopping and then another one. You do it by struggling through many, and the more you do it, the faster you learn.
Note, I’m not writing this because “boohoo, bad parenting.” It’s the first essay, who cares. (although her being 13 does make me raise a brow. I’d expect it with a 7 y.o., but 13? w/e, you do you). I just think you have a misunderstanding in how learning core-level skills work. Continuous repetition is the key.
Another glaring example is how toddlers learn languages. In a span of a couple of years, they are capable of learning a language to native level with absolutely no prior knowledge, just by listening and trying to repeat the sounds day in and day out. Just think about it.
Our cops in Russia have been doing that for years as well. They groom whole groups of teens like that. Absolutely mental.
An economics student from Russia here, here’s my perspective.
First, is that a country’s economy is a lot less volatile than we expected. There is also another factor that played into it. During covid, Russian companies amassed a sizable amount of inventory that was already inflated compared to European companies due to how volatile our economy is. This has given them enough time to reroute supply chains once sanctions hit.
Basically, the so-called “grey import” plays a major role in assuring the stability of our economy. Companies either route their import/export through neighboring countries or through affiliated companies.
Second is the competency of our central bank. After most of the major banks were cut off from SWIFT (used for international transactions), they raised the key rate, limited the amount of money you can cash out at one time, and did some other stuff. Higher key rate = higher deposit interest rate, but at the same time, credit became more expensive. All of this was needed for preventing banks from defaulting. Once panic died down, the changes were reverted. Now, they’re dealing with inflation.
Lastly, the majority of our budget comes from oil and gas. Since Europe didn’t want to buy it, Russia started selling it to Asia at discounted prices. Quantity of oil/gas sold drastically increased, which mitigated reduced prices and led to a surplus budget. Not to mention that they started pushing on large companies to reduce the amount of dividends and instead re-invest the money.
I wouldn’t call it “thriving,” however. All of this has definitely led to a slowdown in growth, which, as time goes by, will only get worse. But for now it’s fine.
I’d also add Beyond: Two Souls to the list
Maybe it’s just me, but I’d play the hell out of BG3 when I was 12.
The amount of time I spent on TES 4 and 5 back then, and BG3 hits just the right spot with the variety of ways it allows you to play it.
Minecraft is also in my top favorites.
What I’m saying is, don’t count BG3 out completely. Not to mention that it’s very saturated, so a shorter attention span shouldn’t really be a problem, but you never know.
As for suggestions. Definitely Terraria, as others mentioned. There was also Lego Fortnite, which looks like it would fit the tastes. Maybe also party games?
Recently, I’ve been watching a bunch of “an Android user switched to iPhone” and “an iPhone user switched to Android” type of videos.
From what I can tell, iOS is, in fact, harder to adapt to, compared to Android.
Even tech-savvy guys like Marques outright say that “unlike Android, it’s very easy to forget how to use iPhones” (not an exact quote, but similar meaning).
Luckily, there are plenty of mods to help with that whilst keeping the experience authentic.
Wish more games supported modders to this extent.
Can’t the same be said about what we have right now, though?
No system is flawless, but you’d be surprised the lengths people will go to uphold the ones that work.