Graph presentation? Need help!

I am working on my dissertation. There is no economics dissertation without graphs. Economists love graphs! So, I am putting many graphs. Decomposition results are hard to present. I found this bar and line graph style was the best. If you know better one or have any other suggestion, please let me know. One of my problem is that there are so many decomposition factors (26). Some of them are zero and meaning less. But still many, as you can see. This graph is auto-generated by open office calc. Unfortunately, there are color code overlapping. I can customize color code, but it is not easy task. I have many graphs, I have to keep same color code for all the graphs...

By the way, a bit explanation of the graph. Blue total line shows change of total demand for gasoline. Orange change line shows change of difference between total demand for gasoline of two terms. Bar shows decomposition factors.

Computer Upgrade

After eight years with my beloved Pentium 4 system, I finally upgraded my computer. P4 with 1G memory was (and is still) fine for everyday computing. But for my simulation and modeling, it reached its limit. No, indeed my patience reached the limit: it took more than 10 minutes for the P4 system to simply open my data file, which is about 10 MB in size.

What I got?

1. CPU- Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz
   Originally, I was thinking i7, but it was too much for me.
2. Memory- Kingston 2 G
   I was considering 4G, but 32 bit OS cannot recognize 4G. I will upgrade it later when I have Windows 7.
3. Motherboard- ASUS P5KPL-CM
   I have used Intel board, and wanted to use ASUS board. This board is one of the cheapest. Now, I slightly regret about this board because of all the problems that this caused to me.
4. Hard drive- Seagate Baracuda 500GB SATA
   I didn't plan to replace my old 40G IEDE drive. But somehow, new board could not recognize it. So, I had to replace it. 500G is too big to me.
   
5. Case- In-Win Z583 350w
   Because new board is micro ATX, I bought this at a local store. To be honest, I was kinda fed up with ugly outlook of old middle tower case.
   

So far, I am quite satisfied with the new system. Now, it took only 1 minute to open my data file. It took less than one minute to boot and shut down! Amazing to me. By the way, I am still using the same monitor, keyboard and mouse. Should reduce electric waste.

Well, faster computer cannot guarantee better research, but at least it can reduce stress level. That's what I appreciate.

My uncle

My uncles love fishing. I might be influenced by them about fishing, although I have had no chance to go fishing with them. Now I can say that I am a decent angler, but compared to my uncles, I look like a bait fish angler. One of the uncles, who is my favorite, is particularly a die-hard fisherman. Here are two picture that he took in Panama.


Yellow fin tuna. I didn't ask about how the taste was.


Marlin! The dream fish of all anglers. I am so jealous. Someday maybe, or never.

Superfreak Controversy

Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's new book, Superfreakonomics is out and igniting some heated discussion. If you are not familiar with this, you can catch up with some blog posts below.

Their key argument is;

'Because reducing carbon emissions is too costly and somewhat not-so-feasible, instead let's try geo-engineering to solve the problem of climate change effectively.'

Their points are well taken. But they are missing one important thing, the big picture. The reason why many insist to reduce carbon emissions, not only because of the climate change, but also because of fossil fuel exhaustion (although it is not near future). These two issues always come together like twins. I wonder what they will respond to the question of running out of fossil fuel on earth.

Final thought. Levitt argues,

"~reducing carbon emissions, which is that it requires worldwide behavioral change, which will be hard to achieve."

You may be right. But isn't it the very topic that economists have to research on, how to cause behavioral changes in market through various incentives or penalties while minimizing adverse effects?



You can explore these blogs for more information.

Climate Progress

Krugman

DeLong

Union of concerned scientists

Marginal Revolution

Freakonomics blog

The Wonk rook

(Thanks to Carlos, who put these together)

Carp fishing

Carp fishing is not so popular in the US. However, it is huge in Asia and Europe. Often my American friends ask me about carp fishing. Here is my Carp fishing101:

1. Tackle
-Hook: treble hook. #6 works fine.
-Line: You can still catch with you 8lb or 12lb lines. But over 20lb braid line is safer.
-Rod: Medium is fine. MH or H is recommended. Reel, which matches with your rod.
-Sinker: Weight depends on where you fish. Bullet type sinker works good.

2. Bait (Matured carp prefers vegetarian diet)
-Bread: believe it or not bread works great.
-Boiled Potato: Make a small bait ball with mashed potato. You may want to add some bread in it.
-Baked and milled cereal: I use this. I add water on it and make small ball with this bait. Traditional Korean bait.
-Boillie: It is a traditional carp bait which is often used in Europe. Its main ingredient is corn meal.
-Carp bait on market: there are some pre-maid baits here in US. I found Uncle Josh carp bait works great.
**Important tip: Be parsimonious about bait! Just barely cover your treble hook with your bait. It is important in order to easily hook carp. If bait ball is too big, there is rare chance to set hook.

3. Rig
Treble hook –(header line: about 1’)-swivel- (main line)- sinker –(main line)- rod – reel
**I usually attach small bell on my rod to detect nibbling. You also may want to loose your drag. Carp can easily pull away your rod and reel. Always, be alert!

4. Bait change
You may want to change your bait in 15 to 30 minutes. It depends on water condition and firmness of your bait.

Here is my carp album that my fishing buddies and I caught this season. My goal for this season is to catch more than 10 carps. So far, I caught 7.

Input-Output Analysis: Foundations and Extensions

Finally, second edition of "THE" input-output analysis text book is out! I received my order from the UK. Since its first edition was published in 1985, it has been almost 25 years. Miller and Blair included many updates in input-output field.



In particular, they include SDA. I was a bit disappointed because the coverage of SDA was not that long (13 pages). Oh, well, long-waited new edition is here anyway, so I am glad. I am sure that this textbook can help many students and researchers in input-output field including myself.

Autopsy at the shore

When I went fishing yesterday morning, I found fish bones spread around at the shore. It was large fish. Nothing much left, but only white bones. My curiosity urged me to start my own autopsy.



Without skull, total length was 50 cm. Including skull, it might be about 60 something fish. Decent size fish. It seems like carp.



After taking the picture, I found its skull nearby, and it confirmed that it was carp. I carefully inspected the skull, but could not figure out cause of death. I expected to find fish hook at its gills. Considering size of the fish, it was tool young to die naturally. Carp's life span is 40 to 50 years. I didn't count rings at its ear bone, but it look like 5 to 7 years old.



What killed the carp?

1. Predator: there is pike in the Hudson river. I am skeptical about pike attack. Because there are plenty of small preys that pike munch on.
2. Pollution or disease: Possible. I have never seen a dead fish at the shore though.
3. Deep hooking: I think it is very possible. All fishermen are very careful not to hurt their catch when they release them. But sometimes, fish swallow hook, and it is fatal. From my experience, lure fishing has rare chance to deep-hook. I can set hook before fish eat the hook. But in case of bait fishing, there is greater chance of deep-hooking. To prevent deep hooking, I often use circle hook for bait fishing. I will write about circle hook in the future. For catch-and-release, we need to be more careful.