Sunday, December 9, 2012

The Four Ways Money Can Be Spent, By Milton Friedman


In Chapter 4 of his book "Free to Choose" Milton Friedman describes the above matrix that depicts how the relationship between the benefactor and the beneficiary influences the exchange of goods.  Below is the excerpt from the book explaining the matrix:

When you spend, you may spend your own money or someone else's; and you may spend for the benefit of yourself or someone else.  Combining these two pairs of alternatives gives four possibilities summarized in the  following simple table.

Category I in the table refers to your spending your own money on yourself.  You shop in a supermarket, for example. You clearly have a strong incentive both to economize and to get as much value as you can for each dollar you do spend.

Category II refers to your spending your own money on someone else. You shop for Christmas or birthday presents. You have the same incentive to economize as in the first case but not the same incentive to get full value for your money, at least as judged by the tastes of the recipient. You will, of course, want to get something the recipient will like--provided that it also makes the right impression and does not take too much time and effort. (If, indeed, your main objective were to enable the recipient to get as much value as possible per dollar, you would give him cash, converting your Category II spending to Category I spending by him.)

Category III refers to your spending someone else’s money on yourself--lunching on an expense account, for instance. You have no strong incentive to keep down the cost of the lunch, but you do have a strong incentive to get your money’s worth.

Category IV refers to your spending someone else’s money on still another person.  You are paying for someone else’s lunch out of an expense account. You have little incentive either to economize or to try to get your guest the lunch that he will value most highly. However, if you are having lunch with him, so that the lunch is a mixture of Category III and Category IV, you do have a strong incentive to satisfy your own tastes at the sacrifice of his, if necessary.





Sunday, November 11, 2012

State of Iowa Caucus and General Election Results For 2008 and 2012

Summary

The tables below contain the Iowa Caucus results for 2008 and 2012 and the General Election results for those same years.

Support for representatives of "libertarian" policies increased greatly.  Support for Republican representatives also grew.  Support for Democrat representatives shrank but maintained a majority of total votes cast.


Vote Count Compared to Total State Population


Contest
Total Vote
Count 2008
Total Vote
Count 2012
Difference
2008 to 2012
Voter Turnout As % of
Estimated State Population




% Change
2008
2012
% Diff
Iowa Caucus
118,917
121,501
2,584
+ 2.17 %
3.96 %
3.97 %
+ 0.01 %
General Election
1,537,123
1,555,570
18,447
+ 1.20 %
51.19 %
50.80 %
- 0.40 %



Iowa Republican Caucus 2008 and 2012


Candidate
2008 Republican Caucus
2012 Republican Caucus
Difference
2008 to 2012

Count
% of Total
Count
% of Total

% Change
Ron Paul
11,841
9.96 %
26,036
21.43 %
+ 14,195
+ 119.88 %
Mitt Romney
30,021
25.25 %
29,805
24.53 %
- 216
- 0.72 %
Rick Santorum
-
-
29,839
24.56 %
-
-
Mike Huckabee
40,954
34.44 %
-
-
-
-



Iowa General Election 2008 and 2012


Party
2008 General Election
2012 General Election
Difference
2008 to 2012

Count
% of Total
Count
% of Total

% Change
Libertarian
4,590
0.30%
12,759
0.82%
+ 8,169
+ 177.97 %
Republican
682,379
44.39%
722,754
46.38%
+ 40,375
+ 5.92 %
Write-In
6,737
0.44%
6,840
0.44%
+ 103
+ 1.53 %
Democrat
828,940
53.93%
807,394
51.81%
- 21,546
- 2.60 %



Analysis

Between 2008 and 2012, the total number of votes in these contests when compared to total state population remained relatively similar, however the change in percent of total vote (% Change) changed substantially for representatives of some groups.

For the Iowa Republican Caucus, between 2008 and 2012 Ron Paul had the greatest increase in number of votes (Count) and in change in number of votes (% Change).  The only other candidate to compete in those same contests was Mitt Romney who received 216 fewer votes in 2012 than he did in 2008 (note: Romney did not actively campaign in Iowa for either Caucus).

For the Iowa General Election, between 2008 and 2012 the Republican Party had the greatest increase in number of votes (Count) and percent of total votes (% of Total), however the Libertarian Party had the greatest increase in change in number of votes (% Change).

For the Libertarian Party this trend was also seen nationally.  The Libertarian Party received a total of 1,195,306 votes nationally, which was an increase of 128.24 % over 2008 and an increase of 200.88 % over 2004.  Nationally, the change in number of votes (% Change) for the Libertarian Party has varied greatly since 1972 (the first General Election after its founding in 1971) however this election marked the longest sustained increase in percent of total votes (% of Total) the party has received.



Sources:
http://uselectionatlas.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election_in_Iowa,_2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_Republican_caucuses,_2012
http://sos.iowa.gov/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_Party_(United_States)