News Cut: April 22, 2008 Archive

Live-blogging: How you spend

Posted at 9:43 AM on April 22, 2008 by Bob Collins (68 Comments)

Here's the thread for the liveblogging of today's Midmorning regarding the study, "Tightwads and Spendthrifts," examining how we handle our spending. You can find background on the study in the next thread. Post your comments/stories here and we'll pick out the most intriguing ones for the broadcast.

Guests: Scott Rick, author of the study; :Larry Compeau, professor of Marketing at Clarkson University School of Business. He was quoted in an interesting article in January about the symbolic tightening of the belt.

10:07 - We're off and running. Question: How well do you and your friends really understand and believe in the concept of frugality. Parents? What do you think your kids' perception of frugality is?

10:11 - Scott Rick, who did this study as part of his dissertation, says people usually consider what else the money they're about to spend could be used for. He concludes that Gen Y doesn't do this comparison.

10:13 - Tyler (in comments) raises the possibility that much of this difference in how people spend is the bank instrument involved; that with debit cards (used widely by Gen Y) creates an illusion of it not really being money, whereas people who hand over the cash (or even write a check) have more of a connection to the money being spent.

10:15 - We tend to be more frugal as we get older because we have more "pain" experiences. Larry says "this particular generation has never had to suffer a protracted economic downtown.

10:20 Women vs. men. OK, here we go. Women, the authors say, approach spending differently, that women tend to see spending as more therapeutic. "It's not clear if their theory is correct," Scott said.

10:24 : Gen Xer married to Gen Yer on the phone. "We're very different," she says.

10:26 - Scott: "There's a genetic component to this."

10:32 - In comments, Jessica raises the possibility that it's the parents' fault for raising Xers and Yers with a sense of the value of acquiring things. Lynn, on the other hand, is as frugal as they come and objects to being lumped into a generational stereotype. And David, father of a 24 year old, says he has to ask his daughter to spend money, she's so frugal.

10:36 - How is debt viewed by "this" generation. Scott says he did in-depth interviews with a wide variety of people who had gone through bad credit and bankruptcy problems. The interviews spanned ages and household incomes. Says he got a difference in the role debt plays. Younger people tended to view being in debt as a natural part of financial accounting. Older people tended to view debt as something that was reserved for special occasions.

10:42 - A father calls and says son went from a spendthrift to a tightwad as soon as he moved out.

10:45 - Talk about conflicted. Jon Paul in comments writes:

I am a tightwad and a Spendtrift. I take responsibility seriously and I could not afford to be anythign else. I am not spending any money on anything other than Child Support, student loans, cell phone, and transportation. ( I am getting rent realatively for free) I am still not able to save.

I'll try to pass this on to the guests next time Kerri comes to me.

10:49 - Larry: There's a mentality on consumers behalf that they don't want to "fix" anything (see comment below from the wife of a surgeon who says he fixes the cars).

10:53 - Scott: There's an evolutionary ancient system that wants pleasure now, but a newer system that can override those desires. He theorizes, though, that there may not be a connection between various generations on how the brain works.

10:56 - Scott says his next study is going to be among couples. Do opposites attract? Can't wait for that one.

This was fun. Keep talking in comments. We'll be here all day.

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Where's MNSpeak?

Posted at 9:04 AM on April 22, 2008 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)

Fans of the social networking/discussion/gossip site for Minnesota may be suffering pangs of withdrawal today. The site apparently didn't auto renew its domain name registration so it is, basically, down. I'm sure there's a smarmy comment to be made here, except I'm pretty sure MPR made the same mistake a few months ago.

Update 11:47 a.m. - Back online.

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Earth, best friends, cricket and the things that we hold dear

Posted at 12:21 PM on April 22, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)

Completely unrelated news stories... unless you work hard to connect them.

First, on this Earth Day, a reminder that we have to leave it behind... someday. Stephen Hawking, genius, gave a speech on the occasion of NASA's 50th birthday and made it clear if we're to survive, we have to get off the planet. "There will be those who will argue that it would be better to spend our money solving the problems of this planet, like climate change and pollution, rather than possibly wasting it on a fruitless search for a new planet. But we can do that and still spare a quarter of a percent of world GDP for space. Isn't our future worth a quarter of a percent?"

When we leave, perhaps we'll be allowed to take a friend with us. Who should you choose? According to the Physorg.com (by way of the NYT Lede blog), it better be someone that you keep in touch with at least once every 15 days, because otherwise the two of you will never make the forever requirement of B.F.F.

Where can you find a friend? If you're into Bollywood stars, cheerleading girls, stilt walkers, cyclists furiously riding around the ground, acrobats hanging from the stadium roof, at a local cricket match. It's only a matter of time before the soccer fans stop trying to convince us it'll catch on in America, anyway.

Just be sure to stay in the shade. Earth is a dangerous place.

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Is there a (photo) doctor in the house?

Posted at 2:05 PM on April 22, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Media, Media

Is this offensive? On the blog Visual Editors, a site for people mostly in the design/photojournalism end of the news business, there are a couple of controversies being debated. One is the doctoring of images to enhance their impact -- a subject I'll leave alone, and the other is the picture shown above.

The site says the Business & Media Institute has carried several objections to the photograph -- mostly from Iwo Jima vets, who call it "a disgrace." Is it the picture? Or the assertion that global warming is likened to World War II?

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The 24/7 boss

Posted at 3:07 PM on April 22, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

Appropriate clarification or horrible precedent? You decide.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled today that your boss doesn't get a "get out of jail" card just because his (or hers, but it's usually his) transgressions happen outside of work.

The case involves the boss of a restaurant cook. After hours, the boss bought the kid a few drinks and then the two engaged in some acts (you can read the particulars in the decision) that the cook says he wouldn't have engaged in if it weren't for the fact that the guy was his boss.

The boss claimed that since they were both "off duty," it was a case of "anything goes." But the court said that the boss still has the power to intimidate employees and coerce them into behavior that they would otherwise be unwilling to engage in.

Buzz.mn writer James Lileks calls it the most frightening piece of news out today:

I understand that this applies to sexual harassment, but it's a horrible precedent. You meet your boss in the grocery store, and he says "meet me in refrigerated dairy in ten minutes with some ideas for supper," and you have no choice but to obey.

But, in fact, you do have a choice. You have the same choice as a non-employee to be able to tell the boss to get lost. The court didn't rule that you have to comply with what your boss says outside of work because he's still the boss. It ruled, basically, that the guidelines for violating his authority are the same outside of work as they are within the hallowed halls of the workplace.

The boss, in this case, was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct

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A poke in the 'eye'

Posted at 10:30 PM on April 22, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Media

Can the Paul Douglas saga get any weirder?

Let's review. Douglas Paul Kruhoeffer, popular weatherman with WCCO TV, is fired by Channel 4 while he's on vacation. He's asked to stay through the end of May. He declines and then, shall we say, doesn't go out of his way to dispel the uproar from fans who reached the conclusion that he'd surely say goodbye to them if it weren't for CBS.

Tonight he pops up on TV, this time on KARE 11, whom he left years ago in search of fame and fortune in Chicago. KARE 11 is going to make Douglas the centerpiece of its Extra segment on Thursday, giving it an opportunity for a ratings boost and a chance to rub the competition's nose in it.

Meanwhile, the Star Tribune, which bumped then KARE 11 weather dude Ken Barlow from its weather page when Douglas returned from Chicago, gives Douglas a less-than-lukewarm reassurance that "for now," Douglas' weather column will stay. Where's the love for Paul?

The attention seems to undermine the notion that the era of the "celebrity" newscast personality on TV is over, at least in the Twin Cities, which should, no doubt, make weathercasters at WCCO's competitors nervous.

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