Author Archives: Ricky Howard

For all of you Snapchat users, I’m sure you received a snap from the creators of the app informing you about their new direction for the app called Snapcash. This is the exciting new opportunity to send cash to your friends and have it disappear in 10 seconds!! Not actually, but thats what I thought when I heard of it first. Snapchat is teaming up with Square, the company who created the mobile credit/debit payment accessory for Apple devices, to offer a payment option through the Snapchat app. Snapcash will allow users to send payments from their account to their Continue reading What is Snapchat doing with Snapcash?→

As you probably know, our ability to track the physical status of the human body is becoming easier with technology like Fitbit etc. The mechanisms for checking things like fatigue have become smaller, and more mobile, to the point that they can be worn while playing sports. Naturally, professional sports teams want to utilize this technology in order to gain a competitive advantage. Using this technology would allow them ensure that their athletes are receiving the correct amount of training, and are not fatigued for games. Alongside the this technology, teams are now starting to use consistent blood testing as Continue reading Medical Technology in Sports→

Last week, something interesting happened in the NBA in regards to the NBA draft lottery. The NBA as a whole has been facing criticism about the persistent ‘tanking problem’ where teams are losing on purpose to try to receive a better draft pick the next year. I talked about this in a blog last year, that teams have an incentive to lose as many games as they can if they are not going to make the playoffs, and that this strategy is actually the most rational strategy that they can take on. The main culprits of this strategy right now, Continue reading The NBA’s Failed Reform→

I was recently purchasing my plane tickets for my trip home over Thanksgiving weekend. After experiencing a real-life example of a price gouge, I asked myself if I was buying these plane tickets at the right time to minimize the price that I have to pay. My thinking was that there must be some sort of “sweet spot” for when plane tickets are cheapest. I wasn’t sure if it would just the earlier the better as airlines can charge more as people become more desperate to book a trip, or if you could actually book a flight too early. When Continue reading When to buy airline tickets→

The insurance industry is an integral aspect of the World Economy, but is currently not reaching a significant portion of the population. Buying insurance for your Chevy Malibu, or health insurance for your family have become things most of us do naturally. The word “insurance,” however, has little meaning in a country that may be functioning with an underdeveloped economy. Why is this? Well it would appear that those who provide these services (any insurance provider that you see in the commercials every day) have not seen the financial incentive to provide insurance in these areas, and therefore have not invested in the Continue reading Movement to Micro→

In recent data released by the U.S. Census, it was found that college enrollment was at its lowest rate since the recession hit in 2007. The graph points out that college enrollment often rises during recessions. I found this to be very interesting. When a recession hits, and unemployment rises, and consumption falls. I would have thought that college enrollment would fall as well. But that isn’t the case. What we see occurring is in fact the opposite. During the first 2-3 years of our recession, we see college enrollment on a steady climb, and when our economy slowly started Continue reading Changes in College Enrollment→