We just received a neat endorsement from Captain Capitalism: "You Will Visit Political Calculations"! Our favorite excerpt:

... it's one of those web sites where you'll lose yourself for about 3 hours because of all the cool and different things you can calculate based on some models he's programmed

Three hours sounds about right. As a start, that is! If you let us, we might just hook you in for a lot longer than that....

What makes Political Calculations unique in the world of blogs is the majority of our posts are focused on answering questions for which we don't already know the answers. We then do our best to answer those questions using all the problem solving skills we've gained over the years. Along the way, we create tools to help answer them and what's more, we post them here so you can see how we got to the answers we found.

What's really cool is that the tools we build can answer a lot more than just our own questions. You can change the input factors to better agree with how you see things, to update them with the latest data available to make the answers as relevant to the world today as possible, or if you just want to make one of our tools solve a problem that directly affects your life. And they're always capable of answering our favorite question: "What if ...?"

So, in that spirit, here is a list of all our tools to date (or their latest incarnation if we've updated them) and the questions we've attempted answering over our history, all presented in our dynamic table format (click the column headings to sort the table by category, tool title or date.) We hope you have at least a few hours!...

Political Calculations' Tool Index

Category	Tool	Question/Comment	Date Posted
Economics	Ahead of the Fed: Setting the Federal Funds Rate	Where will the Federal Reserve set interest rates next?	2007-10-30
Life	The Moby Quotient	Has your favorite musical artist sold out?	2007-10-22
Life	Should You Quit Your Job?	A "Geek Logik" tool for finding out if you should quit your current job?	2007-10-22
Economics	The Business of Bootlegging	How much money is there in the black market for cigarettes?	2007-10-16
Health	Colon Cancer and Bad Genes	If you have colon cancer, what are the odds that its genetic?	2007-10-10
Life	Is Your Personal Grooming Adequate?	A "Geek Logik" tool for finding out if you need to do something about your hygiene!	2007-10-04
Economics	Gains and Losses in the US Job Market	What's the overall gain or loss of jobs in the U.S. this month?	2007-10-01
Life	Should You Lie?	A "Geek Logik" tool for determining when it might be okay to lie.	2007-09-25
Real Estate	Austan Goolsbee, Fish Slapping, and Setting the Post Bubble Price of Your House	In the after-the-bubble real estate market, where should you set the price of your house to sell it quickly?	2007-09-24
Health	Redefining the Health Care Debate - Part 1	How much should a country (or state) expect to spend on health care per person given its national income per person?	2007-09-12
Life	Should You Apologize?	A "Geek Logik" tool for finding out when (and how) you should say you're sorry!	2007-08-28
Economics	Estimating the Natural Rate of Unemployment	Given current economic conditions in the U.S., how much natural unemployment should there be?	2007-08-21
Life	Should You Start or Stop Procrastinating?	A "Geek Logik" tool for finding out if you ought to get something done now or if you can put it off for later!	2007-08-14
Environment	Tangerines by the Gallon	Does it really make economic (or environmental) sense to buy your produce locally?	2007-08-07
Business	Liquidity	Does that business have enough cash to stay afloat?	2007-07-31
Life	Should You Say It on the Grapevine?	A "Geek Logik" tool for working out when you should pass along that bit of juicy office gossip or keep it to yourself.	2007-07-26
Public Policy	What If We Bought Cars for the Poor Instead of Light Rail?	Which makes more sense: spending money on light rail systems or buying fuel efficient cars for the poor?	2007-07-16
Environment	Earth Live: Walk, Bike or Drive?	A "Geek Logik" tool to answer the question of how you should get where you need to go!	2007-07-12
Life	How Many Beers Should You Have at the Company Picnic?	A "Geek Logik" tool to help you know when you should say when around your co-workers!	2007-06-21
Environment	Valuing the Lives of Hypermilers	How much are those people who drive way too close behind big trucks on the highway really saying their lives are worth?	2007-06-19
Economics	Comparing the U.S. Distribution of Income by Age Group	How has the distribution of income for different age groups in the U.S. changed between 1995 and 2005?	2007-06-05
Investing	Investing and Income Taxes in 2007	Should you invest in a taxable or a tax free investment vehicle in 2007?	2007-05-17
Life	How Many Cups of Coffee Should You Drink this Morning?	A "Geek Logik" tool for calculating your optimal caffeine consumption.	2007-05-14
Life	Should You Buy Something (or Not?)	A "Geek Logik" tool to help you decide if you really ought to buy that item that caught your eye.	2007-05-03
Investing	How Much Should You Invest in a Stock?	How much of your portfolio should you put into a single stock?	2007-04-25
Life	Are Your Too Good for Your Job?	A "Geek Logik" tool to help decide if you should be looking for something else to do for a living!	2007-04-18
Real Estate	The Simple Way to Decide to Rent or Buy	Which makes more sense: renting or buying a home?	2007-04-16
Taxes	Income Tax: The Original Form 1040	How much would your taxes have been back in 1913? How long would it take you to do them?	2007-04-10
Math	Running, Gunning and Weighting for Averages	Got a bunch of numbers for which you need to find the average?	2007-04-03
Life	Should You Go to the Doctor?	A "Geek Logik" tool to decide if it's time to go see your doctor.	2007-03-14
Life	Should You Call in Sick?	A "Geek Logik" tool for determining when it's okay to call in sick to work!	2007-03-13
Environment	The Miracle of Carbon Offsets	What percentage of the annual budget of the U.S. government would it take for the U.S. to buy its way into full compliance with the Kyoto Protocol?	2007-03-12
Life	The Odds of Winning and the Magic Jackpot	What are the odds of winning the lottery? And what does the jackpot need to be to make it worth the cost of a ticket?	2007-03-06
Economics	Projections of Poverty	Where will the poverty threshold income level to be set this year? And next year?	2007-02-21
Life	Picking the Right Date for Valentine's Day	A "Geek Logik" tool for choosing who your best date will be for the most romantic holiday of the year!	2007-02-14
Public Policy	Approximating Social Security's Rate of Return	If Social Security was a real investment, what rate of return would you receive from it?	2007-01-30
Public Policy	Presidential Pretensions	If you were the President, what would be the impact of raising the minimum wage in the U.S.?	2007-01-25
Life	Five More Minutes?	A "Geek Logik" tool to find out if you really should hit the snooze button. Again….	2007-01-23
Economics	Estimating the Distribution of U.S. Hourly Wage Earners	How many people make at least X amount of dollars per hour in the U.S.?	2007-01-16
Life	Should You Keep Your New Year's Resolution?	A "Geek Logik" tool for determining how locked in you are to that New Year's resolution!	2007-01-09
Personal Finance	Your 2007 Paycheck	How much will Uncle Sam be extracting from every one of your paychecks in 2007?	2007-01-02
Personal Finance	Chopping Time Off Your Loan	If you wanted to pay your loan earlier by a set amount of time, how much would you have to increase your regular payment?	2006-12-18
Health	"Fighting Malaria with Math"	How public health officials can get the most bang for their buck in fighting the scourge of the third world.	2006-12-07
Investing	The S&P 500 at Your Fingertips	What rate of return could you have received from an investment in the S&P 500 index between any two months since January 1871?	2006-12-06
Personal Finance	Paying Your Loan Off Early	If you increased your payment by a certain amount, how much earlier could you pay off your loan?	2006-12-05
Business	Converting Amazon Ranks to Book Sales	What does a given Amazon ranking mean in terms of number of book sales?	2006-12-04
Economics	Odds of Recession and Bond Yield Spreads	For a given Federal Funds Rate, what does the bond yield spread have to be for there to be a given probability of recession?	2006-11-29
Economics	Mapping Inflation Extremes Since 1913	What's the best, worst and average rate of inflation for any given period of time in the U.S.?	2006-11-13
Investing	Lemony Snicket and the S&P 500	If you actually and consistently got the worst recorded rates of return for the S&P 500 throughout your lifetime, how much would the total of your investments be worth?	2006-10-25
Business	The Minimum Wage and Small Business	If your business relies upon minimum wage workers, what will be the impact of a hike in the minimum wage to your business?	2006-10-07
Life	The Lottery Winner's Dilemma	If you won the lottery, should you take the payout as a lump sum now, or take a bunch of smaller payments over a long period of time?	2006-09-21
Politics	Projecting 2006 U.S. Senate Elections	Who will win a senate seat in 2006?	2006-09-12
Real Estate	How Much Equity Is in Your Home?	If you're thinking about refinancing, it helps to know the answer to this question!	2006-08-14
Real Estate	Real Estate Investing: The Capitalization Rate	Which loan option and property should you consider when investing in real estate?	2006-07-18
Personal Finance	Refinancing: Does Home Loan Consolidation Make Sense?	Should you consolidate your home equity loan and your mortgage?	2006-07-10
Personal Finance	Refinancing: How Much Will You Save in the Long Run?	If you refinance at a higher payment today, will you save money in the long run?	2006-07-06
Economics	Consumption vs Income Taxes	Which is better for encouraging personal savings - a consumption tax or an income tax?	2006-06-27
Personal Finance	Refinancing: Time to Break Even	If refinancing your loan costs more money up front but gives you a lower payment, how long will it take to break even?	2006-06-26
Investing	Predicting Bankruptcy	How likely is it that a publicly traded company is undergoing financial distress?	2006-06-01
Real Estate	The Money Factor in Leasing	What is the money factor and what does it mean for your lease?	2006-05-22
Investing	S&P 500: Best, Average and Worst Returns Since 1871	What is the best, worst and average rate of return ever recorded for the S&P 500?	2006-05-16
Personal Finance	Should You Trade in Your Gas Guzzler?	Does it finally make sense to trade in that old car for a newer, more fuel-efficient model?	2006-04-26
Public Policy	Determining Equivalent Teacher Pay	If teachers only work 6 hours a day for 8 months a year, how does their pay compare to someone who works full time 12 months a year?	2006-04-19
Economics	Reckoning the Odds of Recession	What are the odds that the U.S. will be in a recession 12 months from now?	2006-04-10
Environment	Are Compact Fluorescents a Bright Idea?	If you swiched your light bulbs from incandescents to compact fluorescents, does it make economic sense?	2006-03-06
Health	How Many Cans of Diet Soda Can You Drink Safely?	If you can't get enough of that artificially sweetened liquid, this tool can help you find out where to draw the line!	2006-02-21
Public Policy	What If the Death Tax Were an Income Tax?	How much would your annual income tax change if you effectively paid your estate taxes on the installment plan?	2006-02-13
Math	Running Numbers for Reporters	Most reporters have no real ability or feeling for what numbers mean - our tool is designed to help!	2006-02-01
Taxes	Exploiting the Child Interest Income Credit	How much could you save on your tax bill by taking advantage of the child interest income tax credit?	2006-01-25
Investing	Predicting the Rate of Return for an I-bond	Where will the U.S. Treasury set the I-bond interest rate next?	2006-01-11
Business	Guesstimating the Cost of Corporate Credit	What does it mean when a business has its debt rating increase from BBB+ to AAA-?	2006-01-09
Personal Finance	Employee Stock Purchase Plan Returns	Does it make sense to buy your company's stock through an ESPP?	2005-12-23
Investing	Calculating Return on Invested Capital	What is ROIC, how do you figure it out and why should you use it when choosing your investments?	2005-12-02
Public Policy	Estimating the U.S. Population	How much will the population of the U.S. be in the future? What was it in the past?	2005-11-18
Investing	Changing Value in the Stock Market	If your stock went up by a nickel per share, what does that mean to your bottom line?	2005-11-11
Business	How Much Is that Idea Really Worth?	How much potential does your idea for a new product or service really have?	2005-10-18
Personal Finance	Paying Off Your Credit Card Bill	How long would it take to pay off your credit card if you only made the minimum payments?	2005-10-14
Personal Finance	Is It Worth the Drive?	Should you drive further to save a few cents per gallon when it's time to fill you tank?	2005-09-14
Real Estate	Projecting U.S. Median Housing Prices	A pre-bubble look at the long term trend in U.S. housing prices!	2005-08-30
Investing	Mapping Stock Market Extremes	What's the best and worst rate of returns for a range of holding periods for an investment in the total stock market?	2005-08-05
Politics	Projecting the Growth of Pork	How much political pork will be packed into the government budget of the future?	2005-08-03
Personal Finance	Your Thrift Savings Plan Portfolio	If you work for the government, what can you expect the future value of your TSP portfolio?	2005-08-02
Personal Finance	Are You Wealthy?	How much wealth do you have to have to be considered wealthy at your age?	2005-07-25
Personal Finance	Do Hybrids Really Save Money?	Thinking about getting a hybrid car? Will you really save money once you factor in all your costs?	2005-07-08
Personal Finance	Your Student Loan	What will your student loan payments be?	2005-07-06
Personal Finance	Paying Off Your Loan	How much will your loan cost you? And how much will it take to pay it off at a certain date?	2005-07-01
Personal Finance	Saving for College	How much do you need to save to cover the cost of going to college?	2005-06-08
Personal Finance	Revisiting the Lottery	What does the jackpot need to be to be able to justify buying a ticket?	2005-06-01
Personal Finance	Your Education and Your Earnings	What path can you expect your earnings to take throughout your life?	2005-05-24
Public Policy	Slashing Social Security Benefits	How much can you expect your "promised" benefits to be slashed when the Social Security trust fund runs out of money?	2005-05-02
Taxes	How Much Do You Pay in Gas Taxes?	How much tax money does the government take from you each year when you add up all you pay at the pump?	2005-04-29
Economics	Average Wages in the U.S.	What was the average wage in the U.S. in the past? And what can we expect in the future?	2005-04-27
Investing	Lemony Snicket vs. King Midas	What's the absolute best and worst you could get from your investment in the total stock market?	2005-04-26
Health	The Cost of Risk vs Benefit	When is a medical test with low odds of detecting a condition justifiable?	2005-04-21
Investing	Your Investment Portfolio	What value will your investment portfolio have in the future?	2005-04-19
Politics	Truth and the Time to React	Using the math of physics, we fact check an anti-US reporters claims.	2005-04-15
Health	Estimating Your Life Expectancy	How long can you expect to live?	2005-04-12
Life	Will You Be Checking Any Bags Today?	How much will it cost for you to bring those oversize or overweight or additional bags with you?	2005-04-11
Investing	Annuity Payments	What stream of income can you expect in retirement after investing in an annuity?	2005-03-28
Politics	Calculating Election Accuracy	How accurate is the vote count in the last election?	2005-03-17
Investing	Investing: How Long/	How long will it take to make a million dollars? Ten million dollars?	2005-02-25
Politics	The President's Plan for Social Security and You	Would you have come out ahead with the plan President Bush initially proposed for reforming Social Security?	2005-02-11
Investing	Investing: Rate of Return	If you initially invested P dollars, which is now worth F dollars, over T years, what rate of return did you get?	2005-02-08
Investing	Investing: Future Value	How much will your investment be worth in the future?	2005-02-04
Politics	Recounting the Odds	How likely is it that the results of an election changed by so much during a recount of the votes?	2004-12-29
Politics	Simple Majority Win	How far away is a political candidate from victory in an election?	2004-12-14
Life	MSM versus Blogger Influence	How much readership does someone in the MSM have compared to a blogger?	2004-12-10

All in all, not too bad - this past year, we've averaged roughly one new tool per week, which accounts for around 20% of all we do.

But that other 80% is a whole other post altogether - we've tied up enough of your free time as it is!

Labels: index, tool

- posted by Ironman at 6:16 AM | Permalink |

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