So … an Elephant and a Dragon board a bus.
This summer quarter (just gone) UCLA began a commuter program whereby it encouraged employee parking pass holders to turn in their passes (and get a full refund on the monthly parking fee that runs $63.00/month) in exchange for free Metro TAP cards, electromagnetic swipe cards granting access on all Metro buses, subways and light rail.
I’ve been wanting to inch towards a greener, less me-centric lifestyle for a while but … it’s only gone as far as that–wanting, not acting.
Finally, I was given a financial incentive–and, yes, sadly, it did come down to that. (So much for eviscerating my soft me-centric center)
I ran the numbers:
A quick calculation of the standard fare of $1.25 each way, or $2.50 daily, had me looking at $10.00 of weekly transportation expenditure ($2.50 by four days, with Fridays off). Multiply that by the average number of weeks per month (which comes in around 4.2 weeks per month on average) and I’m looking at $42.00 a month in transportation costs to and from work, already $21.00 under what I was paying just to have the privilege of being allowed to park at UCLA–never mind that this in no way means an employee is guaranteed a parking spot.
The view from my bus stop at Sunset Blvd. facing north on Highland Avenue
Got My Mind on the Paddies and the Paddies on My Mind
A propos of my recent investment, I thought it would be interesting to track some basic economic indicators in the countries where I’ve invested.
First up: Vietnam (via Thanh Nien News)
Vietnam’s intense growth – calculated at 8.16 percent in the first nine months of 2007 – has caused the price of food and foodstuffs to rise 8.12 percent so far this year.
The price of food, which forms more than 40 percent of the ‘basket of consumer goods’ used to calculate Vietnam’s rate of inflation, rose 13.94 percent in October.
The cost of rice and other grains alone increased by 15.98 percent.
Suppliers have blamed higher costs for production materials and transportation for the trend, which is feared to continue even more fiercely until years end.
Authorities are making efforts to fight artificial price inflation as well as encourage retailers to increase their stocks of goods.
As is it pertains to our Kiva.org investment we read of this news with mixed emotions.
On the downside, this sort of inflation invariably brings unwelcome anxiety; as it pertains to my Vietnamese partner I certainly feel for her as a consumer.
On the bright side, however, the influx of capital will certainly help our rice seller, Ms. Thi Vy Nguyen, increase her stock of goods, something beneficial not just for her and her family but also for the country (insofar as aggregate increased production in an agriculture-rich but capital-poor country like Vietnam should help counter inflation).
Update on the Kiva.org loan (pasted directly from the email I received)
Loan has been disbursed
Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Thi Vy Nguyen by SEDA in Viet Nam. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 6 – 12 months, SEDA will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.
SEDA
Posted by Long Nguyen from Bac Ninh, Viet Nam
Nov 19, 2007
I am a microlender twice over
This morning, while driving in to work, I heard a snippet of a Marketplace story about New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof lending via a website that faciliates microloans to business people in developing countries. (also see his followup blog entry)
To make a long story short I tracked down the website via his column at the Times and ended up lending a combined $300 to two different businessess–one in Afghanistan and one in Vietnam (the latter of which I was able to fully fund myself as the business owner was only asking for $125.00).
She’s the one pictured (above right), Thi Vy Nguyen, owner of a rice mill and small pig farm.
From what I can tell the loans are paid back at a modest interest rate (0.25%) and usually within a period of 6-12 months. The average default rate on these loans (though the numbers almost certainly vary by country) is well under 0.5%. As I see it my money could hardly go so far here as to help finance two family businesses expand their operations.
It’s strange. It’s addictive, even. At the risk of sounding like I’m playing dice with the lives of these people there is something of the feeling of running a SimBank. But, really, it’s just a little leg up for these folks at a very reasonable rate. To be honest, I didn’t even look hard at the terms and whether or not the interest will be paid to me or whether it will go towards administrative costs–to help support the website, Kiva.org.
The funding happens via PayPal and so does the repayment, making it extremely easy to finance additional loans by rolling the money into a new loan after a funded and repaid loan has run its course.
The other loan I funded was roughly 17% of the loan for Mohammad Aslam Hanif’s sweets shop.
Go Mohammad / go Mohammad / it’s your sweets shop / it’s your sweets shop.
*mentally pictures Mohammad doing the Running Man*
