Archive - May 20, 2007

Date

TV Picks from The Week for May 21-27, 2007

Some recommendations from The Week:

  • Jesse Stone: Sea Change, Tue 9 PM, CBS. This is the 4th TV movie on CBS featuring Tom Selleck as sheriff Jesse Stone. The previous 3 were good.
  • Knocking, Tue 10 PM, PBS: insider's perspective of Jehovah's Witnesses
  • Wide Awake, Wed 8 PM, HBO: portrait of an artist as insomniac
  • Married in America 2, Wed 9 PM, Hallmark Channel: candid look at couples and relationships
  • John Safran vs. God, Thu 9 PM, Sundance Channel: a series in which a satirical documentarian encounters various religions
  • Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Sun 9 PM, HBO: see Fred Thompson as Ulysses S. Grant

Don't Buy the Forever Stamps

forever.jpg
They're not a good deal, nor will they ever be one. From Nathaniel Rich on slate.com:

Since 1971, postal rates have increased more slowly than the actual inflation rate, as measured by the U.S. Consumer Price Index. So, despite the numerous rate hikes over the last 36 years, stamps have actually been getting cheaper. The 20-cent stamp from 1981, for instance, would be equivalent to 45 cents in today's dollars - which makes today's rate 10 percent cheaper than it was 26 years ago. Should this historical pattern hold, you'd be paying more for today's forever stamps than you would for any stamp in the future, no matter how high the rate goes.

In fact, this pattern must hold - as a matter of law. In December, President Bush signed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which ensures that future price increases will be kept below an inflation-based ceiling. In other words, postage hikes will never surpass inflation - and the forever stamp will never become a good investment.

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