People make money and people lose money with cycling programs. People also make or lose money with network marketing and any other kind of legitimate business under the sun! While Ponzi schemes are illegal, some people make money with them, too, while many more lose money..

In this article, I would like to give the reader some information about Ponzi schemes and about “Cycling” programs.

PONZI SCHEMES

Ponzi schemes are a type of illegal pyramid scheme, named for Charles Ponzi, who duped thousands of New England residents. In the year 1920, Ponzi offered 50% profits every 45 days. He collected $9.8 million dollars from 10,550 people and paid out $7.8 million in just 8 months.

This was a kind of swindle, also called a “bubble” and has existed for hundreds of years. In reality, it is not an “investment” as people are led to believe. Money is simply being transferred from new investors to earlier investors. It is a fraud in which the “investors” are promised extremely high returns over a very short period of time.

This short payment time and high rate of return soon attracts large numbers of people. Initial “investors” make a lot of money, but their profits are not a result of the success of a business. Their profits actually come from the contributions of those people who later join, thinking they are participating in a legal business investment.

Ponzi schemes typically claim that their moneymaking abilities are because of their elaborate, inventive investments or business process. Because of word-of-mouth advertising about this great “opportunity,” new depositors are quick to jump on board. Usually a Ponzi scheme will not last very long. It eventually collapses since it was based on something that either never existed, or was grossly overvalued.

A major attraction of a Ponzi scheme is that it appears to be a high paying investment opportunity. As a passive type of program, a person does not need to work in order to generate great profits. The impression that people are given is that they need only to put their money into it and wait for the money to come rolling in!

Unfortunately, only a few “early birds” actually make money, which they actually receive by fraud, while everyone else loses most of or maybe their entire investment!

CYCLING PROGRAMS

Most people who are looking for ways to make money, truly just want to find something that is legitimate and is within their ability to do. A conventional business generally requires a large investment and long working hours. Network marketing, even though it is also a business that takes investment of time and money before a great deal of success is realized, has the advantages of being able to work part time and takes far less investment than does a conventional business. Unfortunately, with network marketing or MLM, there is a lot of hype. Often people are made to believe that they should be making lots of money in a short time. Since that usually doesn’t happen with MLM, as in any other legitimate business, people may begin looking for something that has less involvement and is more “passive” in nature.

So along comes an offer of a promise to make money in a short period of time. All you have to do is invest your money…and wait. There may or may not be some sort of product involved. A product of some sort at least keeps the program within “legal” limits. The so-called product may be leads that have been used over & over again, or some other internet thing that a person would not normally spend their hard-earned bucks for.

The promoters can be very skilled at making a person think that they are getting into a type of investment that really pays off and, indeed, a person … provided they are in “early” enough, does get paid. Investors are lead to believe that the “investment” is what is paying off, when in reality, it may be they are being paid from new people investing their money, or even may be getting part of their own money back.

These high-yield investment programs (HYIP’s) are actually much like the “cycling” programs only they are not called that. Most of those programs last no longer than about 6 months or so, and then collapse.

Then there are the programs that tell you that you will get paid when you cycle, or it is your turn. At first it takes only a few days to “cycle” and your money may double. The longer the program lasts, the longer it takes for a person to cycle. Eventually the cycle program collapses and the promoter starts another one. Most likely the same people that got in early on one program, will be the ones who get in early on the next program, and so on. A few people make real money, while the majority of folks are left holding the bag!

The promoter of this kind of program, I believe, is running an illegal Ponzi scheme! Even the people who get in early and make money are actually making money at the expense of those who invested later on, and may be in legal trouble, at least in the United States.

From the little bit of experience I have had with both the HYIP’s and the cycling programs, even though at the time I believed each was probably legitimate, a close analysis now tells me different. In general, I would advise anyone to stay far, far away from HYIP’s and from cycling programs.

However, I believe there may be some exceptions to the above information: there are at least a couple companies which have been around for several years that offer plans to their members to help them in advertising or obtaining leads for their business. It should be noted, though, that the members purchase product from these companies each month. Their compensation plan is not based on when they “cycle.”

Dear reader, face up to it, if you are going to develop an income in a legitimate business, you will need to be prepared to work, invest some money, and allow time before you realize the income of your dreams!

INTRODUCTION
Many of the writers are of the opinion that the prevailing depression 2008 is the recessive phase of a trade cycle. I don’t know whether it is so or the depression 2008 is a different phenomenon. All the same, I would like to recall the period when the world economies were in search of ways and means to control the then prevailing inflationary pressure. If that problematic inflation was a consequence of some trade cycle running that time, the present depressive trend may well be a consequence of the successive downward phase (after boom) of the same trade cycle. Then, it needs not be taken as a new thing.
An economy is likely to encounter many disturbances whereby all methods of maintaining employment and national income as steadily rising involve certain difficulties and weaknesses depending upon the nature and size of the disturbances. The periodical rise and fall in the level of economic activities, employment and national income is the most frequent type of the disturbances and is known as trade cycle. This type of cyclical fluctuations has been experienced by all industrial countries since the nineteenth century. While governments may have the greatest difficulty in overcoming the effects of major structural changes in the economy, they should be able at least to mitigate cyclical fluctuations by means of suitable monetary and fiscal measures.

SAMUELSON’S THEORY OF TRADE CYCLE
Among various theories of trade cycle propounded by different economists the theories base on the principle of accelerator allied with the multiplier principle have paved the way for more accurate analysis of trade cycle. Economists like R. F. Harrod, A. H. Hansen, J. R. Hicks and P. A. Samuelson have made fairly successful attempts to establish that the interaction of the accelerator with the multiplier is capable, under certain circumstances, of generating continuous cyclical fluctuations.
Paul A. Samuelson studied the multiplier-accelerator interaction in greater detail and derived a model in which a series of equations expresses the way in which the two forces interact to affect income, consumption and investment over a time. According to him, the multiplier and the accelerator combine in a series of endless possibilities depending upon the values of the multiplier and the accelerator. In other words, the initial increase in autonomous investment (Ia) works through the multiplier (K) to cause an increase in income (Y), say dY = K x Ia {where, K=1/(1 – c) and c represents the marginal propensity to consume (MPC)], and this increase in income (dY) brings an increase in consumption (C), say dC = c x dY (where c which works through the accelerator (w) to cause a change in induced investment (In), say dIn = w x dC, which, in turn, further increases income by K x dIn and so the action and the reaction continue. The process is super cumulative because one initial increase (or decrease) will set off a snow-ball effect where income and investment interact to magnify the impact at each successive level. Samuelson used lagged functions for investment and consumption and derived income function which gave various patterns of change in income level, for different combinations of the values of the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) and the accelerator, for a given change in autonomous investment (government spending).

EXTENUATION OF CYCLICAL FLUCTUATIONS
The present study aims at finding out the condition related to the change in autonomous investment that extenuates the cyclical fluctuations by making plain the ebbs and flows of a trade cycle, explained by Samuelson’s model. The change in autonomous investment in accordance to the so derived condition will provide the steady rate of income growth.
The income function derived by Samuelson reads as –
Yt = Gt + cYt-1 + w (Ct – Ct-1)

Where, Yt = Aggregate income or output during a period t.
Gt = Autonomous investment incurred by government during the period t, c = Marginal propensity to consume (MPC), w = Capital output ratio or the accelerator and Ct = Aggregate consumption during the period t.
Yt-1 and Ct-1 denote the income and the consumption, respectively, in previous period.
Therefore, Yt+1 = Gt+1 + cYt + w(Ct+1 – Ct)

But, Ct = cYt-1 and Ct+1 = cYt

Therefore, Yt+1 = Gt+1 + cYt + cwYt – cwYt-1

Or, Yt+1 – Yt = Gt+1 + cYt + cwYt – cwYt-1 – Yt

Or, Yt+1 – Yt = Gt+1 + cw(Yt – Yt-1) – (1– c)Yt

Or, dYt+1= Gt+1 + cw dYt – (1– c)Yt
[Where, dYt+1 = Yt – Yt-1 and dYt = Yt – Yt-1]

Or, dYt+1 – dYt = Gt+1 + (cw – 1) dYt – (1– c)Yt

dYt+1 and dYt represent the rise in income in (t + 1)th and (t)th period, respectively. If the cyclical fluctuations in the level of income are extenuated, there will be established a steady rate of income growth.
Thus, dYt+1 = dYt

Or, dYt+1 – dYt = 0

Therefore, Gt+1 + (cw – 1) dYt – (1– c)Yt = 0

Or, Gt+1 = (1– c)Yt – (cw – 1) dYt

Or, Gt+1 = (1– c)Yt – (cw – 1)(Yt – Yt-1)

Or, Gt+1 = (2 – cw – c)Yt – (1 – cw)Yt-1

Or, Gt+1 = AYt – BYt-1 —————(1)

Where, A = 2 – cw – c

And, B = 1 – cw

Relation (1) represents the condition in which the cyclical fluctuations in the level of income, as explained by Samuelson’s model, are extenuated.
The values of c (= 0.6) and w (= 1.5), which are related to the numerical example used by Samuelson to show how the cyclical fluctuations in the level of income are generated, give the values of A and B equal to 0.5 and 0.1, respectively.

Therefore, Gt+1 = 0.5Yt – 0.1Yt-1 ————-(2)

If the initial rate of annual autonomous investment (G) is Rs 40 which is changed to Rs 50 in (t)th period and if the rate of autonomous investment (G) is planned as per the relation (2) for (t + 1)th and onward periods, the level of income will experience a steady growth as shown in the table given in the end hereof.

CONCLUSION
It is widely accepted that the interaction between multiplier and accelerator causes the generation of trade cycles and that the Samuelson’s model is the true explanation of the network. If it is so, the extenuation of cyclical fluctuations on account of trade cycles becomes possible, fully and easily, by regulating the autonomous investment according to the relation (1) explained hereinabove. In this way the myth of bringing out the economy from the depths of depression becomes converted into reality. This will enable the national income to grow without fluctuations on account of a trade cycle caused by the multiplier-accelerator interaction. Therefore, it may well be concluded that if the depression 2008 is the recessive phase of a trade cycle, it can easily be treated in the way suggested above.

The table showing the planned autonomous investment and the stabilized growth of national income

 

Period

 

Autonomous

Investment

(G)

Consumption

 

(C)

Induced Investment

(In)

Income

 

(Y)

t-2

40

60

0

100

t-1

40

60

0

100

t

50

60

0

110

t+1

45

66

9

120

t+2

49

72

9

130

t+3

53

78

9

140

t+4

57

84

9

150

t+5

61

90

9

160

t+6

65

96

9

170

t+7

69

102

9

180

t+8

73

108

9

190

t+9

77

114

9

200

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

 

REFERENCES
1. Brooman F.S., ‘Macro Economics.’
2. Gupta R.D., ‘Keynes and Post-Keynesian Economics.’
3. Harvey J. and Johnson M., ‘Introduction to Macro Economics.’
4. Kurihara K.K., ’Monetary Theory and Public Policy.’
5. Rana K.C. and Verma K.N., ‘Macro-Economic Analysis.’

Whether you are an avid cyclist, or just like to take an occasional jaunt on your bike, your knee aches and pains when cycling can cause you to “put on the brakes”, if you know what we mean… Cycling is a great form of exercise; considered by many individuals to be a great way to stay in shape. Unfortunately, it can quickly become an unpleasant chore if your knees are sore. The pain problems may start while you are riding, or it may not occur until after the ride is through. Moreover, it can last anywhere from a few minutes to hours on end. Rest may help, but can certainly infringe on your desire to cycle. Some cyclists ice their knees after they dismount their bikes, and this may also help reduce the pain. But, if your knee pain happens when you bike, you already know it is not exactly practical to ride around with ice bags strapped to your legs? Over the counter pain medications (such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen) may also help reduce the knee aches when cycling, but they may offer only a temporary fix. – Speak with your physician before using any medications. So, if you experience knee ache when cycling, aside from the temporary solutions listed above, and aside from giving up the sport entirely, what options do you have? The solution to the dilemma of your knee aches may be something as simple and affordable as a knee brace. You should seriously take a moment to think about this knee pain relief option. Knee supports can help reduce your knee pain because of the meaningful support that they provide, and they are not super expensive either. Nor do they have to be cumbersome and heavy. Positives to say the least… If you experience discomfort in your knees when cycling, whether it is consistent, or whether it comes and goes, you should always seek the advice of a qualified physician to determine the cause of the pain. Knee pain problems when biking can come from many different causes. Most likely, though, it is caused either by inflammation within the knee join, or wear and tear on the knee cap and/or the cartilage disc underlying the knee cap (such as found with chondromalacia patella). Meniscus tears can also be at the root of your current pain issues. There are a host of other, possible causes of discomfort when cycling and only a qualified professional can properly diagnose the cause of your particular symptoms. Still, whatever the cause of the symptoms, a brace can help alleviate the ache when cycling. A support is designed to cradle the knee, fitting snugly around your leg. This will help to relieve the stress on the joint that may cause your knee ache when cycling. Moreover, the knee brace can help keep the patella in its proper place as it tracks over the joint during activity. When the knee is properly positioned, and the excess stress is taken off the joint itself, the inflammation often associated with knee ache when cycling can also be reduced, thus helping to reduce the achy sensations that have been slowing you down. Knee supports come in several different styles and sizes, to fit your personal support needs. Most great knee supports are not custom made anymore, and are typically very affordable, especially if you search online for them. All are designed to offer mobility and added support to help keep you cycling. In the end, you are the one that has to live with the knee pain if you do not become proactive. Hopefully it will disappear by itself, but when it does not, you should consider a knee support because it is a low cost option that you can use right away to help stabilize your knee.

People often want to know whether they can change their existing ducted evaporative system over to a new ducted reverse cycle (HVAC) air conditioning system by using all the same ductwork and outlets. The simple answer is no. Below is a list of reasons as to why you cannot simply change the system over to become a reverse cycle (HVAC) system. 

Firstly, reverse cycle grilles (or outlets) are usually placed near windows and away from the doors. This allows the air to condition the heat/cold that comes in directly through the windows. The airflow for a reverse cycle system should also take the longest route back from the outlet to the return air grille. If an outlet was placed next to a door, the air would simply be sucked back underneath the door towards the return air grille and the room would have hot spots near the window. 

The problem with evaporative grilles is that they are usually located by the doorways. The evaporative units airflow should take the longest possible path through a room and out of the window. If they were located right next to a window, the air would simply flow out the window and hot spots would be caused near the doorways and in the far side of rooms. 

Due to these reasons it is not advised to place reverse cycle grilles in a same spot where a ducted evaporative grille was previously located. Although it is possible to do it will severely lessen the effectiveness and capacity of the system. The best option is to start fresh and put the new reverse cycle grilles in the correct desired location as required. 

However, this would mean you would need to patch and paint the holes in the ceiling left by the removal of the old evaporative grilles and this can be a costly job. Another option would be to add extra grilles as needed. You can consider leaving grilles near the doorways from the evaporative system and add extra grilles by the windows if needed. 

Another problem encountered when swapping the systems over is that the old ducting cannot be used. The ducting used for evaporative units is far larger than that required for reverse cycle ducted air conditioners. Evaporative units use ducting around the 16-20 inch mark. This large size duct is used by evaporative air conditioners as the air is extremely fast blowing and it aims to draw in air to the amount of 40 times the cubic area of your house per hour. 

Reverse cycle ducting is mostly only around the 12 inch mark in diameter. This is because reverse cycle air conditioning is far slower moving than it’s evaporative counterpart. Evaporative ducting is also usually only slightly if at all insulated. Reverse cycle ducting should always be insulated by a minimum of 2 inches to preserve the cooling/heating and to prevent condensation from occurring. So if you want to swap your current evaporative system over to a new reverse cycle ducted system, you are best to start from scratch. 

Be sure to get quite a few quotes for the cost to patch and paint the ceiling before starting any work. And if air conditioning contractors tell you they can simply swap a system over using the existing duct and outlets, ask lots of questions and be wary as they may not be around to help you out once you have paid good money and your system is not working effectively. In some cases using the existing grilles can be an option, but it would make the system less effective.

As a teacher with 21 years of experience, I can honestly say that travel is the best education any child could ever receive. Many people feel that children are better off sitting in a classroom, but I believe getting out to see and experience the world is the best way to learn.

There about a million reasons why travel in general is good for kids, and a million more why traveling on bicycle is even better! Here are some reasons why I believe travel (by bike) is great for kids and parents!

* Determination. One of the most important skills for people today is the idea of sticking with a task even though it may be hard. Our children have learned that task when they try to climb a tough hill or battle fierce headwinds. They’ve learned that by taking baby steps they can reach their goal – it may take a while, but they’ll get there!

* Some days are not so nice. In life, some days are not all we want them to be, but we plod through. On our journey, some days are cold or rainy or snowy or blistering hot – but we push on knowing that MOST days are nice. Isn’t that how life is?

* Earth holds no boundaries. If a child can ride his bike across the state, country, or world, is there anything he can’t do?

* Religion, color, or language does not define a person. When children play with others from various cultures, they discover humanity’s similarities rather than focusing on the differences.

* Unplugged. Kid’s today spend way too much time in front of idiot boxes of various sorts. Getting out on the bike and into Mother Nature provides all kinds of other playthings.

* Creativity. On the bike, you can’t carry a lot of toys. Children learn to be creative with what they find – rocks, sticks, pine cones, berries…

* Learning in context. We all know how hard it is to learn a bunch of random facts and figures when we don’t have the context to place them in our minds. Travel can provide that context so the learning means that much more.

* Active. In today’s world of overweight children, getting out on the bike may be the best gift you could give your child.

Looking for tips and advice on bicycling with children, then visit www.familyonbikes.org to find the advice on family travel and how you can get out in the world too.