Walter
Walter was my father
Technology Has Not Served Philately Well
Normally, technological changes reduce economic costs and create social benefits. But technological advances have not worked out very well for stamp collecting and not only in the more apparent ways. First, beginning in the 1950’s postage meters began to reduce the number of postage stamps that were used on letters. This reduced collectors
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Zero Sum Game
In economic theory, zero sum games refer to activities in which the net is fixed and any gain for one party means a diminution for another. In medieval times agricultural yields were fixed so if the lord of the manor took more grain from his land, the peasants ate less. If your grandson takes a
Discipline
Discipline should be one of the cardinal virtues (though it is related to fortitude which is one). Discipline is the ability to work, though rewards seem slim and to continue in a course of action when the fun and the initial glow begin to fade. It is the the skill that creates accomplishment, builds careers and marriages
Cliche Errors
Most philatelic Errors are printing errors-that is, errors that occur after the stamp plates have been created and are produced during the printing process. Such errors as inverts and errors of color are examples of errors of this type. There is another class of errors that are perhaps more interesting and are created by an error
Stamp Shows
Stamp shows have become rather hokey affairs in recent years. I remember taking the young woman who would later become my wife to the International show Interphil in 1976 and being proud to be part of a hobby that could boast an exhibition of tens of thousands of square feet with thousands of exhibition frames. True,
Philately as a World Wide Hobby
There is no other hobby that is as transnational and pervasive as Philately. In scores of nations, millions of people collect the postage stamp issues of not only own their country but of most of the other countries of the world as well. And collectors in different countries at different times still collect in substantially the
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Precancels
Precancellation on United States stamps has a long and varied history but, when collectors use the term, they mean stamps that were issued already cancelled by the Post Office for use on bulk rate mail. This was the predominant way that bulk rate and newspapers were carried between 1915-1935. After 1935, most of this type
Income Equality
Income equality is an economic measure of the relative wealth of citizens within a country. Countries with high levels of income equality have large middle classes and relatively small numbers of poor and very poor. This is usually accomplished by income transfers (called taxes and benefits by non economists). Wealthier and more successful people pay higher taxes