Bill Maher and Nobel Prize Winning Liberal Economist Can't Figure Out What 87 Times 5 Is
CAUTION: Remove all food, fluids, and flammables from proximity of your computer before proceeding. You've been warned.
HBO's Bill Maher and Nobel Prize-winning liberal economist Joseph Stiglitz on Friday actually couldn't calculate between the two of them how much 87 times 5 is (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):
Maher interviewed Stiglitz on Real Time right after his opening monologue.
During their discussion Maher told his guest, "I read this week that the cost of a ticket to Disneyland has gone up to $87. It used to be $12 in 1982. Now, if they were just keeping up with inflation, it would have gone up to just $28. But it went up to $87. Which means a family of five would cost?"
Maher then leaned and pointed toward Stiglitz expecting an answer from the Nobel laureate in economics.
After some laughter from the crowd, Stiglitz said, “A lot. A lot.”
“Come on,” replied Maher. “You got a Nobel Prize, man.”
With no answer forthcoming from his guest, Maher said, “A lot, like too much.”
“Yeah,” simply said the Nobel laureate in economics.
For those unfamiliar, Stiglitz is likely the most revered economist by the Left, probably even more so than New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.
Yet he couldn't do a simple arithmetic equation in his head that most elementary school kids could without batting an eye.
And you wonder why liberals have absolutely no grasp of economics.
To receive my articles hot off the presses follow me on Twitter ow.ly/btalc and Facebook ow.ly/btald.
— Noel Sheppard (@NoelSheppard) June 9, 2012
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Comments
This is not a slow news day.
Submitted by HelloDare on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:16am.
This is not a slow news day. Why is this a story?
I'm sorry
Submitted by Rukus on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 2:22am.
We aren't allowed to show two dumb-assed libs being dumb asses? Well, excuuuuuuuuuuse me! How's that for a story sparky?
Don't you love people who
Submitted by motherbelt on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 7:37am.
Don't you love people who come to NB with the idea that they should have a say in what is and isn't "suitable" to report on?
Note to HelloDare: No one has to justify, to you or anyone else, what they blog about.
Clearly HelloDare has no idea
Submitted by Free Stinker on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 11:48am.
Clearly HelloDare has no idea what Newsbusters stated mission is.
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
Help me
Submitted by Franksam on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 7:56am.
Post a link to your website that has only really important stories. I'll take a look.
"A lot, like too much"?
Submitted by Boudin on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:27am.
I mean it folks, is there a bigger creep then Pig? Pig makes millions ridiculing those who allow him to make those millions.
Damn Pig, did you really think, no one would notice,,,, creep!
Why the insult
Submitted by wingnut55 on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:29am.
Why insult a great comedy team like Laurel and Hardy with this goof? Can't you photo shop his face under that dunce cap?
Agreed
Submitted by misterbee241 on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 10:58am.
L&H were brilliant. Having said that, this picture is apropos.
And please Noel,
Submitted by Boudin on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:39am.
Never a Laurel & Hardy photo in association with pig Maher,, sacrilegious.
Thanks
Boudin
Submitted by Noel Sheppard on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 1:08am.
Boudin,
Oh come on. It's perfect. ns
And you didnt give the answer either
Submitted by Boudin on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:49am.
Are you an economist?
Do you mean like that math genius
Submitted by cocodrie on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:50am.
Do you mean like that math genius Joe Biden?
Jesus Loves You so much He died for you
To be honest
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:48am.
To be honest, I couldn't tell you the correct answer ether. I've been using electronic calculators for far too long. So I'm going to cut them some slack.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
CobraMan
Submitted by amyshulk on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 1:30am.
I just round up reduce & replace the zero so 87x5 becomes 9x5 = 45 = 450 - 3x5 = 15 = 435
OR 8x5 = 40 = 400 + 7x5 = 35 = 435.
I sold donuts back in the 70's with an old style cash register - I had to do all that simple math in my head and used tricks like those to add up all the assorted cents like 15, 18, 21, 25, etc. to get the total to input.
Ronald Reagan
Good trick
Submitted by Rukus on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 2:25am.
I use the 10's times/1's times trick too. Funny, it works EVERY time!
I'm only a high school grad
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 9:17am.
But I did get my diploma in 75, so I might have made it through public school before they went completely down the crapper. I did the 5 x 80 = 400 and 5 x 7 = 35 method.
From what I gather in some schools, kids don't have to be able to write out a multiplication table anymore. What a clever way to render the population incapable of understanding huge deficits.
Speaking of multiplication tables.
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 1:13pm.
Speaking of multiplication tables, I was terrible with those as a kid, and I still am, but I can recite the binary table all the way up to a gigabyte, go figure! I can even recite the octal table, which is base 8, and even the hex table, which is base 16. How many people can do that? But, when it comes to base ten, for some reason I'm lost.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Cobra
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 4:00pm.
I can't match any of those feats, but can still say the alphabet backwards real fast. I owe it to a 45 rpm record of Soupy Sales singing, "The Backwards Alphabet."
That may be a usefull talent
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 4:35pm.
If you ever get pulled over for a DUI, when they ask you to recite the alphabet, do it backwards!
By the way, my worst skill is spelling, while, paradoxically, my best skill is reading comprehension. I can spot most misspelled words almost instantly, but if I try to spell it myself, I fail just about every time. It's always been like that. I call it reverse dyslexia. I see the words just fine, but when they come out, when I try to write them, or even spell them verbally, it's all jumbled. Do you know anyone else like that?
If you ever saw a sample of my writing before I had a chance to run a spell checker and correct punctuations, you would be amazed. Some times, it's almost undecipherable. Even for myself.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Tugboat Phil
Submitted by amyshulk on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 1:45am.
I can do the Big mac song forwards & backwards - never tried the alphabet!
Ronald Reagan
Exactly what I did. I had it
Submitted by Antisocial-ism on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 6:35pm.
Exactly what I did. I had it figured out before I finished reading the headline. Of course I saw the 87 times 5 part of the headline first and then proceeded to read the whole thing.
I just use a calculator
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 11:43am.
"I just round up reduce & replace."
I just use a calculator. It's what we make them for. It's like with printing. How many people print by hand nowadays? Not me, I use a word processor and a printer.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
CobraMan
Submitted by amyshulk on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 1:42am.
I do crosswords too, should I stop? Both activities keep my sputtering mind somewhat agile.
Ronald Reagan
I don't see why, Amy
Submitted by CobraMan on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 3:39pm.
"I do crosswords too, should I stop?"
I don't see why. You can do them on a computer :-)
I do math, just not in my head. I have to know the correct formulas whether I do them on paper, on a calculator, or in my head, so it's not like I'm "cheating." I'm just far more accurate with a calculator. So what difference does it make?
Just as with letters, when I try to manipulate numbers in my head, they always get jumbled up. My answers are almost always incorrect. Even if I know pretty much what the correct answer is, the numbers get jumbled when I attempt to write them down, express them, so they're almost always wrong. It's been like that all my life. It doesn't matter how hard I try, or what "tricks" I use, like multiplication tables, the results are the same. They still get jumbled in my head when I try to express them. I know what the correct answer is, but I can't answer it correctly (a dichotomy if ever there was one!). So I pretty much have given up on it. Instead, I rely upon a calculator. That way, all I need to do is copy the answer, which is much easier for me. It's something I learned to accept a long time ago.
Look at it this way: I can't do crossword puzzles very well because the letters get jumbled as I attempt to write them down even though I know what word to use. I can speak the words, but I can't spell them. At the same time, I am very good at seek and finds. I know how the words are supposed to be spelled and I spot them quite easily no matter which direction the letters are positioned. It's not because I'm stupid, its because that's how my mind works. It's just how I am.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
CobraMan
Submitted by amyshulk on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 10:21pm.
Ah - I have a bit of that with numbers - I've always called it number dyslexia ;-P
I had to "re-learn" fractions because they made NO sense to me in what, 5th grade? Then in HS, I failed pre-algebra twice.
I also did so badly on one math section of the ASVAB while I did really well on the other math sections, they thought my recruiter somehow taught me how to cheat so they gave me a fully supervised "mini" ASVAB with different questions and I actually did better and raised my total - 96 I think?
Then after boot camp, while awaiting A school {electrician} they tested those of us waiting and sent us to remedial classes if needed. Me and a group of guys had a 2 week, basic to trig course. Once I *finally* caught on, it was easy, but if I don't use it, I quickly lose it.
When I qualified for college through the VA after my disability discharge, my math level was once again determined to be basic and I chewed up credits re-learning math.
My dad was a physicist for JPL {ie math whiz} and he considered me an idiot because math made no sense to me.
Now words? I love to read, do crosswords, and thought of being an English teacher because the grammar & spelling errors would jump out at me. But when I write, I question my own grammar/spelling all the time.
I have no problem with people learning how they best learn, and using whatever tools available, by the same token, I do like to stretch myself so I prefer to write out or do the math in my head, so I don't lose it like I have the higher levels.
Ronald Reagan
C'mon folks
Submitted by retrocon on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 11:46am.
they're liberals.
To a lib economist, the answer is dependent on many factors, such as who is president.
When Bush was POTUS, $87 x 5 = starving children of the middle class being deprived of the joys of Walt Disney by evil corporate America.
Under Obama, $87 x 5 is nuanced, but certainly Bush's fault. An unfortunate condition that may necessitate an Executive Order to ensure that all children under the age of 30 are entitled to subsidized access to the famous theme park.
Best comment yet!
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 6:49pm.
That's the best comment I heard yet! Good job!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
It's the technology crutch syndrome, Cobra...
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 11:02pm.
If the brain doesn't need to, it won't.
I still recall every home phone number assigned to our family over the past sixty years, beginning with a three-digit number, then four, then five, then seven, and finally ten. But I would be hard-pressed to recite the current cell phone numbers of my mom, son, siblings, and closest friends. [My wife's--that one's burned into my brain.] There's no need to memorize...just scroll and touch.
The ever-increasing prevalence of calculators--real and virtual, and having them literally at our fingertips--is producing a similar phenomenon regarding our mental dexterity with numbers and performing calculations 'in our head'.
Jer
Good evening Noel
Submitted by cocodrie on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:48am.
Thank you for doing what y'all can about it but we have more trolls on here than we have future democrat voters from down south.
Jesus Loves You so much He died for you
Good morning COCO,
Submitted by dyardley on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 11:35am.
You are so right. This is my actual first summer season on NB, as others have said, it looks like school is out and the kiddies are spoutin (Killa's obamaspeak) off. Should be interesting.
Math Department to Nobel Prize Winning Professor Stiglitz...
Submitted by shannon76 on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:51am.
"Papers, please. Papers..."
Noel...
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:58am.
Noel, it seems you have an admirer, who's somewhere around the age of six, I would estimate. I'm surprised his mommy let him stay up this late.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
little people
Submitted by Tjexcite on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 1:04am.
There reason they did not know, is they do not deal with such small numbers. They make that in 10 minutes and spend more in 2 minutes than the little people will for this once in a life time trip for that family of 5. Not just the entrance fee but the airplane tickets or a week in the car.
The easy way
Submitted by Marsh on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 1:12am.
87 x 10 = 870
870 /2= 435
I'm no math genius but I did this sans pen, paper. or calculator
I was easily able to do it in
Submitted by Darks Shadow Show on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 1:24am.
I was easily able to do it in my head, and I'm not the best when it comes to math. But it does indicate the larger problem: if liberals can't do simple math, how can we possibly trust them when it comes to taxes and government spending? And they've proven that indeed we can't. (Yet people keep voting for them! Ugh!)
Marsh
Submitted by amyshulk on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 1:31am.
lol - I forgot that one!
Ronald Reagan
Easier for me: 80x5=400 7x5 =
Submitted by Soldat44 on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 8:48am.
Easier for me:
80x5=400
7x5 = 35
Total 435
This reminds me of the story
Submitted by needle on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 9:51am.
This reminds me of the story about the rancher who kept track of his cattle by counting the legs and dividing by 4.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
Opps
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:57pm.
I didn't even think of that. Stupid calculators have ruined my math skills the same way spell checkers have ruined my spelling abilities. Now I understand what "atrophy" really means.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Cobra, atrophy is what happens to the thought ---
Submitted by matthewdean on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 7:13pm.
process when the school system insists that, in order to prevent any hurt feelings, everyone receives " a trophy."
MD
OK, wait!!! We ARE talkin'
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 3:03am.
OK, wait!!! We ARE talkin' (Obamaspeak) about ol' DonkeyFace here,right?? And we ARE talkin' about some 'Nobel' Prize winner too, right?? As in .................ALGORE, Jimmah Cahtah, Baraka Obama, etc. etc etc............wasn't Adolph Hitler nominated for one of these 'prizes'??? So...............are we to expect that these posers actually KNOW sumpin????? Hell, I went to the same school as our steaming pile of Kenyan Kow Krap, and even I can do this lightweight math in my little blue-collar peabrain............and I'll bet that Boy BlahBlah CAN'T!!!................and never COULD, either!!!! So what makes any of us think that a little sheet-stain like Maher, or this other useless has-been, could do it????
Easier way
Submitted by Scrap Iron in Texas on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 4:20am.
And this is how I did it,
10x87=870
Then half of that -435
Too easy.
And I, too, have been relying on calculators for too long.
If you rely on calcultors for...
Submitted by poseA on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 5:12am.
If you rely on a calculator for multiplication operations where one of the factors is 10 or less, you should stop.
Why?
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:53pm.
Why? Do you stop driving if the distance is less than, say, a mile?
By the way, as you seem to find it so easy to do "multiplication operations where one of the factors is 10 or less," then tell me this: what is 9 to the power of 9? That's a multiplication operation, so you should be able to do it in your head, without the use of a calculator, or even a piece of paper. Care to give it a try?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Another thing these numbskulls should realized
Submitted by syvyn11 on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 5:31am.
Is that Disneyland is bigger now than in 82. And that upkeep and maintenance on the rides are extremely expensive.
The REAL question
Submitted by KornKing on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 7:59am.
Is not what 87x5 is, but how the deer and the bears feel about it
LOL
Submitted by needle on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 9:53am.
...and don't forget Mickey and Goofy.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
You've all missed the real point..
Submitted by MPH on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 9:14am.
Government reported inflation numbers are deliberately too low.
I read a recent article in which they discussed the price of Oreo cookies. Since 1972, according to the government, inflation has gone up about 500%. Yet in that same time, the price per Oreo cookies has risen 1,000%. They haven't changed the cookie, so why the doubling in price (after adjusting for inflation)? Or is the real inflation number higher than the government reports?
Disneyland hasn't changed much since 1982 (no room to expand, for instance). So if the cost of a ticket has gone from $12 to $87, what has changed? Well, one thing that might have changed is DIsney used to sell ticket books with A, B, C, D, and E tickets in them. There were many A tickets, and few E tickets. The most popular attractions required E tickets. Now DIsneyland just charges an admission fee, and the most popular attractions have the longest lines. So some of the change in price is due to this change (I'm not sure when the change occurred). Some may be due to increase demand caused by an increasing population. But the rest is due to inflation. So the real question is: how much of the difference between the reported increase to $28 that would be solely due to inflation, and the actual increase to $87, is due to the underreporting of inflation? And did Bill and Stiglitz even entertain such an idea?
It's really cool how people do math
Submitted by Someone Said on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 9:25am.
Even cooler is how everyone is explaining it. Bor-ing old people.
Really old people, like me
Submitted by Chaitealover on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 2:09pm.
would explain this way:
87
x5
5x7 = 35, put down the 5 and carry the 3
3
87
x5
5
5x8 = 40, plus 3 = 43
87
x5
435
Of course, having learned times tables in elementary school, one doesn't really have to write down a problem this easy.
Chai
Really Old People?
Submitted by nanabanana on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 9:22pm.
Thank you, Chaitealover, I was beginning to think I was the only "really old person", as that's just the way I did it, in my head. :-)
Lol!
Submitted by Djinn1975 on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 12:16pm.
This method has nothing to do with age, it's the way you learned it. I am a few years shy of 40 and this is the way I leaned it and it's the way I do it in my head. I attribute it to two influences, 1) a very good a-hole friend of mine who is way smarter than me that would challenge, ridicule, repeat, until I got it right, and 2) the old school education that you can only find in rural red states, you know, the 3 R's, corporal punishment, the good old days. Rote learning multiplication tables is usually the best way. Think flashcards, you see a problem and with practice, bang, you see it in your head, it becomes automatic. We truly are a world reliant on machines to do our thinking.
I do
Submitted by CobraMan on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 4:01pm.
"Of course, having learned times tables in elementary school, one doesn't really have to write down a problem this easy."
I do, even though I was taught the multiplication tables as a child. Not everyone can do math in their head. It doesn't mean they're stupid, or lazy. It just means they're different. For people like myself, it's not "easy" at all. It's almost impossible. That's probably why calculators were invented in the first place. If everyone could do simple math in their head, we wouldn't need simple calculators.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Chai,
Submitted by dyardley on Mon, 06/18/2012 - 12:18pm.
Thats the way I learned it too. Was beginning to think I was the only one.
Relying Too Much On Calculators Today
Submitted by Rikki_Doxx on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 10:36am.
Try 870 divided by two - 400+35=435 and I haven't had my morning coffee yet.
well... to be fair...
Submitted by c5then on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 10:47am.
Stiglitz didn't understand the concept because he thinks that the price everyone pays should depend on their net worth and not be absolute. As far as Maher is concerned, he is just an idiot.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
Pay attention Bill
Submitted by Free Stinker on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 11:52am.
87 x 5 = ?
8 x 5 = 40, add a 0 since the 8 represents the tens digit.
7 x 5 = 35
400
+35
435
So simple, only a liberal can't do it.
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
That's a clown question, bro
Submitted by ex buff e-dub on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:50pm.
That's a clown question, bro
I wonder if Maher even has a
Submitted by ex buff e-dub on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:51pm.
I wonder if Maher even has a clue regarding the Mets payroll. Moron.
Give the economist a break, people!
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 1:03pm.
Give the economist a break, people! He didn't have several multimillion dollar, government sponsored studies to rely upon! That's totally unfair! Heh.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
C'mon
Submitted by Delsa on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 2:08pm.
Gives these guys a break.
They didn't have there calculators.....and that is hollywood