Holiday Tipping

I never realized this was such a big deal, but apparently there are even rules regarding 'Holiday Tipping.' I guess it really does make sense to give a little extra something to those who provide you with outstanding service day in and day out all year long. Below are a few guides to tipping etiquette this holiday season:

Reward those who make a difference.
Start by looking at people whose work has had the greatest impact on you, like those who take care of your home and your family, particularly your children. One housekeeper no longer takes on regular clients who never tip, because he's working for money, not the love of Joy. This isn't always the case, however many who do work have to pay bills just as you and appreciate the thoughtfulness and recognition for hard work.

Think about those whose services you use frequently.
They may include a beautician, a barber, a doorman, or the newspaper carrier.
In the past few years, more clients have begun to give gifts in lieu of cash. This is probably best considering it is illegal for US Postal workers to accept cash.

Include those who go out of their way.
Those who do things for you that normally wouldn't be expected of them are the ones you really want to focus on.

So this year, think of those who do the most for you and consider giving a little extra something to say thank you for 'a job well done.'

http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv4.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=513403&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=162679&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=333147

Ridge Resigns Homeland Security Post

Tuesday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge submitted his resignation to President Bush. Because the Department of Homeland Security was new in 2001, Ridge was the first chief of the department and became secretary in 2003. He has watched over six national "orange alerts", which is when government raises security because of concern that an attack may be coming. He said he will stay on the job until February 1. Other people lined up for the new position include Bernard Kerik (the former New York City police commissioner who helped rebuild Iraq's police), Joe Allbaugh (former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director), Mike Leavitt (Environmental Protection Agency Administrator), and Fran Townsend (White House homeland security advisor). The other cabinet members that are leaving include Attorney General John Ashcroft, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

I think that it is strange that six Cabinet figures in the Bush administration will be replaced, among other changes in the administration. It seems like a lot of changes at once, and I am wondering if this will have a positive or a negative effect on his administration and the economy.

Bush Chose New Commerce Secretary

President Bush appointed Carlos Gutierrez as the new commerce secretary. Gutierrez is the chief executive officer of Kellogg Co. Bush is working on replacing his economic advisers. Gutierrez was born in Cuba and moved to the U.S. when he was six years old. When speaking of Gutierrez, Bush said that he thinks Gutierrez understands the complete world of business at every level, which makes sense because Gutierrez has been on every rung of the ladder. He started out working at as a truck driver for Kellogg in Mexico City and worked his way up to becoming the executive officer of Kellogg. Since becoming chief executive officer of Kellogg, he has helped Kellogg sales rise 43%. He is living the American dream. Gutierrez's responsibilities will include improving America's manufacturing sector and helping to administrate the changes in social security and the tax system. The article also mentions that even though Gutierrez isn't a loyalist to Bush, he still shares the presidents' values. He said that he " believes in [Bush'] call for a vibrant, growing entrepreneurial society, where everyone has the opportunity to experience the joy and the pride of ownership, where everyone can contribute and everyone can benefit".

I think that Gutierrez is a great candidate for the Commerce Post because he obviously knows a lot about business. He worked his way up from being a truck driver for Kellogg's, delivering Frosted Flakes to various places in Mexico City, to becoming the chief executive officer of the entire company. He is great proof that hard work does pay off. Since he has experienced all aspects of the business world, I think that he will do all that he can to help out people in every level of work. Because Gutierrez was born in Cuba, his nomination adds to Bush's diverse cabinet, which will allow him to get several different points of view when it is time for him to make a decision. I think Gutierrez was a great choice.

Drilling new oil fields in Alaska

This article says that the government has allowed for the first drilling to take place in the national petroleum reserve in Alaska. This will allow the United States to increase our production of oil which is the primary source of fuel to power various types of machinery. The question that I have is if this will have any effect on the price of a barrel of oil (or gallon of gas). Drilling for this oil should increase the supply of oil in the world but I am wondering by how much and if it will be significant enough to lower the price of crude since so much is already produced.

Stocks End Lower as Fears of Falling Dollar

Stocks end low Monday, November 29, 2004 as investors worried that the weakening dollar would establish inflation and hurt the overall economy. This concern also affect the holiday shopping season.

Declining issues are a lot, which contains 1.79 billion shares that increased from 631 million in Friday's holiday-shortened session. There are more than the advancers by nearly 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange

I know that dollar has been dropping for several months. But the weakening dollar was actually helped the export, which was good for the domestic products. Therefore, stocks were rising in the past couple of months. But now it started declining during the holiday period. Why that happened? There’s something that I don’t understand, I think the dropping dollar might helped the export, and the foreign investors might invest more, or buy more US stock. That kind of trade should help the stock market as what it was like in past a few months. I think there might be many other reasons for the declining stock market; and what the news says make sense to me that people didn’t consume that much for this holiday as what the retailers expected because of the fear of the inflation.

The fact is that the retail stocks were lower even the holiday shopping increased the sales for most of the retailers over the thanksgiving weekend. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said that its sales were lower than expected. As well as Target Corp. dropped 31 cents to $51.90, J.C. Penney & Co. dropped 65 cents to $39.91, Sears Roebuck & Co. dropped $1.88 to $52.42, and Kmart Holding Corp. fell $5.38 to $102.01.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 46.33 or 0.44 percent, to 10,475.90. And it had been down more than 105 points earlier in the session. Moreover, the government bond also dropped according to the sell off on Wall Street. That’s because of the fears of foreign bondholders that giving up. Treasury bills as the dollar continue to dropping. Ten-year treasury notes fell 71.875 cents to $99.34375, along with the yield rising from 4.23 percent to 4.33 percent. And the Fed is expected to raise the benchmark interest rate to 2.25 percent.

In contrast, the sales of electronics kept tech stocks slightly higher for the session. Apple Computer Inc. raised $3.89, or 6.03 percent, to $68.44 after Merrill Lynch analysts said that holiday sales of its iPod music player would give the computer and electronics company a strong boost. Merrill Lynch raised its price target on Apple from $66 to $77per share. IBM Corp. and Sony Corp. have worked together on a new semiconductor specifically designed for home entertainment products with limited production. IBM raised 78 cents to $95.50, as well as Sony raised 40 cents to $36.37.

For the oversea issue, the stocks are generally raising as the dollar is weakening. Japan's Nikkei stock average raised 1.33 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 closed up 0.18 percent, France's CAC-40 slipped 0.04 percent for the session, and Germany's DAX index fell 0.18 percent.

Farm Bureau survey shows big drop in Thanksgiving food prices

When you enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with your family members, have you think about how much money did your family pay for the dinner ?
The survey showed that the cost of 13 basic items found on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table decreased from $37.43 in 2003 to $34.91 in 2004. This is the lowest price recorded by the survey since 2000, when the cost of the meal averaged $34.87. IFB volunteers scattered around the state collect the data for the survey at their local grocery stores.
Turkey itself dropped in price to 83 cents per pound, compared to $1.10 in 2003, which means that the price of a 17-pound turkey dropped from $18.17 to $14.11. This is the lowest price for this Thanksgiving staple since 1997, when turkey cost about 80 cents/pound, and it’s identical to the price shoppers paid in 1995.
“Farm prices go up and down depending on supply and demand,” noted Carolyn Hegel, IFB second vice president. “Most people’s income either continues to rise or stays the same. Low prices are wonderful for consumers, but may not be the best for farm families since they are often associated with lower farm income. “We Americans really take our abundant food supply for granted, but Thanksgiving is a good time to remember what we do have, and that it all starts with farmers,” Hegel added.
In addition to turkey, decreases were recorded for rolls, which dropped from $2.66 for two dozen to $2.60 and 16 ounces of frozen peas, down by 8 cents to $1.16. In addition, two items were unchanged in price: 5 pounds of potatoes for $1.84 and 1 pound of sweet potatoes, 93 cents.
Eight items in the market basket increased in price, most by 10 or 20 cents but none by more than 50 cents: a 14-ounce bag of stuffing, which increased by 49 cents to $2.47; a 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix, up by 10 cents to $1.17; two frozen pie shells, up 14 cents to $1.76; a 1-pound bag of carrots, up 12 cents to 81 cents; celery, up 15 cents to $1.34; 1 gallon of whole milk, up 34 cents to $2.84; cranberries, up 12 cents per 12-ounce bag to $1.75; and one-half pint whipping cream, which rose by 22 cents to $1.59.
The IFB survey was first conducted in 1993 when the average cost of a Thanksgiving meal for a family of 10 was $32.50. Average prices from each year the survey has been conducted are listed below.
1993 – $32.50 1999 – $37.77
1994 – $30.51 2000 – $34.87
1995 – $31.35 2001 – $37.72
1996 – $34.07 2002 – $38.62
1997 – $31.85 2003 – $37.43
1998 – $31.98 2004 – $34.91
From the article, we can see that the main food for the thanksgiving dinner really decrease a lot, people can buy more with the same money than usual. Are the merchants really kind? We find that the price of some dairy food also increased. According to consumers psychology, people tend to consider less about price during the festival. Especially, they already bought some food with cheap price, they may not care too much about buying some food with higher price. May be these foodstuff with heigher price are complements for some necessary food. So I think merchants had never lose. The average cost of thanksgiving meal had a big change since 1999. What is the reason for this? May be some political reasons?

Twelve Days

Every year a bank in Pittsburgh tabulates the cost of purchasing the items of the Twelve Days of Christmas, this year the total comes to $66,334, an increase from the $65,264 the items would have cost last year.

What I found to be particularly interesting is the difference between the cost of the nine ladies dancing verses the eight maids-a-milking. Each dancer is paid around $488.89 where as one maid-a-milking earns the sum of $5.15. The article continues describing how skilled work has steadily increased in wages where as the unskilled labor of a milkmaid has remained low over the years.

Also touched upon is the declining US dollar when comparing the cost of three French hens, last year they totaled $15 now the trio comes to $45.

Why do you think giving the Twelve Days has increased $1070 over one year?

The article can be found at Yahoo! via the following:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041129/ap_on_bi_ge/twelve_days_cost

You don't have to be as stuffed as the turkey

Lots of people over the holidays cheated on their diets. With another holiday almost here it will happen agian. People will gorge theirselves and promise to stop when the ball drops for the New Year. Seems to be that the demand these days is to diet so here are a few solutions to overeating. Medical director of the weight-loss Web site Diet.com and a professor at Northwestern University School of Medicine, groups holiday overeaters into three categories: mindless munchers, heavy portioners and emotional eaters.

If you happen to be a muncher it is recomended that you avoid buffets and little foods such as dish candy.

If you have problems with portions, they recomend to get a smaller plate and to eat slower. Also, don't load up your fork while your still chewing. By eating slower you have more time to realize when you really are full. I myself tend to be a heavy portioner overeater during the holidays : )

If you eat when you are emotional, they suggest that you create a list of things other than food that make you feel good. When a "breakdown binge" is about to happen use the list to help you through it.

These are just suggestions to help you control yourselves over the holidays. For those of you who diet hard core this site also has more in depth ideas to help you stay true to your diets. Ladies enjoy.

The More You Make, The More You Pay?

It seems that with the rising cost of getting an education, graduate students are looking at the expected career incomes to help decide what field they want to enter. For the expensive private schools, getting a degree in a lower paying job is becoming less of an option. But what can we do about the problem?

Former labor secretary Robert B. Reich has formulated a plan that will allow students to follow their dreams, even if they result in lower-paying careers. His plan is that the payback on a graduate student's loans would be a percentage of what their annual salary would be over a 10-15 year period. In simpler terms, the more you make, the more you pay back. All of the money would go into a general lending fund for other graduate students. Now this may seem fine to the social worker or teacher, but what about the law student or doctor? The idea is to be unselfish and support the thought to let other people follow their dreams instead of worry about paying back the cost of their education.

The idea seems rather far-fetched, since we know that the common trait of American people is not unselfishness. But another thought is that if ways continue like they are, the amount of students entering fields with lower paying jobs will decrease, resulting a shortage of teachers in public schools, lower paid physicians, ect. But what if the idea was implemented? Would this cause too much of an increase in the lower paying jobs, which might result in the payback of student loans being lower than the actual cost of education? If only there was an easier solution...

For many retailers, holiday sales tepid

With one of the biggest holiday shopping weekends of the year, the numbers are in and it seems that stores like Wal-Mart seemed to struggle, where Sears and JcPenney did well. Sales were said to be strong on Friday but seemed to weaken as the weekend wore on. Are Wal-Marts woes due to the aggressive advertising of other companies by offering special purchases and pricing or because there were no must haves in apparel or toys for Wal-Mart to carry. Other areas where they lost some shoppers were in the main attractions such as electronics, particularly flat-screen TVs and DVD players where other stores seemed to clean up. This was an interesting article because it seems that Wal-Mart always does good and never seems to struggle during the holidays. Do shoppers shop for the best deals for more brand named items on the big sale days and just hit Wal-Mart whenever they have time? Do there numbers reflect how busy Wal-mart always seems to be? Maybe everyone had the same idea to skip Wal-Mart because they figured it would be so busy. I myself don't enjoy shopping especially when there are alot of people there at the same time.

Krispy Kreme Stocks Drop

Anyone who watches the stock market knows that the values are constantly changing. They rise and fall for many different reasons, many having to do with the economy. However, have you ever heard of stocks falling because of a diet? The carb-counter crazies may be partly at fault for the 16% decrease in the value of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. New diets and higher interest in "healthy" foods have caused consumers to be more weary of the junk food that they eat. A regular glazed doughnut has 200 calories and 12 grams of fat.

Trouble in the company first arised in May and shortly after, many new store plans were cut and existing factories were shut down. Investors also believe that the company expanded too quickly when they began selling in gas stations, supermarkets, and other convenience stores. You can even buy Krispy Kremes through school fundraisers! Before, these doughnuts could only be bought in Krispy Kreme stores.

Since its stock hit a lifetime high of $49.74 in August 2003, Krispy Kreme has lost more than 80 percent of its market value. During this session, the stock hit a record low $9.37. Could this dramatic decrease be all because Americans are becoming more health conscious?

Wal-Mart's next victims

When Toy's R Us in August said that stiff competition from Wal-Mart was making it consider whether or not to exit the toy industry, had struck fear in the hearts of retailers everywhere. Toy's R Us was the first to pioneer the idea of the "category killer" that is now used by many big box specialty retail stores including Best Buy, Home Depot and Bed, Bath & Beyond. These retailers giant specialty stores that cater to one particular product segment of the U.S. economy. Wal-Mart is the antithesis of a category killer with isles filled with a vast amount and variety of many different products is posing a threat to many of these "category killer" stores.

Walmart is threatening many of these "category killer" stores with their expansion and improvement in many of the different types of products they offer. They are looking into expanding into gasoline, a better and expanded fashion line to compete with stores like JCPenney and Target, drugstores, an extended line into electronics, and even are considering getting into the business of banking. This has many other stores worried. Although Wal-Mart does have more competition with the merger of Sears and KMart.

I find this story to be scary. I know it is a long way away but if Wal-Mart eventually becomes the only store in a town will they then raise there prices because there will be no competition to go against them. I think in the future they may become a monopoly and in some smaller towns where they are the only retail store they already are.

What is wrong with Monopoly Game

We learnt "Monopoly" lately, which made me remembered a game I played when I was a child. It is Parer Brother's board game Monopoly. It is considered as a game to teach children do business. I think most of you had ever played it. I forget specific details in this game. But I still remembered that I always lost in this game, and I felt boring about it, because I always could not decide what I want to buy or do but followed what the cards said. And when you want to buy something, there are only one seller who can decide price, and sometimes the cards will also have right to decide price. I thought I cannot be a business person, but now I am majoring in Economics. And I know the situation the game gave to us was not a real world. Most of the markets are competitive, there are many competitors, and government Macroeconomics control cannot always be effective. Now I feel interesting about this game, and I recommend this article http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?control=1451. May be it can make you recollect something in your childhood.

Need a Textbook?

As some of you know, and others may not, Follet Books has exclusivity rights on the Marietta College campus, meaning that the Administration has granted Follet a monopoly on this campus. However, many options have presented themselves to students here, and at other institutions across the country as similar situations have arisen. Many of the alternatives exist on the web, with half.com, and amazon.com being the main two companies. A new site, swichtextbooks.com will soon be open for business. The site is supported by Baltimore Solutions and the United States Postal Service. The site will allow students to submit a list of books they have, as well as books they need, and the computes will automatically match the your need with someone’s book. This new site presents many different issues for Follet, if this site can be publicized on this campus, and all the students use the service, what is Follet going to do? Well, as the Supply of books increases and all else remains constant, prices will fall, and Follet will have to keep up. As the price of the books fall students will experience increased consumer surplus. Hopefully this will happen, and we can all pay a little bit less for our textbooks.

Retail Wars

This week, a merge between Sears and KMart has been completed. The new company, to be called Sears Holding Corp, has a lot of goals. At the top of the list: Take down Wal-Mart! The battle against Wal-Mart will start by creating a more efficient supply chain, lowering prices, and promoting Sears and KMart owned brands. All this will result in a larger consumer surplus among that American people. They help out consumers and manage to diminish the control that Wal-Mart seems to have over retail. Sears and KMart hope to cut their combined costs by $300 million and increase their profit by about $200 million. However, Wal-Mart, and other stores like Target, will not simply sit in their chairs and watch. This will ultimately start a price war resulting in a constant battle for lower prices. Sears and KMart may not 'beat' Wal-Mart, but for the time being, their merger will certainly have a large affect on the retail industry.

Wal-Mart Dominates Consumer Sales

After reading this article, I would have to reconsider whether to keep shopping at Wal-Mart. It seems absurd that one company can dominate so many market areas while providing 1.2 million workers with low wages and costly healthcare. From this article, I feel that Wal-Mart is the most profitable company because of their lower labor costs and their ability to purchase mass quantities. Wal-Mart drives out competitors because of being able to provide these lower prices because of their purchasing power and lower labor costs. I would much rather shop at smaller establishments but as I have learned in microeconomics, consumers tend to buy where they can get the lowest price. As long as consumers continue this trend with Wal-Mart, more and more competing retail stores will continue to fail. One point about Wal-Mart I feel is against them is their clothing, shoes, and accessories are not high quality. Since these items are mass produced in countries like China, the do not fit as well as higher scale department store items. If they would be able to compete with the higher scale clothing lines, what would be left to dominate? Maybe, Wal-Mart could go into providing medical services. While you wait to see the doctor, you could shop! When it is time for your appointment, it could be announced over the loudspeaker, like the way they do for an oil change. Seriously, though, since Wal-Mart dominates so many market areas, it would seem unrealistic for new entrepreneurs to try to go into retail sales. It would be great if the private establishment of retail could still exist, but if Wal-Mart continues as it has, this will be a thing of the past.

DaimlerChrysler Makes Costly Mistake

Recently Crysler Recalled many of their 2000-2003 models year veichles due to the fact that they were deemed unsafe. Apparently the ball joints on the upper front suspension was deemed unsafe. The company tried to blame this on the materials used to keep roads safe in winter, such as salt or other materials. The salt could have caused these problems but the car should have still withstood these conditions according to the NHTSA. This will probably affect the sales of Chysler quite a bit in the future, especially with the exagerated claims that wheels can go flying off and suspension can fall apart. This is enough to scare anybody.

Big Three set to launch new incentives

The big three automakers in the U.S. are ready to launch new incentives for consumers to buy new automobiles due to a large build up in their inventories. Ford, GM, and Daimler Chrysler with a large increase in their inventories are trying to sell more automobiles by offering more incentives to consumers. The big there automotive makers have seen the highest inventories in the history of their companies. Will these incentives increase sales for the big 3 automakers?

I found it tobe very interesting that foreign automakers seemed to be doing so much better than those that are based in the U.S. with their current stock level and the incentive levels that they offer. I think one reason for the problems for the big 3 are the high gas prices causing people to not want to go out and buy a big SUV or truck which have smaller gas mileage. Why when the incentives are much higher for the big 3 automakers do consumers still purchase from the foreign automakers like Honda and Toyota? Is the quality of there automobiles that much better than those made in the U.S.?

Will Keeping Oil Prices High Develop Growth?

U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow Says that by keeping oil prices high we are encouraging growth in the area. Recently John Snow formed an agreement to allow oil producers to produce less oil in order to keep prices high. This makes little sense, since affecting the market externally usually leads to inefficiency. This agreement comes at one the worst times of the year since the winter months are approaching soon and many americans will need to heat their houses. This could cause drastic inflation in our country. This makes little sense to me since many americans already struggle to afford current oil and gasoline prices. John Snow sees raising prices as a way to keep jobs. This could make sense but i see little corralation. With less production that would normally mean less workers are needed. Either way something will have to be done because sooner or later very few people will even be able to afford gasoline.

What's Happening to Social Security

Social security seems like a good idea, but it is steadily depleating. It looks as if there is enoung to last the current generation but the future looks dim for the coming generations. The main problem is that there are too many retired citizens collecting social security benefits compared to the number of working people paying into the funds. This could have been due to the past "baby boom" as many like to call it. There have been a few options to counteract the problem. One of the options is to allow people working to defer a portion of their payroll tax into a private account for them to use when they need the money. Either way something must be figured out, but Sen. Harry Reid says that we have up to about 50 years with our current situation. One of the other options is to raise taxes to pay for the deficite. But would a tax really be benficially to stopping the shortage? Could it have other negative effects?

Are the 2003 Bush tax cuts creating jobs?

This article demonstrates that job growth was very poor for the month of September. It was not low enough to increase the unemployment rate, but it did not meet the projections that the Bush administration claimed would happen after the tax cuts. Infact, excluding March and April, we have yet to see employment meet the predictions that were supposed to come from the cuts. My question is is whether or not tax cuts influence employment. If a person gets a break in paying their taxes and has more money to spend elsewhere, does that really determine whether or not they can get hired? Based on that question, if tax cuts do not help unemployment...what is the Bush administration going to do in the next four years to lower unemployment?

Would you like to pay more?

When you buy a hamburger, what would you like to do? Do you prefer to buy a more expensive "brand name" hamburger, or just a cheaper store name humburger? Some people want to buy "brand name", because they think that the hamburger is different from others and its taste is better than others. Other people prefer to cheaper hamburgers, because they think there are not definately difference between these two kinds of burgers. Therefore, they would like to spend less. I think that there are not obvious difference on the taste of hamburgers. People want to "brand name" because of their habits. They always buy the same kind of hamburgers and they are accustomed to eating the hamburger. Therefore, they don't want to change to others, even if they know that there are some other cheaper hamburgers. On the other hand, "brand name" hamburgers have enough consumers who always buy their products. They don't worry about those consumers will give up their hamburgers and buy other store name hamburgers. Therefore, "brand name" can fix much higher price than other hamburgers and they also can spend more on advertisement.

NBC back in the market for NFL

NBC is looking to try a new contract with the NFL. NBC has steadily been declining since its hit sitcoms have went off the air. NBC says that they will not over pay, but would like to do a deal. NBC dropped its old agreement with the NFL becuase they had such good numbers coming from sitcoms and really didnt need the NFL and the money it would cost NBC.

Finally, Sweden has something more than a bikini team...

As I post this, the NHL lockout has been in effect for 55 days; 13 hours; 29 minutes; and 55 seconds. That's almost 2 months of agony for anyone who is a die-hard NHL fan (sorry Canada). But across the pond, in the land of "Sveden," things couldn't seem any better...

"With no end in sight for the NHL's labour impasse, more than 55 players have already committed to Swedish Elite League teams and more are expected to follow."

More than 250 other NHL players have committed to other European leagues; however, its drawn criticism from people claiming that NHLers are stealing jobs.

Not Sweden though.

Those "dirty Swedes" (I had to do that in honor of the late John Candy and that awful sailing race movie he made) are excited as can be. They believe the NHL stars will bring new life to the league, and new revenue to the country. People believe that the SEL is much deeper now with the influx of new players coming from the dormant NHL. Hockey arenas are filling up and ticket prices are soaring. Yet the fans don't care, because they know this will be "the season that will never come again."

is it a wise decision to build Three Gorges Dam in China?

Dated to 1919, the a dam on the Yangtze River was proposed to be build for power generation purposes but the idea was shelved due to unfavorable political and economic conditions. Then because of a lot of domestic and international pressure, the Chinese Government agreed in 1989 to start the construction plans for the Three Gorges Dam.
Before the construction, there were many people made a lot of debates because it would benefit many people and also cause serious problems. On one hand, there were a lot of merits after building the Three Gorges Dam. For instance, the dam can control flooding on the lower Yangtze River, which used to be a very serious problem in south of China every summer. The dam could also generate hydroelectric power, which must be a great help to reduce the electricity-lack problem in large cities, for example, Beijing, my hometown. Then it could reduce pollution caused by the burning of coal because most of the people would like to use electricity as their powers. On the other hand, the dam brings a lot of demerits, too. For instance, by building the Three Gorges Dam, there are approximately 15 billion people need to move to other places, which cost the government a huge amount of money. Forty thousand builders will work for 16 years to complete Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, which means they will leave their home, their family and have to stay with the Dam for a really long time. Also many historical relics are being moved while famous scenery will not exist at all. So during 1999 there was a travel boom in Sichuan because it will not be seen forever after the construction of Three Gorges Dam. And because the location of the Three Gorges Dam is very serious and important for the safety of China, as long as a war breaks, the Dam must be the first aim of our enemy. Once they bomb it, the most developed area of China will be under water and the land full of wheat and corn will disappear in one second. Another very serious problem the Three Gorges will cause is earthquakes. A certain expert on geography said the Dam may make a more frequent earthquakes happen. The Dam will eliminate tourist trade to the area and destroy important archaeological artifacts. What do you think of the Three Gorges Dam? Do you think it is a wise decision to build it?

NFL Broadcast Contracts

The NFL has agreed with CBS and Fox for a contract worth $8 billion over the next six years starting after the 2005 season. The negotiations between ABC and the NFL over the Sunday night games and Monday night games has not yet been finalized. Do you think that there is too much money involved in getting the rights to the NFL games? As of now, the revenue is split evenly between the teams in the league. Should the larger market teams who have more of a fan base along with popularity get more money than the smaller market teams? The deals give the NFL the option to move seven late-season games from Sunday to Monday night to feature more attractive matchups. The NFL also can develop late-season prime-time satellite or cable packages of eight games, which would be televised on Thursdays and Saturdays. Or the league could take those eight games and show them regionally in prime-time telecasts on Sundays and Mondays. What do you think about all of the money being put up for broadcats and the NFL? What is your opinion of the article?

Global Economy

In an article from MSN dated November 5, 2004, the dollar has hit an all-time low against the euro. The euro reached $1.2962 Friday. The U.S. dollar buys only about 3/4 of a euro. This is not good news if the U.S. wishes to import goods from Europe or citizens plan to travel to Europe. However, it is good news for U.S. Manufacturers since they could export more goods to Europe because they could buy more goods at a lesser price. This could assist in stimulating the U.S. economy. In time, it appears that the U.S. economy will continue to grow thus leading to higher interest rates and a more attractive dollar. When this does occur, would the U.S. import more goods and export less goods? It would seem it would depend on how fast the U.S. economy is growing and if it is at a point where it would continue stimulating the economy such as consumers purchasing more. This article could be seen as how the global economy works. It shows how the strength of the currency of a country determines its exports and imports, which ultimately could determine the direction of the economy.

Kerry Concedes

What do you all think will happen to the economy with Bush in presidency for another four years? I do not think the outlook is hopeful, but I am saying this out of my opinions, not out of any economic facts, other than Bush has already lost numerous jobs.

Beef is Beef

I for one would not spend extra money on a brand name of beef. There are brand names of jeans and other types of clothes, but each brand name fits differently. The difference in the way beef tastes for the same cut of meat, is how it is prepared after the butcher. The question is, how are they going to make Oregan Trail Beef more desireable to consumers? The chicken industry advertises different brands of chicken, each having thier own unique chicken quality. Tyson chicken advertises that their chicken is not injected with hormones, therefore it is healthier. There are other brand names of chicken that claim to be more tender than others. Unless Oregan Trail Beef can somehow make the beef better for the consumers, the beef market is going to remain perfectly competitive. There are very few people that would pay extra for 'better tasteing' beef, when that can be done in their own kitchen.

http://econ.aplia.com/images/fenner_beef/beef_article.html

Vice Presidential Debate Costs Cleveland

As the campaigning draws to a close tomorrow, we can look back at the more than 45 times that the candidates have visited the great state of Ohio. As a “political battleground state” Ohio has been the target to visits by the Campaign Corps from both of the major political parties. Cleveland, on October 5^th, was host to the Vice President and Senator Edwards (hopefully after tomorrow he will still be just Senator Edwards) as they exchanged ideas in the first and only Vice Presidential debate. As reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the City and Case Western Reserve University were proud to host the event, even though it meant spending large sums of money on safety measures, and cosmetic adjustments to the surrounding areas. The VP’s debate cost Cleveland a reported $227,406. Unfortunately these costs have been bared by cities across our state, each of the other visits costing between $15,000 and $30,000. Not including the costs that the state highway patrol has had to shoulder since last May. The question is whether or not the visits have had a economic benefit on the cities the candidates have visited. Well in my opinion, the hundreds of man hours logged (Most of which are time and a half) must have helped the local economies in some way, shape or form.