Steroids Hit the NFL Hard

In part 2 of the steroids in professional sports saga, three Carolina Panthers have been accused of filling prescriptions for steroids. A doctor in South Carolina is under investigation for writting the prescriptions. Todd Sauerbraun, Todd Stuessie, and Jeff Mitchell are accused of filling the prescriptions for a steroid cream before the 2003 Super Bowl. Sauerbraun was also accused of filling a prescription for Stanzonol, a banned anabolic steroid. My question to you is, in light of what Congress did for baseball, should the same be done with the NFL?

A Big Breakfast at Burger King

The number one fast food chain has just created one of its highest calorie sandwiches yet. Burger King will now be selling an egg omelet sandwich that has more calories than a Whopper. This sandwich will contain 730 calories and 47 grams of fat. Burger King’s main competitor, McDonalds, does not have this type of breakfast sandwich, so this new item may give Burger King a competitive edge.

Analysts believe that this new menu feature will be a success; however, I am skeptical. With new diet fads and movies like “Super Size Me”, it is hard to believe that people will continue to contaminate their bodies with these unnecessary calories. This breakfast meal alone will account for nearly all the grams of fat that an average person is supposed to eat in one day, let alone just one meal. Even if this new item is a hit for Burger King, is it worth it for people to take the health risk involved in eating such harmful food?

Star Wars Toy

In a marketing gimmick, Hasbro (the nation's #2 toy maker) will be selling 50,000 empty toy boxes, with a certificate redeemable for four Star Wars action figures at a later date. This gimmick originated in 1977, coinciding with the release of the first Star Wars movie.
This latest attempt to escalate the toy market comes before Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the final Star Wars movie, and undoubtedly, one of the biggest movies of the summer.
The empty box promotion is aimed more at collectors than at young children simply wanting toys. The idea for this gimmick came in 1977 when demand for anything Star Wars far exceeded the supply. This was an easy way to continue selling toys without actually having the product. The idea was revolutionary and still appears to work wonders today.
The third movie in the Star Wars trilogy is destined to be one of the biggest movies of all time (considering it will more than likely be the last, and considering how well the first two films did at the box office). Any Star Wars products will continue to sell quickly, especially as buzz for the film increases as its release date gets closer.

Oil Prices Dip as Dollar Climbs

I was just reading about how the dollar was gaining strength in the foreign exchange markets and mentioned how it would be great to see decreased oil prices as a byproduct of this appreciation. Well, here's the article to back up that optimism.

Oil prices fell 1.4 percent today as fresh gains in the dollar prompted profit-taking by speculative funds. Prices ended more than $3 below the all-time trading high of $57.60 set March 17. Last week's refinery blast in Texas stirred fears of a supply crunch for this summer. Additionally, speculative funds increased their long positions in the US crude oil market last week, making it hard for the price of oil to climb downward.

First, the blast only damaged a 'gas quality' unit but left plant operations/output unaffected. Second, the dollar's strength has led funds to liquidate their long positions and shift from the oil market to the currency market. Therefore, these last-week happenings seem promising this week for the price at the pump; at least in the short-run.

OPEC doesn't have any intentions of increasing oil production, noting that the markets are sufficiently supplied at the moment. An increase in production would further aid in the decrease in oil prices.

Let's all hope that both the currency and oil trends continue as we approach the 'sunny' season; a season that tends to bring with it higher gas consumption and foreign travel expenditures.

Dollar Gains Strength against Yen and Euro

The dollar hit a five-month high today against the yen and rose versus the euro today. The dollar bought ¥107.20, up from ¥106.36 late Friday. The euro bought $1.2892, down from $1.2953 late Friday.

The dollar has benefited from the FED's aggressive interest rate hikes and will continue to do so as dollar-denominated securities become more attractive to foreign investment.

Hopefully this trend will continue and foreign investment will pick up, helping to dig us out of the deficit hole. This would also lead to greater dollar purchasing power, helping push down gas prices. Boy do I miss the $1 = €1 and gas = $0.98 days!

Taxing EBay

EBay is a great place. You can find things you cannot find anywhere else. You get can things at low prices. You can sell stuff you thought nobody else would want. And the best part is it is all tax free. What you did not notice when you make a purchase that there are no sales tax added on. EBay and tax free may not go together anymore. The IRS is trying to figure out how it can tax EBay. Many EBay users say EBay is like a garage sale and they should not be taxed for it. But, what about those with EBay stores. Is it fair for someone to be able to run a business tax free just because it is on EBay? As the IRS and many state agencies try and figure out how taxes should be applied, for now EBay user can go on enjoying tax free buying and selling. Should the IRS tax EBay user, should states implement sales tax on EBay, or should the government leave EBay alone. Most EBay sellers feel the Government will find a way to tax them. Until they do, bid away, tax free.
The Marietta Times March 28, 2005 Page A5

Cruising is No Longer a Cheap Thing to Do

With oil over $50 dollars a barrel, and gas prices this past weekend reaching to $2.19 a gallon, it is getting expensive to drive our cars anywhere. I want to say I will not pay $2.19 for gas, but I find myself filling up so I can come to class. We are dependent on our cars. My fiancé’s mother said she remembered when it went over a $1 a gallon and every one said they would quit driving. Should we now just except it is going to stay over $2.00 a gallon for hear on out, or is there another alternate out there. Most everyone has heard of the hybrid cars. They get up to 55 mpg. Some of us have driven around and seen houses with solar panels on their roves for power. There is also wind and hydroelectric power. There are a great number of alternative to oil, but we as a nation have chosen to stay way from them. We have become so comfortable with our oil and gas that we say everything else does not work as well. Are we right to other forms of power not work as well or are we just too stubborn to try something new. How high will the price of oil have to rise before we as a nation serious look at other forms of energy?
Marietta AM March 27, 2005 A7

Is Minimum Wage High Enough

The minimum wage in the United States stands at $5.15 an hour. That means if you worked 40 hours a week, and did not take any time off, because most minimum wage jobs do not offer vacation you would make $10712 a year. That is all fine and good of you have no bills or no one else to support. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services the 2005 poverty threshold for a family of two is $12,830. The minimum wage would have to rise to $6.75 an hour. The debate of the minimum wage increases has come up again. Minimum wage has not increased since 1996. Two bills have recently come before the Senate. The first wanted to raise the minimum wage $2.10 over 26 months, the second $1.10 over 18 months. Both bills failed to receive enough votes. There is a great worry about what effect a raise in the minimum wage will have on the rest of the economy. A raise in the minimum wage will cause other wages to rise; it will also cause prices to increase because of businesses being forced to pay high wages. Is a minimum wage increase good for the economy has a whole? Is it good for anyone? Will it really increase purchasing power, or will price increases offset this. It seems there is no easy answer to these questions.
The Marietta Times March 25 A1, A8

Gasoline Rises to Record $2.15 Average

Retail gasoline prices have rose to an average of $2.15 a gallon within the past week. Prices of gasoline are expected to get much worse as summer nears. With the increase in motorists on the road, gas prices are believed to go well beyond the current $2.15 per gallon average. The most expensive cost per gallon at the pump occurred back in March of 1981 when prices reached as high as $3.08 per gallon when adjusted for inflation. I would not be surprised to see this type of increase again. These high prices do anything but help the economy. There has been talk recently about beginning a drilling project in Alaska which holds a significant amount of oil, although the oil would take around 10 years to reach the market. The oil from Alaska would not directly benefit the U.S. now in its time of need, and who knows what situation we will be in down the road. Gasoline prices are becoming outrageous and something needs to be done, but what exactly is the best solution to the problem?

Rocks Roil Korea, Japan Economies

2005 was supposed to be the “Year of Korea-Japan Friendship” unfortunately this is not going to happen in the near future. The latest conflict is over 57 acres of uninhabited volcanic rock sticking out of the ocean. The problem arose after a move by Japan’s Shimane prefecture to pass a law underlying claims for sovereignty over these two islands called Dokto by Korea and Takeshima by Japan. The land is not good quality and there is no fresh water, but there are many fish in those waters. Japan says that its economy relies of those waters to support their fishing industry. But if this problem gets out of control Japan may be worrying about more than just a few fish. The economies all over Asia are beginning to see the effects of this problem. There are three main areas of the economies in Asia that are especially vulnerable; the automobile industry, entertainment, and tourism. In Korea there has been a significant decrease in the amount of Toyota vehicles that are demanded since the onset of the problems concerning this dispute. There is a similar situation happening right now between China and Taiwan. If these countries do not resolve there conflicts peacefully and quickly, the rapid rise of Asia and its stability may come to a halt.

Chernobyl

On April 26, 1986, an exploration was conducted at Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine, part of the former Soviet Union. A local villager described it as: “Chernobyl. The war of all wars. There is no salvation for mankind anywhere. Not on earth, not in the water, not in the sky." This disaster not only had medical affects and environmental affects, but it also caused a big loss to some counties economy. “The Institute of Economics of the Belarussian National Academy of Sciences estimates that the country’s economy will suffer losses of $43.3 billion in the first 30 years after the accident. The total damage is projected to be $235 billion over this period. This is 32 times the national budget in 1985.” There are also some economic affects: the loss of agricultural land, the loss of mineral recourses, and the loss of labor. Not very long after the disaster, Belarus and Ukraine began to levy tax to deal with the disaster.
http://www.adiccp.org/aboutchernobyl/economicimpact.asp

From the Chernobyl disaster, we can clearly see that the environment has a lot to do with economic growth. Environmental affects are pluralized, like talked about above, it can cause health, economic problems, and long term affects. But the cause of the Chernobyl disaster was problem in designing. Actually, this is just an example of a disaster caused by the development of technology. There is always risk when something new appears.

Space Travel: Is it worth it?

This article talks about the releasing of a baby Sputnik in outer space. My question to you is do you really think it is worth spending all of this money on the space program? Why do we try and do something that takes so much money when most people in this world would never want to try and live in outer space. I would just like to know if you think that the government is wasting money or if it really is going to benefit our country and world. (excluding the use of satellites)

-Shawn

Play Station Portable--is the price worth the technology?

Play Station Portable has come out and make people crazy waiting in lines,..the price is pretty high at 249$, but the tech is high too... you could watch movie, and enjoy your mp3 and pictures in it.... do you think the tech worth the price? do you think the tech will increasingly raise the money spend in our life?

Tobacoo Tax ad Spree Again..

Nowadays , people keep on paying more and more attention to health benifit and protection.
Tobaco is surely harmful for society, but as we increase the tax , the damend is still inelastic...so the effect is not big enough as we tought, this time it increased again. What commens could you make for tobaco issue, instead of taxing

P&G Respones To Tsunami Disaster

P&G spent four years and $10 million for research and development befor launching Pur in September 2002. By November 2003, however, Pur still hadn't caught on as a profitable venture. The tsunami revived it. In order to gain a large market share in those countries effected by the disaster, the company designed three pricing structures for the water purifier: selling the small packets at a retail price about nine cents to ten cents each, selling it through not-for-profit organizations for eight or nine cents, and selling it at cost, about 3 1/2 cents, to emergency relief agencies, which distribute it for free. With the large number of population and serious problem with drinking water, the amount of Pur sales is bound to be big. With low price but big sales, Pur is being steadly established with P&G.

The manly stroller

Anything involving wheels is bound eventually to attract the attention of the male of the species. Now, the baby stroller, is beginning to capture the imagination of men in a big way. A generation of strollers with sophisticated enginering, sleek designs and un-nursery-like colors (from black to "racing yellow") has emerged, allowing dads compare notes about wheel suspension and off-road handling with a reverence once reserved for expensive sports cars.
You can buy a stroller for as little as $10, but many of the cool-looking models retail for over $300.
Since the U.S. birth rate is generally flat, the stroller industry can not expect a growth in profit by adjusting the quantity provided. Instead, they develop new high-end models that can be charged very high prices to earn more profits with limited sales. Obviously, the market for strollers is pretty different from perfectly competitive market.

Soccer Star's Mom Kidnapped

Soccer star Sao Paulos mother was recently kidnapped. I would have to say it is because someone hated her minivan. "The mother of Santos player Robinho was held 41 days before being released. Robinho, or Robson de Souza, did pay ransom in that case but it was not known how much." Why anyone would kidnap a soccer players mom is beyond me. If anyone could come up with a reasonable reason I would love to hear why.

Sabanes0-Oxley Act --- to prevent internal control crime

last week, in ACCT202, we had a wrinting assignment about Sabranes-Oxley Act. The Act was enacted after a series of scandals in American economic society. The most impressive one, the collapse of Enron, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, “led to thousands of employees losing their life saving in 401(k) plans tied to the energy company’s stock” After that, Arthur Anderson, Enron’s auditing firm which is the fifth largest accounting firm in the world, and WorldCom, the most famous telecom company also broke out their own scandals which shocked the whole world. From these scandals, we can see that there were some problems that existed in these big companies in the aspect of authorization, verification, and the most important one is the aspect of internal control. There should be legislation or a law enacted in the whole country in order to authorize and supervise these big companies’ behavior in accounting or finance aspects. So in this case, putting the Sarbanes-Oxley Act into practice has its own historical significance.

although what we talked about is from the accounting point of view. but i believe there should be similar cases happend in economics field. did you find something related to that?

The Mafia and its Loans

The Italian Mafia is an organization that has been depicted as a cruel and evil group due to their high crime, but is the mafia really that bad? One of the many ways the Mafia made there money was through loaning money to businesses in need. The reason the mafia did this was because these businesses could not get a loan from the banks. This seems as if the mafia is only bettering the economy because they are helping to keep many businesses open and running. The only wrong thing the mafia did with this type of work was that they would injure the owners of the business, if the loan was not paid back in the time it was due. S the question that arises, was the mafia good for the economy or did they damgage it by giving out these loans?

Ultramarathoner pushes limits of human body

Dean Karnazes, who has been running his entire life, decided to push the limits and see how far he could run. He started out with a non-stop 30 mile run. When he survived that, he tried 100 miles, then 135, and then 199 miles. As if that wasn't enough, he ran 262 miles last summer, NON-STOP! I went through conditioning for baseball this year, and I thought I was going do die after some of our runs, a few of which were well over 5 miles. I can't imagine running 30 miles non-stop, let along 262. Although this link appeared on CNN's homepage, I still find myself a bit skeptical. Any thoughts?

Best Movie of the year?

Amongst all of the college basketball, an amazing movie arose from the rubble of the upsets of kansas and syracuse. That movie; Spring Break Shark Attack. Although drawing negative reviews, as an astute film critic I enjoyed its overall quality. The actors were perfect for their parts, and the fake sharks looked very real. Described as "''Break'' stars Shannon Lucio (''The O.C.'') as a coed who defies her strict father to hang out with her flighty friends at a beach house not far from where her nerdy brother is conducting research on tiger sharks." The movie lived up to every expectation that I had. Who else watched this movie, and how much did everyone love it?

oil price is still increasing!!!

recently, the price of oil in China is still increasing. this trend leads a lot of change in china's car market. less people buy SUV while more and more people focus on Japanese cars. people don't want to spend that much money in buying oil.

according to [the article linked above], "China's continuous increase in the price of oil is the product of the large rises in the international prices of crude oil. In 1998, after proposals were made to reform the pricing mechanisms of oil, the price of oil on the international market suddenly changed. Since April 1999, the average price of oil on the international market has shot up 130%, gasoline and diesel oil prices have risen 62% and 84% respectively, due to restrictions on oil production by OPEC and an increase in demand for oil by world economies. Currently, the prices of oil on the international markets have not come down and will remain above US$25 per barrel in the next couple of months. "

what elso will influence the whole china car market in your opinion?

"Test Tube Baby" pioneer dies at 92

Dr. Georgeanna Seegar Jones died early this morning of cardiac arrest at the age of 92. She and her husband were the founding researchers that established "test tube" babies. While there work is considered to be monumental in the field of medicine, there are many critics who believe that conceiving a baby un-naturally is morally and ethically wrong. I for one see no problem with it. What do you think?

Socially responsible fund ditches Starbucks

Starbucks making liquor... is this going to increase or decrease sales? I find this to be a very random new product for Starbucks. Should they offer it in their coffee shops or will this deter regulars? Not only liquor, but also meals, does this fit the idea of a coffee shop? Pax World Funds is dropping Starbucks due to their rule to avoid companies that are involved with liquor. It is an issue of underage drinking, college students often use coffee to stay awake to cram for their big test, does this give them the wrong thoughts on what they should actually be drinking?

Sheetz is Amazing

The Sheetz food chain has recently sky rocketed to total up its second billion dollars in sales. It took the company 47 years to make its first billion and it only took them 4 more years to rack up its second billion. Sheetz is a gas station/restaurant that has ready to order burgers, tacos, fries, shakes and other things that you can order directly from the gas pumps. We have a Sheetz where I am from and let me tell you that its amazing. Hopefully the Sheetz chain will make its way to Marietta, because I would be there every day. Also, I recommend the orange smoothie, its breathtaking.

New Rules Changing Game?

The NFL believed that there were too many injuries last year and are changing some rules to help prevent more injuries from occurring. One rule is to prevent defensive lineman from getting hurt. They are stopping what is called a peel-back block, which is pretty much a blindside block by an offensive lineman. Another rule is that punters will receive treatment like quarterbacks. No helmet to helmet contact with a punter or even an unnecessary hit when not in the play. The third rule is the elimination of what is called the horse-collar tackle, which is when someone tackles the ball carrier around the neck. With these new rules being in effect next season, do you think the NFL is taking away from the aggressiveness and excitement of the game by not allowing big hits?

Sales of Aleve Drop

Recently the National Institute of Health reported that 50% of people who take Aleve on a regular basis risk the possibility of a heart attack. Researchers say that taking Aleve could cause heart failure and even strokes. If this is beginning to be such a huge deal, which is obviously is, why do stores still sell it. The sales of Aleve have to be going down, because I have heard of this problem more than one time. I am actually quite upset that this study came out in the open because I used to take Aleve all the time after baseball games. It somewhat scares me now to think of how I used to get sore and just pop two Aleve every day before class or the game. To be quite honest, I will miss Aleve being on the shelves, and I may even shed a tear or two.

NBA-Too Much Hype?

Today's Sportscenter included a great deal of NBA talk. There was a story on where Phil Jackson would coach next, why Allen Iverson has to continue to defend himself, and if Kobe failed the Lakers.
It is getting closer to the playoffs so are they just creating stories to make things more interesting? I absolutely think they are.
The NBA is a long season and the media tries to put emphasis on one regular season game when really they do not matter.
So what the Heat have the best record all that gives them is home court advantage which in the NBA means nothing.

My feeling is that the NBA isn't well developed. There is no competition. They try to build rivalries where there are none. The only people in the league who care are the young players and the owners.

All the players feel they know way too much to be coached so why does it matter where Phil Jackson coaches?

Income Gaps Found Among the College-Educated

Workplace discrimination has always been a problem in our history. According the Census Bureau,a white woman with her bachelor's degree earns $37,800, an Asian woman makes $43,700, and $41,100 for a black woman. There was no reason given for these differences. Economists and sociologists did come up with some possibilities. There is a tendency for minority women to hold more than one job or work more than the typical 40 hour week, and the tendency for minority women to return to work sooner than others after having a child. Employers in some fields, have a tendency to give some financial incentives to young black women. There is also workplace discrimination for males as well. A white man with a bachelor's degree earns $66,000 a year, Asians earn $52,000, Hispanics $49,000, and blacks $45,000. Are there any other possibilities for this workplace discrimination? What causes employers to pay people differently if they all have a bachelor's degree from a 4-year college or university?

Family Wonders if Prozac Prompted School Shootings

Jeff Weise, the teenager that killed nine people, and then himself, was taking Prozac. He began taking Prozac, an antidepressant, after a suicide attempt. According to his aunt, Tammy Lussier, "They kept upping the dose for him, and by the end, he was taking three of the 20 milligram pills a day. I can't help but think it was too much, that it must have set him off." Doctors typically put patients betweent 20 and 80 milligrams of Prozac a day. Weise was taking 60, which is considered normal. However, when looking through history at different shootings, there have been several instances when the shooter had been taking Prozac, Luvox, and Zoloft as antidepressants. It is still unclear as to whether the medicine was the cause of these shootings. Just something to think about, could antidepressants be the wrong medicine for some people?

Unique local shops keeping it real by keeping it 'weird'

The small local shops are trying to compete with the much bigger chains, such as Wal-Mart, by advertising with a new, weird style. This is occurring in small to midsize cities and towns across the United States. If these shops can succeed with this unique way to draw attention then the large chains will not step foot in their areas. Do you think this will actually work? Do you think these large companies want to even be in these smaller communities?

"No Thanks!"...Says Sumo Wrestlers

Don't worry!, I am proud to announce that Sumo wrestlers won't be making the switch to "pants", or what the Sumo's amateur association calls, spandex like those worn by bicyclers. The big argument is, should the sport change its long and proud tradition just to attract the younger interested crowd. The youth of Sumo wrestling say image is a big problem with the sport. They don't want to wear the diaper like outfits they wear now, because it is embarrassing, and in front of huge crowds at the stadium in Tokyo. Luckily for the public, Sumo Kyokai (Sumo spokesman) said. "We have no intention of allowing children in pants into the ring." What do you think about the switch to pants? Would the switch to pants hurt the tradition of the sport?

When is the suing going to stop?

Honestly I thought lawsuits were only done by money hungry Americans.... Apparently not, google is being sued because of the sponsored links on the side of the search results. A French man is suing google because when he typed the name of his business his competition's up in the sponsored section. Why does this really matter and why did he win? If someone paid to have their site on the right hand side of the screen then so be it. It would be wrong if they did not have his website on the search results though.

Tedy Bruschi Out For Season?!?

Now lets let it be known, I am a diehard Browns fan, but I have the up most respect for the Patriots and the way they play the game. Unfortunately March 18th, Mr. Bruschi went public when he announced his thoughts of playing next season. First off, he may not be the most athletic, fastest, or best tackler in the NFL, but I can assure you he was the heart and soul of the New England stellar defense. Tedy suffered another stroke, and discovered he had a hole in his heart, making it nearly impossible for a full recovery. The beast that he is, Tedy said that playing or not, he will be fully suited up and on the sideline giving support and advice to teammates. Hopefully for him, the organization will place him on the physically unable to play list so that he can earn a full salary. What is everyone's take on his situation? Should he just retire and coach?

Jaguar may need £500m bail-out

Jaguar is heading in some problems, Ford is giving Jaguar a 500 million pound pay out. Ford owns Jaguar as well as Land Rover, Volvo, and Aston Martin. The reason for them being in debt is because they are not selling as much as they have been, and they are not going to produce more car this year to try to get out of the hole. Also they are in a debt because they don't have factories in the United States, which would lower their costs. I hate that American car companies are buying out these European car companies because they lower the quality and craftmanship of these vehicles.

Tournament Brings New Excitement

If you are a sports fan, this weekend was great. Three games of the NCAA men's basketball tournament went into overtime. All games made you sit on the edge of your seat because of all the excitement. The first game between Louisville and West Virginia was amazing. Louisville was down by 20 points in the second half and ended up coming back and winning in overtime. As in the Illinois and Arizona game, Illinois was down by 15 points with 4:00 minutes left and won in overtime. The Michigan State and Kentucky game was also a nail biter. Kentucky made a last second three pointer to send the game into overtime, which had to be reviewed by the refs to see if his foot was on the line.
This weekend was the first time in tournament history in which three of the four games of the regional finals went into overtime. If you had a chance to watch any of these games this weekend, do you think that this years tournament will be one talked about for many years?

Another Weight Loss Fad

The Atkins Diet is no longer targeting a carb count. Now Atkins has changed the "net carbs" diet to a new diet strictly for people watching their blood sugar levels rather than carbs. This has been going on for quite a while in Europe and is just recently reaching the United States. They say the problem with the Atkins diet was that people were able to lose the weight but not keep it off. Since dieters were getting tired of the fad, Atkins felt that they needed to find a new way for people to lose weight yet keep the economy going. Has the weight loss industry gone too far? Is there really a secret to losing weight and is it worth the money? Or should people just result to the priceless, yet not always easiest way: exercise.

Wal-Mart Lawsuit

I love talking about Walmart as most of you know. Recently the monster chain did something illegal, yes really! They had a contract with a company that hires janitors to clean their stores. To cut costs the company hired Illegal immigrants to work after hours when the store closed. Many of these employees were paid lower then minimum wage and were treated inhumanly. They would lock them in the store while they cleaned until the next day when they open for the day.

Ebay- Source of Income?

In a question posted to the Ebay site, a seller asked if she had to pay taxes on her income from the sales she made. Ebay "The World's Online Marketplace" is the home of more than 135 million buyers and sellers and rakes in $34 billion from sales made last year. The government does have a guideline for paying taxes from these types of activities. For instance, in the state of West Virginia an individual is required to pay income tax on any winnings from the lottery that exceed $1200. In Las Vegas prostituion is legal as long as they pay taxes on their profits. So, should people that buy and sell on Ebay be required to pay income tax on their sales? Is enough money made from these sales to even tax somebody? And, what economic impact would this have on the Ebay organization?

False Hope

As college students many of us know what it feels like to be broke. We have all made that desperate call home asking for just a couple extra dollars from the folks for whatever reason. While some of us are relieved with a check, many of us have to rely on means of false hope, security, and means of plastic for cash. This wave of credit cards is incredibly dangerous with college students. All it takes is one Visa, or Mastercard and a young youths credit could be ruined forever. While plastic has not always been a means of satisfying compulsive shopping, it is now a growing trend with young college students. Many of us young adults have no real understand how a piece of plastic can forever effect of econmic security and potential. This article offers interesting insight about how many are busting because of plastic and false hope. As the president attempts to limit the way out of debt, by reducing the accessibility to banruptcy. Many youths will continue to feel the effects of early plastic shopping. What do you think? And how much are you in debt already?

Choice, Good or Bad?

We have been learning in econ that choice in the econmic market is a good thing. Choice by consumers allow prices to be low and quality to be high. Check out this article which argues the opposite. It states that choice is not necessarily a good thing because consumers sometimes do not take advantage of the options or choose not to choose. Sometimes as a consumer the choices are overwhelming. You walk down the toothpaste aisle at Walmart and you are bombarded with hundreds of choices. I mean is it really necessary to have 100 different kinds of toothpaste? As a consumer I would be satisfied if I had only had a handful of choices. I sympathize with the argument that choice is not always a positive. What do you think? Do you like having an unnecessarily large amount of choice?

Is The "Old Tax System" making its way to the United States?

The United States is one of the only countries left in the world who does not follow the Hybrid Tax Code with a tax on income and a sales tax better known as value added tax. The value added tax is basically like our sales tax but instead of them charging one tax when the item is purchased, it is being taxed throughout production. This system keeps people from cheating on the tax because the government can track and document it throughout the production. Although this system may seem like a good idea President Bush thinks otherwise. He wants a system that will benefit all people and still bring in 2 trillion dollars every year in taxes alone. What do you think about this new tax idea? Do you think it will make taxes easier or harder on people and will it bring in more money than before?

Aspirin effects different for women

The recent revealing of a 10-year long study of 40,000 women has shown that aspirin does not have the same positive affects on women as on men. Aspirin was thought to reduce the risk of heart attacks in both men and women, but this study shows that aspirin does not reduce the risk for women under age 65. Although it was found that for these middle-aged women aspirin does reduce the risk of having a stroke. Overall, the study found that it may not be very beneficial for middle and younger aged women to take aspirin to reduce these risks, but for older women it is very beneficial and has great benefits.

-Shawn

Raising Prices on Soda

Campuses every where are raising the price of soda to a $1.25 at soda machines. Many people have complained of this because they go to a soda machine and leave empty-handed because they do not have that extra quarter to pay for a soda. There is no reason to be upset becuase you can go to Walmart for example, and buy a 2-liter of soda for a $1.00. All you need to do is get in a car and go to Walmart and get some soda, but it is not as convienant as the 20 oz. sodas in the pop machine. Do you think venders have raised their prices because there is a higher demand for 20 oz. than 2-liters?

Supersizing America

I was watching a film that discussed many reasons for Americans becoming over weight. One man ate McDonald's everyday for a month. Nurtionists say that he ate what you should eat over an eight year period. Most nutritionist say that it is ok to eat fast food every once in a while and consider heavy users to eat fast food once a week and super users eating fast food two to three times a week. Everything at McDonalds has something addicting in it such as sugar in soda, nitrates in cheese, and even sugar in salads. Do you think that weight loss clinics could be making profit from this problem?

Finger found in chili hurts Wendy's sales

Sales have dropped sharply at Wendy's fast food restaurants in the area of northern California where a woman claimed she found part of a finger in a bowl of chili. Health investigators seized all the ingredients at the restaurant and are tracing them back to their manufacturer. They believe the finger got into the chili at an earlier stage and was cooked at a high enough temperature to kill any viruses. What would you do if this happened to you? Does hearing a story like this change your perception about Wendy's?

Hack a Mac! & Get Paid For it!

What is the quickest way to make $25,000? Well, hack into a mac and get that money!

"Mac and iPod peripheral maker DVForge Inc. recently sponsored a US$25,000 prize to be awarded to the first hacker who could infect two Macintosh computers owned by the company. Less than a day later the company announced the cancellation of the contest, citing legal concerns. "

I bet this could really raise some heads of those teenage computer hackers. However, is this really a good thing? I mean, heck- I know a skill or two.....but really, a $25,000 incentive would make me want to learn more of a "how to hack" idea.

Could this publication bring out more hackers, and make cyberspace more "hacker-fied"

Or, do you think this is a good way to provide defense against hacking- by offering a cash reward if it is done. It could be a very good job opportunity to the individual(s) who get this task done.(you'll know what I mean if you've ever seen the movie 'Catch me if you can')

Alumni return to college towns for retirement

Retirement communities near college campuses are persuading alumni to return to their alma mater. Private colleges have been building such communities for several years, however, public colleges and universities are playing an increasing role, seeking new sources of revenue and a way to cement ties with alumni. How will building these communities increase revenue for the colleges and universitites?

Home sellers fret as mortgage rates rise

Real estate and mortgage experts from Los Angeles to Chicago to Atlanta say difficulty selling homes could become more common in the wake of the Federal Reserve's decision this week to increase the overnight bank lending rate for the seventh time since last June. They say the new rise means it could take longer for people to sell their homes at the prices they want. What are your opinions on the issue?

No Strings Attached

Running into costly decisions for necessary items for investment that we aren't sure of stalks most of us frequently. Do we spend the cash we haven't calculated into our expenses on skis for a weekend trip or a new classy suit for a business dinner? Gerri Willis, financial editor for CNN
Business News says no.
Instead of diving in and taking on a financial burden, we should first attempt to borrow or rent the item in question. This will give way to experience and a smarter investment if the decision to purchase is made.
There are five tips we can all follow when making some common investments beginning with trying out a vacation home before committing to one. Try to rent a getaway house in the community of interest. This will give you a chance to become familiar with the surroundings and help you decide if this is really where you'd like to vacation.
When purchasing pricey sports gear, try arrive to retailers' of club owners' businesses on "demo days". By actually using the gear, you'll have a better knowledge of the small investment.
Thinking about a new pet? Try fostering a pet from a shelter or ask about taking a pet home for the weekend. What better way to examine how a pet will affect your lifestyle.
Need "bling" for a night on the red carpet? Try acquiring a little sparkle celebrity style. Develop a personal relationship with your local jeweler and maybe you'll be able to persuade a bit of platinum onto your arm for the evening. Check out insurance (jeweler will probably require it) with State Farm Insurance.
Do not buy the expensive home improvement tool. Do not buy the latest brand name fashion handbag. Rent them! Most tools are used a small handful of times; rent them from your local hardware store. Instead of investing a small fortune in a handbag, rent it over the Internet for a monthly fee (www.BagBorrowOrSteal.com).

Bush Approval Reaches New Low

As of Friday, March 26, President Bush's approval rating has hit it's lowest since he has taken office at 45%. Some people believe that this new low point may in part be in response to the disapproval of his intervention in the Terri Schiavo case. Bush is also in the midst of overhauling Social Security, continuing with the situation in Iraq, as well as other various activities. How low does his approval have to get before the citizens of the United States begin to wonder just what is going on here. How far will his approval have to drop for Americans to stand up and say, "what happened to helping America?" While Bush is taking care of his own agenda and helping place like Iraq form a democracy we are losing the democracy we have here in the U.S. While Iraq is gaining benefits and is trying to rebuild their country, Americans are being left out and our economy is spiraling downward. Is this new approval rating a reflection that Americans are starting to notice the problems we have on the homefront or is it just a temporary fluctuation due to the situation with Terri Schiavo? Should Americans be worried or is this just is little bump in the road?

Is improving job market a problem for employee?

"The number of U.S. workers seeking first-time jobless compensation rose unexpectedly by 3,000 last week, according to a government report released on Thursday.The Labor Department said initial unemployment claims climbed to 324,000 in the week ended March 19 from an upwardly revised 321,000 the prior week. A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors behind the increase in new claims. While they have fluctuated, new claims have held below the 350,000 watermark -- seen by economists as a sign of an improving job market for 10 straight weeks.
The U.S. central bank's Federal Open Market Committee on Tuesday raised interest rates a quarter point for the seventh straight time and said economic output was gaining solidly and that job markets were improving. "
So what do you think about inproving job market? And why it can cause an increasing in the US jobless?

Online Privacy

I'm sure you have been on websites like Google.com or Amazon.com searching for a certain item or topic and noticed that after you have entered your search a list of advertisements appears that relate to your search. This is due to the tracking systems that companies like this have for their customers. Amazon.com is increasing their methods of tracking what their customers buy to trace the things that their customers buy even more in depth. They are tracing items you want, items you have bought for you or other people, items you have passingly searched for as well as other things. If you go to Amazon.com and search for a book they will tell you whether or not they have that book, as well as other books by the same author and other books that you might like. Is tracking all of this information to use for advertising a security risk? Google.com has recently created its own email environment called gmail. With gmail, whenever you send an email it is automatically scanned and advertisements are listed on the left hand side of your screen. For example, if you were to send an email to a friend talking talking about which car insurance policy to get, after the mail is sent it is scanned by the gmail services and advertisements are displayed on the left on your screen that have to do with car insurance. Are features like the ones Amazon.com and Google.com provide a positive or a negative feature? They can be very helpful in finding the product that is just right for you, but do we sacrifice too much privacy to gain these extras?

Sears-Kmart Merger

Four months after the proposal was first announced, the deal has been finalized. The two corporations will combine to form Sears Holdings, which will be the 3rd biggest U.S. retailer, taking in over 55 billion dollars annually. Most stock holders anxiously awaited the merger between the two giants, though not all employees shared their optimism. Many workers fear massive layoffs are to come in some of the more then 3800 stores in the U.S. and Canada. The new chair of Sears Holdings Corp., Edward Lampert, has tried to ease concerns by voicing efficiency as the reason for the merger. In more economic terms, he would like to enjoy the economices of scale attributed with larger corporations. I myself am a little skeptical. To me efficiency means getting rid of parts that are not performing. What do you think?
http://staging.hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SEARS...

The Rich Wins Again

After putting Yukos in prison for the past 18 months on fraud charges, Putin has decided to show some leniency on other oligarchs (wealthy Russian entrepreneurs who wants commanding heights through the loans for shares privatization schemes during the 90's). Putin stated that new competition laws will protect them from "arbitrary administration and pressure from monopolies and should guarantee their property rights"

Why the change of mind all of a sudden, Putin believes that “The state must guarantee transparent and dependable business conditions. Businesses have many reasons to criticize the fiscal organs and the Government will take them into consideration.”

The transitional element is still going on and privatization is still major issue in Russia. Now, Putin is just making it more manageable to privatize businesses.

Pakistan rewarded

On Friday the 25th of March, President Bush rewarded Pakistan for its help in the war on terrorism by authorizing them to purchase our F-16 fighter jets. There are countless reasons why this decision could come back to "bite," but for simplicity's sake I will only mention two.
First of all, this action could send a very dangerous message to countries around the world. The U.S. forbid Pakistan to purchase our military weapons in 1990, "out of concern over its then-undeclared nuclear weapons program." I believe that by repealing our previous decision, countries like North Korea and Iran could see our aggressive stance against there nuclear weapons programs as temporary. This could make them more likely to proceed.
Secondly, our decision could show us as favoring Pakistan over India as they continue in their never ending feud over Kashmir. These F-16 fighter jets could destabilize the currently stable stalemate between these two countries. Considering the fact that both are nuclear powers, this could be a very dangerous situation for numerous reasons, not the least of which is economic.
What do you think about Bush's decision?
http://www.washingtonpost.com

Terri Schiavo

I have somewhat been following the Terri Schiavo case. I'm not sure if I have an exact opinion on whether she should be kept alive or not, but I do have questions in regard to removing the feeding tube. By just taking away the woman's food source, she is basically just starving to death. Is this really the civil thing to do? Isn't there a way for them to let her die peacefully instead of starving her and letting her whole body dehydrate until she dies? I don't think this is the best thing for people to do in general. What do you think? Would you be ok with starving one of your family members?

Asian Tiger Running Slow?

Economist theorize how the "Asian Tiger" brought so many South East Asian countries out of the major deficit, and they are awaiting the answer. Some believe that the Asian Tiger was recovering through an extensive developments, which means more capital and more labor to create growth (eventually running out of steam).

The Prime Minister of Thailand admits that the country will see a trade deficit this year since the 1997 crisis. The deficit is due to the high global oil prices and increased shipment of capital goods. In Februrary, there was an estimated $525 million deficit, with imports of 8.27 billion and exports of $7.74 billion. The finance minister said that it was due to higher imports of capital goods, machinery, steel and oil. The import of steel rose to 80% from January. With the economic expansion, higher imports are just unavoidable. However, in the service department, Thailand has a surplus of approximately $700 million.

Even if the Asian Tiger is slowing down, Thailand will not be seen in a rut anytime soon.

Tax Returns in Ohio - The money they don't send you

Recently, after filing my taxes for this year, I found out that I had a $2.00 tax return from the state of Ohio. However, I was informed that under a certain amount of money, the state of Ohio saw it as unneccessary to send that small of an amount of money back to me because it wasn't worth it to do so. I don't know too much about the entire system, but I wonder what would happen if I OWED IN $2.00. Would I be able to say, "No, I don't think it's worth it to send that small of an amount of money." What would happen?! I doubt I would get away with it. My other questions are: Do all states do this and what does the state do with the extra money that they so conveniently keep? If even 2,000 people in Ohio have a $2.00 refund, that's still an extra $4,000. Where does it go?

SET on Expansion?

Thai Beverages Plc is currently trying to be listed on the SET (Stock Exchange of Thailand) which will expand its horizon into European countries. The producer of Chang beer and Mekhong rum states that "it stands to lose overseas competitiveness and would have to completely revise its investment plans if it is unable to list". The firm would lose a disadvantage of low-cost funds to expand production facilities and brand name.

Protesters like social activist, anti-drunk associations, and religious leaders are against the listing proposal. SET has pushed back plans of reviewing the application by Thai Beverages to list on the exchange due to the rallying of protesters. The Democrat Party argued that by letting Thai Beverages into SET it would show the sate support for a liquor company.

The company sees it as an opportunity for "strengthening its resources and move to expand abroad", particularly in Europe. The fortune of the company is at an estimated $3 billion and the listing would encourage an expansion of Chang beer. Without the expansion, there will be a higher transport cost and lower prospects of penetrating the European Market. Thailand does not have the advantage of being a member of the EU, which means the benefit of lower trade barriers and a single currency.

China accelerates rural tax reduction and exemption

The news reports that the 25 provincial-level regions in China had already abolished the agriculture tax, and the Chinese government will abolish agriculture tax nationally by 2009. By the end of last year, the China tax burden on farmers had been reduced by $3.39 billion.
Historically agriculture tax used to contribute a lot to industry sectors to China. After government’s pro-urban policies, urban areas in China started to boom, which caused the income gap between the urban and rural communities to widen dramatically. Now, 85% of GDP comes from non-agriculture income. Therefore, it is reasonable let farmers release their burdens.
However, the tax reduction and expectation will bring a lot of changes: “where will surplus officials go and what will the leftover officials do due to no need for levying agricultural taxes? Who will pay the administrative charges after agricultural taxes exemption? Which matters will villagers solve? Take rural education for example. Who will be in charge of paying for schoolhouse repairs? Who will pay for teachers' salaries? Can the children in the poor rural families go to school? Will it be that the villagers will do what the rural affairs require if the mechanism remains without agricultural taxes?”
http://english.people.com.cn/200501/26/eng20050126_171983.html
The farming issue is really a serious problem in China. 70% of Chinese are living in rural areas, if we cannot increase their income, and let them have heart-shooting lives, China will have a hard time becoming powerful country. Do you think there is any way to help Chinese farmers?

Can the media sell us anything

I was watching the discovery channel today and orange county choppers was on. Watching these guys beat and pry parts into place with mallets and prybars made me wonder why these bikes are so desirable. Not to take away from the builders, these bikes are moving works of art. But quality they are not. I promise you if you went to a honda factory you would never see the type of "work" that you see with these custom bikes. Which brings me to my question. Can the media sell us anything? prior to all the publicity on the discovery channel custom bikes were a niche market with a few very loyal builders and fans. Now everyone has a West Coast Chopper shirt on and people who can afford to do so spend as much as $200,000 on these bikes. The media has made custom bike building trendy and cool for now and as soon as they find the next big thing they will dump the bikes and move on. Why are we so easily brainwashed into buying merchandice and products we see on television. What happened to people doing thier own thing, and not jumping on the band wagon of every trend? Why am I wearing Abercrombie underwear?

What factors do think influence the American public's willingness to let the media tell them what is and what isn't cool?

increase in new homes and in median cost

Recent reports show that the number of new homes built during the month of February increased 9.4% over that of the month of January. Sales were projected to be much lower because of bad weather conditions, but many sources point to the anticipated increase in interst rates as a key factor of this growth.

One fact caught my eye at the end of the article. It said that the median cost of a home in the US built during this time rose 15% to $230,700. What factors have contributed to this increase, and what about the lower class americans. Could this increase in housing cost make owning your own home to expensive for many americans, or will all these new homes being built create a surplus of pre owned homes driving the price down? What do you think?

Most desirable cities lack children

A recent article in the New York Times claims that some of the most desirable cities to live in lack children. This is a problem for these cities because in terms of school systems stuggling to stay running, and loss of revanue. According to the article every child lost from a city can mean $5,000 taken away from the school systems.

So why don't these cities have children? The author suggests that the very things that make them desirable make them impracticle for children. Dense housing, fashionable restaurants, and mass transit. Many people who have moved out of the cities cite cost of living and desire for more space as reasons to leave.

But I ask is it really those factors that result in less kids, or is it less kids that results in those factors? Is it possible that these cities maintain such low crime rates and other desirable features because kids are not present to make things different. Is it possible that people actually move to these areas because of the lack of children. Do they stay untill they are ready to have kids then move to a more inviting area? Do the people of these upscale neighborhoods really want to wake up to the sound of skateboarders on the sidewalk outside their condos?

Could Michael Jackson Be Going Broke?

Well, we all know that money drives people and their decisions in some direction. So, you figure---"Hey, I'm a juror on the Michael Jackson trial, and if I suggest he is not guilty, maybe he'll pay me some money!"

Well, recent studies have been looking into Jackson's finances, and it looks like his cash is going down the train.

Quoted from the CBS site:

"Jackson's Neverland Ranch staged a sickout because they had not been paid."

"He is in debt to the tune of $300 million and has liabilities close to $400 million," a prosecutor said.


Well, do you all think the news of Jackson's financial downfall could change jurors decisions?





Sorry if that scared you.

Apple angery over "Ipod Shuffle" Clone

Apple has an MP3 player called the Ipod Shuffle. A company called LuxPro created a clone of this product to try and steal its sales. Luxpro's product offers more options than the Ipod Shuffle. Apple has asked Luxpro to remove their product from the market. Do you think that Luxpro should take their "clone" off the market because it is similar to Apple's device?

Short Circuit

In January Circuit City's stock dropped 8% due to lousy same-store December sales. The CEO of Circuit City updated the company's web-site which helped keep investors. The company also went in and relocated some poor performing stores. Do you think that Circuit City's investors will sell more of their stocks? If they are selling Circuit City stocks whose stocks are they buying? Best Buy....Target??

French decide to get back to work

The French parliament recently adopted measures to allow workers to work more than 35 hours per week. The change would allow French workers to work up to 48 hours per week, if they choose to do so. This decision is facing much opposition, mainly from labor unions. They claim that this reform will end France's 35 hour work week. Labor Unions also claim that this will cause France's workers to increase their working hours with no increase in pay.

This measure was taken to make French companies more comptetitve in the world market. It has been increasingly difficult for those companies to compete with international companies whose employees work at a minimum of 40 hours per week. The French have had a 35 hour work week since 1998, when Socialists cut the work week from 39 hours in an attempt to curb unemployment.

Politically, this could affect France's ratification of the European Union's new constitution. The referendum for this issue will occur on May 29th and due to anti-government protests, enough voters could sway the decision to "no."

Socially Conscious fund dumps Starbucks

"Pax World Funds recently sold 375,000 shares of Starbucks worth about $23.5 million because it disapproves of the coffee chain developing an alcoholic beverage." In February, Starbucks unveiled its first alcoholic beverage, a coffee liqueur, which sells for $23 for a 750 milliliter bottle.

Pax World Funds seek to invest in companies that "improve the quality of life such as health care, technology, housing, food, education ... and that are not engaged in the manufacture of defense or weapons-related products or that derive revenue from the manufacture of tobacco, liquor, or gambling products."

Starbucks announced it was disappointed in the fund's decision, but that action would not cause it to halt the sale of its alcoholic beverage. It is interesting to note that despite Pax World Fund's actions, Starbucks is such a popular company that this will not greatly hurt their image or their profits. Interestingly, however, is that this is one of the few times when Starbucks has faced any sort of opposition at all for its actions. While this will not change Starbucks' stance in any way, it will be fascinating to watch their future decisions to see if they continue to take riskier actions.

While most consumers and investors will more than likely hail Starbucks' newest creation, the fact that it is an alcoholic beverage will cause some groups and individuals to lose favor with the company. While it is not good business practice to try and please everyone, Starbucks is entering a new market, which could prove to be very profitable. The executives at Starbucks will more than likely lose little sleep over this latest occurence.

Millions keep downloading free music

Although much has been done in recent months to stop online piracy of music, a recent study revealed that millions still download music without paying for it. Amazingly, after a few years, Apple Computers just passed the 300 million song mark sold for use in either the iPod or similar MP3 devices. The Pew Internet & American Life Project recently announced that approximately 750 million songs are downloaded illegally each month.

The debate over online trading of music seems to be fueling as the debate over this issue continues. Some even claim that the U.S. economy and the future of the internet itself could be at stake depending on the eventual ruling of MGM v. Grokster. The music industry strongly supports stopping piracy in all forms, claiming that this practice has cost them millions in sales and licensing fees, despite that last year, 817 million units of music were sold (including albums, singles, and digital downloads), a 19% jump in the previous year.

Despite any individual stance on this issue, it is a fact that this case and the eventual conclusion to this issue will have significant ramifications on much more than the music industry and will remain an important economic debate for some time to come.

Another School Shooting

Yesterday in Minnesota, a school shooting occurred. Jeff Weise,17 and a student at Red Lake High School, killed ten people including five students and himself. The shooting occurred on an Indian reservation. It is being called the worst school shooting since Columbine. According to reports Weise was a regular blogger on a neo-Nazi website. This is one of the first school shootings that I have heard of in recent history. He also killed a security guard at the school.
I do not know for many of you but at my high school we have two full time county sheriffs and 20 survailance cameras. Our school as safe as it could be with the money it had to spend. However, schools should be more secure. My question to you is, would you support more taxes in order for schools to install metal detectors or do you think the cost of installing the metal detectors outweighs the benefits of saving lives? Do you think that the issue of school shootings is not strong enough right now?

Should Aluminum Bats Be Used?

A controversey that has been in baseball throughout the past ten years in the use of aluminum bats on the high school and collegiate level. The main issue that arises is the risks and dangers of the speed of the ball produced by aluminum bats. Within the past 5-10 years more and more injuries have occured due to the rapid speed of the ball of the bat. For example, a relief pitcher from Cal State-Northridge was strick in the head by a batted ball, which lead to him fracturing his skull. He was quoted saying, "I just had no time to react." The ball being struck by the bat has even lead to some deaths.

Many test have been done recently that have shown that speed of a ball off an aluminum bat is much much quicker then a wood bat. An aluminum bat can produce a ball up to 100mph. Of recent years, many rules and regualtions have come into play to help rdeduce the risks and dangers. For example, the length to weight differential-College and High School metal bats are allowed a minus three differential (Kelley). In other words, a 33 inch bat can weigh no less than 30 ounces (Kelley). This allows the bat to only produce a maximum speed of 93mph. So the question arises now, whether baseball on the high school and colleiate level should change to the use of wood bats or continue to stick with aluminum bats and resume the risks and dangers?

Survey Says: Deficit is the #1 threat to the U.S. economy

A recent survey of American businesses suggested that the budget deficit has overtaken terrorism as the greatest short-term risk to the U.S. economy.

In the survey of 172 members of the National Association For Business Economics, 27 percent said the deficit or government spending was the largest short-term threat to the economy, up from 23 percent in August.

Terrorism dropped from 40 percent to 24 percent on the list of economic threats.

Concerns about energy rose from 6 percent to 11 percent and the threat of inflation fell from 9 percent to 6 percent.

Unemployment, which was seen as the greatest risk at this time last year, was cited by just 2 percent of those surveyed.

63 percent of respondents said the Federal Reserve's monetary policy is about right, which is up from 59 percent in August; however many agreed short-term interest rates should be increased (and according to the latest release found on CNN.com, they will be).
See article:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/21/news/economy/fed_walkup/index.htm

Interestingly enough, 69 percent agreed that the Social Security system had serious problems and was in need of some major repairs, repairs that were only given a 36 percent chance of occurrence.

What do you think is the biggest threat to the U.S. economy? Has the time come to look past the threat of terrorist attacks and shift our focus toward restructuring of fiscal policy and Social Security to ensure future economic stability?

Social Security Bankrupt?

Social security benefits are soon going to be exceed social security taxes, resulting in social security bankruptcy. But really, isn't this just semantics? All the government would have to do is keep the benefits the same but call half of it "social security benefits" and the rest something else; social security would no longer be "bankrupt." What really matters is the real problem of scarcity and wants and needs. What is really important is ensuring that there is enough goods to go around. Semantics, accounting lingo and tricks, and loads of numbers and figures have taken the foreground, when the future availability of goods is the real issue. According to the author of this article, this relies on "the amount of work young people do in the future, the amount of work old people do in the future, and the quality and quantity of stuff." It's important that we don't get bogged down in the catch phrases and keep our focus on the reality of resource allocation. The information for this post can be found HERE.

How to Start a Clothing Business

The market of clothing is really big. There are a lot of very famous brands. At the same time, some small and home-based entrepreneurs are interested in starting an apparel retail business. Of course, there is a big question that how to start a clothing business. For small businesses to succeed, they must fill a niche that does not exist in the local marketplace. And a niche can be defined as offering something special, worth seeing and most importantly, different. Because they have found a way to attract customers and gain customers recognition, they need to focus on a smaller segment while building brand identity. When starting an apparel retailing business, you have two choices: either to create your own brand or sell other brands. And you also need to think what kind of clothing you want to sell; you can offer couture or designer lines at premium prices. Then, how about financing about this business. How much you need to start a clothing line? That depends on many factors. You will buy or rent your equipment, subcontract production, hire a designer, rent a retail store, and hire a salesman to push your products. “There are stories of entrepreneurs who started their clothing business with nothing and then earn a million in their first year of business. However, success stories like these are more the exemption than the norm.” To start clothing business is not an easy task. You need to have the management know that how of running a business, the total revenue and total cost and a thorough understanding of the industry. You must be able to juggle well three basic functions: design, production and sales. I think it is a very interesting business.

Thirsty for Water?

In Iraq there are plenty of wells and in southeast Asia there are plenty of streams, but dead animals have contaminated the wells and the recent tsunami has polluted the streams with salt water. So, the question is how do we provide water for all these thirsty victims? We can provide bottled water, but it usually costs $1.50 per bottle and can become very exspensive. The Marshall Space Flight Center has been testing a device intended for the space station that would recycle astronaut's sweat, respiration, and even urine into fine drinking water that would be purer than the tap water we drink. They plan to use this big device in space and use smaller devices here on Earth in the next couple of years. What do you think about this?

High demand for oil.

Dispite the increasing of oil price recently, the demand for oil is still high in the US. Acording to the BBC News, the demand for crude oil will grow even faster than expected. The International Energy Agency, set up by governments to monitor oil stocks in the 1970s, said demand would rise 1.8 million barrels a day to 84.3 million.
Beside some normal reasons that affect oil price like car industry... Do you think that freezing weather also affects oil price, since there are alot of electric equipment used in cold weather?

Gas Prices Rise Again!

Gas prices hit a record high Monday at $2.109 a gallon, which is 5.3 cents up from last week. The previous record was $2.106 a gallon last May. The Energy's Department said that gas prices will go up and maybe even higher than $2.15 a gallon. The highest price of gasoline is $3.08 and that took place in 1981. President Bush said that he was concerned for consumers, but offered no short-solutions to help bring down the price of gasoline. Would you pay for gas at $3.08 a gallon? Do you think President Bush is the one who should do something about this or can we as the people do something about it?

Senate strips Medicaid cuts

On Thursday, the Senate voted to strip all projected Medicaid cuts from the $2.6 trillion budget next year. When the House and Senate meet next month to write a compromise budget there is a possibility that Medicaid cuts could still be revived. As congress writes bills later in the year it will make actual changes in programs and tax laws because of the budget setting overall tax and spending targets. Other benefit programs like Medicare and Social Security consume nearly two-thirds of the federal budget and continue to grow. It is projected that these benefit programs will spend $7.7 trillion over the next five years. If current increases in spending for Medicaid are to continue will the cost of the Medicaid program outstrip the revenue source?

Aging In Style

As with everything the American population is aging just as expected. This may not seem like much of a problem until you consider the bubble in the size of the population that was created way back after World War II. This bubble which takes up a large percentage of the population will soon be getting to that age when healthcare becomes much more of a concern. As we have discussed in Healthcare class this surge in seniors will add to the already rising cost of healthcare in America. But as this Time Magazine article points out, healthcare will not be the only business to boom. As the article states, “Boomers will spend billions to look and feel younger”, thus creating a little extra demand in more than just hip replacements. Basically I just want to propose the possibility that even though seniors will want to spend spend spend, its not necessarily a bad idea because of the business they will create.

Senate strips Medicaid cuts

On Thursday, the Senate voted to strip all projected Medicaid cuts from the $2.6 trillion budget next year. When the House and Senate meet next month to write a compromise budget there is a possibility that Medicaid cuts could still be revived. As congress writes bills later in the year it will make actual changes in programs and tax laws because of the budget setting overall tax and spending targets. Other benefit programs like Medicare and Social Security consume nearly two-thirds of the federal budget and continue to grow. It is projected that these benefit programs will spend $7.7 trillion over the next five years. If current increases in spending for Medicaid are to continue, will the cost of the Medicaid program outstrip the revenue source?

Senate strips Medicaid cuts

On Thursday, the Senate voted to strip all projected Medicaid cuts from the $2.6 trillion budget next year. When the House and Senate meet next month to write a compromise budget there is a possibility that Medicaid cuts could still be revived. As congress writes bills later in the year it will make actual changes in programs and tax laws because of the budget setting overall tax and spending targets. Other benefit programs like Medicare and Social Security consume nearly two-thirds of the federal budget and continue to grow. It is projected that these benefit programs will spend $7.7 trillion over the next five years. If current increases in spending for Medicaid are to continue, will the cost of the Medicaid program outstrip the revenue source?

Diagnosis: You're Fat

In a recent CBS News article it is reported that some researchers are now stating that with the current trend of obesity rising in America, the average life expectancy could drop from two to five years from the current 77.6 years. "We think today's younger generation will have shorter and less healthy lives than their parents for the first time in modern history unless we intervene," Olshansky said in the article. Clearly there is a problem. But what should the solution be. As many Americans continue to doom themselves to shorter a lifespan I suggest that everyone is forced to evaluate their own decisions. With obesity now being covered by Medicare, we need to find a cost effective way to treat this so called “disorder”. My personal opinion is that instead of spending public funds on medication we reevaluate the situation and simply be more coercive that exercise may have the smallest incremental cost effectiveness for every year of life that it will save.

TANSTAFL

As all Marietta Economics students are aware, there is no such thing as a free lunch. No matter what it is and where it came from everything has a cost associated with it. And the same idea holds true in Canada. Many Americans have lately been rambling on about how if Canadians get such cheap prescriptions, then so should Americans. Canada’s healthcare system is no walk in the park, however. As this CBS News article points out there is a major crisis brewing in the healthcare system of our northern neighbor. The main problem is that Canada’s so called “universal free healthcare” does indeed have a cost. Massive funding shortages are causing the system to run out of doctors and nurses. As the article states, “"That doctor doesn't have to worry about how you're going to pay the bill," said Deber. "He knows that his bill will be paid, so there's absolutely nothing to stop any doctor from treating anyone."” This condition gives doctors no incentive to limit there cost. So if you think that some kind of universal healthcare is needed in the United States, take a second thought to examine the ramifications. I know that I do not want to pay for services that I may not even be able to access because so many others waste my money. Do you?

Walmart Runs for the Hills of Canada

According to a Yahoo! News story, there has been a lot of talk about unionizing in Canadian Wal-Mart’s. Just this past Friday, United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada filed two applications to unionize some Wal-Mart employees. The union local's president stated that Wal-Mart is just going to have to get used to this. The story also mentioned a Wal-Mart in Quebec which already successfully got union certification. Wal-Mart responded to this certification stating that the process was undemocratic because it did not use secret ballots. Wal-Mart has even threatened that it will close this Quebec store as the workers have attempted to negotiate their first contract.

Do you think the Wal-Mart employees need a union? Is Wal-Mart being unreasonable when it comes to unionization, or should they be contesting the certification of these unions?

High tuition in Marietta.

Acording to the Marcolian magazine, Mariertta College will increase its tuition for the 2005-2006 school year by 4.25%. On average, undergraduate students will be charged $29,100 in tuition, room and board, and other fees.
The $28,000 tuition last year was a high tuition with many students here already. There were some students that I know had left Marietta just because the tuition here was so high. So, I'm thinking if the increasing in tuition for the school next year will lead more students leave Marietta and choose other cheaper school instead; since there are some cheaper colleges around with amost the same academic quantity?

Can we consider CBS a monopoly?

Can we consider CBS to have a monopoly over the NCAA tournament? They are the only network allowed to show games. They are making tons of money through commercials for these games and their ratings are going through the roof.
It has been said that America's production goes down by something like 8 billion during this week. People actually fake being sick to stay home and watch these games. I myself set up two televisions in the living room and watch two games at one time.
The tournament isn't just about watching your favorite team.
I love Duke but if they are up 15 I will switch to a closer game.
We have seen a ton of wonderful games already in this tournament and a lot of great upsets. I hope it continues on.

Strap On Your Hiking Boots

The Federal Reserve has been pouring on the interest rate hikes recently and is expected to do so again this coming Tuesday. The majority of the impact of this will fall to the lower and middle income brackets. The rates have been raised by 1/4 of a percentage point six times since last May, which they say is a response to a steady increase in the health of our economy. These increases have cost consumers $15 billion in the past year alone, with an estimated $25 billion in costs if the trend continues. Many consumers who have higher incomes are buffered to these effects through locked in mortgage rates, but college students and their loans are unprotected. Seeing as how our demographic is disproportionately affected by these rate hikes, it should be particularly interesting for those of us who will be setting up loans for cars, houses, etc. as we make our leap into the real world. The information for this post can be found HERE.

Ebola-like illness affecting children of Angola

This past Friday, the United Nations health agency reported that an Ebola-like ailment has targeted primarily children under the age of five and has killed 39 people in Angola. Dick Thompson, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, believes the illness is an acute hemorrhagic fever related to the Ebola virus. As of yet, even though Ebola tends to normally affect the adult population they have not ruled it out. The World Health Organization are collecting information and waiting for lab tests to come back, hoping that the disease is a known substance. According to this article, 100,000 Angolans are expected to return this month via Uige from Congo, where Ebola still exists in nature. When the results come back and if they indicate that this disease is Ebola what affects do you think it will have on surrounding areas? Should the United States send scientists over to eradicate the problem?

Illegal Workers

The largest retailer in the world and private employer in the United States, Wal-mart, has to pay $11 million to settle federal charges that it allowed illegal immigrants to clean its stores. Federal agents raided a number of stores in 21 states in October 2003 and arrested 245 illegal workers. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said, “This settlement is designed to draw attention to other businesses that they also have the duty to ensure their outside contractors are following federal immigration laws.” President Bush proposed a temporary guest worker programme to allow more foreigners to work in the United States legally, but it faces opposition from Congress, who is seeking ways to crackdown on illegal immigrants. Do you think $11 million dollars is a harsh enough fine, when the company records profits of more than $10 billion last year? Will Wal-mart lose a majority of its consumers because they see what a “monopoly” this company has become?

Perfect Competition

We have learned that in the perfect competitive market, all the sellers are the same, all the buyers are the same, and no one has the right the change the price because the supply and demand curves are perfect elastic. If a seller simply raises the price, it will drive buyers to other sellers; likewise, if a buyer wants to pay a lower price, it will drive sellers to other buyers. However, it is recently reported by CNN news that “buyers in competitive housing markets try to win over sellers with love letters and family photos.” (Dear seller, I knew it was love…) And it’s true that some seller did moved by the gesture. In a perfect competitive market, people can still earn extra profit by emotionally attaching. A seller would be more willing to sell at a lower price if he or she received a love letter from the buyer and had talked and set up friendly relationship with the buyer. He or she would believe that the nice buyer should be welcomed by the neighborhood. I think it might be a kind of off-trading competition since it involves more personal communication. Not only do the buyers win sellers in different way, some sellers use special treatment to win their buyers, too. As I have seen in China, some salesmen tried to first get to know the chose buyer, then talked about things they prefer to hear in order to sell the products at a higher profit. The salesmen spend so much time doing so because they can share a portion of the extra profit. These are my understanding of perfect competitive market, although it’s a price taker model, people can still influence the market-price by some means.

Not this again! Is real estate going to hold up.

It has always been said about investment in real estate that everybody has to live somewhere, hinting towards the stability of the real estate market. That usually works but with recent trends towards purchasing second homes for the sole purpose of investment could lead to a dangerous situation in the real estate market. Suddenly a necesity as a place to live has become comparable to a stock or bond. With that comes the same risk in stocks or bonds. This occurence is being compared to the burst of the technology bubble which dropped the economy into a deep slump over the past five years. Throughout the time of that slump, the real estate market seemed to be the only consistently positive market. Will the failure of this market in the near future damage the economy greatly, or has the economy improved enough that it will just result in a small short lasting dent? Many have been investing in real estate alone due to its comparable stability, so keep that in mind.

Bad News

According to a statement made by the International Monetary Fund's Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato, the price of oil is expected to stay high for at least two years. He did say that the current levels will not last through out, but the prices will be higher due to "demand pressures and certain supply constraints." Even though the article doesn't say it, that seems to say that developed and developing countries are demanding more oil, and OPEC among other things are limiting the supply. No big surprises there. High fuel prices are obviously bad news. My question is, with an almost guarantee of high fuel prices, do you just accept, and pay it, or does it make you take a second look at some of the hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles that are available? Many people have said that car companies will lose money on their hybrid research, but with continued high prices, and the very attractive gas mileage of the hybrids, will this create a surge in demand for these alternative fuel vehicles?

Will for-profit or non-for-profit hospitals benefit society's economic growth?

It is reported that "There are almost 5,000 hospitals in the United States - 85 percent of which are not-for-profit like the hospitals of Texas Health Resources: Presbyterian, Harris Methodist and Arlington Memorial. Typically, the not-for-profit and for-profit hospital sectors provide similar services, compete for the same patients, and get paid by the same sources. However, they differ significantly in many other ways.
For-profit organizations are responsible to their shareholders for a return on investment. Not-for-profit hospitals are accountable to patients, employers and insurers who pay for medical care, and as assets of the communities in which they operate.
Not-for-profit organizations are required to contribute a portion of their earnings to care for the underserved and demonstrate health improvement in their communities. Some examples include providing care for the homeless and those without funds to pay, conducting childhood-immunization and asthma prevention programs, and reaching out through nursing programs to schools and the home-bound. "
It is obvious that non-for-profit hospitals benefit people and make society filled with warmth. Also, the program of non-for-profit hospitals give people more impetus to work hard and contribute their society from which they get their medicare. However, for-profit hospitals give their profit to the share-holders who will use this amount of money to reinvestment, which also benfit economic growth. If we have to support one of the healthcare ( for-profit or non-for-profit) , which one you suggest to perform?
http://www2.texashealth.org/krld/2004/01-28_August2001.asp

Who has money on the NCAA brackets??

The big dance has begun. I am sure a lot of people have filled out their prospective brackets and entered a contest of some sort. There's usually an entrance fee to get in on a pool, so how much did you spend? How much could you win? How did the upsets of last night affect your chances of cashing out?

Unemployment Rates Down

Initial unemployment claims fell by 10,000 the week ended March 12 from the previous week with no apparent special factor in this sharp decline. Initial claims are those that are sent in the first time and does not represent the total number of unemployment claims. This figure has been below 350,000 for 9 weeks and running and may indicate a strengthening economy. The total number of unemployed has recently been reported to be 48,000 less than before as well. Can an improving economy be held completely responsible for this occurrence? Or are there other as for now unforseen factors that are causing the upswing in our employment rates? What do you think some possible factors that are being overlooked could be? The data for this post can be found HERE.

Steroids Goes to Congress

Today March 17, 2005 will go down in infamy for Major League Baseball. Players, past and present, owners, the commisioner, and managers where all called to Washington D.C. to testify infront of Congress about the steroid problem in baseball. Congress called all the people to here different tesitmonies. Some big names were Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmiero, Bud Selig, and many others. Congress heard testimonies and spoke about the problem. Some delegates are pushing for harsher penalties regarding a positive test for steroids. The big testimony was Jose Canseco. He was not granted immunity so he could not testify to the fullest extent because he would have been imprisioned. McGwire also did not answer most of questions for the same reason as Caonseco. What do you think this hearing has done for baseball? What do you think Congress should do about the steroid ploicy in baseball presently.

What is your point of view concerning medical spending on the elderly

In recent years, the medical spending on the elderly in the US is increasing. Few people really know the reason or driving force behind that. While elderly nowadays in many countries receive social security and spend more in medical care, some people argue that :" because elderly peopel are generally not part of the labor force, they represent an economic drain on the local economy." Well, i am thinking that the older people must feel very disappointed if they contribute a lot to the society when they were young and get little care from the society when they get older. Suppose now we decrease the medical spending on the elderly people. Will people stop working hard concerning their poor medical condition when they get older? Or they may work harder to reserve enough money for the rest of time after retirement?

Why elderly men were more likely to be married and living with their spouses than elderly women?

it is reported that "Women Have Lower Income in Retirement than Men -- And Thus Higher Poverty. In 1997, median income for elderly unmarried women (widowed, divorced, separated, and never married) was $11,161, compared with $14,769 for elderly unmarried men and $29,278 for elderly married couples. Thus, the poverty rate for elderly women was higher than that of men: in 1997, the poverty rate of elderly women was 13.1 percent, compared to 7.0 percent among men. Among unmarried elderly women, the poverty rate was significantly higher -- about 19 percent. " It is also said that in America, there is as twice women live alone as men. However, the Cencus Bureau estimated that "elderly men were nearly twice as likely to be married and living with their spouses as elderly women do( 75% versus 41%). Is that only because of emotional reason? Well it is hard to say. From the economic point of view, poor couple will get lower social security. If so, why those elderly men want to marry elderly women? It may be better for them to stay alone to get much highter social security rather than getting married.I feel confused about that. Could you give me some explanations please.

Oil Drilling

With gas prices setting record highs, the question in the U.S. Senate is whether or not to allow oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge. The vote is expected to be close. If this would help bring down gas prices in the U.S., is it the right thing to do? If I had a vote to cast, I would vote for the oil drilling. I feel that we need to be as less dependent as possible on other countries for our goods and services. What do you think? Is the oil drilling necessary? Why or Why not?

Milk, Does the body good?

Research is now finding that dairy products have little to do with building strong bones in children. Low-fat or non-fat dairy products actually have the same amount if not more calcium than whole dairy products. Studies show no relationship between dairy calcium and bone health in children. Many Moms are worried that their children are not getting enough calcium because their kids are lactose and tolerant or their kid does not like milk, but we are starting to put calcium in everything such as maccaroni and cheese and orange juice. Another article stated that the best calcium is in tofu, vegetables, and soy milk. Do you think this will affect milk producers? Many have complained that milk is a necessity for children to grow strong bones.

California Gay Marriage Ban

A judge ruled that a ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. The judge came to this ruling because of lawsuits filed by the city and a dozen gay couples after the California Supreme Court haulted a four-week same-sex marriage spree. Many people stated that this ruling was an important step toward a more fair California that rejects discrimination and supports all family values for California's families. Judge Richard Kramer said that there is no rational purpose for denying marriage to couples who are gay. What do you think about this?

Schwab Reduced Online Fees Again

Last month, Charles Schwab Corp. said it will cut trading fees again, lowering commissions on many of its online-investor customers by 35%. It was not the first cut of Schwab, which meant that prices in the online-trading industry would continue to be squeezed. The lowering commissions of Schwab would benefit about a million households. Schwab’s cutting trading applies to domestic individual investors with assets between $50000 and $1 million at Schwab. As a result, their base online trade commissions drop from $ 19.25 to $ 12.95. Also, this move applies to investors who make 9 to 29 trades a quarter. With last year’s price cuts, Schwab now has a pricing schedule with commissions of $ 9.95, $ 12.95, or $ 19.95, depending on assets and trading activity. It was a big decline comparing a $ 29.95 base commission for many trades last year.

The fees were first reduced by the San Francisco Company last year, Schwab followed; as well as Instinet Group Inc., Scottrade Inc., and Fidelity Investments, which have lowered fees recently in order to attract more price-conscious Internet traders. As a result, Instinet Group Inc. which runs an electronic stock trading network and an institutional-brokerage operation posted a fourth-quarter profit $ 18.7 million with an expenses fell 26%.

On the other hand, Schwab shares fell on the news, dropping 32 cents, or 3%, to $ 10.38 in 4 p.m. NYSE trading Friday, February 4. Trading value was about 19 million shares, nearly three times the normal volume. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded as high as $ 13.11 on Feb 18 2004, and as low as $ 8.25 on July 19.

I visited the Schwab website, and learned a little bit about how to buy and sell stocks through Schwab. I think it is very easy and convenient to trade stocks through Internet. I also went through the commission fees on the Schwab, I think they are reasonable. However, for investors, it is good that they are cutting the trading fees. I think there may be more people interested in online investments; and however, the companies would get profit as as a result.

If you are interested in this, or you want to take a look at the website, you can visit Schwab at www.schwab.com.

Stock Market Fell with the Dollar and Then Rise Back

At the end of last month, February, the stock markets had big decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped its largest point since May 2003; it dropped 174.02 points, or 1.6%, to 10611.20. Also, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index declined its biggest point in six months; it fell 1.5%, or 17.43 points, to 1184.16. And the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1.4%, or 28.30 points. Those drops were the result of the rise in oil price and a flagging dollar.

The Crude-oil rise 5.8%, or $ 2.80, to $51.15 a barrel, which was the highest settlement in nearly four months at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Also, oil is up almost 18% this year. One of the most important reasons was that the weakness dollar aids commodities that are traded in dollar terms. The dollar fell to 104.06 yen from 105.57 yen.

As a result, on the Big Board, New York Exchange Market, 2618 stocks fell and 732 rose, where 1.7 billion shares traded. On the Nasdaq Stock Market, 868 shares advanced while 2324 declined, where 2.1 billion shares changed hands. I do think that was really a big unexpected loss for most of the shareholders; however, it was also a good chance to invest, too. On the other hand, bonds fell, too. The 10-year Treasury note fell 4/32, or $1.25 per $1000 invested. It pushed the yield up to 4.283%. The 30-year bond fell 14/32 to yield 4.682%.
In contrast, golden futures, which often move in the opposite direction of the dollar because the metal is considered an alternative store of value jumped 1.7%, or 7.40, to a 2005 high of $434.50 a troy ounce.

However, the market recovered right after that big decline. Last Friday, March 11, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 10774.36, and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stick index ended at 1200.28.

Will China's economy catch up with America by 2046?

This news reported that Chinese economy may surpass or approach America economy in 2046. They had this estimation based on China has 7% long-term economic growth, and post-industrialized countries have 2.5% long-term growth rate. Also government provided reasonable analysis. The problems like land shortages, the overgrowth of fixed assets and inflation had been alleviated by Chinese government last year. These will help China go to another phase of economic growth.

Sometimes, I can find the articles about China surpass America in Chinese websites. Every time, I read it, I don’t feel very good. Imagine that if every Chinese can have the lives like American people have now, what will happen? How much oil will be left for people to use in the future? How much clean water can be left for our children? Can we still see blue sky? I am not sure if my thinking is right or wrong. No matter what, China will not stop developing. As a Chinese, I will still happy about the economy growth in China. At the same time, I hope the people in all counties can work together to protect our natural resources. I hope the economists made this analysis according to the living standard. Because the measurement of living standards considers the pollution problems.

By the way, here is a website I want to recommend to the students in Econ 372 class. It is a very marvelous website for our papers. Hope it can help you guys!
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html

Driving under the influence of cell phones

As we know almost everyone in the United States owns a cell phone. Police officers and many driving instructors see cell phones as a big problem while driving. A recent survey said that over 1.2 million people talk on their cell phones while driving. One person stated in the article that she never has a problem managing driving and talking on her cell phone at the same time, but does admit to being distracted when looking for her phone when it rings. She also stated that her friend has been in 11 different accidents because she has been talking on her cell phone, eating, or putting on her makeup. I think that anything can become a distraction when you are driving, even if you are thinking about something else. If we choose to ban cell phones while driving shouldn't we also ban eating or putting on makeup, etc? What do you think?

Nurse Shortage

Are nurses being payed enough? There is a continuing shortage of nurses. Could it be due to the salary? Some nurses say they want out because they do not make enough money. Families tend to blame them for the illness and doctors are God. What do you think? One of my family members is a nurse and she said she saves lives, but doesn't make near as much money as an electrician or a plumber. Do you think something needs to be changed? To me, nurses should be paid more because they are working to save people's lives. I think we take so many things for granite in this world that we should not.

Minimum Wage

One of the large debates this week while the Senate was in session was over minimum wage. Both democrats and republicans felt that there needed to be an increase but they could not agree on a rate. Democrats wanted minimum wage to raise more than two dollars while republicans wanted to increase it by a little more than a dollar. I think that raising minimum wage is good because it will encourage people to work rather than sitting around and collecting welfare when they could work at a fast-food place and get more money. I do not feel that a two dollar increase is necessary. What about the small businesses? Do you think that the minimum wage should be increased or not? Why? If so, what should the amount be?