Oscars

And the Oscar goes to...

The Aviator and Million Dollar Baby cleaned up at the Oscars last night but what does it all mean. To Hollywood even being nominated for an Oscar is a great honor but to actually receive one is amazing. But why do the Oscars matter so much? It is not even the most fun awards show to watch. Actually in my opinion it is quite boring. The only reason I watched is because I really liked Million Dollar Baby when I went and saw it in the theatre.

Do the Oscars sell movies? When you go into Wal-Mart and look at DVD's do you look for one that says Oscar winner on the front? I know I never do. So why are the Oscars such a big deal?

Does college produce a marginal benefit?

We've all grown up knwing that you almost have to college if you want to make it anywhere in the world. I would be willing to bet that for this reason the majority of us are even attending college. I mean, we could be out working paying jobs and earning some money, but instead we are here, paying even more money to go school for even longer. Why? Because it is supposed to pay of in the long run. We are supposed to earn much more money for coming here and spending an extra hundred-thousand dollars that could have been avoided by going straight to work. When we get out of here we are supposed to be able to pay back our hundred-thousand no problem and spend the rest of our lives earning an income that we can put forth to things that we really want. Is this what will happen? Things still seem to be pointing in the direction of college being alomst necessary, however things also seem to be changing. When my parents were growing up if you had a bachelors degree from college you were far above the rest and would earn top dollar for your skills. Now, a bachelors degree is almost as common as a morning cup of coffee and graduate school is quickly becoming important if you want to earn that extra buck. A bachelors degree now is nearly required to find a decent job and a masters will get you the big money, but is it worth the cost? As i said before, we pay about a hundred-thousand dollars to go to college and that is before graduate school, but college tuition is rising each year and doesn't show signs of stopping anytime soon. A not only is tuition rising rapidly but the new Bush budget for upcoming years will cut much of the funding that is given to those who are pursuing a college career. Will the average person be able to afford college for much longer? Are we on our way to needing a masters to survive or are we closer to regressing back to the days where a high school diploma would get a decent job where you could work your way up? Are college becoming too expensive? All Marietta College students recieved a memo in the mail this past week letting us know of the new 4.25% increase in tuition here at MC. I don't about everyone else but I have enough loans as it is let alone now having to take on more because of yet another increase. Will it ever stop? Will the market ever actually level out and form some set of standard?

Steroids in Baseball Part II

With spring training coming up right around the corner the big topic in baseball is steroids. Who is using them and what should be done. Hall of Famer and Washington Nationals manager Frank Robinson believes steroids have created a "cloud over baseball" and the penalties against stroid use arn't strong enough (White). Many fans are ignoring the steroid use due to the fact they enjoy seeing the long ball, the RBI's, and line drive hits that almost take players heads off. Robinson goes on telling about how the players do care. I would to. If i was sitting on a bench with a teammate that was on roids and we play the same position, an he is putting up bigger numbers, i would be pretty pissed. Even tho testing might an invasion of privacy, if you look to be using them you should be tested. Bud Sehlig, the commisioner of baseball, proposed new standards on drug testing to athletes that test positive. First offense is 10 day suspension, Second offense 30, Third offense 60, Fourth offense one year and all offenses are with out pay. What is a 10 day suspension with out pay to a professional athlete? Robinson is right, they penalties should be a harsher than 10 days for the first offense. I think they should hit them harder the first time so they wont do it again later. With this proposal if i were to get caught once, wouldnt you keep going. How do you feel about this drug testing and the new proposal?

NHL Lockout

The NHL lockout has aroused many problems for economy, fans, players, and the league its self. Hockey has been around for how many years now, how can you just get rid of it all of a sudden. They have tried to rescue the season many times this year so far but they can not come to agreement primarily based upon salary caps and NHL's lack of economic standing in host communities (Hiltzik). Also many sponsors are loosing money in this lockout from what services they provide the arena's and teams. I believe that salary caps do play a huge role in sports. Some times i think other sports should take this into consideration. Like baseball. The New York Yankees salary caps are twice and even triple other major league teams which allow them to purchase the best players in the league. You do not see this as much in the NHL because most the players are just playing for the love the game and not for the money. I bet you there are people out there that couldnt name 5 people on the Tampa Bay Lightning when the won the Stanley Cup. I hope the NHL can come to some agreement soon and bring back a sport that is actually interesting to watch. What do you think about the Lock out? What do you think they could do to bring it back? Leave em

Moss in Black and Silver means Green!

After Langerud got word that Randy Moss perrenial Pro-bowl wide reciever for the Minnesota Vikings was being shipped off to Oakland. He immediately started slashing the prices on Moss's jearseys on his online store in Forrest Lake Minn. He lowered the prices from $65 to $40 and $199 to $160. Moss's new Oakland jersey is predicted to be the top selling in the NFL next year. But what number will Randy be sporting? #84 is taken by Oakland WR Jerry Porter whom signed a five year deal on Tuesday. Will Randy Moss try to buy his jersey or will he change his number? What do you think he should do/or will do?

Price Ceilings

We all know that price ceilings keep prices artificially low and designed to help the poor, right? Well that might not be the case. Some economists argue that by looking deeper into price ceilings, the exact opposite happens. They claim that price ceilings actually keep prices artifically high, and when the ceiling is removed, the price goes down. This is because the ceiling creats an incentive for the producer not to supply too much of something, and this incentive is lost whent the ceiling is removed. So when the quantity supplied goes up, price goes down. This is the reason that some economists argue that price ceilings actually hurt the poor more than they help them. The ceilings create a price above equilibrium, which is even harder for the poor to pay. Add to this the shortage that a ceiling can cause, and the poor are worse off than before the ceiling. This shows that the invisible hand theorem is correct, that free markets really will maximize social welfare. For the entire article, go to: http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=1081&printable=Y

What are you smoking?

If you walk into a gas station or a supermarket and you feel the need for a cigarette you may one of any number of cigarette brands. (Marlboro, Camel, etc...) You may even possibly buy some sort of cigar, whatever it is however will be just an ordinary cigarette. What if that could change? What if you could walk into a gas station and ask for a pack of marijuana cigarettes? For that matter, what if you could go and purchase any illicit drug at no risk of being imprisoned? The legalization of the now illegal drugs has been discussed again and again and I just had to stop and think about it myself. Think about what it would mean if you could buy drugs publicly. It would mean an end to blackmarket sales of these items, less people working on the streets trying to sell their products, they could just start their own drug convenient store, but is it right to legalize something so terrible. There have positives and negatives used to support each side. The negatives are pretty self-explanatory, these drugs hurt people, not only do the people who use these drugs to serious harm to themselves but they also have a higher likelihood to harm someone else. When using drugs the user has very little control over his or her actions. Now the positives of legalizing drugs would be that there would be much less crime. People wouldn't have to hide in the shadows to buy and sell drugs. Stealing other people's drugs, or the gang wars that take place over drugs and drug trafficking would all but disappear because everything would be out in the eye of the public. The government would be able to tax the product which would both discourage buyers and sellers, at least in a minor way, from handling the drugs. The site that I have linked to this post gives various statistics about drugs and drug use and it shows information gathered about which drugs are the most popular and number of drug related arrests. What do you think? Should drugs be legalized? Are there certain drugs that should be legalized and other kept illegal? How can we decide whether these drugs should be legalized or not? Is there a better way to control the drug situation? I ask the questions, you give the answers (or at least you opinion and input).

Are schools up to date?

I think that this is a great idea. Bill Gates wants to upgrade how we are teaching our kids of today. I mean look at the drop out rates. If you look them up on the internet they are alot larger than in past years. We have kids dropping out because of drugs and various other things such as unwanted pregnacies. It will cost alot of money to upgrade all the schools but it will do alot of good. Some schools dont even have computer programs taught and that is not going to help these kids going out into the world today. Computers are used everywhere for virtually everything. This big expense would be very very well worth it. If we can spend tons of money on stupid things like movies and upgrading horse racing facilities we can for sure make schools teaching more up to date with todays society. Our kids are coming out not knowing alot about technology when in fact its all around them.

Horse Racing: is it worth it?

Have you ever seen a horse race at a track or on T.V. Chances are that most of us have. I mean yea it can be entertaining but is it really worth all the money that goes into it. Especially all the money that goes into making VIP places and special places for coperate people to watch. This article goes into talking about all these luxary places being built at this track and the high costs of doing so. That in turn raises the price of going to see a race. Is it really necessary for this? I mean isnt there better things that the money could go into such as bettering the schools in the area or maybe towards fixing run down roads. I mean 35,000 dollars for a tent to sit under to keep rich and snobby people out of the sun. I just think thats not really a necessity.

The Numbers Game

This article is dealing with the free agency market involving superstar calliber athletes being moved to other teams and going through complications not only involving salary but involving them playing with their lucky number. Chris Webber was recently traded from the Sacramento Kings to the Philidelphia 76ers, and wanted to keep him number 4. Webber has had this number since he was playing at Michigan withthe FAB 5. Webber was able to retain his number from Philidelphia's 1st round draft pick last year Andre Iguodala. Usually players will have to pay another player for the rights to that number if someone already has the number on the team. It usually involves thousands of dollars. In this case it was nothing. Andre's agent who played with Webber at Michigan said,"Andre was a huge fan of the Fab 5.", he also stated"Any time a young, rising star can do something to show respect for someone he looked up to, he's going to do it." Amoung the players that are being sent to other teams Keith Van Horn #44, Baron Davis #1, and Antone Walker's # 8 (others and full article can be found here http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1999152 ) are all going to have to be bought from another teamate. Is a number worth thousands of dollars? In this greedy world of athletes yes, i believe it is. Whatever makes them perform at a high level with a minimal amount of complaining works best!

Sony Puts Pizza Ordering in Web Game

"Hello, yes my name is 'The Dark Elf' and I would like a large pepperoni pizza...."
-This is the latest statement that could come from a uber EVERQUEST gamers mouth....

For those who do not know, Everquest is an online RPG (Role Playing Game) that has over 300,000 active players. And now, Sony has gone a bit further in its online interaction.

Sony lets users type in the command " /pizza " which will take them to a Pizza Hut website to order pizza, which will be delivered to their door. Also, as taken from the article..."Sony plans to integrate the pizza function more tightly into the game, so players can charge pizza to their monthly game subscription bill. "

Also, Chris Kramer, a spokesman for SONY says "The goal for the future is to eventually let people do more things like this," Kramer said. "They could type /harry potter and get the new Harry Potter (news - web sites) book delivered or /star wars and get the new Star Wars DVD."

All I can say is WOW! This has gone a bit too far!

Do you think this will really help sales of all of these products?

Selling Pirated DVD's

As each day passes, another "pirater" is added to the list.

My question is, how bad is selling pirated DVD's. I am not talking about copies of DVD movies. But movies which were taped in a theater, either by an audience member, or a person who works in the theater. These DVD's are mostly fuzzy pixeled and the audio is sort of bad. As an avid movie downloader, there are plenty of scenes in which actual people get up in front of the screen and walk away- possibly to get popcorn or use the bathroom.

I beleive, movie piraters are helping the low- to middle class people out by selling a dvd, for say $5. This is up to $3 less than a single movie ticket, and not all hard working families have the money or time to go to a theater, buy $30 worth of $5 food, and watch a movie.

Possibly, the movie piraters are helping people realize how some movies, put out to be SO great, SUCK! For example, Cursed. Wow, that was a waste of my money! I thought it looked good, but no! Therefore, when my family, or my girlfriends family wants to see it, I can download the movie, and burnt it to watch.

How bad is it hurting the Movie Industry? I mean, we only hear the numbers..... bla bla bla pulled in $130 million from its first weekend......oh well, hate it or love it...

Spring Break Fares

It's one week till spring break which means none of us are going to be focusing on much this week except dreaming of sand and sun. The sand and sun may be harder to get to this year though. Many major airlines such as Northwest and Delta have raised fares to account for the ever-increasing oil prices. Continental, U. S. Airways, and United are low-fare carriers and have maintained their low fares. While it's not entirely clear who started the fare raising many carriers followed the lead of Northwest after the premier carrier raised its fares by $5 for one way flights under a 1,000 miles and $10 for flights any longer. Many experts attribute the raise in fares to the exceedingly low fares this past year. They claim they were bound to go up and they will stay up. This is going to affect many business travelers who frequent the airports our our country each and every day, and what is going to happen to the tourism industry.

Patriots Part Ways with Cornerback Ty Law

The New England Patriots, Superbowl XXXIX Champs, cut cornerback Ty Law late last week. He was at the end of his 7 year, $51 million contract. Any true Patriots fans out there realizes how big of a loss this actually is. Although Law missed a majority of this season with a broken foot, he is still arguably one of the best cornerbacks in the game. He helped the Patriots win 2 of their 3 Superbowls with key interceptions in almost all of his post season appearences. His $12.5 million dollar contract for next season was to much for the Patriots to shell out, especially when most of their players are only being paid a few million a season. Any football fans with some insight, please comment!

Steroids and Baseball

With all of the steroids talk and allegations put against all of these players, some players are thinking of filing law suits against Jose Conseco. Jose, in his new book, released the names of many players accusing them of taking steroids. Most of these players say that these allegations against them are false. Rafael Palmeiro is thinking about suing Jose Conseco because Jose Conseco said that while they played together in Texas he injected Palmeiro with steroids. Palmeiro said that this was false. So my question is that do you think that players who were accused of using steroids by Conseco should press charges against him? These allegations could ruin a great career of some players because this puts them under the spotlight and some people think that using steroids helped them have such a great career.

Student groups back higher tax on beer

This article is about how anti-drinking groups in high schools and colleges are trying to increase tax on beer. While this sin tax seems like a very good idea to lower the number of underage consumers, I think the demand curve for beer is rather inelastic. Yes there will always be the students that say, "no way I do not have the money to continue to buy it," but the majority will probably complain while they are in line with their case of Bud Light. Even the ones who do not buy it could possibly still be consuming it from another source, which still paid the extra money. I think this tax will help increase sales revenue for beer companies. Lets face it, though underage drinking is illegal, it brings a great deal of revenue to the industry.

Martha is Losing

I know most of us are thrilled that Marth Stewart had to go to jail; however, her investors are anything but thrilled. Martha's magazine and television show "Martha Stewart Living" have experienced sharp declines in revenue and their stockholders are feeling it. The company's fourth quarter loss alone was $7.3 million which translates into 15 cents per share. Martha is due to be release from her 5 month prison term this week. What affect do you think her return to the real world will have on her companies? Do you think they can recover from their losses?

Generation Bankrupt

"The under-25 crowd has the fastest-growing rate of bankruptcy in the country." They say that we are least likely to save money from our pay check. We are spending what-ever we get, we are getting sucked in to having credit cards. A lot of young kids have cell phones, which is like having a credit card. "1/3 of kids ages 11 to 17 have cell phones.
The big question is, if we don't save and get in to debt where will that leave us in the future?
They say our generation will not have social security so what will we do when we get older? And how can we break the cycle among the younger generations of spending without saving, or spending without having the money to buy?
More and more jobs are being sent over seas, and people are entering the low middle class group. Will be able to save ourselves?

Baseball Players and Opportunity Cost

Late last December, the Toronto Blue Jays decided not to resign star outfielder Jose Cruz. By not signing Cruz, he became a free agent, allowing any of the other 29 teams in the majors to pick him up. The reaction from the media in Toronto was as predicted, with many quesitons as to why the team would not resign one of their best outfielders. Major league baseball teams only have so much money at their disposal. Most teams do not have enough money to sign every player they want, with exception to the New York Yankees, who seem to buy anyone they please (Moffatt). If the Blue Jays would have offered arbitartion to Cruz, his salary for the 2003 season would have been decided by an arbitrator. Sources within the Blue Jays orginization estiamted the Cruz would have been paid $5 million dollars that season. This is money that the team could not spend elsewhere. During the offseason, the team picked up 6 new players, all for under $5 million total. So although the Blue Jays lost their star center feilder, they picked up 6 new players for the price of one.

Angels move to LA

The Angels have packed up and moved to Los Angelos. This move gave the city of LA two professional baseball teams, the LA Dodgers, and the LA Angels. This will increase the sales for the city and increase the income for the entire city since there will be sold out stadiums almost daily in LA. Any baseball fans want to comment on this?

Ticket Price Increase

I am sure that almost everyone has noticed the increase of ticket prices now days. Ticket prices have increased in sporting events, concerts, movies and more. The average price of a movie ticket now days is $5.85. They say that consumers willingness to buy sets the price, but when will we decide that we had enough of the price increases? And when will the "price setters" recognize that we will not pay more. Ticket sales for concerts have continued to increase as attendance decreases. "Ticket sales for concerts went down by 300,000."
Movies make more than the production cost in the first week of showing now days. Is it because movies being released are great and everyone wants to see them? Or is it because the prices of tickets are extremely high? The same things goes with music and other entertaining events.

March Madness and TV Ratings

With March Madness coming up, how are the TV stations that broadcast the NCAA tournament going to benefit? This tournament is similar to the Superbowl in that I think the stations ratings will go up (at least for the weeks of the tournament) therefore making them a lot of money. Also, there will be numerous commercials that air while the tournament is taking place. These commercials will persuade people to buy products. Also the ticket prices for this event will bring in mass amounts of revenue, because they are running about 200 dollars for a pair of cheap seats. What does everyone think?

Wal-Mart's Profits: Nearly $20,000 (Per Minute, That Is)

I love writing responses about Wal-Mart, because everyone loves that store. Wal-Mart makes 10.3 Billion a year in profits and they can not pay or give their employees more benefits? Every minute the super store makes profits of $19,583 which is three times more then the amount their leading competator Target makes. However the Target Corp. pays their employees better and have benefits they can afford. Congress is trying to get the company to pay for employee insurance, they are trying to fend off the legislation. Wal-Marts are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week which rack up the profits but I still don't understand why they can not share the profits with the employees that make the company.

From my last post about Wal-Mart, a few of the responses from my entry was say how Wal-Mart employees get paid pretty well and how most of the employees are part time. I did more research and found an article from PBS which said on average the employees take home $250 a week. The salary for fulltime employees are $6 to $7.50 an hour and work 28-40 hours a week. The pay places the employees with families under the poverty line. Insurance is expensive as well. Employees have to pay 35 percent to have insurance with the company. Another reason why the prices are so low is where Wal-Mart gets most of there products. 85 percent of the items are made in third world sweatshops. So the next time you think that Wal-Mart is so great think again.

Here is a link to the PBS article

Online Buying

When the internet came along peoples lives changed a lot. People all over the world had access to each other in seconds. Traveling became easier, updates on the latest scores, and many more things became available in seconds. In the click of a button a person could buy the new Jordans.
Online buying has become a business itself. People who make hand made products can now launch their business from online. Or companies can increase their business range by posting sites online to get buyers that are not near them or wouldn't normally have access to them.
From a consumer point of view online buying is great. A person can not leave their house and buy all of next years Christmas gifts. Not to mention with companies like Amazon and eBay people can buy things they might not find in stores. "One mans trash is another mans treasure."
But most importantly a person can shop around online for the lowest prices. "The most for your money." A person can check out different stores from their computer without going a million miles across town. Also with online buying their is access to so many different types of clothing, shoes, equipment and many other things.
There is a down side to online buying, like there is with almost everything. You have to worry about identity fraud, you have to worry about if the product you purchased is what you want. You don't get the chance to see what you are buying in person before you purchase it. You also have to worry about if you will even get what you ordered, and if so how long do you have to wait?
Is online buying worth the risk? What type of things should not be bought online?

Gasoline forecast a cloudy one

Gasoline prices are becoming a concern for many American drivers. Those who live in big cities do not get as pressured to pay the high prices for gas because of other substitutes, such as trains and buses. However, substitutes are more difficult to find in small towns where one must drive to get to an area that has bus stops or subways. This increase is good for its substitutes' sales, what about its compliments' sales? Will gas prices have a heavy impact on car sales? Will people bite their lip and continue to pay the high prices in hope that a decrease in gasoline happens soon? Though many people complain about this annoying increase, how many actually decrease their driving to decrease gas revenue?

Adelphia Drops Hard-Core Porn

Adelphia Communication Corp. decided that triple-X programs would not be seen on their cable. Many anti-porn activists praised this decision, but what about those who like this type of television? I think this might have been a bad idea because people against porn are not going to begin watching this cable because single and double-X-rated programs will still shown, but the people who are into the triple-X porn will not continue with this company. Is porn elastic or inelastic? Do you think sales for this company will increase or decrease?

Price inelasticity for NFL tickets

I was wondering what is the elasticity for NFL tickets for the fans. All the games I have watched since I've been here had the stadiums full of fans. So I found this article in CNN that says that the NFL tickets had an average increase of about 5% or more in this last season, but that didn't stop the fans to go to the games. I reached the conclution that the football fans have a price inelasticity , giving the team managers an advantage of charging more on the tickets in order to increase their profit.I believe that demand for the football tickets are very high and the population have a better financial situation, copmpared to other countries and other sports. As an example, in Brazil, when they raised the price of the soccer tickets, the amount of fans who attend the games fall dramatically that they had to put back the old price. It is aproof of economics working in the daily sports life.

College tuition rises faster than inflation.

Just this past weekend I received a letter in my campus mailbox about the tuition increases for next year. So I went and looked it up and it turns out that tuition is rising everywhere at a pace faster than inflation. According to CNNMoney tuition increases have been going at a rate of about 2.3% per year. So why the change?

The link above explains all of the many details ranging from labor costs to even some school's wanting more prestige which can in some ways be acquired by a higher price. Will financial aid increase? Do you think colleges are increasing tuition for the right reasons? Is it really that necessary?

Reforms of State-Owned Enterprises in China

During the central planning economic era of China, the Chinese industrial sector was dominated by state-owned enterprises whose priority is not the profit but to fulfill the production command under the central plan and provide people a stabe job. In that situation, employees do not have many choices of what they do, since it is not the question of what you want to do, but whether you have a job or not. So it is clear that human resources were sufficiently but not efficiently used.

The reform of this state-owned enterprises system introduced a "contract system" in the 1980s, and in the 1990s, the separation of business management from state ownership. This idea of decentralization is to motivate the production and encourage business in a competitive market. The goal is to transform the state-owned enterprise from a cost center to an economic unit which makes profits.

Since the 1990s, the Chinese government keep enlarging the scale and depth of the reform by restructing the state-owned enterprises into limited liability companies or joint stock companies and converting debts to stocks. Those debts used to became government deficit, in order to support the enterprises.

However, since more than half of the stocks controlled by government bureaucrats who have only an inderict interest in profit, there are still many situations with inefficient decisions.

In 2002, the Chinese government made the decision to sell state-owned shares in some big companies in order to maximize the profits.

As reforms keep on, many had argued about the welfare of employees, and stabilities of employment. The government still try to find the balance which benefits most.

The Delicate Petroleum Balance

Oil is one of the top concerns for the American government. The United States relies heavily on other areas of the world for their oil imports. OPEC is an entity that America must try to keep good relations with. This article discusses the current oil price. It also examines OPEC's production and current status. Do you think the United States should spend more time looking for alternatives to the quickly diminishing supply of oil? Do you feel the United States should do everything possible to stay in OPEC's good graces?

Tobacco and Price Controls

This article explores some of the price and production controls that are placed on tobacco. These controls are said to be beneficial to the health of American citizens by reducing the amount of tobacco that is being produced. Do you think that the tobacco controls are necessary? How do you feel about he government imposing itself on the free market?

Human Capital Investment in China

When economists first began to measure the sources of economic growth, what previously had been considered an unexplained residual was shown to be attributable to human capital.
Examples of the growth of American economy, and that of many countries around the world, have shown that it has become recongized that human capital--the skill of the population-- plays a major role in explaining diferences in productivity and inequality among nations. Human capital is another, very valuable, kind of capital. It is costly to acquire, like physical capital, and pays off over time, like physical capital.

As China enters world markets, it has access to newer forms of technology and organizational arrangements. The need for a more skilled workforce will increase. By developed world standards, China's percentage of college- educated workers is low.The new technology being brought into China by its investment in physical capital requires more skilled workers to operate it. However, the fact is that unskilled workers migrating into industrial areas require skilled workers to train and complement them.

Capital and skill are complementary, since each factor raises the productivity of the other. The current investment strategy of China emphasizes physical capital over human capital, which fails to capture the benefits that arise from a more balanced investment strategy and leads to inefficiency.

So far, I am not suggesting that China should equalize the proportions of human and physical capital investment. For the return of the two are not equal-- relating market wages and the level of schooling-- economists found out that in China the return of physical capital is about 4 times higher than the return of human capital, and in developed countries the returns are more likely about the same (in equilibium).

One way to change the situation is to change the wage-setting policy in China, and this is what the government is doing now.

Existing Home Sales Dip Slightly in Jan.

Sales of existing homes went down .1% in January despite the strong demand for homes. The median price for a home sold was $189,000 in January 2005, a 10.5 % increase from January 2004. How did the 10.5% increase affect the amount of homes bought? Is the market for homes elastic or inelastic?

Sharing Music Files

Many people, especially college students, are aware of the current situation in music downloading. While I am one of the few students not affected by the new rules and laws placed on downloaded music, I wonder what other people, especially students, think about the new laws. Usually, if I like a song that much by someone, then I probably like most of their other songs and will just buy the entire CD, so downloading a song or two usually isn't worth the effort of possibly being caught and having a suit for thousands of dollars filed against me as in the person from the included article. I believe that music downloading is probably tampering with the free market scale because so many poeople are getting the songs for free, that before they would have had to paid something for. That is why I believe it is good that the new laws of paying for the downloads have been put in place. What do you think?

A new meaning to the saying, "A Penny Saved, is a Penny Earned"

Holly Ordway is only 30 years old, yet she is already financially well on her way. By learning to spend money only when absolutely needed, getting by with just the minimum, and watching for sales and great bargains, Holly and her husband are living off of thirty thousand dollars a year, yet they have six-figures in the bank. "Being frugal is all about making good choices with your money," she said. "It is important to understand how you are spending your money and to know that you are spending it in ways that match your goals." Holly claims that she does not have a strategy, she just spends only what she absolutely needs and saves the rest.
Obviously this "strategy" seems to be effective if Holly and her husband are able to get by on thirty thousand dollars, and yet have so much money in the bank. What would happen if everyone tried to spend as little money as possible, and invest the rest in savings? How would that effect the economy?

This Time, Air Fare Hikes May Have Traction

Major airlines are raising prices for long trips over the Spring and Summer in hopes of raising their revenue. However, the high prices of oil means that the airlines have shifted most of the burden of the extra cost onto the passangers. Do you think the increase in prices will help raise the airlines' revenue?

Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke is becoming a big issue these days, especially with the new facts, commercials, and lawsuits against companies for working in places for years where they were exposed to secondhand smoke. In the article provided, there are many facts about the dangers of secondhand smoke. These are probably just some of the harmful effects. What do you think about secondhand smoke and the recent class-action lawsuits against companies? What about smoking in a restaurant or in your workplace? Should smoking be banned from such places? Should smokers go someplace else (ie-outside/specific contained areas) to smoke instead of subjecting everyone else around them to the harmful effects of secondhand smoke?

Ceiling raised on house prices in California

in January,median price of a California home rised to 485700$. Some citizens was "kicked" out off because of this. Still somebody says this shows the market moved slowly forward. what's your opinion?

Inflation- How Will It Effect the Economy in the Next Few Months?

Since the beginning of the year, the economy has risen, the stock market (Dow and S&P) has continued to rise, and from recent surveys from Briefing.com, it shows that employers have increased their payrolls from 146,000 jobs in January to 225,000 in February. Due to the decrease in inflation, the banks have increased their interest rates because people have more money. Spending increased 8% last month. They predict the stock market will continue to rise and are expecting strong gains. When the numbers come in for new home sales, they are also expecting home sales to have risen from approximately $1.1 million in December, to $1.3 million in January. How has the decrease in inflation effected other aspects in the economy, and because of this, what do you think the future of our economy looks like? Is this good or bad?

"Are you scam bait?"

This link has a link to a quiz that tells you if you are at risk of getting scammed over the internet. As more and more people are using the internet it is opening new doors to con artists. This article states that over 25 million people are victims of consumer fraud every year (1 out of every 10 Americans). Should we as college students be worried about being scammed? Do you think that major websites such as eBay or Amazon.com are putting consumers at risk? It is a problem that is something that everyone should be aware of and try to guard themselves from being hurt by it.

Tax break in filming being productions

to fend off increasingly tough competition from other states and foreign countries, california turned off the tax among filming industry. This is said to be helpful to keep the state industry running, and help the middle-class work force, since this reduce the cost. At the same time it reduce the Gov revenue, do you think it's good for the states development? why?

South Florida's Sleepy Gambling Sports Look to Slots

Charles Bianchi, 69, lives in Florida and enjoys gambling very much. He flies to Las Vegas for his gambling thrills. He says, "This place don't have no class. It's on its way out, and there's only one chance for survival." He was referring to Hollywood Greyhound Race Track in Florida. The chance of survial he is referring to is to bring slot machines to the greyhound and horse tracks in South Florida. Those that are for this plan claim that it will revive the sport of horse racing, create lots of new jobs, and provide revenue for public schools. Voters will decide on this issue on March 8. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is an opponent of gambling. He has attacked the slots plan, and may veto the decision if voters approve it.
If putting slot machines in can add $500 million in revenue every year, provide more jobs, and get more money for public schools is it really that bad of an idea? The groups opposing the slot machinces are religious conservatives and school groups that are against horse and greyhound racing in general. Should Florida allow slot machines at the race tracks or not? It seems to me that putting the slot machines in would have more positive than negative benefits.

College Students Expenses/ Bush 2006 Budget/Upward Bound

The heading at the beginning of this article says it all. As college continues to be more expensive every year, after this 2006 budget, college students will be paying more taxes and more for college. It is difficult enough to pay for college expenses today, never mind if the points from the article actually take into effect. I believe it is hardest for the middle class to pay for college because they are over the levels where they can receive government monies such as the FAFSA, yet they don't have nearly enough money to pay for a full college education. I know this is true because for my family, FAFSA and Marietta College tells us that since last year - when I used to receive some money from the FAFSA - that this year my family has made over the limit to still receive government money. HOWEVER, even if my family had taken every single penny that was made more than the previous year and given it to the college, it still would not be enough to pay for what was taken away from me this year.
After reading this article, I predict that should these points take into effect, many students will not be able to afford to go to college at all. I believe for enrollment purposes, colleges as well as students should be worried about this. While grants and loans are very important to me as well when it comes to college, I would also like to comment on the fact of the Upward Bound Programs paragraph. In 2006, with this budget, the Trio programs, including Upward Bound would be eliminated. For those of you who know what Upward Bound is, it can be very influential to students to attend college. I know that there are quite a few students on this campus that are here with the help of their Upward Bound or Talent Search programs, myself included. By eliminating these programs, you are taking away students with great potential to succeed in college and due to cuts in funding programs such as this as well as the increases in funding a college education, college seems to be becoming a commodity only for those who can afford to pay their entire tuition on their own.

An Arsenal of Sanitizers for a Nation of Germophobes

The news has been full of health issues such as SARS, viral outbreaks that happen on cruise ships, and biological weapons. The commercial breaks are then full of products to get rid of these harmful gearms. Some of these products include toothbrush sanitizers, air purifiers, antibacterial soap, cutting boards, keyboards, and several others including the new Dr. Doormat. Approximately 75% of Americans use 6 or more of these antimicrobial products on a regular basis. Research has shown that you cannot get rid of germs in your home completely, but it is possible to take steps to prevent some of the germs.
Debbie Estes Greenspan is the inventor of Dr. Doormat. According to Debbie, "I want my home to be a sanctuary." While watching her infant daughter crawling on the floor, Debbie began to wonder what might be in the carpet. She was suprised to find all of the germs that are being tracked into her house from the soles of shoes. That is when she invented Dr. Doormat, which is a doormat that is treated with an antimicrobial agent. If someone wipes their feet twice on the mat it can remove up to 99% of debris and also destroys any micro-organisms on contact. Dr. Doormats are sold for $59 and come in a wide variety of colors.
This doormat would be very beneficial to anyone that is concerned about the amount of germs in ther home. Is this doormat something that everyone should invest in?

Fiorina out, HP stock soars

"According to CNN, Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina, one of the most powerful women in corporate America, is leaving the troubled computer maker after being forced out by the company's board. "

it was really a big news at that time. somebody that Carly Fiorina didn't do well in Hp as people expected. she didn't accomplish what she should in increasing the profits of HP. But since Fiorina forced out, the HP stock soars. Is a single person can influce the whole stock market? what do you think about it?

what aspect will the rising house price influence the market?

recently , British newspaper talked a lot about the steadily increasing of house price in the past year, which was about 1%. but in china, now the house price is increasing in a high rate. some aspect said, it will influence the chinese market. such as : when the price rises up fast, less and less people will buy the houses or apartments. people put the huge amount of money in the bank, it will influence the currency circulating. Or it will slow down the speed of migration that people moving from village to the city because they cannot afford the huge expense of living in the city. this becomes a serious problem in China. what do you think of it?

Does NFL Rely too Heavily on Combine Numbers?

With the NFL combine being held now, does the NFL rely too much on the performances the players put on during the workouts rather than the performance on the field? Maurice Clarett put up very impressive numbers his freshman year on the football field. Even after being out of football for a few years, he was expected to be drafted in the third round of the draft. After his numbers that he put up on Saturday with a 4.72 and a 4.82 seconds forty yard dash times and quitting on the rest of the drills, many critics say he might not even get drafted because of such a poor performance this weekend. So my question is that do NFL teams rely on the combine numbers too much?

US economy shows solid GDP growth

Recent research shows that, the US economy has grown more than expected, expanding at an annual rate of 3.8% in the last quarter of 2004. The gross domestic product figure was ahead of the 3.1% the government estimated a month ago. Growth was at an annual rate of 4% in the third quarter of 2004 and for the year it came in at 4.4%, the best figure in five years. In the January-to-March quarter, the economy is expected to grow at an annual rate of about 4%, economists forecast. In the final quarter of 2004, businesses increased spending on capital equipment and software by 18%, up from 17.5% in the third quarter.
But as i read from one post last 2,3 week that there were some companies in Marietta closed and cause many people here lost their jobs. Diffrent from the US economy, Marietta economy is not on the way to grow "more than expected" with the fact that some companies here are not doing well.
Is it seems like an old city or an old company has less comparative advantage in produce products? And is this mean that the US economy is effected mainly just by those big cities and companies? what do you think?

Social Security

What is the future of social security and how will this effect the economy? "President Bush is trying to persuade Congress that a plan that would include allowing workers to divert some of their payroll taxes into private investment accounts is necessary to shore up the Social Security system against financial strains from a looming surge in retirees." While this plan may seem ideal, it is highly unrealistic. The reports show the president is not backed by many democrats and republicans. Many argue the system is so flawed that it is doomed, and the president's plan is just going to drag out the inevitable outcome...The end to the social security system as we know it. The issue of social security needs to be addressed, but the President is going about in in the wrong approach. The system needs to be reworked to ensure its survival not add to its destruction.
What do you think? How or can Social Security be saved?

Any One Need a Job?

If you are looking and can't find one, join the club! This increasing trend of unemployment is becoming more of an epidemic and not a trend. "New claims for state unemployment benefits rose to 312,000 in the week ended Feb. 19 from a revised 303,000 the prior week." While the president is addressing issues in his agendas concerning national security and social security, the unemployment rate is being ignored. In the presidential election in 2004, both canidents addressed the problem and promised to propose solutions. Now that Bush has taken the oath again...Where is the solution. The economy is rebounding for the most part, but people are still looking for jobs. This is an immediate problem and I feel strongly this issue needs to be addressed. "In a sign that hiring may be picking up, the number of people still on unemployment fell for the second week in a row, dropping 62,000 to 2.65 million in the week ended Feb. 12, the latest numbers available." I hope that the signs continue to be promising and people looking for jobs can find them. I am graduating in a year and I want to be able to get a job, how about you?

Clear channel

Clear Channel, the country's largest radio station, has seen profits begin to fall. They posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $4.67 billion after it took a asset impairment charge. This loss comes as a surprise to most. Clear Channel has been a very profitable in the media world. Posting impressive gains and creating somewhat of a monopoly of radio stations. Clear Channel not only has competed against local stations but has also put many local radio stations out of airing. I feel this loss posted by Clear Channel is beneficial to the radio world. Maybe more independent stations will be able to regain some of their listening market. What do you think?

Union drive at Wal-Mart

Do you ever wonder why prices at Walmart are so cheap? It is not because the quality of the products are bad or any different then buying them else where, but the wages they pay their employees are low. Walmart employees are trying to become unionized, but the company doesn't believe that having their employees apart of a union is effective. When employees are hired they watch a video on why being apart of a union is bad. Also when employee's talk about wanting to be a part of a union Walmart steps in and has them watch more video or transfers the group so they are not in the same area concocting a plan. While Walmart is trying to keep costs down they pay their employees close to minimum wage and most of the benefits are to expense for the employees to pay for.

Gambling gives West Virginia 1 out of every 7 dollars

In a recent news brief, it was reported that video game lottery systems are becoming a problem in Vienna, WV. City council met to discuss whether these types of gambling establishments can be set up. In the news brief, it stated that over $400 million was brought to the state of West Virginia by gambling. That is one out of every seven dollars that WV gets in a year. Many say this is a problem. How do you feel about gambling establishments set up near churches, park, and other "family" establishments?

MC and tsunami relief

The recent tsunami devastated many countries leaving hundreds of thousands dead. In a recent news brief, WTAP reported that MC raised money and sent checks overseas to help our international partners. What do you think about the recent tsunami, and did you contribute any to relief?

US Airways Watch

To save costs and the threat of bankruptcy Usairways is cutting flights to cities with high fuel costs and laying off employees. Some of the cities flights are going to be canceled are Ft. Lauderdale and Philadelphia. This is very unfortunate because I fly Usair to Ft. Lauderdale because they are the only carrier that flies from Parkerburgh. They are also lying off around 650 mechanics and other employees, they are seeing who would retire and voluntarily leave. Yeah I would definitely want to leave my job when I most likely won't be able to get another job because of my age. They are also outsourcing their baggage claims office from Pittsburgh to San Salvador. Great more American's without jobs!

New York City

The City of New York spent 750,000 a day shoeferring a group of 13 members of the IOC (International Olympic Commitee) around the city of New York for four days. The City is trying to persuade the selection comitee that New York would be a perfect fit for the 2012 Olympic Games. Most of their time will be spent in a single room whcih was totally mapped out with architecutal samples of hosting the event."The bid process is the biggest Olympic event there is, and there is nothing like it. " says Rob Livingston, producer of Gamebids.com. He also states that "There isn't anything in the sports world where the stakes are so high. For a city to win they will need 55 votes. And when it's over the city will have spent over 1 million dollers per vote."I think that this is insane. I think the Olympics are so overrated! Why would a city want to spend that much money on events that were popular with the Greeks and Romans. Being from Cincinnati I'd much rather host a World Series or a Super Bowl. The only thing in the Olympics actually worth watching is the sprinters. America's most dominant sport used to be Basketball. Now we cant even win that. So what is the point. Just let the American athletes that train so hard in this country have a vacation and go to Europe for the olympics.
Not only do they have to pay all that money they have to answer and be evaluated on a 119 question test asking questions concerning: irrigation rate, raw material consumption , and even endangered species. They economic standpoint of this is that they ask questions about The weight of public debt, and a Gini income distribution index????? What does that have to do with the Olympics? Well I guess that I never knew that there would be this much use of economics in the Olympics but o well...http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/columns/story?id=1997448 go to see full story.

Ban Smoking in Public Places

As we all know there are many smokers here in the United States. Many places are starting to become non-smoking restaurants, bowling alleys, or bars, etc. Some smokers may get tired of hearing about non-smokers complaining all the time that they dont want to come home after a night out and smell like smoke or walking behind a smoker and inhailing what the smoker is exhailing. Not only are smokers causing harm to their health, but they are harming the health of non-smokers. Many people die from lung cancer, for example, who have never smoked in their entire life. What if every public place bans smoking, then where are people going to smoke?

Starbucks thinking out of the cup

Starbucks plans to serve lunch items in five new cities this year and push breakfast items into 100 outlets in the city of Washington. Furthermore, it is going to roll out music stations into half of its outlets in the U.S. It is clear that Starbucks wants to reshape itself more broadly into a retail chain. Now, Starbucks is thinking of wringing more profit out of its existing loyal following with new merchandise that does not come in cups.
Since we have more choices (substitutes), Mc Donald and Wendy’s will loose some early morning and afternoon business. I myself would rather have a Starbucks coffee with a sandwich for breakfast than making two trips for them. More often in the morning or at noon, we need coffee more than food.
On the music scene, Starbucks aims to be the first national retailer to offer CD-burning stations. Adding music as a complement to coffee is an interesting but risky idea, for music does not necessarily go with coffee or food. Though music creates better product experience in the coffee store, buyers may not be willing to take it home. As a manufacture, is it better to think about meeting existing expectation or creating new expectation of consumers?

Why London Became So Yesterday as a Fashion Capital?

London has given the world Mary Quant miniskirts, Paul Smith suits and Burberry bikinis. It pulses as a day-to-day creative hub. Virtually all the star designers live and work there. The city’s vibrant music and art scene, its street culture, vintage design schools, they say, make it one of the world’s most inspiring places. But as a fashion capital, London is over. Though designers still blossom there, their business is elsewhere. No big fashion houses draw crowds at London Fashion Week. Even Britain’s biggest brand, Burberry, has hiked up its skirts and walked off to Milan. Pringle of Scotland, another British proudest brand, is also protruding Milan(http://entertainment.news.designerz.com/british-fashion-takes-milan-by-storm.html?d20050223).
What causes London’s loosing its limelight? Let’s have a look at UK’s clothing market. There are more and more cheap or midprice chains lining the main shopping streets in nearly every British town. People substitute low-price trendy wears for luxury designer wears. Even people that have relatively high income now choose to mix and match the low-price with the luxury. Since there are a variety of substitutes, the elasticity of demand for designer wear is pretty high. As people are consuming less luxurious clothes, the price should drop with the decrease of demand. However, those world-famous brands would rather choose other markets than lowering the prices. Therefore, upscale fashion business flows abroad.

Walmart discrimination

Walmart today has to pay $7.5 million dollars to an Employee that has cerebral palsy. The employee was supposed to work in the Pharmacy where he would not be doing fisical work but instead they had him pushing carts and doing hard labor. The employee only worked at Walmart for four days! Personaly I get rather angry when someone works at a place for four days and then turns around and sues them. I believe this is partly why our judicial system is flawed, when people sue companies over little things.

9/11 Victim Search Ended

1,110 families have loved ones that were never identified as dead following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Forensic scientists have finally stopped trying to match remains found in the ruble yesterday. Over 1,100 people are left unidentified. This poses a problem when it comes to getting relief. The government now has an edge to not give some families relief simply because their relatives were unable to be indentified and therefore are still listed as a missing person. Do you think it was fair to stop trying? Do you think people should still get the full relief?

Nuclear Waste Disposal

The disposal of nuclear waste is becoming a concern. Many power plants in the United States are nearing the end of operation. The biggest concern is what to do with nuclear waste. Nuclear waste can be classified as low level or high level radioactive waste. Low level waste includes materials used to handle high radioactive waste. Storing low waste for 10 to 50 years will allow most of the waste to decay. High level waste is materials from the core. The big question is what to do with the high level waste. Yucca Mountain has been an option to transport the waste and store it in the Yucca Mountian in special cases. Some issues concerning Yucca Mountain is the transportation. What if the train or trucks are attacked by terriorists or if there is a big acident. There is also the possibilty if a water or anything leaks into the mountian it could be dangerous. I think that Yucca Mountain is a good idea, we have to do something with the nuclear waste.

Gas-powered cars vs. Hybrid Cars

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) has set standards require average mileage must be 27.5 mpg. If an automobile maker sells one hybrid car that gets 60 mpg they can then sell four big expensive luxury cars that only get 20 mpg. Gas powered cars produce pollution generally gets poor gas mileage. An electric car produces almost no pollution but it can only go 50 to 100 miles between charges, which may be inconvienant for some people. Why should we build hybrid cars? Hybrid cars reduce tailpipe emission and improve mileage. But when you think about it if a automobile maker can sell one hybrid car and then get to sell four luxury cars then are we really doing that much to reduce pollution?

Welcoming the New Nickel

Circulation of the newest 5 cent coin is set to begin on Monday, Feb. 28 at the U.S. Mint. The coin is the latest in a series of redesigned five-cent coins that honor Thomas Jefferson and his patronage of explorations conducted by Lewis and Clark.

The coin now features a side view of Jefferson, where previously it featured his entire face. An American Bison is depicted on the backside of the coin, whose picture has been restored after its retirement from the mint since 1938.

Later this year, a second nickel in this year's series will be released; it will replace the bison with a scene from the American Northwest. It will be inscribed with the words, "Ocean in view! O! The Joy!" The quote is taken from the journal of William Clark, who wrote down his emotions upon reaching the mouth of the Columbia River.

To see pictures of the new coin click below:
http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/popups/new_nickels/frameset.1.exclude.html

Workers Expect So-So Raises

Average raises are thought to increases by a mere 3.7% from 3.6% last year; more companies are tending to use bonuses and other types of benefits. Though the raises are mediocre, it is the second year in a row that average pay raises have increased.

This article ties into the topic covered at the Economic Roundtable luncheon today. Dr. Mark Pauly discussed how firms were to cope with increased health care premiums. One point that he stressed was that in recent studies, employees tended to favor increases in coverage rather than real wage increases. This leads me to feel that this slight increase in real wages is perfectly acceptable by most employees knowing that they will be rewarded in other forms later on; such as bonuses, increased health care coverage, increased vacation, etc... Recent data states that seventy-seven percent of organizations use "variable compensation," which is up from sixty-six percent in 2001.

What do you think? If you worked for a firm and heard that you could have a choice between higher real wage or increased health care coverage or increased vacations or a bonus, which would you choose? Is the supporting data correct in that most would prefer "variable compensation" over "more cash in pocket?"

How Capone Effetced Economics

When looking at economics, there is much talk about markets and there supply and demand to people. Well, when Al Capone was walking the streets of Chicago he also supplied and demanded to people in a not so legal way. During his time the Prohibition act was in place and people were unable to obtain any sort of alcohol, until Capone came around. He ran an illegal brewing company, which was very successful. Like we leanred in economics, there was a high demand for alcohol, which led to Capone raising the prices and making big money. He started of by just doing this in the streets of Chicago, but his business was so successful that he spread thorugh all the midwest and to major cities such as New York and New Orleans.

Also, Capone managed another successful illegal business, which had to do with loaning money. Businessman would come to Capone who were desperate for money, and Capone would loan them the money, but they would have to pay a high interest in return. They would also have to pay this money in a certain given time or they might get "Whacked". Capone was a very dangerous man, but a very successful businessman. Capone must have paid attention in his economics due to the great amount of profit he made throughout his life.

Is Canseco Just Trying to Make a Profit?

There has been a lot of hype these last couple of years in Major League Baseball about the use of steroids with professional baseball players. There has been many pointed fingers towards certain baseball players during these years. These fingers have been mostly ponited at the the home run kings of recent "Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa". People think that just because these guys got a little more muscular and hit a few more home runs that they most have taken steroids. To add to these rumors of steroid, last week Jose Canseco announced his publishing of his book, which accuses many specific players taking steroids. Earlier this week he also stated in a interview, "There is no doubt in my mind that Barry Bonds takes Steroids". This comment has now sparked a big controversey with Barry Bonds and this upcoming season.

On February 23 there was a news conference held for Barry Bonds in Scottsdale, Arizona. Bonds spoke out in rage on the assumption Canseco made about him. He stated, "I don't believe steroids help baseball players at all, it takes hand and eye coordination, techincally to hit a baseball, and thats my opinion, I just don't believe it." This comment is very true because it takes much more than a little added muscle to be a great baseball player, such as Barry Bonds. Bonds has had successful seasons his entire career. So what if he got a little more muscular, the muscles he got could of easily been achieved by legal supplements. Studies have been done that have proved that steroids only add 3 yards onto the distance of a hit ball. Still, steroids don't help you make hard solid contact everytime at bat. Also to mention, Bonds had one of the highest batting averages in MLB, which shows he does more then just hit home runs. Now the question arises, Is Canseco telling the "Truth" or is he telling "Lies" to try and make money for his newly released book?

The Dangers of abandoned mines

Years ago, a mine may have a been a busy site where workes excavated one of America's keys to existence. However, now some of these mines have been shut down and are no longer in use (http://www.msha.gov/KIDS/ABANDON/SURFACE.HTM). This presents a safety hazard to the citizens of the areas around these abandoned mines. Many people have died from dangers such as falling rock, and falling into the mine from high ground. Also, much of the dirt is loose from the mining and can shift under the pressure of footsteps. Also, many of these mines have accumulated water, forming a swimming hole. There are many dangers that this presents, one being that people don't know the depth of the water, so diving in can cause injuries or even death. In addition, many times explosives have been left in these caves. This is very dangerous because as they age, they become easier to set off. I would imagine the government has some kind of guidelines for keeping a mining site safe to the public, however I am not sure what they are. Do any of you bloggers have an opinion on this issue and know of government policy regarding mine sites.

Poor Paris Hilton

Recently, film star, Paris Hilton's Sidekick II was hacked into, spilling numerous famous numbers into the public. Phone numbers from Christina Aguilera, Anna Kournikova, Ashlee Simpson, Fred Durst, Eminem, Usher, Avril Lavigne, Lil' John, Ashley Olsen and Vin Diesel all can be found on the internet (http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/21/technology/personaltech/hilton_cellphone/index.htm). This presents a troubling idea dealing with people listening in on my conversations and even getting ahold of my phone book. Marietta College student Ricky Sikina foundHiltons address book and the internet and decided to call Lil' John. Upon dialing the number, Sikina was heartbroken to find out that the numbers were disconnected. So my question is this, if you were able to talk to any of these stars, what would you say to them, and how awkward would the conversation be if say, Lil' John would have picked up that phone?

Bird Flu Vaccine

Here is a little follow up to my previous story of the flu epidemic in birds, throughout Asia.

"The government is preparing to test an experimental bird flu vaccine and is increasing disease surveillance in hopes of reducing the toll from any eventual American outbreak. "

It appears that the flu that hit Asia is becoming more and more severe as the week rolls on. Over a period of a week, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has been able to accumulate about 2 million vaccinations for these birds. United Nations has expressed their thoughts about this flu by saying, " Asian bird flu outbreak poses the gravest possible danger of becoming a global pandemic", so this is obviouosly now very serious. So far, the dead body count has reached about 45, but thats only counting the few that have died from the flu, their are many more who have caught the flu. Apparently, the Asian population has caught the flu from chickens and the other poultry, as well as person to person. I'd like to know what you guys think about this flu in Asia? What should the U.S. do to help out? Should we worry about the "poultry" flu here? Feel free to express yourself...cause I know Pat, Mike, and Ruth will.

Pope's New Book Hits Stores in Italy

Pope John Paul II released his fifth book this week, entitled Memory and Identity. Most expect this to become a worldwide bestseller. The Pope actually has some good business sense- his book is meant to appeal to a wide audience. First and foremost, he has the entire Roman Catholic faith as possible readers of his book. While obviously not every catholic will run to the bookstore, many will be very interested to read what their church's leader has to say.

Secondly, the book will appeal to those interested in history. In it, he discusses a wide variety of issues, including the 1981 assassination attempt on his life and the damage done to the world by Nazism and communism. Historians will likely find his thoughts and memories of these worldwide issues very interesting. In this way and others, his book will undoubtedly appeal to those in different faiths and religions.

It seems like he is making a pretty safe move in publishing this book and there is very little doubt that it will become an international bestseller. The timing is especially important, since the Pope has been quite ill the last few months. This will serve as another motivator for people to want to read his book.

Game Over for Video Game Sequels?

A recent trend in the video game industry is mimicking a similar fashion that has been occuring in movie production for years- publishers pushing forward sequel after sequel trying to start a franchise. Sequels have often been criticized by movie critics for being not very good films. Creating sequels is actually a pretty safe business practice- if the original was popular and made the company money, why not make another movie (or game) with the same characters in a slightly different storyline? The formula should be a quick and easy profit- audiences are already familiar with the characters and know what to expect from the sequel. This is much easier than trying to start a new franchise from scratch- name recognition is already present, and it makes sense that those that paid for the original will do the same for the sequels.

However, the problem with sequels, both in the video game and the movie industry, is that producers use the same tired formula over and over without breathing new life into the franchise. This allienates fans, and makes for poor movies and video games. The future looks to be more of the same- less and less original ideas and more and more recycling of past successes- that is why there are dozens of Mortal Kombat games with very little differences between any of them.

The Greek Deficit and its Agricultural Policies

Could cotton subsidies be responsible for the Greek Deficit? These subsidies were the highlighted downside of the Greek agricultural policy, and impoverished large amounts of the population. This certainly contributed to the deficit and the above average inflation rate in Greece, but it is not the sole problem. Greece will be closely watched by the EU for the next two years as part of a plan to gain a higher growth rate. There is a huge amount of pressure on Greece from the EU to perform, which will help motivate change in Greece. Part of this change will be agricultural reform which certainly improve trade. It will be necessary for Greece to put more funding towards research and development to increases competitiveness and create jobs. Growth is certainly one of the most important issues that should be worked on in order for Greece to recover from their problems.

Entrepreneurship In Vietnam

Vietnam went through a economic crisis during the 1980's with its peak being in 1988. This crisis caused a shortage of consumer goods which meant that large amounts of food had to be imported. Since then Vientam has gone through many changes which have made possible the acceleration of entrepreneural business. The Enterprise Law passed in 1998 was the catalyst for the growth of state owned and private enterprises.

The increased amount of entrepreneurs have contributed not only their own improvement but also to that of their country. Hundreds of brands from entrepreneural business are currently being sold in over 140 countries. Vietnam is directly behind china in the exportation of textiles and clothing. Although the competitiveness of the goods exported from Vietnam are still humble compared to other nations, Vietnam is constantly striving to increase the quality of goods produced. Vietnam has come a long way in recent years and is showing promise of becoming a strong competitor to watch out for in the near future.

The New EU Super Power

Some people are saying that the European Union is soon to become the new super power. With the increasing value of the EU compared with the decreasing US dollar, and the power the EU holds over American business it could very well be on the way to becoming the new super power. The problems lie in the member nations of the EU whose growth is stagnant, possibly as a result of the aging population. Some believe that a solution would be immigration. The inclusion of Turkey could provide growth, but the large muslim community may impose a problem with some people in the christian majority of the EU.

The political power has a long way to go in being compared to the US. Having many languages within the European Union imposes problems that are not easily overcome. Communication is key to a stable community. Also, the lingering conflicts between some countries in the EU also leave room for instability. It will be interesting to see if unity can be sustained over a long period of time. There are definitely some issues within the Union that I believe will keep it from becoming the new super power. We will just have to wait and see.

Do we save too much?

Recently, in ECON 301, an article was brought to my attention which was titled "why long-term bond yields are low." As I'm sure all are aware, the real interest rate, or yield, on a bond is usually fairly steeply upward slopping. This is normally the case for a number of reasons. One reason is that the longer the term to maturity, to more uncertainty or risk that is associated to a corporate bond. To drawl in demand for these bonds, a higher yield must be given in order to entice consumers to buy these long-term financial instruments.
Well, this article discusses the phenomena currently occurring in the market place, the real interest rates on long-term bonds are falling. But why is this so? The author of this article, Samuel Brittan, offers a very interesting explanation to the occurrence just mentioned. He writes that falling real interest rates reflect a "growing shortage of attractive investment projects to absorb savings." In other words, the demand curve for long-term financial instruments has shifted to the left, while the supply curve (reflecting our savings), has remained constant. Thus, demanders are willing to pay less for our money then would be the case if more attractive investment projects existed. What I find so interesting about this is that if we as Americans saved more (as many people think we should), the strain on the financial markets could, theoretically, push real interest rates down to zero.
My question to you is, should we as Americans save less, as by doing so shift the supply curve left and raise interest rates?

www.samuelbrittan.co.uk

America is getting fat

Obesity is a big problem today in the United States and its growing especially in children. Producers are trying to get up with easy lunches for kids such as lunchables, but lunchables actually contain a lot of fat. Fast food places are also offering fruit and milk instead of fries and soda. The biggest question is how do we stop obesity? Can we stop obesity? Kids can eat as healthy as they want, but could still be fat if they do not get any exercise. All these new products and dieting, are they really helping the U.S. to loose weight?

Gold Expensive! Who Knew?

The worth of Gold is at an all time high (above $430 in Europe), which means everyone is happy except the US. With the weakening dollar investors are concerned, having hit a five-week low against the euro. Central banks are moving away from US dollar assets.


Gold rose to $431.25/432.00 per troy ounce from $427.00/427.70 compared to Silver which stood at $7.51/7.54 from $7.38/7.41 in London on Monday.

"Gold analysts have said that gold, which has struggled to rally decisively since hitting a 16-1/2 year peak in December at $456.75 should gain further this year as they expected the dollar to slide further." The euro is doing very well and is the outlook is positive. What does this mean for the U.S dollar than? Well for one, exports should be increasing and things should be looking very positive for large corporations.

International Music Downloads

RS promotions is a predominant music recording company in Thailand (compared to java records, arista records in U.S...etc) and they want their share in the online music industry to help strengthen its business. Already Soundbuzz, the biggest music download provider in Southeast Asia is operating in 14 markets, including the United States and Europe. RS wants to tap into download market to increase growth in sales. RS has agreed to have a contract with Soundbuzz which starts at 1,000 titles on http://www.soundbuzz.com The current Stock Exchange of Thailand for RS is at 13.70 baht, down 20 satang in trade worth 173,000 baht.

At 50baht a songs, including ringtones, RS will be getting their share in the online music industry. Mr Yanyong, deputy managing director of SET-listed RS, said RS has a potential of 50% growth in revenue from music downloads this year, to 180 million baht.

Raising Interest Rates in Thailand

Currently the Bank of Thailand decided that interest rates should be raised on credit cards. There is a 18% annual rate limit for credit cards and regulators are beginning to increase their deposit and loan rates. Over the past year issuers have already rising 3-4%. The joint venture between Bank of Ayudhya and GE Consumer Finance expects and increase of !5% with projected card growth of 100,00. The joint venture company had 550,000 cards by the end of 2004. As the managing director of Krungsriayudhya Card, Sukdee Chongmankhong, said "If deposit rates increase, the central bank will allow us to raise rates for sure".

The Japanese economic is the exact opposite. The idea is to keep interest low so that it will stimulate exports. The results of keeping interest low, a shortage; forcing the Japanese to save money (low access to credit) instead of taking out loans.

Thailand will have higher credit card rates which could eventually lead to a surplus. Is that the best way solve the economic problems of Thailand? Would this discourage consumers to use credit cards?

"Opium, what kind of elasticity is it?"

As soon as we finished talking elastisity in class last time, a picture rushed into my head: a increasingly crazy demand for opium in China during the period of Opium War. Before Opium War broke out, China, who received a great amount of profit from exporting silk and tea to other countries, is a highly advanced and fertile country. Unfortunately, China quickly earned envy from other countries, such as British and France. In order to open the great market of China, British began to exported opium to China. From then on, Chinese people fell into a hopeless gulf. More and more people got addictied to opium and became too morbid to protect their homeland when it was invaded. Even thougth the price for opium jumped incredibly, there was no evidence for a decreasing demand for opium. Adversely, as people's addition to opium became serious, more opium is demanded.
I think it may understate the relationship between the price and opium demanded if we simply use the perfect inelastisity. Do we have another type of elasticity that could better describe this special market of opium during that time? Do we have to come up a new elasticity?

New Rival for Tiffany: Costco

Costco is recently offering a yellow diamond ring for $180,000 on its website. The unbelievable thing about all of this is not that they expect someone to pay almost $200,000 for a ring (because people will), but that this is Costco selling it!!

A few months ago, I read a very interesting article about how Walmart has only one competitor that it fears- that was not K-Mart, Target, or Sears, but Costco! Costco isn't the biggest competitor Walmart has, but it has proven resilient in the face of this supergiant. It is famous for selling products in bulk at very low prices. In this instance, the yellow diamond ring is selling for $84,000 less than the IGI estimation. That is a pretty big discount.

It is very interesting to think Costco, the largest wholesale club operator in the United States could be giving Walmart a run for its money (and in this case, Tiffany's). You can hardly go to a community in the U.S. without seeing a Walmart somewhere close by. Costco can't compete with Walmart with its nearly omnipresent status. However, this unlikely competitor is proving to be quite a match.

While this latest news of Costco selling a diamond ring for quite a bit of money doesn't really affect the market in any way, it is another piece of evidence that Costco may be here to stay and may be more willing and ready to battle Walmart than retailers like K-Mart were. It is will be very interesting to follow this company in the years to come.

World's Biggest Wine Country: USA

A recent study suggests that by 2008, the United States will become the world's biggest wine consumer. This would mean it would jump past countries like France, Italy, and Spain. Wine is already a $100 billion market and all signs indicate it will continue to grow. Americans are drinking more and more wine, and are willing to pay much more for it than Europeans.

This increase in wine consumption is occuring not only in the United States, but all across the world. This is obviously causing changes in the wine industry. Most visible is the "internationalization" of wine styles- toward more familiar and crowd-pleasing tastes, rather than the wide variety of the past. This has many wine connoisseurs concerned about taste as well as quality.

The wine market will be an interesting one to watch over the next three years to see if the report is correct. It seems all the statistical evidence points towards the United States leading the world in increasing the consumption of wine. My main question is what accounts for this rapid increase in wine consumption in the United States? Nevermind the overall world's increase, but I wonder why the United States specifically is expected to jump ahead of major wine consuming countries like France, Italy, and Spain. Any thoughts on this?

The Franchise Tag

In pro football, there is a title which no player desires to have. The dreaded franchise tag. Once a players contract is up, contract re-negotiations begin. Sometimes, if the player wishes to leave his team but the team wants to keep him, they place the franchise tag on the player. This tag signs the player to a one year contract, but other teams have the option of matching the contract and signing the player, but giving up draft picks to the other team in exchange(http://www.nfl.com/news/story/6194643). So my question is, why would teams want to keep a player on their team who has no desire to play for them? With team morale being so important, and players whining about everything, forcing a player to stay on your team while he is unhappy seems to be an incorrect philosophy.

Fast Fruit Becoming A Main Course

The federal government’s new dietary guidelines suggest eating five to thirteen servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Fruit consumption in the nation’s restaurants rose 9% between 2003 and 2004, according to market-research firm NPD Group.

The increase of demand for fruits leads to a dramatic increase supply of fast fruits in the food market. Wendy’s international Inc. plans to go nationwide with fruit bowls that come in two sizes--one as a main course; the other as a dessert-sized cup.(http://www.sacbee.com/content/shopping/drivethru/story/12350325p-13213512c.html) McDonald’s Corp. this spring plans to sell a fruit-and-walnut salad(http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050220/ZNYT01/502200904). And in May, IHOP Corp. is expected to introduce entrée-sized fruit plates for adults and smaller versions for children.

The significant demand also results in a high price of fast fruit. Wendy’s 8.9-ounce fruit bowl is priced at $4.19, about the same as the chain’s premium salads.

Regulating Buzz Marketing

The World of Mouth Marketing Association is expected to announce a new set of rules and guidelines for word-of-mouth advertising (buzz marketing), one of the fastest-growing advertising practices. The practices include building Web communities for customers to chat about their product experiences, handing out product samples and even hiring actors to talk up a product in public places. Big advertisers such as Procter & Gamble and Microsoft have embraced the practice. Criticism has come that “some of these practices are deceptive because people think they are talking to a real person and they are talking to a shill”. Under the association’s new rules, marketers must make sure that people talking up products or services are real consumers, not actors.
When companies come out with a new product, they have to create demand themselves. Traditional advertising is used more often to keep the sales of existing product that people are already familiar with and have demand for it, but it doesn’t work well when it comes to a brand new product. Therefore, marketers come out with buzz marketing method, which is usually called word-of-mouth advertising. However, this method can be abused and getting self-regulation is not easy. The invisible hand can not control those buzz marketing practices because they lead to more demand and profit. Concerning the social welfare, government has to make regulations to keep buzz marketing practices from being deceptive.

Medical Bills and Bankruptcy

Costly medical bills and insurance premiums are the cause of almost half of all personal bankruptcies. The findings in the study underscore inadequate private insurance plans that offer bad coverage. What needs to be done in order for this not to happen? There are many people who can not afford medical coverage. The study estimates medical-caused bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americans each year, counting debtors and their dependents, including 700,000 children. There needs to be a solution to lower insurance premiums for families. Comment.

Where's the Dollar Going?

It's common knowledge that the dollar has been falling lately, relative to the Euro. What's the problem though? New consumer confidence data came out higher than economists had predicted, but consumer expectations fell at the same time. This article suggests that the de-valuing of the dollar might come from foreign banks. Banks all hold reserves, this we know,but most foreign banks hold a large reserve of the US dollar vs that of other currencies. This would suggest that the dollar is highly valued, sorta like gold was in the early days of the US. Now though, foreign banks are diversifing their reserves, causing a de-valuing of the dollar.

If this process continues, what should be an approach to appreciate the dollar? What can get the dollar back into the status of 'the currency' so to speak? Perhaps we need to take care of our own national debt, so that other foreign entities aren't so worried about the state of our economy. Better fiscal and monetary control here on the homeland might contribute to an appreciation of the dollar again.

What are the Titans thinking?

Febuary 21, 2005, the Tennessee Titans cut a few of their top players to deal with the $27 million dollar cap hole they sit in. What I mean by "top players" is, they cut Derrick Mason, who led all NFL receivers last season with 96 catches for 1,168 yards and seven touchdowns. He was the first player in franchise history to have four consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. In addition to cutting one of the NFL's top WR, Titans decided to cut Samari Rolle, who is considered to be the top cover corners in the NFL. What could the Titans possibly be thinking?!? As a diehard Browns fan, I would love to see the new management in Cleveland pick up one of these highly sought after free agents. I understand that the Titans need to cut a few of the higher paid veterans, but the Patriots have displayed that veterans are definitely a key to winning Super Bowls. I'd like to know what an sports enthusiast thinks about this cuts. Please don't comment unless you actually have knowledge about the topic.

Salary Cap in baseball

In baseball, there is no salary cap. This is a major problem for a few reasons(http://dfarq.homeip.net/article/20040218191639287). For one, this allows team like the Yankees to spend nearly 200 million dollars and buy every good player available. They do this year after year too. Last year they picked up Alex Rodriguez and his 283 million dollar contract. This year, it was maybe the most dominant pitcher to ever play the game, a 6'10'' southpaw who goes by the name of Randy Johnson. Another reason why baseball not having a salary cap is that small market teams, like my beloved Reds, stand no chance to me the World Series. Unfortunately, this is not just a problem that my Cincinnati Reds must endure, but all of baseball must suffer through this too. While the large market teams are signing all star players from teams who can't afford them anymore, the small market teams are forced to play with rookies and salty veterans whose careers are coming to a close. My question is this: What needs to be done to make baseball more fair, and what should the salary cap be?

When will we be blessed with the PS3?

There have been numerous speculations about the new PS3. I've searched for several weeks and this website(ps3land.com), seems to be the most legitiment site out there. I want to know how you feel about this upcoming release? I am excited and pumped for the release of the ps3. I'm just a little worried about the price that Sony is going to be asking. $300 was steep for the ps2, and I'm just hoping that the price will be reasonable. I read a rumor that the ps3 may be able to record t.v. and burn DVD's, wow, how much could that possibly cost? How powerful will the ps3 be? "It has been rumored by some that the PS3 will be up to 1000 times more powerful - however this is unlikely." I would love for it to be this powerful, and my anticipation is through the roof for this new revolutionary gaming system.

Bird Flu Could Become Epidemic

On Monday a federal health official commented on what he believed could be a bird-flu epidemic. Dr. Julie L. Gerberding said, "scientists expect that a flu virus that has swept through chickens and other poultry in Asia will genetically change into a flu that can be transmitted from person to person. " Health experts even believe that this bird flu could be fatal for humans. The scary thing about the flu is, that the mortality rate is about 72%, which means that the death rate, and chance of an epidemic is very high. An epidemic is, an outbreak of a contagious disease that spreads rapidly and widely. Right now, Americans shouldn't exactly panic, because the flu has been isolated Asia. What do you think? I know I'm pretty confident that the h5 flu will stay a ways away from the United States. I don't really think that there is much to worry about here, but a word to the wise, probably shouldn't eat the eggs in Asia.

Lose the Weight or Lose the Job

The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City has recently implemented a new policy stating that all male and female waiter and waitresses could be in danger of losing their jobs if they gain more than 7% of their body weight. The Borgata did state that weight gain due to pregnancy or a medical condition would, however, be exempt. Many feminists and union members are in an uproar about the new policy and think of it as a new form of discrimination, but the Borgata feels it has done nothing that would be considered unfair or illegal. They back the policy by saying that the customers expect a certain level of service and appearance.

This is not the first case of 'shape up or ship out' policy-making I've seen. Just a few weeks ago I was reading an article from the Detroit Free Press about a company called Weyco Inc. in Okemos, Michigan.
Click here for the article: http://www.freep.com/money/business/smoke15e_20050215.htm

This company implemented a policy where employees were forced to quit smoking or they would be fired. They believed smoking put other employees at risk, increased health care costs, and made smokers less productive.
I've worked in many different places and it always seemed like those who smoked got more breaks or free-time since they had to leave and smoke. One time I even calculated the average time spent smoking by my co-workers and used that time to eat dinner (on the clock). My manager tried to punish me for it but was quickly silenced when I defending myself by saying that smokers 'got paid' to smoke so I should 'get paid' to eat.

Do you think these policies are taking things too far and becoming illegally discriminatory? I, for one, feel that these companies are taking a step in the right direction. It's about time that America set higher standards for people and gave them incentives to live healthier lives. We may not be the country that smokes the most but we are most definitely the most overweight and I feel it's about time that began to change. Besides, smoking is harmful to one's health and leads to lowered fitness levels. In addition, many often forget just how dangerous second-hand smoke is and I feel that non-smokers are the majority and should be protected against the harmful effects of those who choose to 'light up.'

Hmm, Why Aren't We Happy Yet?

I came across an interesting article by a London economist who offers a lofty but pretty accurate assessment of the function of economics and how economics is only used to study " institutions such as markets, taxes and foreign trade would affect the happiness of people," but not necessarily how to make people happy. Richard Layard of the London School of Economics is the one writing this book titled "Happy" in which he offers the pyschological reasons of why money cannot necessarily buy people's happiness. I found this assertion to be very odd and very ironic coming from an economist to offer a pyschological perspective. I am not suggesting that economists don't care about people's welfare- they study the decisions made by consumers, producers, government, etc. and how the market works, but basically, not everyone wins and not everybody benefits from the market all the time. I would be curious to hear more about what Layard has to say about how people can be happier, not necessarily as a self-happy pamplet, but moreless as an offering from his perspective and personal experience as an economist.

Ford Entices College Students

Ford Motor Co. is offering a $500 cash rebate, along with other hefty discounts, to full-time college students and recent graduates who are looking to buy or lease a Ford or Lincoln-Mercury vehicle. Ford saw U.S. sales drop 5.4% last month. They are offering the discount through January of 2006. They have also eased their lending policies in order to offer more loans to younger buyers. Are these incentives really going to help with the sales? Most college students do not have the capability of buying or leasing a new car because they do not have any credit established. In my opinion, I do not think these incentives are going to help with sales even though the cash rebate might catch your eye. I am a GM guy and not interested in a Ford. I can see where Ford wants to reach out to the younger population, but on the other hand most college students are worried about paying off their student loans and getting a job before they worry about buying a car. What is your opinion? Do you agree or disagree?

"Strong Europe"

Yesterday President Bush landed in Brussels to kick off a week long trip to Europe. Mr. Bush is expected to express support for a strong and united Europe. But why is his the case? Advance excerpts from speeches he intends to make show Bush calling "Europe and North America the main pillar of our security in a new century." Also he will emphasize the necessity of a strong friendship to promote global peace and prosperity, and he will ask for a joint effort from Europe and the U.S. in rebuilding Iraq. While I do not deny the validity of any of these claims or wants, considering the possible consequences of a stronger and more united Europe, I feel like there has to be an alterior motive to his visit.
One possible consequence is that a united Europe would have roughly the same GDP as the U.S., and could therefore see itself as a counterforce to the U.S. Also, the admission of 10 more countries into the EU would mean that 10 more countries would be less likely to import U.S. goods due to the free transfer of goods and services enjoyed by EU member countries.
My question to you is, why do you think President Bush is voicing such strong support for a "strong Europe?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/international/europ...

ESPN vs The Ohio State University

Similar to Fox News' Network bias toward Republicans, or ABC's toward Democrats, an unexpected TV channel is biased against an instiution. Anyone who watched ESPN's coverage of the Alamo Bowl which featured an under ranked Ohio State football team, could easily see that for whatever reason, ESPN seemed out to get the program. Anyone who believes that Ohio State has the only players who take money from boosters, or have grades given to them is living in a dreamworld(http://www.danwismar.com/archives/wizblog/002655.html). It seems that ever since the Buckeyes won the national title in 2002, nothing but bad things have been said about them. Now I know that some of you non-buckeye fans will say that Ohio State won on a call. So to that I say, what's your point? The New England Patriots beat the Oakland Raiders on a very questionable call to reach the super bowl a few years ago, yet everyone loves the Patriots. So I guess my question is why does everyone hate Ohio State so much, is it jealousy or what?

To create an Asia Union?

In Thursday’s class, we learned EU. I began to wonder if it is possible for Asian counties to create an Asia Union. The article “Could Asia Create an Economic Union” analyzes this issue from two perspectives. First, culture differences make it hard to create an Asia Union in a short time. Second, every country’s economy depends mostly on the courtiers which are outside of the Asian area making it hard for such a union to be profitable to Asian countries. Among the Asian countries that would not benefit China would probably gain the least. Therefore, they can not create a union very easily.

I agree with the author. If there is an Asia Economic Union, the dominant countries would be China, Japan, India, and South Korean. These four countries history stands in the way of them doing business. And political conflicts still affect the economic cooperation among these countries. Because Asian countries depend a lot on outside world, even though they want to create AU, they will get a lot of pressure or help from the counties outside of Asia. And I think it is hard to have a single currency in Asia. Dollar has a strong connection with RMB (Chinese currency) and Japanese Yen, a single currency may affect the dollar. Will America easily agree to create an AU?

The key in the long run is the cooperation. Asian countries need more strength as individuals before they decide to unite, because Asian countries are just as likely to compete with one another as they are to compete with the West. Some areas in Asia are prospering, but there are many areas that are not. If you consider Asia’s wealth in contrast to its population, you will notice that resources are very scarce. When resources are scarce you are much more likely to see competition, not cooperation.