Pay More For Your Food

With each passing year the number farms is decreasing rapidly. The government wants to keep food at a cheap and resonable price. This causes farmers to lose money because the governemnt tries to control the cost of food. Many farmers end up having to pay more to produce the food than they actually make. This puts many farmers out of business. Also our environment is being depleated. The government had also driven us to buy processed foods with are not from the farmers and there for take away more revenue from them. The US only spends 11% of their income on food while other countries spend up to %20 for their food. The government has put policies into place but the hidden cost is the damage to the environment.
One idea was to buy food directly from the farmers. Farmers then know their demand prior to the season. For example, buyers will order the amount of chickens that they want for the upcoming year and then the chickens will be delivered directly to them. The down side to this is how many people know how to kill the chicken and then make it into editable food or how many people actually want to do that. There is a problem but is buying direct from the farmers the way to fix it?

Security and Oil

The US Energy Secretary wants Iraq to open it's oil sector. The US wants to help Iraq recognize the potential gain in doing so. The country would be able to bring in large benefits if they would begin to open up trade in oil. The US wants to help Iraq gain $20 billion in investments to increase it's production. Recently Iraq has lost more than $11 billion due to terrorists attacks and theft. Iraq feels that it needs protection before it can produce more oil. The US wants other countries to help out with security and investments. Maybe the US should not involve other countries and make the investments themselves. Our oil prices are high enough. We are currently giving Iraq protection so we should open up more trade with Iraq ourselves. With more oil our gas prices should go down.
Our troops are the ones that have been over in Iraq for 5 years. Why does the government want to help other countries get more oil. Our country needs the oil. I don't see why the government wants to almost give the oil to other countries when we are the country that have been fighting over there.

Japan Opens Trade

After 3 years Japan decides to re-open trade with the US on beef. In 2003 Japan stopped trade with the US because of reports of mad cow disease. Japan lifted the ban because our government allowed Japan officials to examine US packing plants. In 2003 alone Japan bought $1.4 billion worth of beef. It could be estimate that the US lost $4.2 billion in the past 3 years from not having Japan as a market. I wonder if the US will have the supply needed to ship to Japan. I would think that some of the smaller beef factories would have had to been shut down because our demand went down by so much. I believe that this is still a great benefit to the US.

Minimum Wage

The House voted today to the raise the minimum wage over a three year span to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. A serious issue for many Americans has become a circus show in Washington between Republicans and Democrats. Nobody can deny that the minimum wage of today is worth more than the inflation adjusted minimum wage of 30 years ago. In fact when adjusted to inflation, today's minimum wage is 30% lower than their counter parts in 1976.

For the Americans who make minimum wage this would be the first pay increase in almost a decade. A family can not reach above the poverty line if a worker only makes the current $5.15 an hour. With rising energy costs and inflation, we need a new system in place to calculate the minimum wage on a year to year basis. The states of Washington and Oregon index their wages to inflation, why can the national government not use this system as well? Also if minimum wage rises will this also mean the price for goods skyrocket?

Second Source: http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/issueguides_minwage_minwagefaq

Report: US Airways CEO asked Delta about merger

US Airways CEO wanted to merge with Delta Airways after Delta filed for bankruptcy. Delta decided not to merge with US because they have decided to exit bankruptcy court next spring and become a stand alone company again. If this would have went through Delta could have possibly started to have some price discrimination because they could have more of the routes in the United States after they merged. Delta could have also started merging with more and more airlines until the government would have to step in and break Delta up into multiple companies, just like they have done to other monopolies in the past. How big would Delta have to get before they broke them up?

Free music can actually cost millions

After reading this article it goes to show that you could be part of a black market and not even realize it. In chapter 20 we learned about things such as public and private goods. Well the music and entertainment business provide a variety of rivate goods to consumers such as cd's and movies. But you always have those people that want a free ride and thus file sharing programs were invented. These enable you to download music and movies for free. This is actually illegal making it a black market. My question is what do you think they will do in the future to cut out all filesharing and piracy? Do you think that it will be around forever?

Older Parents - New Trend

It has been a growing trend since 2003; women in their 40's are now having children and then having to deal with the consequences later on. It is not uncommon for older parents to have children in their late teens to early twenties and then decide to have more children. There is just one major concern that these families have to deal with, which is retirement overlapping with parenting. Many parents are finding that they are able to retire when their children are still young and in elementary, but then they have the worry that their family will not be able to enjoy the same lifestyle if they retire. One incentive of working for a good portion of your life is that once you get approximately 30 years in, you are able to retire. This is not the case for such families who have to then put their children through college. The attached article gives suggestions on what to do if you are in this situation, with the most important thing being that you have to realize that you may not be able to retire at the age you were expecting. This is not saying that you have to work the rest of your life, but even an extra year or two will help a tremendous amount. The income you make in those couple years will help stabilize your family for the years to come and help you stay financially stable in the economy today. Another worry of older parents is the greater chance that something may happen to them while their children are still young. With all of these concerns of older parents, what are your feeling toward having kids at an older age? Is is financially a smart decision and would you be willing to risk your stability in our economy?

Grading Policies in the Classroom

One of the most basic principles of economics is that people respond to incentives. Consider the following situation: Suppose there are two classes made up of very similar students and students can choose which class they sign up for. In one class, each student receives the grade made on each test. In the other class, each student receives the class average as his or her grade. These policies are known by all. In what class would you expect the higher average grade? Explain your answer in terms of the economic concepts you read about in Chapter 20.

On the Pricing of Internet Service at Hotels

On my recent trip to Brazil my family and I stayed at a high-end hotel while visiting Rio de Janiero's famed Copacabana beach (see picture). The room was very nice and the hotel provided several amenities free of charge, such as access to a rooftop swimming pool. However, I was a bit peeved that the hotel charged for another amenity that I usually take for granted when staying at a hotel: internet access. The hotel charged roughly $10 per hour of internet access. When I stayed at a Best Western hotel in Bowling Green, internet access was free of charge. What's going on here? Can you use the tools introduced in the monopoly chapter to explain the difference in pricing of internet services between luxury and cut-rate hotels?

monopoly

Since we begin to learn Chapter 14 monopoly, it reminds me a phenomenon I saw when I visited Disneyland. I wanted to buy some presents as souvenir to my friends from Disneyland, but what I bought such as key chains, rings, and earrings were all made in China. As the matter of fact, these kinds of small merchandises could be very cheap in China. However, nowhere else is selling them except Disneyland. The two disadvantages I felt about this were that we have to spend more money to buy the same thing which is actually cheap and we can not find them in any other places. The positive aspect for the market is that consumers still buy them with more unnecessary money due to the symbol of Disneyland. What do you think about this phenomenon? Does it good for the development of economy?

HIRING

Since I am doing an intern of one month in BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd, which is a joint venture established between BMW group and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings, I find out that almost one fifth of nearly 200 employees are interns. The wage of an official employee is more than five times as an intern. According to that, I am thinking that if the company expects to save their expenditure to hire many interns. My mission is just finish whatever they send me to do, such as typing, copy, packing up documents, apply payment form and render account. But I am available most of the time and not knowing what to do. During the chat with other interns, I realize that other interns face to the same question as me. In that case, if hiring an official employee who owns more professional knowledge and be able to do more major stuff is better than hiring many interns who can just do some trivia. Another totally opposite phenomenon in this company is that just two lawyers are in legal department in Beijing office. They undertake the whole thing of law and are always overtime to eight or nine o’clock. Their wages are obviously much higher than us, but I feel that that is an effective way instead. Considering of the benefit of economy of a company, which way is better? Hiring less people who are more professional or hiring many interns who do not have many work to do?

HD-DVD versus BD-DVD (the war at home)

People do not want to spend so much money on a kind of DVD players which will be antique several years later. However, both Blu-ray and HD-DVD arrived in stores this summer. Blu-ray discs will not play in HD-DVD players and vice versa. How do the consumers choose what type of DVD players they use or whether or not they are going to switch their old one became big issues. In my own opinion, even though inventing new productions will perhaps costs more than update, the manufacturers can gain more, considering of the long run because people do not like purchasing the same thing twice. My question is why do the producers update DVD instead of invent high technical productions.

Where is the crude going?

Even with high oil prices the demand growth for gasoline continues to rise. The second largest oil consumer China has seen a much larger demand growth in recent times than the United States. China is consuming a growth of 500,000 barrels a day of crude, while the United States is consuming a growth of 200,000 barrels.

So where is all of this oil going? Chinese consumers have seen a fifty percent raise in automobile sales in the first half of this year. Other developing countries are also demanding more oil. The demand of oil is increasing at a more rapid rate than the supply of oil. Disregard the notion that the supply of oil has decreased. We still have not reached the peak production of oil, and I believe we will not reach this peak until the end of our lifetimes.

Even with the demand of gasoline being high, the inflation rate for gasoline prices is almost right on track. The inflation adjusted rate of 1980 has the price of gasoline to be at $3.18 a gallon. The real national average is close to $3.00. If you ever get bored do a price comparison of gallons of gasoline compares to the beverages in the grocery store. You might find it surprising to see that gasoline is cheaper.

Charged for stealing Coca Cola secrets

It's all about the competition! Pepsi and Coke have been a huge rival since the beginning but never did anyone think it would come down to stealing files for one another. Pepsi stated that these people would do what anyone else to do because it's all about competition. Three people have been accussed of stealing and trading off secret about Coca Cola products, what is the world coming to? How can we stop this from happening, each company is equally successful, so why do they need to get information from one another?

Backyard Fireworks aand Related Injuries

From the years 1990-2003, about 85,000 children under 19 years of age were treated for firework injuries, mainly for burns. Last year aover 10,000 adults were treated for injuries from sparklers, firecrackers, and bottle rockets. Every year the numbers keep increasing for the amount of injuries we are curing from fireworks. What I would like to know is why, if these fireworks are the cause for so many deaths and injuries a year, are they still allowing for he sales of them. I myself love sparklers on the fourth of july, but I don't want to have life long scars from them, so what I would like to know is what should we do about this problem and why do you think so many people are ending upin the hospital?

Alaska?

The last time that I got gas it was $3.09. I have never seen it that high. I was talking to a friend and they told me about the situation in Alaska. They said that oil companies only want 4 acres of reserved land to drill for oil and that the reserve is hundreds of acres. I don't understand why we don't drill in Alaska. It seems that when I hear about Alaska, I am told that we can't drill because it is reserved land but they seem to forget to tell us that it is only a very small amount. Also I just visited a friend in Pittsburgh. The family owns over 300 acres and has six oil wells on the property. I'm sure that there are others like this. I don't see why we don't use that oil. If there is more supply with the same demand then the proces can finally go down.


This post was for the second section, that's why the material is from there. I had computer troubles.

Why Nows the Time to Buy an SUV!

Many people are saying that it is a good time to buy any SUV. With all of the gas prices rising my first thought was NO. That would be the worst mistake. But after I read a little bit more I realized that prices of SUVs and trucks have gone down. Dealership want people to buy vehicles they need for the right weather climate. When it comes to summer you can’t haul around a huge boats with a tiny little car or truck, in some cases people could. But the point is people need bigger vehicles to go the places the haul the things they need to haul for their interests. And the same for the winter, when the roads get icy you want to be driving a good reliable vehicle that can keep you safe. People do not realize it but prices for SUVs and trucks are going down not up. It is a great way to save some money if you look at it right. What do you think?

Economy benefit of the world cup

The 2006 Germany FIFA world cup is going along right now. Some people think that it stimulates the domestic economy, some people do not.Before the world cup, a investigation showed that the confident index of consumers in Germany would increase in June. GFK estimated that all kinds of expenditures would be increasing in the competition. The turnover of local television production “Loewe” had increased 38% in the first quarter. However, another statistic shows that of the using of hotel is just 60% which is in the same level than before in the period of the world cup. And ensure public security would even cost some financial capital. So what do you think about the benefits the world cup brings to Germany. Besides, one economy report estimated that income in Germany would increase more than 3 billion dollars in 3 years due to the influence of the world cup. Do you think this estimate will really work? Does the increasing really because of the world cup?

Perfectly Competitive Mug Company

The first person to correctly answer the following question will earn 2 bonus points toward the upcoming Exam 3. (Yes, really, no kidding!)
Your perfectly competitive coffee mug company is currently producing at an output level of 600 units per month. Fixed costs are $500 per month. At the current output level, you know that marginal cost is $8 and equal to average total cost. At an output level of q = 450, you have determined that marginal cost would be $5 and equal to average variable cost. The market price for your coffee mugs is $7. If your goal is profit maximization, should you continue at q = 600, increase q above 600, or reduce q below 600? Would you do better to shut down? Explain.

Coal Industry Harmful to Many

China’s coal industry is booming right now and providing all the fuel needed to power their economy, but the effects of coal mining are doing more harm than good to the earth. The small village of Shanxi, China is being hit hard with these damaging effects as they watch the earth around them crack and basically watch the walls of their houses cave in. There are three large coal mining operations below the surface working day and night keeping China the world’s largest producer of coal. The people living here have experienced what feels like earthquakes, but are actually the dynamite being used in the mines, and no longer have running water to their private wells. A truck now has to haul water into the town to supply households with drinking water. The people of these small villages in China are protesting against the operations and have petitioned to move out of the town. Not only are the people around these areas being affected, but huge amounts of carbon dioxide are being released into the atmosphere adding to global warming. Although, the coal industry is what stimulates the economy in China, is it right to continue operations when the effects are so harmful to the earth and the people? There has to be a way to continue coal production with less harm especially to these individuals. One solution may be to supply these individuals with a home somewhere off the premises of the mines, but not all people are willing to move after they have made a home and are comfortable where they live. What do you think should be done about this issue?

Should the International Space Station be Shelved?

Over a decade ago, the United States joined the European Union, Russia, Canada, and Japan, in a effort to build the International Space Station. Initial cost estimates pegged a figure of $100 billion. For the sake of this example, suppose that officials expected the space station to yield benefits of $400 billion.
Imagine that the benefit estimate appears to be correct, but costs to date total $250 billion, and the space station still is not ready. The cost of completing the space station, X, is uncertain. Congressman Jones wants to stop now: "Whatever the value of X, it is clear that the space station will yield negative net benefits." Congresswoman Smith wants to continue: "If we stop now, we will have wasted $250 billion." Comment. How should the decision depend on the value of X?

Two year Federal Rate rise showing great impact on consumers

With federal rates on a steady rise the past 2 years and not to mention the rise in gas prices and other goods it is becoming harder and harder to survive financialy in todays society. In only about 2 years the overnight lending rate went up a whopping 4.25 percent. This is just an example of how the whole economy is being affected. Other sensitive parts of the economy being impacted include housing, automobile sales and financial markets. The article states that the most obvious impact is being seen in the houseing area of the economy. This is not only because of the rising cost of the materials used in construction but all the rates such as mortgages and loan rates.

Seeing all these enormous rate increases and slowing down of different aspects of the market, what do you think can be done to stop this problem. Also what do you think can be done to help the people that these impacts effect the most such as the low income households or people on disablilties.

New Website has Computer Predicting Supply and Demand

A new website, www.farecast.com, has been created that has the computer “predict” the supply and demand of airfare tickets. An algorithm was created so the computer can actually keep track of the supply and demand of tickets, which in turn shows if the price of the tickets will increase, or decrease over time. This allows consumers to keep track of when the tickets will be cheapest and the best time to buy them. The website is the newest of these “prediction websites” that keep track of the supply and demand of certain goods. Another site created this year was, Zillow.com, for keeping track of real estate. So as I read this article I thought of the following questions: Does this create a problem for the market for the certain good? Do you think that people who would be willing to pay more for the tickets will now payless because they can see when the price will be lower? (I know I would). Also, the suppliers are definitely affected. Do you think they are they affected in negative or positive way? These websites definitely affect the market, because the suppliers may not make as much money as they would if consumers were unable to predict the future prices of the tickets. Also, the author of the article also points out that there really is no way to see if the website is accurate besides seeing if it pans out. I’m curious to see what everyone thinks.