Would you like to pay more?

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

NBC back in the market for NFL

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

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

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

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

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

Not Sweden though.

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

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

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

NFL Broadcast Contracts

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

Global Economy

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

Kerry Concedes

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

Beef is Beef

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

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

Vice Presidential Debate Costs Cleveland

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

Walmart to Blame for Health Care?

Critics have found another problem to blame on Wal-Mart, the country's largest employer. An abundance of Wal-Mart employees have been found to not be under health care or to be on Medicaid. The reason many of the employees are uninsured is because Wal-Mart either makes the eligibilty requirements too hard to meet, or because they made the monthly premiums too high for the average family to afford. Although Wal-Mart is being blamed for causing so many employees to go without insurance, they advertise themselves as a company that helps their employees out. Recently, Wal-Mart has run a television ad with a man claiming that his son survived because of Wal-Mart's health benefits. Is Wal-Mart really the cause of an abundance of employees being uninsured, or are the critics trying to blame Wal-Mart for yet another wrong doing?

Sleepy Medical Interns

In recent studies they have found that medical intern students are working too many hours. The interns were hooked to machines to moniter them. They found that on average the interns nodded off around 5 times when working the long shifts. In 2003 interns were limited to 4 weeks with 80 hours a week. That is too many hours to be working. So far no deaths have been caused by mistakes due to the lack of sleep. Hospitals have now cut intern hours to 12 in surgery and 18 in medicine. What do you think needs to be done?

NHL Collective Bargaining news

The NHL's Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Bill Daly has started a article to keep people updated on what is going on in the NHL NHLPA discussions. This will keep us all updated on the problems that are facing the owners and players. The fact that the NHL is not as popular as the 3 other major sports makes me think right away that hockey players shouldn't make as much but that is just me. The economic outlook for hockey players and owners is discussed pretty good in this article. Also, it points out some facts that the players are not looking at.

New Tax Loophole

Everytime one tax loophole is fixed, another one opens up. This new loophole is very interesting. I just wonder how long till this one is fixed and what could be next. Do you think this new trick to get out of paying taxes is fair?

Four Myths About Social Security

Social Security is a hot political (and economic) issue that is fraught with misperceptions and misunderstandings. Arnold Kling writes,

"The transition cost myth is one of four Social Security misconceptions that I want to address here. The others are the misconception that Social Security is a pension, the misconception that the Baby Boom is the main problem with Social Security, and the misconception that Medicare is in worse shape than Social Security. Although there is an element of truth behind each of these
misconceptions, what is reported in the press and believed by the general public is more myth than reality."

Read the full essay here.

Does Your Vote Really Matter?

While browsing on the web the other day, I saw this article called "Don't Vote: It makes more sense to play the lottery". Of course, with it being election time and all, I decided to read it. The author, Steven Landsburg, is trying to make a point that your vote doesn't really matter. He says in the election of 2000 when the vote came down to Florida, if any 1 of the 6 million voters would have stayed home, Bush still would have won because the only way your vote would matter is if the election in your state is within one vote of a dead-even tie. And even if that were the case, it would only matter if your state tips the balance in the electoral college. Steven Landsburg says,

"Imagine you live in Florida and the 6 million voters are statistically evenly divided—meaning that each of them has (as far as you know) exactly a 50/50 chance of voting for either Bush or Kerry—the statistical equivalent of a coin toss. Then the probability you'll break a tie is equal to the probability that exactly 3 million out of 6 million tosses will turn up heads. That's about 1 in 3,100—roughly the same as the probability you'll be murdered by your mother."

He also stated that,

"The situation is worse for people who live in New York state. Last time around, about 6.5 million votes were cast for major party candidates in New York state and 63 percent of them went to Al Gore. Assuming an electorate of similar size with a similar bias, my chance of casting the deciding vote in New York is about one in 10 to the 200,708th power. I have a better chance of winning the Powerball jackpot 7,400 times in a row than of affecting the election's outcome. Which makes it pretty hard to see why I should vote."

Does this really make sense? Does he have a point? So if people are so pressured to vote all of the time, especially teenagers and college students, is it really making a difference whether we vote or not? What if thousands or millions of people who would have voted decided not to, would it make a difference?

Oil backs off a bit

hey oil prices are dropping. Good news eh. Check out the link

End of the Ride

Disney CEO will quit in 2006 after 20 years at the top. Michael Eisner will step down as Walt Disney Co's chief executive when his contract expires in September 2006. Eisner has been through bruising corporate battles and a shareholder revolt that has hurt the company. Disney is a world wide name and with this annoucement of the CEO leaving by 2006 may have people questioning what will take place in the next two years. With Disney being such a giant parent company to companies like ABC and Fox Family Worldwide, what will this annoucement bring. With a CEO planning his departure what will the public and shareholders think, will people think differently. Will Eisner make foolish decisions knowing he is leaving or will he continue to work hard for company while he is there. If Eisner makes foolish decision in his final two years will it have a impact on the US's economy being such a big company linked to so many other large companies. What will the impact of this annoucement have on the economy.

Tomato Shortage

Due to the recent hurricanes in Florida and the recent floods in California, the nation is experiencing a shortage of tomatoes which results in an increase in the price of tomatoes. Many restaurants are trying to find alternative means of preparing their dishes with less or no tomatoes. Wendy's has cancelled it's planned promotion of a new sandwich due to this shortage and is expecting to end this quarter in a loss because of it. In contrast, smaller restaurants who are also feeling the effect of the higher prices and lower quantity have decided to keep their prices the same within their menus because they fear they will lose their customers.

If you were a restaurant owner, which approach would you use in order to gain profit - increase your prices, cancel or modify certain menu options, or keep your prices the same in hopes of a higher quantity being purchased from you due to customer loyalty? Is there another option which would work best?

World Series

The Yankees got beat lastnight in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox. It is clear that the Yankees are the most popular team in baseball, even though other teams are catching up quickly. If you look at merchandise sales the Yankees are always at the top. My question is this. With the Yankees not in the World Series this year is this going to hurt the ratings in the Series? Obviously the Red Sox are popular too, but do they draw as many fans as the Yankees do? Also, because of the Red Sox winning the ALCS, and the Yankees struggles to win a World Series for awhile now will this cause merchandise sales to go a different way?

Economics and the Movies

CNN/Money staff writer Corrin Eckert offers an intriguing theory regarding the relationship between the state of the economy and the types of movies that reap millions at the box office or are rewarded 'Best Picture' at the Academy Awards. Eckert suggests that darker, depressing films succeed in times of recession, while brighter, uplifting films fare well when the economy is strong.

The 1970's support this claim. "The Godfather, Part II" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" were crowned 'Best Picture' in '74 and '75, during a period of severe recession. As America's economy regained its strength, the following two years gave the Oscar to "Rocky" and "Annie Hall," both uplifting, heartfelt films.

The article offers a slightly more recent example: the success of "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Terminator 2" back in 1991, two dark movies that were popular during "extreme economic anxiety and a wavering stock market performance."

But what about the time it takes to make a movie? Movies take an average of 2 to 3 years to create: unless the world is facing a long-standing crises (like a war, for example), a movie will most likely reflect what producers thought people were interested in 2 or 3 years before. Movie critic Peter Reiner states that most recessions do not last long enough to have a real impact on the content of a movie.

Entertainment and Media Analyst, Chris Dixon, says that audiences seek escapism when choosing movies, looking for not only entertainment, but also hope.

According to the CIA's website, "the years 1994-2000 witnessed solid increases in real output, low inflation rates, and a drop in unemployment to below 5%." This makes for a fairly healthy economy, and every film rewarded with the 'Best Picture' Oscar between '94 - '00 were uplifting pics, with the exception of '99's dysfunctional-family black comedy, "American Beauty."

Now consider these past three year's winners: "A Beautiful Mind," "Chicago," and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Did the content of these three films correlate with 2001 - 2003's economic conditions? Do you feel that Eckert presents a sound theory?