$20 for $28.00?

In the movie we recently watched an experiment in which a twenty dollar bill was auctioned off to someone for twenty eight dollars. This experiment concluded that people had this so called "animal spirit". This leads them to think emotionally, even pridefully rather than rationally. This gives the US economy a reason to follow the Keynesian theory of economics. Another example from the movie was the crash of the tulip stock. It doesn't matter what the product is, people will always want to win money. Unfortunately this is the "spirit" that leads to a crisis. This is why government supervision is necessary in the US economy.

My Keynesian Point of View

I still believe in the mainstream point of view. I believe people have animal spirit, therefore government regulation is essential to our economy. Keeping supply, demand and the money supply on track cannot be done just by the people. People splurge their money on unnecessary items everyday; they also buy on credit even when it isn't advisable. We need a higher authority to fix that inflation! Also, I agree with the theory that businesses don't lower wages, but fire workers. In my personal experience, my mom used to be a lab technician for a contact lense company. The owners were in a low profit period, so instead of lowering wages, they started laying people off. This is true for other company too. This also proves that the mainstream point as valid.

Mainstream View

I believe in the Mainstream view because I think it is essential for there to be a higher authority to control the economy. Not ever consumer is rational and many do buy on impulse and credit. This can cause inflation and we need fiscal and monetary policy to fix these problems. If "we don't care if businesses shut down" then we'd be in a huge economic crisis. The government plays an important role in keeping the economy on the road. 

Pro iPad Tools!

The apps that we use on our iPad, such as Schoology, Educreations, and Flipboard, are very essential and quite essential for our Macro learning experience. Flipboard makes it super easy to read other people's blogs without having to manually type up their URL. Since other blogs are so easily accessible, it gives students a motivation and incentive to look at what their peers have to say about their everyday experiences with economics. Reading these personalized stories also help me understand many concepts from class  since they are relatable. Schoology is a wonderful app because it's a great source for all the notes; it keeps all notes and homework organized. I wish that the exit slips  had an explanation for the right answer that maybe seen after the time expired so we know what we did wrong. Educreations is a great way to not only teach, but also to learn the material we learn in class. Whenever we do the Educreations assignments, I remember the concepts more thoroughly. I know if I can teach the concept, then I know it for sure. All in all the tools used in our economics class make learning easier, materials more accessible and all notes and homework organized.

What Do Stores Prefer? M1 or M2?

Last year in AP US History, we had talked about what kind of money components stores prefer when selling their products. Stores prefer the M1 (a medium of exchange) component, especially something like gift cards because customers have already paid M1 to the store without exchanging any products from the store in it. They would rather have an M1 than an M2, such as credit cards, means of an exchange. The money that is given from a credit card isn't the fastest way a company can get the money, therefore there is an opportunity cost of time in which that money is received for the the company.

Janet Yellen disrupts economic freedom?

Like an other candidate, Janet Yellen has both fantastic and detrimental ideas. But somewhere her not-so-great ideas outweigh the positive ones. According to Frobes.com, "The whole basis of her theory is that people cannot be trusted to make their own decisions, that the market shouldn’t be free." If the one significant aspect about our nation, its (economical) freedom is taken away from us, then what is gonna remain in this oh so great land of America? Somewhere along line Yellen's ideas may resulting in "a new wave of bankruptcies" causing nothing but havoc and chaos in the economy.

Does Halloween Oppose the Economic Principle of Self-Interest?

Why do people but candy with their own money and give it out at no cost? Spending money for strangers doesn't follow the principle of rational self-interest. Then again, why do people donate or buy presents? Their festive spirit may be the driving force in them giving out candy at no cost. I get why people walk around asking houses for candy, it's free candy! But I believe in order for there to be Halloween, everyone needs to contribute and be active in the community. 

A Buyers Market

In the December of 2007, my family decided to buy an extra house. At that time I was too young to understand that we had bought that house, not because I wanted it, but because it was the phase of the 'buyers market'. One of the shifters for Investment demand is expectation; my dad had maybe know that maybe the future wasn't so bright for buying a home therefore bought the house within a matter of a month. When recession occurred, we had put the old house up for sale, but quickly realized that no one would be willing to buy the house. According to our real estate agent, the best choice was to put it up for rent so we profit from the monthly checks rather than just waiting on someone to buy the property. 

Structural? Or Frictional?

I've had a second hand experience with frictional unemployment in my family. My mom was laid off from her job as a health inspector in a colored contacts company. After taking a month off, she started managing our Subway, and continued for 4-5 years. Due to a prolonged time off from her health inspector position, she couldn't get a job because she had 'lost her skills' and was 'not up to date with the new health guidelines and technology'. Strangely enough her frictional unemployment had turned into somewhat of structural unemployment.

What GDP Lacks.

I believe GDP is not an good indicator of the economy's well being because it is an understatement of other unaccounted essential factors that affect our market. Like it or not, the underground economy is an aspect that alters the market in many nations; the GDP doesn't account for the illegal transactions that occur in the black market. The GDP also avoids the emotional value and moral value of items, for example, the value of education, someone working hard to care for their family or the value in the amount of happiness! Lastly, due to illegal immigration and alien resident the gross domestic product that is counted per capita is most likely incorrect. Despite all these factors I'd also like to mention that having something is better than having nothing, in other words it's better to have flawed GDP information than have none so it's easier to compare our total market value of all final goods and services to other countries.

SHUT DOWNNN!

The shutting down of the government reminds me of my childhood. How? Well every time I played a video game with my friends and I knew that I was going to lose or there was going to be a problem with the outcome of the game, I just pulled the plug and shut down the game. But I was immature and childish back then. So many people are unemployed, national archives are shut down and even though we aren't directly affected, it is estimated that without our budget we will lose billions of dollars every week. This irrational decision can lead the US into a national crisis, causing nothing but chaos.

Oh SNAP!

The reduction in the funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program is despicable. Taking around 40 billion dollars out of the SNAP program will lead to the starvation of many families, and would also be an immoral and unethical decision. The increase in guidelines and cut offs is appalling and uncalled for. Many people have to worry about where their next meal is going to come from. Even many students have these worries, and these worries will be increasing due to the passing of the reduction on this law. Students shouldn't be worrying about these things they should be worrying about their future, their education and their future career. These food stamps aren't luxurious, they are used to gain people's basic and essential needs and for some families a means of survival.   

Syria's (Or the Whole World's) Struggle for a Solution

With all respect to our President's thoughts and actions on Syria, I believe that the fight against terrorism in Syria, at the moment, is not our fight to fight. The UN is trying to proceed with the investigation of the chemical warfare and the conclusion of who the culprit is behind these attacks. By trying to bring in American troops and exhorting authority, the US can be prolonging the process of this investigation thus causing more harm than good. Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't be keeping a watchful eye, or not be acting vigilant in case something does go terribly wrong, but if we keep the necessary distance this may be able to run more efficiently. Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, has stated, "If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust" (New York Times). It is in the best interest for both US and Syria to have a mutually friendly and cautious relationship. Also, by guarding our own country and taking precautions to make sure any terror attacks aren't made in our country is in our best interest. So I would propose the idea that the President take a step back on this one and let the UN do their job and assess the terror attack while we patiently and cautiously wait in the stands. 

Interdependence Is Essencial!

       Every time I help out at my family's fast food restaurant, our Subway,  I see 'households' spending their money in exchange for  our goods, or our delicious Subway sandwiches. But quickly our Subway switches roles from being the business in the product market to being a consumer when purchasing from the Coco-Cola, Reinhart or all the other companies that we buy products from, to make our products! The interdepence that all companies have on each other is quite essential, and actually relatable to the quote: United we stand, divided we fall. All the vegetables, meat and bread that's is received by Subway is important for the production for  the sandwiches, yet  those specific factories that produce this food need a medium in which they are able to sell food (this medium being fast food,) to consumers. These factories need a commercial, pleasing way to sell products to their audience of consumers.

Everyday Marginalism

An opportunity cost,  a sacrifice made after making a decision, is made everyday by any kind of person and in any kind of environment, this is a part of the effects of marginalism . For example, the AP biology students were supposed to do a two day termite lab, but due to delivery problems, our biology teacher had to stretch that time to 3 days. Our teacher made a decision that affected her students' learning schedule, which was decreasing our time to review, but increasing our knowledge on a particular subject. The marginal benefit of understanding the material was higher than the marginal cost the extra time needed to finish the lab. Another instance of this was while remodeling our house, my dad had to choose between Brazilian cherry oak and white oak flooring. He knew that if he chose the Brazilian cherry oak, the opportunity cost would be the extra money that he would have had to pay, but if he chose the white oak the opportunity cost would have been slightly less elegant appearance and quality of the flooring. When he made the final decision to choose the Brazilian cherry oak, the marginal benefit of the wood's great quality and appearance greatly exceeded the marginal cost  of the extra money he had to pay in order to obtain the wood.