...Over the course of this class we will cover the following topics: Principles of Economics (week 1) Thinking Like an Economist (week 1) Supply and Demand (week 2) Market Efficiency (week 3) Consumer Surplus (week 2) Your assignment for the final paper is to write a 2 to 3 page paper (double spaced) about how 3 of the above concepts applies to your daily life. For example how does consumer surplus impact the decisions you make when shopping for groceries? Be creative and think hard about these important concepts. Please use ProQuest and cite at least one source in text. Your paper will be due on Saturday night of the last week of the module. Submit your paper to Smarthinking. Attach their feedback along with your final submission. Smarthinking has about a 48 hour turn-around time so plan accordingly. Day to Day Concepts Perla Gomez ECN220 September 7, 2013 Sheneman Day to Day Concepts The thought of Economics can be a scary one. It is full of big words, difficult concepts, and challenging theories that can be hard to understand. The concepts that underlie Economics are scary ones and at some point were difficult to understand. However, I found that I could apply most of these concepts to my daily life. Supply and Demand, Consumer Surplus, and Thinking Like an Economist are all part of my day to day activities. I use them so often that I don’t even realize I am using them or taking advantage of them. Even if you have no idea what these are, chances...
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...Mayer ETHICS IN ECONOMICS Honesty and Integrity in Academic Economics Thomas Mayer There may not be much outright plagiarism or cheating in economics research, argues this economist, but there are grounds to conclude that a bias exists in statistical research. Does this amount to dishonesty? The author tackles the issue. T is that people try to maximize their welfare. Since dishonesty can enhance the prospect of publication, the prime success indicator in academia, economists should ask themselves whether academic economists sometimes maximize utility by being dishonest in doing or presenting their research. HE CORE ASSUMPTION OF MAINSTREAM ECONOMICS I Plagiarism, in its flagrant form of copying someone else’s work, seems rare; I can recall reading about only three confirmed cases of it in the almost sixty years I have spent as an economist. Both the risk of exposure and feelings of conscience provide plausible explanations for this scarcity. Soft plagiarism in the sense of making unacknowledged THOMAS MAYER is professor emeritus of economics at University of California–Davis. A more detailed working-paper version of this article is available at www.econ.ucdavis.edu. Challenge, vol. 52, no. 4, July/August 2009, pp. 16–24. © 2009 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN 0577–5132 / 2009 $9.50 + 0.00. DOI: 10.2753/0577–5132520402 16 Challenge/July–August 2009 Honesty and Integrity in Academic Economics use of someone else’s ideas is probably much...
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...Introduction How did economist get everything so wrong? This question is a great question to ask and if you ask the author of the article that was published on the New York Times in September 2, 2009, Mr. Paul Krugman. His response would be that is the economist own fault and problem to why in 2008 the economy fail and we went on a recession. The reason to why he says that it is the economist own fault to why we went on recession was that the economist thought that they had figured out the perfect economy policy due to their research and mathematical formulas that made them think that they had solved the mystery of a perfect non recession economy. So what I mean is that in a way they thought there research and thoughts were bullet proof of recessions and even worse another great depression. Furthermore, in this article Paul goes into deep detail to why economists are the way they are and also if they would ever change their beliefs in the future. However Paul does mention in this article that there are very few economist that did predict that a recession would happen in the future, but due to the fact of hoe cocky economist were with their formula an research that they actually laughed at the these few economist, but at it is said whoever laughs last laughs better. Article Background In this article Paul gives a total description of how we reached our recession in 2008 and he starts giving out details from the history of economy and how the first great depression...
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...profit using marginal revenue and marginal cost, you focus on the contribution one additional unit of output makes the revenue relative to its contribution to the cost. DISCUSSION 3 WEEK 3 ECO I agree U.S. Postal Service face a lot of competition because they are not the only firm in its industry. Firms are brought into existence by people in order to produce things. Economists assume that the overriding goal of all corporations is to make as big a profit possible. They make the assumptions: for example, if you ask around, profit maximization is near the top of every firm's to do list. No matter what other goals a firm may have, it still wants to maximize profits after taking steps to achieve those other goals. For instance, a firm that wants to have a factory that emits no greenhouse gases still, after it builds such a factory, wants to make as much money as possible. I think a lot of non-economics object to people's earning profits, but profits ensure that firms receive the crucial contributions of entrepreneurship. This is a factor of production, along with labor, land and capital. We could think of someone who has the opportunity to start her own business. She...
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...In reading “New Ideas From Dead Economists” I came away with a different perspective not only on Economics as a whole but also on economists. I found it very interesting that the fiber that made the human being also contributed to the profound ideas of each specific economist and helped form our current understanding of economics. Starting with Adam Smith, in his approach to write a book in “his spare time” gave a full and thorough perspective on the world. For example, when he suggested that people are not motivated only by self-interest but just that they are the most powerful and consistent compared to kindness, altruism or other noble motives. I found it interesting how he examined the way people were and not how he wanted them to be and then he based his theories off of that concrete evidence. I had always thought that Adam Smith believed more like Gordon Geiko that “Greed is good”, this book helped me see that self-interest is simply the most consistent of motivators.. Another economist that I found rather compelling was Maynard Keynes. The simple fact that he struggled to stay out of debt and had creditors coming after him constantly made me chuckle as I imagined this had a big impact on his ideas and theories. I understand better the Keynes theory now and realize that “we are all Keynesian” in a way. One thing I never understood before was how politicians could campaign on spending money without promises to pay it back. This section of the novel helped me understand...
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...Schumpeter: Taking the long view | The Economist 24/08/13 12:14 AM More from The Economist Subscription Log in or register World politics Business & finance Economics Science & technology Culture Blogs Debate Multimedia Print edition This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Review our cookies information for more details Schumpeter Comment (77) E-mail Print Reprints & permissions Taking the long view The pursuit of shareholder value is attracting criticism—not all of it foolish Nov 24th 2012 | From the print edition Tweet 262 Advertisement HE IS the chief executive of a multinational corporation, but Paul Polman sometimes sounds more like a spokesman for Occupy Wall Street. The boss of Unilever (an AngloDutch consumer-goods firm with brands ranging from Timotei shampoo to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream) agonises about unemployment, global warming and baby-boomer greed. He puts some of the blame for these ills on the most influential management theory of the past three decades: the idea that companies should aim above all else to maximise returns to shareholders. He appears to mean it. Since taking charge in 2009, Mr Polman has stopped Unilever from publishing full financial results every quarter. He refuses to offer earnings guidance to equity analysts. He has introduced a lengthy “sustainable living plan” and attracted a new cadre of long-term investors, particularly...
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...1. Suggest how an economist would approach the problem of alcohol abuse. Provide two (2) possible solutions to this problem. Include the four (4) elements of the economic way of thinking in your analysis. Moore and Scott (2002) note that rising price levels and increasing excise taxes are one effective way of controlling the problem of alcohol abuse. This literature suggests that consumers tend to drink less when prices are high and the availability of alcohol is limited. This conclusion seems obvious if we consider that economists “use assumptions to simplify” problems. When prices are high, no matter what the products, consumers have less to spend and thus consume fewer products. In addition, if we “isolate the variable’ of income, the amount of available income will also be considered as a determining factor in the amount of alcohol consumed. If you have less, you spend less. A second way economists approach the problem of alcohol abuse is by viewing the issue of health insurance and how insurance rates are directly related to the amount of alcohol consumed. Here, we can consider how economists “think at the margin”. The change in health rates would have to be more than marginal to affect a change in a life style such as alcohol consumption. Similarly, if one thinks rationally, the higher the insurance rates are for alcohol consumers, the less these consumers will drink. Finally, “rational people respond to incentives”. If insurance companies offer price incentives to...
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...PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS • A household and an economy face many decisions: • Who will work? • What goods and how many of them should be produced? • What resources should be used in production? • At what price should the goods be sold? Copyright © 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning TEN PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS Society and Scarce Resources: • The management of society’s resources is important because resources are scarce. • Scarcity. . . means that society has limited resources and therefore cannot produce all the goods and services people wish to have. Copyright © 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning TEN PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS Economics is the study of how society manages its scarce resources. Copyright © 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning TEN PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS • How people make decisions. • • • • People face tradeoffs. The cost of something is what you give up to get it. Rational people think at the margin. People respond to incentives. Copyright © 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning TEN PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS • How people interact with each other. • Trade can make everyone better off. • Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity. • Governments can sometimes improve economic outcomes. Copyright © 2004 South-Western/Thomson Learning TEN PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS • The forces and trends that affect how the economy as a whole works. • The standard of living depends on a country’s production. • Prices rise when the...
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...article is “Economists argues about minimum wages,” and the video is “Thirty Days Minimum Wage.” The one that I favor the most is “Thirty Days, Minimum Wage.” After reading the two articles and the video, I believe that minimum wage should be raised. In the first article, “The argument against raising the minimum wage,” the writer discusses why minimum wage should not be raised. For example, he states the consequences that will happen if the minimum wage was to rise; some of these include loss of jobs, an increase in consumer prices, and the likelihood of experienced workers being attracted to lower-paying jobs. If the minimum wage were to rise, many workers who have more advanced jobs might quit because of the benefits of a minimum wage job. Another idea that is brought up is the fact that higher paying and non-entry level jobs would not get paid as much. Although I am for raising the minimum wage, I do think that this suggestion is very unfair. I feel that if you went to college and worked hard for your degree, you deserve to get paid the right amount and not get a pay cut because of someone not going to college. In the second article, “Economists argue about minimum wage,” the author gives numerous thoughts on whether minimum wage should be raised or not. It portrays different ideas from numerous cities that passed the law. The first example it gives...
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...Why economists disagree? To understand why often economists do not agree with each other, first we have to know what is the economics, or who are the economists? According to the ancient Greek it means “one who manages and administers all matters relating to a household”. It is natural that human have needs and wants that they want to satisfy, and they do it by physical and non-physical objects. The physical ones are defined by people as goods (food, clothes, houses, etc.), the non-physical by services (education, health care, entertainment). To satisfy human needs and wants we need resources, which unfortunately are scarce. This scarcity leads the economists to making choices on what to produce, how to produce and for whom, also it is very important to avoid resource wasting as much as possible. This is one of the sources of all the conflicts between them. It is important because it is directly related to people and their lives. The other reason is that economics is a social science based on theories rather than hypothesis. Social science means that it deals with human society and behavior, how people organize their activities and what they do to satisfy their needs and wants. Social science’s approach to studying human society is based on the social scientific method. There are four main aspects of economists’ disagreement. They include the importance of the economic growth and the economic development; how sustainability should be achieved in economics; whether the government...
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...Licensed to: CengageBrain User Licensed to: CengageBrain User This is an electronic version of the print textbook. Due to electronic rights restrictions, some third party content may be suppressed. Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. The publisher reserves the right to remove content from this title at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. For valuable information on pricing, previous editions, changes to current editions, and alternate formats, please visit www.cengage.com/highered to search by ISBN#, author, title, or keyword for materials in your areas of interest. Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User Economics for Today © 2012 Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited 4th Edition Allan Layton Copyright Notice Tim Robinson This Work is copyright. No part of this Work may be reproduced, Irvin B. Tucker stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written...
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...answer to the following six questions: First I will suggest how an economist would approach the problem of alcohol abuse. I will provide two possible solutions to this problem, while including the four (4) elements of the economic way of thinking in my analysis. Second, I will analyze how prescription drugs affect the demand and supply of other products and services in this country. Third, I will formulate a reason why the elasticity of demand is an important consideration when analyzing the impact of a shift in supply and why the elasticity of supply is an important consideration when analyzing the impact of a shift in demand, while including at least one (1) example in each scenario. Fourth, I will provide two (2) examples of increasing-cost industries in your state and propose why they would have a positively sloped supply curve. Finally, I will suggest how, under certain conditions, a perfectly competitive market is economically efficient. Principles of Economics Alcohol Abuse Alcohol abuse is a major problem in today’s society. With a down an economy, there are more and more people turning to alcohol while actually helping the local package store to thrive. Economist may see it differently. They may see it as a way; first they will “Use Assumptions to Simplify”. (O'Sullivan, A., Sheffrin, S. M., & Perez, S. J. (2012)) Why are these people drinking? Is it because they struggle and worry how they are going to pay their bills, or is they are stressed...
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...The Marketplace of Perceptions Like all revolutions in thought, this one began with anomalies, strange facts, odd observations that the prevailing wisdom could not explain. Casino gamblers, for instance, are willing to keep betting even while expecting to lose. People say they want to save for retirement, eat better, start exercising, quit smoking—and they mean it—but they do no such things. Victims who feel they’ve been treated poorly exact their revenge, though doing so hurts their own interests. Such perverse facts are a direct a≠ront to the standard model of the human actor— Economic Man—that classical and neoclassical economics have used as a foundation for decades, if not centuries. Economic Man makes logical, rational, self-interested decisions that weigh costs against benefits and maximize value and profit to himself. Economic Man is an intelligent, analytic, selfish creature who has perfect self-regulation in pursuit of his future goals and is unswayed by bodily states and feelings. And Economic Man is a marvelously convenient pawn for building academic theories. But Economic Man has one fatal flaw: he does not exist. When we turn to actual human beings, we find, instead of robot-like logic, all manner of irrational, self-sabotaging, and even 50 March - Apr il 2006 Behavioral economics explains why we procrastinate, buy, borrow, and grab chocolate on the spur of the moment. by Craig Lambert Portraits by Stu Rosner altruistic behavior. This is such a routine observation...
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...Jobless Claims Rise To Highest Level Since May By: Kate Davidson March, 5th, 2015 http://www.wsj.com/articles/jobless-claims-rise-by-7-000-1425562544 UEMPLOYMENT When Kate Davidson was writing this article her intent was to let the reader and the government know that the unemployment rate has gone up since May of 2015. When she was writing I believe she wanted to bring critical attention to this problem that we are facing. As I see it only positive outcomes could come from this article. The only that I can tell is that the government will be more aware of the unemployment growth and take action. It is clear that since President Obama has come in to office he has done increased our economy by supplying more jobs for the citizens. Coming to the end of his term it is clear that our economy is starting to go back down so I hope that this article helps bring to his attention what is going on in the country that he is in charge of. They believe the winter climate is to blame for the unemployment rate increase last week. The total of unemployment claims at the end of the week of Feb. 28th was 320,000. The wall Street Journal had expected 290,000. Thursday reported stated that the number of claims filed continued to rise and had increased by 17,000 to 2.42 million for the week ended in Feb. 21st. Job claims have been at a continuous increase over the past month from the lowest level since the last economic expansion. A total of 240,000 jobs were added in the month of February by...
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...unstable since then. The question is, what did we learn and what are we going to do differently to avoid this type global economic instability? In 2011, a group of economists met with the International Monetary Fund to discuss this very question. After reviewing the economists Robert Solow, Michael Spence and Joseph Stilglitz stating their views and opinions, I understand the situation better. I agree with some of the comments that these economists discussed. Ultimately, there is no quick fix for the global economy to grow and remain stable. However these economists mention some very great ideas and make a good point. Professor Solow discusses that it is not to increase the economy we need to increase the amount of qualified workers. He states that perhaps it is not enough just to look at the amount of education we are providing throughout the countries. Solow suggests that we should consider the content of the education as well. I agree with Professor Solow. It is not enough to teach everyone the same thing across the board. We should curtail our education to the people. He makes a point, poor people and rich people alike should have their education customize to fit into their lives (Solow, 2014). Solow also brings up a point that we need more skill based education as opposed to broad book education. I think it will be beneficial for us to create educational skill based programs such as vocational schools...
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