Evaluation

economics, is whhat

Presidents Dilemma

The problem based learning was a very interesting practice. I must say, that although I did not enjoy it, I learned quite a few concepts about economics from it, or at least clarified some. I learned through applying economic terms to real-life situations where we role played real-life characters. This makes good use of our economic knowledge, as it allowed us to expand our creative minds and realize a more realistic aspect of economics.

I believe that my groups weakness came from disorganization and lack of interest. And even though the representatives attacked us quite harshly, we were expecting similar questions and were somewhat prepared to answer these. I felt that we could have developed our policies in a better manner, and also be specific when presenting the good and bad as everything can not always be achieved. We also should have had more concrete policies that would have been more persuasive. Overall, it went quite smoothly.

Behind the Scenes of Illegal Downloading

Unlike most people might think, piracy is not necessarily a bad thing for copyright holders. In fact, German pirate-tracking outfit DigiRights Solutions shows that copyright holders can earn 150 times more money from illicit downloads than from iTunes and other legal stores.

It has been reported by the German-based anti-piracy outfit DigiRights Solutions (DRS) with an interesting PowerPoint presentation which shows how copyright holders can make millions from pirates. The document reveals some rather shocking statistics that show how illicit downloads are more profitable than legal downloads.

Ca-ching!

Economics for Dummies

Economics for Dummies, the title says it all. This website provides it’s audience with a basic introduction to the structure and idea of economics. For it is written for “[d]ummies,” the website takes it slow and provides easily understandable content. I suppose the site recommended for all of those who have just started taking economics, to read this website, and to clarify and review your understandings on it.

GREEN CA

Ms.Midori Nishizawa, the Canadian Academy middle school Japanese teacher, has always been an enthusiast for saving the planet. She is the founder of the Middle School Eco Club, and also initiated the movement to start a High School Eco Club. Ms.Nishizawa proposed an “Earth Week”, one in which we perform tasks (or rather, refrain to perform certain tasks) to help save the environment.
Today is the “no print day”. Students are banned from using printers or copy machines and therefore are discouraged from using paper. In economic terms, this is a ban. By banning the use of printers, we are preventing the negative externalities that arise from the use of paper and electricity. However, the true purpose of this day is not the ban itself, but the awareness of the cause. Banning one day’s worth of printing paper is not a very big deal, but Ms.Nishizawa hopes that this day will act as a creative advertisement for the cause of saving paper and electricity.

Doooom!

Nouriel Roubini (also known as Dr. Doom) is the professor of economics in New York University. He initially predicted the global financial meltdown, but has become a more “sought-after man”. Many businessmen and policy/law makers ascertain his views on where the world’s economy and emerging markets are headed for. While attending a conference organized by Edelweiss in Bombay, Dr. Doom talked to ET Bureau in which excerpts were noted. The focus of the interview was for him to give his view on the US-China trade war and its effect on global markets. In one of the questions he was asked: What about Europe and Japan? Are their fates going to be even worse than that of the US? Dr. Doom predicts yes. He says that Europe and Japan’s growth rate potential is maximum 2%. This year’s data suggests anaemic recovery with problems of fiscal sustainability. In fact, they are problems of the loss of fiscal sustainability, external competitiveness and hence, growth. Even with fiscal adjustment, it is a challenging process to resume growth. Japan in fact is looked at as very anaemic especially because of its aging population, its public debt being 180% of GDP and because of it’s weak government that is incapable of accelerating reform. As a result, the Japanese currency yen is heavily strong and Japan’s growth is sustained from net exports due to domestic deflation. Deflation has been a result of falling prices and this had led to a weakness of aggregate demand to aggregate supply. Overall, economists have more reason to worry about Japan and Europe’s economy rather than that of the US.

Amazon in the E-book Market

Amazon has banned Macmillan, a major publisher, from its American site due to its conflicts with the prices of e-books. The e-book market has heated up with the appearance of the recent iPad from Apple, and Barnes & Noble Inc.’s release of a free application for the BlackBerry last year. With its market changing from a monopoly to a monopolistic competition, Amazon seems to struggle through innovating the market to get its buyers onto the fish hook permanently. Macmillan has asked for a £9 price for its e-books swimming against Amazon’s catchy campaign of best seller e-books for $9.99 (£6), resulting in its ban. With Apple offering Macmillan an opportunity of selling through the iPad, Amazon should be concerned about their decision to ban than consider. The battle depends on which is more innovative; the past innovators of the e-book industry, or the current innovators of technology.

Dip dip dip

If I said that economy is getting better, that’s probably a lie, but in November of last year, companies actually added jobs – 4,000 – to be exact. With 85,000 jobs taken away in December, it does not really help much, but nevertheless. The peak pointed by the red arrow indicates the increase.

The main focus here, is, is the recession going away? Can this get better still? There are many people who are optimistic, but there is one famous economist, Dr. Paul Krugman, who believes that there is a likelihood of a double-dip recession. Double-dip here means that “an economy that appeared to be stabilizing may be on the edge of relapse.” He reminds me of Dr. Shiller… Only one against the whole crowd, and he uses history as the basis of his predictions.

The Economic Revolution

How is scarcity and survival intertwined?

Survival is achieved by the consumption of food and water. Without food, one will live off of their own fat and muscles, and eventually die from starvation. Without water, one may only last one or two months. Unfortunately, food and water are both scarce resources, making it extremely difficult for human beings to survive in some locations such as the desert.

 

What are advantages and disadvantages of the two ways societies have been organized in the past?

In a society organized around tradition, a son must follow his father. Hence, everyone is already assigned a job, without question, whether they like it or not. The advantages of this is that skills may be passed on from father to son, people are more efficient in ways that they do not have to train for a new job, and less time is wasted with people that are terrible with their new job. Considering the possibility that someone’s son is gifted and has potential for a specific job, in a society organized traditionally, his gift and skill will never be discovered. Also, in a traditionally organized society, “new ways” are looked down upon, therefore it lacks innovation.

In an authoritarian society, everyone is forced to work for a single leader. Their problems are solved with the “whip of authoritarian rule.” The advantages of this is that since no opinion can go against the ruler’s opinion,  allowing plenty of progress to be made for whatever the leader favors. The disadvantages is that what the leader favors may have a bad effect on their society, oppression, little rights, and these types of government tend to collapse very quickly.

Why was there no need for economists throughout most of history?

There was no need for economists through out most of history due to their lack of understanding and development of society. The traditional and authoritarian societies did not offer enough freedom for individuals to express their needs and wants, hence no system such as the market place was developed for people to study.

Why do you think the economic  revolution was so disturbing?

The economic revolution was so disturbing because it required more sacrifice than any other revolution, and people never intended it to happen. It came out of the blue right after liberty was discovered. In exchange for this liberty, more people struggled because there were not provided with jobs as they were born. The revolution also introduced innovation, ideas started flowing and technology started to develop, bringing people to require less man power. Population increased drastically in large cities because people needed jobs. As competition kept increasing, innovation did too.

“Building on a Japanese Crisis”

Just from my wallet.

Economic obstacles are always being challenged by this world, but these problems are never avoidable; we can only fight back by focusing on one at a time. As the economic bubble burst in the country of Japan, signs of the slacking economy has been identified. Although the country still holds it’s fame through their wide and rapid advancement in technology and such, these economical identifications may bring an end to it’s course. The identified problems include the problem of deflation and the consequences of not tackling it at an earlier stage.