Field Trip

Yesterday, my economics class took a trip downtown to the Chicago Board of Trade and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. I would recommend this trip to anyone interested in economics as a lot of interesting information was shared. At the Board of Trade we were able to see traders on the floor making deals and using hand signals. It was really entertaining and the tour guide taught us a lot about how everything works. At the bank, we were fortunate enough to learn about Bitcoin and saw some cool money displays at the museum section of the bank. Overall, a lot was learned about trading and money, and my knowledge of economics was enhanced.

Expansionary AND Contractionary Policy

I've always been a believer in the cliché saying, "you learn something new everyday", and monetary policies are one of those new things. I always knew of the expansionary policies, and trying to get more money into the economy, and that's probably because I've only been capable of understanding economics during a recession. Recently, in my economics class, I was introduced to the contractionary policy. I never really understood why the government would want to slow growth of the economy, but now I know there is such thing as too much growth too quickly. This is where the contractionary policy comes into play; it reduces inflation, stabilizing prices.

Opportunity Cost: Still Around!

This past weekend was Thanksgiving weekend, one of which is full of opportunity costs. Black Friday is a huge example. An opportunity cost is a given up benefit from a passed alternative. So, on Black Friday, people across America had to decide whether to leave the comfort of their own homes and take away time from their family to try and score some deals at some stores or not. Many found the deals more appealing since they'd need to buy the items anyways, and they'd be saving a lot of money, but their opportunity cost for this experience would be lost time with family and friends during a holiday weekend. What did you choose?

Obamacare, More Like ObamaDoesn'tCare

During the past few days in Economics class, I and one other student researched why Obamacare should be repealed, and boy did we find many reasons. When the bill was introduced, it said it would lower the prices of health care and medical services, but that promise seems to be broken. It turns out that giving everyone, actually forcing everyone to buy healthcare will increase costs as more people now need to be covered. Businesses are also hurting. The rapidly changing policies are confusing and distracting, and smaller business simply cannot afford all of the requirements. Besides the fact that the bill doesn't seem to work, it is plainly unconstitutional. We're supposed to be free here in America, and being forced to buy health care, something people might not want to pay for, is stripping us of our rights. Obamacare is an expensive law that should be repealed.

Would You Rather...

On last night's homework, a "would you rather" question was brought up. It asked, to meet current spending, would you rather cut Medicare and Social Security benefits or raise taxes? I was really stumped at first, because neither option would provide more or less benefits than the other, and that's when I decided on my answer: neither! That may not technically be an option, but it wouldn't be fair to choose either of those. Instead, the government should stop wasting so much money, and maybe cut some of the useless programs they spend so much on. I feel that option should be taken into consideration first before any hardworking citizen gets punished for the government's decisions.

Fair Taxation

Today in class, we took a poll of which type of taxation was more fair: proportional or progressive. I was really confused with the results, though, as many students chose the progressive tax. In an environment where we are taught "hard work pays off" it really took me back when the majority chose the method that taxes those who earn more a larger amount. In my opinion, a proportional tax is the most fair, as everyone is treated equally. Having those who earn higher incomes (key word "earn") get charged more isn't right. Those people, who work extremely hard and provide most for the economy, should not be punished. This is America, a place where people are supposed to have economic freedom, and the progressive tax takes away that freedom.

Economy during the '90s

We all know about the history-making economic expansion from 1993-2000, but how did this happen? Two factors to this were the war and trade. In the early 90's, the war with Iraq erupted, allowing many businesses producing war supplies to flourish. Also, NAFTA was passed allowing trade to open up giving businesses more opportunities to expand. These two factors, along with many others, allowed GDP to rise and for the economy to expand.

Is GDP an Accurate Measure of our Nation's Economy?

Some people might think that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is not an accurate measure of the United States' economic well-being since it doesn't take into account leisure time, underground economy (illegal transactions), happiness, and others. However, I still think the GDP is a good interpretation of the economy. Those factors left out, should be left out since they aren't qualities easily tracked and measured. Obviously, the government won't know too much about the underground economy, otherwise it wouldn't be there, and how is one supposed to measure happiness? I believe adding consumer expenditures, investments, government purchases, and net exports is the best way to evaluate our nation's economy.

Government Shutdown

Government shut downs have existed for awhile, but are very rare. Recently, Congress could not agree on a budget for Obamacare, leading to shutdown of the government. While I feel government shut downs are very unfortunate occurrences as it slows down the nation and economy, I do understand that it needs to happen. Obamacare is a bill like any other and if Congress cannot make a decision, then it should be treated like any other bill. Hopefully this shut down will be beneficial and Congress can actually work together to solve their differences and problems.

SNAP Program

SNAP is the abbreviation for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, most commonly known as food stamps. In the past years, the number of people on this program has dramatically increased, and now there is talk about cutting the program by $40 billion dollars in the next 10 years. I do believe that there is a large need for this program since many Americans need the assistance, but I don't think that every single person on the program actually needs it. During the election season, when Romney and Obama were campaigning, I specifically remember, and will never forget, a comment one person made. "I want Obama to win so I can have my food stamps." Oh man, that angered me. The way she said it, it was so obvious that she was abusing these privileges and knew it, too. Now, I know that for many Americans food stamps are a necessity, but there are some who don't actually need them and are just abusing their right. Therefore, a cut in this program  may not be such a bad idea.

Syria: What Should We Do?

About a year ago, President Obama drew a "line in the sand" telling Syria that if they used chemical weapons, it would be crossing the line and that the United States would come after them. Well, Syria crossed that metaphorical line and now the president feels he must live up to his word. However, this would not be the first time Obama, or any president at that, has gone against his word, so why should "pride" get in the way this time? Especially when many lives and loads of money are at stake.

I don't want to come off as "heartless", because it is absolutely terrible what is happening over there, but would U.S intervention make much of a difference? There are a lot of problems going on in that part of the world, and frankly, there is no place for America to try and "help". The United States has a lot going on as is; I think we should focus on that and not risk the lives of many Americans or the stability of our country.

No Such Thing as Free Lunch

In Psychology class, we watched a video about people who would go to extreme measures (from pressing a button 5000 times, to bowing down to a machine) to get free Fantastic Delites. But were these really free? Not quite. To get these chips, the participant needed to spend time. From each request of the Fantastic Delite machine, one needed to spend time to accomplish those, therefore, these chips were not free.

Marginal Costs vs. Marginal Benefits in Sports

Economics can be found in everyday life, even in the sports you play. Just about any sport requires you to be in shape, so many teams require conditioning. This extra exercise can often seem boring, repetitive, and exhausting, so why do people keep doing it? While these marginal costs may weigh heavy in someone's mind, most athletes will admit the monotonous conditioning is very much worth it. The marginal benefits, like a healthier lifestyle and a better performance in one's individual sport, from conditioning outweigh the marginal costs of boredom, exhaustion, and possible injuries. Therefore, you will continually see athletes running that extra sprint and doing those five extra push-ups even when their bodies are saying "no."