12/12/13 Current Event

Riskalyze is a new company that helps to calculate how much volatility investors are willing to risk.  It uses a web-based questionanaire to find how much people are willing to invest in stocks and what kind of losses may incourage them.  This tool guages the risk the investor is willing to take by asking up to twelve questions.  The investor recieves a score from one to niety-nine.  One means that you should avoid all risk and ninety-nine meaning you have a strong willingness to invest in risky things as long there is a chance of large gains.  Various scenarios can also be tested by Riskalyze.  It has been a real success with companies helping their clients to decide on where to invest their money.  We have been learning about different ways to invest your money recently in class.  I think Riskalyze sounds like a great tool.  It informs people how secure their money needs to be depending on their circumstances.

The informative information in this blog was obtained from myself and the site of http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/12/investing/riskalyze-market-volatility/.

Hey!  By the way, a man is found dead on a Sunday morning. His wife calls the police immediately. The police question the wife and staff. The wife said she was asleep, the cook said he was cooking breakfast, the gardener said she was picking vegetables, the butler said he was cleaning the closet, and the maid said she was getting the post. The police immediately arrested the murderer.

Who was the murderer?

12/3/13 Current Event

Nigeria is now the largest economy in Africa.  It is home to one-fourth of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa and has a booming economy.  South Africa has a good economy, but Nigeria's is more open to newinvestment and has a population that is four times larger.  President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, is improving their economic state now.  His re-election is expected to be held in the first quarter of 2015 but could be as soon as December of this year.  Though Nigeria's economy is doing well, it still has a lack of consistent power resources.  If Nigeria's economy fails, so does the economy of West Africa.  They are in charge of West Africa's success.  One of the major investers in Nigeria's economy is South Africa.  South African banks and businessesa are both partners and competitors.  Increased business between the two countries will hopefully imrove their cooperation together.  I am glad to read that South Africa and Nigeria compete to improve their economies.  Recently, every one in our class did a project on a specific Sub-Saharan African country.  Afterwards we voted on which would be the best to which we should contribute.  It is good that Nigeria is prospering.  This will benefit the entire region of West Africa and improve their standard of living.

Almost all of this exquisite information was obtained from my huge brain, but to  be honest, really all of the facts came from the website of http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/12/03/what-nigeria-becoming-africas-biggest-economy-really-means?scrlybrkr=ad539e27.

By the way.  Why should you never marry a tennis player?

11/21/13 Current Event

Have you heard about the new hundred-dollar bill?  It is new and improved with added security features.  The security thread to the left of Benjamin Franklin's head has the letters USA and 100 on it that can be seen when held to the light.  A 3-D security ribbon above Benjamin Franklin's left shoulder has a the Liberty Bell that changes to 100s when tilted back and forth and up and down when tilted from side to side.The Liberty Bell is also in the inkwell and changes from copper to green when tilted.  The quill used to sign the Declaration of Independence and phrases from it are present on the right side of the bill.  The engraving process includes the effects of raised printing for the first time giving it a unique texture.  Theis new bill will increase the difficulty for counterfitters to reproduce the bill.  We watched a video in class this week on how money is made.  The new hundred dollar bill is upping the ante for security standards.

All of the terrific information put forward in this fantastic blog were mined from the miraculous dark depths of my genius and the website http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/07/100-dollar-bill/2936097/?scrlybrkr=3af3eced.

By the way, try to figure out this cynical conundrum.
Three guests check into a hotel room. The clerk says the bill is $30, so each guest pays $10. Later the clerk realizes the bill should only be $25. To rectify this, he gives the bellhop $5 to return to the guests. On the way to the room, the bellhop realizes that he cannot divide the money equally. As the guests didn't know the total of the revised bill, the bellhop decides to just give each guest $1 and keep $2 for himself. Each guest got $1 back: so now each guest only paid $9; bringing the total paid to $27. The bellhop has $2. And $27 + $2 = $29 so, if the guests originally handed over $30, what happened to the remaining $1?

This radical riddle is from my marvelous memory and the website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_dollar_riddle?scrlybrkr=9c7f19b6.

11/6/13 Current Event

This week we have taken notes on measuring economic activity with G.D.P. and business cycles with its four stages and what caused the Great Depression.  G.D.P. stands for gross domestic product.  It is the market value of all final goods and services produced within a given period.  A good or service must be a final good, be produced during the time period, and be produced within a nation's borders.       Read this blog.                          I think you'll like it.                                              We figure the G.D.P. because it is an indicator of how well the economy is doing. The business cycle is always rising or declining on its way to the other. We go through times of prosperity, recession, depression, and recovery. Today we are thought to be going into a stage of recovery. The Great Depression was, as the name tells, a depression. Caused by farmers going into debt from buying mechanical utilities for farming and America's weak banking system, it was a time of worldwide economic depression from October 29, 1929 to 1933.

By the way, the cross country states meet is this Friday.  The entire team would love to be safe and win.  Please keep us in your prayers.  Have fun watching the Shark Tank episode or whatever you do.

Why do melons always have big weddings?                                                

I obtained all of the information on this page from my brain and my notes from Ms. Weser's economics class.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

10/29/13 Current Event

Phonebloks is a company that wants to create a phone that all of the different functions are on separate blocks.  Motorola partnered with them earlier this month to create a phone with interchangeable parts.  Project Ara has been quietly tinkered on for over a year by the ATAP team of Motorola.  Motorola is not funding Phonebloks though.  They still rely on donationns to hire developers and rent servers so that it can up a web forum that people can up-vote proposals and feedback on Project Ara.  David Hakken, Dutch designer of Phonebloks, says that he would partner with other manufacturers in concert in what is essentially an open source effort.  I like the idea of a customizable phone.  I, personally, love Apple and want them to continue to improve, innovate and compete with other companies.  Phonebloks would be a great incentive for Apple to innovate, improveand lower the price of their products along with the other popular manufacturers.  This might not be the best thing for Apple and it's competitors, but it is fantastic for consumers.

The ideas and thoughts expressed in this article came from my mind and http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2013/10/29/motorola-partners-with-viral-sensation-phonebloks-to-launch-a-modular-smartphone/.

10/17/13 Current Event

India has been hoping that abundant monsoon rains would cause higher food prices for months.  Inadequate infrastructure and populist election spending have offset the monsoon bonus.  Much of India's farmland is irrigated by the monsoon rains that normally come between June and September.  There should be more productive fields in most of the country because the rains have continued into October this year.  More production means more supply which should cause lower prices.  That chance is looking continually slimmer because even if the harvest is successful, the products become stuck on potholed roads and in the inefficient storage and distribution systems of India.  General election also offsets the monsoon bonus.  India governments usually spend more on social programs ahead of elections.  Political parties spend money organizing rallies to attract voters.  India's inflation continues to increases, and even miraculous rains might not defeat it.  I think that it is awful that no matter how great their harvest is and no matter how much monsoon rains they have, India continues to plumit into inflation.  Increased products should mean more supply.  That shoud lower prices, but India must improve their infrastructure and populist elections before inflation can decrease.

I wrote this current event using information from my brain and the site http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/10/16/india-is-still-waiting-for-its-monsoon-bonus/.

10/10/13 Current Event

John Foraker, CEO of Annie's Natural Foods, says that he lives in paranoia of competitors such as Kraft Foods and Back to Nature Foods, getting ahead.  Business has continued to rise over the pst five years.  The company constantly has to be improve and move forward in order to stay ahead of the game.  Annie's was created by Annie Withey and her husband, Andrew Martin, in 1989 after they sold Smartfood, a white cheddar popcorn to Frito-Lay for around fifteen million dollars.  Their organic products are a healthy alternative to junk food.  Annie's, Kraft, and Back to Nature Foods are all substitute goods.  Each produces similar products.  The main difference is that Annie's is all organic.  Its meals, snacks, and dressings claim zero artificail flavors, preservatives, or GMO products.  Annie's sells products with elastic demand.  They have many substitutes making their price change frequently.  Some people may not buy Annie's products because of the higher price caused by it being organic.  The factor of income would be in play in that situation.  I, myself, love many of their products.  Their Cheddar Bunnies are really good.  I can hardly tell them apart from Goldfish.  Annie's Natural Foods is a fantastic organic company.  You should check it out.  You didn't know it then.  You know it now.  That's an Econ phenomenon.

All of the information in this wonderful article can be accessed from my mind and the website http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2013/10/09/homegrown-success-mild-indigestion-annies-natural-foods/.                                         

10/2/13 Current Event

Most people think that we should look others in the eye when wanting to make a point.  Julai Minson, a psychologistand assisted professor at Havard's Kennedy School of Government, studies group decision making and negotiations.  She and her longtime collaborator Frances Chen, a physocologist and assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, realized that no one had studied that staring at someone will make the person more likely to see your point.  Most of the academic work has focused on what Minson calls "lovey-dovey contexts."  This is what mothers and their babies enhance their connection.  Recent studies, people respond more favorably to opposing arguments when the speaker looks at an angle to the recipient or focuses his eyes on his counterpart's mouth rather than eyes.  Dogs control others by staring them down and then attacking.  When somebody disagrees with you and they look you in the eye for a long time, it gives you the feeling of someone trying to dominate you.  Direct eye contact makes people less likely to change their minds.  Bosses, salesmen, and polititions all use a direct gaze when trying to convince an audience of many or one that their position is the most valid.  People, such as bosses, salesmen, and politicians should all look at an angle or at their opponent or customer more open to persuasion.  People in the businesses station of the Circular Flow Model should no longer use direct eye-contact.  It might affect the response of their opponents and customers.  

I aquired all of this information from my luxurious brain and the website of http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/10/02/the-power-of-eye-contact-its-a-myth/.   

9/25/13 Current Event

In the future, commuters may not have to pay tolls.  People in Indianapolis can use an app called ParkMoblie.  It remembers a driver's space number, alerts them when their time is up, and allows them to add more time and pay the fee directly from their smartphone.  HOT lanes, or High Occupancy Toll lanes, help reduce highway congestian.  They replace old HOV lanes allowing commuters to maintain a minimum average speed.  It adjusts the cost to fdrive in that lane accordingly.  Marlyland residents are reducing travel time by opening the state's first all-electronic toll (AET) road, the Intercounty Connector (ICC).  The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) is in the process of implimenting contactless payment methods.  They will allow riders to tap their bank card or wave their smartphone to board trains and busses.  Tap-on tap-off cards are being offered on Florida's Southern Rail.  New technology will greatly improve people's commute.

I obtained most of this information from the lovely website of http://www.forbes.com/sites/xerox/2013/09/25/5-ways-technology-will-improve-your-commute/. 

9/18/13 Current Event

Hello my friends.  I would like to speak of the newly released iOS 7 of Apple.  iOS 7 has a whole new color scheme.  The new design has bright, saturated colors, and the app icons are flat.  Now the iPhone has multi-page folders that can hold an infinite amount of games and apps depending on the number of gigabytes.  Now there are blurred shapes throughout the design.  This gives users more of a variety for how they want to personalize their iPhone.  A sense of depth is given to the home screen by moving your wallpaper based on the tilt and angle of the device using the motion sensors.  This exceptionable new feature is, though, able to be disabled.  Control Center is a new dropdown interface that that enables you to adjust many of the most critical features.  Siri can now draw information from Wikipedia, display the most recent tweets from a specific account, and can survey nearby restaurants much more specifically.  The new improved Siri can detect inquiries faster and more accurately.  A double tap of the home button pulls up  a redesigned app switching view.  iOS 7 can airdrop, or wirelessly share a file with any nearby user.  iOS 7 is iTunes Radio capable.  The new camera can take slow-motion video, burst photography, and square photos.  iOS 7 is available for iPhone 4, iPad 2, and iPod Touch (fifth generation), and above, though it is slow on iPhone 4's.  iOS 7 is free and magnificient.  iOS 7 is a new operating system for many newer Apple products.  It is one of the products included in the Product Market in the Circular Flow Model.  People in households Apple products with the cool, new features of iOS 7 and contribute to the Circular Flow Model.  You're still here?  It's over.  Go home.  Go.

I have obtained all of this wonderful information from my brain in my head and http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/18/apple-ios-7-review?scrlybrkr=13e16bff.   

9/12/13 Current Event

This week, we have discussed market economies, Karl Marks, and Adam Smith.  We paired up in groups and researched the two philosophers.  Afterewards, we wrote a dialogue of Karl Marx and Adam Smith having a potluck in Weserville to discuss their individual views on what kind of economy is the best and why.  The next day, all of the groups presented as everybody had a real potluck.  The activity helped us to step into the beards of the two men.  I would like to focus on Karl Marx and Adam Smith.  Karl Marx had a very strong opinion that an economy would run more smoothly if it was a command economy.  The people would be provided homes, food, and many other essentials.  Nobody would be homeless.  Everybody would have a job.  Adam Smith saw it differently.  He thought that if everyone worked for themselves, everyone including the state would be better off.  Julia and I had two endings.  In the first, Mr. Marx and Mr. Smith agreed on crating a primarily market economy with some command economy run parts included.  They called it America.  The alternate ending was not as promising.  Adam Smith did not want that economy.  He wanted a complete market economy.  Karl Marx and Adam Smith settled it like men, arm-wrestling.  Karl Marx won because of growing up in the working class, and a command economy rules to this day.  I really enjoyed presenting Julia and my dialogue.  This week has been pretty fun.  o:-)      

9/4/13 Current Event

This week we talked about the three different types of economies.  There are Traditional, Command, and Market Economies.  Out of the three, I would like to elaborate on Command Economies.  Born of Karl Marx's ideas, Command Economies function with the government as the leader.  The government supervises allocation of resources to the factories through central planning.  The advantages of such an economy are that funds and time are allocated for advertising, and marketing can be used for other purposes.  Socialism and Communism are two types of Command Economies.  I understand why a nation that has been starving or in need would jump at an economy that provides them with everything, but overall it is not good for them.  There is little entrepreneurship because everything is provided.  For the same reason, the quality of goods is lower.  There is hardly any motivation to use resources wisely because there is no private property.  In class we have discussed what economy we think would be best for Weserville.  I believe that a Command Economy would be a poor choice for Weserville because the residents would almost surely take advantge of being provided for.  That is all for this weekly evaluation.  Live long and prosper.    

8/25/13 Current Event

In an August 12, 2013 article titled Juiced Up, Clare O'Connor tells the story of Irwin Simon, the CEO of Hain Celestial.  Simon's health food corporation Hain Celestial bought up small natural-food companies.  Along with his connection to the Whole Foods Health Food Stores and his corporation's size, the companies that he has bought now can grow larger than before.  Hain has created over 4,000 jobs in the state of New York in the last twenty years.  Simon is also providing many healthy products for consumers.  I admire Hain Celestial's actions because they are producing great products and jobs that benefit the community as a whole.

All information acquired from http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2013/07/24/juiced-up-inside-3-5-billion-organic-giant-hain-celestial-whole-foods-biggest-supplier/.