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/.