Economic theories are as wide as an economist's vision to think. In the
Steven Landsburg book The Armchair Economist - Economics and Everyday Life,
Landsburg takes many of these economic theories and relates them to everyday
type scenarios and makes them understandable to a beginning economist. He
breaks his book into six sections each relating to different types of economics,
from personal to national theories.
Landsburg talks about the power of incentives in his first chapter. What he
is referring to is how incentives drive peoples decisions to do things in life.
He makes an analogy that Seatbelts kill. This statement refers to the added
protection one gets from wearing a seatbelt, which will entice someone to take
greater risks while driving a vehicle. We as consumers are bombarded with
incentives everyday in the market place. Incentives, come in all forms, sale
prices, free-bees, coupons. Incentives are designed to make you do something
NOW instead of putting it of until later. Incentives are not always a good
thing, such as in today?s housing market. Homebuyers were offered sub-prime and
zero percent interest rates to purchase homes. This allow buyers to buy a bit
more home than maybe they were qualified to get. Buyers made these decisions at
the time because they looked safe, but in the long run many of these buyers have
had to give up these homes due to bank foreclosure.
Landsburg also talks about maximizing our efficiencies. He relates this
theory into an idea of why Rolling Stones concerts always sell out. Is it
because they play good music? Maybe. Most likely it is because its tickets are
priced right. Pricing tickets is a theory of Supply and Dem...
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... that can be manipulated or misleading. Since this is
the measure of all things in the market place there are time where something
will not qualify for that. For example, If my moms water heater went out, she
could pay the money to have a plumber come and remove and install a new one.
The money spent on that would increase GNP. On the other hand if she had her
husband do the work the money not being spent on the installation is not going
into GNP. This is called household production, which GNP omits.
>
> There are many ideas and topics in Landsburgs? book that were covered
throughout the semester. As you can see in just the few topics that I chose to
go into economics hits everyone everyday. If we are making decisions on what to
eat what to wear or how to spend our hard earned money, it all affects economics
and economic effects us.
from Jeremy is between $490 and $550 a month but due to his joblessness Katrina gets no
Todd Buchholz’s From Here To Economy is a pleasurable and entertaining piece of economic literature. The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with the basic knowledge of economic principles in an entertaining and engaging way. The key components in making this book so enjoyable are his smooth transitions, and unique layout. The figurative language included in this piece is artfully inserted to engage the reader and make them what to continue reading. Each of these components is a key player in making this a great educational book.
In 1968, Karl Polanyi argued that ‘ the human economy... is embedded and enmeshed in institutions, economic and noneconomic’. To some extent, this argument can be used to support the issues raised in an article published in ‘the Guardian’. The article was in relation to the slowing down of china’s economy, and the implications that would inevitably affect developing and emerging markets around the world. Polanyi’s argument can assist in understanding why a Chinese slow down has occurred, and the extent in which it will affect global economies. The article raises many questions such as why china’s economy is so important in global economics, and what implications could take place if china’s economy gets worse.
Alan Greenspan who is an American economist obliged as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006, was born on March 6, 1926. He is a highly educated economist and in his life he took many years of experience from the economy of the world. People look for his advice and follow his judgments to develop the growth in economy. He was the world's most powerful economic policymaker in Federal Reserve for two decades. He is currently works as a private adviser and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC. He assisted a total of five terms under four presidents, from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush. Since he became chairman of the FED, and the country's economy has reflected many positive results. He has done a tremendous job. “The Age of Turbulence” and the humorous subtitle, “Adventures in a New World”, is discussing about Alan Greenspan’s history in government and economics, capitalism and analysis of global economic construct, also focus on current and future issues in the global economy . It also provide perceptions into the intellectual foundations of his economic worldview. The book is divided into two distinct parts. The first part is a biography of Greenspan’s life and career in Federal Reserve and the rest is essays on the main economic issues challenging governments over the next few decades. In this book Alan Greenspan discussed about the housing bubble which is created by his low interest rate policy and this policy effect the economy of USA.
Since this is not realistic expectation from one person, she cannot complete all family work by herself and wants help
are married and leaves in the same house with both doing a minimum wage jobs there is no need for
Only what to produce and how to produce, since distribution is not the task of economics.
Freakonomics explores multiple circumstances and the difference between correlation and causation. A standout question that the authors delve into asks, “What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?” (15). The authors begin with the Chicago Public School system and standardized testing. The CPS (Chicago Public School system) placed elementary and secondary schools with low test scores on probation, who then “face[ed] the threat of being shut down” (22). As one can realize, some teachers would do everything in their power to avoid low test scores, even cheating. Fortunately for teachers, “teacher cheating is rarely looked for, hardly ever detected, and just about never punished” (23). Teachers in the CPS who received low test
families who struggle to make it through the month on a tight budget. Not all employers pay for
John Oliver points out the controversial topics that affect the economy of United States of America. He discusses the huge gap between the rich and poor. Oliver pays great attention to how media fails to inform the audience about the actual facts of the gap between the fortunate and the unfortunate. Moreover, he talks about the federal estate tax. He explains that most American gain properties from inheritance. 42% of total wealth in America is held by 1% wealthiest families. Inheritance plays an important role in the concentration of wealth and it accounts for 40% of all household wealth which is very concentrated at the top. Even though in 2015, the tax in this country was set to annul, this action could not have pushed
As weeks passed, I found myself reading a lot in the textbook, and paying attention to assignments.
Freakonomics tries to turn the scalpel of the analytical and statistical methods intrinsic to Economics onto questions that the authors feel do not have definitive answers. Mostly because no one thought to ask the questions that would allow us (the world at large, not Economics students) to solve the problems that would lead to the answers, the authors feel.
The husband is meant to support his wife, since he is the one with a profession and she is not
“Freakonomics: A Rouge Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything”, is a best-selling book by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dunbar. Levitt describes the book as a effort to “strip away a layer or two from the surface of modern life and see what is happening underneath.” He does this by taking two seemingly unrelated events and associates them. From comparing teachers and sumo wrestlers, to inquiring why crack dealers still live with their mothers Levitt and Dunbar manage to successfully put a spin on conventional wisdom by looking at it through very different perspectives. Unlike most books this book has no central idea, in fact in the opening chapter Levitt makes clear that this is by design. The key concern was to make people challenge ideas and thoughts that are commonly believed to be true. One of the main fundamentals in this book is that “Incentives are the cornerstone of modern life”, and that the study of economics is the study of incentives: how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. Freakonomics reveals how incentives, motivations and risks play a major role in every day occurrences in our society.
Economists Thomas Robert Malthus and David Ricardo. Although differences of opinion were numerous among the classical economists in the time span between Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776) and Ricardo’s Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817), they all mainly agreed on major principles. All believed in private property, free markets, and, in Smith’s words, “ The individual pursuit of private gain to increase the public good.” They shared Smith’s strong suspicion of government and his enthusiastic confidence in the power of self-interest represented by his famous “invisible hand,” which reconciled public benefit with personal quest of private gain. From Ricardo, classicists derived the notion of diminishing returns, which held that as more labor and capital were applied to land yields after a certain and not very advanced stage in the progress of agriculture steadily diminished.