Monday, October 31, 2011
EWOT for 10/28
I was recently looking for handlebar tape for my bicycle and found it for 5 cents with free shipping from mainland china. I bought it just to see what it was all about, but the whole idea of a product from china being sold to me the consumer for 5 cents seems crazy. For there to be any profit that 5 cents has to cover production, development and shipping and then have some left over. Seems unlikely. So, if that's not the case, either this tape has to cost almost nothing to produce, weigh just about 0 ounces, and take up about no space. And even then, the profit is just hovering around 3 cents. So, maybe there's something else wrong, maybe it'a s stolen product, or maybe it just won't ever ship. I figured 5 cents was worth it just to find out.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Krugman (Homework for 10/28)
I think that these krugman articles formed a solid foundation for the concept that free trade is the best possible ensure a solid market economy and better the most people. They also cement the idea that it really is just that simple.
1) To what extent is it difficult to accept Ricardo's proposition because it is just so simple?
2) Is it really the betterment of another society that makes free trade the ethically correct choice? Is it still exploitation if they are bettering themselves but in poor conditions?
3) Could a non-free trade environment ever be more beneficial overall than the opposite?
I think the importance of these pieces lie in what is essentially a structured retelling of what Rizzo has been saying in class. What Rizzo has told us in stories about trade, Krugman provides in more of a structured, argument-type manner.
1) To what extent is it difficult to accept Ricardo's proposition because it is just so simple?
2) Is it really the betterment of another society that makes free trade the ethically correct choice? Is it still exploitation if they are bettering themselves but in poor conditions?
3) Could a non-free trade environment ever be more beneficial overall than the opposite?
I think the importance of these pieces lie in what is essentially a structured retelling of what Rizzo has been saying in class. What Rizzo has told us in stories about trade, Krugman provides in more of a structured, argument-type manner.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Property Rights
I thought it was very interesting that this reading was much more about the philosophy of what property rights are, where they stem from and what they entail. The ideas surrounding who gets property and what "owning" something means are a nice side-step from what we've been looking at so far in Econ
1) How useful is property if you aren't allowed to transfer ownership?
2) Is does the right to future property fit into this picture?
3) If the government is a collection of people acting together, and the government owns something, what is the role of any individual citizen in that ownership? Do they have any property rights at all?
It's pretty clear that we read this to understand the sheer strength and significance of personal property rights to a secure market economy
1) How useful is property if you aren't allowed to transfer ownership?
2) Is does the right to future property fit into this picture?
3) If the government is a collection of people acting together, and the government owns something, what is the role of any individual citizen in that ownership? Do they have any property rights at all?
It's pretty clear that we read this to understand the sheer strength and significance of personal property rights to a secure market economy
Friday, October 21, 2011
10/21
Everyone benefits from trade!
Value is what we give to something, not inherent.
Technologies have cool ways of shifting and pivoting PPT curves
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
10/19
It's still hard to make full, accurate judgements on what the best action is in any given situation.
Trade & Specialization:
3 factors of production
1) Land
-ANYTHING physically here irrespective of human action.
2) Labor
-Hunks of flesh. Stock of human beings available. No learned skills/talents included.
3) Capital
-Something that must first be produced before another thing can be produced. (ore is land, iron is capital)
--Two kinds, physical and human.
Trade & Specialization:
3 factors of production
1) Land
-ANYTHING physically here irrespective of human action.
2) Labor
-Hunks of flesh. Stock of human beings available. No learned skills/talents included.
3) Capital
-Something that must first be produced before another thing can be produced. (ore is land, iron is capital)
--Two kinds, physical and human.
Monday, October 17, 2011
10/17
Doing something good for yourself, exercising, quitting smoking, whatever, is societally regarded as good. Running a profit seeking company for your own profit is regarded as bad. Why are those bad/different?
Unconnectedly giving someone money when they've given you a kidney makes you a good person, but actually paying someone for a kidney is horrible. But to an economist, at some level every interaction is a reciprocal altruistic act.
Don't live by the golden rule, it's just too hard. It's actually improbably difficult. Try instead to live by the silver rule: Do not do to others what you would consider unfair or unjust if they did it to you.
accumulated profits of exxon since 1980s?
Unconnectedly giving someone money when they've given you a kidney makes you a good person, but actually paying someone for a kidney is horrible. But to an economist, at some level every interaction is a reciprocal altruistic act.
Don't live by the golden rule, it's just too hard. It's actually improbably difficult. Try instead to live by the silver rule: Do not do to others what you would consider unfair or unjust if they did it to you.
accumulated profits of exxon since 1980s?
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Case for Contamination
1) How does globalization effect the lower classes of peoples around the world?
2) Is culture more important than wealth?
3) What is the biggest threat to cultural variance?
I think that what we should get out of this piece is that the globalization of the world is not only inevitable but essential to progress. And not only that, but that it is totally possible for culture to survive and flourish in a globalized world.
2) Is culture more important than wealth?
3) What is the biggest threat to cultural variance?
I think that what we should get out of this piece is that the globalization of the world is not only inevitable but essential to progress. And not only that, but that it is totally possible for culture to survive and flourish in a globalized world.
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