Friday, May 24, 2013

Journal Topic 14: My Future as an Economist

  Throughout the course of economics I have learned the basic broad concepts of micro ecnomics and macro-ecnomics from supply and demand all the way to the federal reserve. For the most part I found the materials discussed in the book quite interesting because it is cool to learn about the hows and whys of our economy, and how and why we are able to live the way we do today. Economics I learned in this class a portion of it might be useful to me in the future. I might be able to apply the knowledge I gained on stocks and taxes and supply and demand in the future. If I ever do decide to study eoconomics in the future, this will definitely be helpful.
  I am not quite sure as to what my college major will be but I am pretty sure I would like to take AP Micr/Macro economics. I find myself liking microeconomics better, which is surprising because I always thought macroeconomics would interest me more.
  Economics we learned this year is a lot of terminlogy. IN other courses I've taken, terminology is important, but not the central point of the subject. IN rudimentary economics, it turned out it is. THat is quite surprising.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Journal Topic 13: Supply or Demand?

   Demand-sided policies are policies designed specifically to aggregate the economy at the time being. Whereas supply-sided policies are more policies designed to improve conditions in the long-run by increasing producer productivity or human capital and such things.
  From what I have observed I would say both demand-sided policies and supply-sided polices work equally well in different fields. Demand-sided policies are effective in dealing with a upcoming, unexpected situation that is imposing a huge problem. For example, when recession hit the globe in 2008, the efforts the US government made to restimulate the economy are examples of demand-sided policies. Among those are the lowering of taxes in order to give the average consumer more purchasing power. Taiwan also did something quite unique in attempt to stimulate the stagnant economy. THat year, President Ma gave out free coupons, you might say. It is basically free money that you can spend on the market and the shops will then take these coupons and transfer them into real, hard cash. This plans to stimulate the consumerism within Taiwan. Although this plan did not work as well as experts have hoped, it is a demand-sided policy.
  Supply-sided policies work well with long-term investments. In otherwords, it is something you put to make production better. An example of that being education. Education is not noramlly something you can see results in a matter of days. In order to fully expand upon your education, it takes years and years to develop. Yet once you do, this supply-sided policy is worth so many more demand-sided policies.e This is essentially what many governments, especially those in third-world countries are trying to achieve.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Journal Topic 12: Role of the Government

  I think that the purpose of government is to bring law and order or to put it in simple terms, govern. And sometimes to do that means setting rules and limiting people from doing whatever it is that they wanted to do. I like the way most capitalist governments operate their economies so far. It is the persuit of the lasaiz-faire principle where government does not have regular control over the market system, and also combined with a very limited amount of government interference that is brought forward to stabilize the economy.
  Taxes collected should be able to stimulate or cool of an economy if that were to be the best for the country's long term economy. The Federal Reserve bank should try to manipulat einterest rates at times to achieve the same goals. The reason? There needs to be a rock in this economy of ours but yet being so meant making a huge sacrifice of not making a profit. The government, it turns out, is the only organization with the will and capability to do so. A lot of times government regulations end up hurting the richest people in the United States, but non-government regulations will hurt most americans. OF course, the role of the government also includes basic things such as keeping their very own people safe. However, I do believe that since the economy is such an important indicator of the people's well-being, the government is in a way responsible for it.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Journal Topic 11: Unemployment

  Jobs more resistant to unemployment are jobs necessary to full fill our everyday life necessities. Those jobs also have to happen to be somewhat exclusive, meaning that not everyone can do it if they wanted to right away. Examples of these jobs are medical personnels and government officials. Both of these positions require a depth of knowledge and leadership skill and passion in order to be done well that is not easily replaceable but also constantly needed by society.
  I am not quite sure of the job I would like to have in the future, but if I do have to name a potential job I would like in the future, I'd say a doctor. I believe this profession, as does all profession in medicine, is more resistant to unemployment compared to others because no matter what happens, people will always need a doctor. It doesn't matter if the economy is booming or slowing down, there will always be people sick and in need of medical attention. This has some influence on why I would like to become a doctor, but that is not the main reason why. Although it is good to have a stable job, the most important thing is to be passionate and love what you do. Always and forever.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Topic 10: How to Boost My " GDP"

  Many factors that attribute to economic productivity are useful to improving a student's GPA.
  First of all, there is the quality of labor. The quality of labor is an immensely important factor contributing to economic success and also success in schools as well. Imagine sitting in front of a desk for ten straight hours trying to study and at the same time also trying to watch a TV show and listen to the newest release of Maroon 5. Those things are bound to distract you from your main goal some how, and you end up studying only three pages. The quality of your intensive ten hour " labor", is therefore, very little.
  Second of all, there is the technological innovation. The most prominent example of this in today's schools are computers. Computers and the internet brought more available information to the table. Now a student can enhance him or herself not only from the books they have, but also from the internet. This improves productivity because the student will have more readily available information at their disposal.
  Third of all, financial markets. This does not have as big an effect on GDP as do other factors. The financial market CAN impact a student's home life and that can in terms affect their studying environment and therefore their GPAs.
  Lastly, energy costs. Energy costs, sadly don't contribute much to the GPA.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Topic 9: Financial Market

  The most attractive financial asset to me right now is stocks. It is one of the easiest way to make money in this world we live in today. Not just any amount of money, big cash( Just kidding). I would like to invest in this financial asset right now because it seemed to be something with quite a promising future in the near future, of course I am aware of the risks I am taking from buying stocks, however, my youthful naive bliss kept me ignorant of that fact. If I were a hard working adult, however, I would probably also be interested in pension because I would want to live a good life after I retire. It would be ridiculous to work hard all the way through life, there had to at least be a time where I get to take some time off. I might also be interested in purchasing a variety of bonds simply because it pays me to keep my own money safe, what more could I ask for? Of course, there is a risk I am taking for...lets say, if my country goes bankrupt or something. Yet I figured that I would probably go bankrupt before my country does, so...yeah. The percentages for my financial asset when I was young would probably differ from the financial asset when I was older. I would always have to have a  portion of my asset as stock to fight inflation and a portion saved and stocked in a sweet little place so I don't turn around one day and find myself penniless. When I become twenty ~thirty, I would probably invest 30% in stocks, 50% in bonds, and 20% in pension. When I get older, I'll probably change that percentage to invest 10% in stocks, 60% in bonds, and 30% in pension. You might be wondering...hmm...30% in stocks isn't a lot. Well, I guess I am not so naively youthful and blissful after all :P

Friday, April 12, 2013

Money

  Money, to me Wayne, is an important means that makes my everyday life possible. To me personally, the purpose of money is to serve as a storage of value that can be exchanged for goods and services that will be needed in the future. The function of money to me, however superficial it might sound, is to serve as " tickets" to goods and services that I want and I normally use it on things that I would like to have but don't have yet.
  I do not have an allowance so I would have to ask for money every time I feel like buying something. This meant that everything I buy is parent-approved. How much I receive is completely dependent upon my parent's views on the object of my desire. If they felt that it was completely useless, they might not give me any money at all. On the other hand, if they did feel that this object would do me more harm then good, then chances are, they will most likely be giving me the money as long as it is within a reasonable price.
  I have been blessed to be born in a caring family would could very well support me and provide for me, therefore, despite the fact that I know money is of great significance, I don't always put it as a top priority. Due to the fact that I have no allowance, I don't want or need more then what I have now. I do think, however, that I can get by with less money spent on me from my parents. Perhaps instead of buying drinks from the outside I can pack water in used water bottles, instead of buying brand new textbooks, I can buy used textbooks.
  I would be willing to cut back some luxurious expanses for money. For example, I might decide to not go to vacation in an expansive place or stay in an expansive hotel simply for the sake of saving money. I would not be willing, however, to cut back spending on things such as the life necessities.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Journal 5- A new Phone?


The reason Nokia decided to develop Mobile TV is because the revenues for other technological development such as voice call  ceased to amuse. Therefore, the company had to look into other fields where it is possible for expansion. 
The reason that cell phone producers include so many functions into the individual cell phones is probably because they hope that the convincer or at least one of the unique features of the cellphone will outshine their competitors and ultimately attract a lot of customers. As the cell phone market becomes more and more competetive, this trend should be here to stay. 
The manufactures are more likely to offer ifferentiated products in the new market because the new market is more flexible to bend whereas the old market is more accustomed to a certain type of way of living. For example, the older generation could barely text while the younger generatio demanded a phone that have voice options. 
I think what would make a cell phone useful is extremely subjective to personal opinion. To me, what would make a cell phone useful is the ability to call and take calls. To other people, not necessarily so. Features that to me would be useful but is nto currently available might be an automatic message chair that can pop out of my cell phone at my request. Of course, this example is just to demonstrate my point on how subjective this matter is. My perfect cell phone would probably have everything that the current market has developed: voice command, camera...etc. EVERYTHING. The features owuldbe ifferent from other phones because it has EVERYTHING, therefore, containing functuons that other phones don’t have. These features would appeal to users because it would be extremely convinenet. 

Topic 7: Change the Future

  Growing up I have gone through many changes. In first grade my family first moved to livein Jupai instead of in downtown Hsinchu. My brother and I had to adapt to a whole new neighborhood and make new friends. At sixth grade I transferred from a local school to PAS, which is an american school. I again, had to adapt to the new environment , culture, and language. Then on to high school, I adapted to increasing pressure and workload. 
  Many more changes await me. Graduating high school and going on to college will be a huge change. I will have to leave my native homeland and go to another country as a foreigner and strive my very best to adapt to America. After I graduate from college I would have to get used to becoming totally independent and accept the fact that I am no longer a student and needed to support myself all on my own. I would need to find a job and I would need to take on many responsibilities that I can only imagine at my current age. There should be many works available in the future after I graduate from college, many requiring a large amount of creativity and less of physical capacity. The future employment environment I predict will be more comfortable then today because as youngsters we grew up under an education system that teaches advocacy of the mind. I am sure that no employee in the future will hold back their thoughts on how to improve their working conditions and wages, therefore, making the working environment more comfortable. 

Friday, March 22, 2013

Topic 6: Who's Running the Show?

  I think PAS is a partnership. Although Ms. Pamela is the headmistress of our school, she still has a board of directors whose legal rights match hers.
  PAS was created by Ms. Pamela, quite obviously, and the original funding came from Ms. Pamela herself along with her board of directors . Together, they created Pacific American School and established it on the third floor of a Guangfu building. The decision making process is relatively simple as Ms. Pamela made most of the decisions but she does respect the opinions of her other board members. Together, they are the decision makers. Despite PAS was a school in name, it has a limited life because Ms. Pamela was the sole reason that a lot of the students chose to come to this school( like how people bought apple products because they knew Steve Jobs produced them) . The liability, however, rests on Ms. Pamela and her board directors, not Ms. Pamela alone. I do not know what happens to the profits the school earns, but I am guessing that Ms. Pamela will spilt it with her board members.
  I chose partnership because Ms. Pamela did not run the school alone. Rather, she had a grou pof board members who are less visible to the public eye but still important nothing less. The avantages are 1) freedom, 2) less start-up costs. The disadvantage is possible conflicts.
  If I were to start a school, it would probably be a partnership too because it gives me a certain amount of freedom without it being too much.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Topic 4: Ripple Effects and Elasticity

 One of the fundamental economic ideas is that choices have secondary, or "ripple" effects. Imagine throwing a stone into a still pond. The primary effect is the splash it makes, but it also sends out ripples that spread out over the surface of the pond which bounce off of other objects making further ripples. The ripples going in different directions and bump into each other, creating patterns that are difficult to predict. For this journal entry, write about how the ripple effects of a change (up or down) in the price of oil affects the various markets that make up the economy. How does it affect you and your family? At first you might think, "Not at all," but when you think about it more deeply, it is clear that because of oil's importance in the production of every good and service that is produced, a change in its price effects everyone (albeit differently). What other goods and services can you think of that have such an int
 Oil, over the past century, has become an important and irreplaceable( at this moment) energy source. The twenty-first century runs on OIL. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that a shift in oil price will affect many if not all goods one way or the other. An example would be the cost of vegetables in the supermarket, something a normal person might have thought had NOTHING to do with oil., but in fact does very much. Obviously, the farmer of the vegetables produce everything on his/her own, he or she is going to have to purchase materials or factors of production from elsewhere. To get these supplies fro m there and back to their farm is going to cost oil money, and if oil money rose, so does the farmer's fixed costs.
  After the farmers having planted and harvested their vegetables, these vegetables are again going to have to be transported to the super market who purchased these goods. Since automobiles run mostly on oil, if the oil price goes up, the super market owner is going to have to pay more. In order to sell the vegetables for a profit, the owner of the supermarket is going to have to increase the price of the vegetables by adding on the price of the increased oil fee. This is going to cause a rise in price of the vegetables on sale for sure.
  Vegetable prices is among only one of the examples exhibiting the ripple effect. Anything that requires any sort of transportation in the making would be affected by a rise of oil price.
  The rise in oil price also affected me as it will now take more money to buy the same quantity of a certain product.
  There are many other goods and services with similar impact on the economy as oil- the basic resources such as steel, silver, metal, wood...etc. These resources are irreplaceable and make up the foundation of many industries. A slight shift in price for any of these basic resources will, therefore, lead to drastic changes in the price of other products.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Topic 3: Where Choices Lead

 A number of very specific choices have led you to be in this particular class in this particular school. Each choice represents not only what was gained, but what was foregone in order to get you here. What was forgone is defined as the opportunity cost of what was gained. In your opinion, what have been some of the opportunity costs of getting you into PAS in general and this class in particular? Keep in mind that money is only one kind of cost--there are many more things that make up opportunity cost, both tangible and intangible. Considering that you most likely had little control over many of the decisions that got you here, do you think the decisions that were made were rational? In other words, if you analyze the costs and benefits, do the benefits outweigh the costs? Why or why not? If you had been in total control of your life, would you have made the same decisions? Explain.

 Setting the money factor aside, there are still things that was sacrificed in order for me to attend Pacific American School. I had to quit local school and say goodbye to my friends and everything I knew so well to be a part of a new environment that does not speak my native language. I also had to give up my chinese abilities in order to persue english improvements. Another oppurtunity cost is perhaps the other american schools in Hsinchu that I could not attend. The things I have sacrificed in order to get into the Economics class are less dramatic. The only oppurtunity cost would probably be Modern China, a class that I was going to take before I kenw about the opening of this Economics Class.
  I thought the decisions made for me attending Pacific American School was perfectly rational on my parent's part. I have demonstrated through time too what they believed - I do better in a more creative atmosphere. The american-styled education gives me room to expand my creativty and I love being able to do that. At the same time, PAS is also very strict about the acadamics so I will not slack off and can build up a very solid foundation. With that being said, I do believe that the benefits of attending PAS outweigh the costs. If I have been in total control of my life, I would probably have made the same decision because the benefits really do outweigh the cost.
  The decision for attending this economics class was also rational. I have always been interested in Economics and Economics class in school is the perfect oppurtunity for me to absorb. The benefits of attending Economics now do outweigh the cost of forgoing attending Modern China however by a little less then that of my decision to attend PAS. This is because the classes we take each year are flexible and I probably can still take modern China next year if I chose to take Economics this year and vice versa. Therefore, it can almost be viewed as a prelongation rather then  a sacrifice. Regardless, if I have been in total control of my life, I would have made the same decision because again, the benefits of learning economics do at the moment, outweigh the cost.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Topic 2: Scarcity at School?

  An example of scarcity that students of PAS encounter is sleep. Like everyone else on this planet, each and every individual gets 24 hours per day and for us students, that 24 hours is not nearly enough to satisfy all our desires. Sleep is often seen as secondary in comparison to all these other events students wanted to do and is often sacrificed. To gain enough sleep, students would have to give up other activities they enjoyed such as gaming and chatting.  A scarcity that office staffs may have to face is the scarce number of employees. Due to this reason, it becomes difficult for the office as a whole  to carry out assignments swiftly and quickly. To gain more office staffs, the office might have to give up more money from its budget. 
  As for myself,  I would like to have more  time to do sports. In order for me to do sports, I would have to give up studying time. Therefore, I try my best to find a balance between the two activities. What kept me from getting what I want is perhaps the scarcity of time. An example of the trade-off I've had to make is every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I would participate in the school's basketball team. Yet I would leave as soon as practice ends as opposed to some other girls who can stay a little longer and practice the materials we learned today. On a weekly basis, I traded 6 hours of my studying time for sports. So in other words, the opportunity cost for 6 hours of sports per week is 6 hours of studying time.  Another example is when the sports team goes to competition during school hours. I was absent from school for about two days. Simply put, I have traded two days of school for two days of basketball game. The opportunity cost is therefore, 2 days of school. 

Friday, February 8, 2013

Topic 1: Big Question.

Choices end up determining what, how, and for whom goods and services because scarcity forces people to make choices. The producers will look at previous histories and their own factors of production to decide what to make that will benefit them most and the consumers will look into the products to decide buying which products, since they obviously cannot buy all of them, will best satisfy their needs or wants. If PAS is an economy and everyone at PAS is a producer and consumer, the goods and services produced are probably the human capital of knowledge. Each day we attend school to learn knowledge that we can perhaps one day use in our future career. Knowledge is produced by both the teachers by teaching the subject and the students for learning it well. The goods and services are produced by a teacher teaching the class and a student learning and understanding the material. Tis service and goods are produced for any careers in the future looking to hire. The parents and the school's headmistress collectively make the choices governing what , how, and for whom this service will be produced.
As Adam Smith has proposed, sometimes the best way to make sure the economics of a society work is by doing nothing and letting in the " invisible hand" of self-interest guide the economy to the right direction. Choices made in the pursuit of self-interest can almost always promote social interests due to the fact that resources are scarce and most industries and persons are only limited to doing one thing. Therefore, in order to produce a final product, you will have to collaborate at some point. This, however, is not always the case. If the " invisible hand" becomes " visible" as in the case of monopolies, the public can suffer. PAS has decided to host a basketball event by using the 6th floor court and have multiple groups play against each other.This event is built specifically for high school students. In this event, the basketball team benefit from the entrance fee students pay in order to participate in the event. The students also benefit from being able to spend a joyous afternoon playing basketball. PAS also has a student-council run convenience store that make money by selling products bought in Cosco to the student body in general. The self-interest of the Student Council is satisfied as they make money from their sell and the self-interest of the consumers are satisfied as they can get their lunches there or just a cool drink. The two situations reflect the social interest of convenience in general. The student body wanted to buy things or play basketball quick and fast, and the student council and basketball team wanted to make quick and easy sells with high profits. So,  self-interest in this case satisfied everybody and benefited society in general.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Chapter 1 Questions

Section 1, pg. 11:
5. Describe how the owners of a coputer repair store might use the four factors of production to run their business.
The owner might use land by extracting raw materials such as tin and copper from mines. Human Labor would be involved in terms of both the factory workers that helped produce the final product from the raw materials and the sales persons working within the repair shop. All of the efforts and time these people spent are included as part of the labor . The repair shop would need some basic things such as electricity, tables, chairs, cashiers, other computers...etc. These things are all categorized under the " capital category". Human capital from the workers are also involved to get the job done. Finally, just as any other successful business, a successful repair shop would require excellent entrepeneurship. Someone who can put the land, labor, and capital into good use. Someone who can lead and make the business successful.

Section 2, pg. 17:
3. Think of some of the options you have for spending time after school-sports practice, hobby clubs, work, or extra study, for example. Which option would you have choose? What is the opportunity cost of your choice?
I would choose sports practice as I currently have, because I like to have some time to move around. The opportunity cost of my choice is probably extra studying time because that is what I would be doing if it weren't for sports practice.

Section 3, pg. 23:
3. What economics data does a PPC bring together?
PPC shows what is possible to produce from the limited amount of resources one has.. In other words, it illustrated how scarcity would affect production.

Section 4, pg. 31:
7. ( Making Inferences) How do you think politicians might use normative economics statements?
They might use it to support their political stance because statements that came from an economist can gives more credibility.