How Space Exploration Benefits the Economy

Aldrin Centinales 

When it comes to space exploration it can affect numerous factors of the economy. Such factors will positively impact the economy, one of many factors is by being able to attract young people into careers like engineering, science and even technology. Factors like this will enable us to have a better lifestyle, improve our health care, create more jobs, etc…Additionally this will enable us to have more innovations as well as adding a well established benefit to the society and economy. 

However, space exploration is not cheap specifically the space shuttle when it was under its development the cost of building the space shuttle itself “NASA spent $10.6 billion to develop the Space Shuttle and its related components, including the solid rocket boosters, external tank, and the RS-25 main engines…” (planetary) It is important to note that the build process of the space shuttle nearly took a decade so this expenses from nasa took some time to have an overall price of $10.6 billion, but it still doesn’t go over the fact that it cost them that much being able to narrow down the cost of space exploration will lead use to new discoveries of new resources which leads use to more technology

see data picture below. 

Today the price tag to go to space in orbit is $58 million dollars. This cost was brought down largely due to the new development of reusable rockets in which many businessmen are invested in, why? Reusable rockets can drastically reduce the cost of a launch to go to space along with being able to go to space more often with a cheaper cost. This new innovation allows humans to go back and forth carrying special cargo for experiments to the international space station, with this innovation it will allow us to improve upon it and possibly even go to the moon more often to find new resources and elements that can improve life here on earth or even allow us to live in other planets. More about reusable rockets from space x here.

More and more business men are investing in such progress mostly because space exploration supports both innovation and economic success by being able to create advancements in science and technology, along with promoting new different scientific and engineering jobs, and overall help us find new ways to innovate new things much more efficiently which eventually lead to a much more cheaper living lifestyle as resources won’t be as scarce with the new alternatives that is much more cheaper and even more beneficial for both consumer and producers. Below is a video on why space exploration is important and why many people are invested in it.

Why Explore Space: Why is space exploration important?

Works Cited

Grush, Loren. “NASA's monster rocket set to roll out after more than a decade of delays.” The Verge, 17 March 2022, https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/17/22978972/nasa-sls-monster-rocket-roll-out-florida-history. Accessed 24 April 2022.

“How Much Did it Cost to Create the Space Shuttle?” The Planetary Society, https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/sts-program-development-cost. Accessed 24 April 2022.

Jolley, David. “Benefits Stemming from Space Exploration.” NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/Benefits-Stemming-from-Space-Exploration-2013-TAGGED.pdf. Accessed 24 April 2022.

Venditti, Bruno, and Anshool Deshmukh. “The Cost of Space Flight Before and After SpaceX.” Visual Capitalist, 27 January 2022, https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-cost-of-space-flight/. Accessed 24 April 2022.

“Why Explore Space: Why is space exploration important?” YouTube, 28 February 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8WojbS1_ww. Accessed 24 April 2022.

Dollar Store No More

 Dollar Store No More 

Dahlia Berriman  

For 35 years, everything at Dollar Tree was sold for only a dollar. The company believed that they could get by with this price. As time and prices have changed, prices have now changed to $1.25. Now, a quarter difference doesn’t seem like a lot for one item, but the prices start to add up and reflect on the economy of inflation and demand. 

Investors applied pressure for prices to be raised and the CEO, Michael Witynski said, “New prices would allow the company to withstand rising supply chain and labor costs, which were eating into profit margins.” Another reason for this change in price is due to inflation. 

Due to inflation, prices for products were more expensive and the company needed to be able to obtain their materials to still make a profit. The company had a profit margin around 35%, and they need to maintain this percentage for next year. They also needed to change their prices to create more competition. Because other companies had higher prices, Dollar Tree needed to also up their prices and to be able to combat the higher prices. 

The graph represents the sales growth for each of the dollar store companies. When Covid hit, sales mainly went down and the companies lost lots of money. A few months later, sales began to increase, but the companies still had to be able to pay for higher prices and wages for their employees. Thus causing prices to also rise. 

 Works Cited

Perri, Janine. “Dollar store sales buck COVID era retail trends - Bloomberg Second Measure.” Second Measure, 5 April 2021, https://secondmeasure.com/datapoints/dollar-store-sales-buck-covid-era-retail-trends/. Accessed 25 April 2022.

Simas, Kayla. “$1 no more: One dollar store is raising prices while customers flock to its competitor.” SILive.com, 19 March 2022, https://www.silive.com/news/2022/03/1-no-more-one-dollar-store-is-raising-prices-while-customers-flock-to-its-competitor.html. Accessed 25 April 2022.

Tayeb, Zahra. “Dollar Tree Customers 'Sickened' by Decision to Hike Prices to $1.25.” Business Insider, 16 January 2022, https://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-tree-criticized-price-hike-loyal-customers-unhappy-shopping-retail-2022-1. Accessed 25 April 2022.

 

Why has Minimum wage Increased?

Why has Minimum wage Increased?

Written by: Nathan Theriault 

When looking at the minimum wage, you wonder if it’s too low or too high. For a moment, it was very low and seemed to not be enough for people who were in need. As of late, the minimum wage has increased to about 15 dollars an hour. This change has been made to stimulate consumer spending, help businesses’ bottom lines, and grow the economy.

As minimum wage increases, one of the main goals is to stimulate consumer spending. By raising it, consumers will be willing to spend more on final goods and services. The amount paid per household is more than likely to increase as the minimum wage increases. With households and individuals spending more money, the business would be impacted positively and help them with their profits.

With the businesses being impacted positively, the minimum wage would help with their bottom lines. What is a businesses’ bottom line? According to investopedia, this term refers to “the net income, net earnings, or their net profit.” With the minimum wage increasing, these three things should be positively impacted due to people making more money than they were previously. This is due to people having more money to spend and possibly not knowing how to spend that money correctly (especially at the start).

When thinking about people spending more money and having higher wages, there’s also a possibility that the business tries to take advantage of the situation and raise their prices. By doing this, they are trying to get the maximum value out of the customers as they seem to be willing to spend more money due to their higher wage. If businesses take advantage of this correctly, they can become very successful and go above their competitors.

This brings me to my last point about how many people are in need of more money per hour and don’t get paid enough for what they do. The economic policy issue states, “An increase to 12 dollars an hour would give nearly 35 million workers a raise.” This is about 20 percent of all employed people in the U.S. The amount of people impacted by an increase in minimum wage whether good or bad would be a tremendous amount.

As you can see in the graph above, with people making more money an hour, it creates more revenue and total cost per day.

When looking at this topic overall, there are pros and cons to increasing the minimum wage. The people in poverty would benefit greatly and get a boost in money to help them out. Businesses would mostly benefit and make more money if they price their items correctly. Consumers would end up paying more of their money now that they’re paid more and it would positively impact these businesses and the economy. Minimum wage has increased to help boost people in poverty and to keep money flowing to businesses.

Works Cited

Raising the Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Businesses ... https://edlabor.house.gov/imo/media/doc/FactSheet-RaisingTheMinimumWageIsGoodForWorkers,Businesses,andTheEconomy-FINAL.pdf. 

Tuovila, Alicia. “Bottom Line.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 19 May 2021, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bottomline.asp#:~:text=The%20bottom%20line%20in%20business%20refers%20to%20a%20business's%20net,by%20deducting%20expenses%20from%20revenues. 

Why supply and demand affects housing prices

Why supply and demand affects housing prices

Written by: Abby Galaszewski                         

It has been known that a value of a home in one city could be drastically different from a home in another city. For example you can buy a $1,000,000 house in Wisconsin and get 5,440 square feet while in Los Angeles a $1,000,000 house can only get you about 1,362 square feet. However, even though there is such a large change in price per square foot, both Wisconsin and Califorina face the same issues when it comes to supply and demand in the housing market. 

Different locations have different resources available and different types of buyers, but it all circles back to supply and demand. According to Investopedia, “A low supply or housing inventory may drive prices up, which is what tends to result in bidding wars. A specific property may be in demand by multiple parties who all try to outbid each other by increasing their purchase price offer”.  Places like California have such a high demand for houses, but they don’t have the houses to fufil the demand; ultimately driving the housing prices up. In an article written by lajolla.com it states, “According to the state housing department, the state needs to build 180,000 new houses every year in order to keep up with demand”. California has been unable to attain that goal mainly because of the lack of land. Since most of California’s geography includes hills, the land that is able to be built on, has been built on. 

In Wisconsin, there is a strong demand for housing due to the amount of millennials looking for housing while there is a limited supply of houses. The value of houses in Wisconsin has raised the fastest rate in the last 15 years. According to PBS Wisconsin, “In 2021, the median price of a home in the state was $240,000, up by about $20,000 over the course of the year, according to the Wisconsin Realtors Association. Meanwhile, the supply of houses for sale in Wisconsin over the course of 2021 fell by over 12%. It was a similar story in 2020”. Similar to California the demand for housing is high, but the supply doesn’t meet the demand causing the prices to be driven up. 

All in all, supply and demand has a large impact on housing prices throughout the country. Between some states not being able to continue to meet the demand of housing because of their geographic location or states not being able to meet the demand because the number of buyers is increasing faster than the housing supply can; it all circulates back to the relationship between supply and demand. 

Works Cited

“Fast Facts: Wisconsin's rising housing costs.” PBS Wisconsin, 15 April 2022, https://pbswisconsin.org/news-item/fast-facts-wisconsins-rising-housing-costs/. Accessed 24 April 2022.

Mansa, Julius. “Housing Market Supply and Demand.” Investopedia, https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/040215/how-does-law-supply-and-demand-affect-housing-market.asp. Accessed 24 April 2022.

“Why are Property Values So High in California?” La Jolla, https://lajolla.com/article/why-property-values-so-high-in-california/. Accessed 24 April 2022.

“WI real estate value increases at fastest rate in 15 years.” AP News, 24 March 2022, https://apnews.com/article/business-lifestyle-wisconsin-milwaukee-8845605f94ff3a6f818cb097c839f701. Accessed 24 April 2022.

What Should the U.S Do to Prevent Inflation?

What Should the U.S Do to Prevent Inflation?

Written by: Tyler Novak

Over the course of the last year, prices have been on the rise. Everyday groceries have seen an overall 8.8% increase in price, Gas prices are up around 38% from a year ago, and U.S citizens have been seeing an overall increase in frustration. Inflation has been on the minds of many Americans and needs to be addressed much better than it has been. If the government wants to fix the extreme inflation, there are two main plans they need to consider: raising interest rates and increasing production in the U.S. In order to understand why these plans would help lower inflation rates, it must be understood why the current inflation rates are so high. 

It all began with the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020. While there are many different factors contributing to the high inflation rates, this is a condensed summary. Prior to the shutdown, many consumers spent a lot of money on services, but due to the shutdown, focus was shifted to products. Combining this increase in demand with the struggles manufacturers were going through due to COVID-19, there was a great recipe for inflation. A higher demand for products in which there are fewer makes the producer need to increase the price. Looking at the supply and demand curve shown to the right, once demand is at its peak with the fewest quantity, the price will be at its highest (representing the situation the U.S has been going through). Coming out of the pandemic, the majority of consumers had more money in their bank accounts because of the money the government pumped into the economy with stimulus checks and the lack of spending during the shutdown. While one may think this spending would be good and help economic growth, the global supply chain has still not returned to pre pandemic production levels. Overall causing a scenario where demand is high, quantity is low, and prices are on the rise. 

Currently, consumers are the driving factor of inflation. One way to discourage consumer spending would be to increase the interest rates. Increasing interest rates makes taking out loans more expensive and harder to receive, it would make businesses spend less on expensive equipment, and overall, consumers would be looking to save their money. According to Investopedia, between 1980 and 1981. Inflation was at 14% and the Fed raised interest rates to 19%. This caused a severe recession, but it did put an end to the spiraling inflation that the country was seeing. While higher interest rates can lead to higher unemployment rates and an overall lower economic output, our country can still recover. With inflation, it is much harder to recover the spending power of the U.S dollar. 

Not only should the U.S look to decrease consumer demand, but they should also look to increase supply. The best way to do so would be to increase the production based in the United States. This may seem like a tall task, but it has been done before. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt demanded that our aircraft industry which had produced only 3,000 planes the year prior to produce over 50,000 that year. To do so, he built factories all over to produce different war time materials. Roosevelt also built neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, and powerlines all near these factories to help accommodate for these workers. The U.S after this era became the world's “arsenal for democracy” and continued to produce at a high rate. Since then, the U.S lost that edge on the world when they began outsourcing more and looking for imports. If the United States wants to squash the inflationary rate, they must invest a copious amount of government spending into manufacturing. This will thwart the supply chain issues allowing for the supply to once again meet the demand. 

Works Cited

El, Nadine. “What can the government do to stop or slow inflation?” ABC News, 17 April 2022, https://abcnews.go.com/Business/government-stop-slow-inflation/story?id=84031525. Accessed 25 April 2022.

“How Interest Rates Affect the US Markets.” Investopedia, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/09/how-interest-rates-affect-markets.asp. Accessed 25 April 2022.

Stein, Jeff. “12 inflation ideas from experts.” The Washington Post, 26 January 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/01/26/inflation-white-house-experts/. Accessed 25 April 2022.

Stewart, Emily. “What is causing inflation and how to fix it, explained to the extent possible.” Vox, 28 March 2022, https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22994731/inflation-rate-russia-gas-prices-jerome-powell. Accessed 25 April 2022.

Tepper, Taylor. “Why Is Inflation Rising Right Now? – Forbes Advisor.” Forbes, 12 April 2022, https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/why-is-inflation-rising-right-now/. Accessed 25 April 2022.

WISEMAN, PAUL, et al. “US inflation jumped 8.5% in past year, highest since 1981.” ABC News, 12 April 2022, https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/sticker-shock-march-inflation-set-40-year-high-84026855. Accessed 25 April 2022.

Rising Gas Prices

Written by: Paige Grunewald

 

Gas prices rising has been a huge problem as of late. Gas prices right now in the United States average $4.10 per gallon. For the lower class to middle-class Americans, gas prices have become unaffordable. Gas is vital in almost every American citizen’s life, yet the price yields a premium that not everyone can afford. One question is in almost every head. How can our politicians lower gas prices? Gas prices can be lowered through gas tax suspension, reducing oil exports, and tapping into the country's oil reserves. 

The first thing our government could do is in the short term, suspend the gas tax. According to CBS, “Two Democratic senators have introduced legislation to suspend the federal gas tax for the remainder of the year. At 18.4 cents a gallon, dropping the tax could offer meaningful relief for consumers. It would save a typical SUV driver nearly $3 every time they fill their tank.” Although this sounds extremely promising, the downsides include adding to our already massive debt. According to Urban Institute which is a research nonprofit focused on elevating the debate around social and economic policy, “State and local governments collected a combined $52 billion in revenue from motor fuel taxes in 2019, or 1.5 percent of general revenue.” Even though 1.5 percent doesn’t sound substantial with how large the government’s revenue is, it is still a large portion of the money. In 2019, state and local motor fuel tax revenue accounted for 26 percent of highway and road spending. That tax is ¼ of the highway and road spending. Without that revenue, there is less money for improving and maintaining our roadway. However, the upsides outweigh the downsides. The suspension would not last forever, likely for a couple of months, and would vastly help the lower and middle class. 

Next, reducing oil exports. According to the US Energy Information Administration, “In 2021, the United States exported about 8.63 million b/d of petroleum to 176 countries and 4 U.S. territories.” Instead of selling this fuel, we could keep a percentage of it and reallocate it to our gas pumps. A potential issue that could arise is that on the global stage, other countries could also clamp down on their oil exports and could drive up gas prices more. Our economy relies heavily on globalization and if other countries stop contributing, it can mean huge supply issues. However, only keeping a percentage of our exports could potentially solve this problem. 

Finally, dipping into our reserve oil. We’ve already seen President Biden take barrels of oil out of the reserve. This is a short-term fix, but it does temporarily give relief. A problem with this is that the price will go back up pretty quickly after releasing the barrels. The short-term relief does help many Americans get a much-needed break from the extremely high prices and therefore is beneficial. 

In conclusion, the application of gas tax suspension, reducing oil exports, and tapping into the country's oil reserves will aid in lowering the United State’s gas prices.

Works Cited

AAA Gas Prices, https://gasprices.aaa.com. Accessed 11 April 2022.

“Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).” EIA, 9 March 2022, https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=727&t=6. Accessed 11 April 2022.

“Gas Station Price Charts - Local & National Historical Average Trends.” GasBuddy, https://www.gasbuddy.com/charts. Accessed 11 April 2022.

Ivanova, Irina. “What can politicians do to lower U.S. gas prices?” CBS News, 28 March 2022, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gas-prices-inflation-us-president-cbs-news-explains/. Accessed 11 April 2022.

“Motor Fuel Taxes.” Urban Institute, https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/cross-center-initiatives/state-and-local-finance-initiative/state-and-local-backgrounders/motor-fuel-taxes. Accessed 11 April 2022.

Real Estate in the Metaverse: The Future, or a Waste of Money?

 Real Estate in the Metaverse: The Future, or a Waste of Money?

Jackson Wilkey

The metaverse is something that is very complicated and difficult to define. In a nutshell, the metaverse is a platform made up of many different technologies with many different purposes. The platform I will be focusing on is the virtual reality aspect, and how real estate works within these virtual worlds. These worlds can be accessed through just a computer, but companies like Meta (formerly known as Facebook), who are leading the back with metaverse development, have a vision of accessing the metaverse through virtual reality headsets in the future. 

In the metaverse, you can purchase land with real USD, that is then yours to own. Similar to NFTs, land purchased in the metaverse is protected by the blockchain, so it is very very difficult to fake. Many investors are claiming that the metaverse is the future of technology, and are heavily advising people to invest. Andrew Kiguel is the CEO of Token.com, a company that is heavily invested in crypto, NFTs, and the metaverse. “Kiguel’s company recently dropped nearly $2.5 million on a patch of land in Decentraland — one of several popular metaverse worlds” (Chris Dilella). While this may seem like a waste of money, according to Kiguel, “[Digital real estate] prices have gone up 400% to 500% in the last few months” (Kiguel). This is an extremely high return, and makes the metaverse look like the best new thing to throw your money at. 

But of course, there are many downsides to this market. One of the biggest ones is that there is a very small market. Because many people are skeptical of losing their money in the metaverse, there are not a lot of people going in on this. As with any crypto based markets, the metaverse is extremely volatile. Many investors, while they boast their astonishing returns, also advise caution when investing. Janine Yorio, the owner of a virtual real estate investment company, says, “It’s highly, highly risky. You should only invest capital that you’re prepared to lose” (Yorio). When thinking about it, it makes a lot of sense that it’s such a volatile market. Buying something that isn’t actually real surely can’t be the safest investment. 

Real estate in the metaverse is a very new, and very risky market to invest in. While some have seen incredible returns on their investments, others are also advising to be very wary of how you put your money into the metaverse. While spending $450,000 to be Snoop Dogg's virtual neighbor might cash out well in the end, it might also be a good way to go bankrupt. 

Works Cited

Bruner, Raisa. “Metaverse Real Estate: Why Investors Are Buying Virtual Land.” Time, Time, 20 Jan. 2022, https://time.com/6140467/metaverse-real-estate/.

Cdilella. “Investors Are Paying Millions for Virtual Land in the Metaverse.” CNBC, CNBC, 13 Jan. 2022, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/12/investors-are-paying-millions-for-virtual-land-in-the-metaverse.html.

DeMatteo, Megan. “Location, Location, Location: Investing in Real Estate in the Metaverse.” CoinDesk Latest Headlines RSS, CoinDesk, 23 Mar. 2022, https://www.coindesk.com/learn/location-location-location-investing-in-real-estate-in-the-metaverse/.

Ravenscraft, Eric. “What Is the Metaverse, Exactly?” Wired, Conde Nast, 25 Nov. 2021, https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-the-metaverse/. 

The Housing Market

 The Housing Market

Matt Ciesielczyk

Why is the housing market so terrible right now?

The U.S. housing market in 2022 is experiencing an economic crisis due to the shortage of homes in the United States. Supply and demand tells us that since there is a lack of houses supplied there is more people demanding for houses. If suppliers know there is a shortage they will charge higher prices for their homes because they know people are willing to pay. Housing is a necessary good and for the most part inelastic. Similar to gas, even if the price of houses rise, people are still going to purchase them because they need a place to live.

One reason there is such an extreme shortage of housing is because of the lack of labor to build housing. Covid-19 has made it clear to a lot of people that working from home is a lot better than working in the trades building houses. A lot of people have quit working in construction since they are looking for easier jobs. There are also material shortages that have driven the price of certain key raw materials up drastically. For instance, The Ascent states that, “Lumber prices have increased to a record 154.3% year-over-year increase in the cost of softwood lumber in the month of May based on producer price data.”

A shortage of labor and a shortage of materials has caused a shortage of housing in the U.S. Additionally, not only are houses not being built, but current houses aren’t being sold. There is a lack of production in smaller, more affordable houses. This means that sellers aren’t as likely to take advantage of these high prices. If they sell they won’t be able to downsize because there are no houses to downsize into.

Black Knight, a mortgage data provider, estimated that most families in the U.S. would have to spend 29% of their income to make a mortgage payment on the average American home. That is a 5% increase from 24% in December. It also is the highest level the metric has risen since 2007.

A number of reasons has spiked the cost of buying a home in the United States in recent years. The simple truth is that a shortage of housing is the cause of these increases in cost. The thing a lot of economists have been worrying about is another housing market crash similar to the one in 2008. The graph above shows almost identical signs of inflation in the market in 2007 and 2022.

Do you think the housing market will experience another crash? If so, how soon do you think we would see this crash?

Works Cited

Arnold, Chris. “There's never been such a severe shortage of homes in the U.S. Here's why.” NPR, 29 March 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1089174630/housing-shortage-new-home-construction-supply-chain. Accessed 19 April 2022.

Bieber, Christy. “Fewer New Homes Are Being Constructed Despite High Demand. Here's Why.” The Motley Fool, 4 July 2021, https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/mortgages/articles/fewer-new-homes-are-being-constructed-despite-high-demand-heres-why/. Accessed 19 April 2022.

Farr, Michael K., and Keith B. Davis. “Opinion: Housing prices are still surging, but a bubble doesn't seem likely.” CNBC, 31 March 2022, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/31/opinion-housing-prices-are-still-surging-but-a-bubble-doesnt-seem-likely.html. Accessed 19 April 2022.

Lambert, Lance. “The economic shock hitting the housing market is starting to do some damage.” Fortune, 13 April 2022, https://fortune.com/2022/04/13/economic-shock-hitting-housing-market-starting-to-do-damage-mortgage-rates/. Accessed 19 April 2022.

“13 Reasons That Help Explain the US' Labor Shortage, Open Jobs, and Not Enough Workers.” Business Insider, 8 December 2021, https://www.businessinsider.com/potential-reasons-explain-labor-shortage-open-jobs-not-enough-workers-2021-12#health-concerns-and-vaccine-hesitancies-linger-as-the-pandemic-continues-5. Accessed 19 April 2022.

White, Martha C. “How did the housing market turn white-hot? It wasn't just the pandemic.” NBC News, 6 July 2021, https://www.nbcnews.com/business/real-estate/how-did-housing-market-turn-white-hot-it-wasn-t-n1273108. Accessed 19 April 2022.

How has the War in Ukraine Affected the World's Economy?

 How Has The War In Ukraine Affected The World’s Economy?

Evan Tank B1

One of the most prevalent topics of discussion on the news is the war taking place in Ukraine. With Russia invading Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the invasion has triggered Europe's largest refugee crisis to take place since World War II, causing more than 4.5 million Ukrainians leaving the country and a quarter of the Ukrainian population to be displaced. But how has this war taking place thousands of miles away affecting not just the U.S. economy but the world’s economy and how long will it take for the economy to return to normal?

One of the most devastating effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the high increase in gas prices. According to WickerSenate.gov, “Oil prices recently topped $100 per barrel for the first time since 2014”. With further research, in 2014, the gas prices returned to normal by July 28, the highest gas price recorded in 2014 was $3.71 per gallon for the week of April 28. The high gas prices were due to surging demand from developing economies, stagnant production, and financial speculation. But what does the war in Ukraine have to do with our gas prices? Well according to eia.gov, the top five source countries of U.S. gasoline imports as of  2021 were Canada, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Colombia. As of March 8, President Biden placed a ban on imports of gas from Russia. With one of the five major gasoline providers for the U.S. gone, this has caused the price to go up significantly. Looking back at the gas price surge of 2014, judging by the time it took for the prices to return to normal, gas prices will hopefully drop back down by around July.

Ukraine and Russia are also some of the world's top major commodity producers. Due to their conflict, food costs have jumped, especially with wheat. Ukraine and Russia together make up a total of 30 percent of global exports of wheat - Russia itself is the world’s largest producer of wheat, making up for around 18% of the world’s wheat exports. As shown in the graph above, the conflict in Ukraine has caused the price of corn/wheat to reach an all time record. 

View the video below to get a better understanding on how long Russia has been the world’s leading exporter of wheat.

Link to Video

Ukraine is also the world's biggest exporter of sunflower oil. Due to the war, there has been a shutdown of exports that has affected global food prices significantly. According to the World Bank, “The war had made economic activity impossible in large parts of the country, disrupting farming and harvest operations”. Due to Ukraine not being able to produce their largest export, their economy has been heavily impacted. On the path that Ukraine's economy is heading on, the Ukrainian economy is set to be cut by almost half.

With all of this taken into account, it isn’t easy to determine when the world’s economy will return to normal. With the two biggest exporters of wheat, and sunflower oil and one of the biggest oil exporters (Russia) bringing their production to a halt and prices on necessities like food and gas going up, it’s very unclear what the lasting effects will be even after the war is over. Just because the war ends doesn’t mean the economy will return to normal, all of the production will need to be made up for which will definitely take some time, especially since both countries are going to be financially down due to their money spent on war efforts. With that being said, there is no true time for which the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will last on the global economy.

Works Cited

“Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).” EIA, 9 March 2022, https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=727&t=6. Accessed 11 April 2022.

Pangestu, Mari. World Bank Group - International Development, Poverty, & Sustainability, https://www.worldbank.org/en/home. Accessed 11 April 2022.

“Wicker: Putin's War on Ukraine Will Affect Us All.” Senator Roger Wicker, 28 February 2022, https://www.wicker.senate.gov/2022/2/wicker-putin-s-war-on-ukraine-will-affect-us-all. Accessed 11 April 2022.

Russian invasion impacts on trade and commodities

Russian invasion impacts on trade and commodities

Written by: Will Dart 

With the recent events of the Russian invasion on Ukraine, there has been large changes to Russia’s economy, their forein direct investment, and prices of commodities overall changing the standard of living for Russian citizens.

Since the invasion’s start in late February, there has been a sharp increase in commodity prices and common goods in Russia. Contributing factors such as the halt on trade in the Black Sea and from China has made the supply for goods lower. This has made demand high and prices increase, especially impacting lower class and poor citizens. It has been proven that in a crisis, trade is essential for the well-being of citizens and for businesses to recover from the economic decline. Without supply and trade, economic collapse will happen. Unless Putin decides to end the invasion, which is unlikely, Russia will need to repair its trade relations if they want to see economic recovery. As we look on to the future, it is predicted that  Russia will see increased trade costs and damage to infrastructure as their GDP goes down. Also, according to news.un.org, there will be reduced aggregate demand for the rest of the world towards Russian exports due to uncertainty if their economy will bounce back after the invasion.

Russia’s current trade relationships with foreign countries has recently been generally poor with many western countries backing up Ukraine due to the unprovoked invasion. With that being said, many American businesses have stopped operations in Russia, leading to high prices of common goods. Currently being called the Great Business Retreat, over 400 foegin countries have stopped operations in Russia according to investmentmonitor.ai. A lot of these businesses were part of citizens' everyday lives and commodities. For example, “Microsoft and Apple have ceased all sales, including game consoles and phones, in the country as well” according to abcnews.com. Businesses that closed in Russia span from travel to entertainment to payment services including Ford, Toyota, Clorox, BP, Mcdonald’s, Burger King, Kelloggs, Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Amazon, Apple, Spotify, and TikTok. These lack of services and goods have made the standard of living for many citizens go down. With many businesses closing such as McDonald’s, hundreds of thousands of lower class workers are losing their jobs.

However, the future is uncertain as experts say that Russia actually doesn’t depend on foreign businesses as much as we would think. It is believed that these events will cause more of a social political problem than an economic problem due to the halt of business. This is because FDI (foreign direct investment) is not a large part of Russia’s market. FDI accounts for only 0.63 percent of all of Russia's GDP in 2020 with similar statistics now. The United States doesn't even meet the top 10 of countries that invest the most in Russia, meaning that these halts of American business over in Russia will not impact the economy as much as the intended purpose of the Great Business Retreat was initially.

However, lots of citizens are losing their jobs and the price for commodities for the public is rising, causing social political issues against the invasion. How this will play out will only be determined by the future.

Works Cited

Messenger, Haley, and Noah Sheidlower. “Which Companies Have Stopped Doing Business with Russia?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 16 Mar. 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/companies-stopped-business-russia-rcna19006. 

Shehadi, Sebastian, et al. “Opinion: Companies Leaving Russia Will Not Have a Huge Economic Impact.” Investment Monitor, 24 Mar. 2022, https://www.investmentmonitor.ai/special-focus/ukraine-crisis/russia-economy-departing-companies-invasion. 

“Ukraine Conflict Putting Global Trade Recovery at Risk: WTO | | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, 12 Apr. 2022, https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/04/1116052. 

Take It or Leave It: Is Buying an EV in 2022 Worth it?

Take It or Leave It: Is Buying an EV in 2022 Worth it?

Written by: Zach Prestegaard 

The dawn of electric vehicles (EVs) has left consumers wondering if switching to a more sustainable energy source for their transportation is worth it. Even before the pandemic, conflicts in other parts of the world, and inflation, EVs were becoming a serious competitor in the automotive industry. However, with today’s price levels increasing with seemingly endless supply chain issues and shortages, the consumer question of the value of EVs is even more influential in their purchasing decisions. 

Yes, the price levels of goods have been rising, but is the price of EVs strictly due to inflation? In 2022, “the sale price for an EV, on average, was $60,054 in February” (Einstein). This is higher than the $56,312 average sale price for EVs in 2021 (Giovanetti). Tesla alone has experienced price increases of up to $12,000 overnight. Their cheapest model was intended to be $35,000 but is now sitting at over $50,000 after taxes, fees, etc. Other companies have just launched their EV models, which leads to higher initial prices as they achieve economies of scale. This fact alone makes Tesla a great example due to their high production rate and less volatile pricing pre-pandemic. 

The plan with EV companies was to slowly bring the price down as more consumers bought into the concept of sustainable energy, but record shortages and inflation have made this task extremely difficult for auto manufacturers. I would blame not only inflation, but also aggregate supply and aggregate demand for these somewhat extreme price increases in EVs.

Aggregate supply, specifically commodity prices, are a major part in the price increases of EVs in general in 2022. The development and production of already expensive batteries has only become more expensive, with nickel being “up 67.2% just today, representing around a $1,000 increase in the input cost of an average EV in the US” (Rosevear). The same article informs readers that most batteries are made up of upwards of 60% nickel. The graphs below shows the exponential increase in the price of EV battery components in just the last 2-3 years.

While some may question the reason for such a dramatic increase, we must consider multiple factors such as the difficulty of mining nickel (and other elements used in batteries), the sudden increase in overall competition in the EV industry, as well as previous supply chain shortages that may be influencing the price today. Generally speaking, companies allocate these resources via a contract, which would not change the price for the life of the contract. But, if contracts have come to an end, businesses providing the resources have the ability to raise prices, whether it’s to make up for losses during the previous contract or to break even in current times. Including that, controversy over cobalt mining, specifically, has left EV manufacturers trying to move to different resources, which only adds to the cost of producing these batteries. Added cost, when considering an aggregate supply and demand graph, leads to decreased aggregate supply and a higher price level in the end for the consumer. 

Along with aggregate supply, aggregate demand has also been a catalyst in EV price increases. Today’s rising gas prices makes households who own an EV feeling lucky to be saving money on transportation, and those who don’t own EVs feeling left out. Consumer expectations have changed over the past few years and have become more optimistic. This optimism is driven by more options for EVs, longer range batteries coming to the market, as well as faster public charging becoming available across major highways in the US. Optimistic consumers, coinciding with rising oil prices, lead to major spikes in demand that, as of today, puts consumers on waitlists that are up to 18 months long. Of course, this increase in aggregate demand resulted in price level increases.

With these two factors, along with many other considerations such as comfort, fun factor, and practicality, it’s difficult to give a blanket answer to whether or not purchasing an EV in 2022 is worth it. My opinion lies with buying EVs, as the new technology, long-term gas savings, along with interesting features make an EV unlike anything you or I have experienced before! While the upfront costs are much, much greater than the likes of combustion vehicles, the economic and financial benefits present themselves later on in ownership.

Works Cited

Barhat, Vikram. “Tesla Has Inflation Problems, Too. Metals Prices Are Soaring.” Barron's, 8 March 2022, https://www.barrons.com/articles/tesla-evs-inflation-metals-nickel-prices-51646744059. Accessed 10 April 2022.

Eisenstein, Paul A. “Will owning an electric vehicle save you money?” NBC News, 16 March 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/business/personal-finance/will-owning-electric-vehicle-money-rcna20256. Accessed 10 April 2022.

Giovanetti, Erika. “Electric vehicle sales hit record high in 2021, KBB reports.” Fox Business, 22 February 2022, https://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/cost-of-electric-vehicles-record-high-sales. Accessed 12 April 2022.

Rosevear, John. “Nickel price surge could threaten automakers' EV plans.” CNBC, 8 March 2022, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/nickel-price-surge-could-threaten-automakers-ev-plans.html. Accessed 10 April 2022.

Why is Minimum Wage being Raised?

 Why is Minimum Wage being raised? 

Maddy Munoz

You may have noticed that the minimum wage has been raised to around 15$ an hour. As that may become a shock to some there are some important reasons behind why it's being raised. 

The main reasons why the minimum wage is being raised is because it will stimulate consumer spending, help a lot of businesses especially small businesses, and in all grow the economy.  By helping grow the economy it will increase consumer demand which is very important.  According to Labor House“A raise in the minimum wage predominantly benefits low-wage workers, precisely those most likely to put additional income directly back into the economy, kick-starting a virtuous cycle of greater demand for goods and services, job growth, and increased productivity.”  Which now is very important. Because of covid so many businesses had to be completely shut down, and that put a lot of citizens to struggle and had to fend for themselves.  Then that led to more poverty, and a hard time for our economy.  But if the minimum wage was raised to at most 15$ , people who are currently struggling will be able to pay for necessities not only for themselves but their families, and eventually become very successful. More people who get out of poverty will make our economy start boosting and become very successful. 

According to the economic policy institute “Raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2025, as called for in the Raise the Wage Act of 2021, is an important step toward reversing the erosion of the minimum wage’s buying power and—as detailed later in this report—achieving greater racial and gender pay equity, as well as fairer wages for those workers most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

In all, the minimum wage has been getting raised for many important reasons. To help poverty,  boost the economies growth, help so many businesses, & rebuild our community from the pandemic. In the end minimum being raised is very very important for anyone and it should continue to raise our economy where it should be. 

Works Cited

Cooper, David. "Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would lift the pay of 32 million workers." Economic Policy Institute, 9 Mar. 2021, www.epi.org/publication/raising-the-federal-minimum-wage-to-15-by-2025-would-lift-the-pay-of-32-million-workers/. Accessed 11 Apr. 2021.

N/A. "Minimum Wage being raised." Labor House, N/A, 2 June 2018, edlabor.house.gov/imo/media/doc/FactSheet-RaisingTheMinimumWageIsGoodForWorkers,Businesses,andTheEconomy-FINAL.pdf. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022.

Opinion: NASA is Still Worth the Investment

Opinion: NASA is Still Worth the Investment

Olivia Tang 

As the leading organization in space exploration, NASA created a historical event of the first American astronaut landing on the moon--Niel Armstrong. However, this wasn’t accomplished without investment and failure. In 2020, NASA.gov reported a budget of $22.6 billion and U.S total spending of 650 billion(nominal dollars). NASA’s Technical Report Server also reported that “between the years of 2000 to 2016, 41.3% of all small satellites launched failed or partially failed. Of these small satellite missions, 24.2% were total mission failures, another 11% were partial mission failures, and 6.1% were launch vehicle failures.” This leads to the crucial question: is investing in NASA worth it? 

To answer this question--Yes, I believe investing in NASA is worth these costs. Recently in class, we estimated percentages of the federal reserve budget for a variety of categories. For NASA, I estimated around 5% but overestimated as the budget was 0.48% in 2020. It's important to consider that Covid-19 also coincided with 2020. Hence, this graph below provides a comparison of the percentage of U.S federal budget spent on NASA between the years 1958-2017. 

I assumed that the U.S was spending more due to technological advancement. Despite my initial thought, there has been a significant decline since the 1960s. This was right before the moon landing as NASA obtained the highest budget to prepare for the space race. When you look at the most recent years, the amount is only a fraction of before. I consider the amount spent recently a reasonable budget--compared to the overall federal reserve. 

Another factor to consider is Economic Growth. Utilizing data from the 2019 fiscal year NASA reports an estimate of “$64.3 billion in total economic output,312,000 jobs nationwide supported, and an estimated $7 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenues.” Biden mentioned “Economic Growth” as one of the top U.S economic goals in his State of the Union Address, and NASA has made a significant contribution. It's pertinent to consider that NASA expands its agenda beyond space exploration. NASA has 16 satellites surrounding the earth which are integral for monitoring and protecting our land. Satellites can help predict the weather, natural disasters, asteroids, and yes-- if a UFO comes into contact with the earth. Without these satellites provided by NASA, the ability to prepare for such occurrences would decrease significantly. 

It’s also important to consider the opinion of U.S citizens as their income contributes to NASA’s budget. According to Pew Research, a survey conducted March 17th-April 9th, 2018, the majority of U.S citizens find that earth-related NASA activities should have higher importance than sending astronauts to the Moon or Mars. (results provided below)

The same survey also reports the majority claiming that it’s essential for the U.S to be a world leader in space exploration and that it's a good investment. Most claim NASA should continue their involvement in space exploration but not make this their top priority. If the majority argue that NASA's space exploration is a good investment but also want to continue monitoring Earth's atmosphere; they want NASA to continue what they've been already doing. This proves NASA has U.S citizen approval and is worth the investment. (results provided below)

However, it’s still important to consider the amount of money the U.S is investing in NASA and the relatively high failure rate. Although, I still believe that these benefits eclipse those losses. NASA continues to make progress that may not be noticeable to the everyday citizen. There are 16 satellites around the world that monitor environmental occurrences and a majority of U.S citizens agree that NASA should continue surveillance. Furthermore, the U.S budget is only 0.48% of the federal reserve and has decreased significantly since the mid-1960s before the first moon landing. While one may argue that “NASA hasn't made any significant accomplishments since the moon landing,” NASA’s is proven to be a lot like space--they expand beyond what one might think. 

Works Cited

Dubar, Brian, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “Value of NASA.” NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/specials/value-of-nasa/. Accessed 26 March 2022.

Jacklin, and Stephen A. “Small-Satellite Mission Failure Rates.” NASA Technical Reports Server, 1 March 2019, https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190002705. Accessed 26 March 2022.

Pew Research Center. “Majority of Americans Believe Space Exploration Remains Essential.” Pew Research Center, 6 June 2018, https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2018/06/06/majority-of-americans-believe-it-is-essential-that-the-u-s-remain-a-global-leader-in-space/. Accessed 26 March 2022.

Powell, Corey. “Is NASA Worth The Money We Spend On It?” Forbes, 19 August 2016, https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/08/19/is-nasa-worth-the-money-we-spend-on-it/. Accessed 29 March 2022.

Economic Collapse of a Nation: Russia

 Economic Collapse of a Nation: Russia 

Soli Kothari 

In the last few weeks, we were witness to Russia launching military action to invade Ukraine. This has caused Russia's economy to collapse with companies pulling out left and right and various nations putting sanctions on Russia diminishing the value of their ruble to around $.01. So how did Russia's economy fall in just weeks and will they be able to recover? 

The United States and Europe are seeking to remove Moscow from the WTO (world trade organization) along with banning many of the popular Russian imports such as seafood and vodka. Along with that Russia will face higher tariffs and blockades on any of its exports. 

Along with that hundreds of iconic corporations have seized business in Russia including: Netflix, Visa, Apple, and Mcdonalds. As you can assume this has had a huge impact not just on the economy, but on Russian citizens as well who are now not able to watch their favorite shows, use their credit cards, and eat at the most popular fast-food restaurant in the world. 

This has caused the Kremlin and the Banks of Russia to make substantial economic efforts to stop the ruble's value from diminishing even more. These actions include: stopping exports of grain, banning currency exchange, and limiting the amount of money the Russian citizens can take out of the bank at a time. 

It’s evident that Russia will continue to get poorer and technologically decline for the foreseeable future and for the citizens this means a tough road ahead with fewer choices for products and less control over price.

In order to try and aid the failing economy, the Russian Kremlin has altered its traditional market economy to a command economy with full government control over pricing. Along with that they are breaking patents and replicating corporations that have seized manufacturing in their country breaking a handful of laws. They are also seizing company assets with foreign ownership of more than 25% and selling them to Russian investors in an attempt to kick start their economy. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-11/two-weeks-into-war-russian-economy-rarely-fared-worse-than-now

So is the Russian economy going to recover? In its current state, it is safe to say that the Russian economy is going to get way worse before it gets any better. Russia has severed ties with many substantial trade partners and that has resulted in a decrease in standard of living and a steep decline in GDP with it already falling by 9%(graph above). For the Russian economy to have any chance of being revived it will need to rebuild its foreign relations and re-enter the trade game. With that being said there is no timeline for how long it could take for those relationships to be rebuilt and until then Russia's economy will continue to suffer.

Works Cited

“Decline in an Economy.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-11/two-weeks-into-war-russian-economy-rarely-fared-worse-than-now. 

Evers-Hillstrom, Sylvan Lane and Karl. “Russia's Efforts to Salvage Economy Could Have Devastating Impacts.” The Hill, The Hill, 13 Mar. 2022, thehill.com/policy/finance/economy/597923-russias-efforts-to-salvage-economy-could-have-devastating-impacts/. 

Hess, Maximilian. “What Will Russia's Post-Invasion Economy Look like?” Opinions | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 31 Mar. 2022, www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/3/31/russias-post-invasion-political-economy. 

When Should Teens get a Job?

 When Should Teens Get a Job?

Carter Pearson

According to a report by Zippia, 27.5 percent of teens were employed during the 2021 school year. This number, seemingly low, increased to 30.8 percent during the summer months. A job can be helpful in preparing you for the future, and giving you some extra spending cash, but when’s the best time to start looking for one?

The advantages of having a job as a teen basically come down to the basic points you’ve heard before. The most obvious is that it prepares you for later on in life. Holding a job can help develop responsibility, decision making, social skills, and other skills that are needed in everyday life. These skills can then play into a teenager’s life; it has been found that teens who work a reasonable amount of hours (less than 15/week) get better grades than teens who don’t work at all. A job also teaches you how to handle money. Getting paid in intervals gives you a sense of how you will live in the future and can provide insight into how much you can spend. 

But the biggest factor when deciding to get a job or not comes down to how much time you have on your hands. Deciding whether or not to get a job will be a different process for everyone. But something that everyone needs to keep in mind is their own limit. For people that are involved in multiple clubs or sports, a job might not be as attainable. Trying to balance meetings, practices, and homework all on top of a job could be extremely difficult, not to mention stressful. Additionally, these activities could help develop some of the character traits that a job would. 

But for those who have a lot of extra time on their hands, a job is a perfect option. Along with improving your skills and preparing you for the future, a job will give you some extra cash that can be used however you want. 

Taking all of these factors into consideration, I believe that the age of 16 is often the best time for teens to start getting a job. Although this isn’t a one-size-fits-all model, 16 is the age where most teens start driving. This does two things: it makes it easier for them to get to and from work, and it creates a larger need for money as gas can be expensive. Additionally, teenagers are typically mature enough at the age of 16 to hold a job and carry out the tasks that it might entail. 

In the end, getting a job is up to you and your family. But with enough time available, a job can be the perfect way to stay busy, prepare for the future, and get some extra money. 

Works Cited

Angus WhyteAngus is a writer from Atlanta. “The Pros and Cons of Teenage Jobs.” Evolve 

Treatment Centers, 21 Jan. 2021, 

https://evolvetreatment.com/blog/pros-cons-teenage-jobs/. 

“High School Job Statistics [2022].” Zippia, 

https://www.zippia.com/advice/high-school-job-statistics/#:~:text=In%202020%2C%201.

336%20million%20teens,the%20year%20as%20a%20whole.