Microtransactions

Virtual Stuff Makes Big Bucks
David Young

Ever since the creation of free mobile games, microtransactions have had an increase in popularity. Game developers have gradually started inserting microtransactions into mainstream games. Now they carry a bad stigma with them because games have progressively become more centered around them. Even though microtransactions have been single-handedly ruining games, game developers and publishers have continued to make them a main component of the game. This is only done though because of all the money microtransactions bring in. Simply put, microtransactions are in-game purchases that are another avenue for companies to make money. You use real money to purchase in-game currency; that in-game currency can then be used to buy in-game items.
In 2015, the large video game publisher Activision made $1.6 billion from only microtransactions. In that same year Activision’s total profits were $4.66 billion (You Won’t Believe). 34.3% of the company’s total profits came from microtransactions. When first putting that into perspective, realizing that a typical purchase is no more that $10 is important. There millions of players bought into these microtransactions. Plenty of people are willing to throw money at their screen if they find that the amount of in-game content is valuable and fairly cheap. Although people may question why anyone would purchase a virtual item, it can still be justified. People either want to look good, be better than others or have access to more content. Developers will plan to create extra content for any and every game they put out as long as they known money can be made. This way they can earn even more money than just of the release of the base game. Them knowing that there’s an incentive to increasing the longevity of the game is what drives microtransactions.
A game now synonymous with microtransactions that are actually not harmful to gameplay is Fortnite: Battle Royale. This game has taken the world by storm and it’s actually free to play. The only way Epic Games, the Fortnite developers, can make money is from all the cosmetic gear players buy. Nowadays the cool thing to do is to purchase in-game items. Looking good is way more important than being good. In Fortnite you can buy v-bucks using real money and use those v-bucks to purchase cosmetic items. In the month of February, Fortnite generated $126 million in revenue: all from microtransactions (Thier). Epic Games’ Fortnite: Battle Royale has a booming virtual economy and both sides are benefiting.



With the ever increasing presence of microtransactions, the value of them may be monetary, but the real value is left up to the buyer. Though, the wealth they provide for each company is undeniable. Extra profit for the company creates some incentive and keeps the wheels turning. Hopeful developers will constantly be able to provide worthwhile in-game that will keep demand high.

Works Cited

Martinez, Madisen. “Should College Student-Athletes Be Paid? Both Sides of the Debate.” CollegeXpress, CollegeXpress. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

Thier, Dave. “Report: Here's How Much Money 'Fortnite Battle Royale' Is Making.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine. Web. 22 Mar. 2018.

Pink Tax

Pink Tax

Kailee Corica

With Women’s History Month just closing, the Pink Tax is something on every woman’s mind.Though this tax has been around for decades, the discrimination is still a solid issue between genders. The Pink Tax refers to the price difference between female-specific and male products throughout various companies. Whether it’s toys, clothes, or toiletries, women pay a slightly higher cost. The reasoning for this discrimination is because it’s speculated that women are willing to pay the higher amount, not taking into consideration that some products are a necessity. These unequal prices have brought to light the issues some women have with making ends meet. 

To prove the issue was real, researchers brought an immense amount of data to the table. In 2015, a study was done comparing 800 products from over 90 different types of brands to see the price differences between genders. The study included comparisons from toys, clothes, and accessories. In the category of toys, girl’s entertainment costed an average of 7% more than boys, otherwise known as “general” products. Furthermore, within the price differences, there were only slight changes between products. For example, a girl’s scooter costed $49.99 while a boy’s scooter costed $24.99. The only difference between products was the color. This main example from the study furthers the point of the pink tax. The other significant difference in prices was from personal care. Data showed that female care products costed 13% more than mens. Necessities like hair care, shaving accessories, and deodorant had at least a dollar increase for women. This aspect of the pink tax enrages women especially because of the generic nature of personal care. The chart to the right highlights the personal care prices between genders. Going in accordance to the 2015 study, women’s deodorant and lotion were most notable. The justification from companies for these results is because women have a need for more “luxurious” items as opposed to men. Companies take advantage of the overused excuse, “women are willing to pay more” to use a reason for raising their prices for specific products. However, female consumers are affected most by this. Not all personal care items are a “luxury”, and are in fact a necessity, which companies fail to acknowledge. 

While understanding both sides of the argument, the Pink Tax should have an end put to it. Regardless of the gender, products are necessary for living. The reasoning is, is because if companies keep their prices higher on female products, the demand will decrease, resulting in a loss of profit for producers. With the Pink Tax covering both economic and gender issues, there should be more done to end it. 

Works Cited

Kellner, Lindsay. “Yes It Is More Expensive To Be A Woman. Here's Why.” Mindbodygreen, 31 Jan. 2018, www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/what-is-the-pink-tax.

Ngabirano, Anne-Marcelle. “'Pink Tax' Forces Women to Pay More than Men.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 29 Mar. 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2017/03/27/pink-tax-forces-women-pay-more-than-men/99462846/.

The Neenah Streetball Challenge

The Neenah Streetball Challenge by Isaac Woelffer

The Neenah Streetball Challenge was a 3 on 3 basketball tournament hosted in downtown Neenah and was a staple in the community of Neenah for 25 years and it was run by a for profit company called Future Neenah. Sadly, this event came to a close in 2016.

This event brought in many people from around wisconsin to Neenah for 25 years benefiting the local community. The Neenah Streetball Challenge was run by volunteers and donations by local businesses. Although this might not seem like a good use of resources for the local businesses, it brought in more customers and got their company name out into the open as well which helped to improve sales. At its peak, over 500 teams were competing against each other which brought in over 2,000 people to the community which led to many competitors getting a hotel room in the area supporting the local economy while also helping the economy of neighboring cities. These people ate at local restaurants, bought food from local grocery stores and did fun activities such as going to Badger Sports Park in Appleton.

 In 2016, this event only brought in 221 teams and only 881 people which is a major turnaround from what had happened in the past. Also, because it had become so small, the economic benefit that it had provided to the local economy for two days had diminished and it was becoming more costly to operate. It had become more costly to operate because the demand for the tournament had gone down, this led to the price of the tournament increasing which might have persuaded less people to participate in this tournament. Because of this shortage of players, the Neenah Streetball Challenge was no longer seen as a money making event which it had been in the past and because less people were attending the event, the demand to have the event went down. This was the last year the event was run by Future Neenah and it seemed to be the last 3 on 3 tournament that would happen for a while. Even though that the number of teams that were brought in for its 25th anniversary and last year, many people were sad to see it go because it had helped bring the community together and improve the local economy. This drove the demand back up for the tournament which helped to show the importance of the event.

 

By driving the demand back up for the event, the community including and around Neenah created a need for this event to continue. One person saw this as an opportunity to bring back the 3 on 3 tournament because he would be able to make money off of it as well as providing a service that the community desperately wanted. Also because 2017 was its “grand reopening”, more people were drawn into the event which helped the to greatly improve the local economy. Overall, the Neenah Streetball Challenge improved the local economy of Neenah and the surrounding towns by bringing people together to have a little fun. It is now called Wisconsin Streetball. 

Works Cited

Froberg, Tim. “Neenah Streetball Could Return This Summer.” Post-Crescent Media, Wisconsin, 26 Jan. 2017, www.postcrescent.com/story/sports/2017/01/25/neenah-streetball-return-summer/97063744/.

Zettel, Jen. “Game over! Neenah StreetBall Calls It Quits.” Post-Crescent Media, Post Crescent, 17 Aug. 2016, www.postcrescent.com/story/news/local/2016/08/16/game-over-neenah-streetball-calls-quits/88832764/.

Netflix vs. Cable

Amy Yarcho
Some common phrases now a days a days are “do you wanna Netflix and chill?” or “have you seen the new Netflix original?” but some you don’t really hear are “do you wanna cable TV and chill?” or “have you seen the new cable TV show?” Netflix has been getting more and more popular since the time it started to stream online.

Since 2012, Netflix has seen a constant growth in subscribers, while cable has maintained a steady amount of users. This can be seen in the graph below


 Towards the end of 2016, Netflix subscriptions surpassed the amount of cable TV subscriptions by about 2 million subscribers.

There are a couple of different reasons as to why people are choosing Netflix over cable TV, one being that you can binge watch many seasons in a week, but for cable, you have to wait for a certain time and day just to watch one episode in a season. In an survey done by Cinemablend, users reported “The experience is better: 79% say binge watching makes the actual show better.” This makes sense because people are typically impatient when it comes to things that they want, so they don’t want to wait to see more like they would have to do if they were watching a show on cable TV.  Another reason would be that for Netflix, there are no interruptions, while on cable TV there are commercial breaks. In an article by Scott McKelvey, it states that, “People hate advertising because it gets in the way of what they really want. A funny video, a TV show, a song or an interesting article. Ads make people wait to have a want or need satisfied.” 

Netflix caters to a crowd of people that are busier than ever. Statistics from quartz state that, “...about 67% of people now watch movies and TV shows in public”. With cable TV, you can’t watch that just anywhere you go. Typically you need a TV and an internet connection, but with Netflix, there is an option to where you can download movies and TV shows so that you are able to stream what you want to watch without an internet connection, which comes in handy when you want to watch something on an airplane or when you’re bored in a waiting room and don’t want to waste your cellular data.

Personally I have had a Netflix subscription for 4 years now and I’ve binge watched about 10 different series of TV shows and probably about 100 movies. All my friends also use Netflix almost on a daily basis. The statistics that I found are very accurate because I can’t even remember the last time I watched Cable TV besides the for the news or background noise for doing chores.

This is increasing the demand for Netflix, which is responding by investing in more moveis, hiring more employees, and even creating their own “Netflix originals” to keep the customers interested in them. See below

Because of the per employee, Netflix is making more money, so they’re going to want to keep hiring employees which is good for the company.

Morris, Ian. “Netflix Is Now Bigger Than Cable TV.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 13 June 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/ianmorris/2017/06/13/netflix-is-now-bigger-than-cable-tv/#6f3eb968158b.
West, Kelly. “Unsurprising: Netflix Survey Indicates People Like To Binge-Watch TV.” CINEMABLEND, CINEMABLEND, 13 Dec. 2013, www.cinemablend.com/television/Unsurprising-Netflix-Survey-Indicates-People-Like-Binge-Watch-TV-61045.html.

McKelvey, Scott. “ABOUT.” Scott McKelvey Copywriting & Marketing, 17 Feb. 2015, scottmckelvey.com/people-dont-hate-advertising-this-is-what-they-hate/

Rodriguez, Ashley. “People Watch Netflix Unabashedly at Work (and in Public Toilets, Too).” Quartz, Quartz, 14 Nov. 2017, qz.com/1128973/people-watch-netflix-at-work-and-in-public-bathrooms/.

The Impact of Spring Break on the Economy

Mya Monarrez
Mrs. Straub
AP Economics
April 10, 2018

The Impact of Spring Break on the Economy

Each spring, families and college students look forward to taking a break from work and school to relax and do something fun outside of their normal routine. During the annual Spring Break vacation time, many businessesーincluding airlines, hotels, gas stations, restaurants, and retail storesーexperience a substantial increase in demand for their products and services.

The pie chart below shows the breakdown of a trip for 2 people to Costa Rica, a popular Spring Break destination. A little more than half of the total cost is for travel and lodging, with food and drink being a close second.

                                                         Fig. 1 Costs of a Vacation (Gen X)

According to Free Enterprise, a website presented by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce featuring stories about American businesses, “depending on the location...business growth between 2001 and 2005 posted positive gains in every year, increasing from 634 to 779 total businesses.” Successful businesses lead to a better economy, which then increases gross domestic product. The money families and college students spend on travel, lodging, food and entertainment during Spring Break proves how our economy is doing by money transferring from individuals’ bank accounts into liquid cash which shows the flow of money that helps boost the economy. A better money flow creates an environment that will eventually increase production, sales, wages and employment.

College students preparing for Spring Break tend to not think so much about their opportunity costs as they are packing for warm beaches. Students do not want to “waste” time worrying about their units of account or the future value of their money, and would rather purchase whatever attracts their attention while on Spring Break, even if it means they spend more money than they should. Typical impulse buys often include apparel and souvenirs, food and drinks, and fun activities and excursions.
I believe that families, and especially college students, should look at their commercial bank accounts, create a budget for vacation and work to control their spending impulses during Spring Break. Ali Garland, an experienced world traveler who gives advice on her blog Travel Made Simple, says it is important to track your spending throughout your vacation and create budgets for every category that revolves around a vacation (Garland).

Spring Break vacationers create an amazing revenue boost to many local economies each March and April. By planning ahead, it is possible to have a fun and exciting vacation without returning home feeling like you overspent. The key is to be realistic about your spending, make sure that you have enough money to last your entire trip and if you have money left over to invest for next year’s vacation, then that’s a bonus. 

Works Cited

Free Enterprise Staff. “Why Florida and Texas Don’t Have Any Spring Break Regrets.” Free Enterprise, 14, March 2016, Washington, DC. https://www.freeenterprise.com/spring-break/ .

Garland, Ali. “How To Make A Travel Budget.” Travel Made Simple ,16, January 2013, https://travel-made-simple.com/how-to-make-a-travel-budget/

Joanna, Tim. “Budget For Travel.” Gen X Gypsies, 10, April 2018, http://www.abroaddreams.com/2013/02/24/budget-for-travel-to-costa-rica/

An Increase in Toll Roads

An Increase in Toll Roads
Kelly Longhini

While Wisconsin does not currently have any toll roads--roads on which drivers must pay a fee for passage--many of us are familiar with tollways or turnpikes. Common on busy highways, tollways assess a fee on drivers to gain funding for road construction and maintenance. The concept of tollways is nothing new; dating back to colonial America, the first turnpike opened in Pennsylvania in 1792. As the map depicts, a majority of states (shaded in green) possess tollways today, some familiar ones being the Chicago Skyway, the Florida Turnpike, and the New York State Thruway. Tollways are a current discussion topic, as many states are considering adding toll roads or increasing toll rates this year to compensate for a lack of infrastructure funding.

Many drivers would agree that tollways are inconvenient: they interrupt your trip, requiring you to either come to a complete stop to pay with cash at a toll booth, or slow down enough for cameras to detect an electronic transponder on your windshield that is linked to your credit card. Indeed, members of the National Motorist Association have argued that toll roads are inefficient and cause people to take alternate routes, creating congestion on non-interstate roads. Avoiding toll roads comes with an opportunity cost: faster travel time. However, roads without tolls do have an incentive of not having to pay. Additionally, a “2016 report from the Congressional Research Service found average U.S. toll collection costs requiring 8% to 11% of toll revenue” (Poole), meaning that a percentage of the money gained from tollways is not used for road repair, but to pay toll booth attendants and maintain the toll structures. This all begs the question: Why would states consider adding more toll roads?

Recently, funding for transportation infrastructure has gone down due to declining federal funding and a lack of revenue from gas taxes because new, fuel-efficient cars no longer require gasoline. From an economic standpoint, creating more tollways is an effective solution to collect money to maintain roads. In January, Bill Cramer, a member of the international Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, said that, “Local governments are seeing [imposing tolls] as a viable and useful option...It pays for the road, providing a steady stream of revenue to maintain that road at high quality and safety.” A widespread creation of toll roads with an option to pay cash would consequently drive up the demand for money in the money market, shifting the money demand curve to the right and increasing the interest rate. The Federal Reserve may eventually increase the money supply to bring interest rates back down to equilibrium level. Oppositely, if more electronic tolls are created, meaning that individuals can purchase transponders like an E-Pass, EZ-Pass, or I-Pass and pay online, then the demand for money will decrease as physical cash and coins are not necessary. In addition to gaining revenue, creating more toll roads would stimulate employment and production growth, as, “studies would need to be conducted to identify the best locations to collect tolls, equipment would have to be ordered, and physical infrastructure such as road-spanning gantries and communications structures would need to be designed and constructed” (Kirk), all of which would create more jobs and increase GDP.

Wisconsin is among the states considering adding toll roads. Debate in Congress has suggested that tolling would help resolve Wisconsin’s long-term funding dilemma for transportation. As the graph depicts, funding for highway maintenance in Wisconsin has steadily decreased due to stagnant gas tax. In February, Wisconsin Senator Scott Fitzgerald discussed a new federal infrastructure plan, saying that, “Trump's plan might promote a fix by providing $200 billion in federal infrastructure money over 10 years but only for states that bring their own money to the table” (Stein). Fitzgerald supports building tollways to manage Wisconsin’s lack of funding. Governor Scott Walker, who has been wary of tolls, responded by saying he would only implement tolling if taxes were cut by an equal amount in other areas. If Wisconsin establishes tolls, whether they be flat rate or variable, meaning they change based on congestion levels, it is important that the money go towards actual improvements. Ultimately, strategic, minimally irritating tolling proves economically beneficial; however, it is also important that citizens are informed about how their money is spent and witness actual improvements on the roads that need it most.

Works Cited

Baxter, James. “Why Toll Roads Are A Bad Idea.” National Motorists Association, www.motorists.org/issues/tolls/bad-idea/.

Kirk, Robert S. “Tolling U.S. Highways.” Federation of American Scientists, 26 Aug. 2016, fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43575.pdf.

Poole, Robert, and Mike Nichols. “Why Toll Roads Are Wisconsin's Only Realistic Solution to Its Transportation Roadblock.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, 14 Feb. 2018, www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/contributors/2018/02/14/wisconsin-toll-roads-realistic-solution-transportation-roadblock/335383002/.

Povich, Elaine S. “More States Are Turning to Toll Roads in 2018.” The Fiscal Times, 9 Jan. 2018, www.thefiscaltimes.com/2018/01/09/More-States-Are-Turning-Toll-Roads-2018.

Stein, Jason. “Wisconsin Should Use Tolls to Get Matching Money for Trump's Infrastructure Plan, Top Lawmakers Say.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, 7 Feb. 2018, www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/07/top-wisconsin-lawmakers-use-tolls-get-matching-money-trumps-infrastructure-plan/314732002/.

The Economics of the NBA Playoffs

The Economics of the NBA Playoffs
Written by: Cole Bergman

With the NBA regular season coming to a close the playoffs are right around the corner. Each year eight teams from each of the two conferences are put into a bracket to compete for the Larry O'Brien Championship trophy. These teams are decided by the teams with the best records. Each matchup is decided by the first to win four games which causes the pressure for your team to win to increase. This causes the demand for merchandise and tickets to skyrocket. One problem that has come up is people are complaining that they cannot afford to go to playoff games because they are so expensive. I think ticket prices should not be decreased because of these fans. With this great demand the teams should be able to charge the highest price people will buy similar to price discrimination.

Consumers are willing to spend a lot more on tickets as they get to witness a game that could determine there team winning or losing. Along with that consumers are willing to spend more money on special merchandise that is playoffs themed as it is purchasable for only a limited amount of time.

Teams in bigger cities often take better advantage of this opportunity charging more for tickets than other smaller cities. One example of this is in last years playoffs in the first round the Houston Rockets tickets averaged a price of $225 compared to the much smaller city of Cleveland home to the cavaliers who averaged a ticket cost of $105 for their first round games of the playoffs.

Not only do the playoffs affect the purchase of tickets and merchandise. Similar to olympics, the economy of the city hosting the playoff game grows as more people come into the city from all around the country. People are roaming the streets, hotels fill up, and restaurants are packed. These teams also have more total games than the teams that didn't make the playoffs which causes them to get more publicity and more fans. The team that gets to four wins first wins which means there are no following games in that series. This means that there could only be four games or there could be up to seven games total. Relating to this Larry Coon states that the league would "love for every series to go seven games. Then it's raking in more advertising dollars." (The More)

Works Cited

“2018 NBA Playoffs Tickets.” SeatGeek, seatgeek.com/events/nba-playoffs.
Brown, Larry. “LeBron James' Block, Kyrie Irving's 3-Pointer Were the Plays of the Game.” Larry

Brown Sports, 20 June 2016, larrybrownsports.com/basketball/lebron-james-block-kyrie-irving-3-pointer-game-7/309239.

Marketplace.org. “The More Playoff Games NBA Stars Play, the Less Money They Make per Game.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 10 June 2016, www.businessinsider.com/the-more-playoff-games-nba-stars-play-the-less-money-they-make-per-game-2016-6.