The Subtle Economics Of AP Classes

Liam O’Neill Mrs. Straub AP Economics 18 May 2018

The Subtle Economics Of AP Classes

It is sunday may 20th, and the awful stress of AP testing is over, and i’m sure you all can agree that it is great to finally feel as though the school year is almost over. Although it may feel as though only thing AP classes do is bring unneeded stress into our lives, Ap classes have a real impact on our economy in a way that none of us even think about.

Long before I took my AP test, I thought long and hard about the opportunity cost that comes with it. I looked at the tradeoffs that come with taking and not taking the test. The primary thing I thought about was whether or not the test would truly benefit me, especially for $90 (AP data). For many, $90 is a lot of money, especially for the students that have to pay the fees themselves. And $90 is just for one class, it is an additional $90 for every test meaning that some students will need to spend $400 to take tests. Although Paying $90 to take a test might at first sound like one of the dumbest decisions a person could ever make, it’s much more than just a test. Not only does the AP score you receive demonstrate your performance on your AP Exam, but it also measures of your achievement in your college-level AP course. This score will be used by colleges and universities to determine if they will grant you credit for what you've already learned, scoring a 3 (4 for some colleges and even 5 for others) will result in you being qualified to skip the equivalent course once you get to college. This reason alone is a significant incentive to take the AP test as $90 and passing the test can turn into a potential $2400 in savings. To break that down on how big of a potential impact that is, of the 841 students at Pewaukee 53% participate in AP testing with a 83% pass rate on the various AP tests meaning that around 371 kids are successful on passing an AP test each year at Pewaukee (rankings). When you take that into consideration, that is a total of $887,894 in potential savings on college tuition for students at Pewaukee High School.

Everybody knows what it is like to feel broke, but for college students they rarely know the feeling of not being broke. High school students work for hours in attempt to save up enough money for college, taking AP classes results in less money that is needed to be saved as the cost of college tuition decreases significantly. Less money that is needed to be paid off in loans also means that college students have to worry significantly less about debt and interest rates. This is a positive externality for businesses around colleges as less money to pay off means that the purchasing power of students increases greatly for normal goods thus greatly increasing potential consumption expenditures on things such as food or clothes.

Additionally, taking an AP class allows you to differentiate yourself from other college applicants as all AP classes are greatly respected across all the nations institutions. Colleges look at how rigorous a students classwork was as a determinant in acceptance and academic scholarships. On average $50 billion is awarded to eligible students in scholarships, with 94% of these funds came from federal, state and local government sources (saving for college). In conclusion AP classes have an impact that goes far beyond our individual lives. Their impact on the economy is undeniable whether it goes unnoticed or not. They provide individuals with many benefits and positive externalities and are an overall great addition to our lives although we may rarely feel that way. Works Cited “AP Data - AP Report to the Nation 2014.” SAT & SAT Subject Tests™ – Research – College Board, research.collegeboard.org/programs/ap/data/nation/2014. “AP Program Participation and Performance Data 2017.” SAT & SAT Subject Tests™ – Research – College Board, research.collegeboard.org/programs/ap/data/participation/ap-2017. “Google Sheets - Create and Edit Spreadsheets Online, for Free.” Google Slides, Google, docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mIgxDcES1F_nfpb6ksj7oq-JDJ_w9adN7x0W67yDfpg/edit#gid=0. Rankings, National. “How Does Pewaukee High Rank Among America's Best High Schools?” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/wisconsin/districts/pewaukee-school-district/pewaukee-high-21834. “Surprising Facts About Scholarships.” Savingforcollege.com, www.savingforcollege.com/articles/surprising-facts-about-scholarships-836. “Table 5. - Average Public School Size (Mean Number of Students per School), by Instructional Level and by State: Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1999-2000.” Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2001-2002, E.D. Tab, National Center for Education Statistics, nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/overview/table05.asp. Wilson-Swokowski, Tye. “AP Test Scores, Participation Rise in Wisconsin.” The Badger Herald, 26 Feb. 2016, badgerherald.com/news/2016/02/26/ap-test-scores-participation-rise-in-wisconsin/.

Trump Tariffs On Auto Parts Is Going To Be HUGE

Andrew Dempsey

Trump Tariffs On Auto Parts Is Going To Be HUGE

Nearly half the vehicles sold in the U.S. are imported coming from plants in Canada and Mexico. The current administration does not like this fact and said that the imports of automobiles and auto parts are a threat to the national security.  They have taken action about this and have launched an investigation into whether tariffs are needed on the imports. Trump says that “core industries such as automobiles and automotive parts are critical to our strength as a nation”.

During a meeting with top American automaker executives, Trump said he is going to push for an increase in the production of vehicles produced in the US. In addition to that Trump also criticized the European Union auto imports and threatened a tax on these imports. Trump is seeking a new tariff of 20 to 25 percent of these imports. Critics of this move fear that countries will strike back and impose trade sanctions of their on for a threat to their national security.

If Trump is able to follow through with his plans it will be huge for US automakers. Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler have been struggling lately. Ford Stock had been plummeting lately and in February hit an all-time low at 10.24 a share. General Motors revenue has been falling in the past year and Chrysler American made cars have been reporting low sales numbers. Many plant employees of these companies have been laid off and some plants have been shutting down completely. With a boost that Trump is promising this might put light back into struggling companies. This would also lower unemployment in the U.S. especially in Detroit where the unemployment is 7.8%. In addition, this will boost GDP with more products being built in the US. Overall this tariff would be a good thing for the United States.   https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-administration-explores-tariffs-on-autos-auto-parts/ar-AAxISpK

https://www.autoblog.com/2017/03/16/trump-cafe-review-not-good-for-automakers/

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/06/trumps-tweets-aside-automakers-are-fastest-us-job-creators-under-obama.html

https://www.google.com/search?q=ford+stock&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS789US789&oq=ford+stock+&aqs=chrome.0.0l6.2936j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on

   

Apple's Control

 Andrew Brown
Apple’s Control
Ever since 2005 Apple has been making huge profit. At the end of 2015 Apple had recorded there highest sales out of every year they have been a company. And by that end of the year they made 50.6 Billion in sales. More money for them means more deals for us. Apple has always said if they ever reach the top they would decrease prices and This year they might be able to call them self #1. It's a bit early to tell the second counter just ended and on May 1st Apple posted the record breaking sales they have ever had.
Most to all there sales are the Iphone X, Iphone 8 plus, and Apple watch series 3. The most sales they have had this year is the Iphone 8 plus. And just in this year Apple made over $65.4 Billion in sales. Growing the company by 16% and the EPS sales (Earning per share) grow 30%. They is the highest Apple has ever had. And if they keep it up they will reduce their prices. If this happens Apple will have even more sales because more people are likely going to buy there phones. Even though with the actions that Apple has done last year with the older phones. People has existed there apology and are still stand by their sides. For everyone who does not know late last year Apple was slowing down peoples Iphones 6s and under to save the battery life. And they had a good reason to. If you where the person who had their phone for more than 2 years, there has been signs of batteries heating up and melting in your pocket. After people found out apple was willing for 1 week to give away new free batteries for anyone with a bad one. And after they lowered the price of the Battery for $35.
 Apple is going to use this 16% of money they have earned put it to making the Iphone, (11 or 9) they have picked a name yet but it will be called one of those. Apple is trying to make a bezel-less phone, the highest they can push it is 98% seen on top and on the side and 96% seen on the top because of the speakers. If they are able to do this to the eye there will be no bezel.

So this is Apple’s income form 2005 to 2017 and you can see the to is $53 Billion and last year in 2017 it was $48.35 Billion so if you take that number and divide it by 100 Apple made 4.8 million in profit that goes to them and in this year just form the beginning of the year to may 1st, Apple has made $5.4 Billion in profit they can use feely and that is a lot of money. So you might be asking What happens to the rest of that money. And the answer is it goes of paying bills, people, lawsuits, and so much more. So even if you like Apple or not they are making a huge leap ahead form any other company.


 Work Cited
“Apple Reports Second Quarter Results.” Apple, 1 May 2018, www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/05/apple-reports-second-quarter-results/.

* All products require an annual contract.  (New York). “Apple: Net Income by Year 2005-2017.” Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/267728/apples-net-income-since-2005/.
*https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3c/21/65/3c2165053a5e3a83c34f4a511fc61259.png
*https://upload./commons/thumb/f/fa/Apple_logo_black.svg/1200px-Apple_logo_black.svg.png
Haslam, Karen. “Apple Reports Second Quarter Earnings - New March Quarter Record.” Macworld UK, 2 May 2018, www.macworld.co.uk/news/apple/apple-financial-results-3581769/.

Dear Nicaragua,

Written by: Carlos Teran 

Dear Nicaragua,

An Economic/Philosophical Poem that Meets All The Requirements of the Biannual Summative Blog Post

Nicaragua. Why are you the way that you are?
When I was a child, I loved your green pastures, your beautiful mountains, the leaves that danced on your trees, and the good life that you gave your people.
My people.

Not but a generation ago, your pastures, mountains trees and streets were painted red.
With the blood of 50,000 fallen Nicaraguans.
For the freedom of your valleys, for the freedom of your people.
Not but a generation ago, a proxy civil war for the battle of territorial economic control and the spread of Capitalism and Western culture versus Eastern culture and Marxism backed by Reagan and his band of misfits as well as Mr. Gorbachev broke out in your confines.
And you were painted red.

And in the name of what and whom?
You cut the head off of a snake, attached to the head of Medusa.
Your shaved your capitalist free market head with a communist command market Mach 3 razor only for your hair to grow back thicker.
And now you pick up the razor again.

The man who promised you prosperity, 
And that your rivers would run thick with milk and honey.
Stole all social security from the very same people who fought for him to gain power invested the money into his construction companies and laundered drug money through those same companies then lost all of the money in his offshore accounts and asked for the very same people who gave him the power in the first place  to bail him out with a regressive tax system that makes the retired the old and the poor give him and the government more money (Chavez)

The new generation, they stay woke.
Because sleep is the cousin of death.
And for opening their eyes and mouths,
More than 40 students were killed fighting for your freedom (Chavez).
And now the streets are red once again.

Don’t you know that if you continue to have revolutions for your economic and human freedom that it will prevent capital inflow to your country and deter Americans from investing and from exploiting your resources to build water parks so fat American families with their fat American dollars can use you as a place to “get away from their problems”? Thus causing your Cordoba to depreciate in the foreign exchange market because demand for your currency will decrease to the left on the money market graph and the global market.
And increase unemployment because you won’t have those waterparks, and the would be workers won’t have the opportunity to continue to be slaves with blue polos, who would go home and still wouldn’t be able to afford a good home and a life for their children, and some food to feed them every night.

Ok this poem is getting long and I need a thesis.
What should my you do?
How do we stop the violence, and provide a stable economy?
Do we buy bonds and increase the money supply so that interest rates will decrease, which will in turn increase investment as well as demand, hopefully increasing our GDP?
But would that really work?
If I knew the answer, I think I’d be in a better place.
Plus I only know my opinion of other people’s opinions.
So I’ll ask my comedian/philosopher friend Bill Hicks. Bill what should we do?

“Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defense each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over - not one human being excluded - and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.” (Goodreads).

The End.

Works Cited

“A Quote from Love All the People.” Goodreads, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/quotes/511079-fundamentalist-christianity-fascinating-these-people-actually-believe-that-the-world.

Chavez, Nicole. “More than 40 People Were Killed in Unrest in Nicaragua, Rights Groups Say.” CNN, Cable News Network, 29 Apr. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/04/27/americas/nicaragua-unrest/index.html.

The Economics of Post Malone

Patrick Cullen

Mrs. Straub

AP Economics

15 May 2018

The Economics of Post Malone

As you may have noticed the music industry does not have very high barriers to entry. If you produce a hit, you have a chance to make it big, for a little while, and the rest depends on what you put into it. You see a lot of young artists with a variety of different names entering the industry and it becomes kind of grueling to keep up with. However, one name that continues to linger and thrive in this industry is Post Malone. What differentiates him from the rest of the pack is his ability to incorporate his own spin on R&B with melodic choruses and catchy repetitive rhymes. He does it all. It is this one solid attribute that keeps Post Malone towards the top of the music industry oligopoly. 

You may be confused as to why I gave an industry a economic label, but the truth is that at any given time the industry is being lead by 1-3 artists. The current Billboard: Top 100 charts show the top four spots being dominated by Childish Gambino, Drake, along with Post Malone in the #4 spot with is hit single “Psycho” which was released numerous months prior to the release of his album “Beerbongs & Bentleys”. It is due to this single that his album was certified platinum within a week of its release. Though this may sound impossible and shows just how big of a rockstar that Post Malone really is, people often forget about the vehicles we use to listen to these artists music. Along with being certified platinum within a week of being released, Post Malone can also be credited with driving the record-breaking streaming week that occurred following the drop of album. In an article from Billboard magazine, the author states, “The effort, released on April 27 via Republic Records, earned 461,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 3, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 153,000 were in traditional album sales”(Caulfield). What this shows is that Post Malone isn’t the only one raking in the big bucks from his album being present on so many different platforms. With streaming platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify available, it eliminates the demand for a physical copy of the album. This is why only 153,000 of the album units were traditional album sales out of the nearly 500,000 that occured over the span of that week. This shows that Post Malone isn’t just a high performing firm in the music industry, but he helps drive the industry itself by bringing in excess amounts of traffic to streaming vehicles while also pumping money into our nation’s economy through his beautiful form of entertainment.

As you can see Post Malone has a lot left in the tank and has a very bright future ahead of him. It is through artists such as himself that make the entertainment industry such a driving force for our economy. He is an inspiration to young people and creates an incentive to consume for people who are not usually high contributors to our economy. Post Malone is more than a public figure, he is a key piece in the music industry which is a large block in the foundations of our economy.

Works Cited

Caulfield, Keith. “Post Malone's 'Beerbongs & Bentleys' Breaks Streaming Record, Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart.” Billboard, Billboard, 6 May 2018, www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8454698/post-malone-beerbongs-and-bentleys-no-1-billboard-200.

Macy's is Closing

Macy’s is Closing

By,

Megan Willborn

Macy’s has been in business since 1858, and is one of the oldest stores the U.S has to offer.  The store’s long run history all began with $11.06 in sales, and led to becoming one of the world’s largest retailers.  However, it's all coming to an end.  Macy’s has been struggling for a while ever since 2015.  Online shopping has dominated the retail market, pushing brick-and-mortar businesses out of it’s way.  Since then they have closed more than 100 stores across the nation resulting in over 5,000 jobs loss.  11 of those are expected to close this year in 2018.  That is 15% of all their stores.  

Amazon surpassed Macy’s stock in 2015, and stayed on top  The internet age has left  American’s without a need to go to stores anymore.  Everything they need can be sent by drones to their doorsteps.  Look at these graphs.  Macy’s is nowhere close to amazon's profits.  Amazon has managed to surpass Macy’s stock in 2015, and ever since has been on top.  This shows how the online era is making brick-and-mortar businesses worry.  Through the century, businesses showed their growth as a company by building more stores.  Now, that is meaningless when a entire store can be compacted into a website.  Lately many large retailers have been closing their stores due to the rise of the internet age.  

Macy’s is not done for however.  The retailer is worth $6.4 billion, but owns more than $16 billion in real estate.  They have been slowly selling off parts of their estate ever since 2015.  Even though it may seem terrible for the company to e selling off parts of their business, they are saving over $300 million in annual expensive.  By shutting down stores early, Macy’s saves money and it helps them transition more quickly to becoming a online market.

Sources:

Bowman, Jeremy. “Why Macy's Is Closing Even Profitable Stores.” The Motley Fool, The Motley Fool, 21 Jan. 2017

Thomas, Lauren. “Here Are the Stores Macy's Is Closing Next.” CNBC, CNBC, 4 Jan. 2018

This is America

This is America
Connor Vogt
Whether you’ve heard of Donald Glover a.k.a Childish Gambino through song or through his many roles in the art of television entertainment. You might also know him for his grammy nominated show Atlanta. But recently he came out with a music video titled “This is America.” Pulling out over a million views in just seven hours. Currently after nine days reaching a very impressive 100 million views. Which consisted of explicit images, gun violence, tropical dancing, choir singing, and touchy subjects. In this song Gambino travels through a chaos infested party dome where a lot and I mean A LOT is going on. Too much to try to recap in this blog post.

There had been, to be sure, an alternative vision embodied in the word “America,” one that placed an emphasis on ideals like universal liberty and equality of justice under the law, but this lofty mirage had never managed to shy away from the matter of its implication in the violence of American racism. Created by guns, overflowing with guns, America had always been a sort of rhetorical weapon.What the Trump campaign and election signaled was an abolition of all alternative Americas, the permanent reduction of the nation to a weapon directed at people whose skin is not pale. In the video, when Glover stages the murder of a black guitarist and a black church choir, it’s not a white policeman pulling the trigger, but Glover himself, and after each killing he resumes his dancing with the same uplifting energy and his rapping with the same assured flow, as if nothing had happened.

Also with his different flows, on particularly stands out as this new “wave” of hip hop’s Lil’s “mumble rap” which stands out as him possibly mocking the way rap is portrayed right now. Donald Glover coming from middle class and using lyrics like “gun you down” and talking about his mexican drug supplier is all intentional. Instead of talking about his personal life he’d rather get the audience to focus more on what he is saying and the many problems he is trying to reach and push.

Overall this gruesome and exciting/powerful video has indefinitely raised some eyebrows on current topics that most artist won’t touch on especially the creative way Childish Gambino layed out. With his creative mind and team Donald Glover in my opinion put together the most controversial and well put together work of art in a very long time and has grabbed people’s attention to some of the topics America wants to shy away from.