Giving and Getting

Giving and Getting

Getting Is Giving

Christmas Economical Beneficial

LilyAnn Marx

Christmas as a whole has evolved over the years. It’s not just decorating one tree in your yard anymore it’s every tree, every trunk, every bush. Electronic gadgets geared toward gift buyers, the lights outlining the roof line illustrate new sources of growth productivity and prosperity.Not everyone is in the Christmas spirit or decorate for Christmas, there might even be some people who see Christmas decorations as a waste of energy, which yeah it kinda is a little wasteful but it’s for a good Reason. Christmas is a very religious holiday, the light you put on the tree and around your house are symbols of the light of Christ: In Christian tradition, candles are a symbol for Jesus and the light he brings to earth even in the darkest times. Symbol of the light, hope and good in the world: The Christmas lights also served to remind good Christians to provide light to others.

A holiday lighting dollar simply goes further than used to, between the shopping frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday to the last minute sales just before Christmas, the American commercialization of Christmas plays a very big part in how much the average American pays for all of his or her holiday expenses. 2015, the average American spent $882 on holiday gifts. In 2016, it was that the average American will be spending $929 on gifts for friends and loved ones In 2001, the average planned spending was $1,052, the highest ever. After the recession in 2008, planned holiday shopping dropped to $417 in 2009, less than half of what people plan to spend this year.An increasing number people are planning on doing at least some of their holiday shopping online, and 61% are planning to wait for sales in order to save money. Holiday spending is still not back on the pre-recession trend, it seems to be heading in that direction possibly thanks to lower unemployment, stronger growth and higher confidence in the economy. Also if you think about it all the money the economy is receiving during Christmas time goes back into the community.  

Work Cited

Carney, John. “The Economics of Christmas, a Holiday Satire.” CNBC, CNBC, 25 Dec. 2013, www.cnbc.com/2013/12/24/the-economics-of-christmas-a-holiday-satire.html. Accessed 25 May 2017.

Haury, Amanda C. “Average Cost Of An American Christmas.” Investopedia, 27 Dec. 2016, www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1112/average-cost-of-an-american-christmas.aspx?lgl=myfinance-layout. Accessed 23 May 2017.

Virginia-postrel. “Light Unto the Wealth of Nations.” Reason.com, 19 Dec. 2003, reason.com/archives/2003/12/19/light-unto-the-wealth-of-natio. Accessed 23 May 2017.

To Party or Not to Party

To Party or Not to Party

Taryn Bradley

We are in the midst of graduation season and family and friends are ready to party, but how much does a good time cost? GraduationParty.com claimed the average amount spent on graduation parties nationwide is $985; this average comes from a range starting at $525 and pushing $6,500, all dependent on the quality of your party. A party that is lame might divert people from coming, just like a bad product lacks a high demand, and celebrating with a lower RSVP number means less money donated to the graduate. If there is not a large profit margin should the parents funding these parties instead cancel the party and put the money back into the child’s college fund?

Most people convince themselves that a grad party is worth the energy because of the cash they rake in. A party thrower may claim their profits exceed the cost of the party, making the event a success. However, these days parties are no simple task. You can not throw out a bag of chips and a few cans of soda and call it a day, there are high expectations. People plan months in advance by ordering expensive invites, renting venues, paying for entertainment and food, as well as buying a boat load of decorations to set the mood. Pictured below is a budget planner that highlights all of the moving parts of a successful graduation party

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The opportunity cost of skipping the party might be the fun of celebrations and some funding towards college. However, sending the announcements alone might rake in the same amount of cash as throwing an extravagant event. When graduation rates were low years ago, people threw grad parties because making it through high school was actually quite rare. Nowadays graduating is way more common (as seen in the graph below), so the grad party industry blew up. By 2013 average graduation rates rose to 81%, a record high. The graduation trend continues despite the fact that graduating high school has become customary. Had everyone decided to forgo their party a positive externality would be the stack of money safe in everyone’s bank accounts. Not only is everyone throwing graduation parties, but everyone is attending them as well. Let’s say a graduate makes a lot of money off their neighbors, it is possible that they are going back to their neighbor’s party in a few weeks to celebrate that student’s graduation. A circulation of money occurs that balances back out, causing no one to benefit. On the other hand, if one boycotts their own party they still might give to the funds of others and receive nothing in return. Either way this growing rate of graduates should pressure people to quit stressing the importance of graduation parties. This influx of graduates and their party could also contribute to the 5 billion dollar market for event/party planners that grows by 4.3% annually.

The benefits of a grad party are spending time with family and good feelings associated with opening up cards full of money, but only the bank account knows how much those benefits truly cost in the long run.

Works Cited

Bidwell, Allie. "High School Graduation Rate Hits All-Time High." U.S. News. U.S. News and World Report L.P, 12 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 May 2017.

"Hosting a Graduation Party?" Graduation Party .com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.

"Party & Event Planners: Market Research Report." IBISWorld. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.

Dodge Demon

Dodge Demon

Deshay Dorsey

In April 2017, one of the biggest steps in automotive history was made. The reveal of the 2018 Dodge SRT Demon. If you don't know what the Dodge Demon is, it is the first street legal drag car. It is the fastest production car ever made. The Demon comes with a supercharged 6.2L Hemi srt demon v8 engine making 840 horsepower and 770 foot pounds of torque. It also has a trans-brake and drag radial tires. This car is an out of the box drag car that is street legal. It already broke records and it hasn't even been released to the public. First wheelie by a production car, fastest acceleration of any production car, and  worlds fast ¼ mile production car, highest horsepower from a production car, highest G-force by a production car, world's fast 0-60 production car. This monster of a car can do a quarter mile in 9.65 seconds at 140mph. The demon is so fast for its time that it has already been banned from NHRA dragstrips. It only cost 85,000 for an out of the box drag car.

This car hasn't even been released yet and the demand for this car is so high so many people want this brand new car. People are selling there Dodge hellcats to get money for the Demon.  Something like the Demon has never been done before. Its high in Demand since it is so new and never seen before. But also that comes opportunity cost is it worth it to spend 85,000 on a car. This car even got banned from the drag strip already. The NHRA has banned the dodge demon from competition for being unsafe.NHRA said “you pushed too far with this car you did too much” So is the Dodge Demon really worth the price.

Is there really a market for this car? Yes, there is a market but not a very big one. The market for the demon is not very large but there is one. The demand for this car is for mainly street/drag car. But now that it is banned from the NHRA dragstrips it's just a street car now. The demand for the demon is so high, people are trying to go to any dodge dealership to get on the waiting list. These people haven't even driven the car and they want it so bad. The united states is getting 3,000 dodge demons and in canada only 300. This means the price will go from 85000 and increase because how little there is.

Is ford going to answer back? No one knows yet if Ford will try to beat the demon. It has been seen in the past of Ford and Dodge trying to beat one another. Two years ago Dodge released the SRT Hellcat version of the Dodge Challenger making 707 horsepower. To take over the market from the Shelby GT500 producing 660 horsepower. Chevy has already answered back in a way. Chevy and Hennessey released the Exorcist that could take a lot of potential demon buyers to buy the Exorcist. The opportunity cost is big you can get the Demon or the Exorcist.   The Dodge Demon is going to make a huge impact on the car world and boost the economy for the car market.

Work Cited

Witsil, Frank. "Dodge Resurrects Demon and Lust for More Power." Detroit Free Press. N.p., 11 Apr. 2017. Web. 24 May 2017.

Emme Hall May 23, 2017 5:00 AM PDT. "Get Your Credit Card, the Dodge Demon Will Cost You $85K." Roadshow. N.p., 23 May 2017. Web. 24 May 2017.

"Choose Your Site." 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon - #ifyouknowyouknow. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2017.

Driver, Car And. "Dodge Challenger SRT Demon - Car and Driver." Reviews - Dodge Challenger SRT Demon Price, Photos, and Specs - Car and Driver. Car and Driver, 11 Apr. 2017. Web. 24 May 2017.

Stumpf, Rob. "The Dodge Demon Is Actually Banned by the NHRA Because of Safety." The Drive. N.p., 12 Apr. 2017. Web. 24 May 2017.

The Unthought of Essentials

The unthought of essentials

Written by: Ryan VanWilligen

With the present day becoming more and more technology heavy almost everyone owns some sort of smartphone. A factor that is often overlooked is that along with smartphones, earbuds, follow closely behind. Apple has provided earbuds with every IPhone purchase since the IPhone 3GS which came out in 2008. Samsung has been providing earbuds with every Galaxy since the Galaxy S which came out in 2010. In this case the earbuds are a positive externality for the customers since they are purchasing such an expensive piece of technology.

All though the total number of earbuds sold between both Apple and Samsung is unknown, with the recent release of Apple’s AirPods, their new wireless headphone, the wireless headphone world has seen a huge shock. Pre AirPod release Apple occupied 0% of the wireless headphone market. Post AirPod release Apple has acquired a whopping 26% of the market surpassing big names such as Bose and Beats.

Speaking of Apple buying out Beats there are a lot of misconceptions about why the purchase was made. As seen in many high schools the amount of people that own beat have gone down a significant amount. Someone may ask themselves “Why would anyone want to purchase a seem to be dying brand like Beats”. The reason that there hasn’t been any major changes with the beats products themselves, ie looks or quality of sound, is because Apple bought Beats for the semi-successful streaming program known as Beats Radio, not for the products. However Apple still did buy Beats as a whole which adds a measly billion dollars annually to the total income of Apple. With Apple seemingly to grow at a constant rate how long will it be before the music listening devices/ music streaming programs market becomes a oligopoly or even a monopoly.  

Potuck, Michael, and Michael Potuck @michaelpotuck Michael Is an Editor for 9to5Mac and 9to5Google. Apple’s AirPods and wireless Beats take 40% of all recent Bluetooth headphone sales." 9to5Mac. N.p., 11 Jan. 2017. Web. 16 May 2017.

Wagstaff, Keith. "The $3 Billion Question: Why Did Apple Buy Beats?" NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, 29 May 2014. Web. 16 May 2017.

"Apple earbuds." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 06 May 2017. Web. 16 May 2017.

Memorial Day Impact on the Economy

Savanna Kiefer

B2 Economics

5/16/17

Memorial Day Impact on the Economy

As the end of the school year begins to rapidly approach, many students are looking forward to their last day off of school before they start cramming for finals, or preparing for graduation. Memorial day kicks off the summer season and is a day that most spend barbequing, or on the lake. Typically families will be packing and heading up north for the first time of the summer. However, for people who chose to stay in town they can enjoy their weekend shopping some of the biggest sales of the year. Either way this long weekend provides a small boost to the economy before kicking off the booming business of the summer.

Both large business and small business economies will be impacted from just this long weekend. Many companies will be advertising large sales, hoping to generate a surplus of profits, while other companies will benefit just as a positive externality from consumers actions.  

It is expected that people who are going out of the town for the holiday will travel a minimum of 50 miles and that overall traveling revenue will bring in upwards of 12 billion dollars.(247wallst.com)(moneyinc.com). This means consumers will increase their spending on gas, but also snacks and other miscellaneous necessities for road trips. Once consumers reach their destination, purchases on barbecuing supplies, meats, and gasoline to power boats will also increase. Gasoline alone is projected to bring in 1.4 billion dollars over this small four day period, showing just how easily this weekend can affect our economy(ucsusa.org). Surveys shows that around 62% of the population will spend their memorial day barbecuing, meaning that profits from meat, sides, and grill supplies will increase(wallethub.com).

For people who stay in town during the long weekend there are still plenty of ways for them to contribute to the spending. Knowing that sales from almost every store will be in effect this weekend, it encourages consumers to postpone buying products, with the expectations of future price decreases. Clothing stores are expected to have sales ranging anywhere from 20%-90% with extra coupons that can be added on top of that to make the opportunity cost of missing the up north trip, even more favorable for some(Dealnews.com). Homegood stores are also expected to have sales ranging from 30%-50%, increasing the quantity demanded for their products; and their revenue(Dealnews.com).

Besides increasing consumer spending, Memorial day weekend is the first chance of the summer to lower seasonal unemployment. Workers will be in high demand over this weekend for several different reasons. Many employees will want the long weekend off to party, or spend with family, but in order for companies to give workers off they need employees willing to work, creating more jobs. Employees for summer businesses will also be needed as this is the “first weekend” of summer for many. Those going up north will visit ice cream stands or small bait shops, all of which require summer employees and thus will decrease unemployment.

Overall although Memorial day weekend is a relatively short weekend, it has a large economic impact. Many companies will bring in an increase in revenue, and employers will also be hiring, helping us to reach our goal of full employment. All of this put together works to boost the economy and better its health.

Works Cited

Berr, Jonathan. "Six Reasons The American Economy Needs Memorial Day." 247wallst.com. 24/7 Wall St, 30 May 2011. Web. 15 May 2017.

"Infographic: Memorial Day - The $1.4 Billion Weekend." Union of Concerned Scientists. Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d. Web. 15 May 2017.

Kiernan, John S. "Memorial Day 2016 by the Numbers." WalletHub. Wallethub, 23 May 2016. Web. 15 May 2017.

Ramhold, Julie. "What to Expect From 2017 Memorial Day Sales." Dealnews. DealNews, 15 May 2017. Web. 15 May 2017.

"Memorial Day Travel Forecast Archives." AAA NewsRoom. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2017.

How Summer Impacts our Economy

Carla Salisbury

Mr. Reuter

B1

How summer impacts our economy

Carla Salisbury

In the summer the demand for certain products is higher and summer gives the opportunity to all companies to raise revenue on products. People’s spending drastically during the summer. The prices for some products goes up in the summer. Official data on sales of goods show that they tend to be based on annual spending, but the demand for some products tends to be seasonal.
In summer the demand for cold drinks and ice cream goes up. Companies that produce things like ice cream sell more of their products during the second quarter of the year, which is summer. A in the UK based ice cream producer reports that 68% of its revenue is earned during the second third of the year. But other economic factors affect demand too. The change of temperature of 1% increases the demand of around 2.4%.

The demand for meat does not go up in general, but instead the demand for different kinds of meat changes seasonally. In the summer the demand for sirloin is higher than usual, but the demand for roasting joints is low at that time.

The price for gasoline tends to rise during the summer, since people go on more road trips. The demand and price for gasoline goes up since the gas suppliers only produce a fixed amount of gas. It is not uncommon that the demand for gas is higher during hot summers.

Hot summers can also result higher taxes. In the summer of 2015 it was very and very little rain, which led to many forest fires. In an average summer the government spends about $100 million fighting forest fires, even though the annual budgeted amount is at about $63 million. These costs will result higher taxes. The climate change also results lake temperatures to rise which can have devastating results for fish and the things connected to it. It is also expected that there will be more floodings and violent storms, which will damage many properties.

Overall summer has an big impact on our economy, as well as good and bad. Many companies have a higher revenue, especially if there products are for the summer season. But it is important to pay attention and do something about the climate change since it damages the earth and also our economy.

Baldrey, Keith. "BALDREY: Hot, Dry Summer Impacts Our Economy." North Shore News. N.p., 10 July 2015. Web. 14 May 2017.

Geraint Johnes Professor of Economics, Lancaster University. "Explainer: How Does the Weather Affect the Economy?" The Conversation. N.p., 22 July 2015. Web. 15 May 2017.

"New Energy Economics: Why Do Gas Prices Rise in Summer?" New Energy Economics: Why Do Gas Prices Rise in Summer? — Ag News from NDSU. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2017.

Philips, Matthew. "The Oddities of the Summer Economy." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 25 May 2012. Web. 16 May 2017.

@VLuck, Victor Luckerson. "How the Heat Wave’s Affecting Your Wallet, Your Food and Your Holiday Weekend." Time. Time, 03 July 2012. Web. 15 May 2017.

Foreign College Athletes Changing the Game

Written by: Adam Newcomer

Foreign College Athletes Changing the Game

Recently, the NCAA has become part of trend that is taking over sports in America. International athletes. Over the past 10 years, international athletes have become a large part of college sports, and have become integral to the NCAA, and more generally, to the United State’s economy. The increase in foreign athletes has made audiences across the globe tune into American sports.

The first international college athlete that slowly started a trend of foreign players coming to play in America was Hakeem Olajuwon. Hakeem grew up in Nigeria, but was recruited by the University of Houston and went on to have a very successful career there, taking the team to several Final Fours, and eventually Hakeem became an NBA superstar.

Two decades later, athletes are coming from abroad in droves to participate in NCAA athletics. According to Online Athens, the number of male and female athletes from other countries more than doubled from 1999 to 2010, as they increased from 1.8 to 3.8 percent and 1.5 to 4.3 percent, respectively (Lewter). All of these athletes have friends and family in their hometown and country that are either watching sporting events from home or actually coming to America to spectate the events, increasing their demand.

One recent example of this is former Gonzaga basketball player Przemek Karnowski. Przemek is from Torun, Poland, with a population of about 200,000. (Schroeder). When Gonzaga faced North Carolina in the national championship game, Przemek’s dad was in attendance, and many of his friends and family were likely watching at home too.

The impact that this has on the American economy is monumental. Most sports fans in America know what they are interested in and tune into those events, so there isn’t a very large audience for the NCAA to grow domestically. But there is a much greater opportunity to spread awareness and increase viewership by involving other countries, and recruiting athletes from those countries is a great way to do that. This large increase in viewership really bolsters the NCAA’s revenue, which in turn is helpful to the American economy. In a way, this increases the net exports of the country due to the increased viewership. In conclusion, the increase in foreign athletes in college sports has greatly helped the NCAA, and the United States.

Works Cited

Lewter, Mariya. “International athletes seek NCAA for development, better competition”. Online Athens, 28 Mar. 2015, http://onlineathens.com/sports/2015-05-28/international-athletes-seek-ncaa-development-better-competition.

Schroeder, George. “Gonzaga's Przemek Karnowski will be huge factor in battle of bigs vs. UNC”. USA Today, 2 Apr. 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2017/04/02/gonzaga-przemek-karnowski-huge-factor-north-carolina-national-championship/99962264/.

The Economy Is Heating Up

Taylor Rouse

AP Economics

Mrs. Straub

5/16/17

The Economy Is Heating Up

It’s almost summer, and you know what that means new swimsuits! Every year the top swimsuit brands innovate new swimwear to attract buyers. For most Americans it’s a summer ritual: walk into a clothing store, pick a new brightly colored swimsuit from the rack, and purchase it without even thinking of the countless other swimsuits stranded in their closet. In the summertime there's a greater demand for swimsuits because people want to stay with the trend of new swimsuits, so every year the swimsuit industry grows even more than the last.

During the summertime more people are spending time outside having barbeques, pool parties, spending time on the beach, and swimming. Increasing preference for swimming as a leisure and recreational activity, are propelling the growth of the swimwear market because more people are in need of new swimsuits. According to sparkpeople.com, “The average American owns 6-7 swimsuits and buys 2-3 new swimsuits at a time”(Various Authors). As the summer season approaches Americans can’t help themselves and splurge into new trending swimsuits. Established brands within the industry, are driving a higher level of innovation with design, materials, and craftsmanship into various swimwear options. This makes it harder for Americans to resist the urge to buy the new trend of swimwear. This will cause a shift to the right in the supply curve because more Americans are going to demand new swimsuits, so brands within this industry are going to need to increase the supply to keep up with the demand. This results in an increase in the quantity of swimsuits provided.  

The graph above shows the swimsuit industry with the total revenue on the y-axis and the months of past years on the x-axis. Shown on the graph above, the peaks of each year sales were between April through August, while the lowest sales in the year were between September through March. This shows that every summer the demand increases and so does the total revenue. Additionally according to the graph each year has grown more than the last. The first years total revenue was about 80 million, the second years total revenue was about 100 million, and finally the third years total revenue was greater than 120 million. During the summer more people are demanding swimsuits, so that is going to drive up the total revenue for all businesses in the swimsuit industry. These potential sales makes swimsuit companies want to keep innovating new swimsuits because they know there is a huge profit to be made. In conclusion swimsuits are in high demand during the summer because people like to keep up with the trends that businesses create to sell new swimsuits.  

Work Cited

"How Many Swimsuits Do You Own?" SparkPeople. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2017.

Bradstreet, Kailee. "The 2015 Swimwear Market Trend Report." GrindTV.com. GrindTV, 03 Nov. 2016. Web. 16 May 2017.

Reportlinker. "Global Swimwear Market 2016-2020." PR Newswire: News Distribution, Targeting and Monitoring. N.p., 03 Oct. 2016. Web. 16 May 2017.

Swimsuit Industry. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web.