Apple

Brandan Berard
Do you believe that Apple is the most valuable company in the world of cash & money? Well we all know that Apple makes a lot of money, well maybe too much money in that they have to ship some of the money from sales off to countries overseas because of high taxes here in the USA. According to CNN Money, Apple has over $246 billion in cash in overseas accounts. In which is absolutely crazy to think about, they even have more cash than the GDP of many countries from Finland, Chile, and many other countries. So why does Apple have all this money in overseas accounts? It's because of extremely high taxes in the US and Apple doesn’t want to lose any of its money it just wants more and more, but to be fair though Apple uses their money to research new ideas for the new iPhones, iPads, Macbooks, Apple Watches, and many other of their technology to make it better than ever before. Plus they have to pay their workers because no one likes to work for free for his or her hard work all day. With all this said, Apple is going to keep on growing and keep pushing the milestones higher and higher every day. Apple is the most valuable company on the S&P 500 which is the 500 largest companies having common stock listed on the stock market, they even passed being worth over $1 trillion dollars and growing.

Above you see a demand curve for the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and the iPhone SE. Everybody has different wants and needs for his or her phones so that's why Apple makes so many different types of iPhones. The more products they have the more money they make and they more money they make the larger they become. Apple will always be one of the largest companies in the world based on economics, data, research, and overall knowledge of the company. They might even pass the GDP of the USA one day, you never know what a company is capable of in the world of technology. 

                   


Works Cited
“Apple Accelerates US Investment and Job Creation.” Apple (Canada), 31 Aug. 2018, www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/01/apple-accelerates-us-investment-and-job-creation/.
Archanco, Eduardo. “The Price Elasticity of the IPhone Demand.” The Technalyzer, 30 Mar. 2017, thetechnalyzer.com/price-elasticity-of-the-iphone-demand/.
The maker of iEverything had $246.1 billion in cash, and Investments On Its Balance Sheet As Of The End Of Its Most Recent Quarter. “Apple Has $246 BILLION in Cash, Nearly All Overseas.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network, money.cnn.com/2017/02/01/investing/apple-cash-overseas/index.html.

Nike's Dream Crazy Commercial

Nike’s Dream Crazy Commercial
Ellie Kaczkowski
Nike is known for supporting athletes through their career with both paraphernalia, and big endorsement deals with professional athletes worth millions of dollars. The most recent deal with Colin Kaepernick led to a major disagreement in not only the sports world but the economy as well. Nike released a commercial played during the first game of the 2018 season where Kaepernick narrated his ideology that no matter what people say you can never dream or act too crazy. Due to his recent scandal in the NFL people considered this as Nike siding with Colin’s political stance.

Before Nike could produce the controversial commercial they had to weigh the tradeoffs that this commercial would cost them; consumers that did not agree with Kaepernick's campaign would likely stop buying products from Nike out of personal opposition. While this could be a problem it is also giving them free publicity as their brand is being highlighted in the media with even the president weighing in. When the commercial was released, according to the Huffington Post, the stock plummeted in hours dropping over 3 percent, as seen in the image. The advertisement was released September 4th; people were destroying Nike products and boycotting the stores. While Nike did take an immediate hit, the consumers defacing their goods did more damage to themselves, as they lost the money they had spent on the products without getting a refund from Nike. This hurts both the producer and the consumer as the consumer stops buying the products and the company than loses the profit destroying the market.

After the initial loss of profit, Nike amassed a huge amount of free publicity both good and bad; people shared the story across all platforms and this boosted the profits with Nikes new market value being up $6 billion. People that agreed with Colin Kaepernick and Nikes political point of view used to advertisement as a reason to purchase more from the company showing their support for the cause. It also increased the amount of people wanting to have stock in the company as they shared political sides.

Nike used politics, a driving force in the United States to decide whether the commercial would be successful. They did have trade offs as they did sacrifice customers that will no longer patrion the store but in turn developed a whole new customer base. While it may have shifted the market against them temporarily it was a positive decision for their business in the long run and for the people that invested and worked for them. It will ensure that the products will stay in demand and using the political angle gave them word of mouth recognition with people that may have not normally associated with the brand.


Hershman, Brett. "Nike's New 'Dream Crazy' Ad Is Narrated By Colin Kaepernick (NYSE:NKE)." Benzinga. N.p., 15 Sept. 2018. Web. 25 Sept. 2018.
https://www.benzinga.com/news/18/09/12310279/nikes-new-dream-crazy-ad-is-narrated-by-colin-kaepernick

Mosbergen, Dominique. "Nike's Market Value Surges By $6 Billion After Controversial Kaepernick Ad." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 Sept. 2018. Web. 25 Sept. 2018.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nike-market-value-colin-kaepernick_us_5ba7693ae4b0375f8f9dcb09

Rucker, Derek. "Nike - Dream Crazy - A Rich Opportunity To Learn About Brand Management In The Digital Age." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 14 Sept. 2018. Web. 25 Sept. 2018.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/derekrucker/2018/09/06/nike-dream-crazy-a-rich-opportunity-to-learn-about-brand-management-in-the-digital-age/#5c4765db3c4b 

Minimum Wage

Noah Schlaikowski

In 1938 when minimum wage was first introduced at $0.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage has increased 22 times. The minimum wage is the salary floor or the lowest possible rate that employers can pay employees.
The most recent update to the federal minimum wage was in 2009, when it was raised to $7.25 an hour. So should minimum wage be raised and to what hourly rate?   


Yes, there are many things that could be done if we raised the minimum wage. The minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation. As a result, the pay of many workers those with families of three or more people are now well below the poverty level. An increase in the minimum wage can raise the standard of living for these impoverished workers and their families. Additional income would be spent by consumers if raised, any kind of entertainment sense more people would able to afford more expensive luxuries and would ripple through the economy. Increasing the minimum wage could also help reduce gender and race based income inequality, with everyone being paid at least a decent amount that way not one race or gender is being paid more than others. Government expenses for social programs aimed at the poor would potentially be reduced because everyone would be getting paid more and wouldn’t need as much support from the government anymore. This could also result in slightly lower taxes for other Americans.







So with that I think the question isn’t “Why should we raise minimum wage?” It should actually be “why haven’t we raised minimum wage yet?”.




Works cited



“Minimum Wage - ProCon.org.” Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased?, minimum-wage.procon.org/.
   


Doyle, Alison. “Should the Minimum Wage Be Raised?” The Balance Careers, The Balance Careers, www.thebalancecareers.com/pros-and-cons-of-raising-the-minimum-wage-2062521.