Why Are Shoes So Expensive?

 Stephen Bittner

This is a fairly common question that people ask themselves. However, most of the people who ask this will still end up

buying shoes at a huge price. Why is that? Well it's simple; While shoes at its most basic form are normal goods, the name

brand pairs are luxury goods. It doesn’t matter your income, everyone reading this has at least one pair of shoes.

Most likely you have more. However, not everyone reading this has a name brand pair. 

Name brand shoes aren’t a necessary product. Rather, they are associated with showing off wealth and fashion. The truth is,

you can get a decent pair of shoes for under $25. On Amazon, there are a variety of different options. While you won’t be able to

try it on for yourself, you can look at previous buyers feedback to find if it is your fit. However, you won’t be able to find much below

that $25 price range. This is because of the production and other costs.

A typical $70 shoe will cost about $15 to produce. However, keep in mind that after production, the shoe will be in a factory in a foreign country. It will have to be shipped to the US for an additional cost of about 50 cents. Now it has to be legally imported into the US. This means the government will charge 8.5% of the cost. This adds $1.32 as well as $.32 for insurance and customs. This means that a 70 dollar shoe will cost about $17.10 to end up in the US. 

I will then end up being sold to retail stores which will buy at 50% of the retail price. The salesman takes 7% of that for commissions, meaning there is a profit of $15.45. Even that is not the end though. The company still needs to advertise, pay sales, product, and marketing managers, developers, and designers. However, smaller companies are able to bypass some of these stages to lower their costs. This is why some shoes are able to be less expensive than name brand shoes. The biggest contributor is being able to skip the 50% cut taken by retail stores by shipping from warehouses directly to the customer. 

However, name brands know that when it comes to shoes, most people prefer to try them out before buying. Because

we are willing to spend so much for our shoes, they gain a much larger audience by selling in stores. They also have to make

sure to keep their brand popular. This means advertisements, deals, frequent new designs to add variety etc. All of this comes at

the expense of profit. In fact, name brands like Nike and Adidas don’t actually make an absurd amount of money like many people think.

Nike only makes about 5$ on the sale of a $100 pair of running shoes and Adidas only makes $2. 

In the end, shoes aren’t actually very expensive. What is expensive is the upkeep of name brand popularity and the customer benefits that come with that. If you don’t want to buy an $80 pair of shoes, there are options. All you have to do is acknowledge that you won’t be getting anything name brand.

“How Much Does It Cost to Make a Sneaker? - How Much Does Nike Profit?” How Shoes Are Made: The Sneaker Factory, 12 Oct. 2021, https://www.sneakerfactory.net/2019/05/cost-to-make-a-sneaker/. 

Amazon - Official Site. https://www.amazon.com/. 

(It wouldn’t let me source the actual link 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=men%27s+tennis+shoes&s=price-asc-rank&page=4&crid=3JCMM0NDZUU4O&qid=

1635270289&sprefix=men%27s+tennis+shoes%2Caps%2C221&ref=sr_pg_4 )

“What Does It Cost to Make a Running Shoe?” Solereview, 25 Oct. 2021, https://www.solereview.com/what-does-it-cost-to-make-a-running-shoe/. 

https://www.sneakerfactory.net/2019/05/cost-to-make-a-sneaker/

https://www.amazon.com/sk=men%27s+tennis+shoes&s=priceascrank&page=4&crid=3JCMM0NDZUU4O&qid=

1635270289&sprefix=men%27s+tennis+shoes%2Caps%2C221&ref=sr_pg_4

https://www.solereview.com/what-does-it-cost-to-make-a-running-shoe/

Economy During the Covid-19 Pandemic

 Ryan Cullen

The Covid-19 pandemic has definitely been detrimental to every aspect of daily life, from needing to wear masks in public

places, people needing to quarantine and unessential work places closing down, etc. These along with many other things are what

Covid-19 brought when it hit the US. Not only these, but the economy was hit very hard as well. This includes the employment

rate dropping to a new low, cargo ships being stuck at docks, unable to unload, etc. These are hitting the economy huge since supply

is not being able to reach businesses because of this back up and the drop of employment rate is detrimental to some

businesses as they might have to change hours or close entirely because of the shortage of workers.

In recent years the employment rate has been slowly going up and was projected to move upward coming into 2020.

This was soon halted after Covid-19 hit and the employment rate dropped from around 60 percent to 51 percent. This not only

was terrible for the economy as people were losing jobs due to stores and businesses being closed and marked as non essential,

but as well as people trying to earn money, with less jobs and less employment means less money for those who need it. This was counter

acted by the government by giving out stimulus checks. But by handing out more and more money to every one will eventually

cause huge amounts of inflation and that money given to people will in turn become useless.

Due to the pandemic hitting strong in the US when it first hit and stores and businesses closing their doors to the public for a

little while, people went to online shopping. During this time many people were buying items online through their favorite

retailers like target, walmart, etc. This led to many shortages in supply because the demand for these online items was going up due to

the pandemic. Skip to today where businesses have reopened their doors and are allowing online and in store shopping, but we

are still getting shortages in supply. This is because there currently is a big back up in cargo ships at ports waiting to be unloaded.

Dani Aguiano states that, “There were a record 73 cargo ships waiting to enter the ports.” This is also due in part by the employment

rate dropping as there are not enough truck drivers to take the supply trucks and deliver them to businesses.

The economy has recently started to come back in that businesses are starting to once again open their doors to the public

and the unloading of cargo ships is being dealt with, but will other things catch up to us because of the pandemic? The cargo ship

back up most likely was not predicated because of the pandemic and therefore is becoming a big problem, especially if it

isn’t fixed soon. What will come next after this problem? What will be the next big thing that Covid-19 brings to us?

Works Cited

Anguiano, Dani. “A Record Number of Cargo Ships Are Stuck Outside LA. What's Happening?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 23 Sept. 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/22/cargo-ships-traffic-jam-los-angeles-california.

Bureau, U.S. Census. “Pandemic Impact on Mortality and Economy Varies across Age Groups and Geographies.” Census.gov, 8 Oct. 2021, https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/03/initial-impact-covid-19-on-united-states-economy-more-widespread-than-on-mortality.html.

How Microtrends in Fashion are Destroying the Environment

 Emily Eklund

Like in many industries, consumer tastes in fashion change gradually over time, creating trends. However, with the

advent of social media, these gradual changes have become not so gradual at all. These “microtrends,” or trends that occur over

a small period of time, have severe environmental consequences.

A style of clothing will gain popularity on social media platforms like TikTok at an incredibly rapid pace, until almost

everyone who uses the platform has participated in it. Once it reaches that stage, people will quickly lose interest and move onto

something newer and more exciting. It’s just like how jokes will go viral and people will quickly grow bored of them.

The length of time that these trends last for is growing smaller and smaller as people get bored quicker and quicker, driven by

consumerism and the instant gratification of buying new things. 

This has major consequences for the environment. According to Mariel Nelson, “The volume of clothing Americans throw
away each year has doubled from 7 million to 14 million tons in under 20 years.” The acceleration of fashion trends is a direct
factor in the increasing amount of textile waste. The clothing that was bought during that microtrend will end up in landfills after
the trend is over, and when people move on from the next trend, that clothing will end up in landfills too. 

The fast fashion industry produces cheap clothing by using cheap labor and cheap materials to fit each trend. These cheap materials
leak microplastics into the ocean every time they are washed, and it’s estimated by a study from Australia that there are now
14 million tons of microplastics on the ocean floor. The clothes don’t last long either, encouraging consumers to go out and buy more clothes more often. 

Though it may seem impossible to stop the overconsumption of clothing that microtrends have caused, you can take actions to reduce
the amount of harm. Before you buy clothing, think of whether you will still wear it five years from now, and how often you will
actually wear it. If you’re only buying it to fit the latest trend, will you still wear it after the trend is over? If the answer is no, don’t buy it. 

Additionally, consider shopping for clothes secondhand. There are a multitude of apps and platforms for secondhand clothing
to choose from, and buying secondhand means keeping clothing out of landfills.

Fast fashion and microtrends are harming the environment with vast amounts of textile and plastic waste, but by making
wiser decisions about the clothing you purchase, you can reduce your own impact.

Works Cited

“The Impact of Fast Fashion On the Environment - PSCI.” Princeton University, The Trustees of Princeton University, psci.princeton.edu/tips/2020/7/20/the-impact-of-fast-fashion-on-the-environment.

“Micro-Trends: The Acceleration of Fashion Cycles and Rise in Waste.” WRAP, 17 May 2021, wrapcompliance.org/blog/micro-trends-the-acceleration-of-fashion-cycles-and-rise-in-waste/.

says:, Tamilrockers, and Name *. “14 Million Tons of Microplastic Are on the Ocean Floor.” Science in the News, 16 Oct. 2020, sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2020/14-million-tons-of-microplastic-are-on-the-ocean-floor/.

Why Fire Stations Need Their Budgets

Rylee Allen

When thinking about the fire station and all that comes with it--the trucks, engines, gear, tools, etc--many think

that the budgeting should be lowered, but firefighters at the firehouse can’t even make profit. Instead they

follow the break-even tactic as their best friend. For example, firehouses charge for the service of EMS (emergency medical services),

however the cost of the service is nowhere near the cost for providing the service; they stock up on supplies and

other necessities for providing care, and never fully get reimbursed for those purchases.

Moving on to some specific costs, the gear needed in order to stay safe while fighting an active fire alone costs

$12,010, and this is just the personal protective gear and self contained breathing apparatus. On top of needing

the correct safety gear, the firefighters also need to buy and maintain engines and trucks which can cost up to

$950,000 depending on the type of truck, along with a maintenance fee of around $5,700. Looking at this list of expenses

which go towards

the budget, you can see that this station needs an operating budget of  at least $176,732, and this is just for this

station's specific operating procedures in the 2018-19 year. 

If anything, with all that the fire service does for the community, the operating budget should be increased, not decreased.

Stations are forced to close when not provided with enough funding, and this then leaves areas of the community

without a close station for when things go wrong. Another issue the fire service faces with funding and operational

budgeting is the population size. More people in a population require more firefighters and EMTs which requires the station

to be spending more money on staffing rather than other essentials such as new tools and equipment or needed gear. 

Overall, it’s understandable as to why others would want to decrease the operating budget of the forestations; nobody

likes paying high taxes, but in the end, the fire service is here for all of us when things go bad. They are here for the

community when any member of society is in a vulnerable position, and they risk their lives to save ours. If not increasing

the operating budget to keep gear up to date, purchase new and safer tools, or maintaining engines which help

save lives, at least keep the budget the same in order to prevent these stations from being forced to close due to lack of funding. 

Works Cited

Fire Department Budget Strategies | Fire Engineering. 

www.fireengineering.com/apparatus-equipment/fire-department-budget-strategies/. 

“How Much Does a Fire Truck Cost?” What Is the Price How Much Does a Fire Truck 

Cost Comments, www.howmuchisit.org/fire-truck-cost/. 

“Tips for Budgeting for Technology in the Fire Service.” PowerDMS, 

https://www.powerdms.com/policy-learning-center/tips-for-budgeting-for-technolo

gy-in-the-fire-service.

Crypto vs. The Stock Market

 Jacob Bruner

Within just over a decade, starting in 2008-2009, Bitcoin has gone from $4 in 2008 all the way up to $65,000 in 2021.

The entire cryptocurrency market has completely changed how people have been making money. Other cryptos like

Dogecoin, Cardano, and Litecoin have also been invented along with hundreds of thousands of other types of cryptocurrencies.

However, these are not in our conventional stock market. They do not belong to the S&P 500 or are not traditionally

traded through normal brokerages. So, what is the difference between cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and normal publicly

traded companies like Apple, Samsung, and Amazon? 

Cryptocurrency is very similar to normal stocks in our stock market. It can be used for payment in certain situations

and has even become the national currency in El Salvador. Currencies like Bitcoin are essentially transactions from

a third party with binary data that gives its value along with the supply and demand of the coin. According to

Anshu Siripurapu, “The prices of Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies vary based on global supply and demand. However,

the values of some cryptocurrencies are fixed because they are backed by other assets.” (www.cfr.org). It is

commonly compared to poker chips at casinos where you can exchange money for another form of money. The part that

confused myself for the longest time is that there is not a good or service associated with the specific cryptocurrency. For example,

Bitcoin will not offer you a specific service nor good. Dogecoin does not provide you with any goods or services.

Also, the math is much easier to calculate. Although this may sound odd, in the stock market you must purchase a whole

share of the company. For reference, if a share of Tesla costs $1,000, you must purchase the whole share. However, this

is not the case for crypto. Consumers are able to purchase specific amounts of a share. Because of this, it allows more people

to be in the market for thriving coins.

Whereas in the stock market, S&P 500, each company will provide a good or service that can be purchased.

Then, the size of the company essentially reflects the price of the individual stock price. In the stock market, it is much

easier to predict the future prices of the goods due to quarter reports released to the public. This is why most people question

entering the crypto currency market, because it is much less predictable. 

The meme above demonstrates the unpredictability of cryptocurrency vs. stocks. Cryptos have a much more likely chance to

fluctuate large amounts compared to stocks.

To conclude, cryptocurrencies and stocks may sound very similar, but after all they are very different. The determinants

of price, how to purchase them, and predictability make them a very new and exciting system to make money.

Works Cited

“Open Source P2P Money.” Bitcoin, bitcoin.org/en/.

Royal, James. “Cryptocurrency Vs. Stocks: What's The Better Choice For You?” Bankrate, www.bankrate.com/investing/crypto-vs-stocks/.

Sleep Satisfaction

 Shawn Orlowski

Every now and then, we have those days where we might not sleep much. For some, that may just be the way that you

make yourself function most of the days of the week. However, maybe you should think twice about the risk you might want to take.

Throughout our day, some of us like to spend as much time as we can awake. Whether that is working all day and

trying to make up for the time you have lost, staying up late to complete homework, or just scrolling through Tik-Tok,

Instagram, Twitter, or some other sort of social media. It is easy to lose track of time or throw some time of your day

out the window, but it can affect you more than you think.

In the moment you stay up late or reduce the amount of sleep you get for whatever the reason might be, you possibly

get a sense of achievement from completing what you needed to get done. In the moment, completing what you need

or want can be really rewarding, but then you realize how you may feel the next day, or in school, while driving, or doing

anything else the next day. After reducing the amount of time you sleep, you begin to feel how much it affects you once

your sleep schedule is changed.

Daily, our bodies should receive around eight to ten hours of sleep for us teenagers. Over the course of our sleep,

our body needs to overcome a process called sleep homeostasis. The process is of your body making sure there is a

balance between the glycogen levels that help store energy in the brain, and adenosine which helps us sleep and restore

the lost glycogen in our bodies. When that process is interrupted, it can cause a change in how you feel and change your

susceptibility to risks. Reduced sleep leads to excessive sleepiness during the day, lack of alertness, relationship stress,

impaired memory, and a greater likelihood for car crashes. According to the Cleveland Clinic, other serious issues you

may face include; high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure or stroke. Or it can be more along the lines of

obesity, depression, impairment in immunity and lower sex drive.

Debating whether or not you should get the necessary amount of sleep should not be a hard decision. When you get

those eight, nine, or ten hours of sleep, your body is able to properly function the next day from returning to

homeostasis after functioning from the day before. However, when that process is interrupted we face the consequences of

that choice. Next time you procrastinate whether or not you want to cut some time out of your sleep to do something else,

think about your options. Either option one, get more sleep, feel good for tomorrow, and manage your time differently, or option

two, get less sleep and increase your risks of severe health problems. Therefore, the better tradeoff you should consider is

getting more sleep.

Works Cited

Daniel Pacheco, Dr. Anis Rahmen. “How Sleep Satisfaction Can Affect Energy Levels.” Sleep Foundation, 8 Jan. 2021, https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene/sleep-satisfaction-and-energy-levels. 

Team, Brain and Spine. “Here's What Happens When You Don't Get Enough Sleep (and How Much You Really Need a Night).” Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, 27 Aug. 2021, health.clevelandclinic.org/happens-body-dont-get-enough-sleep/.

The Lottery is a Scam

 Sophia Brussow

Turning 18 is a milestone for many; you're now not only considered an adult, but you have new responsibilities and

new freedoms. You can vote, you could enlist in the military, you can buy spray paint or fireworks, or you could buy a lottery ticket.

 

In 2017, Americans spent $71.8 billion on the lottery, with such a small window of opportunity to win, is it worth it?

“The $70 billion Americans spend on lottery tickets translates to roughly $230 per person, including children, per year.

That’s a lot of money that’s not being saved for retirement or used to pay off credit card debt.” Amelia Josephson, Smartassest.com. 

Let's say you’re that 1 in 13,983,816 and you win the lottery. The drawing is 515 million dollars, now the Mega Millions

lottery gives you a choice. You can either get the money paid out over 30 years or you get all the money in cash

right here, right now. You take the cash so you can buy a new house, a new car, and maybe a private jet, right? Wrong.

Not all that money is yours, you have to pay taxes first. 

The minute you turn in that winning ticket, the federal government automatically taxes 24% of it, so now you’re left

with $346.3 million whether you take the payout or the cash. After that, if you take the cash option, the federal government

automatically taxes an additional $83 million…now instead of $515 million, you’re left with about $218 million. But

you still have to pay state taxes, these taxes differ depending on the state, but in Wisconsin, the lottery winning tax

is 7.65%. Lottery retailers also receive a small compensation on the tickets they sell, and on winning tickets. In the

end, you are left with around $167 million. From half a billion dollars to a little more than a million. 

Realistically, the odds of winning the lottery are so slim and unfortunately, the odds are never in your favor, for many

people the urge of striving to win the lottery has caused major gambling addictions and has put many families in

more debt. “People with a household income of less than $10,000 a year who play the lottery spend $597 a year

on tickets,” according to the New York Times.  Money that was used to purchase losing lottery tickets, is money that

could’ve been invested and saved. 

The lottery is seen and advertised as an easy way to get rich because all you have to do is buy a $2 ticket and you

could win millions of dollars when in reality, you’re losing millions of dollars. It starts as “I just had to try it.” and turns

into “Maybe this time I’ll win.” It’s so easy to continue to spend dollar after dollar because in the moment $2 feels

like nothing, just some extra cash in your wallet but it adds up quickly. Many people after winning the lottery go into

major debt because they don’t know how to spend money efficiently, beneficially, or correctly. Millions of dollars are

worth nothing if you don’t know how to spend it. Why spend hundreds on the lottery when you could be investing and saving

hundreds to live a comfortable life.  

https://www.moneyunder30.com/why-you-should-never-play-the-lottery

https://www.forbes.com/sites/honeywell/2021/06/22/its-cool-to-be-sustainable-how-next-gen-refrigerants-will-power-the-economy-and-protect-the-environment/?sh=2abeec96479e

https://smartasset.com/taxes/the-economics-of-the-lottery