Is the Cost of Plane Tickets Worth it?

Jenni Mies

Is the Cost of Plane Tickets Worth it?

I’m sure everyone will be happy to hear that spring break is finally almost upon us.  It is the time of year where everyone needs a nice break, especially to a warmer climate. Airlines are competing to fly you to your awaited destination.  As many of us already know, one of the most popular places to vacation during spring break is Florida or more specifically Miami, Florida. Whether you are travelling to a warm or cold climate over break, every year it is a struggle to plan vacations as parents scurry to find reasonable airline and rental car prices.  Some people take what they think to be the less costly option and drive to their vacation destination and others chose the faster route and fly. If travelling to Miami over spring break, I think flying would be the best option. The plane ticket is definitely worth the extra money as you will get their in a less amount of time and you can save on gas mileage.

If you were to take a roadtrip to Miami, you are in the car for many hours. About 22 hours according to fueleconomy.gov. Since Nashville, Tennessee is about the halfway point between Miami and Pewaukee, that’s probably where most people would stop. The hotel for overnight would be another cost that would have to be calculated when planning a trip since you wouldn’t drive 22 hours straight. Food and gas are two other costs that have to be totaled up to find the total price of a vacation. When estimated, just the driving part of the trip would cost an estimated amount of $629.14. That number is only the actual cost of the trip.  In order to find the true cost, you also have to take into account everything else in addition to the money that is given up also known as the opportunity cost.  The forgone opportunity when you drive instead of fly is the total of four days you miss relaxing on the beach since it takes so much longer to drive.

Compared to calculating driving prices, there is a lot less that you have to calculate when planning on flying to Florida. There are really only three things. The actual airline ticket, the car rental and the shorter travel time compared to when you drive.  The airline ticket costs around $315 for a round trip based on the flight prices found on TripAdvisor.  Second, the car rental cost.  With prices found on Hertz Rental, renting a car for a week costs approximately $489.  The total actual costs involved with travelling to Miami by plane adds to a total of $792.  Eventhough travelling by air costs $162.86 more than driving. The flight only takes 3 hours which means more time in Florida soaking up the sun.

Planning a spring break trip can be a hassle however, if you check prices long enough before your trip, you can save money on flights and car rentals.  As shown in the graph above, on average, spring break travel fares are 91% higher on the weeks leading up to Easter (March 22- March 31). Take into consideration when planning your vacation that a flight departing on Tuesdays or Wednesdays can save travelers on average $170 on their tickets.  If you wait until the last minute to plan your spring getaway and still don’t have a flight booked, one way that you might be able to save money is by booking your flight on a certain day (cheapAir.com). Since airlines are oligopolies, their prices are always changing.

There are two choices that you can make, to fly or drive, it all depends on if you want to spend more money and have more time on the beach or spend less money but spend less time on the beach. When in numbers, driving looks like the smarter option. However, if you look at the opportunity side of things, flying looks like the better option to me.

Works Cited

Hertz System, Inc. Hertz Rent a Car. 2017, https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/reservation/#itinerary.

Klee, Jeff. CheapAir. 2017. https://www.cheapair.com/blog/travel-tips/spring-break-flight-deals-are-all-in-the-numbers/.

Trip Advisor LLC. Trip Advisor. 2017,

https://www.tripadvisor.com/CheapFlightsSearchResults-g34438-a_airport0.MKE

a_airport1.MIA.

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0.a-a_travelers.1-Miami_Florida.html.

US News & World Report L.P.. U.S. News & World Report. "The 10 Best Spring Break Destinations." 2017, http://travel.usnews.com/rankings/best-spring-break-destinations/.

The Updated Classic Movie

Amanda Schoenecker

Reuter

Economics

19 March 2017

The Updated Classic Movie

With the pressure of coming out with new movies, Disney decided to produce a remake of Beauty and the Beast which was released on March 17th, 2017. With remakes, there are always modifications from the original which sometimes turn out good, otherwise not so much. At least with this classic plotline, the new remake did exceed consumer expectations compared to the original movie which was released in theatres on September 29th, 1991.  

For those who don’t know the plotline, it’s about a superficial, selfish prince who becomes cursed. The curse makes the prince an ugly beast due to his treatment towards others. In order to reverse the spell, the beast must find true love from a young woman.That’s when Belle, a girl from the village, comes along. She was captured by the beast when trying to save her father and became a prisoner. Eventually, the two fall in love and the curse is broken which is shown by the beast returning to his original looks.

The tradeoff between his behavior and looks was definitely worth it because the opportunity cost was changing his selfishness to kindness which is a positive gain. Of course, the plotline between the old and new film were the same, but there were some changes. The most dramatic change between the two movies was the animation vs. real life depiction. Other than that, there were some minor alterations that weren’t too pertinent.

In terms of economic success, the new movie exceeded the old movie in regards to domestic opening weekend sales. The original had ticket sales of $162,146 compared to the new movie with sales of $174.750,616. Despite the fact that people would have more drawn since they knew the plotline, people still went to see the new version due to the real life depiction and a more modern take on the story.

Part of the higher quality for the new movie could have been due to the factors of production. The new movie had a budget of $100,000,000, while the old movie had a budget of $20,000,000. In addition to the higher budget, there are also more innovative techniques and technologies that allow films to be produced with better features. The difference in quality is shown in the link which is a preview of each movie. Otherwise, the picture demonstrates the variation between the animation and real life characters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U496dSv2k_g

In conclusion, it is a good idea for producers to remake older films because in our free market economy we encourage competition. It is always interesting to watch an older film in a more modern way and compare the two to see which is better. The supply of these movie films will only increase due to the new technological updates which will improve the quality of movies and increase the desire of consumers to watch these films. In my opinion, I think the new version was more intriguing than the original animated film. I may be slightly bias because I typically am not a huge fan of animated movies. It will be interesting to watch more recreations of classic movies in the future.

Works Cited

Erbland, Film / By Kate, Film / By Tim League, Television / By Hanh Nguyen, Film / By Steve Greene, Film / By Jude Dry, Television / By Yoselin Acevedo, Film / By Zack Sharf, Film / By Yoselin Acevedo, and Film / By Eric Kohn. "IndieWire." IndieWire. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

"Movie Comparison: Beauty and the Beast (1991) vs. Beauty and the Beast (2017)." The Numbers. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

"Beauty and The Beast." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

Should we Increase the Price of Water?

Tara-Jane Vanderboom

Mr. Reuter

Economics

21 March 2017

Should We Increase the Price of Water?

There is something that we consumers use in our daily lives that we cannot survive without and that special something is water. The price of water follows the law of supply, as water has such a high demand that suppliers will sell it for an incredibly low price even though it is such a crucial resource. It is interesting to see that we spend so little on water compared to what we spend on other products that aren’t even remotely tied to our survival. It has been debated however, whether or not the price should be increased because of this fact, and also because the low cost is causing series water wastage form most Americans. The opportunity cost of having cheap water is having an increase in the amount of water we waste, as we don’t have to pay significantly for the consequences.

It gets a little overwhelming and surprising when we realize how much water we use in our homes alone. People who live in areas with abundances of water sources don’t usually even think about how much water is being used, but places mostly in the south-west need to be aware when doing the following:

As seen, the amount of water used in homes can vary significantly. If we take a closer look at toilets specifically, it’s a great example of how we add to wasting millions of gallons of water

multiple times a day.  “Older toilets can use 3.5, 5, or even up to 7 gallons of water with every flush.  Federal plumbing standards now specify that new toilets can only use up to 1.6 gallons per flush (GPF), and there are high efficiency toilets that use up to 1.28 GPF” (“Toilet”).

Certain states that have had serious water scarcity problems have made decisions that didn’t change the price of water for their citizens, but rather made them account for the extra water they use. California for example, made it a crime to waste water doing things like hosing a driveway or a sidewalk due to the severe droughts. “Such efforts may be more effective than simply exhorting people to conserve. In August, for example, cities and towns in California consumed much less water — 27 billion gallons less —than in August last year” (Porter). This tactic can be considered to be an indirect way of paying for extra water usage, and the results actually turn out to be helpful. If this significant of progress could be made in one city, then it can be replicated throughout the country.

Because water is in such high demand, it has an inelastic quality because people need water to survive and for our daily activities. The price of water doesn’t actually follow the normal change once it’s in shortage, as we see in California they don’t pay any more than the rest of the country even in times of serious droughts. Should this be the case? Should citizens who happen to live in these water ridden areas have to pay more or should they at least be held accountable when they use more than they need to? Should water wastage be a nationwide crime to further better our water conservation or keep it at the price it is?

Works Cited

“Toilet.” conserveh20.org, http://www.conserveh2o.org/toilet-water-use.

Porter, Eduardo. “The Risks of Cheap Water.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 14 Oct. 2014. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/15/business/economy/the- price-of- water-is-too-low.html?_r=1.

“Let’s Start a Big Bowl Movement Together.” Project Drop-A-Brick, Drop-A-Brick, http://www.projectdropabrick.org/the-second-post/.

Lurie, Julia. “Here's How Much Water Golf Courses, Ski Resorts, and Pools Are Using in California.” Mother Jones, Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress, 3 Aug. 2015. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/05/golf-pools-water- drought-california.  

Spring Golf

Cece Berg

Economics

Mr. Reuter

03/19/2017

Spring Golf

As some may have noticed, snow has been blanketing the United States for awhile now. People frequently ask, “When can I get out on the course?”.  But the real question is, how much does this bipolar weather impact the spring golf season cost wise?

For golf courses and their management team, their opportunity cost is unfortunate as snow disturbs courses in the first place. As it continues to snow during March, the damage repair costs increase.  According to a recent article from KTVZ (Oregon), the owner of Widgi Golf Course questioned if they would even open at all because of the weather. They are usually open by now, however that isn’t the case this year. Infact, below is an image of a pie chart that shows what percentage of revenue goes towards course maintenance.

With the less amount of days that the courses are open, less money is being made. Less money being made, the total revenue is on a fast decrease. Less income only leads to less care for the courses. That generally creates root problems, and only digs courses in a bigger financial issued hole. The loss of money due to the extended winter season is roughly $90,000 on average for one single golf course. Loses for private golf courses are not as significant because they make more in the first place and are able to maintain the course better, however, the weather still causes damages to an extent.  

Due to the weather, courses are looking to open (and stay open) within the next week (late March, early April). The general rule for courses to be open is an expected high of 50 degrees (Fahrenheit) or above. Mother Nature is beginning to balance out, and the temperature is expected to increase closer to the 60s for the midwest, and hopefully 80s for the rest of the United States.

Sources say that subsidies were in fact provided to golf courses as an aid to recover financially. By providing those services, it is easier for the course to fix the damage that was caused. If golf courses weren’t provided the aid, then it could take an extra month to help getting things back on track. Though the whole loss wasn’t recovered, it still made a bigger impact than no money at all.  

Though golf courses are experiencing significant losses, businesses such as snow plowing, Farm & Fleet/ Menards, and etc. are experiencing a higher demand for snow protection supplies, therefore more money is coming in for those specific companies.

It is not a loss for all, but for us golfers, it is pretty upsetting knowing that there’s a delay to getting back to playing. After all, we do bring in a good amount of $1,500,000/year for these courses. The ripple (economic) effect mainly comes from the stuff that courses sell at club houses. Clubhouses typically sell clothing, golf balls, shoes, clubs, etc., so it impacts each company that is involved. If the golf course isn’t making money, others aren’t making any more than what they already do.

Works Cited

Fried, Dani. "Snow's Impact Hits Central Oregon Golf Courses Hard." KTVZ. 16 Mar. 2017. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

"Golf Facility Revenue and Expense Benchmarks." Golf Facility Revenue and Expense Benchmarks. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

Griffin, Jake. "Suburban Golf Courses Losing Money." Daily Herald. 03 Mar. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

"Weather-dependent Companies Try to Stay Busy without Snow." Fox 59. 07 Feb. 2017. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

Fidget Cube

Seth Smith

Mr. Rueter

Economics

3 March 2017

Fidget Cube

Fidget cubes have been very popular over the last few weeks, the fidget cube has 6 sides with something different on each side of the cube. One side has a switch, another with buttons, a indent which you rube to reduce anxiety. The demand for fidget cubes has shot up in the past few months. With only $15,000 to create this strange little cube, their ended their campaign with $6.4 million. Each cube costs $19, but it has many qualities that will have you say, “It’s money well spent.” After a close study of students at PHS who have fidget cubes, I asked them on a scale from 1-to-10, 1 being worst thing ever created, 10 being very useful, I got an answer of a solid 8. It’s a brilliantly useless toy for nervous fiddling.

As the amount of sales of fidget cubes go up, the price increases causing inflation. This little cube will surely affect the microeconomics. Some customers that have a fidget cube want to follow trend. They don’t actually have a problem, they just “want” a fidget cube. When others who do have a nervous fiddling problem, they “need” a fidget cube. When the company, “Kickstarter,” started their campaign, within a week, they blew past their goal of raising $15,000 and settled with 1.4 million.

In the above picture, it explains all the features of the fidget cube and how it helps the consumer relax. Many people wonder why people fidget, They think that it’s a coping mechanism for people with ADD. But according to Roland Rotz and Sarah D. Wright,  “If something we are engaged in is not interesting enough to sustain our focus, the additional sensory-motor input that is mildly stimulating, interesting, or entertaining allows our brains to become fully engaged and allows us to sustain focus on the primary activity in which we are participating.” In other words, the authors think that fidgeting distracts the parts of the brain that become bored so that the other parts can pay attention to what their reading, hearing, or seeing.

The above picture shows a table of what each of the normal fidget items that are used do and how the fidget cube fits all the factors of those items into one. “Pens were a huge inspiration in the design process of Fidget Cube. They are probably one of the most commonly used fidget "tools". We like to see Fidget Cube as more of a fidget ‘toolbox’. You don't have to be constrained to simple clicking, you can pick your poison based on your mood.”(Kickstarter) The fidget cube licks are rolls like a pen would do, it as a indent on one wide to rub your thumb on, just like you would on a worry stone. It has two sides that spin, just like a key ring and it feels cool in your hand.

"Fidget Cube: A Vinyl Desk Toy" Kickstarter. Matthew and Mark McLachlan, n.d. Web. 07 Mar.

2017.

Hullinger, Jessica. "The Science Of Why We Fidget While We Work | Fast Company | The Future

Of Business." Fast Company. Fast Company, 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Wong, Joon Ian. "A toy for fidgety office workers has outraised its goal by millions of dollars on

Kickstarter." Quartz. Quartz, 16 Sept. 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Rising College Costs

Carl Renz

Senior year of high school can be a very fun time, but can also bring a great deal of stress.  It is crucial for high school graduates entering college to pick the right field to go into especially with college costs being so high.  The average student loan debt for a class of 2016 graduate was $37,172. With these steep prices it is very important to find a field of study that will be worth your time and money.  A good way of finding a promising career is to look at the demand for those workers and the amount of people already in the field.  This can be done by simply googling the most in-demand careers on the job market.  An example of an in-demand career is software engineering which is expected to grow 18.1% by 2025.  With such a demand for a certain career and a low supply of people willing to go into it leads to a great marginal benefit.  With a good career choice the opportunity cost of college is worth the opportunity benefit you could earn in salary and job benefits.  However, many people are learning the hard way that a job with a lot of supply (people entering that field) and low demand (people needed in the field) will not be worth the cost of college.  

With a college degree being needed more and more each year colleges are able to charge more due to the demand for a degree.  According to ProCon, “A college graduate with a bachelor’s degree earns $30,000 more per year than a high school graduate, or about $500,000 more over a lifetime.” Colleges know that post high school schooling is needed more and the pressure for people to attend is growing so they are able to rise the cost.  With colleges holding the leverage for pricing it just goes to show how important it is for people to pick a field in high demand.  In the words of the esteemed poet Robert Frost, “Take the road less traveled by, and that will make all the difference.”

Works Cited

"College Education - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. Mar. 2017. http://college-education.procon.org/

Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. Mar. 2017. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/core-poems/detail/44272

Team, IPFW Admissions. "The 5 Most In-Demand Majors for 2017." Advice from Admissions.  Mar. 2017. http://info.ipfw.edu/blog/the-5-most-in-demand-majors-for-2017

"U.S. Student Loan Debt Statistics for 2017." Student Loan Hero. Mar. 2017. https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/

Spring Break

Spring Break

Brooke Basile

The massive migration to warmer cities during the months of march and april, during high school and college student’s spring break weeks is something that occurs every year. While locals may not enjoy the crowded cities and beaches, the local businesses enjoy the massive profits.

Places like Panama City have future expectations of the benefits of spring break, have funded a $400,000 advertising campaign to attract students from their frozen home towns. The suppliers will supply more and more spring break products like swim suits, sunscreen, and hotel rooms, and will be more willing to, since they are expecting the price to go up as these things are more in demand. However, because of competition within similar products produced by different suppliers, the prices of many goods and services have gone down as well.

On the consumer side of it, spring break has become an almost inelastic good. Despite the increasing prices of travel, millions of students do it every year. While some families and students would cancel their plans if it became too expensive, they thousands continue to spend money on it which is why instead of being an elastic good, it has become inelastic. For Panama city, spring breakers bring in one third of the yearly profits to the local businesses.

Works Cited

Kohn, David. "Spring Break Exposed." CBS News. CBS Interactive, 26 Apr. 2002. Web. 21 Mar. 2017. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/spring-break-exposed/>.

Thompson, Derek. "2,000 Years of Partying: The Brief History and Economics of Spring Break." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2017. <https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/03/2-000-years-of-partying-the-brief-history-and-economics-of-spring-break/274347/>.