Sunday, February 21, 2010

Under 21? Getting a credit card just got tougher


In the past, everyone on campus was trying to give you a credit card. It looks like that is about to change. Is this a good idea or not?

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Economics!

A College professor came up with this acronym for remembering the basics of Economics. Pick a letter and expand on it based on what you have learned about Economics so far.

Ten Key Principles in Economics


Everything has a cost. There is no free lunch. There is always a trade-off.

Cost is what you give up to get something. In particular, opportunity cost is cost of the tradeoff.

One More. Rational people make decisions on the basis of the cost of one more unit (of consumption, of investment, of labor hour, etc.).

iNcentives work. People respond to incentives.

Open for trade. Trade can make all parties better off.

Markets Rock! Usually, markets are the best way to allocate scarce resources between producers and consumers.

Intervention in free markets is sometimes needed. (But watch out for the law of unintended effects!)

Concentrate on productivity. A country’s standard of living depends on how productive its economy is.

Sloshing in money leads to higher prices. Inflation is caused by excessive money supply.

!! Caution: In the short run, falling prices may lead to unemployment, and rising employment may lead to inflation.

Monday, February 01, 2010

An Economic Mystery


Alright, AP students… you are economics detectives and you’ve been assigned your first case. The mystery is thus: how can decreasing demand cause prices to go up? In chapter three, we are reading about product markets, the interaction of supply and demand, and market equilibrium price and quantity. You’ve read that prices are affected by the interaction of supply and demand. Clearly, if demand for a product rises, prices should go up unless supply increases a certain amount. On the other hand, if demand falls, then prices should fall unless supply falls at the same time.
So what’s happening in the article above? The headlines seems to proclaim an economic impossibility is occurring: as demand falls, prices rise! How is this possible? Is it? Is the market for apartments in the D.C. area defying the laws of demand and supply? Read the article and see if you can solve this economic mystery!