THANKS, EVERYONE!

Our trimester-long study of Economics has ended. We appreciate all of your thoughtful posts and comments; please check-in with us again next fall!!Meantime, I've selected a post-of-the-month for November from Emily L:

A Boost of Energy

Energy drinks have recently become very popular among today’s society. Although they have become popular, two National League ballparks have attempted to cut off players from having this energy drink or “boost”. The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Houston Astros have decided to not provide energy drinks at their clubhouse for the health of their players. They fear that it’s very bad for the players and could result in something dangerous. As stated in the article, the pitcher for the Houston Astros, Wesley Wright ended up in the emergency room in 2009 because of dehydration and having a few energy drinks before the game. Because of incidents like these, these two ballparks are trying to have their players make trade-offs by choosing other alternatives and not providing it at their clubhouses. Although they can’t stop the players from drinking the energy drink, they’re hoping players will decide to think at the margin when making the decision to keep drinking energy drinks. The marginal costs could lead to something bad for the health of the individual player, while the marginal benefit could be something good such as actually giving them the boost of energy that they need to play with.

Project Deadlines - Part 1

By November 1st:
1. Each student will publish blog posts #2 and #3. (Log posts for credit.)
2. Each student will post THREE comments. (Log comments for credit.)
3. Each student will choose "deadline days" (M, T, W, Th, or F).

NOTE: Students must respond to all comments about their blog posts.

Soft Deadlines for Weeks One and Two

By the week of September 19:
1. Each student will publish blog post #1 at class blog. (Log post for credit.)
2. Each team will share Google Spreadsheet details with Mr. O.

By the week of September 12:
1. Each class section will develop its blog site.
2. Each team will set up its Google Spreadsheet.
3. Each student will write comment #1 - about a post in Oakridge Econ Blogs. (Find students' work by following links to Groups 1-4)
4. Each student will log comment #1 at team's Google Spreadsheet.

Vision Statement

As students learn ways of thinking that are common to the study of micro and macro economics, I am hopeful that they will develop a 'mindset' for thinking about current affairs using the basic vocabulary of economics. This blog project, then, is an effort to create space and apply course work to analyze current affairs.

I'm excited about engaging students in authentic conversations about economics regarding issues and ideas that are both meaningful and relevant to them. I'm hoping this project will be 'messy' and improvisational... and in the process students and I will learn from each other.

We invite you to join our conversations: read our posts and comment on our ideas: engage us, challenge us, and learn with us.

Featured Post of the Month (June)

Toyota Quarterly Profits Drop; Recovery Expected
by Santi Z.

According to a BBC article, “Toyota Motors' profits plummeted by 77% in the last quarter because of disruption caused by March's earthquake. “ Reports say that profits fell to $315.5 million USD between January and March. The drop is caused due to a shortage of parts caused by the earthquake. They claim that by July production will start increasing but that it will not recover until the end of the year. Toyota Motors is currently having a shortage. Thought eh demand remains the same or probably even higher, the company is unable to supply the quantity demanded causing disequilibrium. During this time of the shortage Toyota will losing customers to competitors creating a substantial loss of profit for the company. But as well over the time of their shortage, demand will build up, as more and more consumer want to purchase a car from Toyota. This build up of demand will eventually benefit the company in the future when they are able to supply the quantity demanded. Over the next few months their production will pick up and the factory will start being able to supply more cars, witch eventually will put their market back in equilibrium and some of their profit will be made up by the excess demand during the shortage.

Featured Post of Month (May)

Facebook's Next Economic Move?
by Lizzie S.

Facebook will begin paying users 10 cents if they will watch certain ads. Users will be paid in “Facebook Credits” which will yield about 10 cents per ad. The Facebook credits can be redeemed to purchase goods on Facebook Deals. Facebook Deals is a program similar to Groupon. It is hard to determine whether or not this will be enough of an initiative to motivate users to view ads. Watching an ad can take a long time and 10 cents is not very much money. Although these ads are time consuming Dan Greenberg, CEO of Sharethrough, (the company making these ads), claims that the ads will be more than entertaining. So maybe the entertainment factor will be more of an incentive for users to be motivated to watch these ads. If the popularity of these ads increase the products being advertised will also increase in demand. This is a smart move made by Facebook because they will recieve a lot of revenue from the ad company because the ad company must pay Facebook in order for them to show their ads. It is too early to determine how smart of a move it was for the Sharethrough to pay Facebook to show their ads. The success of their ads will be determined based on whether the entertainment supplied by these ads and 10 cent yield will be enough of an initiative for Facebook users to want to watch the ads. If this new innovative ad idea has a successful outcome, (sucessful, meaning many people watch the ads) than it will be extremely beneficial for the company. If ads offer a good enough initiative for people than the products being advertised will increase in demand dramatically. Since Facebook is such a highly populated website, when the popularity of the ad increases the demand for the product advertised will be extremely widespread.

Featured Post of the Week (4/15)

H&M Store Openings Worldwide
by Kate M.

Shopping in Dallas, as well as many other locations around the world, is about to change. In a difficult economic time sticker shock has been a common reaction to clothing prices. As people are more sensitive and conscious about how they spend their money it is likely that expensive clothes is not on many lists of inelastic goods. However, it is common nature for one to want to look presentable and while girls do love to shop they don’t want to sacrifice their style for the unstylish, yet cheaper, substitutes. Therefore it becomes frustrating when prices push desirable clothes too far out of reach. The continuous expansion of H&M openings worldwide will allow shoppers access to the clothes they want without having to break the bank and allow stylish clothes to be within reach. As a result of H&M’s lower prices they are likely to receive more business because they are offering great merchandise at a lower cost, which is the consumer’s ultimate goal. North park, the future home of the newest H&M store, is likely to make a great profit off of the new addition. The combination of tough economic times and North park’s more typical high-end stores can only result in an outcome of slow business. H&M’s quality merchandise at lower prices should help to bring customers back to the mall and begin to liven the shopping experience again.