RS The End

I think my quality of work has improved throughout my time in this course and I think that is because some of the economic concepts and ways of thinking we have learned in this course. I am impressed with the improvements I think I have made with my writing and with my way of thinking. I think economic concepts like getting the most out of your resources and other concepts we have learned are applicable in real life and can help me going forward. I am happiest about the work I did with the blog posts and the interview project but I found most of the blog post topics very interesting and I really enjoyed the interview project too. It is much easier to do something and do it well when you are genuinely interested in the topic. I felt that way about a lot of what we did in this class.

Although I was very interested in the subject matter of this course, I felt I could have had a better approach to the tests. I like the format of the tests because you keep what is going to be on the tests a secret, and the emphasis is on us to prepare and do a good job. I think I sometimes took the take home format for granted, especially on the first one, but after that one you gave us some tips and ideas that kind of woke me up a bit. Although I didn't do too bad on them, I could have taken a better approach.

I don't think I can retain all of the ideas learned in this course but I don't think it will be too difficult to retain some of the main ideas we have learned. Money is a popular topic of discussion these days and we are thinking about and interacting with it everyday as we make decisions with it. As long as that is the case I think I will retain some of the things I have learned, because those money decisions will give me the opportunity to put those economic ideas into practice.

I think the way I can become a genius is by taking in as much information about the world as possible, but an important part of that is that you have to learn how to apply it to the world. Its good to know a lot of information about a lot of things, but if you can't do anything with it, then it doesn't have much use to you. I think you can become a genius by learning a lot and by applying what you have learned to the real world.

I really really enjoyed this class and Micro when I took it last year and I think I will be able to retain and use some of the things I have learned in the future.

RS The Interview Project Reaction

I enjoyed this assignment a lot because I am a fan of history and it was very interesting to me to see just how much the way we deal with money has changed over the years. I don't think it has changed too drastically since I have been alive but my mother and grandmother have been alive for much longer than I have and they have been alive to see much more drastic changes.

I liked asking the questions that related to specific events or prices. My grandmother was a little girl when the Great Depression hit, so it was very interesting to listen to her account of that because it was a real life account of one of the most devastating events in our history. It was very cool to hear her say things like, they could go to the movies for a nickel or buy food for a quarter and things like that. I can't believe how different the scale of money was back then.

It was even surprising listening to some of the things my mom said because the scale was much different when she was growing up too. She remembers buying gas for one dollar or so and going to the movies for a few cents. I cant believe how much it has changed since they were growing up but I really enjoyed talking to them and learning their perspectives about the questions we asked.

The way we deal with money has changed so much over the years and also perspectives on society have changed a lot too. I am related to both of the people I interviewed, but our answers didn't always match up and sometimes they were very different. It was interesting to interview these people to hear their take on how far we've come and how we have gotten there. I also think we picked very good questions for this assignment because they covered a lot of details. Overall I really enjoyed this assignment.

RS The Interview Project

The people I interviewed were myself(21), my mom Rosemarie Graziano(56) and my Grandmother Julia Graziano(86)

The government should regulate the economy:

Me: Agree

RG: Agree

JG: Strongly Disagree

Politics has a major influence on the economy:

Me: Agree

RG: Agree

JG: Agree

Everyone should take an economics class in high school:

Me: Agree

RG: Agree

JG: Agree

Banks should be government owned:

Me: Neutral

RG: Disagree

JG: Disagree

The government bailouts worked:

Me: Agree

RG: Neutral

JG: Neutral

Local government should have more control:

Me: Neutral

RG: Disagree

JG: Agree

We should invade Iran:

Me: Strongly Disagree

RG: Strongly Disagree

JG: Disagree

In 6 months the economy will be better than today:

Me: Agree

RG: Agree

JG: Neutral

I am well informed about economic news:

Me: Agree

RG: Neutral

JG: Neutral

The recession personally affected me:

Me: Agree

RG: Agree

JG: Disagree

In your lifetime, what city that you are familiar with has changed the most (both positive and negative)?

Me: My home town and the surrounding towns have changed in my lifetime. I live in Scotch Plains New Jersey and especially since the most recent economic trouble, it has changed because a lot of places and business that I grew up with were forced to change or move over time or because of the recession.

RG: Astoria NY has changed a lot because there are a lot more young people living there then there were in the past because those people work in the city and have found that it is a good place to commute from. Also, the stores and neighborhood atmosphere has become more trendy and modern.

JG: NY City, I live there and it has changed for the positive because I think it has gotten more diverse. I think it is an easier place to live than in the past. Overall it has changed for the positive.

In your opinion, what president had the biggest positive impact on the economy? Why?

Me: I don’t really know a lot about the presidents that have been there since I was alive because for most of the time I never understood the economy but I think it was FDR because the economy has never been worse when it was during the Great Depression and FDR stopped the bleeding and got it turned around and on the upswing again.

RG: I think it would be Clinton because it seemed like there were more people working and the government and industries seemed to be in a better place when he was President.

JG: I think Reagan or Clinton, there were more jobs available and when you have a job the economy seems better. It was much easier for me to get a job then it is for people to find jobs today.

What is your first memory of a major economic event impacting your life?

Me: The only major economic event I have a lot of memories of is the recession of 2008 because I was old enough to experience it and understand what was happening.

RG: The most recent recession has affected our family because it has caused us to keep a closer eye on our savings and we have also lost some money because of the poor market conditions and the bad environment

JG: The Great Depression, I was around 10 years old and I can remember people standing on corners begging for money. A lot of what is shown in movies is pretty real and accurate and people were desperate.

How do you get economic news? How has this changed over your life?

Me: I get economic news mostly through the internet and TV. It has changed throughout my life because our society is much more connected and media savvy these days so news spreads much quicker.

RG: I get the news pretty much the same way I always have, which is from the radio and from the news on TV.

JG: I get it mostly from TV and from the newspaper. It has changed because there wasn’t always the TV so the most consistent source has been the newspaper.

What is your definition of economics (when you hear the word economy or economics what do you think about)?

Me: When I think about economics or the economy I think about the everyday interaction between people in a society and their dealings with money and transactions throughout society.

RG: I think of jobs and the way people spend money and interact with each other. I think a lot about buying and selling and jobs.

JG: I think economics is the management of money, how it is used and spent and what you get from it.

How do you deal will rising prices e.g. substitute cheaper brand, stop buying? Any examples?

Me: Rising prices have definitely caused me to pay more attention to what I am buying and whether or not I need some of the things I am buying. It has also caused me to pay more attention to prices and how to search for good deals when shopping. When shopping for food I search for deals like 2 for 1 or things like that instead of always going for a name brand which is usually more expensive. I definitely pay more attention to these things now that prices have risen recently.

RG: Lately, we are spending less time in local markets and going to wholesale clubs and buying in bulk because there is better value and even though you spend more, you get more for it. Also there are more options and cheaper brands at places like that but the quality is not a problem and it lasts longer so you have to shop less often.

JG: I think it forces me to focus more on buying what you need and not buying as many extravagant things. Also you look for more opportunities to get more value for your money.

What product or service has most changed over your lifetime?

Me: Buying gas has changed a lot and also the movies have changed a lot as well. The price of gas has changed a lot and that industry is always under the microscope these days. The movies have gotten much more expensive in my lifetime and they are also changing the way they do things too because some movie theatres are trying to offer more amenities and food options now, even if they have to charge more for admission.

RG: Gas because it used to be so so cheap and now the prices are out of control, the cost of owning a car in general has increased a lot.

JG: The cost of housing has changed a lot because my apartment used to be $68 a month and the cost of housing is so different now than it was. The value of money has changed a lot.

How do you handle saving and how has this changed?

Me: I keep a close eye on my bank account and smart phone apps and more media options have helped me to do that these days. Whenever I get a paycheck or money from a special occasion I deposit most of it into my account and only carry a little for spending, that way I save most of it and don’t blow it on unnecessary stuff.

RG: Saving has become a lot more complicated because there are so many different ways to save money and back when I was younger there weren’t as many options to put money into

JG: The way we deal with money has changed a lot; there are a lot of different things such as 401Ks, CDs and other options like that. Also, there are more people than ever playing the stock market and when I was younger that seemed like something only the wealthiest people did.

What was the price of gas when you got your first car?

Me: The price of gas when I started driving was around $2 a gallon or a little over, I don’t remember exactly but it was around 3 or 4 years ago so it was before the prices got really out of hand like they are these days.

RG: The cost of a gallon of gas when I first started traveling a lot was $1.25, I got my license in 1973 but I didn’t drive consistently until 1980.

JG: I don’t remember exact prices and I never bought my own gas because I never owned my own car, but I remember the prices being well below $1

What was your wage at your first job?

Me: My wage at my first job was around $7.50 an hour, so right around minimum wage.

RG: At my first full time job at a bank I was making about $98 every 2 weeks. I was working 40 hours a week. 

JG: My wage at my first job was $17 per week; I worked at an insurance company. It was a lot of money to me in that day and overall dealing with money was a completely different world back then.

RS: Your Choice

This podcast talked about a few important economic points. The first thing they explained that interested me was about Country Wide and their tendency to give people and their own employees bad loans. I thought it was really awful how they said that Country Wide used a lot of different tactics to get their employees to agree to bad loans. Another interesting part of this was the part about favorability survey they did. This survey produced pretty alarming favorability numbers for bosses and supervisors. Something that was probably related to those numbers was that Country Wide had an extremely high employee turnover rate, with a lot of employees leaving within a year. I thought it was kind of funny how they compared Country Wide to the Titanic. It was all good at first and then all of a sudden there was a thud and things start to go down.

The other part of this that interested me was the part about the employee ethics hotlines and the story about a few specific employees who used these hotlines and then payed for it afterward because they were either fired or reprimanded because they used it. It is dishonest of these large corporations to have something to make their employees feel safe like that if they are only going to punish them for using it. I know it all about making money for these large corporations but I think they should at least be forward and honest with their employees because it will only benefit them. T

There are things in this podcast that are pretty shocking and damning to large corporations. People these days are becoming more aware of these sorts of things and there are more governing bodies and rules to pay attention to, so if companies are still doing these sorts of things they will have to get their acts together. It is not right that large corporations are doing these sorts of things to their employees but if they continue to, it will only hurt them in the long run.

RS Regulators Mount Up: The Warning

I think this story shows how foolish and careless we were being with our spending. The wall street elites were so confident in what they were doing that they felt they did not even need to consider the proposals and repeated warnings of lesser known players on Wall Street. The elite players and big spenders felt like they could trust without question, the opinions and predictions of people like Alan Greenspan, because he had been around for a while and was pretty successful. However, it was really foolish of them not to look into the warnings of Brooksley Born and her agency.

There were warnings before and after Born arrived to take on OTC derivatives. The OTCs were very complicated and not everyone understood what they were. This was evidenced when Banker's Trust pretty much scammed Proctor and Gamble with them and cost them millions of dollars. After Born starts to take on OTCs, she tries extremely hard to get them regulated and takes on all the heavy hitters of Wall Street and Washington at the time. They tore her apart in the media to try and take away her credibility and was defeated in Washington in her efforts to get OTCs regulated. I thought it was funny that one of the people being interviewed said that most people fighting against her couldn't explain what a derivative was but the powers that be in Washington trusted these people. Instead of just blindly trusting these people, the powers that be in Washington and Wall Street should have done more research because then they might have foreseen the danger that Born did.

After she was shot down it did not take long for her warnings to come true. A powerful hedge fund was melting down due to their use or misuse and lack of knowledge on OTCs. This was what she was warning about because, due to the OTCs and LTCM's position in the market, the whole economy was at risk. Although they were able to save LTCM, the should have acted there and moved to regulate OTCs. The powers that be deemed in an anomaly and the OTCs continued to go unregulated. This left the economy open to danger and financial crisis and that came ten years after the initial scare.

The financial crisis of 2008 was in large part because of the lack of regulation on Wall Street and because of this and Alan Greenspan's stubbornness with policies, the market fell and Greenspan's long standing reputation was disgraced. They should have acted years earlier to stop the inevitable fall but thanks to the cockiness and stubbornness of a few, they did not and we are still paying for it today.

RS Regulators Mount Up: Commanding Heights

I like how this documentary started from a very early point of history and uses the course of time to explain the growth and evolution of economics locally and globally. The beginning saw a lot of growth with the advancement in technologies of communication and transportation. This took the economy to a global scale for the first time. This hard work and advancement was torn apart by WWI where countries took sides and although there was a winner and a loser, world powers were devastated and a new economic system emerged from the rubble. Communism sought to do away with capitalism and brought about a new way of thinking based on a classless social order centered around production. Vladimir Lenin said that this system was based on the "Commanding Heights" of the economy, which was the major industries. Communism was an interesting take on how to operate an economy in the post WWI world but ultimately it did not work out for the countries using it at the time.

I thought an interesting note in this video was the part about hyper inflation in Germany and Austria following the devastation of the war. These countries were forced to pay serious reparations for their involvement in WWI. Because they had to pay these reparations, they printed more money and the result was hyper inflation. This greatly drove down the value of their money and greatly increased the price level. It was ridiculous to hear them say that every day items cost millions and billions of Marks. Since inflation is something we talk about pretty frequently these days, that was really interesting and eye catching to me because that level of inflation is about as extreme as it gets.

A topic that has always been interesting to me has been the time period and the cause of the Great Depression. During the 20s Europe was suffering, but Americans were spending like crazy and treating themselves to lavish items and buying a lot of stock. All of the buying created a bubble and when the bubble burst the crash was unstoppable. The value in everything was gone and people lost their jobs and all of their money, which prevented them from spending or earning money. Unemployment was huge and the government could not do anything to remedy the situation until FDR took over as president and implemented several radical new policies to get people working and earning again. John Maynard Keynes was given a lot of credit for creating a lot of the economic statistics and systems that we use today and for analyzing the crash to educate governments on how to avoid it in the future

It wasn't until WWII came along that the economy jump started again. The need for massive amounts of supplies got the economy going again and got people working, earning and spending again. I think it is funny that a problem that started in the aftermath of a huge war, was solved by the out break of a second great war. It is a part of economics that I will always find interesting because of the way it was able to correct itself.

RS: Not Everything Sucks

These two videos contained very interesting and enlightening facts about our world today and where we're heading for the future and they also were also uplifting and put a positive spin on some of the struggles that we are enduring. They made good points to show that it isn't all bad and that there is a ton of hope for the future. Hans Rosling's video showed where we came from in terms of health and wealth. There has been a slow and steady growth all of the world, some countries faster than others, but now a lot of countries are in a good place and if we continue on the pace we are on, a lot more countries will get there too.

Peter Diamandis' video did a good job of illustrating that, although we are struggling over some of resources right now, there is plenty of hope for the future and that we could very well have an abundance of resources that we are struggling with today. The combination of technology and greater inter connectivity among people throughout the world can eventually lead us to an abundance of resources. A new generation of billions of people is growing and will eventually be connected to the rest of the world. This will help to infuse the global economy with trillions of dollars. Advances in technology will help us with water and energy shortages. New technology has helped us to develop equipment for cheap water purification. Technology like this can be applied all over the world. We are also on track to develop incredibly cheap solar energy. New technology and impending inter connectivity all over the world can help us to get to a place of great accomplishments and to a place where a lot of our concerns about resources are solved.

These videos did a good job of showing us that we have hope for the future and that, although we have problems, we have ways of solving them and moving into a productive new age all over the world.