After Hours·5,453 discussions

Supply & Demand

Locked

blog root

Topic

ECN 200 – Catalina HS – Workshop 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name:
Economics 201
Catalina H.S.
Assignment for Market Workshop ? March 30, 2005

In this workshop we will discuss how the voluntary interactions of people within the market result in the production of the goods and services that society wants and needs. Attendance at the workshop is optional and those who choose not to attend can still earn up to

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 MCHS – Homework 9

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200

Homework 9
Assigned April 5, 2005
Due April 12, 2005

Read the attached article, entitled More Aid? Sounds Great; But Wait, by Judy Shelton form the February 15, 2002edition of the Wall Street Journal, page A-16 (ISSN: 00999660) and answer the questions below. NOTE: copies of the article are available on-line at:

Wall Street Journal Online (subscription required)

Tucson Pima

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 MVHS – Homework 10

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200

Homework 10
Assigned April 12, 2005
Due April 19, 2005

1 (10 points) Assume there are two people in the class who are excellent students and have received ‘A’s’ in every class they have taken. Everyone in the class, except the instructor, knows that these two students are intelligent and put a lot of effort into study. Both of these straight ‘A’ students are carrying a full

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 MVHS – Homework 11

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200

Homework 11
April 19, 2005

1. (6 points) Explain what the game “Prisoner’s Dilemma” is and what it explains about prisoner’s decision making when in the game situation.

2. (6 points) Explain what will happen if firms in a monopolistic competitive industry are earning positive profits.

3. (5 points) Discuss the important provisions of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 MVHS – Homework 12

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200

Homework 12
April 26, 2005

1. (8.5 points) What would make the demand for labor more elastic?

2. (8.5 points) A local cable company, the sole provider of cable television service, is regulated by the municipal government. The owner of the company claims that she is normally opposed to regulation by government, but asserts that regulation is necessary because local residents

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 MVHS – Homework 13

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200

Homework 13
May 3, 2005

1. (8.5 points) How can discrimination cause differences in earnings? Can discrimination also influence the productivity of a worker? Explain.

2. (8.5 points) Explain how the optimal quantity of air pollution is determined.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 Assignment 6

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Summer 2005
Assignment 6

Read the article Imports? Never! and answer the following questions.

1 (10 Points) According to the author, which of the two scenerios ? cheap foreign imports or expensive foreign imports (with “cheap” and “expensive” being relative to domestic American prices for these products) are bad for the U.S. economy? Why?

2 (10 Points) What does the author

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 Assignment 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Summer 2005
Assignment 5

Click here or contact instructor for Reducing Poverty by Reducing Government article.
1 (10 Points) According to the author, how would the poor benefit if the minimum wage laws were repealed?

2 (10 Points) What “pro union” legislation does the author call for to be repealed? Describe the legislation and how its repeal would help the poor.

3 (10

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 Take Home Test 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Test 4
Summer 2005

Multiple Choice (5 points each):

1. A profit maximizing cartel should produce where:

(a) price equals average cost.
(b) marginal cost equals average cost.
(c) price equals marginal cost.
(d) marginal revenue equals demand.
(e) marginal cost equals marginal revenue.

2. A

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 Assignment 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Summer 2005
Assignment 4

1 (1 Point Each) Clearly define each of the following terms:

– FIXED INPUT

– VARIABLE INPUT

– LONG RUN

– SHORT RUN

2 (7 Points) What is accounting profit and how does it differ from economic profit?

3 (7 Points) What is economic profit and how does it act to get producers to produce the type and amount of products that consumers desire?

4 (7

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 Assignment 3

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Summer 2005
Assignment 3
1 (5 points) Supply side economic theory is discussed in Chapters 11 and 14. Explain what Supply Side Theory is all about.

2 (5 points) Explain how fractional reserve banking enables a bank to create money.

Read the article below entitled Ronald Regan and the Spirit of Free Enterprise
3 (10 points) According to the article why does the lowering of tax

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 Take Home Test 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Summer 2005
Exam 2

Multiple Choice 5 points each.

1. The view that unemployment will become increasingly severe as machinery is substituted for labor is most closely associated with:

a. Say.
b. Keynes.
c. Mill.
d. Marx.
e. Smith.

2. The use of government spending and taxes for stabilization purposes is known as:

a. unemployment compensation.
b. fiscal policy.
c. budget

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 Assignment 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Summer 2005
Assignment 2
Each question below is worth 10 points. A bonus of 20 points is built into the assignment (i.e., the assignment is worth a total of 50 points but answering all the questions correctly will result in a score of 70 points.)

Click here for the article entitled Lord Keynes and Say’s Law
1 What is Say’s Law?

2 Mises says that Keynes did not offer a major new

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 Take Home Exam 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Test 1
Summer 2005

MULTIPLE CHOICE – 4 POINTS EACH

1. Use the graph above in answering this question. Suppose that 4 million tractors wear out each year. If society chooses point A as this year’s output combination , than this year’s food output will be 8 million tons, and at the end of the year:

a. there will be 4 million more tractors than at the beginning of the year.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 Assignment 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Summer 2005
Assignment 1
Read the article entitled “The True Spirit of Enterprise” by Don Mathews and then answer the following questions: (NOTE: copy of article can be obtained from instructor)

Each question below worth 10 points:

1. Explain what the author means when he says that the statement “The spirit of enterprise is nothing more than the spirit of greed.” is wrong. Why,

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 – Summer 2005 Telecourse Syllabus

In reply to Supply & Demand

ECN 200 Telecourse Syllabus

Course Information:
Course Prefix/Number: ECN 200 Course Title: Basic Principles of Economics
Semester: 200530 Summer 2005 CRN (Section Code): 31249 Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: None Estimated Study Time: 120 hours/semester
Course Web Pages:
http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/ (Blog for Course)

This post originally appeared on an external website

Are Child Labor Laws Still Needed?

In reply to Supply & Demand

Periodically I include a question on an assignment or test that asks the student to state an opinion on some economic issue and back it up with facts. I don’t care which side of the issue they take so long as they defend their position with facts.

For one of my classes last semester I followed a question about the Factory Acts passed by the British Parliament in the mid-19th century with this

This post originally appeared on an external website

The Candle in the Window

In reply to Supply & Demand

Memorial Day 2005

Nestled among the rolling hills of Western New York State lie a series of shimmering lakes known as the Finger Lakes, so named because they look like the five fingers of a had laying on the landscape.

Of the five, Canandaigua, a long, slender lake with rolling hills rising from either side, is the one nearest to my heart. My great-aunt Helen and her husband, my great-uncle Walt had a summer cottage along the eastern shore of the lake and I have many fond memories of the Saturdays we spent visiting my Aunt Helen and Uncle Walt during the summers of my childhood.

The city of Canandaigua lies about 35 miles southeast of Rochester. Today the trip between Canandaigua can be made in thirty minutes or less. However, when I was a child, the trip took considerably longer due to the lack of freeways.

The return trip on Saturday evening also had a treat for us. Although fatigued from a day of swimming, climbing the apple tree behind the cottage and hiking up the narrow dirt road, lined with wild blackberry and raspberry bushes, that led up the hill above the lake, we always managed to stay awake as the car made its way back home. When we reached the residential part of Canandaigua’s Main St. we eagerly looked out the windows on the right side of the car seeking a glimpse of the house with the candle in the window.

The story of the house with the candle in the window was well known throughout the area in those days. My parents and Aunt and Uncle told us the story but it was also written up in the paper periodically as it made a great human interest piece.

Decades earlier, among the thousands of young men from our part of the Empire state who set out for France shouting the slogan Lafayette here we come!, was the young man who had grown up in that house. Along with prayers for his safe return, his parents lit candle and placed it in their front window each evening ? a symbolic beacon to help him find his way home even in the dark of night. Nearly a half a century later, as we drove home from our Saturday outings, the candle still glowed brightly in the window of that home as that young man’s aging parents continued the vigil that began with their son’s departure.

By then the candle had ceased to be a beacon lighting the way for the son’s return and had instead become a symbol of a parents’ love for a son who had given his life for his country.

Of all the monuments and memorials that I have seen, this is the one that has left the biggest impression. With that single candle glowing in the window, night after night, year after year, decade after decade, the family kept alive the memory of their beloved son. Over the years thousands passed that solitary candle glowing in the window and, if only for a moment, shared with the family the human cost of keeping our nation free.

Click Here for Poem “In Flanders Fields”

This post originally appeared on an external website

Why Gasoline Prices are Falling – Somewhat

In reply to Supply & Demand

You may have noticed that gasoline prices have been falling noticeably in recent days. The reason for this drop is due to the change in seasons. During the warm summer months people tend to drive and travel more than during the winter. Also, during the warm summer months there is very little demand for heating oil. Thus, at this time of year, oil refineries reduce production of heating oil and increase the production of gasoline. This increase in the supply of gasoline, ceteris paribus, leads to a drop in its price.

Oil, like any other raw material that is extracted from the ground, is of no use to consumers. Only after the crude oil has been transformed (through the refining process) does it become a good that consumers can use. Oil refineries can convert crude oil into a number of different petroleum products but, for our purposes here, we will discuss just two ? gasoline and heating oil. These are the two products that consumers directly consume most frequently.

During the winter months the demand for heating oil increases sharply as consumers in cold northern climates use it to heat their homes. At the same time, the cold, ice and snow make driving more difficult so people tend to travel less which leads to a reduction in the demand for gasoline. Therefore, during the winter oil refineries devote more capacity to the production of heating oil and less to gasoline. This can be illustrated by the production possibilities curve depicted below.

An oil refinery is limited by its size, number of workers, etc. as to how much crude oil it can refine per day/week/month. Given that the refinery is physically capable of refining only so much crude oil in a given period the owners of the refinery are forced to choose between producing gasoline or heating oil. They can produce both but to increase the production of heating oil in the period they must reduce the amount of gasoline produced and vice versa. This illustrates the concept behind the production possibilities curve perfectly.

How do owners of refineries decide how much of each product to produce? The answer is simple ? their customers, the consumers tell them. As winter approaches people drive less ? the roads are not as good due to winter conditions and, with children in school, people with children tend to reduce their leisure travel. The result is a reduction in the demand for gasoline which, ceteris paribus, leads to a fall in price. At the same time, the cold weather forces people to turn up the heat in their homes which results in an increase in demand for heating oil and a corresponding increase in the price of heating oil. Owners and managers of oil refineries respond by producing less of the lower priced gasoline and more of the higher priced heating oil.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Why Gasoline Prices are Falling – Somewhat

In reply to Why Gasoline Prices are Falling – Somewhat

Since heating oil is virtually identical to diesel fuel, why do the government and the oil companies keep telling us that if we buy more diesel cars in order to improve our fuel economy, the refineries won’t be able to keep up with demand? We use heating oil–which is not taxed like motor fuel–and they have to dye it red to keep us from quietly siphoning it into our old Mercedes. Now you tell me that the refineries can switch back and forth from the one to the other as needed?

Economics 200 Telecourse Syllabus

In reply to Supply & Demand

PimaCommunityCollege
Community Campus

ECN 200 Telecourse Syllabus
Course Information:
Course Prefix/Number: ECN 200 Course Title: Basic Principles of Economics
Semester: 200610 Fall 2005 CRN (Section Code): 10072 Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: None Estimated Study Time: 120 hours/semester
Course Web Pages:
http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/ (Blog for Course)
http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com (Instructor’s Web Site)
http://pub23.bravenet.com/calendar/show.php?usernum=1971912999 (Calendar)

Instructor Information:
Name: Chuck Nugent
US Mail: Pima Community College
Community Campus
401 N. Bonita Ave.
Tucson AZ 85709
Voice Mail: (520) 206-6419
E-mail: nugentwork@yahoo.com
Availability: By Appointment

Instructional Materials:
Required Text: Mansfield and Behravesh: Economics U$A (6th Edition), W.W. Norton & Co., (ISBN 0-393-97621-1)
OPTIONAL Text: Sondgeroth, Telecourse Study Guide of Economics USA, W.W. Norton & Co (ISBN 0-393-97650-5)

Note: Textbooks are available at the West Campus Bookstore (2202 W. Anklam Rd.) in the telecourse section and other academic bookstores in town. The PCC Bookstore can be accessed and books ordered via the Internet at http://www.Pima.bkstr.com. (See Instructor’s Home Page or Blog for other on-line sources for purchasing the text).
Videotapes are available for viewing at any of the PCC campus libraries but may be checked out ONLY at the Community Campus Support Services Center. Bring your PCC picture ID.

First Broadcast: Week of August 24, 2005 (Semester Starts August 24, 2005)
Broadcast Schedule: Broadcast dates and times depend on your cable supplier and whether your TV is cable ready or uses a conversion box. See PCC TV broadcast schedule for specific information

On Campus Sessions: Attendance at these sessions is strongly encouraged but not mandatory!
Introductory Session: Wednesday, September 7th, 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus
Review for Midterm Exam: Wednesday, October 26thth, 5:30-6:30 pm, Community Campus
Review for Final Exam: Wednesday, November 30th, 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus

Please check lobby marquee for room assignment

Course Description: This course is designed to provide the student with an introduction to the ?ECONOMIC WAY OF THINKING?. The course will provide an overview of economic systems, microeconomics, macroeconomics and the international economy. Students will be exposed to how economics is used to analyze and predict the behavior of businesses, consumers and governments with regard to the allocation and use of society?s scarce resources. The ?old? industrial economy will be compared and contrasted with the ?new? information based economy that is emerging today. Finally, students will be made aware of how economic factors influence their lives as consumers, producers, employees, employers, taxpayers and citizens.
Course Objectives: Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
1.Define scarcity, microeconomics and macroeconomics, economic theory and economic policy, factors of production, production possibilities model, and opportunity cost.
2.Explain a market and the Invisible Hand Doctrine. Understand Mises Concept of ?Human Action?; Compare and contrast market economy with government-planned economy.
3.State and illustrate the law of demand, law of supply; equilibrium price and quantity, shift variables for demand and supply; price elasticity of demand and supply: circular flow model.
4.Discuss sources and uses of household income, legal forms of business ownership, and how maximizing economic well-being is similar and different for households and businesses.
5.Explain two approaches for determining profit maximization, accounting and economic profit, and positive and negative externalities.
6.Give examples of production functions, short and long run as applied to economics, fixed and variable costs, average and marginal costs, and economies and diseconomies of scale.
7.Compare and contrast four basic market structures (competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly): basic characteristics, long run profitability, efficiency, impact on the consumer, and determination of the profit-maximizing level of output.
8.Discuss the goals and problems of the macroeconomy, including measurement and types of unemployment, measurement of Gross Domestic Product, and the measurement and winners and losers from inflation.
9.Describe the business cycle, total spending and economic equilibrium, effects of leakages and injections into the spending stream, and the multiplier effect.
10.Identify the largest categories of government expenditures and receipts, fiscal policy tools, automatic stabilizers, federal budgets, and the size and effects of the national debt.
11.Describe the functions of money, the components of money supply, the functions of the Federal Reserve, and the role of financial depository institutions.
12.Explain the process by which financial institutions expand (or contract) the nation?s money supply, monetary policy tools, the money multiplier, and the relationship between the economy?s money supply and the level of economic activity.

Course Outline:
Part I: Introduction to Economics
Part II: National Income and Output
Part III: Money Banking and Stabilization Policy
Part IV: Economic Decision Making ? The Firm, The Consumer, Society
Part V: The Distribution of Income
Part VI: Growth, Government and International Economics.

Course Requirements: To complete the course successfully, students must do the following:
1. Complete and submit six assignments found on course web page
2. Complete and submit three unit take-home exams found on course web page
3. Take midterm exam at Test Center
4. Take final exam at Test Center

Important Phone Numbers
For questions concerning subject matter: 206-6419
For questions involving schedules, testing, etc.: 206-6454
For questions concerning TV broadcast errors: 206-6410

ECN 200 Telecourse Policies

Attendance: Since this is a distance delivery class, you are required to come to campus only to take scheduled exams. Students are strongly encouraged to attend the live introductory class session and review sessions scheduled before each exam.

Academic Integrity: Students are expected to abide by the Student Code of Conduct and the Scholastic Code of Conduct found in the Pima Community College Student Handbook. Copies are available at PCC campus libraries and at http://www.pima.edu/~coadmissions/studresp.htm

ADA Compliance: Pima County Community College District strives to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Students with disabilities requiring special accommodations must notify the instructor of this need or directly contact the Disabled Student Resources Office on your campus at the beginning of the semester.

Course Feedback: In order to increase interaction between instructor and students, students are encouraged (but not required) to submit written work via e-mail. Assignments may be submitted as part of body of e-mail text itself or as an ASCII or Ms-Word email attachment. Using e-mail for this purpose will increase the speed at which your instructor can return assignments with grades and comments. Students are also encouraged to contact instructor with questions concerning the course. To encourage dialog, instructor may share answers with the rest of the class by posting them to the web blog (http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/) and/or a course listserve (inclusion on the listserve is optional and all student email addresses are kept confidential by being sent from the listserve as “Bcc” or blind copies).

Exams: Students must come to the Community Campus Support Service Center (401 N. Bonita Ave.) to take midterm and final exams. Please bring your PCC picture ID. This is the only ID that will be accepted. The Testing Center has specific rules, a copy of which is included in the packet you received at the beginning of the semester. Seating capacity is limited and on a first-come, first served basis.

Review Sessions: Immediately before each scheduled exam, you will have an opportunity to attend a live review session during which you may ask any questions that you have regarding the course material. See class schedule (page 1) for specific times and locations.

Problems: If you have problems with the course, make arrangements to see me or call me through voicemail. Do not wait to ask for help.

Submissions: Please clearly mark all assignments with the following: NUGENT:ECN200. Include full name on both e-mail and regular submissions. Submissions other than via e-mail are to be typed.

Withdrawals: Students may withdraw from class any time during the first 2/3 of the semester (through November 7, 2005) without instructor permission and without incurring any grade penalty. Students not active after this date will receive an “F” grade at the end of the semester. Please be sure to withdraw yourself by November 7, 2005, if you do not expect to complete the course.

Grade Reviews: Students may request a review of their course grade. The request for review must be made within 90 days from the end of the course session; no requests will be considered after 90 days.

Final Grades: Students will NOT receive a semester grade report from the college. Students who wish to check grades may call MAX 2000 at 206-4880 or access BannerOnline via thePima College web site. For privacy and security reasons, insturctors may not post grades and are advised not to give grades over the telephone.

Note: To help your instructor to improve this course, a variety of classroom assessment technigues may be used to determine if this course is meeting its stated objectives. Such techniques may include but are not limited to, short answers regarding comprehension of the material presented, pre- and post tests, student interviews, self-evalutations, portfolio, journal and/or capstone experience.

Because this course fufills a general education requirement, you will also be assessed on whether student skills have improved in any of the following areas: oral and written communication, critical inquiry, cultural diversity and global awareness.

ECN 200 Telecourse Grading Policies

Students? grades will be based upon scores received on exams and assignments. Exams and assignments together total 1,000 points. The student?s final grade for the course will be based upon the total points earned and curved as follows:
920 to 1000 points A
820 to 919 points B
740 to 819 points C
650 to 739 points D
Below 650 points F

Point values for assignments and exams:

Assignment 1 50 points
Unit 1 Exam (Chapters 1 & 2) 125 points
Assignment 2 50 points
Unit 2 Exam (Chapters 3 ? 7) 125 points
Assignment 3 50 points
Mid-term Exam (Chapters 8 – 14) 150 points
Assignment 4 50 points
Unit 4 Exam (Chapters 15 ? 21) 125 points
Assignment 5 50 points
Assignment 6 50 points
Final Exam (Chapters 22 – 28) 150 points
?On time? Completion Credit 25 points
_________
Total 1,000 points

Note: Students who complete all exams and assignments by Friday, December 9, 2005, will receive the 25 completion points. Students who, for any reason, fail to complete all tests and assignments on time will not receive the 25 completions points. Students taking an ?I? (incomplete) grade will NOT receive the 25 completion points.

Incomplete (I) grade:
If you find that you cannot complete the course during the regular semester, you must request an ?I? (incomplete grade) in writing. This must be done before the final review session. You must state your reasons for the request. In order to be considered for an ?I? grade, you must have successfully completed three-quarters of the course. YOU MUST THEN COMPLETE THE MISSING WORK WITHIN THE TIME AGREED UPON WITH THE INSTRUCTOR. AT THE END OF THE AGREED UPON TIME, THE INSTRUCTOR WILL CHANGE THE ?I? GRADE TO THE LETTER GRADE EARNED FOR THE COURSE AT THAT POINT WHETHER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE WORK OR NOT.

Special Withdrawal (Y) grade:
Students desiring to withdraw from the class must do so prior to November 7, 2005, which is the last day allowed for withdrawals. THE INSTRUCTOR WILL NOT ISSUE ?Y? GRADES.

Midterm and Final Exams
You must come to the Community Campus Testing Center to take these exams. Information on the Testing Center is included in your packet. Notice that generally you will need to make an appointment to take your exam.
Students in Nogales and Sells may arrange with the instructor to take these exams at Pima College sites in these cities.
You may NOT use books, notes or other material as an aid.
Each exam covers specific material: Midterm Exam: Chapters 8 through Chapter 14 of text
Final Exam: Chapters 22 through Chapter 28 of text

Other Assignments and Exams:
All assignments and exams other than the mid-term and final will be done by the students at their homes. Books, notes and videos may be used as aids to complete these exams and assignments which are available on the course web page located at http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com

This post originally appeared on an external website

Economics 200 – Syllabus for CRN 14689

In reply to Supply & Demand

Pima Community College
Community Campus
Mountain View High School

Economics 200 Syllabus

Course Information:
Course Prefix/Number: ECN 200 Course Title: Basic Principles of Economics
Semester: 200520 Fall 2005 CRN (Section Code): 14689
Credit Hours: 3 Location: Mountain View High School
Dates: Sept 6 ? Dec 13, 2005 Day & Time: Tuesdays 6:00 ? 9:00 p.m.
Prerequisites: None Estimated Study Time: 120 hours/semester
Course Web Pages:
http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/ (Blog for Course)
http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com (Instructor’s Web Site)
http://pub23.bravenet.com/calendar/show.php?usernum=1971912999 (Calendar)

Instructor Information:
Name: Chuck Nugent
U.S. Mail: Pima Community College
Community Campus
401 N. Bonita Ave
Tucson, AZ 85709-5500
Phone/Voice Mail: (520) 544-4870
E-mail: nugentwork@yahoo.com
Availability: T 6:00 ? 9:00 p.m. or by appointment

Instructional Materials:
Required Text: Roger LeRoy Miller, Economics Today, (13h Edition), Pearson/Addison Wesley

ISBN Number for Text is: 0-321-27883-6

Note: Textbook is available at the West Campus Bookstore. You may also find the book at
other academic bookstores in town or on the Internet. The PCC Bookstore can be accessed and books ordered via the Internet at http://www.Pima.bkstr.com.

Course Description: This course is designed to provide the student with an introduction to the ?ECONOMIC WAY OF THINKING?. The course will provide an overview of economic systems, microeconomics, macroeconomics and the international economy. Students will be exposed to how economics is used to analyze and predict the behavior of businesses, consumers and governments with regard to the allocation and use of society?s resources. The ?old? industrial economy will be compared and contrasted with the ?new? information based economy that is emerging today. Finally, students will be made aware of how economic factors influence their lives as consumers, producers, employees, employers, taxpayers, etc.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:

1 Define scarcity, microeconomics and macroeconomics, economic theory and economic policy, factors of production, production possibilities model, and opportunity cost.
2 Explain a market and the Invisible Hand Doctrine. Understand Mises Concept of ?Human Action?; Compare and contrast market economy with government-planned economy.
3 State and illustrate the law of demand, law of supply; equilibrium price and quantity, shift variables for demand and supply; price elasticity of demand and supply: circular flow model.
4 Discuss sources and uses of household income, legal forms of business ownership, and how maximizing economic well-being is similar and different for households and businesses.
5 Explain two approaches for determining profit maximization, accounting and economic profit, and positive and negative externalities.
6 Give examples of production functions, short and long run as applied to economics, fixed and variable costs, average and marginal costs, and economies and diseconomies of scale.
7 Compare and contrast four basic market structures (competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly): basic characteristics, long run profitability, efficiency, impact on the consumer, and determination of the profit-maximizing level of output.
8 Discuss the goals and problems of the macro-economy, including measurement and types of unemployment, measurement of Gross Domestic Product, and the measurement and winners and losers from inflation.
9 Describe the business cycle, total spending and economic equilibrium, effects of leakages and injections into the spending stream, and the multiplier effect.
10 Identify the largest categories of government expenditures and receipts, fiscal policy tools, automatic stabilizers, federal budgets, and the size and effects of the national debt.
11 Describe the functions of money, the components of money supply, the functions of the Federal Reserve, and the role of financial depository institutions.
12 Explain the process by which financial institutions expand (or contract) the nation?s money supply, monetary policy tools, the money multiplier, and the relationship between the economy?s money supply and the level of economic activity.

Course Outline:

Part I: Introduction to Economics
Part II: Introduction to Macro Economics and Economic Growth
Part III: National Income Determination & Fiscal Policy
Part IV: Money, Stabilization and Growth
Part V: Dimensions of Microeconomics
Part VI: Market Structure, Resource Allocation & Regulation
Part VII Labor Resources and the Environment
Part VIII Global Economics

Course Requirements: To complete the course successfully, students must do the following:
1. Pass the 5 unit tests
2. Pass class quizzes
3. Complete and submit written homework assignments

ECN 200 Policies:

Attendance: Since you are adults who have chosen to take this course, it is up to you to decide whether or not you will attend classes. Attendance will not be taken. However, missed class quizzes CANNOT be made up and missed unit exams can only be made up with consent of the instructor (all make up exams will be give at the Community Campus Test Center located at 401 N. Bonita Avenue in Tucson.)

Academic Integrity: Students are expected to abide by the Student Code of Conduct and the Scholastic Code of Conduct found in the Pima Community College Student Handbook. Copies are available at PCC campus libraries and at http://www.pima.edu/~coadmissions/studresp.htm.

ADA Compliance: Pima County Community College District strives to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Students with disabilities requiring special accommodations must notify the instructor of this need or directly contact the Disabled Student Resources Office on your campus at the beginning of the semester.

Exams: Students must take exams in class or make arrangements to take a make-us exam at the Community Campus Support Service Center (401 N. Bonita Ave.). Exams will cover material in text, assigned readings and material covered in class. Make-us exams given only with instructor permission. Please bring your PCC picture ID. This is the only ID that will be accepted.

Problems: If you have problems with the course, make arrangements to see me or call me through voicemail. Do not wait to ask for help.

Withdrawals: Students may withdraw from class any time during the first 2/3 of the semester (through Nov 7, 2005) without instructor permission and without incurring any grade penalty. Students not active after this date will receive an “F” grade at the end of the semester. Please be sure to withdraw yourself by Nov 7, 2005 if you do not expect to complete the course.

Caveat:

Your instructor will make every attempt to follow the above procedures and schedules, but they may be changed in the event of extenuating circumstances.

ECN 200 Grading Policies

Students? grades will be based upon scores received on exams and assignments. Exams and assignments together total 1,000 points. The student?s final grade for the course will be based upon the total points earned and curved as follows:

920 to 1000 points A
820 to 919 points B
740 to 819 points C
650 to 739 points D
Below 650 points F

Point values for assignments and exams:

Unit Exams (5 at 125 points each) 625
Class quizzes (14 @ 10 pts each) 140
Homework (14 @ 17 pts each) 238

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS 1,003
Incomplete (I) grade:
If you find that you cannot complete the course during the regular semester, you must request an ?I? (incomplete grade) in writing. This must be done before the final class session. You must state your reasons for the request. In order to be considered for an ?I? grade, you must have successfully completed three-quarters of the course. YOU MUST THEN COMPLETE THE MISSING WORK WITHIN THE TIME AGREED UPON WITH THE INSTRUCTOR . AT THE END OF THE AGREED UPON TIME, THE INSTRUCTOR WILL CHANGE THE ?I? GRADE TO THE LETTER GRADE EARNED FOR THE COURSE AT THAT POINT WHETHER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE WORK OR NOT.

Special Withdrawal (Y) grade:
Students desiring to withdraw from the class must do so prior to Nov 7, 2005, which is the last day allowed for withdrawals. THE INSTRUCTOR WILL NOT ISSUE ?Y? GRADES.

Final Grades:
Students will NOT receive a semester grade report from the college. Students who wish to check grades may call MAX 2000 at 206-4880 or by accessing Banner Online via the Pima web page. For privacy and security reasons, instructors may not post grades and are advised not to give grades over the telephone.

Grade Reviews: Students may request a review of their course grade. The request for review must be made within 90 days from the end of the course session; no requests will be considered after 90 days.

Note: To help your instructor to improve this course, a variety of classroom assessment techniques may be used to determine if this course is meeting its stated objectives. Such techniques may include but are not limited to, short answers regarding comprehension of the material presented, pre- and post-tests, student interviews, self-evaluations, portfolio, journal and/or capstone experience. Because this course fulfills a general education requirement, you will also be assessed on whether student skills have improved in any of the following areas: oral and written communication, critical inquiry, cultural diversity, and global awareness.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Economics 201 – Syllabus for CRN 13340

In reply to Supply & Demand

Pima Community College
Northeast Learning Center

Economics 201 Syllabus

Course Information:
Course Prefix/Number: ECN 201 Course Title: Microeconomic Principles
Semester: 200610 (Fall 2005) CRN (Section Code): 13340
Prerequisites: MAT 092 Estimated Study Time: 120 hours/semester
Day/Time: M 6:00-8:40 p.m Location: NELC
Teaching Format: Self Pace All Work & Tests due by: Mon Dec 5, 2005
Course Web Pages:
http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/ (Blog for Course)
http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com (Instructor’s Web Site)
http://pub23.bravenet.com/calendar/show.php?usernum=1971912999 (Calendar)

Instructor Information:
Name: Chuck Nugent
U.S. Mail: Pima Community College
Northeast Community Learning Center
Catalina Village Shopping Center
7816 E. Wrightstown Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85709-5800
Phone/Voice Mail: (520) 544-4870
E-mail: nugentwork@yahoo.com
Availability: M 5:30 ? 8:30 p.m. or by appointment

Instructional Materials:
Required Text: Arnold, Roger A., Microeconomics (6th Edition)
ISBN: 0-324-16356-8
Assignment Packet: Available from Instructor at first Class.
Note: Textbooks are available at the East Campus Bookstore (ask for Northeast Learning Center books) and other academic bookstores in town. The PCC Bookstore can be accessed and books ordered via the Internet at http://www.Pima.bkstr.com.

Course Description: Economic theory as applied to individual decision-making units. Includes economic decision making, economic systems, consumer demand, producer supply, price determination, elasticity, cost-benefit analysis and utility and profit maximization. Also includes production functions and costs, competition and market structures, government in the market economy, labor markets, and income distribution.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
1. Define scarcity, microeconomics and macroeconomics, economic theory and economic policy, factors of production, production possibilities model, and opportunity cost.
2. Explain a market and the Invisible Hand Doctrine, society’s basic economic decisions, the market economy as compared and contrasted with the planned economy.
3. State and illustrate the law of demand, law of supply, equilibrium price and quantity, shift variables for demand and supply, price elasticity of demand and supply and circular flow model.
4. Discuss the economic objectives of households and businesses and maximization of utility and profit.
5. Describe two approaches for determining profit maximization, explicit and implicit costs, as well as accounting and economic profit.
6. Explain cost-benefit analysis as it applies to households and to businesses, and to society including its relationship to externalities.
7. Give examples of production functions, short and long run as applied to economics, fixed and variable costs, average and marginal costs, and economies and diseconomies of scale.
8. Compare and contrast the four basic market structures (competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly): basic characteristics, long run profitability, efficiency, impact on the consumer, and determination of profit-maximizing level of output.
9. Explain why and how government intervenes in the market economy with particular reference to antitrust law and governmental regulatory agencies.
10. Discuss wage rate changes, income distribution, and poverty as defined and addressed by the government.

Course Outline:

I Introduction

A. What is Economics about
B. Economic Activities: Producing and Trading
C. Supply and Demand: Theory
D. Supply and Demand: Practice

II Microeconmic Fundamentals

A. Elasticity
B Consumer Choice: Maximizing Utility and Behavioral Economics
C The Firm
D Production and Costs

III Product Markets and Policies

A. Perfect Competition
B. Monopoly
C Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly, and Game Theory
D Government and Product Markets: Antitrust and Regulation

IV Factor Markets and Related Issues

A. Factor Markets with emphasis on the Labor Market
B Wages, Unions, and Labor
C The Distribution of Income and Poverty
D. Interest, Rent and Profit

V Market Failure and Public Choice

A. Market Failure: Externalities, Public Goods, and Asymmetric Information
B. Public Choice: Economic Theory Applied to Politics

VI International Economic: Theory and Policy

A International Trade
B International Finance

Course Requirements: To complete the course successfully, students must do the following:

1. Complete and submit the five (6) assignments (one for each unit)
2. Complete and submit take home tests for units 1, 2, 4 and 5
3. Take midterm exam at Test Center (closed book)
4. Take final exam at Test Center (closed book)

Attendance: This course is self paced and students are only required to attend the first class. The instructor will be available during scheduled class times for assistance and to collect written assignments from students.

Academic Integrity: All work done for this class must be your own. While you may discuss assignments with other class members, all work MUST be your own. You may use work from books and other materials if it is properly cited. Copying from a book or other print or electronic media without proper reference will result in a zero (0) score for the assignment. Submitting work done by another person/entity (published or unpublished) as your own will result in an F for the course. Students are expected to abide by the Student Code of Conduct and the Scholastic Code of Conduct found in the Pima Community College Student Handbook. Copies are available at PCC campus libraries and at http://www.pima.edu/~coadmissions/studresp.htm.

ADA Compliance: Pima County Community College District strives to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Students with disabilities requiring special accommodations must notify the instructor of this need or directly contact the Disabled Student Resources Office on your campus at the beginning of the semester.

Course Feedback: In order to increase interaction between instructor and students, students are encouraged (but not required) to submit written work via e-mail. Assignments may be submitted as part of body of e-mail text itself or as an ASCII or Ms-Word (version 2000 or lower) email attachment. Using e-mail for this purpose will increase the speed at which your instructor can return assignments with grades and comments. Students are also encouraged to submit questions about course content via e-mail and the instructor will reply to questions via e-mail to all students on e-mail list (presence on this list is optional). Students may also submit assignments via the U.S. Postal Service (see address on first page) or deliver it to NELC in person.

Exams: One exam will be given for each of the six units (see outline above or the “Brief Contents” on page iii of your book). The exams for units 1, 2, 4 and 5 will be open book take home exams. The exams for units 3 and 6 will be closed book, proctored exams taken at the college.

Problems: If you have problems with the course, make arrangements to see me or call me through voicemail. Do not wait to ask for help.

Submissions: Please clearly mark all assignments with the following: NUGENT:ECN201. Include full name on both e-mail and regular submissions. Submissions other than via e-mail are to be typed.

Withdrawals: Students may withdraw from class any time during the first 2/3 of the semester (through Nov 7, 2005) without instructor permission and without incurring any grade penalty. Students not active after this date will receive an “F” grade at the end of the semester. Please be sure to withdraw yourself by Nov 7, 2005, if you do not expect to complete the course.

Caveats:
Your instructor will make every attempt to follow the above procedures and schedules, but they may be changed in the event of extenuating circumstances.

Students submitting assignments through the mail are advised to make copies for their own protection.

Because so much of our contact with you is through the U.S. Postal Service, it is vital that we have your correct address. If you change your address during the semester, fill out a change of address form at any campus registration office and call our office at 206-6454 to keep our staff up to date.

ECN 201 Grading Policies

Students? grades will be based upon scores received on exams and assignments. Exams and assignments together total 1,050 points. The student?s final grade for the course will be based upon the total points earned divided by 1,000 and curved as follows:

920 to 1000 points A
820 to 919 points B
740 to 819 points C
650 to 739 points D
Below 650 points F

Point values for assignments and exams:

Unit 1 Assignment 50 points
Unit 1 Take Home Exam (Chaps 1 ? 4) 125 points
Unit 2 Assignment 50 points
Unit 2 Take Home Exam (Chaps 5 – 8) 125 points
Unit 3 Assignment 50 points
Unit 3 Proctored Exam (Chaps 9 – 12) 125 points
Unit 4 Assignment 50 points
Unit 4 Take Home Exam (Chaps 13 – 16) 125 points
Unit 5 Assignment 50 points
Unit 5 Take Home Exam (Chaps 17 ? 18) 125 points
Unit 6 Assignment 50 points
Unit 6 Proctored Exam (Chaps 19? 20) 125 points

Incomplete (I) grade:
If you find that you cannot complete the course during the regular semester, you must request an ?I? (incomplete grade) in writing. This must be done before the final review session. You must state your reasons for the request. In order to be considered for an ?I? grade, you must have successfully completed three-quarters of the course. YOU MUST THEN COMPLETE THE MISSING WORK WITHIN THE TIME AGREED UPON WITH THE INSTRUCTOR . AT THE END OF THE AGREED UPON TIME, THE INSTRUCTOR WILL CHANGE THE ?I? GRADE TO THE LETTER GRADE EARNED FOR THE COURSE AT THAT POINT WHETHER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE WORK OR NOT.

Special Withdrawal (Y) grade:
Students desiring to withdraw from the class must do so prior to Nov 7, 2005, which is the last day allowed for withdrawals. THE INSTRUCTOR WILL NOT ISSUE ?Y? GRADES.

Midterm and Final Exams the “Unit 3 Proctored Exam” and “Unit 6 Proctored Exam” (see Point Values for Assignments and Exams above) will constitute the Midterm and Final exams for this course.

Other Assignments and Exams:
All assignments and exams other than the mid-term and final will be done by the students at their homes. Books and may be used as aids to complete these exams and assignments which are available from the NELC or from the course web page located at: http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com
Final Grades:
Students will receive a semester grade report from the college when all grades have been recorded. For privacy and security reasons, instructors may not post grades and are advised NOT to give grades over the telephone. Students who wish to check grades may call MAX 2000 at 206-4880.

Note: To help your instructor to improve this course, a variety of classroom assessment techniques may be used to determine if this course is meeting its stated objectives. Such techniques may include but are not limited to, short answers regarding comprehension of the material presented, pre- and post-tests, student interviews, self-evaluations, portfolio, journal and/or capstone experience. Because this course fulfills a general education requirement, you will also be assessed on whether student skills have improved in any of the following areas: oral and written communication, critical inquiry, cultural diversity, and global awareness.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Economics 202 – Syllabus for CRN 13343

In reply to Supply & Demand

Pima Community College
Northeast Learning Center

Economics 202 Syllabus

Course Information:
Course Prefix/Number: ECN 202 Course Title: Macroeconomic Principles
Semester: 200610 (Fall 2005) CRN (Section Code): 13343
Prerequisites: MAT 092 Estimated Study Time: 120 hours/semester
Day/Time: M 6:00-8:40 p.m. Location: NELC
Teaching Format: Self Pace All Work & Tests due by: Mon Dec 5, 2005
Course Web Pages:
http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/ (Blog for Course)
http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com (Instructor’s Web Site)
http://pub23.bravenet.com/calendar/show.php?usernum=1971912999 (Calendar)

Instructor Information:
Name: Chuck Nugent
U.S. Mail: Pima Community College
Northeast Community Learning Center
Catalina Village Shopping Center
7816 E. Wrightstown Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85709-5800
Phone/Voice Mail: (520) 544-4870
E-mail: nugentwork@yahoo.com
Availability: M 6:00 ? 8:40 p.m. or by appointment

Instructional Materials:
Required Text: Arnold, Roger: Macroeconomics (6th Edition)
ISBN: 0-324-16358-1
Assignment Packet: Available from NELC and from the Blog on the Web.
Note: Textbooks are available at the East Campus Bookstore (ask for Northeast Learning Center books) and other academic bookstores in town. The PCC Bookstore can be accessed and books ordered via the Internet at http://www.Pima.bkstr.com.

Course Description: Economic theory as applied to individual decision-making units. Includes economic decision making, economic systems, consumer demand, producer supply, price determination, elasticity, cost-benefit analysis and utility and profit maximization. Also includes production functions and costs, competition and market structures, government in the market economy, labor markets, and income distribution.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:

1 Define scarcity, microeconomics and macroeconomics, economic theory and economic policy, factors of production, production possibilities model, and opportunity cost.
2 Explain a market and the Invisible Hand Doctrine, society’s basic economic decisions, the market economy as compared and contrasted with the planned economy, and the circular flow model.
3 State and illustrate the law of demand, law of supply, equilibrium price and quantity, and shift in variables for demand and supply.
4 Discuss the goals and problems of the macro-economy, including measurement and types of unemployment, measurement of Gross Domestic Product, and the measurement and winners and losers from inflation.
5 Describe the business cycle, total spending (consumption, investment, government spending and net export spending), economic equilibrium, effects of leakages from and injections into the spending stream, and the multiplier effect.
6 Identify the largest categories of government expenditures and receipts, fiscal policy tools, automatic stabilizers, federal budgets, surpluses and deficits, and the size and effects of the national debt.
7 Describe the functions of money, the components of money supply, the functions of the Federal Reserve, and the role of financial depository institutions.
8 Explain the process by which financial institutions expand (or contract) the nation’s money supply, monetary policy tools, the money multiplier, and the relationship between the economy’s money supply and the level of economic activity.
9 Summarize the factors affecting economic growth, macro-economic trade-offs, and various macro-economic viewpoints such as classical, Keynesian, monetarist, rational expectations, and supply-side.
10 Describe the main exports, imports and trading partners of the United States, and give the arguments for free trade and for protectionism.

Course Outline:

I Economics: The Science of Scarcity

A. What is Economics about?
B. Economic Activities: Producing and Trading
C. Supply and Demand: Theory
D. Supply and Demand: Practice

II Macroeconomic Fundamentals

A. Macroeconomic Measurements: Prices and Unemployment
B Macroeconomic Measurements: GDP and Real GDP

III Marcreconomic Stability, Instability, and Fiscal policy

A. Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
B. The Self-Regulating Economy
C Economic Instability: A Critique of the Self-Regulating Economy
D Fiscal Policy
E More on Government Spending and Taxes: Beyond Fiscal Policy

IV Money, the Economy, and Monetary Policy

A. Money and Banking
B The Federal Reserve System
C Money and the Economy
D. Monetary Policy

V Expectations and Growth

A. Expectations Theory and the Economy
B. Economic Growth: Resources, Technology, and Ideas

VI International Economics: Theory and Policy

A International Trade
B International Finance

Course Requirements: To complete the course successfully, students must do the following:

1. Complete and submit the six (6) assignments (one for each unit)
2. Complete and submit take home tests for units 1, 2, 4 and 5
3. Take midterm exam at Test Center (closed book)
4. Take final exam at Test Center (closed book)

Attendance: This course is self paced and students are only required to attend the first class. The instructor will be available during scheduled class times for assistance and to collect written assignments from students.

Academic Integrity: All work done for this class must be your own. While you may discuss assignments with other class members, all work MUST be your own. You may use work from books and other materials if it is properly cited. Copying from a book or other print or electronic media without proper reference will result in a zero (0) score for the assignment. Submitting work done by another person/entity (published or unpublished) as your own will result in an F for the course. Students are expected to abide by the Student Code of Conduct and the Scholastic Code of Conduct found in the Pima Community College Student Handbook. Copies are available at PCC campus libraries and at http://www.pima.edu/~coadmissions/studresp.htm.

ADA Compliance: Pima County Community College District strives to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Students with disabilities requiring special accommodations must notify the instructor of this need or directly contact the Disabled Student Resources Office on your campus at the beginning of the semester.

Course Feedback: In order to increase interaction between instructor and students, students are encouraged (but not required) to submit written work via e-mail. Assignments may be submitted as part of body of e-mail text itself or as an ASCII or Ms-Word (version 2000 or lower) email attachment. Using e-mail for this purpose will increase the speed at which your instructor can return assignments with grades and comments. Students are also encouraged to submit questions about course content via e-mail and the instructor will reply to questions via e-mail to all students on e-mail list (presence on this list is optional). Students may also submit assignments via the U.S. Postal Service (see address on first page) or deliver it to NELC in person.

Exams: One exam will be given for each of the six units (see outline above or the “Contents in Brief” on page vii of your book). The exams for units 1, 2, 4 and 5 will be open book take home exams. The exams for units 3 and 6 will be closed book, proctored exams taken at the college.

Problems: If you have problems with the course, make arrangements to see me or call me through voicemail. Do not wait to ask for help.

Submissions: Please clearly mark all assignments with the following: NUGENT:ECN202. Include full name on both e-mail and regular submissions. Submissions other than via e-mail are to be typed.

Withdrawals: Students may withdraw from class any time during the first 2/3 of the semester (through Nov 7, 2005) without instructor permission and without incurring any grade penalty. Students not active after this date will receive an “F” grade at the end of the semester. Please be sure to withdraw yourself by Nov 7, 2005, if you do not expect to complete the course.

Caveats:
Your instructor will make every attempt to follow the above procedures and schedules, but they may be changed in the event of extenuating circumstances.

Students submitting assignments through the mail are advised to make copies for their own protection.

Because so much of our contact with you is through the U.S. Postal Service, it is vital that we have your correct address. If you change your address during the semester, fill out a change of address form at any campus registration office and call our office at 206-6454 to keep our staff up to date.

ECN 202 Grading Policies

Students? grades will be based upon scores received on exams and assignments. Exams and assignments together total 1,050 points. The student?s final grade for the course will be based upon the total points earned divided by 1,000 and curved as follows:

920 to 1000 points A
820 to 919 points B
740 to 819 points C
650 to 739 points D
Below 650 points F

Point values for assignments and exams:

Unit 1 Assignment 50 points
Unit 1 Take Home Exam (Chaps 1 ? 4) 125 points
Unit 2 Assignment 50 points
Unit 2 Take Home Exam (Chaps 5 – 6) 125 points
Unit 3 Assignment 50 points
Unit 3 Proctored Exam (Chaps 7 – 11) 125 points
Unit 4 Assignment 50 points
Unit 4 Take Home Exam (Chaps 12 – 15) 125 points
Unit 5 Assignment 50 points
Unit 5 Take Home Exam (Chaps 16 ? 17) 125 points
Unit 6 Assignment 50 points
Unit 6 Proctored Exam (Chaps 18 ? 19) 125 points

Incomplete (I) grade:
If you find that you cannot complete the course during the regular semester, you must request an ?I? (incomplete grade) in writing. This must be done before the end of the semester. You must state your reasons for the request. In order to be considered for an ?I? grade, you must have successfully completed three-quarters of the course. YOU MUST THEN COMPLETE THE MISSING WORK WITHIN THE TIME AGREED UPON WITH THE INSTRUCTOR . AT THE END OF THE AGREED UPON TIME, THE INSTRUCTOR WILL CHANGE THE ?I? GRADE TO THE LETTER GRADE EARNED FOR THE COURSE AT THAT POINT WHETHER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE WORK OR NOT.

Special Withdrawal (Y) grade:
Students desiring to withdraw from the class must do so prior to Nov 7, 2005, which is the last day allowed for withdrawals. THE INSTRUCTOR WILL NOT ISSUE ?Y? GRADES.

Midterm and Final Exams the “Unit 3 Proctored Exam” and “Unit 6 Proctored Exam” (see Point Values for Assignments and Exams above) will constitute the Midterm and Final exams for this course.

Other Assignments and Exams:
All assignments and exams other than the mid-term and final will be done by the students at their homes. Books and may be used as aids to complete these exams and assignments which are available from the NELC or from the course web page located at: http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com
Final Grades:
Students will receive a semester grade report from the college when all grades have been recorded. For privacy and security reasons, instructors may not post grades and are advised NOT to give grades over the telephone. Students who wish to check grades may call MAX 2000 at 206-4880.

Note: To help your instructor to improve this course, a variety of classroom assessment techniques may be used to determine if this course is meeting its stated objectives. Such techniques may include but are not limited to, short answers regarding comprehension of the material presented, pre- and post-tests, student interviews, self-evaluations, portfolio, journal and/or capstone experience. Because this course fulfills a general education requirement, you will also be assessed on whether student skills have improved in any of the following areas: oral and written communication, critical inquiry, cultural diversity, and global awareness.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 6

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 10072
Fall 2005

Assignment 6

Read the article entitled The Myth of Exporting Jobs by William Anderson and answer the following questions:

1 (10 points) According to the author, why are U.S. businesses investing overseas (or, in the case of oursourcing contracting with firms in foreign lands to do many jobs previously done in the U.S.) rather than in the U.S.?

2 (10 points) Anderson cites his hometown of Cumberland, Maryland as an example of economic change where firms chose to relocate elsewhere rather than continue to operate and invest in Cumberland or the state of Maryland. While implied, but not stated explicitly, many of these firms moved their operations to other cities and states in the U.S. Is the U.S. harmed economically when a firm closes in Maryland and moves their plant to Arizona? Why or why not?

3 A number of U.S. firms have built manufacturing plants in Nogales, Sonora (Mexico) and have employed lower paid Mexican workers for the production line. However, the factory managers and supervisors are paid American wages and commute to Nogales, Sonora daily from Southern Arizona (including Tucson).

a. (2.5 points) Does the fact that factory jobs in these American plants in Mexico are held by Mexicans mean that these jobs have been “exported” to Mexico? Explain.

b. (2.5 points) Does the fact that these firms employ managers living in the U.S. and commuting to Mexico each day mean that these “Mexican” jobs have been exported to the U.S.? Explain.

c. (2.5 points) Some of the managers of these firms are Mexican citizens who have elected to purchase homes and live a few miles “up the road” (but north of the U.S. – Mexican border) from their work. Are these people Mexican workers who have taken a job that has been “exported” from Mexico (job lost in Mexico) to the U.S. and then grabbed it away from an American worker and “re-exported” the job back to Mexico? Does it make any difference?

d. (2.5 points) My former assistant at the Center for Business Solutions at Pima Community College chose to live in Casa Grande to be near her family and commuted to Tucson to work. Could we consider her position to have been “exported” to Casa Grande and thus denied to a Tucson resident?

4 (10 points) List five things (laws, regulations, etc.) that Anderson states are responsible for the business choosing to invest outside the U.S. and explain how they hurt business operating in the U.S.

5 (10 points) As a consumer when making a decision to buy are you more concerned about where the product was made or its price and quality? When you have money to save or invest are you more concerned about which country the company(ies) you are investing in reside or in the rate of return and safety of your money?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 10072
Fall 2005

Assignment 5

Each of the five questions below is worth 10 points.

1 (10 points) Review the section on labor unions in Chapter 22 of your book and explain the three methods unions raise the wages of their members.

2 (10 points) Consols (a contraction of consolidated annuities) are bonds issued by the British government at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. At that time Britain had a large national debt and took care of it by issuing a new set of bonds (called consols) which replaced all existing British government bonds. The unique features of the consols were that they had no expiration date (i.e., the government never has to buy them back from the bondholders) and they have a fixed interest rate forever. Because they never mature and the interest payments (at a fixed rate) are guaranteed forever it is relatively easy to calculate the value of these bonds at any time as market interest rates change (for this example assume all these bonds come in $1,000 denominations as we do not want to complicate the example by using pound sterling or euros as the currency unit). Assume the interest rate on consols is 2% (i.e., each one pays the holder $20 per year. How much would you pay for a $1,000 consol at the following market interest rates:

1%
10%
8%
15%
3%

Read the article entitled Pensions ? What is Happening in the U.S. Steel Industry and review the sections in your book and videos on Social Insurance (Chap 24). Then answer questions 3 and 4 below.

3 (10 points) Your book states that “Other observers retort that without a mandatory system (of Social Security), some workers would make inadequate provision for their old age and might become public charges.” But the article states that, in the case of the pensions for retirees of U.S. Steel, the company is pushing to cut the pension benefits of present retirees because it cannot afford to pay the current pensions and stay in business. U.S. Steel built up a large fund to pay the pensions (but the increasing life spans of its retirees and recent drops in the stock market are reducing that fund while competition is making it difficult to add more money to the pension fund for existing retirees) but the U.S. Social Security System has always operated on the basis of using contributions of current workers to pay the pensions of retirees. In your opinion is it possible that the U.S. will be forced to reduce the monthly Social Security payments to retirees in the future? Which group would Congress favor in a crises over Social Security ? workers paying the Social Security tax or retirees dependent upon their Social Security income?1

4 (10 points) Given some critics’ contention that Social Security is financially unsound (it is a tax that transfers income from working people to retired people it is NOT an insurance or investment fund) and given the current problems that the steel and other industries are now experiencing with their pension funds does it make sense for workers to rely on Social Security or a company/union pension fund for their retirement or should they take responsibility for their retirement themselves? What alternatives does a 79 year old retiree living on Social Security and a company pension have if one or both are cut by 50% or more? In your opinion, would workers under age 40 be better off being allowed to invest the money now going into Social Security and company pension funds themselves rather than relying on the government and their employer/union for their retirement?2

5 (10 points) Review the material on discrimination in your text and videos. Also review Case Study 1.3 in Chapter 1 dealing with Adam Smith and his “invisible hand” metaphor. Given that the “invisible hand” described by Smith leads producers to allocate resources efficiently and, given that the main goal in a free market is to maximize profits, explain how the market, left to itself, could or could not eliminate discrimination by answering the following questions:

Since discrimination results in two labor markets, one with higher pay for workers who don’t face discrimination and one with lower pay for the group(s) being discriminated against, what is there to prevent businesses from trying to increase profits by hiring in the lower paying market?

Is social pressure (i.e., being shunned by business associates and other acquaintances) alone sufficient to prevent ALL employers from hiring lower cost minorities or is physical force necessary to enforce discrimination?

Does the cost (in terms of wages) to employers of discrimination increase when the economy is growing and expanding? Explain why the cost, in terms of wages does or does not increase?

Does economic growth help to increase or decrease discrimination in employment?

Whichever way you make the argument be sure to include economic facts and reasoning to support your argument.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Take Home Test 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 10072
Fall 2005

Take Home Test 4

Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions 5 points each:

1 The standard assumption in economic analysis is that firms attempt to maximize
A. sales.
B. profits.
C. costs.
D. reliability.
E. production.

2 Opportunity cost is
A. the variable cost a firm incurs by increasing output one unit.
B. the value of the best alternative use of a firm’s resources.
C. the output opportunities a firm gains when average fixed costs decline.
D. another name for explicit costs.
E. the difference between fixed cost and variable cost.

3 For a monopolist the Golden Rule of Output Determination is to set the output rate at the point where marginal revenue equals
A. price.
B. marginal cost.
C. profits.
D. output.
E. zero.

4 Experience with public regulation of monopolies indicates that
A. on the average, regulated prices are clearly lower than unregulated prices of the same item.
B. regulation provides a stronger set of incentives than competitive markets for firms to increase efficiency.
C. a decision to base a fair rate of return on either historical cost or replacement cost yields the same pricing result.
D. most public utility regulation should be in the hands of federal rather than state commissions.
E. if a firm is guaranteed a fixed amount of profit, it will be less efficient than if its profits depend on how efficiently it operates.

5 An advantage of proprietorship is that the owner is faced with
A. complete control.
B. easy-to-obtain financing.
C. unlimited liability.
D. limited liability.
E. lower tax rates than those applicable to a partnership.

6 A market consisting of many firms producing a homogeneous product, having complete knowledge of relevant information, no power over the product’s market price, and low barriers to entry is characteristic of
A. perfect competition.
B. monopoly.
C. monopolistic competition.
D. oligopoly.
E. none of the above.

7 A consumer buying food and clothing is in equilibrium when the marginal
A. utilities of food and clothing equal the total utilities of food and clothing.
B. utility of the last dollar spent on food equals the marginal utility of the last dollar spent on clothing.
C. utilities of both goods are the same.
D. utilities of both goods are the greatest.
E. utility of food equals the price of food and the marginal utility of clothing equals the price of clothing.

8 In a given year in the production function of a typical college or university, a tenured faculty member would be an example of
A. a fixed input.
B. a variable input.
C. an expendable input.
D. an average input.
E. a marginal input.

9 One of the major long-term effects of rent controls in New York City has been
A. an increase in the average size of an apartment.
B. the creation of above-average profits for landlords.
C. the creation of surpluses of affordable housing units.
D. a rapid increase in the rate of New York’s population growth.
E. the abandonment of buildings, reducing the number of rental units available to consumers.

10 The Golden Rule of Output Determination for a perfectly competitive firm is to
A. choose the output rate at which price is greatest.
B. choose the output rate at which price equals marginal cost.
C. produce to the point of diminishing marginal returns.
D. produce until total revenue exceeds total cost.
E. choose the output rate at which total cost is the lowest.

11 A notable movement in the direction of deregulation of industry in the United States occurred during
A. the 1930s.
B. World War II.
C. the late 1940s and early 1950s.
D. the early 1960s.
E. the late 1970s and early 1980s.

12 A market consisting of many firms, low barriers to entry, some control over price, but considerable nonprice competition is characteristic of
A. perfect competition.
B. monopoly.
C. monopolistic competition.
D. oligopoly.
E. none of the above.

13 The important determinants of the price elasticity of demand are the
A. number and closeness of available substitutes, importance in consumers’ budgets, and length of the time period.
B. number of markets, size of buyers’ incomes, and empirical validity.
C. number of firms, number of variables that must be held constant, and degree to which markets are separable.
D. scope and method of measurement and calculation, and transitivity of preferences.
E. state of technology, size of the firm’s plants, and size of the absolute change in input prices and quantity.

14 A firm given exclusive rights by the government to do business in a particular area is
A. a patent monopoly.
B. an output monopoly.
C. a natural monopoly.
D. a franchise monopoly.
E. an input monopoly.

15 A market consisting of a few firms producing similar products with significant barriers to entry is characteristic of
A. perfect competition.
B. monopoly.
C. monopolistic competition.
D. oligopoly.
E. none of the above.

16 A business firm that is regarded as a fictitious legal person is called a
A. front.
B. corporation.
C. silent partnership.
D. limited proprietorship.
E. special interest.

17 An oligopolistic market is one with
A. firms having no power over price.
B. few sellers.
C. few buyers.
D. several monopolists operating simultaneously.
E. product groups.

18 A market demand curve shows
A. what price will prevail in the marketplace.
B. how much of a commodity will be purchased in a given period of time at various prices.
C. the rate at which consumption of a commodity will increase as income goes up.
D. the minimum price consumers will have to pay to get a certain quantity.
E. that as price goes up consumers will spend more money on a commodity.

19 The possible outcomes of a two-firm nonrepeated promotional campaign are summarized as follows

According to the information given,
A. firm A’s dominant strategy is local radio spots.
B. firm A’s dominant strategy is mailbox flyers.
C. firm B’s dominant strategy is local radio spots.
D. firm B’s dominant strategy is mailbox flyers.
E. neither firm has a dominant strategy.

20 When Pester U. with an annual enrollment of 3,600 students raised its tuition from $18,000 to $19,500, its enrollment fell by 200 students. What is the school’s arc elasticity of demand?
A. 0.13.
B. 0.67.
C. 0.71.
D. 1.4.
E. 1.5.

21 In a market economy, firms decide what and how much to produce on the basis of their
A. income, tastes, and market supplies.
B. marginal and average utilities.
C. humanitarian ideals.
D. costs and what they can charge for their products.
E. orders from a central government planning bureau.

Part 2: Short Answer questions:

1 (6 points) Read Case Study 16.2 (Oil price Increases and Drilling Activity) on apge 380 of your text, then explain how rising oil prices during the OPEC oil embargo resulted in an increase in the supply of domestic oil production.

2 (6 points) What is the “law of diminishing marginal returns”? What is the logic behind this l law?

3 (6 points) Define “marginal cost” and “marginal revenue” then explain why a firm will maximize its profits (or minimize its losses) by producing to the point where the marginal revenue from sales equals the marginal cost of producing the product.

4. (7 points) Must economic growth necessarily result in increased pollution? Should the rate of technological change be slowed in order to reduce pollution? Explain

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 10072
Fall 2005

Assignment 4

Read Case Study 20.3 (page 484) in your textbook dealing with Airline deregulation. Then read my comments and the article below entitled Airport Privatization and answer the questions here.

1 (10 points) What has been the effect on jobs (i.e., have the increased or decreased and by how much) in the Airline Industry and on airline ticket prices (i.e., increased or decreased and by how much) as a result of deregulation?

2 (10 points) Is airline travel safer or more dangerous as a result of airline deregulation? Explain your reasoning.

3 (10 points) List reasons for privatization of airports and the air traffic control system. Also, what are some reasons for NOT privatizing airports and the air traffic control system.

4 (10 points) In your opinion would privatizing airports make travel better (in terms of customer service, safety, efficiency, etc.) or worse than they are now.

5 (10 points) What are the economic advantages of privatizing airports and the air traffic control system?

6 BONUS (10 points) Is privatization of highways feasible and/or economically desirable? Why or why not? (give Economic reasons as to why or why not)

Instructor’s Comments

Your book and the videos discuss deregulation which was well underway in the U.S. at the time the “Economics U$A” program was being produced and broadcast. Deregulation involves the repeal of regulations that both restrict what the regulated industry can do as well as protecting the regulated industry from competition.

Mainly overlooked was the concept of privatization which involves the sale of government run operations. While governments at all levels in the U.S. provide goods and services (schools, roads, airports, water authorities, etc.) that could be provided by private business these are not as extensive as in other nations where a large percent (as in pre-Thatcher Britain, or places like Sweden today) or all (as in the former Soviet Union) of the productive capacity is owned by the government. But pressure for privatization appears to be increasing in the U.S. as governments at all levels find themselves strapped for cash due to taxpayer revolts and hardpressed to provide the variety that consumers desire (compare the wide range of specialized private schools with the “one size fits all” offering of public schools in the U.S.)

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 3

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 10072
Fall 2005

Assignment 3

Read the attached article entitled “Ronald Reagan and the Spirit of Free Enterprise” by George Gilder and answer the following questions.

Each question is worth 10 points for a total of 50 points.

1. According to the article why does the lowering of tax rates cause government revenues to increase?

2. What does the author mean by the statement “That is why high tax rates do not redistribute incomes. They redistribute taxpayers out of taxable activities and onto golf courses, into barter exchanges and among foreign regimes with lower rates”?

3. What is Supply Side economic theory and what does it say about the relationship between taxes and government revenues?

4. The author, George Gilder, like Ronald Reagan, is a political conservative who prefers to see the government reduced in size. Yet, Gilder praises Reagan for the supply side economic policy that resulted in increased government revenues which resulted in an increase rather than a decrease in the size of the Federal Government (despite the claims of his political opponents, the size of the Federal Government increased rather than decreased during the presidency of Ronald Reagan). How does Gilder rationalize his support of an economic policy that increases government size with his political philosophy that seeks a smaller Federal government?

5. According to Gilder, under the heading of “Moral Foundations of the Free Market” in his article, the market does a better job of helping the poor than the government’s policies of redistributing income from rich to poor. Explain how the market, according to Gilder, improves the lot of the poor better than government redistribution policies.

Ronald Reagan and the Spirit of Free Enterprise
by
George Gilder
Chairman, Gilder Publishing LLC/Author, Wealth and Poverty

George Gilder is chairman of Gilder Publishing LLC and a senior fellow at the Discovery
Institute. He attended Exeter Academy and Harvard University, where he co-founded
Advance. Later a fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Politics and editor of the Ripon Forum,
he served as a speechwriter for Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney, Richard Nixon and
others. He is the author of the Gilder Technology Report and twelve books, including Men
and Marriage, Wealth and Poverty, The Spirit of Enterprise and Telecosm. A pioneer in
the formulation of supply-side economics, he is a contributor to Forbes magazine and has
written for The Economist, the Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal and
several other publications. In 1986, President Reagan presented him the White House
Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.

The following is adapted from a speech delivered on May 24, 2004, at a Hillsdale College
National Leadership Seminar in Seattle, Washington.

Since Ronald Reagan’s death, many inspiring speeches have been delivered and adulatory articles written about his presidency. But few of the tributes have recognized Reagan’s greatest achievement, which was indispensable to the U.S. triumph in the Cold War and is crucial for the current war on terrorism. Reagan tapped the creativity of America’s entrepreneurs to bring about a global, not just a national, economic revolution.

Poets describe creativity as “Promethean,” referring to the mythical hero who brought fire to the earth. A Promethean era in world history, the Reagan presidency lit the fires of American creativity – and they have been roaring ever since. Reagan’s ideas transformed American finance, global economics and world politics. They reverberated through Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and China with the power of Joshua’s trumpets. They made South Korea a more economically important and promising country than France or Germany.

To the defenders of the old order – Third World despots, legal monopolies, land trusts, gold funds, oil cartels, bureaucracies and tyrannies of all kinds – the Promethean roar was an insufferable racket. They mustered all their powers to prevent the transformation from occuring. The facts reveal their failure – and Reagan’s success: Since 1980, U.S. marginal tax rates fell some 40 percent on income and 75 percent on capital gains and dividends, and the American economy added close to 36 million jobs. During the same time period, Europe and Japan created scarcely any net new employment outside of government. American companies now constitute 57 percent of global market capitalization, and the U.S. commands close to one half of the world’s economic assets.
America, responsible for one fifth of global GDP in 1980, produced one third of global GDP in 2003. That is Ronald Reagan’s legacy.

The Lasting Impact of Supply-Side Economics

The key to this awesome and unprecedented triumph was Reagan’s dismantling of the confiscatory tax codes imposed on the capitalist world during World War II. Supporting Reagan’s tax rate reductions was a movement of economists and journalists called supply-siders. We were so unpopular that Bob Dole used to crack a “good news/bad news” joke about a Greyhound bus going over a cliff. The good news was that it was “full of supply-side economists.”
A central component of supply-side economics is the Laffer Curve – named for its inventor, the economist Arthur Laffer – which shows that low tax rates produce more revenue than high ones. Ronald Reagan understood and embraced the Laffer Curve. He would regale White House visitors with a story about actors and producers in Hollywood who simply stopped working when their marginal tax rates rose over 50 percent. A rate high on the Laffer Curve, as Reagan knew, means that more work for more income is less profitable than maneuvering to avoid taxes on existing income. According to my research, the correct curve shows that tax rates should be kept very low – well below 20 percent – and that higher rates tend to reduce long run government income and massively reduce private sector wealth.

In the media and the academy, however, the Laffer Curve is widely discredited. Even many Republicans speak of “paying” for tax cuts with spending cuts and claim that the real burden of government on the economy is what it spends rather than how it taxes. But to say that tax cuts cost money is to imply that current tax rates do not obstruct economic activity, and therefore that reductions are unnecessary. If you concede that tax cuts reduce government revenue, it becomes quite difficult to defend tax cuts effectively in a democracy where at least one third of the voters are directly dependent on government spending for their livelihoods, and where most of the rest cherish some kind of government program.

Reagan’s genius was to show us a way out of this dilemma: The real undeniable test of tax policy is not short-term shifts in revenue but long-term shifts in spending that are most clearly manifested by increases in the federal budget. Between 1981 and 2004, current government spending in terms of dollars increased fivefold while the total hovered a little above 20 percent of GDP.

In the mid-1980s, World Bank economist Keith Marsden showed how this is possible: Low tax countries increase their spending three times faster than comparable high tax countries. This is because the low tax economies grow six times faster. For most of the period since World War II, the fastest growing economy in the world, with the fastest growth in government spending, was Hong Kong, with a top rate of 16 percent. A study by Jude Wanniski at Polyconomics extended the analysis through the Reagan era, with the same results. In recent years, Ireland, New Zealand and Russia massively increased spending after drastically reducing tax rates. Russia has increased outlays by some 60 percent after enacting a 13 percent flat tax.

Why do I stress government spending, after a long career of attacking it? The reason is simple: What is crucial is not the absolute level of government but the size of government compared to the size of the private sector. In every country that enacted tax rate reductions, the absolute growth of the private sector enormously outpaced the growth of government.
The growth of the private sector is measured not merely by output but also by assets. In the 25 years since Reagan assumed office, U.S. household assets have more than tripled, to a current record of $52 trillion. Driven by a surging stock market, America’s increase in private wealth dwarfs the increases in debt that cause such agony for one-handed economists in Washington, who dutifully gauge the swell of liabilities but seem blinded to the mountainous growth of assets.

By cutting tax rates, Reagan was able to fund a 50 percent increase in defense spending. This expansion of the military was crucial to winning the Cold War. Social spending also grew by some 25 percent – although I should hasten to add that Reagan sharply reduced the nation’s debt by negotiating a Social Security Commission regime that extended the age of retirement and cut back the implicit liabilities in the Social Security program by some six trillion dollars. These reforms radically improved the fiscal position of the government compared to the 1970s, when real Social Security liabilities doubled.

The 1970s ended with a budget (minus Social Security) that was nearly balanced and a balance of payments surplus. When Reagan assumed office in 1981, the government was apparently in the black. But most of the private sector was in the red, with bankrupt Savings and Loans and interest rates over 15 percent. Reagan knew that all government spending ultimately depends on the output and assets of the private sector. While the federal budget deficit (exclusive of Social Security) swelled under Reagan in absolute terms as he confronted the Soviet Union in the Cold War, the federal debt shrunk sharply as a share of national assets. Far from losing ground in high technology, the U.S. began a 20-year surge of innovation in computers and communications that has made the U.S. the world’s dominant source of technical advance and new wealth. Personal computers and networks became central to world economic growth.

Meanwhile, with the top tax rate dropping from 50 to 28 percent under Reagan, tax contributions by the top five percent of earners rose from nine to 18 percent of the total, while contributions from the bottom 20 percent dropped from six to two percent. The top 50 percent of taxpayers paid 94.5 percent of the federal income taxes. Lower tax rates resulted in much larger tax payments by the rich.

Reagan’s economic policies proved to be so popular that they were extended, for the most part, under President Clinton and a Republican Congress. Whatever Clinton’s intentions were, he could not reverse the Reagan momentum. While Clinton hiked the top rate to 39 percent (compared to 50 percent when Reagan took office), Congress enacted and Clinton signed a drop in the capital gains tax to 20 percent and the U.S. became a nation of stockholders as Reagan had prophesied repeatedly.

Leading the Global Economy

The key Reagan accomplishment is rarely recognized at all: We are now in a global economy. While economists constantly parse statistics about the U.S., as if our economy were isolated from the world, the real impact of economic policy today can only be gauged by global data. Overall, the Reagan program led to a shift in the global economic balance of power as dramatic as the victory in the Cold War – and vital to it.

Far from falling behind Japan and Europe, as the experts had predicted throughout the 1980s, the U.S. surged into global economic dominance. To repeat: Beginning in 1980 with a GDP at one fifth of the global total, the U.S. had attained a national output of $11 trillion by 2003, fully one third of a global GDP of $33 trillion. This is an awesome and unprecedented change. In the entire history of the peacetime world economy, nothing like it has ever happened. Coming after President Carter’s “malaise” in the 1970s, the American ascent is directly attributable to the program of low marginal tax rates, deregulation of energy prices, collapse of inflation, expansion of trade, and active globalization launched by Ronald Reagan.

Why then do critics still speak of “voodoo economics”? Why is it that even some supply-siders insistently deny that lower tax rates pay for themselves with higher revenues, when Reagan’s tax cutting regime brought about a fivefold rise in federal spending without increasing the government share of GDP? Why does the current administration still speak of $1.6 trillion tax cuts and $300 billion stimulus packages as if it cost money to reduce perverse and counterproductive government burdens?

One key reason is the stultifying grip of the demand-side model on the entire economics community. University and media economists still find themselves far behind Reagan in grasping the dynamics of an international economy. The economics profession functions like an establishment of flat earth physicists still patiently waiting for the ships of supply-siders to fall off the edge of the world.

While the economics profession remained lost in a maze of equilibrium models, Ronald Reagan knew the facts of entrepreneurial disequilibrium and creativity. To a supply-sider, government is a kind of business. It competes with other governments around the world. It competes to attract entrepreneurs and capital to its jurisdiction and to foster expansion of existing enterprises. By lowering marginal tax rates – the rates on additional activity – governments can induce people to produce and invest within their borders. By raising tax rates, they drive entrepreneurs to other jurisdictions and to non-taxable activities. That is why high tax rates do not redistribute incomes. They redistribute taxpayers out of taxable activities and onto golf courses, into barter exchanges and among foreign regimes with lower rates.

Moral Foundations of the Free Market

The reason for tax cuts is not to allow the rich to keep their money. It is to enable entrepreneurs to invest money by making their investments profitable. Through the investment process, entrepreneurs give money to others, in their own or other businesses. By earning the money, they learned how to identify the people best able to increase its worth. They learned how to use the money in ways that respond to the needs of their customers. They mastered the magic of lowering prices in order to increase revenues. And they reached out to the largest untapped markets of the world economy, which are always the domains of billions of currently poor people struggling to gain wealth.

As Reagan understood, high tax rates do not stop someone from being rich: Those who are already rich can move their money to protected havens. High tax rates stop poor people from getting rich. They stop entrepreneurs from supplying new goods and services that generate more wealth and jobs and value and tax revenue. In truth, defending tax cuts as a way to keep more of one’s money is the opposite of the case. Tax cuts are good because they allow us to give our money to others in an ever-expanding spiral of economic opportunity. In the end, the rich can keep only what they give away – that is, what they entrust to others in the ever-spreading process of investment and growth.

These rules of giving and trust are no less important today, as the U.S. becomes an information economy. American entrepreneurs are, as we all are, not without sin. But their every decision has met an empirical test beyond appeal – a marketplace crucible beyond their control. Thus they are the world’s true realists and most proven pragmatists. All of them know deeply that to reach the top, they first have to get to the bottom of things. To lead, they first have to listen. To save themselves, they must serve others and solve others’ problems.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and “Give and you will be given unto” are the central rules of the life of enterprise. Because you cannot give what you do not own, enterprise requires the rights of property. Because successful entrepreneurs often defy the conventional wisdom, the life of enterprise requires personal freedom. Because entrepreneurs have to serve and collaborate with others, they must be men and women of character and faith. Character enables an entrepreneur to commit his work and wealth over a period of years to bring into the world a new good that the world may well reject. Character is essential to the act of putting one’s fate into the hands of unknown others in a market of voluntary choice.

Bullheaded, defiant, tenacious and creative, America’s entrepreneurs continue to vindicate the faith of Ronald Reagan and the teaching of Hillsdale College. They continue to solve the problems of the world faster than the world can create them. Confronting the perennial perils of human life and the often overwhelming odds against human triumph, the entrepreneur finds strength in a deep faith and demonstrates that genuine charity is not to be found in government largesse. The entrepreneur’s success is a triumph of the American character.

Today is a heyday for entrepreneurs. As Reagan’s policies have taken hold, the proportion of new jobs created through self-employment and proprietorships has risen from five percent in the 1980s to nine percent in the 1990s, and to 31 percent today. President Bush’s low tax rates on capital gains and dividends have unleashed a new surge of entrepreneurship.

The ultimate source of American entrepreneurial character is our educational system. Today, more than ever, that educational system is in disarray. Too many schools are losing contact with the sources of the American character in family, faith, freedom and limited government. Too many universities are pandering to their students rather than teaching them.

In a contrarian spirit, Hillsdale boldly countervails this tide of mush and mediocrity, contining the entrepreneurial struggle and earning the faith of American entrepreneurs. And in its fealty to the cultivation of American character, it has become an American treasure.

Copyright ? 2004
“Reprinted by permission from IMPRIMIS,
the monthly journal of Hillsdale College
(www.hillsdale.edu).”

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Take Home Test 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 10072
Fall 2005

Take Home Test 2

Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions 5 points each:

1. Gross domestic product
A. equals the total wages paid in a year.
B. is a measure of government output.
C. equals the total value of final goods and services produced in a year.
D. is the sum of all goods, both final and intermediate.
E. is an obsolete economic indicator of inflation.

2. Over the last 50 years, federal, state, and local governments have
A. increased their expenditures faster than the growth in total output.
B. gradually but steadily declined in importance in economic matters.
C. demonstrated a movement toward significant public ownership of the means of production.
D. moved increasingly toward nationalization of the defense industry.
E. appreciably expanded public ownership in the electric power industry.

3. Say’s law
A. states that the total amount paid out for resources must equal the value of the goods produced.
B. states that all income spent must have been earned.
C. is the intellectual basis for the Keynesian model of income and employment.
D. is an integral part of the Marxian analysis of capitalism.
E. requires the assumption of wage and price rigidity.

4. The three generally recognized types of unemployment are
A. voluntary, potential, and residual.
B. cyclical, frictional, and structural.
C. involuntary, temporary, and disciplinary.
D. teenage, female, and nonwhite.
E. classical, Keynesian, and post-Keynesian.

5. Which of the following was the most important force in bringing an end to the Great Depression?
A. The natural resilience of the economy
B. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies
C. U.S. involvement in World War II
D. Delayed impact from increased business investment in the early 1930s
E. Falling wages and prices

6. A basic objection to increased public works spending when serious unemployment appears likely to develop is that
A. such spending would lead to a budget deficit.
B. such spending would lead to a decline in GDP.
C. all public works projects are wasteful.
D. there is a long lag between authorizing a program and actually spending the money.
E. stabilization policy is more important than the long-run desirability of public works.

7. The fundamental idea of fiscal policy is that
A. the government should spend more than it collects in taxes.
B. decision making should be left to the Council of Economic Advisers.
C. the government can change the equilibrium GDP by promoting a change in public and/or private spending.
D. the government should always balance its budget.
E. unemployment is a less serious concern than inflation.

8. Currently, the largest share of the annual federal budget goes for
A. interest on the national debt.
B. energy programs.
C. education and health.
D. national defense and other items connected with international relations and national security.
E. Social Security programs, welfare and other income security programs, health, and education.

9. The phase of the business cycle in which output is lowest relative to its potential level is the
A. peak.
B. trough.
C. recession.
D. expansion.
E. trend.

10. According to economist Richard Gill, the source of our economy’s real income is
A. profits.
B. the goods we produce.
C. the resourcefulness and skill of our people.
D. impossible to identify.
E. the amount of money in circulation.

11. Using the spending and taxing powers of government to stabilize the economy is called fiscal
A. fitness.
B. policy.
C. federalism.
D. finance.
E. reserve.

12. The consumption function expresses the relationship between consumption spending and
A. investment spending.
B. aggregate supply.
C. disposable income.
D. savings.
E. the 45-degree line.

13. High rates of inflation often characterize
A. depressions.
B. times of great unemployment.
C. wartime.
D. periods of falling aggregate demand.
E. rural areas.

14. Why was economist John Kenneth Galbraith opposed to the tax cut advocated by Walter Heller in 1964?
A. He did not believe the tax cut would have the desired impact.
B. He felt the tax cut would have the long-term effect of reducing the government’s income.
C. He did not believe the tax cut would get support in Congress.
D. He feared that tax cuts would gain popularity at the expense of important programs to assist the needy.
E. He wanted to be chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisers and was angry at being made ambassador to India.

15. The marginal propensity to consume is the
A. fraction of an extra dollar of GDP that becomes disposable income.
B. share of GDP spent by households and businesses.
C. proportion of an extra dollar of disposable income that is spent on consumption.
D. reciprocal of the average propensity to consume.
E. fraction of disposable income that is consumed.

16. COMPUTER ERROR ? NO QUESTION (FREE 5 POINTS)

17. Social Security payments by the government are not included in GDP because
A. Social Security was not yet in place when procedures for calculating GDP were devised.
B. Social Security is counted as an economic cost and subtracted from output in determining GDP.
C. income received through Social Security is not directly related to contributions to production.
D. income received through Social Security is too small to affect GDP.
E. these payments are in current dollars and GDP is measured in constant dollars.

18 The primary reason President Johnson opposed raising taxes during his administration was that

A. until rather late in his administration, he feared that falling price levels would reduce government income.
B. he believed a tax increase to fund an unpopular war would be politically unwise.
C. his Council of Economic Advisers warned him that such a move would harm more than help the economy.
D. his attention was largely consumed with putting a man on the moon.
E. he felt the Federal Reserve System could control inflation by issuing more money.

19. In general, a business cycle goes through its phases in the following sequence
A. trough, peak, expansion, recession.
B. recession, trough, expansion, peak.
C. trough, recession, expansion, peak.
D. trough, expansion, recession, peak.
E. expansion, recession, trough, peak.

20. Inflation occurs whenever
A. aggregate demand rises.
B. the price of any given commodity rises.
C. the money supply increases more rapidly than output.
D. the tax rate is lower than the government spending rate.
E. the money supply falls.

Part 2: Short Answer questions:

1 (5 points) What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? How is it calculated and what does it tell us about the economy of a nation?

2 (10 points) What is the Multiplier? How is it calculated? Explain how is it can be used to calculate the effect on GDP of a tax cut?

3. (10 points) On the first page of Chapter 1 in your book it states that “economics is concerned with the way resources are allocated among alternative uses to SATISFY HUMAN WANTS (emphasis mine)”. In the video, then Senator, Harry Truman is quoted as saying “War is hell but peace could be worse” in reference to the possibility of a return of the Great Depression after World War II. Both the textbook and video credit the U.S. entry into World War II as causing the Great Depression to finally end. World War II did result in the full employment of all of our labor, land and capital resources and we even increased output capacity beyond what existed before the Great Depression. Setting aside for the moment the plight of our troops fighting at the front and the moral necessity of having to defeat the evil of fascism, were American households better off as a result of the full employment environment created by the war than they were during the Depression? Did the economy do a better job of producing goods to satisfy human (consumer) wants during the war than it did during the Depression? Explain your answer.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 10072
Fall 2005

Assignment 2

Read chapters 3 ? 7 of your book and view the corresponding videos. Then read the three articles entitled Poverty, Footwear and Cold Water, America Has the World’s Richest Poor People (contact instructor for this article)and Working for a Pittance along with my comments below then answer the following questions.

Instructor Comments
The three articles present three different ways of looking at basically the same set of facts. In the first one Yazad Jal (the CEO of a foundation in India) presents a radical free market view of wealth and poverty. The second article is an Op Ed piece from the NY Times which tends to take a middle of the road position (i.e., the Welfare State) on economic issues which is similar to your book and videos. The last piece is from the Wall Street Journal editorial page which is noted for its support of free markets.

When reading these articles keep these facts in mind:

1 Relative vs Absolute Poverty ? absolute poverty is destitution and represents a condition where people lack the basic necessities of life. Sickness and death from starvation, rapant disease and lack of shelter are common. Life is short and brutal. Relative poverty, on the other hand, means that one person has less material goods than another. Certis paribus (other things being equal) if you and I both have good homes, sufficient food, clothing shelter and medical care but your income is such that you can afford two late model cars but I can only afford one then I am poor relative to you. But my inability to afford a second late model car is not a reason to refer me to the government or local charities for assistance.

2 Income statistics are just a snapshot of conditions at a particular time. Such statistics are a snapshot of incomes at that point in time. My employer pays me 1/26th of my 2005 income every two weeks. Statistically speaking, I am financially comfortable. But, if my employer had elected to give me entire pay for 2005 on December 31st of 2004 I would receive no income and 2005 and, despite the fact that I have my full 2005 income in the bank, I would be considered to be in severe poverty based upon my lack of income paid in the year 2005. Much of the wealth that Rector cites as belonging to the poor is the wealth of people who are a bad year income wise but are maintaining their life style thanks to past savings and credit lines (which will be repaid when their income goes back up). Similarly, the hardships cited by Herbert are not necessarily endured by all of the people falling into the low income brackets he describes.

3 The success of an economy is not by how high it incomes are but by the quantity of goods and services it produces for the people. People in Weimer Germany (the period right after WW I) had very high incomes (because of high inflation) but very few affordable goods and services (it cost 1 million DM for a stamp to mail a letter to the U.S.). Herbert cites low wage incomes but excludes the value of government assistance many receive (food stamps, free/low cost medical care, day care, subsidized housing, etc.). Also overlooked by many is the effect of falling prices on the living standards of the poor. It makes no difference if incomes rise by 10% and prices remain the same or if income remains the same and prices fall by 10%, the average person is now able to purchase 10% more goods and services.

4 Finally, we have to look at household income and not just individual wages. A 20+ year old college student working part time at minimum wage is poor in terms of wage income. But if that student is living at home (or living at college with room, board and tuition paid for by Mom and Dad) it is difficult to consider that student as living in poverty.

This is not to say that real poverty and hardship do not exist. Nor am I implying that everything is just fine for all of us ? I, like most other people, would like more pay so that I could do more things for my family, but this does not mean that my family is suffering hardship. Similarly, Bill Gates and Ted Turner would probably like to do more to help the poor of the world (both are extremly wealthy and very generous in helping the less fortunate) and both would probably jump at the chance to make a few billion more a year so they could increase their giving. But just because they want to make more money it doesn’t mean that they are poor.

Answer the Questions Below
1 (10 ponts) Explain the difference between absolute and relative poverty and explain why it is difficult and impractical for governments or societies to attempt to abolish relative poverty.

2 (10 points) Explain how someone whose income places them below the official poverty line be able to afford a $150,000 home? (NOTE: there are many possible answers here and the greater the detail the higher the credit for your answer. HOWEVER, WELFARE FRAUD is NOT and acceptable answer for this question).

3 (10 points) Can the mere doubling of incomes in India explain the rising affluance of the poor in India as described by Jal in his article? What other factor comes into play here (Note: you might want to review the Tucker article from Assignment 1 for a clue).

4 (10 points) What are the “dysfunctional” and “self-destructive” behaviors attributed by Rector to the War on Poverty? What is Rector’s explanation as to how the War on Poverty caused these behaviors and why are they especially harmful to the poor? Do you agree or disagree with Rector’s analysis here? (Explain you reasons).

5 Read all three articles carefully and critically.

a. (5 points) For each article identify the central problem described in each and the author’s implied or stated reason for the existance of the problem.

b. (5 points) Based upon the three articles, your book and videos what is the state of poverty in the U.S./world and what should be done about it?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Take Home Test 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 10072
Fall 2005

Take Home Test 1

Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions 5 points each:

1. Important determinants of rapid economic growth and improved living standards include all of the following except the
A. enforcement of property rights.
B. need to realize higher levels of educational attainment.
C. need to erect tariff barriers to protect firms from foreign competition.
D. need to pursue stable macroeconomic policies.
E. unencumbered access to global capital markets.

2. There would be no economic problems in a world in which all resources were
A. free.
B. natural.
C. bought and sold for a price.
D. owned by the government.
E. scarce.

3. One of the four basic tasks any economic system must perform is
A. measuring the size of its production possibilities curve.
B. conducting a population census.
C. eliminating free resources.
D. classifying economic resources.
E. determining the kinds of goods to be produced and the amount of each.

4. According to economic analysis, shortages of a good mean
A. supply is too low.
B. demand is too high.
C. actual price is too low.
D. production is too low.
E. equilibrium price is too low.

5. A country’s standard of living is closely correlated with its
A. physical size.
B. population density.
C. mineral resources
D. cultural diversity.
E. labor force productivity.

6. The expression “there’s no such thing as a ‘free lunch'” is
A. generally untrue.
B. irrelevant to the subject of economics.
C. a recognition that our capacity to produce goods is limited.
D. an example of normative economics.
E. applicable solely to the inefficient use of resources.

7. According to the video, insufficient housing was a problem after World because
A. the United States experienced excessive numbers of people immigrating from Europe and Japan whose housing had been destroyed by the war.
B. the depression and mobilization of resources to fight World War II resulted in little housing construction for over 15 years.
C. the supply of housing exceeded the demand for housing, pushing prices up.
D. unionization of construction workers shifted the supply curve of housing to the left, resulting in higher prices.
E. the availability of land in and around major U.S. cities was severely limited because of past development.

8. Which of the following is the best example of capital?
A. Mineral deposits
B. Human effort
C. Buildings and equipment that contribute to production
D. Accounts receivable
E. Goods and services purchased by households for their enjoyment

9. During the summer months, it is not unusual for both the price and the quantity consumed of gasoline to rise. These conditions reflect
A. a violation of the law of demand.
B. a shift to the left of the supply curve.
C. an increase in demand.
D. a condition of deficient demand.
E. a surplus.

10. In free markets, the price system encourages producers to meet consumers’ wants because
A. it signals producers as to which goods are profitable.
B. producers have the public interest in mind.
C. it allows the government to direct firms to the best production technique.
D. it rewards consumers for the resources they bring to the marketplace.
E. consumers are generally willing to pay more than the actual price.

11. Werner H., an engineer very experienced in bridge design, is looking for a position with a firm that specializes in bridge building. In presenting his qualifications, he takes care to point out his experience in handling difficult terrain. Werner is currently doing business in a
A. consumers’ market
B. business market.
C. product market.
D. resource market.
E. closed market.

12. According to Richard Gill in the Economics U$A video, the opportunity costs for preserving the Alaskan wilderness are measured by the loss of
A. worker health benefits in textile manufacturing.
B. minerals rendered unavailable for development.
C. wilderness areas in the lower 48 states.
D. tax revenues to the federal government.
E. foreign oil because of the cutback in OPEC oil production.

13. The idea that the pursuit of private self-interest by consumers and firms also promotes the public interest is called
A. roundabout production.
B. the circular flow.
C. opportunity cost.
D. the invisible hand.
E. innovation.

14. An improvement in technology or an increase in the amount of capital goods will
A. result in movement along a fixed production possibilities curve.
B. diminish the society’s production potential.
C. increase the opportunity costs of all goods.
D. cause the production possibilities curve to become vertical.
E. shift the production possibilities curve outward.

15. Economics is best defined as the study of how
A. to classify resources used to produce final goods and services.
B. resources are apportioned to satisfy human wants.
C. modern businesses have grown and prospered.
D. technology can be used to change scarce resources into free resources.
E. pure capitalism has become the best system for satisfying basic human wants.

16. New residents moving into a growing community increase the
A. size of housing.
B. elegance of housing.
C. housing surplus.
D. quantity demanded of housing.
E. demand for housing.

17. In a free market, actual price will
A. remain unchanged as equilibrium price changes.
B. move toward equilibrium price.
C. cause the demand and supply curves to shift direction.
D. always exceed equilibrium price.
E. be very difficult to calculate.

18. In a free market, producers’ desires to maximize profit
A. inevitably lead to rising market prices.
B. are inconsistent with incentives to introduce new technology.
C. guarantee that firms never take losses.
D. cause firms to use the most efficient techniques.
E. mean that government must control prices to prevent producers from overcharging consumers.

19. When Adam Smith described the invisible hand, he was talking about
A. the price system.
B. central planning.
C. opportunity cost.
D. the division of labor.
E. disguised unemployment.

20. In general, supply curves slope upward to the right because
A. increases in the price of a commodity lead to rightward shifts of the supply curve.
B. rising prices motivate producers to offer more units for sale.
C. technology progresses over time, increasing the ability of firms to produce more at existing prices.
D. of increases in input prices as production is increased.
E. empirical studies almost always show that this is the case.

Part 2: Short Answer Questions.

Review the discussion about Brown Lung disease and the textile industry in your book and video and read my instructor comments entitled “Brown Lung Disease – A Free Market Solution” then answer the questions below.

1 (5 points) Name and explain at least three reasons why an individual would seek and remain in a job where they know that their health and lives are at risk from something like Brown Lung Disease.

2 (5 points) In my comments on the Brown Lung Disease incident I mention that the OSHA regulations caused about 300,000 workers to lose their jobs as well as a number of stockholders in textile companies to lose all or part of their investment. Both of these groups suffered as a result of the regulation. But did any group(s) BENEFIT from the regulations? Explain who benefited and how they benefited.

3 (5 points) Reviewing this issue it is clear that the good intentions of well off outsiders (union leaders, OSHA bureaucrats and Supreme Court Justices) with secure jobs resulted in massive unemployment for textile workers. Could this also be true of the efforts of affluent college students, politicians and other assorted activists in the U.S. and Western Europe who seek to help third world workers by closing down so called “sweatshops” operated by Nike and other first world corporations? (i.e., do the good intentions of these western groups help or hurt the individual workers in the third world?). Explain your answer.

4 (5 points) In my comments I mention that the free market operates in a manner such that there is no involuntary unemployment, meaning that each worker can choose to be employed or unemployed. Explain why workers would choose to work yet be unhappy and dissatisified with their job.

5 (5 points) Explain how education can increase an individual’s range of job choices and how, having a larger number of job opportunities can increase the chances of a given individual being happier with his/her job as compared to the job satisfaction of a low skilled worker.

Brown Lung Disease ? A Free Market Solution
Chuck Nugent’s Instructor Comments
August 2003
Byssinosis, also called Brown Lung Disease, is a lung disease that results from prolonged (often ten years or more) exposure to breathing of cotton dust and fibers present in the air during the production of cloth from raw cotton (in the U.S. most textile mills process cotton fiber so the most common cause of Byssinosis in the U.S. is cotton fiber, in other countries it is caused by flax, hemp or other material fibers as well as cotton). It is believed that byssinosis is the result of constant irritation and/or release of toxic substances by the fiber on the lungs over a long period of time. Byssinosis is characterized by shortness of breath, feelings of tightness in the chest and constant coughing. Continued exposure after onset of disease results in a reduced ability to breathe, especially exhale, which is very similar to the symptoms experienced by people with chronic bronchitis. There is some indication that smoking or occurrence of other lung ailments aggravates byssinosis. While “brown lung” is the term used to describe the condition, patients’ lungs do not turn brown as a result of the disease.

When the new OSHA standards for cotton dust in the mills were implemented industry representatives stated that compliance with the new regulations could be accomplished by either a $2 BILLION dollar investment in new air filtering equipment or $1.49 per worker for dust masks. The $2 BILLION was the total cost of installing new air filtering equipment in all existing cotton mills. Masks are not comfortable and many workers would not wear them, which is probably why the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union opposed them.

The problem with the regulation was the fact that it was a typical “one size fits all” government mandate. The masks, which would have done the job, would have been a temporary measure as companies would have included the new filtering equipment in new mills when they were built. Retrofitting an existing factory with new mechanical systems is usually considerably more expensive than including such systems in the design of new factories. Also, installing the filtering equipment in new factories as they were built would have allowed the companies to spread the cost of the equipment over a period of a decade or more rather than having to absorb the costs within a couple of years. When the textile workers union got the U.S. Supreme Court to order the companies to install the air filtering equipment immediately rather than use masks many of them could not afford it and were forced to either go out of business entirely or close their factories in the U.S. and move production facilities overseas. The result, according to your text, the loss of over 300,000 jobs in this industry.

The video cites OSHA statistics stating that about 100,000 workers were AT RISK of contracting brown lung disease. Again, according to the video, these 100,000 workers represented about 20% of the total workforce in the industry (whose total workforce would then be about 500,000 workers). “At risk” means that these workers could get brown lung disease but there was no certainty that they would get it(if you drive to work you are “at risk” of being injured or killed in an auto accident, but this does not mean that every driver gets injured or killed). Why were only 20% rather than 100% of the workforce at risk of getting the disease? There are a number of possible reasons, among them:

1 Simply inhaling the fibers does not cause the disease – it is the constant inhaling of the dust and fibers over a long period. In certain parts of the mill the concentration of dust & fibers will be higher than in other parts so those people working in high concentration areas will have a higher risk of the disease.
2 Constant exposure over a period of ten years or more is usually required to contract the disease. Not everyone stays on the job for ten years or more and, among those who do, many will move from the production area (highest concentrations) to other areas with smaller or no concentrations over the course of their careers.
3 People who smoke and/or have other lung conditions are more susceptible to contracting the disease than non-smokers and others with healthy lungs.

According to the video and statistics cited by OSHA at the time of the implementation of safety standards to prevent the disease in 1978, only about 35,000 (7% of the estimated workforce) of the estimated 100,000 AT RISK actually contracted the disease during the period in question. Of these 35,000 cases of the disease, OSHA figures indicate that between 120 and 188 workers actually died from the disease in the period 1979 – 1996 (this is less than 1/2 of 1% of the estimated 500,000 person workforce). Yet the cost of the regulations to the workers was the loss of 300,000 jobs (60% of the 500,000 workforce). The opportunity cost of using air filtration systems over face masks to prevent 35,000 cases of brown lung disease, of which up to 188 were fatal, was 300,000 workers losing their jobs.

While the motives of the union, OSHA and the justices of the Supreme Court were good the results of their action were disastrous for 300,000 workers. The union, OSHA and the Supreme Court looked at the pain and suffering caused by brown lung disease, saw that there was a solution (retrofit mills with air filtration systems at a cost of $2 Billion) and mandated the solution. Problem solved! None of the three considered the consequences of the cost because they did not have to pay it (although the union did suffer financially in the end by losing 300,000 dues paying members). It was the workers (and stockholders in the companies) who bore the cost of this edict and individuals within these two groups did not have a say in the decision.

How would the free market have handled the problem? When the problem became apparent (remember it takes the disease a decade or more to develop and only about 7% of the workers develop the disease), and the cotton dust and fibers were identified as the cause, workers would have at least three choices:

1 Decide the job is not worth the risk and quit.
2 Decide the job is more important than the risk and keep the job.
3 Decide to keep the job but take steps to reduce the risk (stop smoking, wear a mask, look for opportunities to transfer to positions with lower or no concentrations of dust and fiber, etc.).

As workers left and potential new workers set their sites on other, safer, industries, the textile companies would be faced with the choice eventually either going out of business due to lack of workers or increasing incentives to work in their mills by:

1 Increasing pay.
2 Paying for masks, providing more safety training and other steps to reduce the risk of contracting the disease.
3 In the long run building new mills and new processes that are designed to eliminate or drastically reduce the dust and fiber in the air.

Companies need workers in order to operate. But labor markets, like any other market, operate on the basis of supply and demand. Individual workers offer their labor based upon their needs and costs. If it costs a worker $10 per day for transportation, clothes, childcare, etc. in order to work then that worker requires a job that pays more than $10 per day ? anything less and the cost of getting to work exceeds the pay so it is less expensive to just stay home. Factors like workplace safety (level of danger of injury or illness from the job), job stress, work conditions, existence of alternative employers, etc. are “costs” to the worker in the sense that they make the job less desirable and workers demand more pay to take such jobs. Of course workers need money to live and have to balance this need against the negative aspects of jobs. A worker with few options (due to lack of skill, ability, location, discrimination, etc.) will be more open to lower paying and less desirable jobs than one who has many options. Each worker is an individual and their job choices will reflect their individual assessment of their needs and options. These factors make up the supply curve of the labor market.

Employers make up the demand curve for labor. Like any other consumer of a good or service, employers seek to get the most for the lowest price. As the price of labor rises the quantity of labor demanded decreases. When the price is too high (i.e., they cannot afford it) their quantity demanded of labor goes to zero. In addition to cash wages, the cost of labor includes everything else that is needed to attract a sufficient supply of workers ? normal benefits (vacation, health care, etc.) as well as things like safety, comfortable work environment, etc.

In a free market the forces of supply and demand result in a wage rate that balances the needs/desires of workers and employers and results in zero involuntary unemployment. This doesn’t mean that workers and employers are happy with the resulting equilibrium wage (workers would obviously like more pay and employers would prefer to pay less in order to increase profits). But for both sides the equilibrium wage rate is better than any alternatives (i.e., a lower paying job for workers, less production & sales for employers). Finally, this situation is not zero unemployment in the sense that everyone is employed. Rather it is zero INVOLUNTARY unemployment ? everyone who wants work has it. But people married to a high income spouse, college students with a generous allowance from parents, retired people, adjunct faculty who just got a substantial raise in their “day job”, etc. may choose not to work because the opportunity cost of working (i.e., the time they have to give up) is worth more than the equilibrium wage. Raise the wage and these people might reconsider and re-enter the labor force.

Contrast this free market situation where each worker is free to choose among employment alternatives with the situation where government seeks to make a decision for an entire class (whose only common bond is that they work in the same industry) and the opportunity cost of the decision is substantial INVOLUNTARY unemployment.

For more information see:
American Lung Association web page

U.S. Dept of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) web site:

Ludwig von Mises Institute article entitled The Free Market and Job Safety

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 10072
Fall 2005

Assignment 1

Read the article below entitled The Economics of Happy Feet by Jeffrey Tucker. Also read the introduction and first two chapters of your text and view the first two broadcasts of Economics U$A. Then answer the following questions.

1 (10 points) According to the author, how do shoes today differ from those in the past in terms of availibility, price, comfort, etc.?

2 Here is an excerpt from the May 2, 2005 blog Rediff.com entitled Poverty, Footwear and Cold Water by Yazad Jal, CEO of the Praja Foundation in India (www.praja.org):

When I was a boy, seeing people walk about barefoot was common. I remember asking my mother’s aunt (who used to help take care of me) “Why don’t these people wear shoes or slippers?” and she’d shush me up, a bit embarrassed.

Today as I walk down the same roads of my childhood (my current office is located on a road parallel to where my grandaunt lived), I have to strain to see someone barefoot. I actually took a walk yesterday around those lanes of Grant Road just to check that out and I could not find even a single barefooted person.

Even the poorest labourers at a construction site wore rubber Hawaii chappals. This is not true just in Bombay. I’ve observed it during my trips to Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkatta, and across Madhya Pradesh. Even the poorest have some sort of footwear. Being barefoot was common twenty years back. It’s not any longer. People can afford slippers, fancy sandals and shoes. Shoes! Look around. You’d see more people decently shod today than at any other time in the past that I remember.

So how have so many poor people got themselves the money for shoes, transport, private education, fridges, television, coolers and cell phones? Maybe those figures have some answers after all. They’re worth a brief look. India’s GDP per capita in 1990, before liberalisation, was $1,300. Today it’s $2,830, more than double. It’s increased at around 5.33 per cent per year.

a. (5 points) How is this excerpt similar to the theme of Tucker’s article? (be specific)

b. (5 points) In this piece the author, Yazad Jal, attributes the sudden appeareance of shoes on everyone in India to the doubling of per capita income in the 15 years between 1990 and 2005. In the Tucker article the present day near universal wearing of shoes is attributed to both rising incomes and falling shoe prices. Explain how falling prices improve the lot of the poor.

3 In his article, Tucker states that in 2003 Americans purchased 2 billion pairs of shoes (total U.S. population in 2003 was about 290 million) but that this represented only about .65% of our budgets (i.e. out of every $100 earned by average Americans 65 cents goes towards the purchase of shoes). In addition to Americans, the rest of the world is now buying shoes (though not as many pairs per person as Americans and spending a much larger portion of their budgets than do Americans).

a. (4 points) What does this say about the quantity of shoes (supply) being produced now compared to 20 years ago? Include a graph showing what has happened to the supply curve for shoes (for simplilcity, assume that the demand curve for shoes has not changed in this period).

b. (3 points) What effect has this dramatic increase in production had on the price of shoes?

c. (3 points) What is “economic growth” and how is this dramatic increase in world shoe production an example of economic growth?

4 In his article Tucker comments that it is now very difficult to tell a person’s income or social status by looking at their shoes and also that shoes have become a throw away product and are discarded long before they wear out or need repair (despite the fact that they are no longer made to last as shoes were in the past).

a. (2 points) Can you determine a person’s income/social status by their shoes alone? Explain your reasons why you can or cannot do this.

b. (2 points) Quality, like beauty, can be in the eye of the beholder. What quality features do you consider when purchase a pair of shoes: looks, comfort, latest fashion, which sports figure is promoting them, durability (i.e. how long they will last), ability to impress people, adds to image you want to project, fit a special purpose (i.e., running, playing tennis, playing basketball, make you look good for a job interview). Explain.

c. (3 points) When you decide to purchase a pair of shoes is your motive to replace existing shoes that are physically worn out; replace a pair that is in very good condition but no longer in style; or add to your existing supply of shoes? Explain.

d. (3 points) If, as was true in times past, a shoe purchase required a major expense (say 6 ? 9 months of income or more ? i.e., 50% ? 75% of annual income rather than six tenths of 1% of your annual income) would your decision be motivated more by their durability (i.e. last a lifetime and then leave them to your heirs in your will) or fashion?

5 (10 points) Both Tucker and Jal are staunch advocates of free markets and are generally opposed to government involvment in the economy. (NOTE: Jal’s phrase “before liberalization” in the excerpt above refers to the period prior to 1990 when the Indian economy was basically socialist and the “liberalisation” he referst to is the elimination of many government economic regulations and the introduction of a more free market economy). Your book and the video take a more middle of the road approach and argue that government intervention is a necessary counter balance to limitations of the price system of the free market. Compare and contrast the view of the text book with that of Tucker and Jal.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Take Home Test 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 202
NELC
Take Home Exam 1
Fall 2005
Covers Material & Topics in Part One (Chapters 1 ? 4) of Text

Multiple Choice ? each question worth 5 points for a total of 100 points.

1 Through war, many of the factories in country 1 are destroyed and many of its people are killed. As a result, the country’s
a) production possibilities frontier (PPF) after the war is probably farther away from the origin than its PPF becore the war.
b) PPF after the war is probably closer to the origin than its PPF before the war.
c) PPF after the war is probably the same PPF as before the war.
d) ability to produce goods and services has increased.

2 Which of the following is consistant with the law of demand?
a) People substitute higher-priced goods for higher-quality goods.
b) People substitute some higher-priced goods for other higher-priced goods.
c) People substitute lower-priced goods for higher-priced goods.
d) People substitute some lower-priced goods for other lower-priced goods.

3 An effective minimum wage law can be expected to
a) clear the market for unskilled workers.
b) increase employment for some affected workers.
c) increase the number of firms in those industries where the law is effective.
d) reduce the hours worked for some unskilled workers.

4 On a supply and demand diagram, equilibrium is found
a) where the supply curve intercepts the vertical axis.
b) where the demand curve intercepts the horizontal axis.
c) where the demand and supply curves intersect.
d) at every point on either curve.

5 The minimum wage is an example of
a) a price door.
b) a price wall.
c) a price floor.
d) a price ceiling.

6 Efficiency implies that
a) all consumers’ wants are satisfied.
b) no advance in technology will occur in the future.
c) the attainable region is greater than the unattainable region.
d) gains are impossible in one area without losses in another.
e) all of the above.

7 If goods are not rationed according to price, it follows that
a) they won’t get rationed at all.
b) something will ration the goods.
c) first-come-first-served will necessarily be the rationing device.
d) there will be surpluses in the market.
e) none of the above.

8 An increase in the expected price of corn would likely
a) increase both the demand and supply of corn.
b) decrease both the demand and supply of corn.
c) increase the demand but decrease the supply of corn.
d) increase the supply but decrease the demand for corn.

9 Opportunity cost is the value of
a) the next best forfeited alternative.
b) the chosen alternative.
c) a free good.
d) an economic good.

10 At a price below equilibrium price, there is
a) a surplus.
b) a shortage.
c) excess supply.
d) sub-equilibrium.
e) none of the above.

11 You can determine the consumers’ surplus if you know the
a) price received.
b) the maximum buying price.
c) price paid.
d) b and c.
e) a and b.

12 An “increase in demand” means that
a) the demand curve has shifted to the left.
b) price has declined and consumers want to purchase more of the good.
c) the demand curve has shifted to the right.
d) the price of the good can be expected to decline, assuming supply stays constant.

13 Choice is a consequence of
a) opportunity cost.
b) formulating hypotheses.
c) scarcity.
d) none of the above.

14 An “increase in the quantity demanded” means that
a) the demand curve has shifted to the right.
b) the supply curve has shifted to the left.
c) the price has declined and consumers therefore want to purchase more of the good.
d) given supply, the price of the good can be expected to rise.

15 Most states have instituted mandatory seat belt laws to reduce traffic fatalities. An economist may point out that an unintended effect of these laws is
a) an increase in the price of automobiles, further reducing fatalities.
b) an increase in driving speed, increasing the number of accidents.
c) a decrease in driving speed, further reducing fatalities.
d) an increase in risky driving behavior, increasing fatalities.

16 The California energy crisis of 2001 was caused by
a) changes in the supply of electricity only.
b) changes in the demand for electricity only.
c) changes in the demand and supply of electricity, along with a government imposed price ceiling.
d) changes in the demand and supply of electricity, along with a government imposed price floor.

17 The joke about it taking eight economists to change a light bulb ? one to screw in the build and the other seven to hold everything else constant ? is a joke about how economists
a) use the ceteris paribus assumption.
b) fail to deduce conclusions from their assumptions.
c) confuse association with causation.
d) would much rather construct theories than test them.

18 The synonym economists commonly use for “additional” is
a) capital
b) rational.
c) marginal.
d) economic.

19 In economics, scarcity implies
a) disutility.
b) utility.
c) choice.
d) ceteris paribus.

20 The amount of one good that is forfeited in order to produce more of another good is called
a) transaction costs.
b) specialization.
c) efficiency.
d) opportunity cost.
e) none of the above.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1 (8 points) Explain why it is important to differentiate between the “number of unskilled workers” and the “number of unskilled labor hours” when evaluating the impact oon the market for unskilled labor of a change in minimum wage.

2 Eighty percent of all navel oranges grown in the U.S. come from California. In the winter of 1998 a series of storms in California damaged about 70% of the navel orange crop. Explain how this severe weather most likely impacted each of the following markets.

a. (3 points) California-grown navel oranges

b. (3 points) Imported navel organges

c. (3 points) Commercially prepared fruit salad (that contained navel oranges)

3 (8 points) List and describe the seven steps of building and testing a theory.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Assignment 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 202 – NELC
Fall 2005

Assignment 1 (Chapters 1 ? 4)

Read chapters 1 ? 4 in your book and the article (What You Need to Know About the Minimum Wage by Shawn Ritenour) below than answer the following questions.

1 a (5 points) Explain how the price of a good is determined by supply and demand in a market.

b (5 points) When employers purchase labor services from workers the price of the labor services is refered to as a wage. Certis paribus, is the price (wage) employers pay for labor services also determined by supply and demand just like apples in a grocery store? Explain why or why not.

2 (10 points) Suppose local educators argue that teachers’ salaries are too low. At the same time it is said that the school district received 750 applications for 5 new openings. Are salaries too low?

3 (10 points) TheRitenour article refers to absolute poverty and relative poverty. Explain what these two types of poverty are and how they differ. Also, is it possible to design policies to alleviate absolute poverty? Why or why not? Is it possible for government policies to reduce or eliminate relative poverty? Why or why not?

4 According to the Ritenour article:

a (5 points) Who, specifically, are the people who work in low paying jobs that are affected by the minimum wage?

b (5 points) In terms of economic responsibilities how do the majority of these people differ from the majority of American workers who earn more than minimum wage?

5 (10 points) According to the Ritenour article, how does the imposition of a minimum wage law harm unskilled worker and young workers just entering the market without skills? Also, what types of job skills needed for all types of work can be learned by new workers when they take a low skill job at a place like McDonalds? Why are such skills important for future success?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Assignment 6

In reply to Supply & Demand

Assignment 6
Part VI ? Chapters 18- 19
Economics 202 ? Macro
Fall 2005

Read the article entitled Imports? Never! by Norman Van Cott and answer the following questions.

1 (10 Points) According to the author, which of the two scenerios ? cheap foreign imports or expensive foreign imports (with “cheap” and “expensive” being relative to domestic American prices for these products) are bad for the U.S. economy? Why?

2 (10 Points) What does the author mean by the statement “What protection teaches us is to do to ourselves in time of peace is what enemies seek to do to us in time of war”? How are peacetime laws designed to prevent or limit the importation of foreign goods the same as wartime actions by one’s enemies to prevent their importing goods from abroad?

3 (10 Points) Why are we better off economically when we are able to import foreign goods for a lower price than what we produce domestically?

4 (10 Points) If my household were considered a nation would my family and I be better off trying to raise chickens on our townhouse (for eggs and meat) rather than “importing” eggs and meat from a “foreign” source such as Safeway or Fry’s? Why or why not? What is the difference between me “losing” my job as a chicken farmer and butcher (in a townhouse) to competition from Fry’s and an American steelworker losing his job to a “foreign” producer from Korea?

5 (10 Points) Explain why cheap foreign imports raise our standard of living and make us better off economically.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Take Home Test 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 202
NELC
Exam 5 (Text Chaps 16 ? 17)
Fall 2005

Multiple Choice ? 5 points each for a total of 100 points:

1 An increase in labor productivity without an increase in the labor force leads to _______ real economic growth.

a. absolute, but not per-capita
b. per-capita, but not absolute
c. absolute and per-capita
d. neither absolute nor per-capita

2 Generally, what must be sacrificed in order to build more capital now is

a. Real GDP now.
b. consumption now.
c. Real GDP in the future.
d. consumption in the future.

3 The frequent use of economic policies to counteract economic movements deemed to be undesirable is called.

a. course tuning.
b. fine-tuning.
c. course adaptation.
d. fine adaptation.

4 _______________ rights refer to the range of laws, rules, and regulations that define rights for the use and transfer of resources.

a. Individual
b. Constitutional
c. Property
d. Economic
e. none of the above.

5 An increase in nominal GDP

a. is absolute real economic growth
b. is per-capita economic growth
c. is both per-capita and absolute real economic growth.
d. may be neither absolute nor per-capita real economic growth.

6 In the 1970s, the U.S. Economy experienced

a. stagflation.
b. low inflation and low unemployment.
c. high inflation and low unemployment.
d. b and c.
e. none of the above.

7 “Absolute real economic growth” is ___________ from one period to the next.

a. an increase in nominal GDP.
b. an increase in Real GDP.
c. an increase in Real GDP per person.
d. a decrease in the unemployment rate.

8 Stagflation consists of

a high inflation and high interest rates.
b. low inflation and high unemployment.
c. high inflation and high unemployment.
d. high unemployment and an economy in a deep recession.

9 According to the real business cycle theory, business cycle contractions begin as a result of changes in

a. the self-interest of politicians.
b. decreases in business investment.
c. decreases in the growth rate of the money supply.
d. decreases in the economy’s capacity to produce.

10 Technological advances make it possible to

a. produce goods without using any resources.
b. obtain the same output by using more resources.
c. obtain the same output by using fewer resources.
d. lower labor productivity.

11 New classical economists build their theories upon

a. adaptive expectations.
b. inflexible wages and prices.
c. rational expectations.
d. the assumption that it takes a long time for markets to achieve equilibrium values.

12 Industrial policy is ___________ political corruption because it picks out _______

a. susceptible to, certain businesses to aid.
b. susceptible to, nationwide regulations to tighten or relax.
c. immune from, certain businesses to aid.
d. immune from, nationwide regulations to tighten or relax.

13 The original (1958) Phillips curve stated that

a. unemployment and money wage rates move in the same direction.
b. unemployment and money wage rates move in opposite directions.
c. there is an inverse relationship between price inflation and unemployment.
d. there is a direct relationship between price inflation and unemployment.

14 The simultaneous occurrence of high inflation and high unemployment is called

a. recession.
b. disflation.
c. stagflation.
d. “fooling”.

15 Deregulation is primarily a ____________-side policy meant to ________ PPF.

a. demand; expand the economy’s
b. demand; bring the economy closer to its
c. supply; expand the economy’s
d. supply; bring the economy closer to its

16 According to the original Phillips curve, the cost of reducing the unemployment rate in the short run is a

a. fall in Real GDP.
b. fall in nominal GDP.
c. lower rate of price inflation.
d. higher rate of wage inflation.

17 “Watering the green spots” is a phrase one hears when discussing

a. property rights.
b. taxes.
c. monetary policy.
d. industrial policy.
e. new growth theory.

18 The original (1958) Phillips curve

a. showed that stagflation is inevitable.
b. showed the tradeoff between the use of monetary and fiscal policy.
c. has never been used as an important economic policy tool.
d. suggested a tradeoff between wage inflation and the unemployment rate.

19 The frequent use of economic policies to counteract economic movement seemed to be undesirable is called

a. course tuning.
b. fine-tuning.
c. course adaptation.
d. fine adaptation.

20 Stagflation is the simultaneous occurrence of

a. low inflation and high unemployment.
b. high inflation and low unemployment.
c. low inflation and low unemployment.
d. high inflation and high unemployment.

Short Essay

1. (8 points) Describe the policy ineffectiveness proposition (PIP). Be sure to state which economic theory the PIP is associated with and the assumptions that are necessary for this argument to hold.

2. (8 points) List and describe four factors that can contriubte to economic growth.

3. (9 points) How does discovering and implementing new ideas cause economic growth?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Assignment 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Assignment 5
Part VIII ? Chapters 16 – 17
Economics 202 ? Macro
Fall 2005

1 Read the insert on page 407 of your text entitled “How Economizing on Time Can Promote Economic Growth.

A (5 points) Explain why time is considered as a resource.

B (5 points) How does saving time increase economic growth and cause the Production Possibilities Curve to shift outward?

C (5 points) Your book cites computers as an example of time saving technology that results in greater output. Name four (4) other technological devices and explain both how they save time and result in greater output.

D (5 points) Explain how the invention of the wheel helped the ancients save time and improve their output.

2 (10 points) List and describe four factors that can contribute to economic growth.

3 (10 points) Explain the relationship that exists between economic growth and the price level.

4 (10 points) Describe the new growth theory. Explain how it differs from neoclassical growth theory.<

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Take Home Test 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 202
NELC
Take Home Exam 4
Fall 2005
Covers Material & Topics in Part Four (Chapters 12 ? 15) of Text

1 The direct exchange of one good or service for another is called
a) a token exchange.
b) a standard of deferred payment.
c) the exchange of purchasing power.
d) barter.

2 Transaction costs are best defined as the
a) various costs of different goods and serivces.
b) cost of one good in terms of another; that is, the price of apples in terms of oranges.
c) costs involved in borrowing money from someone, that is, the interest that must be paid for the use of someone else’s money.
d) costs associated with the time and effort necessary to make an exchange.

3 Which of the following illustrates a barter transaction?
a) A bushel of oranges is traded for a bushel of apples.
b) Someone buys a pizza for the special price of $4.
c) Someone buys a house of $100,000.
d) A car dealer gives a free plane ticket to each new car buyer.

4 If market interest rates increase, the prices of existing bonds will
a) decrease.
b) not change.
c) increase.
d) decrease if Real GDP decreases and increase if Real GDP increases.

5 Money evolved out of the self-interested actions of
a) economists.
b) governments.
c) a few kings and queens.
d) individuals.
e) none of the above.

6 When the Fed purchases securities from a member of the public with a check that is cashed,
a) reserves increase.
b) currency in circulation increases.
c) the money supply increases.
d) b and c.
e) all of the above.

7 The advantage of holding money as an asset is that
a) money earns interest.
b) money is liquid.
c) money is safe from thievery.
d) the value of money appreciates over time.

8. When the Fed increases the required-reserve ratio, a bank’s
a) excess reserves are unaffected.
b) excess reserves are increased.
c) excess reserves are decreased.
d) required reserves are decreased.
e) b and d.

9 The money supply in the United States is backed by
a) faith.
b) gold.
c) silver.
d) government policy.

10 Which of the following is false?
a) Banks cannot print money.
b) Banks can create checkable deposits by extending loans.
c) Banks must maintain a certain percentage of their total (checkable) deposits in reserve form.
d) Checkable deposits is a larger component of M1 than currency.
e) Today, in the United States, gold is money.

11 An individual buys a bond for $50 and sells it one year later for $70. What is the rate of return that this individual has received?
a) 10%
b) 20%
c) 30%
d) 40%

12 Changes in the money supply affect
a) expected inflation rates.
b) actual inflation rates.
c) the supply of loans.
d) a and b.
e) a, b and c.

13 When the Fed conducts open market operations, the impact of the buying or selling of bonds will include changes in

a) the money supply.
b) interest rates.
c) the expected rate of inflation.
d) a and c.
e) a, b and c.

14 Nonactivists favor
a) the use of fiscal policies to manage the economy.
b) the use of moneary policies to manage the economy.
c) fine tuning.
d) rules for conducting monetary and fiscal policies.

15 As the opportunity cost of holding money decreases,m the quantity demanded of money
a) increases.
b) decreases.
c) remains unchanged.
d) increases, then decreases.
e) decreases, then increases.

16 A gold standard tries to
a) stabilize the price level over time.
b) reduce political and economic interference in the money supply process.
c) change the money supply at a specific rate.
d) a and b.
e) all of the above.

17 In the equation of exchange, the letter “V” stands for
a) variance.
b) validity.
c) volume.
d) velocity.

18 The major disadvantage of holding money balances as an asset is
a) liquidity.
b) foregone interest earnings.
c) lack of convertibility.
d) that it is unlawful in most countries.

19 The simple quantity theory of money predicts that if
a) the money supply rises by $200, then GDP falls by $200.
b) GDP rises by $400, then money supply rises by $400.
c) the money supply rises by 10 percent, then the price level rises by 10 percent.
d) the money supply falls by $300, then GDP rises by $300.

20 Unanticipated inflation clearly redistributes buying power from
a) borrowers to lenders.
b) lenders to borrowers.
c) some borrowers to other borrowers.
d) some lenders to other lenders.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1 (8 points) Explain how a change in the money supply can affect the following in the short run:

a (2 points) The supply of loanable funds.

b (2 points) Real GDP.

c (2 points) The price level.

d (2 points) The expected inflation rate.

2 (9 points) What is Gresham’s Law? What three conditions are necessary in order for it to be valid?

3 (8 points) What is money?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Assignment 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Assignment 4
Part IV ? Chapters 12- 15
Economics 202 ? Macro
Fall 2005

1. (10 points) Describe the process by which banks create money.

2. (10 points) Describe the expectations (or Fisher) effect.

3. (10 points) List and describe the four positions held by monotarists that help to explain the monetarists view of the economy.

4 (10 points) List and describe the three monetary policy tools the Federal Reserve can use to increase the money supply. Which tool is used most often?

5 (10 points) List and describe the three functions of money.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Take Home Test 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 202
NELC
Take Home Exam 2
Fall 2005
Covers Material & Topics in Part Two (Chapters 5 ? 6) of Text

Multiple Choice ? each question worth 5 points for a total of 100 points.

1 The civilian non-institutional population consist of everyone in the population who is
a) at least 16 years of age, in the armed forces, or institutionalized.
b) at least 16 years of age.
c) not in the armed forces.
d) not institutionalized.
e) b, c, and d

2 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total market value of all
a) final goods and services produced annually within a country’s borders.
b) final and intermediate goods and services produced annually within a country’s borders.
c) intermediate goods and services produced annually within a country’s borders.
d) final goods and services produced every month within a country’s borders.

3 “Full employment” is said to exist when the unemployment rate equals
a) zero.
b) the cyclical unemployment rate.
c) the structural unemployment rate.
d) the natural unemployment rate.

4. If a person did at least one hour of work as a paid employee during the survey week, how is she classified?
a) ias an employed person.
b) as not in the labor force.
c) as an unemployed person.
d) none of the above.

5 Which of the following will NOT lead to a leftward shift in the AS curve?
a) an increase in wage rates.
b) an increase in the prices of nonlabor inputs.
c) an increase in productivity.
d) an adverse supply shock.

6 What does annual economic growth refer to ?
a) annual increases in GDP
b) annual increases in consumption spending
c) annual increases in investment spending
d) annual increases in Real GDP
e) none of the above

7 A recession is always a part of a
a) contraction
b) recovery
c) detraction
d) remission

8 To macroeconomists, investment is mainly the purchases of goods and services
a) by businesses.
b) to hold as wealth, such as gold coins or art.
c) by foreign countries.
d) in the period previous to the period being studied.

9 A person is unemployed if he
a) is a member of the civilian labor force, out of work, and actively seeking work.
b) is 15 years old and seeking his first job.
c) is out of work, available for work, but not actively seeking work.
d) all of the above.

10 A dynamic, changing economy will
a) experience frictional and structural unemployment.
b) experience only cylicial unemployment.
c) have zero unemployment.
d) have no natural unemployment.

11 Who is unanticipated inflation likely to help?
a) Lenders
b) Borrowers
c) All consumers
d) All producers

12 Inflation can be defined as
a) an increase in the purchasing power of money.
b) a decrease in the purchasing power of money.
c) no change in the purchasing power of money
d) an increase in real income.

13 What is the proper sequence of the phases of a business cycle?

a) peak, contraction, trough, expansion, recovery.
b) peak contraction, revovery, trough, expansion.
c) peak, contraction, trough, recovery, expansion.
d) contraction, peak, trough, recovery, expansion.
e) recovery, trough, peak, expansion, contraction.

14 Assuming that they are actively seeking employment, which of the following categories of people would be considered unemployed?
a) Those who were fired from their job.
b) Those who resigned from their job.
c) New entrants into the job market
d) All of the above are correct.

15 One measure of the inflation rate is the
a) sum of the CPIs of adjacent years.
b) percentage change in the CPI of adjacent years.
c) percentage change in the Real GDP of adjacent years.
d) GDP minus Real GDP in a year.

16 Persons who are retired or engaged in own-home housework are considered to be in which of the following categories?
a) in the civilian labor force
b) not in the labor force
c) employed
d) unemployed

17 Real GDP is GDP
a) in current-year prices.
b) in base-year prices.
c) in GDP-prices.
d) in that year’s prices.

18 Norman just brought shares of stock in Amazon.com for $1,000 and paid a $45 commission to his broker. How did this affect GDP?
a) It had no impact on GDP.
b) GDP increased by $45.
c) GDP increased by $995.
d) GDP increased by $1,000.
e) GDP increased by $1,045.

19 Leisure is
a) a good that is not counted in GDP.
b) a good that is counted in GDP.
c) neither a good nor a bad, and it is not counted in GDP.
d) a bad as far as economists are concerned, because it is not tangible.

20 An example of income received but not earned is
a) government transfer payments.
b) undistributed profits.
c) compensation of employees.
d) rental income.
e) a and c.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1. ( 8 points) List and describe the three different types of unemplolyment..

2. ( 8 points) Describe what the term “full employment” means to an economist.

3. (9 points) Describe the difference between GDP and GNP.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Assignment 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Assignment 2
Part II ? Chapters 5- 6
Economics 202 ? Macro
Fall 2005

Read Chapters five and six in your text and the article entitled America’s Job Puzzle: A Labour Market that Works, by Gerald Baker (email instructor at nugentwork@yahoo.com for a copy of the article). Then answer the following questions.

1 (11 points) Draw an appropriate diagram to represent the business cycle and label each of the five phases. Provide a brief description of each phase.

2 (11 points) List and describe the three different types of unemployment.

3 (10 points) According to the Baker article, how is the rise of temporary workers and job training programs for people who are structurally unemployed helping to relieve the presure of rising demand for workers? Draw a graph showing how the rise in the number of temporary workers and newly trained workers is keeping wage rates from rising despite the increase in demand by employers for workers.

4 (10 points) What are the new types of flexable wage schemes that employers are using and how do these work to enable businesses to increase productivity without incurring inflationary wage increases? How do you as a consumer feel about flexible wage schemes? How do you as an employee (or potential employee) feel about flexible wage schemes? Identify some advantages and disadvantages of flexible wage schemes from an employee’s point of view.

5 (10 points) Baker does not discuss the role of immigration (legal or illegal) in easing the pressures of the labor shortage. How does immigration act to increase the supply of labor and keep wages from rising and fueling inflation? Based on the facts presented in the article do you think that employers are hiring immigrants because they work for less or because there is no one else available to work? Explain. In your opinion, if the economy stopped growing and demand for labor stopped increasing, would people from abroad still want to immigrate to the U.S. for work? Explain your answer.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Assignment 3

In reply to Supply & Demand

Assignment 3
Part III ? Chapters 7 – 11
Economics 202 ? Macro
Fall 2005

1 (10 points) Explain the policy implications of the classical economists’ beliefs.

2 (10 points) Describe some of the problems with the current Social Security system. What are some of the solutions to these problems that were outlined in the text?

3 (10 points) Explain how tax cuts can impact both aggregate demand and aggregate supply. Give an example of each.

Read the attached article entitled Say’s Law in Context and then answer the remaining questions below:

4 (10 points) What does the author mean when he writes at the end of the sixth paragraph “…Say recognized that all men were both producers and consumers”?

5 (10 points) Why must one be a producer in order to be a consumer?

BONUS: (15 points) According to Say how is the problem of over production or under production solved by the market?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 6

In reply to Supply & Demand

Assignment 6

Part VI ? Chapters 18- 19
Economics 201 ? Micro
Fall 2005

Read the article entitled Imports? Never! by T. Norman Van Cott and answer the following questions.

1 (10 Points) According to the author, which of the two scenerios ? cheap foreign imports or expensive foreign imports (with “cheap” and “expensive” being relative to domestic American prices for these products) are bad for the U.S. economy? Why?

2 (10 Points) What does the author mean by the statement “What protection teaches us is to do to ourselves in time of peace is what enemies seek to do to us in time of war”? How are peacetime laws designed to prevent or limit the importation of foreign goods the same as wartime actions by one’s enemies to prevent their importing goods from abroad?

3 (10 Points) Why are we better off economically when we are able to import foreign goods for a lower price than what we produce domestically?

4 (10 Points) If my household were considered a nation would my family and I be better off trying to raise chickens on our townhouse (for eggs and meat) rather than “importing” eggs and meat from a “foreign” source such as Safeway or Fry’s? Why or why not? What is the difference between me “losing” my job as a chicken farmer and butcher (in a townhouse) to competition from Fry’s and an American steelworker losing his job to a “foreign” producer from Korea?

5 (10 Points) Explain why cheap foreign imports raise our standard of living and make us better off economically.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Take Home Test 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 201
NELC
Take Home Exam 5
Fall 2005
Covers Material and Topics in Part V (Chaps 17 ? 18) of Text

Multiple Choice ? 5 points each for a total of 100 points:

1 A negative externality is

a. a type of tax.
b. a type of subsidy.
c. a type of money price.
d. linked to external costs.
e. linked to external benefits.

2 Public choice refers to

a. the decisions and decision-making processes that individuals go through to solve public problems.
b. political decisions made in the interest of the public at large.
c. the application of economic principles and tools to public-sector decision making.
d. the process that individuals undergo to decide what goods and services they will purchase and consume.
e. the process that individuals undergo to decide whether or not they will pursue a career in government service.

3 If private property rights were established in the oceans, there would probably be

a. more ocean pollution.
b. less ocean pollution.
c. the same amount of ocean pollution that exists without private property rights in the ocean.
d. more ocean voyages on cruise ships.

4 Government bureaus and bureaucrats are not as likely to try to please their “customers” as are private firms. Why?

a. Government bureaus usually employ more employees than private firms.
b. There are fewer government bureaus than private firms.
c. Government bureaus do not face competition, private firms do.
d. Government bureaus provide more nearly essential services than private firms.
e. none of the above.

5 Politicians

a. prefer to discuss means rather than ends.
b. prefer t discuss the issues in specific terms rather than in general terms.
c. do not like to be perceived as either an extreme “left-winger” or an extreme “right-winger”.
d. often refer to their opponents as “middle-of-the-roaders.”

6 “Market environmentalism” refers to

a. attempts at using market forces to deal with environmental pollution.
b. attempts at making profits by producing and selling “environmentally safe” products to “environmentally conscious” consumers.
c. government mandates of pollution standards backed by stiff penalties for violators.
d. the 1992 privatizing of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

7 The primary difference between private goods and public goods is that

a. private goods are consumed by private individuals whereas public goods are not consumed by private individuals.
b. private goods often yield externalities but public goods do not.
c. property rights can be assigned to public goods but not to private goods.
d. public goods are nonrivalrous in consumption whereas private goods are rivalrous in consumption.

8 Which of the following is an example of an externality that has been internalized?

a Acid rain, originating in the United States, destroys Canadian forests.
b. Robert Frost breaths the air polluted by the emissions of a nearby steel plant.
c. Erica Evans, a beekeeper, decides to keep more bees because her neighbor, an orchard owner, has agreed to compensate her for the bees’ pollination of the orchard.
d. Jack Stevens, a concert pianist, rehearses Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” and his neighbors enjoy the “free concert”.
e. all of the above.

9 In a simple majority vote on a public project,

a. the project will never be undertaken if the costs exceed the benefits.
b. the project may be undertaken even though the total costs exceed the total benefits.
c. the intensity of individual preferences is taken into account.
d. the project will always be undertaken if the total benefits exceed the total costs.

10 The side effect of an action that increases the well-being of others is called

a. an augmentation.
b. an elasticity.
c. a passive benefit.
d. a positive externality..

11 Public choice is concerned with

a. relative prices.
b. government decision making.
c. marketing techniques.
d. consumer surveying.

12 “Logrolling”

a. is vote trading among elected officials.
b. eliminates the influence of special-interest groups.
c. puts downward pressure on federal spending.
d. b and c.
e. a.. of the above.

13 A side effect of an action that adversely affects the well-being of others is called a
a. complement.
b. supplement.
c. negative externality.
d. marginal cost.

14 Government failure is a situation where

a. the existing government is overthrown by the military.
b. the existing government is overthrown by the people.
c. government is overthrown by a foreign power.
d. government enacts policies that produce inefficient and/or inequitable results.
e. government interferes with the workings of the market system.

15 Public choice is concerned with decision making by

a. consumers.
b. businesses.
c. government.
d. foreigners.
e. consumers and businesses.

16 Some pollution may be preferable to zero pollution because

a. attempting to decrease the level of pollution to zero may cause significant losses in society’s welfare.
b. we really do not have that much pollution.
c. the nation’s citizens are against government’s involvement in solving the pollution problem.
d. no form of regulation has been shown to be effective at solving the pollution problem.

17 Which of the following persons is most likely to become informed on the National Endowment for the Arts?

a. an attorney
b. a mayor of a city
c. a farmer
d. a student of agriculture
e. a playwright.

18 Would we expect the “average” person to take more time to learn about the car he or she is considering purchasing or about the issues in the upcoming U.S. Senate race in his or her state?

a. The Senate race, because it is critical that we elect the right people to government.
b. The car, but there is no rational reason for this.
c. The Senate race, because the person who is elected senator today may become president tomorrow.
d. The car, because a mistake here can potentially cause him or her more harm on a day-to-day basis; in addition, a person is unlikely to be able to affect the outcome of a Senate race.

19 A voter will tend to be more informed if the issue in question

a. affects everyone very little.
b. is complicated and difficult to understand.
c. has an intense and direct effect on the voter.
d. is of special interest to a small group to which the voter does not belong.

20 A subset of the general population that holds an intense preference with respect to a particular government activity is called a

a. public-service group.
b. special-interest group.
c. union.
d. federation.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1 Review the section in your book that discusses special interest legislation and rent seeking.

a (4 points) Explain what the Factory Acts were, the real objective of those pushing for passage of the acts and how the real intent contrasted with the way they were sold to the public.

b (4 points) Explain what the term “rent seeking” is and how the Factory Acts were an example of rent seeking.

2. (8 points) Why do many prospective voters choose to watch sports on television rather than watching the news or political roundtables? In your answer, be sure to mention the role played by rational ignorance.

3 (9 points) Describe how market environmentalism works.

BONUS (10 points) In the nineteenth century the U.S. passed laws designed to protect women and children in the workplace by placing numerous restrictions on the types of work they could engage in, hours, etc. Like the Factory Acts in England, the real motivation behind these laws was to increase the wages of men (on whom there were no work restrictions) by reducing the overall supply of labor. A century later the Woman’s Movement in the U.S. succeeded in getting the laws restricting female labor repealed. But laws regulating child labor are still in effect.

Answer part A or part B below (answer one only ? no additional credit will be given for answering both BUT points will be subtracted for any omissions, inconsistancies or faulty reasoning in either part of your answer).

A What differences exist between nineteenth century family income and living standards and twenty-first century family income and living standards that would cause 21st century parents to prevent their children from being exploited by having to work long hours and/or work in dangerous or unhealthy conditions?

B How can bureaucrats, working 8 ? 5 do a better job of monitoring the working hours and conditions of a child than that child’s parents could do? Also, why would you expect a bureaucrat working 8 ? 5 to be more concerned about a given child’s welfare than that child’s parents?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 201 – NELC
Fall 2005

Assignment 5
Covers Material & Topics in Part Four (Chapters 17- 18) of Text

Total Points for This Assignment = 50

Read the article entitled Bambi Buys the Farm by Mary Anastasia O’Grady (Wall Street Journal, Dec 10, 2004, pg. W.17)* and answer the questions relating to it below:

1. (10 Points) Give an explanation as to why legalizing the sale of venison (deer meat) solved the problem of an over population of deer when government culling programs (which probably consisted of either having wildlife ranger hunt the deer or removing limits on the hunting of deer by sportsmen or a combination of both) failed to reduce the population to managable proportions. Why did the incentive of creating property rights to deer and legalizing the sale of venison result in a greater reduction in the deer population than keeping deer as common property but forbidding the sale of deer meat?

2. (10 Points) New Zealand succeeded in solving the problem of a run away deer population by allowing deer to become private property and giving the owners the right to sell the meat. Some economists have also argued that the creation of property rights for endangered species, like the rhinocerous, would result in the preservation of those animals. Currently, rhinocerouses in the wild are a burden to local farmers whose lands they tend to damage. They are also prized by hunters who shoot them, illegally, for either trophies or to collect the horns which, when ground into a powder command a high price as an aphrodisiac in some parts of the world. How would allowing people to raise rhinocerouses and make money allowing wealthy sportsmen to shoot them as trophies or selling the horns and other parts of them which are in demand result in keeping the rhinocerous from becoming extinct?

3 (10 Points) According to the article, deer related automobile accidents resulted in 367 deaths in 2003 and the annual cost of property damage and injuries resulting from collisions with deer is at least $1.2 billion. The article also states that while it it is illegal to farm deer for venison in the U.S., this country is New Zealand’s second largest customer for venison. Use public choice theory to explain how various special interests (sportsmen, conservationists, game wardens, restaurant owners, etc.), each seeking their own narrow ends via the political system rather than the market, can produce such an illogical result (i.e., legally importing and selling a product that is illegal to produce here while spending over a billion dollars a year to repair damage resulting from the overabundance of a resource we are protecting).

4 (10 points) An August 25, 2005 story on “Yahoo News” about the current round of military base closings had the following comment “It also wants to close Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota and Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico.

Anticipating the high-stakes votes, the entire South Dakota congressional delegation ? Sens. John Thune, a Republican, and Tim Johnson, a Democrat, and Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth ? attended the hearing,…” (NOTE: South Dakota has a small population and thus has only 1 representative in the House of Representatives thereby making the entire state one Congressional District). Senator Thune, a conservative Republican elected in 2004 with strong support from President Bush strongly opposes the Bush Administration’s plan to close Ellsworth AFB and has gone so far as to threaten to vote against the President’s choice for U.N. Ambassador if the base is closed. Use Public Choice theory to explain why a Republican Senator would join Democrats in opposing the President from his own party? The Bush Defense Department is urging the closure of Ellsworth, AFB as part of its plan to reduce costs and improve national defense by using scarce resources more efficiently. Would these two Senators and Representative fight to keep Ellsworth, AFB open if their re-election depended upon getting a majority of the votes of the ENTIRE NATION rather than just a majority of the voters in South Dakota? Why or why not?

5 (10 points) Rent seeking may be rational from the individual’s perspective, but it is not from society’s perspective. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.

* Contact Instructor for copy of article

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Take Home Test 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 201
NELC
Take Home Exam 4
Fall 2005
Covers Material & Topics in Part IV (Chapters 13 ? 16) of Text

Multiple choice. 5 points each for a total of 100 points:

1 Since today workers can move from city to city (quite easily) and from firm to firm (again, quite easily), it is unlikely that there are very many

a) monopsony firms.
b) oligopoly firms.
c) monopoly firms.
d) perfectly competitive firms.
e) factor price takers.

2 Which of the following assumptions is NOT likely to be met in the real world?
a) Demand for labor is identical in every labor market.
b) Nonpecuniary factors in each job are the same.
c) All labor is homogeneous.
d) All labor has zero costs of mobility.
e) all of the above.

3 A factor that does NOT contribute to income inequality includes

a) innate abilities and attributes.
b) the amount of work a person chooses to do.
c) education and training.
d) luck.
e) none of the above; that is, all factors contribute to income inequality.

4. Marginal revenue product is

a) the additional cost of employing a factor.
b) the additional revenue generated by employing an additional factor unit.
c) marginal revenue multiplied by price of the factor Univ.
d) price of the good that is sold multiplied by the unit cost.
e) none of the above.

5. An organization that does not require individuals to be union members in order to be hired, but does require them to join the union within a certain period of time after becoming employed, is called a

a) craft union.
b) employee union.
c) union shop.
d) closed shop.
e) employee association.

6. Which of the following is true?

a) A major corporation pays a higher interest rate for a $10,000 loan than a single parent working for an insurance company.
b) The more risky the loan, the higher the interest rate charged, ceteris paribus.
c) The less risky the loan, the higher the interest rate charged, ceteris paribus.
d) The duration (length) of a loan is unrelated to the interest rate charged for the loan.
e) None of the above.

7. If a firm is incurring a loss, the loss is a signal that

a) the firm is not a monopolist.
b) the firm has never enjoyed profits.
c) consumers would rather have some of the resources used by the loss maker be used to produce other goods.
d) the government has withdrawn its “protection” of the firm.

8. Which of the following is an example of human capital?

a) a computer
b) an electronic calculator
c) education
d) stocks and bonds

9. An individual’s income equals

a) labor income + wages + asset income.
b) labor income + asset income.
c) labor income + asset income ? taxes.
d) labor income ? taxes.
e) labor income + asset income + transfer payments – taxes

10. “Economic rent” is

a) what an individual pays for the use of land or buildings.
b) a payment in excess of the producer’s explicit costs of production.
c) a payment in excess of opportunity costs.
d) a payment for capital goods.
e) none of the above.

11. Since today workers can move from city to city (quite easily) and from firm to firm (again, quite easily), it is unlikely that there are very many

a) monoposony firms.
b) oligopoly firms.
c) monopoly firms.
d) perfectly competitive firms.
e) factor price takers.

12. The potential for both profits and losses is

a) greater in a deregulated environment than in a regulated environment.
b) greater in a regulated environment than in a deregulated environment.
c) the same in a deregulated environment as in a regulated environment.
d) none of the above.

13. Jim Smith made his fortune by buying and selling real estate. Which of the following theories on the source of profits best describes the reason behind his success?

a) Uncertainty is a source of profits.
b) Profit is the reward for alertness to arbitrage opportunities.
c) Profit is the return to the entrepreneur as innovator.
d) Land is always a source of economic rent and profit.
e) If one works hard enough, one will be rewarded.

14. In what sense are profit and loss signals?

a) They signal resources where to move.
b) They signal what goods consumers may want to buy and what goods they may not want to buy.
c) They are important for government and business accounting procedures.
d) a and b.

15. Successful collective bargaining (on the part of a labor union) will

a) increase the demand for labor.
b) decrease the demand for labor.
c) change the marginal physicial product of labor.
d) none of the above.

16. Suppose it has just been discovered that working for long periods of time at a computer terminal causes eye strain, poor posture, and stress. We would expect, ceteris paribus, that the supply curve of computer programmers would shift __________ and the wage rate paid to programers would _____________.

a) rightward; decrease
b) rightward; increase
c) leftward; decrease
d) leftward; increase

17. Part of the cost of committing a crime is the probability of serving a jail sentence _________ the real wage that would be earned if not serving time in jail.

a) multiplied by
b) divided by
c) added to
d) less

18. A firm knows that it can borrow funds at 7% to invest in capital. Whether or not it borrows the funds depends upon the

a) amount of people’s savings.
b) rate of time preference of consumers.
c) return on capital relative to the price of credit.
d) difference between its interest payments and the interest rate.
e) none of the above.

19. The Taft-Hartley Act allowed states the right to

a) check into the past of prospective employees before they were hired.
b) prosecute labor union bosses who did not obey the labor practices deemed reasonable by state authorities.
c) pass right-to-work laws.
d) b and c.
e) none of the above.

20. Transfer payments are payments that are

a) made in return for goods and services currently supplied.
b) made in return for goods and services to be supplied in the future.
c) made in return for goods and services that were supplied in the past.
d) not made in return for goods and services currently supplied.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1. (8 points) What is the difference between a union shop and a closed shop? Are either (or both) legal in the United States?

2. (8 points) Describe how nineteenth-century economist David Ricardo viewed the relationship between rents and grain prices in England. How did his perspective differ from that of the prevailing view on this situation.

3. (9 points) Describe the relationship between income and education in the United States.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 201 – NELC
Fall 2005

Assignment 4
Covers Material & Topics in Part Four (Chapters 13 ? 16) of Text

Total Points for This Assignment = 50

Read the attached article (which is found on the web at http://www.mises.org/story/1878) and answer the questions below:

1 (10 points) According to the article, why is state (government) support of unions necessary for them to be successful? What type of support is provided by the state for unions?

2 (10 points) Westly describes unionized workers as a “special class of workers” who have been able to obtain and maintain above market wages. However, in the long run ? which is now occuring ? they lose the above market wages despite government support/protection. How are consumers responsible for the loss of above market wage gains unions have enjoyed in the past? Union members, like other workers and business owners are consumers as well ? explain (give examples) how union members in their role as consumers are contributing to the decline of union wages overall.

3 (10 points) How, according to the article, are wages determined in a free market? Does Westly’s explanition as to how wages are determined in a free market agree or disagree with the explanation in your book as to how wages and prices of other goods and services are determined in a free market? Explain.

4 (10 points) Why is it possible for the recycling of paper or plastics to use up more resources than the activity saves?

5 (10 points) Welfare recipients would rather receive cash benefits than in-kind, but much of the welfare system provides in-kind benefits. Is there any reason for not giving recipients their welfare benefits the way thay want to receive them? Would it be better to move to a welfare system that provides benefits only in cash?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 3

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 201 – NELC
Fall 2005

Assignment 3
Covers Material & Topics in Part Three (Chapters 9 ? 12) of Text

Total Points for This Assignment = 50

Read chapters 9 ? 12 in your book and the article below entitled Myths about Business by Ninos Malek

Then answer the following questions:

1. Define the following terms (1 point each for a total of 10 points):

a. price taker f. monopolistic competition
b. arbitrage g. marginal revenue (MR)
c. oligopoly h. regulatory lag
d. marginal cost (MC) i. Natural monopoly
e. cartel j. profit maximization rule

2. (9 points) It has been noted that rent seeking is individually rational, but socially wasteful. Explain.

3. The concept of “consumer surplus” is discussed in the “Myths…” article.

a. (4 points) Explain the concept of consumer surplus.

b. (4 points) Give an example of a product or service for which you would be willing or would expect to pay more than the vendor is currently charging.

c. (4 points) Do you feel you are cheating the vendor when you have to pay less than you intended to pay for an item?

4. (10 points) How is monopolistic competition like perfect competition? How is it like monopoly?

5. (10 points) Define price discrimination. What three conditions must exist before a firm can use it?

10 Point optional BONUS question:

In the “Myths” article, the author provides the following quote from Ludwig von Mises

The common man is the sovereign consumer whose buying or abstention from buying ultimately determines what should be produced and in what quantity and quality. [“The Anti-Capitalist Mentality”, p. 1, Ludwig von Mises]

a. (5 bonus points) Explain how the purchasing choices of consumers determine the type, quantity and quality of goods and services that are produced.

b. (5 bonus points) Explain how a free market (with easy entry and exit for competitors) makes it difficult or impossible for a business to cheat its customers or the public on a regular basis.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Take Home Test 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 201
NELC
Take Home Exam 2
Fall 2005
Covers Material & Topics in Part II (Chapters 5 ? 8) of Text

Multiple Choice 5 points each for a total of 100 points:

1 An inferior good is
a) any good that consumers think is of low quality.
b) a good for which the quantity demanded decreases as its price increases.
c) a good for which the demand rises as income falls.
d) a good for which the demand rises as income rises.
e) any good that a producer cannot sell a large quantity of, even at a low price.

2 A share of stock is
a) a claim on the assets of the corporation that gives the purchaser an ownership right in the corporation.
b) the share of profits distributed to stockholders.
c) a promise to pay for the use of someone else’s money.
d) a promise to loan money to someone.

3 A consumer is in equilibrium if he or she derives the same
a) total utility from each good consumed.
b) total utility per dollar spent on each good consumed.
c) marginal utility from each good consumed.
d) marginal utility per dollar spent on each good consumed.

4. Diamonds are more expensive than water because
a) markets do not always reflect value.
b) they have ewer uses.
c) they yield higher marginal utility.
d) they yield higher total utility.

5. A business that is owned and operated by two or more co-owners who share the profits the business earns is called a
a) proprietorship.
b) partnership.
c) nonprofit firm.
d) corporation.

6. Real income is
a) income adjusted for price changes.
b) the amount of money a person earns in a year.
c) the amount of money a person expects to earn in his or her lifetime.
d) the amount of money a person has to spend in a year.

7. In the long run,
a) all costs are variable costs.
b) all costs are fixed costs.
c) there are no variable costs.
d) a and b

8. The assets of a firm are
a) also known as equity.
b) the difference between liabilities and net worth.
c) the sum of the total debts of the firm.
d) anything of value to which the firm has a legal claim.
e) the sum of a firm’s investments in stocks and bonds.

9. The “income effect” indicates that
a) when the price of a good falls, a consumer will be able to buy more of it with a given money income.
b) consumers should substitute among various goods until the marginal utility of the last unit of each good purchased is the same.
c) when the money income of a consumer rises, the consumer will purchase more units of a normal good, assuming that prices are held constant.
d) none of the above.

10. If the marginal utility of a good is negative, then
a) consumers should buy less of it.
b) consumers will consume it only if it is free.
c) consumers should buy more of it to make its marginal utility positive.
d) the law of diminishing marginal utility is being violated.

11. Implicit cost is a
a) cost that is incurred when a monetary payment is made.
b) cost incurred in the past that cannot be changed by current decisions and therefore cannot be recovered.
c) cost that represents the value of resources used in production for which no monetary payment is made.
d) sunk cost.

12. As a percentage of U.S. firms, which type of business firm is most common?
a) proprietorships
b) partnerships
c) corporations
d) non-profit organizations

13. One of the advantages of a partnership is
a) its ability to realize the benefits of specialization.
b) the limited liability of each of the partners.
c) the unlimited life of the partnership.
d) its ability to raise capital through the issuance of stock.

14. Economic profit is
a) total revenue minus cash expenses.
b) accounting profit plus implicit costs.
c) the same as accounting profit
d) accounting profit minus implicit costs.

15. Utility refers to the
a) usefulness of a good or service.
b) satisfaction that results from the consumption of a good.
c) relative scarcity of a good.
d) rate of decline in the demand curve.

16. A bond is
a) a claim on the assets of the corporation that gives the purchaser an ownership right in the corporation.
b) the share of profits distributed to bondholders.
c) a promise to pay for the use of someone else’s money.
d) a promise to loan money to someone.
e) c and d.

17. Most economists say that the firm’s goal or objective is to maximize

a) sales.
b) employment.
c) profits.
d) worker satisfaction.

18. If the demand for a good is inelastic and the price of the good decreases,
a) total revenue increases
b) total revenue decreases.
c) total revenue is not affected.
d) the direction of the change in total revenue cannot be determined from the information given.

19. Real income is
a) income adjusted for price changes.
b) the amount of money a person earns in a year.
c) the amount of money a person expects to earn in his or her lifetime.
d) the amount of money a person has to spend in a year.

20. Churches and charitable organizations are examples of
a) nonprofit firms.
b) proprietorships.
c) trusts.
d) partnerships.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1. (6 points) Yexplain how a seller can determine whether the demand for his or her good is inelastic, eleastic, or unit elastic between prices.

2 (6 points) Is there a logical link between the law of demand and the assumption that individuals seek to maximize utility? (Hint: Think of how the condition for consumer equilibrium can be used to express the inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded).

3 (6 points) Explain the difference between a corporate bond and a share of stock.

4 (7 points) What is the difference between economic profit and accounting profit. Also, explain why a firm making zero economic profit is not necessarily operating at a loss.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 201 – NELC
Fall 2005

Assignment 2
(Chapters 5 ? 8)

1. (10 points) Describe the diamond-water paradox.

2. (10 points) What is the endowment effect?

3. (10 points) Explain why even conscientious workers will shirk more when the cost of shirking falls.

4. (10 points) Explain the differences between a share of stock and a bond.

5. (10 points) Suppose the current price of gasoline at the pump is $2.50 per gallon and that one million gallons are sold per month. A politician proposes to add a 20-cent tax to the price of a gallon of gasoline. She says the tax will generate $200,000 in tax revenues per month (one million gallons x $0.20 = $200,000). What assumption is she making?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Take Home Test 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 201
NELC
Take Home Exam 1
Fall 2005
Covers Material & Topics in Part One (Chapters 1 ? 4) of Text
Multiple Choice ? each question worth 5 points for a total of 100 points.

1 Through war, many of the factories in country 1 are destroyed and many of its people are killed. As a result, the country’s
a) production possibilities frontier (PPF) after the war is probably farther away from the origin than its PPF becore the war.
b) PPF after the war is probably closer to the origin than its PPF before the war.
c) PPF after the war is probably the same PPF as before the war.
d) ability to produce goods and services has increased.

2 Which of the following is consistant with the law of demand?
a) People substitute higher-priced goods for higher-quality goods.
b) People substitute some higher-priced goods for other higher-priced goods.
c) People substitute lower-priced goods for higher-priced goods.
d) People substitute some lower-priced goods for other lower-priced goods.

3 An effective minimum wage law can be expected to
a) clear the market for unskilled workers.
b) increase employment for some affected workers.
c) increase the number of firms in those industries where the law is effective.
d) reduce the hours worked for some unskilled workers.

4 On a supply and demand diagram, equilibrium is found
a) where the supply curve intercepts the vertical axis.
b) where the demand curve intercepts the horizontal axis.
c) where the demand and supply curves intersect.
d) at every point on either curve.

5 The minimum wage is an example of
a) a price door.
b) a price wall.
c) a price floor.
d) a price ceiling.

6 Efficiency implies that
a) all consumers’ wants are satisfied.
b) no advance in technology will occur in the future.
c) the attainable region is greater than the unattainable region.
d) gains are impossible in one area without losses in another.
e) all of the above.

7 If goods are not rationed according to price, it follows that
a) they won’t get rationed at all.
b) something will ration the goods.
c) first-come-first-served will necessarily be the rationing device.
d) there will be surpluses in the market.
e) none of the above.

8 An increase in the expected price of corn would likely
a) increase both the demand and supply of corn.
b) decrease both the demand and supply of corn.
c) increase the demand but decrease the supply of corn.
d) increase the supply but decrease the demand for corn.

9 Opportunity cost is the value of
a) the next best forfeited alternative.
b) the chosen alternative.
c) a free good.
d) an economic good.

10 At a price below equilibrium price, there is
a) a surplus.
b) a shortage.
c) excess supply.
d) sub-equilibrium.
e) none of the above.

11 You can determine the consumers’ surplus if you know the
a) price received.
b) the maximum buying price.
c) price paid.
d) b and c.
e) a and b.

12 An “increase in demand” means that
a) the demand curve has shifted to the left.
b) price has declined and consumers want to purchase more of the good.
c) the demand curve has shifted to the right.
d) the price of the good can be expected to decline, assuming supply stays constant.

13 Choice is a consequence of
a) opportunity cost.
b) formulating hypotheses.
c) scarcity.
d) none of the above.

14 An “increase in the quantity demanded” means that
a) the demand curve has shifted to the right.
b) the supply curve has shifted to the left.
c) the price has declined and consumers therefore want to purchase more of the good.
d) given supply, the price of the good can be expected to rise.

15 Most states have instituted mandatory seat belt laws to reduce traffic fatalities. An economist may point out that an unintended effect of these laws is
a) an increase in the price of automobiles, further reducing fatalities.
b) an increase in driving speed, increasing the number of accidents.
c) a decrease in driving speed, further reducing fatalities.
d) an increase in risky driving behavior, increasing fatalities.

16 The California energy crisis of 2001 was caused by
a) changes in the supply of electricity only.
b) changes in the demand for electricity only.
c) changes in the demand and supply of electricity, along with a government imposed price ceiling.
d) changes in the demand and supply of electricity, along with a government imposed price floor.

17 The joke about it taking eight economists to change a light bulb ? one to screw in the build and the other seven to hold everything else constant ? is a joke about how economists
a) use the ceteris paribus assumption.
b) fail to deduce conclusions from their assumptions.
c) confuse association with causation.
d) would much rather construct theories than test them.

18 The synonym economists commonly use for “additional” is
a) capital
b) rational.
c) marginal.
d) economic.

19 In economics, scarcity implies
a) disutility.
b) utility.
c) choice.
d) ceteris paribus.

20 The amount of one good that is forfeited in order to produce more of another good is called
a) transaction costs.
b) specialization.
c) efficiency.
d) opportunity cost.
e) none of the above.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1 (8 points) Explain why it is important to differentiate between the “number of unskilled workers” and the “number of unskilled labor hours” when evaluating the impact oon the market for unskilled labor of a change in minimum wage.

2 Eighty percent of all navel oranges grown in the U.S. come from California. In the winter of 1998 a series of storms in California damaged about 70% of the navel orange crop. Explain how this severe weather most likely impacted each of the following markets.

a. (3 points) California-grown navel oranges

b. (3 points) Imported navel organges

c. (3 points) Commercially prepared fruit salad (that contained navel oranges)

3 (8 points) List and describe the seven steps of building and testing a theory.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 201 – NELC
Fall 2005

Assignment 1
Covers Material & Topics in Part One (Chapters 1 ? 4) of Text
Total Points for This Assignment = 50

Read Part I of your text (Chapters 1 ? 4) and the article entitled Myths About Business. Then answer the questions below.

1. Ninos Malek, author of the Myths About Business, writes that market transactions are voluntary and are only occur if both the buyer and seller agree to the transaction.

a. (2 points) Explain the author’s arguments as to why both buyer’s and seller’s in a market transaction act in their own self interest and neither can be accused of exploiting the other.

b. (2 points) Malek’s arguments about the voluntary nature of market transactions make sense, but what about situations where the consumer genuinely NEEDS the product or service (medical care, food, water in the desert, etc.)? Do seller’s have an obligation in this situation to sell the good or service at a price that the consumer can afford? Defend your answer.

c. (2 points) Do consumers have an obligation to help businesses by purchasing their products especially when the business NEEDS their patronage in order to keep the business in operation or specific workers employed (i.e., should vegetarians be obligated to purchase meat each week in order to prevent the stores from laying off clerks in the meat department?).

d. (2 points) In the case of either a consumer who feels that the prices of a particular business are too high or a business owner/professional who feels he/she is not making enough money in their chosen business/profession, what are their options other than complaining about the “greed” of the business or consumer?

2 (10 points) Describe at least four different types of thinking that define how an economist views the world.

3 (10 points) Explain how the study of economics might be benefiticl to a history major.

4 (10 points) Suppose the purchase and sale of marijuana are legalized and the price of marijuana falls. What explains the lower price of marijuana?.

5. Assume that on the first evening of one of your classes you meet a fellow student named Joe. Joe is in the military and that afternoon received orders to leave tomorrow for a six month temporary assignment in Korea. Joe has managed to cancel his other classes, take care of other personal business and pack. But two things remain. One, he has not yet sold the new textbook he purchased for this class (at a cost of $125) and, two, he still has one payment left on the engagement ring he and his fiancee picked out a few months ago and which is being held by the store on layaway until it is paid in full. Joe was planning to make the final payment and present the ring to his fiancee next week when he received his pay. You haven’t brought the book for this class and are planning to purchase it when you get paid at the end of this week. Joe came to this evening’s class hoping to sell the book then leave to get the ring and have dinner with his fiancee. He still owes $100 on the ring and has $75 in his pocket. He offers to sell you his book for $65 since he needs the money now and the book store is closed thereby precluding him from returning it this evening. You offer to write a check and post date it for Friday (when you get paid) but the jewelry store closes in 45 minutes and Joe needs cash now. You check your wallet and see that you have a twenty, a five and ten $1 bills. You tell Joe that you appreciate the offer but will have to pass as you don’t have the money. Desperately wanting to get the ring and give it to his fiancee before he leaves, Joe offers to reduce the price of the book to the $35 you have in your wallet. You decline again as you explain that the ten $1 bills are for your son’s lunch money for school this week. Joe makes a quick calculation and decides that, since Uncle Sam will be providing him with transportation, food and lodging, he can afford to do without cash until he gets paid next week and offers (pleads) to sell you the book for $25. You accept but offer to send him the other $40 (his original offer was $65) when you get paid. But, in his rush to get to the jewelry store he leaves without hearing your offer. None of your fellow students know Joe and both your instructor and the college administration inform you that the FERPA law (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) make illegal for them to provide you (or anyone) with contact information for Joe.

a. (4 points) Did you take advantage of Joe by purchasing his book from him for $100 less than he paid for it? If your answer is “No” explain what benefits each of you received from the transaction and how these benefits were greater than what each of you would have had if the transaction had not taken place. If your answer is “Yes” explain how Joe and/or you would have been better off by not entering into the transaction and how you and/or Joe were compelled, against your will(s), to go ahead with the transaction.

b. (4 points) Ideally, Joe should have been able to return his text book to the bookstore for a full refund of the $125 purchase price. By agreeing to sell the book for the $25 he needed for the $100 payment required to complete the purchase of the ring, Joe ended paying $200 for his final payment on the ring (the $100 he gave them plus the $100 loss he took on the sale of the book). Use the concept of consumer surplus to explain Joe’s actions.

c. (4 points) At the end of the semester you go to the bookstore and sell the book back to the bookstore as a used textbook and willingly accept the $75 price they pay for used copies of this book. Did you cheat the bookstore by selling them a used book for three times what you paid for it? If you wait until the start of the next semester to sell the book and the student who is next to you in line is in the line only to purchase that book will you be cheating her if she offers to pay, and you accept, $75 for your copy so she can leave now rather than wait in line to pay the bookstore $75 for the same used title? For “No” answers be sure to explain how each party to the transaction is better off as a result of the transaction. For “Yes” answers be sure to explain how one or both of the parties (you being one of the parties) were harmed and why they would consent to go ahead with the transaction even though they are harmed (in their eyes) by the transaction.

This post originally appeared on an external website

MVHS Homework 9 – Due November 8, 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Homework Assignment 9
Assigned November 1, 2005
Due November 8, 2005 ? Half Credit after November 15, 2005

1. (6 points) What happens to the money supply when the Fed sells bonds on the open market? What happens to the assets and liabilities of the Fed?

2. (7 points) What is the money multiplier and how is it calculated?

3 (4 points) How can the Fed change the money supply

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Suggested Assignment Schedule

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 – Fall 2005
Telecourse
Suggested Assignment / Test Schedule

As stated in the course syllabus, all work MUST be turned in by 4 p.m. on Friday December 9, 2005. However, students are strongly encouraged to submit work in an orderly manner over the course of the semester so as to benefit from feedback from the instructor and to avoid having to cram in the last days of the semester. Below is a suggested schedule for turning in assignments. This schedule is based upon the cable projection schedule. This is merely a suggested schedule and students are free to devise their own schedules provided all work is turned in by 4 p.m. on December 9, 2005.

Part I – Text Chapters 1 – 2, TV Programs 1 – 2

Assignment 1 Due: Sept 9
Take Home Test 1 Due: Sept 16

Part 2 – Text Chapters 3 – 7, TV Programs 3 – 7

Assignment 2 Due: Sept 30
Take Home Test 2 Due: Oct 9

Part 3 – Text Chapters 8 – 14, TV Programs 8 – 14

Assignment 3 Due: October 21
Mid-Term (take at Community Campus) take week of October 30

Part 4 – Text Chapters15 – 21, TV Programs 15 – 21

Assignment 4 Due: Nov 11
Take Home Test 4 Due: Nov 20

Parts 5 & 6 – Text Chapters 22 – 28, TV Programs 22 – 28

Assignment 5 Due: Nov 25
Assignment 6 Due: Dec 2
Final Exam at Community Campus: take week of December 4th*

*NOTE: Final exam MUST be completed and turned in by 4 p.m. on Friday December 9, 2005.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECON 200 MVHS Homework 11

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Homework Assignment 11
Assigned November 15, 2005
Due November 22, 2005 ? Half Credit after November 29, 2005

Read the attached article, which can be found at http://www.mises.org/story/1958, and answer the following questions:

1. (6 points) What is ?psychic profit? and how is it like business profit?

2. (7 points) Anderson claims that present oil prices are temporary. What are his reasons for making this claim?

3 (4 points) What were Karl Marx?s views on profits?

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Econ 200 Telecourse – Term Paper Instructions

In reply to Supply & Demand

ECONOMICS 200
Fall 2005

TERM PAPER INSTRUCTIONS

As indicated in the syllabus, there is an optional term paper for this course. The paper will be worth 150 points, the same as the mid-term and final exams. The paper is optional and may be submitted in lieu of the mid-term or final exam. You may also elect to take both the mid-term and final exams AND submit a paper – in this case the two highest grades of the three will be recorded and the lowest discarded.

The paper, for those who elect to do one, will be due no later than noon on Wednesday December 7, 2005. Papers may be handed in prior to this date.

The topic of the paper must be chosen from one of those listed below:

– PRIVATIZATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY. For this you can either examine the present system and present ECONOMIC arguments in favor of keeping it as is or abolishing it outright, or you can analyze one of the current plans for reform and give arguments for accepting or rejecting it.

– PRIVATIZATION OF GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES. Pick one of the following economic activities (all of which are provided mainly by government but do have some private sector counterparts) and explain how it could be privatized (i.e., sold to investors, sold/given to employees of the entity, given to taxpayers, etc.), the economic effects of the choice of privatization and the economic benefits/losses of having the free market provide the goods/services rather than the government. The activities are:

U.S. Postal Service
Air Traffic Control System
Tucson Water
SunTran
Public School System (K-12)
Pima College
University of Arizona
National Parks, Forests and other lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management

– HIGH OIL PRICES AND OIL COMPANY PROFITS ? What is causing the high prices; should oil companies be criticized or penalized for their current high profits; how will the market solve the problem of high energy costs; what is the difference between government and market approaches to high energy costs; which approach to the current “crisis of high prices & energy shortages ? the market approach or the government approach is best and WHY?

After choosing a topic from above and researching it, take a stand, on one side or the other, and present economic arguments for or against the position you have chosen.

While political, sociological, philosophical, etc. views/ideas/effects can be included in the paper the main thrust MUST be on economic factors and effects. THIS IS TO BE AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM FIRST AND FOREMOST. You are to choose an area within the scope of the assignment, define the problem, as you see it, and, using Economic Reasoning, provide a clear cut solution to the problem.

Minimum formatting requirements are as follows:

? The paper must be typed on 8 1/2″ X 11″ paper.

? Material drawn from outside sources must be cited using a recognized footnote format.

? Each paper must contain a bibliography showing all sources from which information was obtained.

? Pages are to be numbered and stapled (unless submitted electronically) together in proper order.

? Paper must contain a cover page showing title of paper, student’s full name and date submitted.

? Points will be deducted for errors in spelling and grammar.

Students’ must do their own research and writing (typing can be done by another). No credit will be given for plagiarized papers.

Minimum research requirements:

? The bibliography must contain AT LEAST ten (10) books, articles, internet sites or video/audio tape sources.

? Non-print media sources (i.e., video, audio, radio, TV or other electronic media – other than computer databases and the World Wide Web) may be used for research but these may not exceed one third of the total research sources used.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Mid-term Review Notes

In reply to Supply & Demand

Mid-Term Review Notes

Chuck Nugent
Economics 200
Fall 2005

The information below is a brief summary of important points in chapters 8 – 14 of the text entitled “Economics U$A”. These are the chapters that will be covered on the closed book Mid-term exam this semester.

These notes are intended as my back up for tonight’s Review session in the event students do not bring their own questions. These notes are not intended as a substitute for reading the book or viewing the videos and I reserve the right to ask questions on topics covered in the course but not covered in this review.

I. Chapter 8: Money and the Banking System

A. Money

1. Is a medium of exchange

2. Is standard of value (is unit in which values of other goods are defined)

3. Is store of value

B. Money Supply = coins, currency, demand deposits and other checkable (check like) deposits.

C. Fractional Reserve Banking

1. Legal reserve – amount of cash bank is legally required to keep on deposit

2. Excess reserve – cash in excess of legal reserve.

II. Chapter 9: The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy

A. Monetary Policy is exercise of Central Bank control over quantity of money and interest rates

1. Used to promote objectives of national economic policy.

B. Open Market Transactions

1. Federal Reserve buys securities in the market

a. Seller gives Federal Reserve securities and Fed gives seller cash that is deposited in bank.

b. This results in increase of cash in bank causing their reserves to increase thereby making more money available to lend

c. Effect is to increase amount of money in circulation in the economy

When Fed sells securities in the market

a. Buyer withdraws money from bank and exchanges it for securities.

b. By pulling money out of banking system bank reserves are drawn down leaving less cash in bank.

c. Bank now has less money to lend thereby reducing amount of money in circulation in the economy.

C. Change in Legal Reserve Requirement

1. By increasing or decreasing percent of deposits that must be held in cash (rather than being loaned at interest to borrowers) Fed is able to increase or decrease amount of deposits that banks can lend.

2. This has effect of increasing or decreasing money in circulation.

D. Change in Discount Rate

1. Discount rate is rate Fed charges banks for loans from Fed

2. Banks borrow money from Fed at one rate and loan it out at a higher rate.

3. By increasing or decreasing rate Fed effectively increases or decreases cost of borrowing for banks and this has effect of increasing or decreasing amount banks lend (as banks increase the interest rate the cost [price] of borrowing increases and this reduces the quantity [number & dollar amount] of loans demanded by consumers).

III. Chapter 10: Stagflation and Anti-Inflationary Measures

A. Stagflation refers to situation during the 1970s in which economy encounters both inflation (rising price level) and stagnation (economy stops growing and output declines)

1. Caused by AS curve shifting upward and to the left

2. New AS curve intersected AD curve at equilibrium point where price level was higher and real output lower

3. Many economists attributed this situation to following events that occurred at same time:

a. Series of poor harvests that reduced food output and drove food prices higher.

b. Temporary shortages in many raw materials causing prices to rise and output to drop

c. OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries – many of them Arab states in Middle East but led by Venezuela and other non- Arab oil producers) raising of crude oil prices – oil not only critical for transportation but also used to generate energy used in many manufacturing processes.

B. Wage and Price Controls

1. Refers to attempts by governments to limit inflation by passing laws limiting how much wages
and prices can increase.

2. Failed because:

a. Distorted allocation of resources causing inefficiency and waste

b. Were expensive to administer which added to inefficiency

c. Difficult to enforce resulting in widespread evasion which further added to inefficiency and waste.

d. Strongly opposed by public which saw them as limitation of freedom.

IV. Chapter 11: Productivity, Growth and Technology Policy

A. Growth refers to increase in output relative to growth in population.

1. Per capita output = output / population

2. Growth defined as increase in per capita output over previous year

a. Growth means more to go around but no guaranty, in short run, that distribution of increased output will be equally distributed

B. Technological Change

1. Refers to new methods of producing existing products – assembly line that allows more cars to be produced in same amount of time & with same amount of workers

2. Also refers to new designs that result in new products such as TV, VCRs, etc.

3. Technological change usually results in economic growth

C. Productivity – refers to output per worker

1. Economic growth is the result of increasing productivity per worker.

2. Increased productivity means workers produce more with same amount of effort and time – OR – produce same amount with LESS time and effort.

D. Slowdown in Productivity in 1970s

1. U.S. productivity declined in 1970s

2. Reasons for decline

a. Changes in labor force – 1970s saw more first time workers (baby boomers on first job, housewives entering labor force, and influx of poor who had migrated from rural areas to urban areas)

b. Reduction in rate of growth of capital-labor ratio

(1) Investment in capital declined in this period resulting in less capital per worker

(2) Steiger Capital Gains tax cut in late 1970s encouraged investment in capital and reversed this trend setting stage for boom in 1980s

c. Increased government regulation – this added to workload of employees and increased costs but did nothing to increase output

(1) Spending one hour of every eight-hour day filling out forms for government reduces output of worker by 5 hours per week or by a factor of 12.5% (5 hours lost divided by 40-hour workweek)

V. Chapter 12: Deficits, Public Debt, and the Federal Budget

A. Deficit refers to excess of government expenditures over taxes collected

1. Deficit covered by short term borrowing (selling of government bonds)

2. Same as when individuals spend more than they earn and use a credit card to make up the difference.

3. Deficits for individuals or governments usually short term cash flow problems (i.e., individual has minor accident this month causing him/her to spend money on care and run short of cash for food so food charged on Visa. Next month expenses are down so individual pays off Visa ? government can work this way also)

B. Debt refers to long term accumulation of borrowing.

1. Government, business and individuals borrow for major investments such as highways (govt.), new factory (business) or house (individual) – then pay off in installments over long period.

a. Borrowing for major infrastructure/capital that lasts a long time makes sense economically

b. Borrowing long term for things consumed now (employees pay in case of govt. or business or vacation in case of individual) does not make sense as one is paying debt long after good/service has been consumed.

C. Federal Budget refers to government’s planned spending for year and anticipated tax revenues for year

1. Budget Deficit means government is projecting (planning) that it will be spending more than it receives in taxes.

2. Budget Surplus means government is projecting that it will collect more in taxes than it will spend.

D. Effect of Budget Deficits

1. if deficit financed by printing new money (only Federal government can finance a deficit in this manner) then deficit will be inflationary.

2. if deficit financed by borrowing then government will be competing with business for limited pool of loanable funds and this will reduce economic growth.

E. National Debt

1. is total money owed by Federal Government

2. will harm economic growth if debt owned by foreigners (most U.S. public or government debt currently owned by Americans) since in the future we will have to tax American people and send money abroad to pay debt.

a. this will reduce economic growth in future

3. American debt owned by Americans

a. net effect on economy is minimal since got will tax people to get money to pay debt and then pay money back to same people it taxed

(1) same as a family if father loans money to son one week and gets it back next week out of son’s allowance – total amount of money in family is unchanged, it is just redistributed among the
members.

b. can be a social problem if one group pays the taxes and another holds the debt – if brother borrows from sister and then sees his next allowance going to sister he may be mad (while conveniently forgetting fun he had last week with money she loaned him)

VI. Chapter 13: Monetary Policy, Interest Rates and Economic Activity

A. Demand for money

1. Transaction demand – people need money to carry out transactions

2. Precautionary demand – people and businesses also hold on to money because they don’t know what their future needs will be and want some money to cover future contingencies.

VII. Chapter 14: Controversies over Stabilization Policy

A. Monetarists vs Keynesians – Keynesians stressed fiscal policy (taxes and spending) while Monetarists stressed monetary policy

B. Supply Side – focused on aggregate supply rather than aggregate demand.

C. New Classical School – three assumptions

1. markets cleared

2. people and firms have imperfect information

3. expectations of people and firms conform to theory of rational expectations

D. Rational Expectations

1. A person’s expectations (or forecast) of a particular economic variable are rational if the person makes the best possible use of whatever information is available.

2. People make rational decisions and learn from mistakes – causing them to anticipate government policy moves and take countermeasures thereby blunting effect of policy.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Happy Thanksgiving!

In reply to Supply & Demand

Thought for Today:

Thanksgiving is a typically American holiday. In spite of its religious form (giving thanks to God for a good harvest), its essential, secular meaning is a celebration of successful production. It is a producers’ holiday. The lavish meal is a symbol of the fact that abundant consumption is the result and reward of production. Abundance is (or was and ought to be) America’s pride …

Original Source: The Ayn Rand Letter, Vol. III, No. 23, “Cashing in on Hunger”
Web Source: Charlotte Capitalist Blog

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Final Exam Review Notes

In reply to Supply & Demand

Final Exam Overview – Chaps 22-28

Chuck Nugent
nugentwork@yahoo.com

Economics 200 – Telecourse

NOTE: The review session for the Final Exam has been changed and will now be held on Tuesday November 29th from 5:00 ? 6:00 p.m.

The information below is a brief summary of important points in chapters 22 – 28 of the text entitled “Economics U$A”. These are the chapters that will be covered on the closed book Final exam this semester.

These notes are intended as my back up for the Review session (scheduled for Tuesday November 29 from 5:00 ? 6:00 at the Community Campus) in the event students do not bring their own questions. These notes are not intended as a substitute for reading the book or viewing the videos and I reserve the right to ask questions on topics covered in the course but not covered in this review.

I. Chapter 22 – The Supply and Demand for Labor

A. labor refers to the human input in production

B. “price of labor” refers to compensation received for one’s labor

1. “wages” is general term used to describe the price of labor or compensation received by labor

2. in economics parlance “wages” includes the “wages” received by hourly employees, “salaries” received by managers and “fees” received by professionals.

C. labor has a demand curve like any other product or resource.

1. is downward sloping and shows relationship between the price of labor and amount of labor utilized by firm

2. as price decreases the amount of labor demanded will increase.

3. profit maximizing firms will continue to hire labor up to point where marginal cost of labor equals marginal revenue produced by that labor.

a. so long a marginal revenue of labor is greater than marginal cost it is profitable to
continue hiring more labor.

D. Supply curve of labor shows relationship between price of labor (wages) and quantity of labor

1. quantity of labor can increase when either more workers enter market OR existing workers decide to work more hours.

2. higher wages induce both more workers to enter market (such as retirees re-entering l abor force or students deciding to work and continue school part time) AND existing workers to put in more hours or take a second job.

3. market supply curve for labor may be BACKWARD BENDING (see Figure 22.2 on page 487) indicating that at some point increases in wages may result in LESS rather than MORE labor being supplied.

a. this is due to fact that as workers get richer and have enough money to satisfy basic needs many tend to place a higher value on time and want to use time to enjoy “fruits” of their labor.

E. Intersection of supply and demand curves is equilibrium price of labor.

1. this is the wage rate

2. each type of labor (unskilled, skilled, engineers, ditch diggers, etc.) will have its own supply and demand curves and resulting equilibrium wage.

a. this is why wages of hamburger flippers at McDonald’s, Burger King, etc. are very close but bear no relation to the wages of College Presidents which are a totally different
group.

3. Labor unions seek to restrict supply of labor and thereby shift supply curve to left increasing prices at each quantity.

a. this leaves some workers without opportunity to work

4. Unions may also try to shift demand for labor to right to increase wages without reducing quantity of labor.

a. can do this through work rules that require more workers than necessary (such as requiring a third pilot, whose job was to monitor the status of the engines on propeller driven aircraft, on jet aircraft which did not need the engines monitored.

b. can also do this through government mandated safety rules that often add little to worker safety but result in less output per worker (and the need to hire more workers to reach desired output)

(1) this is successful only when company is a monopoly or oligopoly and able to pass added cost on to consumers

(2) free trade tends to break up these monopoly/oligopoly situations by making
local market more competitive – this is why unions are usually opposed to free
trade.

II. Chapter 23 – Interest Rent and Profit

A. Interest rate is payment for use of money

1. “pure rate of interest” refers to market cost of money

2. since borrowers and conditions vary, most interest rates in market are a combination of pure rate of interest (i.e., cost of money) and insurance against loss (charge everyone higher than pure rate and use excess to recover losses due to deadbeats in the group who don’t repay the loan).

3. rate of interest determined by intersection of supply and demand curve for loanable funds.

B. Profit is return to the entrepreneur

1. ACCOUNTING PROFIT – refers to excess of revenue over cost in a business.

2. ECONOMIC PROFIT – refers to profit in excess of amount needed to keep entrepreneur in business.

a. accounting profit is the compensation of the proprietor of partner in the business (this is their wages).

b. because accounting profit is in effect the wage of the proprietor (business owner) it is treated as an EXPENSE in calculating ECONOMIC PROFIT

(1) reason is that if business owner doesn’t make at least as much from owning the
business as he/she could working for someone else then he/she would close
business and work for someone else.

(2) thus to be able to afford to stay in business the owner must make more than
he/she could make working for someone else so this accounting profit is then a
cost of doing business from the economist’s point of view.

c. Economic Profit then becomes profit in EXCESS of what is needed to keep the owner from closing the business.

d. function of economic profit is to attract entrepreneurs to areas of business whose
product is in high demand. Entrepreneurs are ttracted by this excess profit. As more enter the price of the product falls (and quantity increases) resulting in economic profit going to zero. Others no longer have incentive to enter this market but existing owners still making more (accounting profit) than other lines of business so they stay.

III. Chapter 24 – Poverty, Income Inequality and Discrimination

A. People have different skills and talents

1. supply of skills and talents not equal and neither is the demand for various skills and talents.

2. Sports superstars are in short supply and demand for their talents great resulting in high salaries.

a. good philosophers also in short supply but demand is considerably less resulting in much lower salaries for these people.

B. See pages 523 through 525 in text for arguments pro and con concerning income inequality.

1. should note that government income statistics showing that X% of population consistently below poverty line are a reflection of a point in time.

2. even though percentage of people below poverty line may be the same each year for decades, the people themselves are not the same – many of those below poverty one year may have moved above the line in future years.

a. this is important from a policy perspective because policies designed under assumption that people in poverty one period are same in next will not work if the group is changing.

b. Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” program (which is still in existence) designed to make the poor (who were view as a static group) more affluent – to date, the amount spent on this program, if used to purchase assets for those living below the officially designated poverty line, is greater than the amount needed to purchase all of the stock on the stock exchange and all physical assets (farms, factories, equipment, planes, ships, etc.).

(1) ironic fact is that despite this huge expenditure – the percentage of those
living below the poverty line is almost identical to the 1970’s percentage.

C. Progressive and regressive taxes

1. tax is progressive if higher income people pay a higher proportion of their income than lower income people.

a. Federal and most state (including Arizona) income taxes are progressive.

b. under the progressive income tax system the rates on income in excess of certain amounts is greater than on lower incomes.

(1) example – the first $5,000 of income for everyone (from a homeless person to an Internet billionaire) is tax free. The tax on income from $5,000 to say $30,000 is say 15%. On income over $30,000 assume it rises to 40%.

(2) thus, a person making $5,000 or less pays no tax. A person, including the
billionaire, making between $5,000 and $30,000 pays 15% of the amount between $5,000 and $30,000. Finally, all income in excess of $30,000 is taxed at the 40% rate.

(3) under this system the rich not only pay more tax dollars (15% of a $10,000 income is less than 15% of a $29,000 income even though the rate is the same) but also pay a higher rate than lower income people.

2. a tax is Regressive if the poor pay a higher percentage of their income than the rich do in taxes.

a. rich will always pay more tax dollars under this system but it will be a lower percentage of their income.

b. a sales tax on food is the classic example.

(1) while rich will spend more dollars on food (buying somewhat more food and much higher quality) they can only eat so much so the percent of income spent on food decreases as income increases. The poor need as much food as the rich to live but with a lower income this will result in a higher percentage of income going for food.

(2) since a greater portion of a poor family’s income goes for food, then a
sales tax on food will result in a poor family spending a greater portion on the
tax than the rich (even though, due to the fact that the rich spend more dollars
on food they will contribute more tax dollars to the program it will still be a
much small PERCENT of their income going to the tax.

D. Discrimination refers to denying access to jobs and opportunities for making money (and thereby denying access to the output of the economy) to identifiable groups in society.

1. discrimination is bad for the economy because, by locking sizable numbers of people out of the economy we are denying the economy the benefit of their production.

2. discrimination is also morally wrong under all recognized ethical systems.

3. human nature has a tendency toward discriminating against those we do not like.

4. but self-interest tends to offset this by forcing people to choose between satisfying economic wants and their desire to discriminate.

a. market forces people to come face to face with economic costs of discrimination.

5. like monopoly, discrimination can exist in long term only if backed up by government force.

a. early civil rights movement focused on eliminating laws that perpetuated
discrimination.

b. value individuals place on discrimination will vary and some are willing to pay a high price for satisfaction of discriminating ? but market will most people to decide it isn’t
worth the cost.

c. social pressure also exists to force people to accept discrimination – but over time more and more people will try to cheat (just as members of a cartel try to cheat) and ignore social conventions favoring discrimination in order to satisfy a higher economic want.

IV. Chapter 25 – Economic Growth

A. two measures of economic growth

1. first is increase in real (i.e. adjusted for inflation) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from year to year.

2. second, and better measure, is increase in PER CAPITA GDP from year to year.

a. an increase in population can result in an increase in real GDP but if percent increase in population is greater than percent increase in real GDP then per capita GDP will fall indicating a negative rate of economic growth.

B. Future growth requires present savings.

C. Thomas Malthus and population growth.

1. Malthus believed population grows at a geometric rate doubling every X number of years while supply of land constant

a. implication of his theory was that population growth would outstrip food production
resulting in mass starvation

b. because of Malthus’ doom and gloom theory, economics acquired name of “the dismal science”

2. Validity of Malthus’s Population Theory

a. theory has not worked in Western Europe and North America

(1) technology has resulted in agricultural productivity increasing much faster than
population.

(2) population in Europe in last 50 years has been decreasing (birth rates lower than
death rates) – without immigration U.S. would be the same

(3) over production of food and scarcity of labor (people) are major the problems
today – not over population and lack of food.

(4) book on page 547 says his theory relevant today in third world less developed
countries – but recent events indicate that even in these areas technology &
industrialization is resulting in an increase in food production and decrease
in birth rates.

D. Capital Formation

1. refers to investment in plant and equipment

2. nation’s rate of economic growth dependent upon rate of capital formation – need capital to grow.

3. capital-output ration refers to the number of dollars of investment (or extra capital goods) required to produce an extra dollar of output.

a. example: if capital-output ratio is 2 then $2 of investment is required to increase full-employment GDP by $1 (i.e., need to increase investment in capital today to produce extra $1 of output next period and succeeding future periods).

4. David Ricardo (19th century economist who did extensive work on capital formation theory) and book emphasize physical capital (plant and equipment).

a. physical capital formation still very important today but in new Internet economy
human capital (knowledge and skills of workforce) becoming increasingly important

b. thus, population rather than being a drag on economic growth as Malthus and his followers postulate, is a key ingredient in economic growth.

E. Technological Change

1. technological change refers to the creation of new methods of producing existing products; new designs that make it possible to produce goods with important new characteristics; and new techniques of organization, marketing, and management.

2. “innovation” is the application of knowledge to production – new knowledge does not help economic growth unless it is applied to production of more goods and services.

V. Chapter 26 – Public Goods and Role of Government

A. Income Redistribution

1. refers to helping less fortunate by re-distributing income from those doing productive work to those who cannot perform productive work

2. income redistribution schemes involve providing income to people who do not or cannot produce

3. welfare, food stamps, subsidized housing, public schools, etc. are forms of income redistribution

B. Public Goods

1. a public good is a good that can be consumed by one person without diminishing the amount that others can consume

a. my listening to music on a radio in no way reduces anyone else’s ability to tune in a
listen to the same music.

2. once a public good is produced there is no way to prevent people who haven’t paid for it from using it.

a. problem then becomes how do we get people to put up money to pay for production of public goods when each one knows that if they just wait they can get it for free when someone else produces it.

C. Externalities

1. can be external diseconomies or external economies

2. external diseconomies (also called negative externalities) are negative by products of the production process.

a. pollution is a classic example – no one deliberately produces pollution, it is rather
a by product of some other good or service.

b. the producer and consumer of the good do not pay for the externality – the effect falls largely on those not involved in the consumption of the good.

(1) example driving a car results in polluting emissions being put into the air – people along the route of the car are affected by the emissions (health
problems, added cleaning expense, etc.)

(2) this pollution is a cost of driving the car but the cost is borne not by the
consumer (owner of the car) but by the people along the car’s route – they pay
but don’t receive any of the transportation benefits of the car.

3. External economies (positive externalities) ? these are positive benefits that accrue as a result of production or consumption of a product and external benefit falls to people other than the producer or consumer.

a. if I own a house located between two shabby homes and I invest considerable time and money into fixing up and beautifying my home it will increase in value.

(1) houses on either side will also increase in value because they are located next to a good house so my neighbors will benefit from my efforts.

(2) but being located next to 2 shabby houses will detract from mine so my home will not increase by full value of my efforts because of negative effects of the shabby homes on either side.

D. Principles of taxation

1. Benefit Principle – states that people who receive more from a government service should pay more in taxes than those who do not benefit as much.

2. Ability to Pay Principle – holds that people should be taxed so as to result in a socially desirable redistribution of income – in practice this has meant that wealthy pay more.

VI. Chapter 27 – International Trade

A. Exports refer to goods produced in this country and sold (consumed) in another.

B. Imports refer to goods produced in another country and sold (consumed) in this country.

C. Nations trade because trade permits specialization and specialization increases output.

D. Absolute Advantage refers to one nation being able to produce a product at a lower opportunity cost than another.

1. Arizona has an absolute advantage over Canada in production of lemons – cost of growing a lemon in Canada is much greater than in Arizona.

2. therefore it is logical for Canada to trade a product (like fish) in which it has an absolute
advantage to Arizona for lemons.

E. Comparative advantage refers to situation where country A has an absolute advantage over country B in both goods.

1. in this situation trade is still beneficial since the opportunity cost of one of the products will be lower than that of the other so there will be more of both goods for each country if country A specializes in production of good with lowest opportunity cost and lets country B produce other good.

F. Tariff – tax on imports

1. tax raises price of imported good thereby reducing demand for good.

2. two types of tariffs:

a. Revenue tariff – low tax on imports designed to raise money for government – U.S. relied almost entirely on revenue tariffs for its funds until late in 19th century (then enacted income tax)

b. protective tariff – a high tax on imports designed not to raise revenue, but to increase price of import and reduce demand for it (thereby protecting the market for the locally produced competing product)

G. Quota – is a physical limit on quantity of a good that can be imported from abroad – designed to protect domestic market from competition from abroad.

VII. Chapter 28 Exchange Rates & Balance of payments

A. exchange rate refers to rate at which country A’s currency can be exchanged for that of country B.

1. is the price of one currency in terms of another.

2. for example, if it takes 4 Mexican pesos to obtain 1 U.S. dollar then the exchange rate is:

a. 4 to 1 for Mexicans – U.S. dollars cost 4 Mexican pesos when going from pesos to
dollars.

b. .25 to 1 for Americans – Mexican pesos cost $.25 dollars when going from dollars to pesos.

B. Gold standard refers to denominating currencies in terms of gold.

1. each country’s currency has a specific value in gold.

C. exchange rates change because when country A imports goods from country B it needs currency from country B to pay for goods.

1. if country A exports the same value of goods to country B then the problem is solved by a simple currency swap.

2. but if country A exports less to country B than it imports it will be short of country B’s currency

a. in this case the supply of country B’s currency in country A is reduced (they didn’t
sell as much) resulting in a leftward shift in the supply curve for the currency and making country B’s currency more expensive in terms of country A’s currency

b. in the case of the U.S. and Mexico, if the exchange rate is 4 pesos to the dollar and
Mexico exports more to the U.S. than the U.S. exports to Mexico the supply of pesos available to the U.S. to pay for the Mexican imports will be less – the supply curve for pesos will shift to the left causing the value (price in $) of the peso to increase from say $.25 to $.33

(1) as a result of this Mexican goods will be more expensive for Americans (i.e. a
hotel in Mexico that goes for 100 pesos per night will now cost an American $33
rather than $25

(2) conversely, American goods will be cheaper for Mexicans as a $100 per night
hotel room in the U.S. will only cost a Mexican 330 pesos rather than 400 pesos
as previously.

D. Balance of payments

1. Balance of payments refers to the settlement of financial accounts between countries

2. Balance of payments is similar to a balance sheet for a country – on one side of the ledger are outflows of currencies and on the other are inflows.

a. for most countries trade is the major, if not the only, source of inflows and outflows.

b. for the U.S., Japan and a few other major economic powers there are other factors
besides trade

(1) foreign aid – money given by U.S. or other government to foreign governments

(2) costs of maintenance of military bases abroad – U.S. government pays rent (in
dollars) to foreign government for the base as well as spending by troops and
pay for local people who work on base.

(3) foreign private investment ? private companies invest in building factories,
mines, plantations, etc. in foreign country

(4) remittances abroad – refers to money sent by people living in America to family
living in other countries (a few years ago El Salvador received as many U.S.
dollars per year in form of remittances to family members as it did exporting
coffee (a major export) to U.S.

(5) Charity and disaster relief

(6) banking money in another country.

c. numbers 1 – 5 above are a major source of currency outflows for U.S. – we often have a positive trade balance (i.e., we export more than we import) but a negative balance of payments (i.e. more currency exits U.S. than comes in)

d. U.S. is major recipient of bank deposits from abroad – instability in other parts of the
world combined with the political stability, strong economy and strong dollar make it very attractive to convert money to U.S. dollars and deposit in a U.S. bank (or buy U.S. bonds)

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECON 200 MVHS Homework 13

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Homework Assignment 13
Assigned November 29, 2005
Due December 6, 2005

Read the articles entitled Supreme Court ruling has troubling implications for public healthcare by Steve Patten and A Victory for Freedom: The Canadian Supreme Court?s Ruling on Private Health Care by Jacques Chaoulli, M.D.

1 (3 points) According to the Patten article, what are the two reasons why Canada created their health care system as a single-payer public system rather than a multi-payer private or public/private system?

2 (3 points) According to the second article what are Dr. Chaoulli’s reasons for opposing the Canadian government’s ban on private health insurance?

3 (3 points) In its ruling the Supreme Court of Canada said that “Access to a waiting list is not access to health care”. How does this relate to the economic concepts of scarcity, choice and allocation of scarce resources?

4 (3 points) The provision of healthcare, like the provision of other goods, is an economic issue. However, the main point of disagreement between the two articles (as well as between the Government of Quebec and Dr. Chaoulli in the Supreme Court of Canada case) is not on the economics of healthcare but the concepts of individual freedom vs the needs of society. What are these philosophical differences and what is the impact of the two different approaches to the provision of healthcare on each?

5 (5 points) Like the U.S. Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Canada consists of a panel of judges (7 justices vs 9 for the U.S. Supreme Court) and this usually results in a split decision with the ruling issued by the majority and dissenting opinion issued by the minority (in this case 4 justices ruled in favor of Dr. Chaoulli and 3 dissented). The Chaoulli article describes a main argument of the dissenting justices saying:

“Although the dissenting justices acknowledged that some patients die as a result of the state monopoly, they went on to say that the state monopoly is necessary in order to avoid what they call an unfair situation, whereby those able to pay in a parallel private health care system would save their own life, while those unable to pay would have to wait in the public sector.”

Do you agree or disagree with the premise behind the dissenting justices’ argument (i.e., that it is acceptable to allow some people to die needlessly rather than have a system where some people cannot afford the escape hatch of private insurance)? Explain your reasons and, if you disagree explain why those who cannot afford private health insurance or healthcare would be better off with your decision.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECON 200 MVHS Homework 14

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Homework Assignment 14
Assigned December 6, 2005
Due December 13, 2005

1 (6points) Distinguish between absolute advantage and comparative advantage.

2 (6 points) “The optimal quantity of pollution is zero.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? WHY? (Explain your answer).

3 (5 points) What does it mean when the dollar appreciates? What does it mean when it depreciates?

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

St. Nicholas Day

In reply to Supply & Demand

Today, December 6th, is St. Nicholas Day, the day designated by the Catholic Church in its Calendar of Saints to honor the man named Nicholas who was Bishop of Myra, which is now a part of Turkey and noted for his saintly life. His birth date is unknown, but December 6th is the generally agreed upon date of his death and it is this date that is celebrated in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches as well as a secular holiday in many countries.

While economics appears to be one of the few areas that lack a patron saint, Nicholas comes close to filling that role in that, among the numerous groups, professions and places claiming him as their patron are scholars, students, merchants and pawnbrokers. Of course, in his secular role as Santa Claus and promoter of holiday gift giving, he has a major impact holiday retail sales, a number followed closely by economists.

Nicholas lived in the fourth century and died in 342 A.D. He was the son of a wealthy family who became a monk in his teens and later a priest and Bishop. Following the death of his parent’s he used his inheritance to help those in need. His acts of kindness and mercy were legendary and he became known throughout Christendom as a saintly man.

Nicholas was born into a wealthy family and inherited the family fortune when his parents died just as he reached adulthood. Nicholas is remembered for his devotion to God and to his fellow humans. He used his fortune to help those in need. Nicholas is an example of private charity which has been a part of Western civilization for three or four thousand years. Long before governments became involved in providing a social safety net, individuals and religious organizations were providing aid and comfort to those in need. This practice continues to this day as evidenced by the outpouring of help for victims of this year’s many natural disasters.

Much criticism has been leveled at the government for mistakes made during hurricane Katrina. The basic problem with the government’s aid efforts has to do with the fact that the government has to satisfy a number of different political constituencies and is not under any real pressure to justify its actions to the taxpayers who provided the money for the government’s aid efforts. Whether the taxpayers approve or disapprove of how the government used their tax dollars there is very little they can do individually as they still have to pay taxes. With private charity the donor decides who, when, how and how much aid to provide. Donors, like Nicholas who identify and aid people directly are always in a position to decide who to provide aid to as well as the type and amount of aid to provide. People like Nicholas can also act quickly since they do not have to have anyone’s approval to take action. Donors who simply contribute to a larger organization always have the option to not give whenever they feel the organization is not operating in a manner the donor expects. This puts direct financial pressure on aid organizations to stay focused and use contributions wisely.

St. Nicholas is an ideal role model and also an excellent example of what individuals can to make the world a better place.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Peter Drucker ? 1909 ? 2005

In reply to Supply & Demand

Peter Drucker, world renowned management guru, died this past Friday, November 11th, at the age of 95.

Born in Vienna in 1909, he received his doctorate in public and international law from Frankfurt University in 1931. In Frankfurt he worked as a financial reporter for the Frankfurter General Anzeiger newspaper. In 1933 he fled Hitler’s Germany and moved to England where he worked as a securities analyst for an insurance company. In 1937 he came to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Sarah Lawrence University.

Drucker is best known for his books and articles on modern management. His writings were not only ahead of their time when published but remain relevant classics to this day.

I remember reading a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s in which he pointed out that Karl Marx’s dream of worker ownership of the means of production had been realized in the United States of all places. This was achieved not through the nationalization of industry as in the then Soviet Union and other communist countries nor through utopian communities where all productive resources were owned in common with “each taking according to his needs, and each contributing according to his ability” as envisioned by Marx. Rather it was businesses competing for workers with a combination of pay and retirement pensions and funding the pensions with investments in corporate stocks. In this way the majority of stock, which represents ownership in corporations, in American corporations came to be owned by workers indirectly through their pension funds. Today, thanks to IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b)s and other worker directed retirement accounts the percent of corporations owned by the workers of America is probably greater than when Drucker described this in his article.

Drucker was also ahead of his time in stressing the importance of worker’s training and knowledge in modern production. “Human capital” as we now describe it. Drucker himself was a part of the great wave of human capital that fled Nazi dominated Euope and flowed into America in the 1930s and 1940s. Hundreds of scientists, academics, artists, filmmakers, etc. fled to the U.S. to escape Hitler’s wrath and the U.S. economy benefited greatly from this in migration of foreign knowledge and talent.

Drucker has left behind a couple of generations of managers trained in his innovative ideas and, through books and articles he has left behind, he will continue to influence future generations of managers. Despite his passing, the American economy will continue to employ his insights and ideas to continue its remarkable growth.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Economics 200 (Telecourse) Syllabus – Spring 2006

In reply to Supply & Demand

PimaCommunityCollege
Community Campus

ECN 200 Telecourse Syllabus

Course Information:
Course Prefix/Number: ECN 200
Course Title: Basic Principles of Economics
Semester: 200610 Spring 2006
CRN (Section Code): 28101
Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: None
Estimated Study Time: 120 hours/semester
Course Web Pages: Blog for Course
Instructor Home Page
Course Calendar

Instructor Information:
Name: Chuck Nugent
US Mail: Pima Community College
Community Campus
401 N. Bonita Ave.
Tucson AZ 85709
Voice Mail: (520) 206-6419
E-mail: nugentwork@yahoo.com
Availability: By Appointment
Instructional Materials:
Required Text: Mansfield and Behravesh: Economics U$A (7th Edition), W.W. Norton & Co., (ISBN 0-393-92605-2)
OPTIONAL Text: Sondgeroth, Telecourse Study Guide of Economics USA, W.W. Norton & Co (ISBN
0-393-92606-0)
Note: Textbooks are available at the West Campus Bookstore (2202 W. Anklam Rd.) in the telecourse section and
other academic bookstores in town. The PCC Bookstore can be accessed and books ordered via the Internet at http://www.Pima.bkstr.com. (See Instructor’s Home Page or Blog for other on-line sources for purchasing the text).
Videotapes are available for viewing at any of the PCC campus libraries but may be checked out ONLY at the Community Campus Support Services Center. Bring your PCC picture ID.

First Broadcast: Week of January 23, 2006 (Late start-14 weeks-semester begins January 25, 2006)
Broadcast Schedule: Broadcast dates and times depend on your cable supplier and whether your TV is
cable ready or uses a conversion box. See PCC TV broadcast schedule for specific information

On Campus Sessions: Attendance at these sessions is strongly encouraged but not mandatory!
Introductory Session: Wed. January 25th 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus
Review for Midterm Exam: Wed. March 22nd 5:30-6:30 pm, Community Campus
Review for Final Exam: Wed. April 26th 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus

Please check lobby marquee for room assignment

Course Description: This course is designed to provide the student with an introduction to the ?ECONOMIC WAY OF THINKING?. The course will provide an overview of economic systems, microeconomics, macroeconomics and the international economy. Students will be exposed to how economics is used to analyze and predict the behavior of businesses, consumers and governments with regard to the allocation and use of society?s scarce resources. The ?old? industrial economy will be compared and contrasted with the ?new? information based economy that is emerging today. Finally, students will be made aware of how economic factors influence their lives as consumers, producers, employees, employers, taxpayers and citizens.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
1.Define scarcity, microeconomics and macroeconomics, economic theory and economic policy, factors of production, production possibilities model, and opportunity cost.
2.Explain a market and the Invisible Hand Doctrine. Understand Mises Concept of ?Human Action?; Compare and contrast market economy with government-planned economy.
3.State and illustrate the law of demand, law of supply; equilibrium price and quantity, shift variables for demand and supply; price elasticity of demand and supply: circular flow model.
4.Discuss sources and uses of household income, legal forms of business ownership, and how maximizing economic well-being is similar and different for households and businesses.
5.Explain two approaches for determining profit maximization, accounting and economic profit, and positive and negative externalities.
6.Give examples of production functions, short and long run as applied to economics, fixed and variable costs, average and marginal costs, and economies and diseconomies of scale.
7.Compare and contrast four basic market structures (competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly): basic characteristics, long run profitability, efficiency, impact on the consumer, and determination of the profit-maximizing level of output.
8.Discuss the goals and problems of the macroeconomy, including measurement and types of unemployment, measurement of Gross Domestic Product, and the measurement and winners and losers from inflation.
9.Describe the business cycle, total spending and economic equilibrium, effects of leakages and injections into the spending stream, and the multiplier effect.
10.Identify the largest categories of government expenditures and receipts, fiscal policy tools, automatic stabilizers, federal budgets, and the size and effects of the national debt.
11.Describe the functions of money, the components of money supply, the functions of the Federal Reserve, and the role of financial depository institutions.
12.Explain the process by which financial institutions expand (or contract) the nation?s money supply, monetary policy tools, the money multiplier, and the relationship between the economy?s money supply and the level of economic activity.
Course Outline:
Part I: Introduction to Economics
Part II: National Income and Output
Part III: Money Banking and Stabilization Policy
Part IV: Economic Decision Making ? The Firm, The Consumer, Society
Part V: The Distribution of Income
Part VI: Growth, Government and International Economics

Course Requirements: To complete the course successfully, students must do the following:
1. Complete and submit six assignments found on course web page
2. Complete and submit three unit take-home exams found on course web page
3. Take midterm exam at Test Center
4. Take final exam at Test Center
Important Phone Numbers
For questions concerning subject matter: 206-6419
For questions involving schedules, testing, etc.: 206-6454
For questions concerning TV broadcast errors: 206-6410
Attendance: Since this is a distance delivery class, you are required to come to campus only to take scheduled exams. Students are strongly encouraged to attend the live introductory class session and review sessions scheduled before each exam.

Academic Integrity: Students are expected to abide by the Student Code of Conduct and the Scholastic Code of Conduct found in the Pima Community College Student Handbook. Copies are available at PCC campus libraries and at http://www.pima.edu/studentserv/studentrights/

ADA Compliance: Pima County Community College District strives to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Students with disabilities requiring special accommodations must notify the instructor of this need or directly contact the Disabled Student Resources Office on your campus at the beginning of the semester.

Course Feedback: In order to increase interaction between instructor and students, students are encouraged (but not required) to submit written work via e-mail. Assignments may be submitted as part of body of e-mail text itself or as an ASCII or Ms-Word email attachment. Using e-mail for this purpose will increase the speed at which your instructor can return assignments with grades and comments. Students are also encouraged to contact instructor with questions concerning the course. To encourage dialog, instructor may share answers with the rest of the class by posting them to the web blog (http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/) and/or a course listserve (inclusion on the listserve is optional and all student email addresses are kept confidential by being sent from the listserve as “Bcc” or blind copies).

Exams: Students must come to the Community Campus Support Service Center (401 N. Bonita Ave.) to take midterm and final exams. Please bring your PCC picture ID. This is the only ID that will be accepted. The Testing Center has specific rules, a copy of which is included in the packet you received at the beginning of the semester. Seating capacity is limited and on a first-come, first served basis.

Review Sessions: Immediately before each scheduled exam, you will have an opportunity to attend a live review session during which you may ask any questions that you have regarding the course material. See class schedule (page 1) for specific times and locations.

Problems: If you have problems with the course, make arrangements to see me or call me through voicemail. Do not wait to ask for help.

Submissions: Please clearly mark all assignments with the following: NUGENT:ECN200. Include full name on both e-mail and regular submissions. Submissions other than via e-mail are to be typed.

Withdrawals: Students may withdraw from class any time during the first 2/3 of the semester (through April 6, 2005) without instructor permission and without incurring any grade penalty. Students not active after this date will receive an “F” grade at the end of the semester. Please be sure to withdraw yourself by April 6, 2005, if you do not expect to complete the course.

Grade Reviews: Students may request a review of their course grade. The request for review must be made within 90 days from the end of the course session; no requests will be considered after 90 days.

Final Grades:
Students will NOT receive a semester grade report from the college. Students who wish to check grades may call MAX 2000 at 206-4880 or access BannerOnline via the Pima College web site. For privacy and security reasons, instructors may not post grades and are advised not to give grades over the telephone.

Note: To help your instructor to improve this course, a variety of classroom assessment techniques may be used to determine if this course is meeting its stated objectives. Such techniques may include but are not limited to, short answers regarding comprehension of the material presented, pre- and post-tests, student interviews, self-evaluations, portfolio, journal and/or capstone experience.

Because this course fulfills a general education requirement, you will also be assessed on whether student skills have improved in any of the following areas: oral and written communication, critical inquiry, cultural diversity, and global awareness.

Students? grades will be based upon scores received on exams and assignments. Exams and assignments together total 1,000 points. The student?s final grade for the course will be based upon the total points earned and curved as follows:

920 to 1000 points A
820 to 919 points B
720 to 819 points C
620 to 719 points D
Below 600 points F

Point values for assignments and exams:

Assignment 1 50 points
Unit 1 Exam (Chapters 1 & 2) 125 points
Assignment 2 50 points
Unit 2 Exam (Chapters 3 ? 7) 125 points
Assignment 3 50 points
Mid-term Exam (Chapters 8 – 14) 150 points
Assignment 4 50 points
Unit 4 Exam (Chapters 15 ? 21) 125 points
Assignment 5 50 points
Assignment 6 50 points
Final Exam (Chapters 22 – 28) 150 points
?On time? Completion Credit 25 points
_________
Total 1,000 points

Note: Students who complete all exams and assignments by Friday May 12th, will receive the 25 completion points. Students who, for any reason, fail to complete all tests and assignments on time will not receive the 25 completions points. Students taking an ?I? (incomplete) grade will NOT receive the 25 completion points.

Incomplete (I) grade:
If you find that you cannot complete the course during the regular semester, you must request an ?I? (incomplete grade) in writing. This must be done before the final review session. You must state your reasons for the request. In order to be considered for an ?I? grade, you must have successfully completed three-quarters of the course. YOU MUST THEN COMPLETE THE MISSING WORK WITHIN THE TIME AGREED UPON WITH THE INSTRUCTOR. AT THE END OF THE AGREED UPON TIME, THE INSTRUCTOR WILL CHANGE THE ?I? GRADE TO THE LETTER GRADE EARNED FOR THE COURSE AT THAT POINT WHETHER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE WORK OR NOT.

Special Withdrawal (Y) grade:
Students desiring to withdraw from the class must do so prior to Apr 10, 2006, which is the last day allowed for withdrawals. THE INSTRUCTOR WILL NOT ISSUE ?Y? GRADES.

Midterm and Final Exams
You must come to the Community Campus Testing Center to take these exams. Information on the Testing Center is included in your packet. Notice that generally you will need to make an appointment to take your exam.
Students in Nogales and Sells may arrange with the instructor to take these exams at Pima College sites in these cities.
You may NOT use books, notes or other material as an aid.
Each exam covers specific material: Midterm Exam: Chapters 8 through Chapter 14 of text
Final Exam: Chapters 22 through Chapter 28 of text

Other Assignments and Exams:
All assignments and exams other than the mid-term and final will be done by the students at their homes. Books, notes and videos may be used as aids to complete these exams and assignments which are available on the course web page located at http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com

Caveats:
Your instructor will make every attempt to follow the above procedures and schedules, but they may be changed in the
event of extenuating circumstances.

Students submitting assignments through the mail or email are advised to make copies for their own protection.

Please note that the TV broadcast schedule does not observe PCC holidays.

Because so much of our contact with you is through the U.S. Postal Service, it is vital that we have your correct address. If you change your address during the semester, fill out a change of address form at any campus registration office and call our office at 206-6454 to keep our staff up to date.

Any tapes checked out by students are covered by strict copyright restrictions and must be returned at the end of the semester. Grades and transcripts will be encumbered and students not allowed to register for future PCC courses if tapes are not returned.

ECN 200 Telecourse Class Schedule/ Calendar

Week Week of Topic Description

Jan 16 MARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr. HOLIDAY -COLLEGE CLOSED (Telecourses are aired).

1 Jan 23 1. Program 1: Resources & Scarcity: What is Economics All About?
& 2 Jan 30 2. Program 2: Markets & Prices: Do They Meet Our Needs?
3. Program 3: U.S. Economic Growth: What is the Gross Domestic Product?
4. Program 4: Booms & Busts: What Causes the Business Cycle?

5. Program 5: John Maynard Keynes: What Did We Learn From the Great Depression
3 Feb 6 6. Program 6: Fiscal Policy: Can We Control the Economy
& 4 Feb 13 7. Program 7: Inflation: How Did the Spiral Begin?
8. Program 8: The Banking System: Why Must It Be Protected?

(OPTIONAL) INTRODUCTORY CLASS SESSION
Wednesday January 25th 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus

9. Program 9: The Federal Reserve: Does Money Matter?
5 Feb 20 10. Program 10: Stagflation: Why Couldn?t We Beat It?
& 6 Feb 27 11.Program 11: Productivity: Can We Get More For Less?
12. Program 12: Federal Deficits: Can We Live With Them?

Feb 23-24 RODEO DAYS HOLIDAY-COLLEGE CLOSED (Telecourses are aired).

13. Program 13: Monetary Policy: How Well Does It Work?
7 Mar 6 14. Program 14: Stabilization Policy: Are We Still In Control?
& 8 Mar 13 15. Program 15: The Firm: How Can It Keeps Costs Down?
16. Program 16: Supply And Demand: What Sets The Demand?

Mar 13-19 SPRING BREAK-NO CLASSES (Telecourse are aired)

17. Program 17: Perfect Competition and Inelastic Demand: Can The Farmer Make a Profit?
9 Mar 20 18. Program 18: Economic Efficiency: What Price Controls
& 10 Mar 27 19. Program 19: Monopoly: Who?s in Control?
20. Program 20: Oligopolies: Whatever Happened to Price Competition?

(OPTIONAL) REVIEW SESSION FOR MIDTERM EXAM
Wednesday March 22nd 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus
Midterm must be taken by 4 p.m., Friday May 12, 2006

21. Program 21: Pollution: How Much is a Clean Environment Worth?
11 Apr 3 22. Program 22: Labor and Management: How Do They Come To Terms?
& 12 Apr 10 23. Program 23: Profits and Interest: Where is the Best Return?
24. Program 24: Economic Growth: Can We Keep Pace?

Apr 10 LAST DAY FOR STUDENT INITIATED WITHDRAWALS

25. Program 25: Economic Growth: Can We Keep Up the Pace?
13 Apr 17 26. Program 26: Public Goods and Responsibilities: How Far Should We Go?
& 14 Apr 24 27. Program 27: International Trade: For Whose Benefit
28. Program 28: Exchange Rates: What in the World is a Dollar Worth?

15 May 1 Repeat of Final Broadcast
& 16 May 8

OPTIONAL REVIEW SESSION FOR FINAL EXAM
Wednesday April 26th 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus
Final exam must be taken by 4:00 pm, Friday May 12, 2006

ECN 200 Telecourse Syllabus
Syllabus Acknowledgment Form

ECN 200 ? Basic Principles of Economics (Telecourse) ? CRN 28101

Please sign and return the following acknowledgment to me at the following address:

Chuck Nugent
Pima Community College
Community Campus
401 North Bonita Ave.
Tucson, Arizona 85709

Name:

Student Number:

Email Address (optional):

Please add me to the Class E-Mail list. I understand that this will involve broadcasting any course content questions that I submit along with the instructor?s answer to all other class members on the list.

Separate signature required.__________________________________________

____I hereby acknowledge that I have read and understand the ECN 200 (Basic Economics Principles) course syllabus
which includes objectives, policies and class schedule.

____I have no objection to receiving an occasional call from the instructor at the number given with my
registration materials.

____I prefer that the instructor not call or contact me by phone anytime during the semester.

____I would like to be contacted by the instructor regarding the following concerns:

My Cable provider is: ____Comcast ____People?s Choice ____Cox

Signature ___________________________________ Phone #_____________________________

Date ___________________________________ Student ID#_________________________

This post originally appeared on an external website

369th Birthday of the National Guard

In reply to Supply & Demand

Upon signing on to my account at USAA.Com this morning, I was greeted with an announcement that today, December 13th, is the 369th anniversary of the founding of the National Guard.

KC-97 Tanker at Pima Air Museum in Tucson Arizona – This is the type of plane that I flew

With a quick Google search I was able to learn that on December 13, 1636, the Massachusetts Bay Colony organized three regiments of militia to defend the colony against the growing attacks by the neighboring Pequot Indians. The order by the government of the colony required that all males between 16 and 60 years of age own a gun and be ready to defend the community against attacks.

The Pequot War that followed had its origins in the tensions that arose between the Pequots and the colonists as the Pequots found themselves increasingly squeezed as the English colonists of Massachusetts to the east expanded west and the Dutch colonists in New York on their west expanded east. A minor incident between a white trader and a small band of Pequots flared into a major territorial war. Failing to get other tribes to join them, the vastly outnumbered Pequots were soon vanquished and the tribe as an entity disappeared.

Thus began the American tradition of local militia. Nearly a century and a half later, our Founding Fathers maintained the tradition of a dual state and federal military for defense by making provision in the Constitution for the states to continue to maintain their militias. Up until the American Revolution, it was the local militias that defended the frontier against attack and it was the local militia that fought alongside the British army against the French during the French and Indian Wars. George Washington gained fame as a military leader while commanding the Virginia militia in the battle against Ft. Duquesne (site of modern Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). During the American Revolution it was the militia of the various colonies that provided the bulk of the troops that fought with the Congressionally created Continental Army commanded by George Washington in our fight for Independence from Great Britain. Following the American Revolution the armed forces of the U.S. were small most of the time and on state militia or, nowadays National Guard whenever we were forced to defend our freedom.

So, why did this notice interest me? Well, the reason USAA had the notice of the 369th anniversary of the birth of the National Guard on its website is its members are all current or former military personnel or their families. I joined USAA thirty some years ago when I was a newly minted second lieutenant attending the USAF Institute of Air Navigation at Mather, AFB in Sacramento, California. I had both a federal commission in the Air Force Reserve from Congress and a state commission from the state of Wisconsin in the Wisconsin Air National Guard.

I had been a cadet in the AFROTC during my senior year of college and was supposed to complete my ROTC training in graduate school. But when I accepted a teaching assistantship at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee which had Army but not Air Force ROTC I was forced to leave the ROTC program which immediately exposed me to the draft (the Vietnam War was in full force when I graduated in 1969).

I had been in the pilot training program in ROTC and when a fellow graduate student, who had recently left active duty as a navigator with the rank of captain and was then flying with the Air National Guard in Milwaukee, told me that, while they had a waiting list of people for enlisted, officer and pilot positions, the Air National Guard in Milwaukee short on navigators.

Pilots were the elite in the Air Force and they looked down upon navigators as mere map readers (we, of course, considered navigators to be the brains of the crew and the pilots mere monkeys who steered the plan in the direction we told them ? but it was all in fun as we worked as a team in the air). Not being interested in a career in either aviation or the military and considering that my alternatives consisted of either spending the next couple of years navigating part time for the Air National Guard or finding myself ankle deep in mud as an infantryman in Vietnam, I chose to become a navigator.

I did my required military service with the 128th Air Refueling Group of the Wisconsin Air National Guard based at Mitchell Field (the Milwaukee Airport) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I had a good time and made a number of training flights to Florida and Germany navigating a Korean War vintage KC-97 tanker doing air refueling for fighter jets. I was fortunate to serve stateside and in Europe and my only encounter with the “enemy” occurred over international waters enroute to Iceland from Germany when we came out of a cloud bank at 30,000 feet flying in a northwest direction toward Keflavik AFB in Iceland. At the same time two Russian bear class bombers, enroute from Havana to Murmansk, came out of the same cloud bank heading northeast toward their base in Murmansk. Fortunately, they were about 500 feet below us so we avoided a collision. This was during the Cold War so neither of us bothered to tell the other where we planned to fly in international airspace. I am sure they were as surprised as we were but probably not as mad as we were. We were both being tracked by the nearby ground control at Keflavik which did not bother to alert us to the presence of the Russian bombers. After berating the person manning the tracking radar at Keflavik, from both the air and later on the ground, with language I will not print here, our pilot was given the lame excuse that the controller knew we were on a horizontal collision course but assumed we were separated vertically by a few thousand rather than a few hundred feet.

That is my link to the tradition and organization (like the Air Force which evolved out of the Army, the Air National Guard evolved from the Army National Guard) that is celebrating its 369th birthday today. My nephew, Sergeant James Nugent,who returned from a year’s tour of duty in Iraq with the Wisconsin Army National Guard last month, is also a part of this tradition going back to 1636.

This post originally appeared on an external website

The Creation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

In reply to Supply & Demand

Advent E-cards
St. Nicholas E-Cards
Christmas E-Cards

Fate is a funny thing. A person can focus on the big things only to see those achievements largely forgotten as people remember them for something that, at the time it was accomplished, seemed small and inconsequential. Other times fate will strike a person who possesses only modest goals and catapult that person’s creation to greatness.

Take Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Mention his name at Christmas time and practically everyone in the world knows his story. But, where did Rudolph come from?

Rudolph’s story begins sometime in 1939. The nation was still in the midst of the Great Depression but that didn’t prevent people from celebrating and enjoying the good times of life. Times may have been difficult but that just meant that people had to be more careful with their money.

Some time during that summer at the Chicago headquarters of department store giant, Montgomery Ward, executives were making plans for the coming Christmas season.

In those days cities were more compact and commerce was centered in the downtown. Scattered amongst the big banks and office buildings were the large, multi-storied department stores. During the Christmas season shoppers would flock to the downtown and these stores competed fiercely for these people’s shopping dollars. To attract customers the stores put up lavish decorations and, in their toy departments, they would create elaborate Christmas kingdom displays with Santa Claus enthroned in the middle. The highlight of the Christmas shopping season for children was a trip downtown with Mom and Dad to visit Santa Claus. They would stand in line and, when their turn came, would sit on Santa’s lap. After assuring Santa that they had been good, or had at least were trying hard to be good, they would tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Santa would then assure them that he would do his best to give them the toy they most desired and then, after making their requests and got up to leave, Santa would reach into the big sack next to his chair and, reminding them to be good, give them a little parting gift.

For many years Montgomery Ward had filled their Santa’s sack with a Christmas coloring book that they had specially printed each year. But this year the Montgomery Ward executives wanted something new and different. They also wanted to save money. So, instead of calling upon an outside firm to create the new item, as they had done in the past, they decided to have their own advertising department create the new giveaway.

Thus it happened that Robert L. May, a 34 year copywriter for Montgomery Ward, found himself charged with coming up with a new gift for their Santa to give to the little children. May went to work developing a Christmas story for children. As a child, May had always been small for his age and this had brought forth taunts and ridicule from the other children. Drawing upon his experiences of being somewhat different and an outcast, May set about creating a character with similar problems who, in the end, rises above his problems and is transformed.

The year 1939 was a difficult time in the life of Robert May. In addition to the worries of losing his job in the Depression that had engulfed the economy, his wife lay dying of cancer and he also had to help his four year old daughter, Barbara deal with the trauma of seeing her Mother die. But, little Barbara, in her own way helped her Dad with the creation of Rudolph. Robert worked on the project in the office and then came home and tested out themes and story lines on Barbara. Work and home life converged in a way that both allowed father and daughter to come closer together as well as providing a diversion from the troubles that surrounded them. Some even credit Barbara with the naming of Rudolph, claiming that May tested different names on Barbara and Rudolph was the one that she enjoyed the most.

Robert May’s creation was not the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer song that everyone now knows so well and it was not the popular cartoon that is now shown on TV each Christmas. No, May’s creation was a short story written in rhyming verse. It was the story of a little reindeer who was different due to a physical deformity ? a bright red nose. Unlike the Rudolph we now know from the song and cartoon, May’s original Rudolph lived an ordinary life with his parents in the woods. He did not live at the North Pole and his parents were not part of Santa’s reindeer team. Oh, Rudolph had to deal with the taunts of the other little reindeer who shunned him because he was different. Like May as a child, Rudolph was lonely and had few friends. But, rather than dwelling on his problems, Rudolph had a positive outlook on life and did not let his deformity hold him back in life.

In the original story, Rudolph’s big moment came when Santa landed his sleigh at Rudolph’s home to deliver gifts to him and the other good little reindeer in the neighborhood. As Santa landed a fog started to roll in. By the time Santa had finished delivering presents to the little reindeer in the area the fog had become dense, making it impossible for Santa to take off safely. With children all over the world expecting him to visit and leave presents, Santa had a dilemma ? he couldn’t see to take off in the fog but if he did not take off he would disappoint children all over the world. At that moment Santa noticed Rudolph with his shiny red nose and asked him to lead his sleigh. Rudolph agreed and Santa was able to make his deliveries. Following Santa’s successful Christmas Eve journey with Rudolph in the lead, the story ends with Santa saying to Rudolph, “By YOU last night’s journey was actually bossed. Without you, I’m certain we’d all have been lost!” This is a little different from the song and cartoon which end with the other reindeer praising Rudolph by saying he will go down in history.

The booklet given out by the Montgomery Ward Santas was an immediate hit with children and their parents with Montgomery Ward distributing 2.4 million copies the first year. The popularity of the story continued in the years immediately following 1939 but, because of war time paper shortages, Montgomery Ward was only able to produce and distribute 6 million copies between 1939 and 1946. Because the booklets were simple giveaways for children printed on newspaper stock very few of those original 6 million booklets produced by Montgomery Ward survive to this day.

Despite the immediate success of his creation, things did not go well for Robert May. His wife died about the time the Rudolph story first came out. The medical expenses of her illness left May deeply in debt. Further, even though May of the author of an immensely popular work he did not benefit financially from it. First of all, it was a give away and did not produce any revenue directly (but Montgomery Ward profited indirectly as planned as the people who thronged to its stores with their children to get the booklets, tended to stay and do their Christmas shopping at Montgomery Ward). But, more importantly, while May was the author of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Montgomery Ward was the owner of the work since the story was produced as a part of his job at Montgomery Ward (as lawyers would say it was a “work for hire”).

In late 1946, the financially strapped May approached Sewell Avery, President of Montgomery Ward and asked for the rights to publish the story commercially. Avery granted his request and in January 1947 the copyright to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was given to May by his employer. May then published the story commercially as a book in 1947 and also authorized the production and release of a nine minute cartoon version of the story for showing in theaters (in those pre-TV days theaters usually preceded the feature show with newsreels and/or cartoons). May then teamed up with his brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks to turn May’s story-poem into a song. In writing the lyrics, Marks changed the story slightly from May’s original to the story we know today in the song.

May and Marks originally had some difficulty finding a singer for the song as many were reluctant to do something that changed the image of Santa and his reindeer as set down by Clement Moore a century earlier in his popular It Was the Night Before Christmas. But finally Gene Autry, the singer and actor best known for his role in westerns agreed to record the song. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was first sung commercially by Gene Autry in 1949 and instantly became a smash hit and had its place assured in the cannon of traditional Christmas music.

From 1947 on, May enjoyed the benefits of his 1939 creation. He left Montgomery Ward and devoted his time to managing his creation until his retirement in 1971. In 1976 May died but his story about Rudolph lives on adding joy to the lives of new generations of children just as it brought joy to his four year old daughter Barbara during that difficult Christmas season in 1939 as she faced the holidays as her mother was dying.

Click Here to see the lyrics and listen to the song.

Copyright ? 2005 by Charles J. Nugent Jr.

This post originally appeared on an external website

T’Was The Night Before Christmas

In reply to Supply & Demand

by Clement Clarke Moore


‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

This post originally appeared on an external website

The Birth of Jesus According to St. Luke

In reply to Supply & Demand

Christmas E-Cards

The following is the account of the birth of Jesus as recorded in Chapter 2, versus 1 – 20 of the Gospel of St. Luke. (Source: “The New American Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983, pages 1109-1110)


Birth of Jesus. In those days Caesar Augustus published a decree ordering a census of the whole world. This first census took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone went to register, each to his own town. And so Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to David’s town of Bethlehm ? because he was of the house and lineage of David ? to register with Mary, his espoused wife, who was with child.

While they were there the days of her confinement were completed. She gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the place travelers lodged.

The Shepherds. There were shepherds in that region, living in the fields and keeping night watch by turns over their flocks. The angel of the Lord appeared to them as the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were very much afraid. The angel said to them: “You have nothing to fear! I come to proclaim good news to your ? tidings of great joy to be shared by the whole people. This day in David’s city a savior has been born to you. The Messiah and Lord. Let this be a sign to you: in a manger you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes.” Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in high heaven,
peace on earth to those on whom
his favor rests.”

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this event which the Lord has made known to us.” They went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger; once they saw, they understood what had been told them concerning this child. All who heard of it were astonished at the report given them by the shepherds.

Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for a ll they had heard and seen, in accord with what had been told them.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Pima Community College – Economics 201 Syllabus

In reply to Supply & Demand

Northeast Learning Center

Economics 201 Syllabus

Course Information:
Course Prefix/Number: ECN 201 Course Title: Microeconomic Principles
Semester: 200620 (Spring 2006) CRN (Section Code): 26575
Prerequisites: MAT 092 Estimated Study Time: 120 hours/semester
Day/Time: M 5:30-7:00 p.m Location: NELC
Teaching Format: Self Pace All Work & Tests due by: Monday May 8, 2006
Course Web Pages:
http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/ (Blog for Course)
http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com (Instructor’s Web Site)
http://pub23.bravenet.com/calendar/show.php?usernum=1971912999 (Calendar)

Instructor Information:
Name: Chuck Nugent
U.S. Mail: Pima Community College
Northeast Community Learning Center
Catalina Village Shopping Center
7816 E. Wrightstown Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85709-5800
Phone/Voice Mail: (520) 544-4870
E-mail: nugentwork@yahoo.com
Availability: M 5:30 ? 7:00 p.m. or by appointment

Instructional Materials:
Required Text: Arnold, Roger A., Microeconomics (7th Edition)
Assignment Packet: Available from Instructor at first Class.
Note: Textbooks are available at the East Campus Bookstore (ask for Northeast Learning Center books) and other academic bookstores in town. The PCC Bookstore can be accessed and books ordered via the Internet at http://www.Pima.bkstr.com.

Course Description: Economic theory as applied to individual decision-making units. Includes economic decision making, economic systems, consumer demand, producer supply, price determination, elasticity, cost-benefit analysis, and utility and profit maximization. Also includes production functions and costs, competition and market structures, government in the market economy, labor markets, and income distribution.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to do the following:
1. Define scarcity, microeconomics and macroeconomics, economic theory and economic policy, factors of production, production possibilities model, and opportunity cost.
2. Explain a market and the Invisible Hand Doctrine, society?s basic economic decisions, the market economy as compared and contrasted with the planned economy, and the circular flow model.
3. State and illustrate the law of demand, law of supply, equilibrium price and quantity, shift variables for demand and supply, and price elasticity of demand and supply.
4. Discuss the economic objectives of households and businesses and maximization of utility and profit.
5. Describe two approaches for determining profit maximization, explicit and implicit costs, as well as accounting and economic profit.
6. Explain cost-benefit analysis as it applies to households and to businesses, and to society including its relationship to externalities.
7. Give examples of production functions, short and long run as applied to economics, fixed and variable costs, average and marginal costs, and economies and diseconomies of scale.
8. Compare and contrast the four basic market structures (competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly): basic characteristics, long run profitability, efficiency, impact on the consumer, and determination of profit-maximizing level of output.
9. Explain why and how government intervenes in the market economy with particular reference to antitrust laws and governmental regulatory agencies.
10. Discuss wage rate changes, income distribution, and poverty as defined and addressed by the government.

Course Outline:

I Introduction

A. What is Economics about
B. Economic Activities: Producing and Trading
C. Supply and Demand: Theory
D. Supply and Demand: Practice

II Microeconmic Fundamentals

A. Elasticity
B Consumer Choice: Maximizing Utility and Behavioral Economics
C The Firm
D Production and Costs

III Product Markets and Policies

A. Perfect Competition
B. Monopoly
C Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly, and Game Theory
D Government and Product Markets: Antitrust and Regulation

IV Factor Markets and Related Issues

A. Factor Markets with emphasis on the Labor Market
B Wages, Unions, and Labor
C The Distribution of Income and Poverty
D. Interest, Rent and Profit

V Market Failure and Public Choice

A. Market Failure: Externalities, Public Goods, and Asymmetric Information
B. Public Choice: Economic Theory Applied to Politics

VI International Economic: Theory and Policy

A International Trade
B International Finance

Course Requirements: To complete the course successfully, students must do the following:

1. Complete and submit the five (6) assignments (one for each unit)
2. Complete and submit take home tests for units 1, 2, 4 and 5
3. Take midterm exam at Test Center (closed book)
4. Take final exam at Test Center (closed book)

Attendance: This course is self paced and students are only required to attend the first class. The instructor will be available during scheduled class times for assistance and to collect written assignments from students.

Academic Integrity: All work done for this class must be your own. While you may discuss assignments with other class members, all work MUST be your own. You may use work from books and other materials if it is properly cited. Copying from a book or other print or electronic media without proper reference will result in a zero (0) score for the assignment. Submitting work done by another person/entity (published or unpublished) as your own will result in an F for the course. Students are expected to abide by the Student Code of Conduct and the Scholastic Code of Conduct found in the Pima Community College Student Handbook. Copies are available at PCC campus libraries and at http://www.pima.edu/studentserv/studentrights/

ADA Compliance: Pima County Community College District strives to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Students with disabilities requiring special accommodations must notify the instructor of this need or directly contact the Disabled Student Resources Office on your campus at the beginning of the semester.

Course Feedback: In order to increase interaction between instructor and students, students are encouraged (but not required) to submit written work via e-mail. Assignments may be submitted as part of body of e-mail text itself or as an ASCII or Ms-Word (version 2003 or lower) email attachment. Using e-mail for this purpose will increase the speed at which your instructor can return assignments with grades and comments. (NOTE: current East Campus policy forbids instructor from sending grade information via email ? work may be submitted via email but the graded assignment/test must be picked up from the NELC by the student). Students are also encouraged to submit questions about course content via e-mail to the instructor. Students may also submit assignments via the U.S. Postal Service (see address on first page) or deliver it to NELC in person.

Exams: One exam will be given for each of the six units (see outline above or the “Brief Contents” on page iii of your book). The exams for units 1, 2, 4 and 5 will be open book take home exams. The exams for units 3 and 6 will be closed book, proctored exams taken at the college.

Problems: If you have problems with the course, make arrangements to see me or call me through voicemail. Do not wait to ask for help.

Submissions: Please clearly mark all assignments with the following: NUGENT:ECN201. Include full name on both e-mail and regular submissions. Submissions other than via e-mail are to be typed.

Withdrawals: Students may withdraw from class any time during the first 2/3 of the semester (through April 6, 2006) without instructor permission and without incurring any grade penalty. Students not active after this date will receive an “F” grade at the end of the semester. Please be sure to withdraw yourself by April 6, 2006, if you do not expect to complete the course.

Caveats:
Your instructor will make every attempt to follow the above procedures and schedules, but they may be changed in the event of extenuating circumstances.

Students submitting assignments through the mail are advised to make copies for their own protection.

Because so much of our contact with you is through the U.S. Postal Service, it is vital that we have your correct address. If you change your address during the semester, fill out a change of address form at any campus registration office and call our office at 206-6454 to keep our staff up to date.

ECN 201 Grading Policies

Students? grades will be based upon scores received on exams and assignments. Exams and assignments together total 1,050 points. The student?s final grade for the course will be based upon the total points earned divided by 1,000 and curved as follows:

920 to 1000 points A
820 to 919 points B
740 to 819 points C
650 to 739 points D
Below 650 points F

Point values for assignments and exams:

Unit 1 Assignment 50 points
Unit 1 Take Home Exam (Chaps 1 ? 4) 125 points
Unit 2 Assignment 50 points
Unit 2 Take Home Exam (Chaps 5 – 8) 125 points
Unit 3 Assignment 50 points
Unit 3 Proctored Exam (Chaps 9 – 12) 125 points
Unit 4 Assignment 50 points
Unit 4 Take Home Exam (Chaps 13 – 16) 125 points
Unit 5 Assignment 50 points
Unit 5 Take Home Exam (Chaps 17 ? 18) 125 points
Unit 6 Assignment 50 points
Unit 6 Proctored Exam (Chaps 19? 20) 125 points

Incomplete (I) grade:
If you find that you cannot complete the course during the regular semester, you must request an ?I? (incomplete grade) in writing. This must be done before the final review session. You must state your reasons for the request. In order to be considered for an ?I? grade, you must have successfully completed three-quarters of the course. YOU MUST THEN COMPLETE THE MISSING WORK WITHIN THE TIME AGREED UPON WITH THE INSTRUCTOR . AT THE END OF THE AGREED UPON TIME, THE INSTRUCTOR WILL CHANGE THE ?I? GRADE TO THE LETTER GRADE EARNED FOR THE COURSE AT THAT POINT WHETHER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE WORK OR NOT.

Special Withdrawal (Y) grade:
Students desiring to withdraw from the class must do so prior to April 6, 2006, which is the last day allowed for withdrawals. THE INSTRUCTOR WILL NOT ISSUE ?Y? GRADES.

Midterm and Final Exams the “Unit 3 Proctored Exam” and “Unit 6 Proctored Exam” (see Point Values for Assignments and Exams above) will constitute the Midterm and Final exams for this course.

Other Assignments and Exams:
All assignments and exams other than the mid-term and final will be done by the students at their homes. Books and may be used as aids to complete these exams and assignments which are available from the NELC or from the course web page located at: http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com

Final Grades:
Students will receive a semester grade report from the college when all grades have been recorded. For privacy and security reasons, instructors may not post grades and are advised NOT to give grades over the telephone. Grades are only available via Banner Online system . Please see instructor or college registration personnel if you have questions about accessing your account on Banner Online system.

Note: To help your instructor to improve this course, a variety of classroom assessment techniques may be used to determine if this course is meeting its stated objectives. Such techniques may include but are not limited to, short answers regarding comprehension of the material presented, pre- and post-tests, student interviews, self-evaluations, portfolio, journal and/or capstone experience. Because this course fulfills a general education requirement, you will also be assessed on whether student skills have improved in any of the following areas: oral and written communication, critical inquiry, cultural diversity, and global awareness.
Syllabus Acknowledgment Form

ECN 201 ? Economic Principles – CRN 26575

Please sign and return the following acknowledgment to me at the following address:

Chuck Nugent
Pima Community College
Northeast Community Learning Center
Catalina Village Shopping Center
7816 E. Wrightstown Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85709-5800

Name:

Student Number:

E-mail Address (optional ? but PLESE print clearly):

Please add me to the Class E-Mail list. I understand that this will involve broadcasting (without any reference to me) class announcements to all members of the class.

Separate signature required.__________________________________________

____ I hereby acknowledge that I have read and understand the ECN 201(Macro Economic Principles) course syllabus which includes objectives, policies and class schedule.

____I have no objection to receiving an occasional call from the instructor at the number given with my registration materials.

____I prefer that the instructor not call or contact me by phone anytime during the semester.

____I would like to be contacted by the instructor regarding the following concerns:

Signature ________________________________ Phone #_____________________________

Date ______________________________ Student ID # ________________________

This post originally appeared on an external website

Pima Community College – Economics 202 Syllabus

In reply to Supply & Demand

Northeast Learning Center

Economics 202 Syllabus

Course Information:
Course Prefix/Number: ECN 202 Course Title: Macroeconomic Principles
Semester: 200620 (Spring 2006) CRN (Section Code): 26576
Prerequisites: MAT 092 Estimated Study Time: 120 hours/semester
Day/Time: M 5:30-7:00 p.m. Location: NELC
Teaching Format: Self Pace All Work & Tests due by: Mon May 8 2006
Course Web Pages:
http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/ (Blog for Course)
http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com (Instructor’s Web Site)
http://pub23.bravenet.com/calendar/show.php?usernum=1971912999 (Calendar)

Instructor Information:
Name: Chuck Nugent
U.S. Mail: Pima Community College
Northeast Community Learning Center
Catalina Village Shopping Center
7816 E. Wrightstown Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85709-5800
Phone/Voice Mail: (520) 544-4870
E-mail: nugentwork@yahoo.com
Availability: M 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. p.m. or by appointment

Instructional Materials:
Required Text: Arnold, Roger: Macroeconomics (7th Edition)
Assignment Packet: Available from NELC and from the Blog on the Web.
Note: Textbooks are available at the East Campus Bookstore (ask for Northeast Learning Center books) and other academic bookstores in town. The PCC Bookstore can be accessed and books ordered via the Internet at http://www.Pima.bkstr.com.

Course Description: Economic theory as applied to the operation of the economy as a whole. Includes economic decision making, economic systems, supply and demand model, goals and problems of the macroeconomy, foundations of the macroeconomy, fiscal policy and budgets, money, the role of financial institutions and the Federal Reserve, money creation, monetary theory and policy, the assessment of goals, tools and policies of macroeconomics, and international trade.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to do the following:

1.Define scarcity, microeconomics and macroeconomics, economic theory and economic policy, factors of production, production possibilities model, and opportunity cost.
2.Explain a market and the Invisible Hand Doctrine, society?s basic economic decisions, the market economy as compared and contrasted with the planned economy, and the circular flow model.
3.State and illustrate the law of demand, law of supply, equilibrium price and quantity, and shift invariables for demand and supply.
4.Discuss the goals and problems of the macroeconomy, including measurement and types of unemployment, measurement of Gross Domestic Product, and the measurement and winners and losers from inflation.
5.Describe the business cycle, total spending (consumption, investment, government spending and net export spending), economic equilibrium, effects of leakages from and injections into the spending stream, and the multiplier effect.
6.Identify the largest categories of government expenditures and receipts, fiscal policy tools, automatic stabilizers, federal budgets, surpluses and deficits, and the size and effects of the national debt.
7.Describe the functions of money, the components of money supply, the functions of the Federal Reserve, and the role of financial depository institutions.
8.Explain the process by which financial institutions expand (or contract) the nation?s money supply, monetary policy tools, the money multiplier, and the relationship between the economy?s money supply and the level of economic activity.
9.Summarize the factors affecting economic growth, macroeconomic trade-offs, and various macroeconomic viewpoints such as classical, Keynesian, monetarist, rational expectations, and supply-side.
10.Describe the main exports, imports and trading partners of the United States, and give the arguments for free trade and for protectionism.

Course Outline:

I.Introduction to Economics
A.Scarcity
B.Microeconomics and Macroeconomics
C.Economic Theory and Policy
D.Factors of Production
E.Productions Possibilities Model

II.Economic Decision Making and Economic Systems
A.Markets and the Invisible Hand Doctrine
B.Society?s Basic Economic Decisions
C.Economic Systems
D.The Circular Flow Model

III.Demand, Supply, and Price Determination
A.The Law of Demand
B.The Law of Supply
C.Equilibrium and Limits on Price
D.Changes in Demand
E.Changes in Supply

IV.Goals and Problems of the Macroeconomy: Employment, Prices, and Productions
A.Measurements of Unemployment
B.Types of Unemployment
C.Measurements of Gross Domestic Product
D.Measurements of Price Level Changes
E.Winners and Losers From Inflation
F.Demand and Supply Caused Inflation

V.Foundations of the Macroeconomy
A.The Business Cycle
B.Total Spending
C.Economic Equilibrium
D.Leakages From and Injections Into the Spending Stream
E.The Multiplier Effect

VI.Fiscal Policy and Budgets
A.Categories of Government Receipts and Expenditures
B.Fiscal Policy Tools
C.Automatic Stabilizers
D.Balanced, Deficit, and Surplus Budgets
E.The National Debt

VII.Money and the Role of Financial Institutions and the Federal Reserve
A.The Functions of Money
B.Components of the Money Supply
C.Functions of the Federal Reserve
D.Financial Depository Institutions

VIII.Money Creation, Monetary Theory, and Monetary Policy
A.The Money Creation Process
B.Monetary Policy Tools
C.The Money Multiplier
D.The Relationship Between Money and Economic Activity

IX.Assessing Goals, Tools, and Policies in the Macroeconomy
A.Economic Growth
B.Macroeconomic Tradeoffs
C.Economic Viewpoints: Classical, Keynesian, Monetarist, Rational Expectations, Supply-Side

X.International Trade
A.Exports and Imports
B.Free Trade and Protectionism

Course Requirements: To complete the course successfully, students must do the following:

1. Complete and submit the six (6) assignments (one for each unit)
2. Complete and submit take home tests for units 1, 2, 4 and 5
3. Take midterm exam at Test Center (closed book)
4. Take final exam at Test Center (closed book)

Attendance: This course is self paced and students are only required to attend the first class. The instructor will be available during scheduled class times for assistance and to collect written assignments from students.

Academic Integrity: All work done for this class must be your own. While you may discuss assignments with other class members, all work MUST be your own. You may use work from books and other materials if it is properly cited. Copying from a book or other print or electronic media without proper reference will result in a zero (0) score for the assignment. Submitting work done by another person/entity (published or unpublished) as your own will result in an F for the course. Students are expected to abide by the Student Code of Conduct and the Scholastic Code of Conduct found in the Pima Community College Student Handbook. Copies are available at PCC campus libraries and at http://www.pima.edu/studentserv/studentrights/

ADA Compliance: Pima County Community College District strives to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Students with disabilities requiring special accommodations must notify the instructor of this need or directly contact the Disabled Student Resources Office on your campus at the beginning of the semester.

Course Feedback: In order to increase interaction between instructor and students, students are encouraged (but not required) to submit written work via e-mail. Assignments may be submitted as part of body of e-mail text itself or as an ASCII or Ms-Word (version 2003 or lower) email attachment. Using e-mail for this purpose will increase the speed at which your instructor can return assignments with grades and comments. (NOTE: current East Campus policy forbids instructor from sending grade information via email ? work may be submitted via email but the graded assignment/test must be picked up from the NELC by the student). Students are also encouraged to submit questions about course content via e-mail and the instructor will reply to questions via e-mail. Students may also submit assignments via the U.S. Postal Service (see address on first page) or deliver it to NELC in person.

Exams: One exam will be given for each of the six units (see outline above or the “Contents in Brief” on page vii of your book). The exams for units 1, 2, 4 and 5 will be open book, take home exams. The exams for units 3 and 6 will be closed book, proctored exams taken at the college.

Problems: If you have problems with the course, make arrangements to see me or call me through voicemail. Do not wait to ask for help.

Submissions: Please clearly mark all assignments with the following: NUGENT:ECN202. Include full name on both e-mail and regular submissions. Submissions other than via e-mail are to be typed.

Withdrawals: Students may withdraw from class any time during the first 2/3 of the semester (through April 6, 2006) without instructor permission and without incurring any grade penalty. Students not active after this date will receive an “F” grade at the end of the semester. Please be sure to withdraw yourself by April 6, 2006, if you do not expect to complete the course.

Caveats:
Your instructor will make every attempt to follow the above procedures and schedules, but they may be changed in the event of extenuating circumstances.

Students submitting assignments through the mail are advised to make copies for their own protection.

Because so much of our contact with you is through the U.S. Postal Service, it is vital that we have your correct address. If you change your address during the semester, fill out a change of address form at any campus registration office and call our office at 206-6454 to keep our staff up to date.

ECN 202 Grading Policies

Students? grades will be based upon scores received on exams and assignments. Exams and assignments together total 1,050 points. The student?s final grade for the course will be based upon the total points earned divided by 1,000 and curved as follows:

920 to 1000 points A
820 to 919 points B
740 to 819 points C
650 to 739 points D
Below 650 points F

Point values for assignments and exams:

Unit 1 Assignment 50 points
Unit 1 Take Home Exam (Chaps 1 ? 4) 125 points
Unit 2 Assignment 50 points
Unit 2 Take Home Exam (Chaps 5 – 6) 125 points
Unit 3 Assignment 50 points
Unit 3 Proctored Exam (Chaps 7 – 11) 125 points
Unit 4 Assignment 50 points
Unit 4 Take Home Exam (Chaps 12 – 15) 125 points
Unit 5 Assignment 50 points
Unit 5 Take Home Exam (Chaps 16 ? 17) 125 points
Unit 6 Assignment 50 points
Unit 6 Proctored Exam (Chaps 18 ? 19) 125 points

Incomplete (I) grade:
If you find that you cannot complete the course during the regular semester, you must request an ?I? (incomplete grade) in writing. This must be done before the end of the semester. You must state your reasons for the request. In order to be considered for an ?I? grade, you must have successfully completed three-quarters of the course. YOU MUST THEN COMPLETE THE MISSING WORK WITHIN THE TIME AGREED UPON WITH THE INSTRUCTOR . AT THE END OF THE AGREED UPON TIME, THE INSTRUCTOR WILL CHANGE THE ?I? GRADE TO THE LETTER GRADE EARNED FOR THE COURSE AT THAT POINT WHETHER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE WORK OR NOT.

Special Withdrawal (Y) grade:
Students desiring to withdraw from the class must do so prior to April 6, 2006, which is the last day allowed for withdrawals. THE INSTRUCTOR WILL NOT ISSUE ?Y? GRADES.

Midterm and Final Exams the “Unit 3 Proctored Exam” and “Unit 6 Proctored Exam” (see Point Values for Assignments and Exams above) will constitute the Midterm and Final exams for this course.

Other Assignments and Exams:
All assignments and exams other than the mid-term and final will be done by the students at their homes. Books and may be used as aids to complete these exams and assignments which are available from the NELC or from the instructor’s web page located at: http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com

Final Grades:
Students will receive a semester grade report from the college when all grades have been recorded. For privacy and security reasons, instructors may not post grades and are advised NOT to give grades over the telephone. Grades are only available via Banner Online system . Please see instructor or college registration personnel if you have questions about accessing your account on Banner Online system.

Note: To help your instructor to improve this course, a variety of classroom assessment techniques may be used to determine if this course is meeting its stated objectives. Such techniques may include but are not limited to, short answers regarding comprehension of the material presented, pre- and post-tests, student interviews, self-evaluations, portfolio, journal and/or capstone experience. Because this course fulfills a general education requirement, you will also be assessed on whether student skills have improved in any of the following areas: oral and written communication, critical inquiry, cultural diversity, and global awareness.
Syllabus Acknowledgment Form

ECN 202 ? Macro Economic Principles – CRN 26576

Please sign and return the following acknowledgment to me at the following address:

Chuck Nugent
Pima Community College
Northeast Community Learning Center
Catalina Village Shopping Center
7816 E. Wrightstown Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85709-5800

Name:

Student Number:

E-mail Address (optional ? but PLESE print clearly):

Please add me to the Class E-Mail list. I understand that this will involve broadcasting (without any reference to me) class announcements to all members of the class.

Separate signature required.__________________________________________

____ I hereby acknowledge that I have read and understand the ECN 202 (Macro Economic Principles) course syllabus which includes objectives, policies and class schedule.

____I have no objection to receiving an occasional call from the instructor at the number given with my registration materials.

____I prefer that the instructor not call or contact me by phone anytime during the semester.

____I would like to be contacted by the instructor regarding the following concerns:

Signature __________________ Phone #_____________________

Date ____________________ Student ID # ________________

This post originally appeared on an external website

More Jobs Despite Outsourcing

In reply to Supply & Demand

While the politicians and mainstream media run around, like Chicken Little, worrying that the sky is falling due to the outflow of jobs and dollars to places like China and India the facts give a different story.

My regular job is managing IT Training and, as a result, I keep an eye on the IT job market in order to know the type of training needed in the market. For the past two or three years I have been flooded with news stories and reports about all the good IT jobs being exported to China and India.

As an economics instructor, I also try to keep up on other economics news and that has been full of tales about how manufacturing jobs, especially in the textile industry, are being lost to China.

It is a fact that thousands of good paying high tech jobs in the IT Industry, formerly done by Americans are now being done by people in China, India and other third world countries. Also, there has been a continuing decline in jobs in old line manufacturing industries as these companies are either moving their operations abroad to countries with lower labor costs or are losing their market share to competition from competitors operating in lower wage foreign countries. But two articles this week shed a different light on this.

First, a blog entry at Mises.org by Mike Shedlock noted
that China, of all places, is LOSING manufacturing jobs. Where are the Chinese jobs being exported to? Nowhere. That’s right, job growth in China’s manufacturing sector is slowing and, in some cases, actually declining but the jobs lost are not being outsourced to lower wage countries. As China’s economy grows, companies in China are starting to face the same pressures that companies in America and other industrialized countries have faced and are still facing. On the one hand competitors in other parts of the global economy are finding ways to manufacture certain products, like textiles, at lower cost than China and this lower cost is passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices. On the other hand, as the Chinese economy grows more jobs are created and companies in China are beginning to encounter labor shortages. When labor, like any resource, is scarce, those that need it begin to bid up the price ? in this case wages.

In order to remain competitive, Chinese manufacturers must adapt new technologies and techniques that allow them to maintain or increase production at a lower cost. Like American and other advanced economies, the Chinese are beginning to produce more with less and this translates into lower prices and more goods for all the people. This is the driving force behind the ever rising standard of living that Americans have long enjoyed and the rest of the world is now beginning to enjoy.

The other piece of news comes from a recent survey conducted by
Computerworld Magazine about jobs in the IT Industry. According to the survey, less than 5% of the 10 million jobs in the U.S. IT Industry have been outsourced to companies overseas. True, some of these were high paying programming and other technical positions. But, all of these programming jobs and other positions, such as call center personnel, were low end, repetitive type positions. The rapid growth of computers in the past three decades resulted in high demand for programmers which in turn translated into high pay for these positions. The high pay attracted new people into the field and now there are numerous people in foreign countries that can do this work at a fraction of the wage U.S. programmers are being paid.

Does this mean that programmers have no future in the U.S. No! There is a rising demand for programmers with the higher level skills and flexibility needed by U.S. companies. People whose skills are limited to simply writing code probably have very little future, career wise, in the U.S. However, programmers who know how to write in a number of different computer languages and have business knowledge and skills are in high demand as are computer security experts and project managers. In these areas wages are rising and labor is in short supply. In addition to having a broader range of skills, the other critical factor is a willingness to relocate as the jobs and people with the required skill sets are not always located in the same geographic area of the country.

The reality is that the U.S. still faces a labor shortage but it is a shortage of skilled people. The future is great but only for those with the ambition to continue learning new skills and upgrading their existing skills.

This post originally appeared on an external website

The Tucson Home Show

In reply to Supply & Demand

Yesterday morning my wife and I attended the Tucson Home Show at the Convention Center in Tucson. I normally don’t go to these shows, but my son, Victor, had volunteered to run the booth for the Ki Center Martial Arts school He has attended this school for many years and has worked his way up to provisional black belt.

Victor got us a couple of free passes, so we got up early and drove him down in time to set up for the 9:30 opening. I was quite surprised at the large crowd that was already there when we arrived.

The show was quite interesting with a large number of vendors present. Given the current housing boom in Tucson, I was surprised to find only one realty company and no home builders other than a couple of small custom ones. There were also only a few mortgage lenders present.

Being Tucson, pool and spa vendors were well represented. Another big group were various home improvement companies, interior design companies and sellers of things like tile, doors and windows, roofing, etc. There were a couple of water softener companies but not the big numbers you would have expected a few years ago ? that market must be saturated by now.

There was the usual collection of small home based businesses – people selling their crafts, people who have invested in little home based franchises or multi-level marketing operations, etc. – offering a variety of wares. This segment of the market seems to have matured and established itself because the people in these booths seemed very professional and their businesses seemed to be established and sound. All of them appeared to be serious businesses and not a hobby that pays for itself as many appeared to be in the past.

Among the small, home-based businesses were a number selling skin lotions. The dry climate in Tucson adds to the demand for products like these especially during the winter months when the air is both cooler and dryer. All of them were billed as containing only natural ingredients meaning that that the chemical compounds in them were created by Mother Nature rather than by humans in a lab. In addition to dry skin the products were billed as being helpful in curing psoriases, eczema, acne, burns, skin allergies and a long list of other skin ailments. Two that intrigued me were selling skin products containing emu oil as the main ingredient. Emus are a wingless bird found in Australia. The raising of emus was a hot business in the 1980s. Emu and ostrich enjoyed a wave of popularity at this time mainly as a beef substitute. As I recall, they were economical to raise as they had more meat per pound than cattle and the meat was leaner and lower in cholesterol than beef. Then the importation of ostrich was banned due to a disease which gave the emu an edge. For a while people were making good money by purchasing a couple of hundred dollars or so in a couple of emu eggs which they hatched and raised. They made money by selling the eggs laid by their emu and selling the meat and oils. Emu are supposed to be easy to raise as you just let them run loose in a fenced in area and provide some food. There was some medical research that showed that emu oil showed promise in treating arthritis.

It was interesting to see that emu and ostrich raising had moved from the get rich quick promotion phase in the 1980s to a serious and established industry. I was doing some business counseling at the Small Business Development Center in the early 1990s and had the opportunity once to review a business plan for a person who planned to raise emu. I also used to drive past a home in NW Tucson which had a few emu on an empty lot next to the home. Also, anyone who heads north from Tucson in Interstate 10 will notice the large Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch on the west side of road by exit 219. According to the web site for Laid in Montana Emu Oil Products, the emu oil products vendor whose booth I visited at the Tucson Home Show, emu farms are now well established throughout the nation from the east to the west coast and from the Canadian to the Mexican border.

We had intended to just take a quick look around and leave. However, we ended up spending almost four hours at the show which occupied both the ground floor exhibition hall and a large upstairs ballroom. All in all it was quite interesting and profitable as I came away with reservations to visit four timeshare sales presentations in the next month. Even though I told them that I had just purchased a one week timeshare last month and was not in the market for more at the moment they insisted and dangled sufficient monetary and other vacation packages to make it worthwhile. Not counting a 5 day and 4 night stay in Hawaii, a weekend in Scottsdale, dining certificates and other assorted goodies, I also have been promised a total of $300 in cash and gasoline gift cards.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Books for My Courses

In reply to Supply & Demand

Here are the books that are required for each of the Economics classes that I am teaching this semester. The book for the Community Campus Economics 200 Telecourse is available at the West Campus Bookstore and the books for the Economics 201 and 202 being taught at the Northeast Learning Center are available at the East Campus Bookstore.

The bookstores are stocking both the textbook for each course as well as various workbooks and study guides provided by the publisher. I am only requiring that students purchase the TEXTBOOK. Study guides and workbooks are OPTIONAL.

Economics 200 Telecourse (Community Campus – CRN 28101)
Economics U$A (7th Edition) by Mansfield and Behravesh, W.W. Norton & Co., ISBN 0-393-92605-2. This book is available at the West Campus Bookstore.

Economics 201 (Northeast Learning Center – CRN 26575)
Microeconomics (7th Edition) by Roger A. Arnold. ISBN 0-324-23670-0. This Book is available at the East Campus Bookstore for $103 new – used copies may also be available.

Economics 202 (Northeast Learning Center – CRN 26576)
Macroeconomics (7th Edition) by Roger A. Arnold. ISBN 0-324-23667-0. This Book is available at the East Campus Bookstore for $106 new – used copies may also be available.

NOTE FOR Economics 201 and 202 ONLY:
Both of these textbooks are paperback. On the same shelf is a larger, hardcover book titled Economics (7th Edition) by Roger A. Arnold. ISBN 0-324-23662-x which sells for $141.50. This is for an Economics 200 course and contains the same content as the Economics 201 and 202 course texts. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU INTEND TO TAKE BOTH ECONOMICS 201 AND 202. If you are taking BOTH ECN 201 AND ECN 202 it is a good deal as the price is about $50 less than purchasing the texts for both courses. BUT if you are only taking one of the courses you will end up paying more and only using half of the book. E-mail me at nugentwork@yahoo.com if you have any questions on this.

These and other textbooks can be obtained by visiting the appropriate campus bookstore OR you can go online to https://www.efollett.com/
where you can order and pay for your books on line AND have them sent to ANY Pima Community College Campus Bookstore for pick up by you. If you are taking classes from more than one campus this could save you some trips to various bookstores – simply go to this site, enter the CRN for each class, select the books, pay then go and pick up.

You can also go online to Amazon.Com, eBay’s Half.com or any one of hundreds of other online textbook sites and purchase the books, new or used, at a substantial discount from what the colleg bookstore is charging. I buy and sell my daughter’s textbooks from half.com and end up paying about 1/3 what she would have to pay at the bookstore and then reduce this further by re-selling them at half.com at the end of the semester.

This post originally appeared on an external website

How to Buy and Sell Textbooks Online

In reply to Supply & Demand

In yesterday’s article I mentioned that students could purchase textbooks online from both the Pima College Bookstore at http://www.Pima.bkstr.com or use another online vendor such as eBay’s Half.com, Amazon.com, etc.

In recent years hundreds of sites have sprung up on the Internet offering individuals and businesses the opportunity to buy and sell both textbooks and other books. While the largest volume on these sites is used books they also sell new books at a substantial discount as well.

While I have been aware of these sites for a long time, I never bothered to check them out or use them until a student in one of my spring 2004 classes suggested to the class that they check online for the text. The book retailed at the bookstore new for $135 and used for $95. She purchased it new on Half.com and, with shipping, the total price was $55 . I have since used Half.com and Amazon.com to purchase and resell my daughter’s text books. By my rough calculations I figure that I pay a little over a third of what I would pay to get the same books at the bookstore. Part of this savings is the fact that I have more access to used books online than in the bookstore but, like the bookstore, I sometimes have to buy new online. I then recover part of what I pay for the books from the proceeds of the sale of the books at the start of the next semester.

To find and purchase textbooks online, first obtain the ISBN number for the book. Like some other instructors, I have begun including the ISBN number on my syllabi or posting them online (see yesterday’s article for the ISBN numbers for the books I am using this semester). If the instructor does not provide these you will probably have to make a trip to the bookstore and obtain the ISBN numbers from the books on the shelf by your classes. This number is usually found on the back cover of the book as well as on the title page. An alternative is to obtain the title, publisher and edition and go to the publisher’s web page (use a Google search to find the publisher’s web page or obtain it from the book). If you do this make sure you have the correct version and edition as each one has a unique ISBN number.

Go online to your favorite site selling the books (I prefer Half.com and Amazon.com because I know them and have accounts with them). If you don’t have a favorite site, go to Google, type textbooks and hit the search button. You will usually come up with thousands of places to find the books. Not all sites will carry the book you want and many sites found this way will be ones trying to generate ad revenues by listing links to sites actually selling the books. When you find the book you want and at the price you want, order it with your credit card. Many also accept PayPal payments or checks.

To sell your books go to the site that allows individuals to post books for sale, read the Terms page carefully and set up an account to sell books. I prefer Half.com, first because I already have an account there (most places let you use the same account to both buy and sell) and because they do not charge a fee until you actually sell a book. There is a lot of competition for textbooks online and I have had books sit on Half.com for over a year before selling. With Half.com, which is a part of eBay.com (and lets you use you eBay account for Half.com buying and selling) you also have the option of moving the book from Half.com to eBay and back to Half.com if it doesn’t sell. When you do this you are charged eBay listing fees and are subject to eBay time limits. Depending upon the book, you can sometimes sell it faster and at a slightly higher price than on Half.com.

To list a book on most sites you simply enter the ISBN number, a description and price you are asking. With Half.com and many others they will automatically pull up a picture of that edition of the book and give you a suggested price based upon other sales of the book. Once you sell a book ship it using the U.S. Post Office or other shipping service.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Take Home Exam 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name:

Economics 201
NELC
Take Home Exam 1
Spring 2006
Covers Material & Topics in Part One (Chapters 1 ? 4) of Text

Multiple Choice ? each question worth 5 points for a total of 100 points.

1 Stephanie sees Y occur soon after X. She concludes that X is the cause of Y. Stephanie is concluding that
a) association is causation.
b) all other things are not equal.
c) the fallacy of composition is not correct.
d) positive economics is more nearly relevant than normative economics.
e) There is not enough information to answer the question.

2 Which of the following pairs of goods would be most likely to be complements?
a) butter and margarine.
b) peanuts and peanut butter.
c) DVD’s and DVD players
d) hiking boots and tennis shoes.

3 At many colleges and universities, the price of a student’s education is paid
a) exclusively by the student.
b) exclusively by taxpayers.
c) exclusively by private donors.
d) partly by the student, partly by taxpayers, and partly by private donors.

4 On a supply and demand diagram, equilibrium is found
a) where the supply curve intercepts the vertical axis.
b) where the demand curve intercepts the horizontal axis.
c) where the demand and supply curves intersect.
d) at every point on either curve.

5 The minimum wage is an example of
a) a price door.
b) a price wall.
c) a price floor.
d) a price ceiling.

6 In Las Vegas showrooms, a single price is charged for all seats. The seating is done by ushers who are tipped by the buyer of the seat to choose a specific seat. In this system we would expect
a) all seats to be paid for with about the same tip.
b) higher tips for better seats.
c) higher tips for the latest arrivals to the showrooms.
d) amount of tip bears no relation to whether seat is in a good or bad location.

7 If goods are not rationed according to price, it follows that
a) they won’t get rationed at all.
b) something will ration the goods.
c) first-come-first-served will necessarily be the rationing device.
d) there will be surpluses in the market.
e) none of the above.

8 An increase in the expected price of corn would likely
a) increase both the demand and supply of corn.
b) decrease both the demand and supply of corn.
c) increase the demand but decrease the supply of corn.
d) increase the supply but decrease the demand for corn.

9 Opportunity cost is the value of
a) the next best forfeited alternative.
b) the chosen alternative.
c) a free good.
d) an economic good.

10 At a price below equilibrium price, there is
a) a surplus.
b) a shortage.
c) excess supply.
d) sub-equilibrium.
e) none of the above.

11 You can determine the consumers’ surplus if you know the
a) price received.
b) the maximum buying price.
c) price paid.
d) b and c.
e) a and b.

12 An “increase in demand” means that
a) the demand curve has shifted to the left.
b) price has declined and consumers want to purchase more of the good.
c) the demand curve has shifted to the right.
d) the price of the good can be expected to decline, assuming supply stays constant.

13 Choice is a consequence of
a) opportunity cost.
b) formulating hypotheses.
c) scarcity.
d) none of the above.

14 An “increase in the quantity demanded” means that
a) the demand curve has shifted to the right.
b) the supply curve has shifted to the left.
c) the price has declined and consumers therefore want to purchase more of the good.
d) given supply, the price of the good can be expected to rise.

15 Which of the following statements is true?
a) Price ceilings set below the equilibrium price cause shortages.
b) Surpluses cause price ceilings to be imposed.
c) Neither a price ceiling nor a shortage is the cause of the other.
d) Price ceilings cannot be imposed for longer than a month.

16 Which of the following is consistent with the law of demand?
a) People substitute higher-priced goods for higher-quality goods.
b) People substitute some higher-priced goods for other higher-priced goods.
c) People substitute lower-priced goods for higher-priced goods.
d) People substitute some lower-priced goods for other lower-priced goods.

17 The joke about it taking eight economists to change a light bulb ? one to screw in the build and the other seven to hold everything else constant ? is a joke about how economists
a) use the ceteris paribus assumption.
b) fail to deduce conclusions from their assumptions.
c) confuse association with causation.
d) would much rather construct theories than test them.

18 The synonym economists commonly use for “additional” is
a) capital
b) rational.
c) marginal.
d) economic.

19 In economics, scarcity implies
a) disutility.
b) utility.
c) choice.
d) ceteris paribus.

20 Through war, many of the factories in country 1 are destroyed and many of its people are killed. As a result, the country’s
a) production possibilities frontier (PPF) after the war is probably farther away from the origin than its PPF before the war.
b) PPF after the war is probably closer to the origin than its PPF before the war.
c) PPF after the war is probably the same PPF as before the war.
d) ability to produce goods and services has increased.

Short Essay

1 (8 points) Describe the difference between positive and normative economics. Cite and example of each.

2 (9 points) Discuss the differences between the socialist and capitalist views of the role of prices in the economy.

3 (8 points) Explain how the study of economics might be beneficial to a history major.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Take Home Exam 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 201
NELC
Take Home Exam 2
Spring 2006
Covers Material & Topics in Part II (Chapters 5 ? 8) of Text
Multiple Choice 5 points each for a total of 100 points:

1 If a firm earns normal profit, then it has generated revenues
a) equal to the sum of implicit and explicit costs.
b) greater than total opportunity costs.
c) sufficient to cover explicit costs, but not implicit costs.
d) sufficient to cover implicit costs, but not explicit costs.

2 A share of stock is
a) a claim on the assets of the corporation that gives the purchaser an ownership right in the corporation.
b) the share of profits distributed to stockholders.
c) a promise to pay for the use of someone else’s money.
d) a promise to loan money to someone.

3 A consumer is in equilibrium if he or she derives the same
a) total utility from each good consumed.
b) total utility per dollar spent on each good consumed.
c) marginal utility from each good consumed.
d) marginal utility per dollar spent on each good consumed.

4. Diamonds are more expensive than water because
a) markets do not always reflect value.
b) they have fewer uses.
c) they yield higher marginal utility.
d) they yield higher total utility.

5. A business that is owned and operated by two or more co-owners who share the profits the business earns is called a
a) proprietorship.
b) partnership.
c) nonprofit firm.
d) corporation.

6. Real income is
a) income adjusted for price changes.
b) the amount of money a person earns in a year.
c) the amount of money a person expects to earn in his or her lifetime.
d) the amount of money a person has to spend in a year.

7. In the long run,
a) all costs are variable costs.
b) all costs are fixed costs.
c) there are no variable costs.
d) a and b

8. The assets of a firm are
a) also known as equity.
b) the difference between liabilities and net worth.
c) the sum of the total debts of the firm.
d) anything of value to which the firm has a legal claim.
e) the sum of a firm’s investments in stocks and bonds.

9. The “income effect” indicates that
a) when the price of a good falls, a consumer will be able to buy more of it with a given money income.
b) consumers should substitute among various goods until the marginal utility of the last unit of each good purchased is the same.
c) when the money income of a consumer rises, the consumer will purchase more units of a normal good, assuming that prices are held constant.
d) none of the above.

10. Carol works for firm X. She takes long breaks and often daydreams when she is being paid to work. Carol is
a) satisfying.
b) shirking.
c) monitoring.
d) separating ownership from control.

11. Implicit cost is a
a) cost that is incurred when a monetary payment is made.
b) cost incurred in the past that cannot be changed by current decisions and therefore cannot be recovered.
c) cost that represents the value of resources used in production for which no monetary payment is made.
d) sunk cost.

12. As a percentage of U.S. firms, which type of business firm is most common?
a) proprietorships
b) partnerships
c) corporations
d) non-profit organizations

13. One of the advantages of a partnership is
a) its ability to realize the benefits of specialization.
b) the limited liability of each of the partners.
c) the unlimited life of the partnership.
d) its ability to raise capital through the issuance of stock.

1 An inferior good is
a) any good that consumers think is of low quality.
b) a good for which the quantity demanded decreases as its price increases.
c) a good for which the demand rises as income falls.
d) a good for which the demand rises as income rises.
e) any good that a producer cannot sell a large quantity of, even at a low price.

15. Utility refers to the
a) usefulness of a good or service.
b) satisfaction that results from the consumption of a good.
c) relative scarcity of a good.
d) rate of decline in the demand curve.

16. A bond is
a) a claim on the assets of the corporation that gives the purchaser an ownership right in the corporation.
b) the share of profits distributed to bondholders.
c) a promise to pay for the use of someone else’s money.
d) a promise to loan money to someone.
e) c and d.

17. Most economists say that the firm’s goal or objective is to maximize

a) sales.
b) employment.
c) profits.
d) worker satisfaction.

18. If the demand for a good is inelastic and the price of the good decreases,
a) total revenue increases
b) total revenue decreases.
c) total revenue is not affected.
d) the direction of the change in total revenue cannot be determined from the information given.

19. Real income is
a) income adjusted for price changes.
b) the amount of money a person earns in a year.
c) the amount of money a person expects to earn in his or her lifetime.
d) the amount of money a person has to spend in a year.

20. Churches and charitable organizations are examples of
a) nonprofit firms.
b) proprietorships.
c) trusts.
d) partnerships.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1. (6 points) Explain the difference between total utility and marginal utility.

2 (6 points) List and describe two disadvantages of the corporate form of business organization.

3 (6 points) What does price elasticity of supply measure? What is the main factor that influences price elasticity of supply?

4 (7 points) What is the difference between economic profit and accounting profit. Also, explain why a firm making zero economic profit is not necessarily operating at a loss.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Reverend Adam Daniel Williams – Grandfather of Martin Luther King Jr

In reply to Supply & Demand

Today we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister who successfully applied Mahatma Gandhi’s tactics of non-violence to the struggle for civil rights in the U.S. Dr. King’s birthday is actually January 15th, but like other official holidays, it is celebrated on the Monday closest to January 15th in order to create a three day weekend.

Dr. King was born on the second floor of the family home at 501 Auburn Ave.in Atlanta, Georgia to the Reverend and Mrs. Martin Luther King Sr. The large, Victorian style, home belonged to King’s maternal grandparents and was located in an area, known as Sweet Auburn, in the center of Atlanta’s black community. King grew up in this home with his family, grandparent’s and other relatives.

Two blocks down from the family home, at 407 Auburn Ave, is the Ebenezer Baptist Church. This Church was founded in 1886 by the Rev. John A. Parker with a congregation of thirteen. Reverend Parker struggled to keep the fledging church going until 1894 when he stepped aside and the Reverend Adam Daniel Williams replaced him as pastor.

When the Reverend Williams assumed his duties on March 14, 1894 the congregation had seventeen members officially listed on its membership roll. Like his grandson, Martin Luther King Jr., after him, Williams was a charismatic speaker whose preaching attracted and inspired people. Utilizing his speaking and other talents, Williams was able to attract sixty-five new people to the congregation during his first year as pastor. Under his leadership the congregation of Ebenezer Baptist Church continued to grow steadily as evidenced by the fact they twice had to build and move into larger churches to accommodate their growing numbers. The second move was to the present Ebenezer Baptist Church at 407 Auburn Ave. the building of which was completed in 1922. It was at the present church on Auburn Ave. that Reverend Williams’ son-in-law, Martin Luther King Sr., joined him as assistant pastor in 1927.

Throughout its history the Christian Church, like its counter parts in some other religions, has had to deal with people’s material as well as spiritual needs. Many of today’s institutions ? schools, libraries, hospitals, orphanages, social service organizations like the YMCA, etc. – were started by the Church. The message of the Church ? love of neighbor, equality of all before God, etc. – has also served through the centuries to restrain tyrants and advance the cause of human freedom. When the institution of slavery was abolished following the Civil War, some of the first leaders to emerge among the newly freed slaves were those who had assumed the duties of preachers during the era of slavery. In the post Civil War era of segregation and Jim Crow laws in the South, black churches became the center of black community life.

Despite the discrimination and denial of civil rights (the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution and various post Civil War civil rights laws guaranteed these rights to all citizens including blacks ? however, government leaders and officials chose not to enforce them) there was a thriving black community, built around the churches, in the South.

Like other black pastors, the Rev. Adam Daniel Williams worked tirelessly to enhance the material as well as the spiritual lives of both his flock and the black community as a whole. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries two leaders emerged, each preaching a different view of how blacks could improve their lives and overcome segregation in the South. Booker Taliaferro Washington, who was born a slave in 1856, devoted his life to teaching, building schools for blacks and constantly stressing the need for blacks to learn trades and build businesses. He also lectured extensively on the need for Blacks to advance themselves through education and the creation of black owned businesses. His was essentially a self help movement that not only helped many southern blacks to improve their lives but also created the infrastructure for the black community that Martin Luther King Jr. and others later led to victory over segregation and the Jim Crow laws. A slightly different path was laid out by William Edward Burghardt DuBois, better known as W.E. B. DuBois, who was born in Massachusetts in 1868 and devoted his life to helping blacks achieve equality through social activism and the mounting of legal challenges against laws that relegated blacks to second class citizen status. Like Booker T. Washington, DuBois stressed education for blacks but his emphasis was on a classical education emphasizing literature and the arts rather than on business and the trades. It was DuBois who put together a like minded group of both African American and white supporters to found the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored people) in 1909.

Using the strategies of both Washington and DuBois, Williams encouraged the formation and growth of black businesses, urged his congregation and other members of the black community to save and purchase their own homes as well as leading the community in political fights to obtain schools and other public accommodations for blacks. In 1917 Williams joined other community leaders to form the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP. In his first five months as leader of the local NAACP he increased the chapter’s membership by 1,400. As leader, he also launched a major effort to register blacks to vote.

Upon Reverend Williams’ death in 1931, Martin Luther King Sr. became the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. Twenty-nine years later, in 1960, Reverend King’s son, Martin Luther King Jr. joined his father as co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. By this time Martin Luther King Jr. was already known throughout the world as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. and Ebenezer Baptist Church world famous as many of King’s speeches were delivered from the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Like other great leaders in history, Martin Luther King Jr. did not appear from nowhere. His father and grandfather were obviously role models. Like his father and grandfather, King was a great orator and used his preaching skills to rally people to his cause. Also, like his father and grandfather, he organized, encouraged and agitated to keep advancing the cause. The stage was set, the time was ripe and Martin Luther King Jr. willingly accepted the torch from his predecessors and led the movement forward to victory.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Benjamin Franklin’s 300th Birthday

In reply to Supply & Demand

Today is the 300th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin. The tenth son of a Boston soap and candle maker, Franklin was apprenticed, at age 12, to his brother James’ newspaper, the New England Courant, where he learned the printing trade. At seventeen, following a dispute with his brother, Franklin ran away and fled to Philadelphia. It was in Philadelphia where he rose to fame and dazzled the world with his wit, inventions, scientific discoveries and public service. The list of Franklin’s accomplishments in the eighty-four years between his birth in 1706 and death in 1790 and is too huge to enumerate here.

Rather that list the details of Franklin’s life or his numerous accomplishments, let’s take a look at Franklin through the eyes of Franklin’s fictional Poor Richard the namesake of Franklin’s famous Poor Richard’s Almanac. In the Almanac, which was written and published annually by Franklin from 1732 to 1757, Franklin dispenses numerous one and two line tips for better living. The almanacs contained other information, but are best remembered for these short one or two line bits of wisdom. Poor Richard’s Almanac was an immediate success and made Franklin known throughout British North America.

Most, if not all, of these sayings were not original but copied from others going all the way back to the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament. On the one hand they are common sense guidelines for good living that should be obvious and known by everyone. On the other hand, they are so basic and obvious that most people don’t think about them which is why the majority of the human race, since the time of Adam and Eve, continues to make the same stupid choices and mistakes generation after generation.

Because of these sayings and Franklin’s own long and successful life, he is often held up as an example of the wisdom of living by these guidelines. Franklin did probably try, and try is the operative word, to live by them. More than likely, Franklin used them as a daily reminder in his life-long struggle to do the right thing. Like the rest of us, Franklin’s actions did not always live up to these ideals. There were periods in his life when he squandered his money, over indulged in food and drink and enjoyed the favors of other women (his eldest son, William was the product of a illicit union before his marriage). But struggled on and kept trying to follow these bits of wisdom and, looking at his life as a whole, we see that he succeeded more than he failed. So, armed with the knowledge that the advice from Franklin’s Poor Richard is not only good but also helped Franklin in his struggle to do what was right, we will proceed.

Since it is the New Year and the number one resolution for most people these days is stick to a diet and lose weight we will take a look at Poor Richard’s advice in this area first. You will note in these instructions, as in his instructions in other areas, Franklin stresses moderation rather than denial. Eating is for pleasure as well as nourishment but, done in excess, the pleasure is not only diminished but other problems result as well. The goal here is balance in daily activities.

Eat to live, and not live to eat.

To lengthen thy Life, lessen thy Meals.

A fat kitchen, a lean Will.

I saw few die of Hunger, of Eating 100000 .

Eat few Suppers, and you’ll need few Medicines.

Excess in all other Things whatever, as well as in Meat and Drink, is also to be avoided.

Wouldst thou enjoy a long Life, a healthy Body, and a vigorous Mind, and be acquainted also with the wonderful Works of God? labour in the first place to bring thy Appetite into Subjection to Reason.

If thou art dull and heavy after Meat, it’s a sign thou hast exceeded the due Measure; for Meat and Drink ought to refresh the Body, and make it cheerful, and not to dull and oppress it.

Money is the next category and one, A penny saved is a penny earned, that many associate with Franklin. Franklin followed many of these precepts and became wealthy. But he also went against the wisdom presented here at times in his life and lost (for example, on an early trip to London to gain further training in the printing trade he squandered his funds and was forced to return home broke). Here, Franklin is not only passing on the wisdom of the ages, but also has personally experienced both the benefits of following this advice (as evidenced by his success and fortune) and the consequences of ignoring it (as evidenced by some notable failures in his life). In an era where use of credit is widespread, savings small and people are stressed out by people trying to satisfy unlimited wants, it pays to pause and reflect on these sayings.

Buy what thou hast no need of and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessities.

If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher’s stone.

If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some.

So much for industry, my friends, and attention to one’s own business; but to these we must add frugality if we would make our industry more certainly successful. A man may, if he knows not how to save as he gets, keep his nose all his life to the grindstone, and die not worth a grout at last.

The use of money is all the advantage there is in having it.

There are three faithful friends – an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.

Time is money.

Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it.

Ne’er take a wife till thou hast a house (& a fire) to put her in. (In other words, don’t get married until you can afford it. (NOTE: the (& a fire) refers to the ability to furnish the house with heat and light ? and much more by today’s standards. Franklin is obviously not suggesting that the wife be thrown into a fire).

He that buys by the penny, maintains not only himself, but other people.

Again, He that sells upon Credit, asks a Price for what he sells, equivalent to the Principal and Interest of his Money for the Time he is like to be kept out of it: therefore

– He that buys upon Credit, pays Interest for what he buys.

– And he that pays ready Money, might let that Money out to Use: so that

– He that possesses any Thing he has bought, pays Interest for the Use of it.

– Consider then, when you are tempted to buy any unnecessary Household stuff, or any superfluous thing, whether you will be willing to pay Interest , and Interest upon Interest for it as long as you live; and more if it grows worse by using.

Yet, in buying Goods, ’tis best to pay ready Money, because,

– He that sells upon Credit, expects to lose 5 per Cent by bad Debts; therefore he charges, on all he sells upon Credit, an Advance that shall make up that Deficiency.

– Those who pay for what they buy upon Credit, pay their Share of this Advance.

– He that pays ready Money, escapes or may escape that Charge.

If you would be wealthy think of saving as well as getting:
The Indies have not made Spain rich because her outgoes are
greater than her incomes. (Here Franklin is referring to the vast wealth of gold and silver the Spanish government received from the Aztec and Inca treasures. However, their spending increased by more than the huge inflow of gold and silver causing the government to be in deficit.)

You may think, perhaps, that a little tea, or a little punch
now and then, diet a little more costly, clothes a little
finer, and a little more entertainment now and then can be no
great matter but remember what Poor Richard says “Many a little
makes a mickle; beware of little expense for a small leak will
sink a great ship.” (Note: mickle is an old English word meaning great or greatly)

A child and a fool imagine twenty shillings and twenty years can never be spent.

These last few relate to the proper attitude toward money and wealth. These are a variation on St. Paul’s observation that the love of money is the root of all evil (note that St. Paul said that the love of money and not simply money is the root of all evil). Again, the emphasis is on balance in one’s life.

He does not possess wealth; it possesses him.

He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.

Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Take Home Exam 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name:

Economics 201
NELC
Take Home Exam 4
Spring 2006
Covers Material increase

17. Part of the cost of committing a crime is the probability of serving a jail sentence _________ the real wage that would be earned if not serving time in jail.

a) multiplied by
b) divided by
c) added to
d) less

18. A firm knows that it can borrow funds at

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Take Home Exam 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name:________________

Economics 201
NELC
Exam 5 (Text Chaps 17 ? 18)
Multiple Choice ? 5 points each for a total of 100 points:

1 Negative externalities that arise from the production of a good

a. cause an increase in the demand for the good.
b. cause a decrease in the demand for the good.
c. impose costs on third parties.
d. bring private

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Take Home Exam 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name:

Economics 202
NELC
Take Home Exam 1
Spring 2006
Covers Material & Topics in Part One (Chapters 1 ? 4) of Text
Multiple Choice ? each question worth 5 points for a total of 100 points.

1 Stephanie sees Y occur soon after X. She concludes that X is the cause of Y. Stephanie is concluding that

a) association is causation.
b) all other things are not equal.
c) the fallacy of composition is not correct.
d) positive economics is more nearly relevant than normative economics.
e) There is not enough information to answer the question.

2 Which of the following pairs of goods would most likely be compliments?

a) butter and margarine.
b) peanuts and peanut butter.
c) DVDs and DVD players.
d) Hiking boots and tennis shoes.
e) All of the above.

3 At many colleges and universities the price of a student’s education is paid

a) exclusively by the student.
b) exclusively by the taxpayers.
c) exclusively by private donors.
d) partly by the student, partly by taxpayers, and partly by private donors.

4 On a supply and demand diagram, equilibrium is found

a) where the supply curve intercepts the vertical axis.
b) where the demand curve intercepts the horizontal axis.
c) where the demand and supply curves intersect.
d) at every point on either curve.

5 The minimum wage is an example of

a) a price door.
b) a price wall.
c) a price floor.
d) a price ceiling.

6 Efficiency implies that

a) all consumers’ wants are satisfied.
b) no advance in technology will occur in the future.
c) the attainable region is greater than the unattainable region.
d) gains are impossible in one area without losses in another.
e) all of the above.

7 If goods are not rationed according to price, it follows that

a) they won’t get rationed at all.
b) something will ration the goods.
c) first-come-first-served will necessarily be the rationing device.
d) there will be surpluses in the market.
e) none of the above.

8 An increase in the expected price of corn would likely

a) increase both the demand and supply of corn.
b) decrease both the demand and supply of corn.
c) increase the demand but decrease the supply of corn.
d) increase the supply but decrease the demand for corn.

9 Opportunity cost is the value of

a) the next best forfeited alternative.
b) the chosen alternative.
c) a free good.
d) an economic good.

10 At a price below equilibrium price, there is

a) a surplus.
b) a shortage.
c) excess supply.
d) sub-equilibrium.
e) none of the above.

11 You can determine the consumers’ surplus if you know the

a) price received.
b) the maximum buying price.
c) price paid.
d) b and c.
e) a and b.

12 An “increase in demand” means that

a) the demand curve has shifted to the left.
b) price has declined and consumers want to purchase more of the good.
c) the demand curve has shifted to the right.
d) the price of the good can be expected to decline, assuming supply stays constant.

13 Choice is a consequence of

a) opportunity cost.
b) formulating hypotheses.
c) scarcity.
d) none of the above.

14 An “increase in the quantity demanded” means that

a) the demand curve has shifted to the right.
b) the supply curve has shifted to the left.
c) the price has declined and consumers therefore want to purchase more of the good.
d) given supply, the price of the good can be expected to rise.

15 Through war, many of the factories in country 1 are destroyed and many of its people are killed. As a result, the country’s

a) production possibilities frontier (PPF) after the war is probably farther away from the origin than its PPF before the war.
b) PPF after the war is probably closer to the origin than its PPF before the war.
c) PPF after the war is probably the same PPF as before the war.
d) ability to produce goods and services has increased.

16 Which of the following pairs of goods would be most likely to be substitutes?

a) pasta and pasta sauce.
b) butter and margarine.
c) chips and salsa.
d) tires and automobiles.

17 The joke about it taking eight economists to change a light bulb ? one to screw in the build and the other seven to hold everything else constant ? is a joke about how economists

a) use the ceteris paribus assumption.
b) fail to deduce conclusions from their assumptions.
c) confuse association with causation.
d) would much rather construct theories than test them.

18 The synonym economists commonly use for “additional” is

a) capital
b) rational.
c) marginal.
d) economic.

19 In economics, scarcity implies

a) disutility.
b) utility.
c) choice.
d) ceteris paribus.

20 The amount of one good that is forfeited in order to produce more of another good is called

a) transaction costs.
b) specialization.
c) efficiency.
d) opportunity cost.
e) none of the above.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1 (8 points) Describe the difference between positive and normative economics.

2 (9 points) Discuss the differences between the socialist and capitalist views of the role of prices in the economy.

3 (8 points) Explain how the study of economics might be beneficial to a history major..

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Take Home Exam 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name:

Economics 202
NELC
Take Home Exam 2
Spring 2006
Covers Material & Topics in Part Two (Chapters 5 ? 6) of Text
Multiple Choice ? each question worth 5 points for a total of 100 points.

1 The civilian non-institutional population consists of everyone in the population who is

a) at least 16 years of age, in the armed forces, or institutionalized.
b) at least 16 years of age.
c) not in the armed forces.
d) not institutionalized.
e) b, c, and d

2 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total market value of all

a) final goods and services produced annually within a country’s borders.
b) final and intermediate goods and services produced annually within a country’s borders.
c) intermediate goods and services produced annually within a country’s borders.
d) final goods and services produced every month within a country’s borders.

3 “Full employment” is said to exist when the unemployment rate equals

a) zero.
b) the cyclical unemployment rate.
c) the structural unemployment rate.
d) the natural unemployment rate.

4. If a person did at least one hour of work as a paid employee during the survey week, how is she classified?

a) as an employed person.
b) as not in the labor force.
c) as an unemployed person.
d) none of the above.

5 Which of the following will NOT lead to a leftward shift in the AS curve?

a) an increase in wage rates.
b) an increase in the prices of non-labor inputs.
c) an increase in productivity.
d) an adverse supply shock.

6 What does annual economic growth refer to ?

a) annual increases in GDP
b) annual increases in consumption spending
c) annual increases in investment spending
d) annual increases in Real GDP
e) none of the above

7 A recession is always a part of a

a) contraction
b) recovery
c) detraction
d) remission

8 To macroeconomists, investment is mainly the purchases of goods and services

a) by businesses.
b) to hold as wealth, such as gold coins or art.
c) by foreign countries.
d) in the period previous to the period being studied.

9 A person is unemployed if he

a) is a member of the civilian labor force, out of work, and actively seeking work.
b) is 15 years old and seeking his first job.
c) is out of work, available for work, but not actively seeking work.
d) all of the above.

10 A dynamic, changing economy will

a) experience frictional and structural unemployment.
b) experience only cyclical unemployment.
c) have zero unemployment.
d) have no natural unemployment.

11 Who is unanticipated inflation likely to help?

a) Lenders
b) Borrowers
c) All consumers
d) All producers

12 Inflation can be defined as

a) an increase in the purchasing power of money.
b) a decrease in the purchasing power of money.
c) no change in the purchasing power of money
d) an increase in real income.

13 What is the proper sequence of the phases of a business cycle?

a) peak, contraction, trough, expansion, recovery.
b) peak contraction, recovery, trough, expansion.
c) peak, contraction, trough, recovery, expansion.
d) contraction, peak, trough, recovery, expansion.
e) recovery, trough, peak, expansion, contraction.

14 Assuming that they are actively seeking employment, which of the following categories of people would be considered unemployed?

a) Those who were fired from their job.
b) Those who resigned from their job.
c) New entrants into the job market
d) All of the above are correct.

15 One measure of the inflation rate is the

a) sum of the CPIs of adjacent years.
b) percentage change in the CPI of adjacent years.
c) percentage change in the Real GDP of adjacent years.
d) GDP minus Real GDP in a year.

16 Persons who are retired or engaged in own-home housework are considered to be in which of the following categories?

a) in the civilian labor force
b) not in the labor force
c) employed
d) unemployed

17 Real GDP is GDP

a) in current-year prices.
b) in base-year prices.
c) in GDP-prices.
d) in that year’s prices.

18 Norman just brought shares of stock in Amazon.com for $1,000 and paid a $45 commission to his broker. How did this affect GDP?

a) It had no impact on GDP.
b) GDP increased by $45.
c) GDP increased by $995.
d) GDP increased by $1,000.
e) GDP increased by $1,045.

19 Leisure is

a) a good that is not counted in GDP.
b) a good that is counted in GDP.
c) neither a good nor a bad, and it is not counted in GDP.
d) a bad as far as economists are concerned, because it is not tangible.

20 An example of income received but not earned is

a) government transfer payments.
b) undistributed profits.
c) compensation of employees.
d) rental income.
e) a and c.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1. ( 8 points) List and describe the three different types of unemployment..

2. ( 8 points) Describe what the term “full employment” means to an economist.

3. (9 points) Describe the difference between GDP and GNP.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Take Home Exam 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name:

Economics 202
NELC
Take Home Exam 4
Spring 2006
Covers Material & Topics in Part Four (Chapters 11 ? 14) of Text
Multiple Choice ? each question worth 5 points for a total of 100 points.

1 If the Fed purchases government securities from commercial banks, the reserves of the banking system will immediately
a) increase by the amount of the purchase.
b) increase by more than the amount of the purchase.
c) remain constant.
d) decrease by the amount of the purchase.
e) decrease by more than the amount of the purchase.

2 Transaction costs are best defined as the
a) various costs of different goods and services.
b) cost of one good in terms of another; that is, the price of apples in terms of oranges.
c) costs involved in borrowing money from someone, that is, the interest that must be paid for the use of someone else’s money.
d) costs associated with the time and effort necessary to make an exchange.

3 Which of the following illustrates a barter transaction?
a) A bushel of oranges is traded for a bushel of apples.
b) Someone buys a pizza for the special price of $4.
c) Someone buys a house of $100,000.
d) A car dealer gives a free plane ticket to each new car buyer.

4 If market interest rates increase, the prices of existing bonds will
a) decrease.
b) not change.
c) increase.
d) decrease if Real GDP decreases and increase if Real GDP increases.

5 Money evolved out of the self-interested actions of
a) economists.
b) governments.
c) a few kings and queens.
d) individuals.
e) none of the above.

6 When the Fed purchases securities from a member of the public with a check that is cashed,
a) reserves increase.
b) currency in circulation increases.
c) the money supply increases.
d) b and c.
e) all of the above.

7 Can a one-time increase in the supply of money cause one-shot inflation?
a) Yes, because it shifts the aggregate demand curve rightward.
b) No, because it cannot shift the aggregate demand curve rightward.
c) Yes, because it shifts the aggregate demand curve leftward.
d) Yes, because it shifts the aggregate supply curve rightward.

8. When the Fed increases the required-reserve ratio, a bank’s
a) excess reserves are unaffected.
b) excess reserves are increased.
c) excess reserves are decreased.
d) required reserves are decreased.
e) b and d.

9 If market interest rates increase, the prices of existing bonds will
a) decrease.
b) not change.
c) increase.
d) decrease of Real GDP decreases and increase if Real GDP increases.

10 Which of the following is false?
a) Banks cannot print money.
b) Banks can create checkable deposits by extending loans.
c) Banks must maintain a certain percentage of their total (checkable) deposits in reserve form.
d) Checkable deposits is a larger component of M1 than currency.
e) Today, in the United States, gold is money.

11 An individual buys a bond for $50 and sells it one year later for $70. What is the rate of return that this individual has received?
a) 10%
b) 20%
c) 30%
d) 40%

12 Changes in the money supply affect
a) expected inflation rates.
b) actual inflation rates.
c) the supply of loans.
d) a and b.
e) a, b and c.

13 When the Fed conducts open market operations, the impact of the buying or selling of bonds will include changes in

a) the money supply.
b) interest rates.
c) the expected rate of inflation.
d) a and c.
e) a, b and c.

14 Non-activists favor
a) the use of fiscal policies to manage the economy.
b) the use of monetary policies to manage the economy.
c) fine tuning.
d) rules for conducting monetary and fiscal policies.

15 As the opportunity cost of holding money decreases,m the quantity demanded of money
a) increases.
b) decreases.
c) remains unchanged.
d) increases, then decreases.
e) decreases, then increases.

16 A gold standard tries to
a) stabilize the price level over time.
b) reduce political and economic interference in the money supply process.
c) change the money supply at a specific rate.
d) a and b.
e) all of the above.

17 In the equation of exchange, the letter “V” stands for
a) variance.
b) validity.
c) volume.
d) velocity.

18 As the interest rate falls, the quantity
a) demanded of money falls.
b) demanded of money rises.
c) supplied of money rises.
d) supplied of money falls.

19 The simple quantity theory of money predicts that if
a) the money supply rises by $200, then GDP falls by $200.
b) GDP rises by $400, then money supply rises by $400.
c) the money supply rises by 10 percent, then the price level rises by 10 percent.
d) the money supply falls by $300, then GDP rises by $300.

20 Unanticipated inflation clearly redistributes buying power from
a) borrowers to lenders.
b) lenders to borrowers.
c) some borrowers to other borrowers.
d) some lenders to other lenders.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1 (8 points) Explain how a change in the money supply can affect the following in the short run:

a (2 points) The supply of loanable funds.

b (2 points) Real GDP.

c (2 points) The price level.

d (2 points) The expected inflation rate.

2 (9 points) Describe the process by which banks create money.

3 (8 points) What is money?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Take Home Exam 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name: _________________

Economics 202
NELC
Exam 5 (Text Chaps 15 ? 16)
Spring 2006

Multiple Choice ? 5 points each for a total of 100 points:

1 An increase in labor productivity without an increase in the labor force leads to _______ real economic growth.

a. absolute, but not per-capita
b. per-capita, but not absolute
c. absolute and per-capita
d. neither absolute nor per-capita

2 Generally, what must be sacrificed in order to build more capital now is

a. Real GDP now.
b. consumption now.
c. Real GDP in the future.
d. consumption in the future.

3 The frequent use of economic policies to counteract economic movements deemed to be undesirable is called.

a. course tuning.
b. fine-tuning.
c. course adaptation.
d. fine adaptation.

4 _______________ rights refer to the range of laws, rules, and regulations that define rights for the use and transfer of resources.

a. Individual
b. Constitutional
c. Property
d. Economic
e. none of the above.

5 An increase in nominal GDP

a. is absolute real economic growth
b. is per-capita economic growth
c. is both per-capita and absolute real economic growth.
d. may be neither absolute nor per-capita real economic growth.

6 In the 1970s, the U.S. Economy experienced

a. stagflation.
b. low inflation and low unemployment.
c. high inflation and low unemployment.
d. b and c.
e. none of the above.

7 “Absolute real economic growth” is ___________ from one period to the next.

a. an increase in nominal GDP.
b. an increase in Real GDP.
c. an increase in Real GDP per person.
d. a decrease in the unemployment rate.

8 Stagflation consists of

a high inflation and high interest rates.
b. low inflation and high unemployment.
c. high inflation and high unemployment.
d. high unemployment and an economy in a deep recession.

9 According to the real business cycle theory, business cycle contractions begin as a result of changes in

a. the self-interest of politicians.
b. decreases in business investment.
c. decreases in the growth rate of the money supply.
d. decreases in the economy’s capacity to produce.

10 Technological advances make it possible to

a. produce goods without using any resources.
b. obtain the same output by using more resources.
c. obtain the same output by using fewer resources.
d. lower labor productivity.

11 New classical economists build their theories upon

a. adaptive expectations.
b. inflexible wages and prices.
c. rational expectations.
d. the assumption that it takes a long time for markets to achieve equilibrium values.

12 Industrial policy is ___________ political corruption because it picks out _______

a. susceptible to, certain businesses to aid.
b. susceptible to, nationwide regulations to tighten or relax.
c. immune from, certain businesses to aid.
d. immune from, nationwide regulations to tighten or relax.

13 The original (1958) Phillips curve stated that

a. unemployment and money wage rates move in the same direction.
b. unemployment and money wage rates move in opposite directions.
c. there is an inverse relationship between price inflation and unemployment.
d. there is a direct relationship between price inflation and unemployment.

14 The simultaneous occurrence of high inflation and high unemployment is called

a. recession.
b. disinflation.
c. stagflation.
d. “fooling”.

15 Deregulation is primarily a ____________-side policy meant to ________ PPF.

a. demand; expand the economy’s
b. demand; bring the economy closer to its
c. supply; expand the economy’s
d. supply; bring the economy closer to its

16 According to the original Phillips curve, the cost of reducing the unemployment rate in the short run is a

a. fall in Real GDP.
b. fall in nominal GDP.
c. lower rate of price inflation.
d. higher rate of wage inflation.

17 “Watering the green spots” is a phrase one hears when discussing

a. property rights.
b. taxes.
c. monetary policy.
d. industrial policy.
e. new growth theory.

18 The original (1958) Phillips curve

a. showed that stagflation is inevitable.
b. showed the tradeoff between the use of monetary and fiscal policy.
c. has never been used as an important economic policy tool.
d. suggested a tradeoff between wage inflation and the unemployment rate.

19 The frequent use of economic policies to counteract economic movement seemed to be undesirable is called

a. course tuning.
b. fine-tuning.
c. course adaptation.
d. fine adaptation.

20 Stagflation is the simultaneous occurrence of

a. low inflation and high unemployment.
b. high inflation and low unemployment.
c. low inflation and low unemployment.
d. high inflation and high unemployment.

Short Essay (use back of exam pages)

1. (8 points) Describe the policy ineffectiveness proposition (PIP). Be sure to state which economic theory the PIP is associated with and the assumptions that are necessary for this argument to hold.

2. (8 points) List and describe four factors that can contribute to economic growth.

3. (9 points) How does discovering and implementing new ideas cause economic growth?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 Assignment 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 202 – NELC
Spring 2006

Assignment 1 (Chapters 1 ? 4)

Read chapters 1 ? 4 in your book and the article (What You Need to Know About the Minimum Wage by Shawn Ritenour) below than answer the following questions.

1 a (5 points) Explain how the price of a good is determined by supply and demand in a market.

b (5 points) When employers purchase labor services from workers the price of the labor services is refereed to as a wage. Certis paribus, is the price (wage) employers pay for labor services also determined by supply and demand just like apples in a grocery store? Explain why or why not.

2 (10 points) Suppose local educators argue that teachers’ salaries are too low. At the same time it is said that the school district received 750 applications for 5 new openings. Are salaries too low?

3 (10 points) The Ritenour article refers to absolute poverty and relative poverty. Explain what these two types of poverty are and how they differ. Also, is it possible to design policies to alleviate absolute poverty? Why or why not? Is it possible for government policies to reduce or eliminate relative poverty? Why or why not?

4 According to the Ritenour article:

a (5 points) Who, specifically, are the people who work in low paying jobs that are affected by the minimum wage?

b (5 points) In terms of economic responsibilities how do the majority of these people differ from the majority of American workers who earn more than minimum wage?

5 (10 points) According to the Ritenour article, how does the imposition of a minimum wage law harm unskilled worker and young workers just entering the market without skills? Also, what types of job skills needed for all types of work can be learned by new workers when they take a low skill job at a place like McDonalds? Why are such skills important for future success?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 Assignment 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name: _____________________________________

Assignment 2
Part II ? Chapters 5- 6
Economics 202 ? Macro
Spring 2006

Read Chapters five and six in your text and the article entitled America’s Job Puzzle: A Labour Market that Works, by Gerald Baker. (NOTE: Contact instructor for copy of article.) Then answer the following questions.

1 (10 points) Draw an appropriate diagram to represent the business cycle and label each of the five phases. Provide a brief description of each phase.

2 (10 points) Describe the difference between GDP and GNP.

3 (10 points) According to the Baker article, how is the rise of temporary workers and job training programs for people who are structurally unemployed helping to relieve the pressure of rising demand for workers? Draw a graph showing how the rise in the number of temporary workers and newly trained workers is keeping wage rates from rising despite the increase in demand by employers for workers.

4 (10 points) What are the new types of flexible wage schemes that employers are using and how do these work to enable businesses to increase productivity without incurring inflationary wage increases? How do you as a consumer feel about flexible wage schemes? How do you as an employee (or potential employee) feel about flexible wage schemes? Identify some advantages and disadvantages of flexible wage schemes from an employee’s point of view.

5 (10 points) Baker does not discuss the role of immigration (legal or illegal) in easing the pressures of the labor shortage. How does immigration act to increase the supply of labor and keep wages from rising and fueling inflation? Based on the facts presented in the article do you think that employers are hiring immigrants because they work for less or because there is no one else available to work? Explain. In your opinion, if the economy stopped growing and demand for labor stopped increasing, would people from abroad still want to immigrate to the U.S. for work? Explain your answer.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 6

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 CRN 28101

Spring 2006

Assignment 6

Read the attached article entitled The Alleged China Threat by Robert Murphy and answer the questions below.

Each question is worth 10 points for a total of 50 points.

1 (10 points) Professor Murphy uses the example of his trade deficit with McDonald’s to illustrate his point that there is nothing unnatural about America’s trade deficit with China. I presume that Murphy has children and, based upon my experience of taking my wife and two sons to McDonald’s periodically to eat, I assume he spends $20 – $30 per trip to McDonald’s with his family. Since McDonald’s obviously does not buy anything from Professor Murphy, how can he continue to run this trade deficit with McDonald’s year after year and what, if any, threat does this trade imbalance pose to the Murphy household’s financial stability? Will Murphy eventually be forced to quit his job as an economics professor and go to work at McDonald’s (i.e., export his services to McDonald’s) in order to keep the dollar value of what he buys from McDonald’s in balance with the dollar value of what he sells (his labor) to McDonald’s? Explain.

2 (10 points) I don’t know Murphy or his wife. But let’s assume for a moment that Mrs. Murphy initially stayed home to raise the children, cook the meals and take care of the house. Then assume that once the children were in school, Mrs. Murphy took a job outside the home and that is when the family began stopping at McDonald’s for dinner one or two nights a week. Is the family better off or worse off now that Mrs. Murphy has had her hours as the Murphy family’s cook reduced? What if, instead of Mrs. Murphy taking a job outside the home, Professor Murphy got a raise and that is when the family began going to McDonald’s for dinner a couple of nights a week. Has the family been harmed because Mrs. Murphy has had her hours as family cook reduced without any compensating job outside the home to make up for the hours lost? With her lighter workload at home (now that the family is dining out at McDonald’s more frequently) does Mrs. Murphy have more time and energy available to seek work outside? Explain.

3 (10 points) How are the trade deficits and surpluses accumulated by the Murphy household in their trade with the outside world balanced? How is this similar or different from the trade deficits between the U.S. and the rest of the world?

4 (10 points) What is meant by the term “Fair Trade”? Are American consumers better off or worse off economically when the Chinese government taxes its people and uses the proceeds to subsidize the price of Chinese goods so that American consumers do not have to pay as much for these goods? Explain your answer.

5 (10 points) What is meant by the statement that the Yuan is “undervalued”? Would you, as a consumer, be better off or worse off economically if the Chinese government stopped actions to manipulate the value of the yuan and let the market determine its value? Explain your answer.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 CRN 28101

Spring 2006

Assignment 5

Read the attached article entitled “Rolling Back Government: Lessons from New Zealand” by Maurice P. McTigue and answer the questions below.

Each question is worth 10 points for a total of 50 points.

1. In the article the author states that the main problem with government subsidies is that they make people dependent upon the government. Why is this dependency bad for an economy? How do people react to dependency?

2. Why was France upset with Ireland when Ireland changed its corporate tax rate? How was France hurt by the Irish action? What should France have done to meet the challenge posed by Ireland?

3. In the article the author states that when the reform government in New Zealand was first elected they identified three problems: “too much spending, too much taxing and too much government”. How did the government of New Zealand cut spending, cut taxes and reduce government?

4. In the past couple of decades Ireland has gone from being the poorest nation in Western Europe to one of the richest. Meanwhile France has stagnated economically. Read the author’s comments on France and Ireland and give an explanation as to why Ireland is booming while France struggles with unemployment.

5. What reforms did the government make in education and why, according to the author did these reforms work?

Rolling Back Government: Lessons from New Zealand

Maurice P. McTigue

Maurice P. McTigue is a distinguished visiting scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where he directs the government accountability project. Previously, he was a member of the New Zealand Parliament and New Zealand?s ambassador to Canada, and was closely involved in New Zealand?s deregulation of labor markets, deregulation of the transportation industry, and restructuring of the fishing industry through the creation of conservation incentives. He also served as Minister of Employment, Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Minister of Railways, Minister of Works and Development, Minister of Labour and Minister of Immigration. Among his many honors, Mr. McTigue is a recipient of the Queen?s Service Order, bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. In the U.S., he was recently appointed to the Office of Personnel Management Senior Review Committee, formed to make recommendations for human resources systems at the Department of Homeland Security. He also sits on the Performance Management Advisory Committee for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The following is adapted from a lecture delivered on February 11, 2004, on the Hillsdale campus, during a five-day seminar on ?The Conditions of Free-Market Capitalism,? co-sponsored by the Center for Constructive Alternatives and the Ludwig von Mises Lecture Series.

Rolling Back Government: Lessons from New Zealand

If we look back through history, growth in government has been a modern phenomenon. Beginning in the 1850s and lasting until the 1920s or ?30s, the government?s share of GDP in most of the world?s industrialized economies was about six percent. From that period onwards ? and particularly since the 1950s ? we?ve seen a massive explosion in government share of GDP, in some places as much as 35-45 percent. (In the case of Sweden, of course, it reached 65 percent, and Sweden nearly self-destructed as a result. It is now starting to dismantle some of its social programs to remain economically viable.) Can this situation be halted or even rolled back? My view, based upon personal experience, is that the answer is ?yes.? But it requires high levels of transparency and significant consequences for bad decisions ? and these are not easy things to bring about.

What we?re seeing around the world at the moment is what I would call a silent revolution, reflected in a change in how people view government accountability. The old idea of accountability simply held that government should spend money in accordance with appropriations. The new accountability is based on asking, ?What did we get in public benefits as a result of the expenditure of money?? This is a question that has always been asked in business, but has not been the norm for governments. And those governments today that are struggling valiantly with this question are showing quite extraordinary results. This was certainly the basis of the successful reforms in my own country of New Zealand.

New Zealand?s per capita income in the period prior to the late 1950s was right around number three in the world, behind the United States and Canada. But by 1984, its per capita income had sunk to 27th in the world, alongside Portugal and Turkey. Not only that, but our unemployment rate was 11.6 percent, we?d had 23 successive years of deficits (sometimes ranging as high as 40 percent of GDP), our debt had grown to 65 percent of GDP, and our credit ratings were continually being downgraded. Government spending was a full 44 percent of GDP, investment capital was exiting in huge quantities, and government controls and micromanagement were pervasive at every level of the economy. We had foreign exchange controls that meant I couldn?t buy a subscription to The Economist magazine without the permission of the Minister of Finance. I couldn?t buy shares in a foreign company without surrendering my citizenship. There were price controls on all goods and services, on all shops and on all service industries. There were wage controls and wage freezes. I couldn?t pay my employees more ? or pay them bonuses ? if I wanted to. There were import controls on the goods that I could bring into the country. There were massive levels of subsidies on industries in order to keep them viable. Young people were leaving in droves.

Spending and Taxes

When a reform government was elected in 1984, it identified three problems: too much spending, too much taxing and too much government. The question was how to cut spending and taxes and diminish government?s role in the economy. Well, the first thing you have to do in this situation is to figure out what you?re getting for dollars spent. Towards this end, we implemented a new policy whereby money wouldn?t simply be allocated to government agencies; instead, there would be a purchase contract with the senior executives of those agencies that clearly delineated what was expected in return for the money. Those who headed up government agencies were now chosen on the basis of a worldwide search and received term contracts ? five years with a possible extension of another three years. The only ground for their removal was non-performance, so a newly-elected government couldn?t simply throw them out as had happened with civil servants under the old system. And of course, with those kinds of incentives, agency heads ? like CEOs in the private sector ? made certain that the next tier of people had very clear objectives that they were expected to achieve as well.

The first purchase that we made from every agency was policy advice. That policy advice was meant to produce a vigorous debate between the government and the agency heads about how to achieve goals like reducing hunger and homelessness. This didn?t mean, by the way, how government could feed or house more people ? that?s not important. What?s important is the extent to which hunger and homelessness are actually reduced. In other words, we made it clear that what?s important is not how many people are on welfare, but how many people get off welfare and into independent living.

As we started to work through this process, we also asked some fundamental questions of the agencies. The first question was, ?What are you doing?? The second question was, ?What should you be doing?? Based on the answers, we then said, ?Eliminate what you shouldn?t be doing? ? that is, if you are doing something that clearly is not a responsibility of the government, stop doing it. Then we asked the final question: ?Who should be paying ? the taxpayer, the user, the consumer, or the industry?? We asked this because, in many instances, the taxpayers were subsidizing things that did not benefit them. And if you take the cost of services away from actual consumers and users, you promote overuse and devalue whatever it is that you?re doing.

When we started this process with the Department of Transportation, it had 5,600 employees. When we finished, it had 53. When we started with the Forest Service, it had 17,000 employees. When we finished, it had 17. When we applied it to the Ministry of Works, it had 28,000 employees. I used to be Minister of Works, and ended up being the only employee. In the latter case, most of what the department did was construction and engineering, and there are plenty of people who can do that without government involvement. And if you say to me, ?But you killed all those jobs!? ? well, that?s just not true. The government stopped employing people in those jobs, but the need for the jobs didn?t disappear. I visited some of the forestry workers some months after they?d lost their government jobs, and they were quite happy. They told me that they were now earning about three times what they used to earn ? on top of which, they were surprised to learn that they could do about 60 percent more than they used to! The same lesson applies to the other jobs I mentioned.

Some of the things that government was doing simply didn?t belong in the government. So we sold off telecommunications, airlines, irrigation schemes, computing services, government printing offices, insurance companies, banks, securities, mortgages, railways, bus services, hotels, shipping lines, agricultural advisory services, etc. In the main, when we sold those things off, their productivity went up and the cost of their services went down, translating into major gains for the economy. Furthermore, we decided that other agencies should be run as profit-making and tax-paying enterprises by government. For instance, the air traffic control system was made into a stand-alone company, given instructions that it had to make an acceptable rate of return and pay taxes, and told that it couldn?t get any investment capital from its owner (the government). We did that with about 35 agencies. Together, these used to cost us about one billion dollars per year; now they produced about one billion dollars per year in revenues and taxes.

We achieved an overall reduction of 66 percent in the size of government, measured by the number of employees. The government?s share of GDP dropped from 44 to 27 percent. We were now running surpluses, and we established a policy never to leave dollars on the table: We knew that if we didn?t get rid of this money, some clown would spend it. So we used most of the surplus to pay off debt, and debt went from 63 percent down to 17 percent of GDP. We used the remainder of the surplus each year for tax relief. We reduced income tax rates by half and eliminated incidental taxes. As a result of these policies, revenue increased by 20 percent. Yes, Ronald Reagan was right: lower tax rates do produce more revenue.

Subsidies, Education, and Competitiveness

What about invasive government in the form of subsidies? First, we need to recognize that the main problem with subsidies is that they make people dependent; and when you make people dependent, they lose their innovation and their creativity and become even more dependent.

Let me give you an example: By 1984, New Zealand sheep farming was receiving about 44 percent of its income from government subsidies. Its major product was lamb, and lamb in the international marketplace was selling for about $12.50 (with the government providing another $12.50)per carcass. Well, we did away with all sheep farming subsidies within one year. And of course the sheep farmers were unhappy. But once they accepted the fact that the subsidies weren?t coming back, they put together a team of people charged with figuring out how they could get $30 per lamb carcass. The team reported back that this would be difficult, but not impossible. It required producing an entirely different product, processing it in a different way and selling it in different markets. And within two years, by 1989, they had succeeded in converting their $12.50 product into something worth $30. By 1991, it was worth $42; by 1994 it was worth $74; and by 1999 it was worth $115. In other words, the New Zealand sheep industry went out into the marketplace and found people who would pay higher prices for its product. You can now go into the best restaurants in the U.S. and buy New Zealand lamb, and you?ll be paying somewhere between $35 and $60 per pound.

Needless to say, as we took government support away from industry, it was widely predicted that there would be a massive exodus of people. But that didn?t happen. To give you one example, we lost only about three-quarters of one percent of the farming enterprises ? and these were people who shouldn?t have been farming in the first place. In addition, some predicted a major move towards corporate as opposed to family farming. But we?ve seen exactly the reverse. Corporate farming moved out and family farming expanded, probably because families are prepared to work for less than corporations. In the end, it was the best thing that possibly could have happened. And it demonstrated that if you give people no choice but to be creative and innovative, they will find solutions.

New Zealand had an education system that was failing as well. It was failing about 30 percent of its children ? especially those in lower socio-economic areas. We had put more and more money into education for 20 years, and achieved worse and worse results.

It cost us twice as much to get a poorer result than we did 20 years previously with much less money. So we decided to rethink what we were doing here as well. The first thing we did was to identify where the dollars were going that we were pouring into education. We hired international consultants (because we didn?t trust our own departments to do it), and they reported that for every dollar we were spending on education, 70 cents was being swallowed up by administration. Once we heard this, we immediately eliminated all of the Boards of Education in the country. Every single school came under the control of a board of trustees elected by the parents of the children at that school, and by nobody else. We gave schools a block of money based on the number of students that went to them, with no strings attached. At the same time, we told the parents that they had an absolute right to choose where their children would go to school. It is absolutely obnoxious to me that anybody would tell parents that they must send their children to a bad school. We converted 4,500 schools to this new system all on the same day.

But we went even further: We made it possible for privately owned schools to be funded in exactly the same way as publicly owned schools, giving parents the ability to spend their education dollars wherever they chose. Again, everybody predicted that there would be a major exodus of students from the public to the private schools, because the private schools showed an academic advantage of 14 to 15 percent. It didn?t happen, however, because the differential between schools disappeared in about 18-24 months. Why? Because all of a sudden teachers realized that if they lost their students, they would lose their funding; and if they lost their funding, they would lose their jobs. Eighty-five percent of our students went to public schools at the beginning of this process. That fell to only about 84 percent over the first year or so of our reforms. But three years later, 87 percent of the students were going to public schools. More importantly, we moved from being about 14 or 15 percent below our international peers to being about 14 or 15 percent above our international peers in terms of educational attainment.

Now consider taxation and competitiveness: What many in the public sector today fail to recognize is that the challenge of competitiveness is worldwide. Capital and labor can move so freely and rapidly from place to place that the only way to stop business from leaving is to make certain that your business climate is better than anybody else?s. Along these lines, there was a very interesting circumstance in Ireland just two years ago. The European Union, led by France, was highly critical of Irish tax policy ? particularly on corporations ? because the Irish had reduced their tax on corporations from 48 percent to 12 percent and business was flooding into Ireland. The European Union wanted to impose a penalty on Ireland in the form of a 17 percent corporate tax hike to bring them into line with other European countries. Needless to say, the Irish didn?t buy that. The European community responded by saying that what the Irish were doing was unfair and uncompetitive. The Irish Minister of Finance agreed: He pointed out that Ireland was charging corporations 12 percent, while charging its citizens only 10 percent. So Ireland reduced the tax rate to 10 percent for corporations as well. There?s another one the French lost!

When we in New Zealand looked at our revenue gathering process, we found the system extremely complicated in a way that distorted business as well as private decisions. So we asked ourselves some questions: Was our tax system concerned with collecting revenue? Was it concerned with collecting revenue and also delivering social services? Or was it concerned with collecting revenue, delivering social services and changing behavior, all three? We decided that the social services and behavioral components didn?t have any place in a rational system of taxation. So we resolved that we would have only two mechanisms for gathering revenue ? a tax on income and a tax on consumption ? and that we would simplify those mechanisms and lower the rates as much as we possibly could. We lowered the high income tax rate from 66 to 33 percent, and set that flat rate for high-income earners. In addition, we brought the low end down from 38 to 19 percent, which became the flat rate for low-income earners. We then set a consumption tax rate of 10 percent and eliminated all other taxes ? capital gains taxes, property taxes, etc. We carefully designed this system to produce exactly the same revenue as we were getting before and presented it to the public as a zero sum game. But what actually happened was that we received 20 percent more revenue than before. Why? We hadn?t allowed for the increase in voluntary compliance. If tax rates are low, taxpayers won?t employ high priced lawyers and accountants to find loopholes. Indeed, every country that I?ve looked at in the world that has dramatically simplified and lowered its tax rates has ended up with more revenue, not less.

What about regulations? The regulatory power is customarily delegated to non-elected officials who then constrain the people?s liberties with little or no accountability. These regulations are extremely difficult to eliminate once they are in place. But we found a way: We simply rewrote the statutes on which they were based. For instance, we rewrote the environmental laws, transforming them into the Resource Management Act ? reducing a law that was 25 inches thick to 348 pages. We rewrote the tax code, all of the farm acts, and the occupational safety and health acts. To do this, we brought our brightest brains together and told them to pretend that there was no pre-existing law and that they should create for us the best possible environment for industry to thrive. We then marketed it in terms of what it would save in taxes. These new laws, in effect, repealed the old, which meant that all existing regulations died ? the whole lot, every single one.

Thinking Differently About Government

What I have been discussing is really just a new way of thinking about government. Let me tell you how we solved our deer problem: Our country had no large indigenous animals until the English imported deer for hunting. These deer proceeded to escape into the wild and become obnoxious pests. We then spent 120 years trying to eliminate them, until one day someone suggested that we just let people farm them. So we told the farming community that they could catch and farm the deer, as long as they would keep them inside eight-foot high fences. And we haven?t spent a dollar on deer eradication from that day onwards. Not one. And New Zealand now supplies 40 percent of the world market in venison. By applying simple common sense, we turned a liability into an asset.

Let me share with you one last story: The Department of Transportation came to us one day and said they needed to increase the fees for driver?s licenses. When we asked why, they said that the cost of relicensing wasn?t being fully recovered at the current fee levels. Then we asked why we should be doing this sort of thing at all. The transportation people clearly thought that was a very stupid question: Everybody needs a driver?s license, they said. I then pointed out that I received mine when I was fifteen and asked them: ?What is it about relicensing that in any way tests driver competency?? We gave them ten days to think this over. At one point they suggested to us that the police need driver?s licenses for identification purposes. We responded that this was the purpose of an identity card, not a driver?s license. Finally they admitted that they could think of no good reason for what they were doing ? so we abolished the whole process! Now a driver?s license is good until a person is 74 years old, after which he must get an annual medical test to ensure he is still competent to drive. So not only did we not need new fees, we abolished a whole department. That?s what I mean by thinking differently.

There are some great things happening along these lines in the United States today. You might not know it, but back in 1993 Congress passed a law called the Government Performance and Results Act. This law orders government departments to identify in a strategic plan what it is that they intend to achieve, and to report each year what they actually did achieve in terms of public benefits. Following on this, two years ago President Bush brought to the table something called the President?s Management Agenda, which sifts through the information in these reports and decides how to respond. These mechanisms are promising if they are used properly. Consider this: There are currently 178 federal programs designed to help people get back to work. They cost $8.4 billion, and 2.4 million people are employed as a result of them. But if we took the most effective three programs out of those 178 and put the $8.4 billion into them alone, the result would likely be that 14.7 million people would find jobs. The status quo costs America over 11 million jobs. The kind of new thinking I am talking about would build into the system a consequence for the administrator who is responsible for this failure of sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars. It is in this direction that the government needs to move.

Copyright ? 2004

Reprinted by permission from IMPRIMIS,
the monthly journal of Hillsdale College
(http://www.hillsdale.edu).

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Take Home Test 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 – CRN 28101
Spring 2006

Test 4

Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions 5 points each:

1 The standard assumption in economic analysis is that firms attempt to maximize
A. sales.
B. profits.
C. costs.
D. reliability.
E. production.

2 Opportunity cost is
A. the variable cost a firm incurs by increasing output one unit.
B. the value of the best alternative use of a firm’s resources.
C. the output opportunities a firm gains when average fixed costs decline.
D. another name for explicit costs.
E. the difference between fixed cost and variable cost.

3 For a monopolist the Golden Rule of Output Determination is to set the output rate at the point where marginal revenue equals
A. price.
B. marginal cost.
C. profits.
D. output.
E. zero.

4 Experience with public regulation of monopolies indicates that
A. on the average, regulated prices are clearly lower than unregulated prices of the same item.
B. regulation provides a stronger set of incentives than competitive markets for firms to increase efficiency.
C. a decision to base a fair rate of return on either historical cost or replacement cost yields the same pricing result.
D. most public utility regulation should be in the hands of federal rather than state commissions.
E. if a firm is guaranteed a fixed amount of profit, it will be less efficient than if its profits depend on how efficiently it operates.

5 An advantage of proprietorship is that the owner is faced with
A. complete control.
B. easy-to-obtain financing.
C. unlimited liability.
D. limited liability.
E. lower tax rates than those applicable to a partnership.

6 A market consisting of many firms producing a homogeneous product, having complete knowledge of relevant information, no power over the product’s market price, and low barriers to entry is characteristic of
A. perfect competition.
B. monopoly.
C. monopolistic competition.
D. oligopoly.
E. none of the above.

7 A consumer buying food and clothing is in equilibrium when the marginal
A. utilities of food and clothing equal the total utilities of food and clothing.
B. utility of the last dollar spent on food equals the marginal utility of the last dollar spent on clothing.
C. utilities of both goods are the same.
D. utilities of both goods are the greatest.
E. utility of food equals the price of food and the marginal utility of clothing equals the price of clothing.

8 In a given year in the production function of a typical college or university, a tenured faculty member would be an example of
A. a fixed input.
B. a variable input.
C. an expendable input.
D. an average input.
E. a marginal input.

9 One of the major long-term effects of rent controls in New York City has been
A. an increase in the average size of an apartment.
B. the creation of above-average profits for landlords.
C. the creation of surpluses of affordable housing units.
D. a rapid increase in the rate of New York’s population growth.
E. the abandonment of buildings, reducing the number of rental units available to consumers.

10 The Golden Rule of Output Determination for a perfectly competitive firm is to
A. choose the output rate at which price is greatest.
B. choose the output rate at which price equals marginal cost.
C. produce to the point of diminishing marginal returns.
D. produce until total revenue exceeds total cost.
E. choose the output rate at which total cost is the lowest.

11 A notable movement in the direction of deregulation of industry in the United States occurred during
A. the 1930s.
B. World War II.
C. the late 1940s and early 1950s.
D. the early 1960s.
E. the late 1970s and early 1980s.

12 A market consisting of many firms, low barriers to entry, some control over price, but considerable nonprice competition is characteristic of
A. perfect competition.
B. monopoly.
C. monopolistic competition.
D. oligopoly.
E. none of the above.

13 The important determinants of the price elasticity of demand are the
A. number and closeness of available substitutes, importance in consumers’ budgets, and length of the time period.
B. number of markets, size of buyers’ incomes, and empirical validity.
C. number of firms, number of variables that must be held constant, and degree to which markets are separable.
D. scope and method of measurement and calculation, and transitivity of preferences.
E. state of technology, size of the firm’s plants, and size of the absolute change in input prices and quantity.

14 A firm given exclusive rights by the government to do business in a particular area is
A. a patent monopoly.
B. an output monopoly.
C. a natural monopoly.
D. a franchise monopoly.
E. an input monopoly.

15 A market consisting of a few firms producing similar products with significant barriers to entry is characteristic of
A. perfect competition.
B. monopoly.
C. monopolistic competition.
D. oligopoly.
E. none of the above.

16 A business firm that is regarded as a fictitious legal person is called a
A. front.
B. corporation.
C. silent partnership.
D. limited proprietorship.
E. special interest.

17 An oligopolistic market is one with
A. firms having no power over price.
B. few sellers.
C. few buyers.
D. several monopolists operating simultaneously.
E. product groups.

18 A market demand curve shows
A. what price will prevail in the marketplace.
B. how much of a commodity will be purchased in a given period of time at various prices.
C. the rate at which consumption of a commodity will increase as income goes up.
D. the minimum price consumers will have to pay to get a certain quantity.
E. that as price goes up consumers will spend more money on a commodity.

19 In a market economy, firms decide what and how much to produce on the basis of their
A. income, tastes, and market supplies.
B. marginal and average utilities.
C. humanitarian ideals.
D. costs and what they can charge for their products.
E. orders from a central government planning bureau.

20 When Pester U. with an annual enrollment of 3,600 students raised its tuition from $18,000 to $19,500, its enrollment fell by 200 students. What is the school’s arc elasticity of demand?
A. 0.13.
B. 0.67.
C. 0.71.
D. 1.4.
E. 1.5.

Part 2: Short Answer questions:

1 (7 points) Read Case Study 16.2 (Oil price Increases and Drilling Activity) on apge 380 of your text, then explain how rising oil prices during the OPEC oil embargo resulted in an increase in the supply of domestic oil production.

2 (6 points) Explain why a firm continues to produce in the short run so long as the price exceeds the average variable cost, even if the price is lower than the average cost.

Read Case Study 18.1 “Price Ceilings and Price Supports” and Case Study 18.2 “Starting from Scratch: The Transition from Communism to Capitalism” on pages 436-438 in your book, then answer the questions below:

3 (6 points) What is a price ceiling? Compare what is said in paragraph 2 of Case Study 18.2 on page 437 with the picture in Case Study 18.1 on page 436. Would the line of people in the picture have disappeared if the U.S. government had eliminated the price ceililng on sugar? Why or why not?

4. (6 points) Why do you think the bureaucrats and managers of state owned enterprises (see last paragraph of Case Study 18.2 starting on page 437) in the old Communist Bloc used their power to subvert the free market reforms the governments of these countries were trying to implement?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 28101
Spring 2006

Assignment 4

Read Case Study 20.3 (page 484) in your textbook dealing with Airline deregulation. Then read my comments and the article below entitled Airport Privatization and answer the questions here.

1 (10 points) What has been the effect on jobs (i.e., have the increased or decreased and by how much) in the Airline Industry and on airline ticket prices (i.e., increased or decreased and by how much) as a result of deregulation?

2 (10 points) Is airline travel safer or more dangerous as a result of airline deregulation? Explain your reasoning.

3 (10 points) List reasons for privatization of airports and the air traffic control system. Also, what are some reasons for NOT privatizing airports and the air traffic control system.

4 (10 points) In your opinion would privatizing airports make travel better (in terms of customer service, safety, efficiency, etc.) or worse than they are now.

5 (10 points) What has been Canada’s experience with airport privitization?

Instructor’s Comments

Your book and the videos discuss deregulation which was well underway in the U.S. at the time the “Economics U$A” program was being produced and broadcast. Deregulation involves the repeal of regulations that both restrict what the regulated industry can do as well as protecting the regulated industry from competition.

Mainly overlooked was the concept of privatization which involves the sale of government run operations. While governments at all levels in the U.S. provide goods and services (schools, roads, airports, water authorities, etc.) that could be provided by private business these are not as extensive as in other nations where a large percent (as in pre-Thatcher Britain, or places like Sweden today) or all (as in the former Soviet Union) of the productive capacity is owned by the government. But pressure for privatization appears to be increasing in the U.S. as governments at all levels find themselves strapped for cash due to taxpayer revolts and hard pressed to provide the variety that consumers desire (compare the wide range of specialized private schools with the “one size fits all” offering of public schools in the U.S.)

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 3

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 28101
Spring 2006

Assignment 3

Read the article below entitled Ronald Reagan and the Spirit of Free Enterprise by George Gilder and answer the following questions.

Each question is worth 10 points for a total of 50 points.

1. According to the article why does the lowering of tax rates cause government revenues to increase?

2. What does the author mean by the statement “That is why high tax rates do not redistribute incomes. They redistribute taxpayers out of taxable activities and onto golf courses, into barter exchanges and among foreign regimes with lower rates”?

3. What is Supply Side economic theory and what does it say about the relationship between taxes and government revenues?

4. The author, George Gilder, like Ronald Reagan, is a political conservative who prefers to see the government reduced in size. Yet, Gilder praises Reagan for the supply side economic policy that resulted in increased government revenues which resulted in an increase rather than a decrease in the size of the Federal Government (despite the claims of his political opponents, the size of the Federal Government increased rather than decreased during the presidency of Ronald Reagan). How does Gilder rationalize his support of an economic policy that increases government size with his political philosophy that seeks a smaller Federal government?

5. According to Gilder, under the heading of “Moral Foundations of the Free Market” in his article, the market does a better job of helping the poor than the government’s policies of redistributing income from rich to poor. Explain how the market, according to Gilder, improves the lot of the poor better than government redistribution policies.

Ronald Reagan and the Spirit of Free Enterprise
by
George Gilder
Chairman, Gilder Publishing LLC/Author, Wealth and Poverty

George Gilder is chairman of Gilder Publishing LLC and a senior fellow at the Discovery
Institute. He attended Exeter Academy and Harvard University, where he co-founded
Advance. Later a fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Politics and editor of the Ripon Forum,
he served as a speechwriter for Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney, Richard Nixon and
others. He is the author of the Gilder Technology Report and twelve books, including Men
and Marriage, Wealth and Poverty, The Spirit of Enterprise and Telecosm. A pioneer in
the formulation of supply-side economics, he is a contributor to Forbes magazine and has
written for The Economist, the Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal and
several other publications. In 1986, President Reagan presented him the White House
Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.

The following is adapted from a speech delivered on May 24, 2004, at a Hillsdale College
National Leadership Seminar in Seattle, Washington.

Since Ronald Reagan’s death, many inspiring speeches have been delivered and adulatory articles written about his presidency. But few of the tributes have recognized Reagan’s greatest achievement, which was indispensable to the U.S. triumph in the Cold War and is crucial for the current war on terrorism. Reagan tapped the creativity of America’s entrepreneurs to bring about a global, not just a national, economic revolution.

Poets describe creativity as “Promethean,” referring to the mythical hero who brought fire to the earth. A Promethean era in world history, the Reagan presidency lit the fires of American creativity – and they have been roaring ever since. Reagan’s ideas transformed American finance, global economics and world politics. They reverberated through Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and China with the power of Joshua’s trumpets. They made South Korea a more economically important and promising country than France or Germany.

To the defenders of the old order – Third World despots, legal monopolies, land trusts, gold funds, oil cartels, bureaucracies and tyrannies of all kinds – the Promethean roar was an insufferable racket. They mustered all their powers to prevent the transformation from occuring. The facts reveal their failure – and Reagan’s success: Since 1980, U.S. marginal tax rates fell some 40 percent on income and 75 percent on capital gains and dividends, and the American economy added close to 36 million jobs. During the same time period, Europe and Japan created scarcely any net new employment outside of government. American companies now constitute 57 percent of global market capitalization, and the U.S. commands close to one half of the world’s economic assets.

America, responsible for one fifth of global GDP in 1980, produced one third of global GDP in 2003. That is Ronald Reagan’s legacy.

The Lasting Impact of Supply-Side Economics
The key to this awesome and unprecedented triumph was Reagan’s dismantling of the confiscatory tax codes imposed on the capitalist world during World War II. Supporting Reagan’s tax rate reductions was a movement of economists and journalists called supply-siders. We were so unpopular that Bob Dole used to crack a “good news/bad news” joke about a Greyhound bus going over a cliff. The good news was that it was “full of supply-side economists.”

A central component of supply-side economics is the Laffer Curve – named for its inventor, the economist Arthur Laffer – which shows that low tax rates produce more revenue than high ones. Ronald Reagan understood and embraced the Laffer Curve. He would regale White House visitors with a story about actors and producers in Hollywood who simply stopped working when their marginal tax rates rose over 50 percent. A rate high on the Laffer Curve, as Reagan knew, means that more work for more income is less profitable than maneuvering to avoid taxes on existing income. According to my research, the correct curve shows that tax rates should be kept very low – well below 20 percent – and that higher rates tend to reduce long run government income and massively reduce private sector wealth.

In the media and the academy, however, the Laffer Curve is widely discredited. Even many Republicans speak of “paying” for tax cuts with spending cuts and claim that the real burden of government on the economy is what it spends rather than how it taxes. But to say that tax cuts cost money is to imply that current tax rates do not obstruct economic activity, and therefore that reductions are unnecessary. If you concede that tax cuts reduce government revenue, it becomes quite difficult to defend tax cuts effectively in a democracy where at least one third of the voters are directly dependent on government spending for their livelihoods, and where most of the rest cherish some kind of government program.

Reagan’s genius was to show us a way out of this dilemma: The real undeniable test of tax policy is not short-term shifts in revenue but long-term shifts in spending that are most clearly manifested by increases in the federal budget. Between 1981 and 2004, current government spending in terms of dollars increased fivefold while the total hovered a little above 20 percent of GDP.

In the mid-1980s, World Bank economist Keith Marsden showed how this is possible: Low tax countries increase their spending three times faster than comparable high tax countries. This is because the low tax economies grow six times faster. For most of the period since World War II, the fastest growing economy in the world, with the fastest growth in government spending, was Hong Kong, with a top rate of 16 percent. A study by Jude Wanniski at Polyconomics extended the analysis through the Reagan era, with the same results. In recent years, Ireland, New Zealand and Russia massively increased spending after drastically reducing tax rates. Russia has increased outlays by some 60 percent after enacting a 13 percent flat tax.

Why do I stress government spending, after a long career of attacking it? The reason is simple: What is crucial is not the absolute level of government but the size of government compared to the size of the private sector. In every country that enacted tax rate reductions, the absolute growth of the private sector enormously outpaced the growth of government.
The growth of the private sector is measured not merely by output but also by assets. In the 25 years since Reagan assumed office, U.S. household assets have more than tripled, to a current record of $52 trillion. Driven by a surging stock market, America’s increase in private wealth dwarfs the increases in debt that cause such agony for one-handed economists in Washington, who dutifully gauge the swell of liabilities but seem blinded to the mountainous growth of assets.

By cutting tax rates, Reagan was able to fund a 50 percent increase in defense spending. This expansion of the military was crucial to winning the Cold War. Social spending also grew by some 25 percent – although I should hasten to add that Reagan sharply reduced the nation’s debt by negotiating a Social Security Commission regime that extended the age of retirement and cut back the implicit liabilities in the Social Security program by some six trillion dollars. These reforms radically improved the fiscal position of the government compared to the 1970s, when real Social Security liabilities doubled.

The 1970s ended with a budget (minus Social Security) that was nearly balanced and a balance of payments surplus. When Reagan assumed office in 1981, the government was apparently in the black. But most of the private sector was in the red, with bankrupt Savings and Loans and interest rates over 15 percent. Reagan knew that all government spending ultimately depends on the output and assets of the private sector. While the federal budget deficit (exclusive of Social Security) swelled under Reagan in absolute terms as he confronted the Soviet Union in the Cold War, the federal debt shrunk sharply as a share of national assets. Far from losing ground in high technology, the U.S. began a 20-year surge of innovation in computers and communications that has made the U.S. the world’s dominant source of technical advance and new wealth. Personal computers and networks became central to world economic growth.

Meanwhile, with the top tax rate dropping from 50 to 28 percent under Reagan, tax contributions by the top five percent of earners rose from nine to 18 percent of the total, while contributions from the bottom 20 percent dropped from six to two percent. The top 50 percent of taxpayers paid 94.5 percent of the federal income taxes. Lower tax rates resulted in much larger tax payments by the rich.

Reagan’s economic policies proved to be so popular that they were extended, for the most part, under President Clinton and a Republican Congress. Whatever Clinton’s intentions were, he could not reverse the Reagan momentum. While Clinton hiked the top rate to 39 percent (compared to 50 percent when Reagan took office), Congress enacted and Clinton signed a drop in the capital gains tax to 20 percent and the U.S. became a nation of stockholders as Reagan had prophesied repeatedly.

Leading the Global Economy
The key Reagan accomplishment is rarely recognized at all: We are now in a global economy. While economists constantly parse statistics about the U.S., as if our economy were isolated from the world, the real impact of economic policy today can only be gauged by global data. Overall, the Reagan program led to a shift in the global economic balance of power as dramatic as the victory in the Cold War – and vital to it.

Far from falling behind Japan and Europe, as the experts had predicted throughout the 1980s, the U.S. surged into global economic dominance. To repeat: Beginning in 1980 with a GDP at one fifth of the global total, the U.S. had attained a national output of $11 trillion by 2003, fully one third of a global GDP of $33 trillion. This is an awesome and unprecedented change. In the entire history of the peacetime world economy, nothing like it has ever happened. Coming after President Carter’s “malaise” in the 1970s, the American ascent is directly attributable to the program of low marginal tax rates, deregulation of energy prices, collapse of inflation, expansion of trade, and active globalization launched by Ronald Reagan.

Why then do critics still speak of “voodoo economics”? Why is it that even some supply-siders insistently deny that lower tax rates pay for themselves with higher revenues, when Reagan’s tax cutting regime brought about a fivefold rise in federal spending without increasing the government share of GDP? Why does the current administration still speak of $1.6 trillion tax cuts and $300 billion stimulus packages as if it cost money to reduce perverse and counterproductive government burdens?

One key reason is the stultifying grip of the demand-side model on the entire economics community. University and media economists still find themselves far behind Reagan in grasping the dynamics of an international economy. The economics profession functions like an establishment of flat earth physicists still patiently waiting for the ships of supply-siders to fall off the edge of the world.

While the economics profession remained lost in a maze of equilibrium models, Ronald Reagan knew the facts of entrepreneurial disequilibrium and creativity. To a supply-sider, government is a kind of business. It competes with other governments around the world. It competes to attract entrepreneurs and capital to its jurisdiction and to foster expansion of existing enterprises. By lowering marginal tax rates – the rates on additional activity – governments can induce people to produce and invest within their borders. By raising tax rates, they drive entrepreneurs to other jurisdictions and to non-taxable activities. That is why high tax rates do not redistribute incomes. They redistribute taxpayers out of taxable activities and onto golf courses, into barter exchanges and among foreign regimes with lower rates.

Moral Foundations of the Free Market
The reason for tax cuts is not to allow the rich to keep their money. It is to enable entrepreneurs to invest money by making their investments profitable. Through the investment process, entrepreneurs give money to others, in their own or other businesses. By earning the money, they learned how to identify the people best able to increase its worth. They learned how to use the money in ways that respond to the needs of their customers. They mastered the magic of lowering prices in order to increase revenues. And they reached out to the largest untapped markets of the world economy, which are always the domains of billions of currently poor people struggling to gain wealth.

As Reagan understood, high tax rates do not stop someone from being rich: Those who are already rich can move their money to protected havens. High tax rates stop poor people from getting rich. They stop entrepreneurs from supplying new goods and services that generate more wealth and jobs and value and tax revenue. In truth, defending tax cuts as a way to keep more of one’s money is the opposite of the case. Tax cuts are good because they allow us to give our money to others in an ever-expanding spiral of economic opportunity. In the end, the rich can keep only what they give away – that is, what they entrust to others in the ever-spreading process of investment and growth.

These rules of giving and trust are no less important today, as the U.S. becomes an information economy. American entrepreneurs are, as we all are, not without sin. But their every decision has met an empirical test beyond appeal – a marketplace crucible beyond their control. Thus they are the world’s true realists and most proven pragmatists. All of them know deeply that to reach the top, they first have to get to the bottom of things. To lead, they first have to listen. To save themselves, they must serve others and solve others’ problems.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and “Give and you will be given unto” are the central rules of the life of enterprise. Because you cannot give what you do not own, enterprise requires the rights of property. Because successful entrepreneurs often defy the conventional wisdom, the life of enterprise requires personal freedom. Because entrepreneurs have to serve and collaborate with others, they must be men and women of character and faith. Character enables an entrepreneur to commit his work and wealth over a period of years to bring into the world a new good that the world may well reject. Character is essential to the act of putting one’s fate into the hands of unknown others in a market of voluntary choice.

Bullheaded, defiant, tenacious and creative, America’s entrepreneurs continue to vindicate the faith of Ronald Reagan and the teaching of Hillsdale College. They continue to solve the problems of the world faster than the world can create them. Confronting the perennial perils of human life and the often overwhelming odds against human triumph, the entrepreneur finds strength in a deep faith and demonstrates that genuine charity is not to be found in government largesse. The entrepreneur’s success is a triumph of the American character.

Today is a heyday for entrepreneurs. As Reagan’s policies have taken hold, the proportion of new jobs created through self-employment and proprietorships has risen from five percent in the 1980s to nine percent in the 1990s, and to 31 percent today. President Bush’s low tax rates on capital gains and dividends have unleashed a new surge of entrepreneurship.

The ultimate source of American entrepreneurial character is our educational system. Today, more than ever, that educational system is in disarray. Too many schools are losing contact with the sources of the American character in family, faith, freedom and limited government. Too many universities are pandering to their students rather than teaching them.

In a contrarian spirit, Hillsdale boldly countervails this tide of mush and mediocrity, contining the entrepreneurial struggle and earning the faith of American entrepreneurs. And in its fealty to the cultivation of American character, it has become an American treasure.

Copyright ? 2004
Reprinted by permission from IMPRIMIS,
the monthly journal of Hillsdale College
(http://www.hillsdale.edu).

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Take Home Test 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 – CRN 28101

Spring 2006

Test 2

Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions 5 points each:

1. Gross domestic product
A. equals the total wages paid in a year.
B. is a measure of government output.
C. equals the total value of final goods and services produced in a year.
D. is the sum of all goods, both final and intermediate.
E. is an obsolete economic indicator of inflation.

2. Over the last 50 years, federal, state, and local governments have
A. increased their expenditures faster than the growth in total output.
B. gradually but steadily declined in importance in economic matters.
C. demonstrated a movement toward significant public ownership of the means of production.
D. moved increasingly toward nationalization of the defense industry.
E. appreciably expanded public ownership in the electric power industry.

3. Say’s law
A. states that the total amount paid out for resources must equal the value of the goods produced.
B. states that all income spent must have been earned.
C. is the intellectual basis for the Keynesian model of income and employment.
D. is an integral part of the Marxian analysis of capitalism.
E. requires the assumption of wage and price rigidity.

4. The three generally recognized types of unemployment are
A. voluntary, potential, and residual.
B. cyclical, frictional, and structural.
C. involuntary, temporary, and disciplinary.
D. teenage, female, and nonwhite.
E. classical, Keynesian, and post-Keynesian.

5. Which of the following was the most important force in bringing an end to the Great Depression?
A. The natural resilience of the economy
B. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies
C. U.S. involvement in World War II
D. Delayed impact from increased business investment in the early 1930s
E. Falling wages and prices

6. A basic objection to increased public works spending when serious unemployment appears likely to develop is that
A. such spending would lead to a budget deficit.
B. such spending would lead to a decline in GDP.
C. all public works projects are wasteful.
D. there is a long lag between authorizing a program and actually spending the money.
E. stabilization policy is more important than the long-run desirability of public works.

7. The fundamental idea of fiscal policy is that
A. the government should spend more than it collects in taxes.
B. decision making should be left to the Council of Economic Advisers.
C. the government can change the equilibrium GDP by promoting a change in public and/or private spending.
D. the government should always balance its budget.
E. unemployment is a less serious concern than inflation.

8. Currently, the largest share of the annual federal budget goes for
A. interest on the national debt.
B. energy programs.
C. education and health.
D. national defense and other items connected with international relations and national security.
E. Social Security programs, welfare and other income security programs, health, and education.

9. The phase of the business cycle in which output is lowest relative to its potential level is the
A. peak.
B. trough.
C. recession.
D. expansion.
E. trend.

10. According to economist Richard Gill, the source of our economy’s real income is
A. profits.
B. the goods we produce.
C. the resourcefulness and skill of our people.
D. impossible to identify.
E. the amount of money in circulation.

11. Using the spending and taxing powers of government to stabilize the economy is called fiscal
A. fitness.
B. policy.
C. federalism.
D. finance.
E. reserve.

12. The consumption function expresses the relationship between consumption spending and
A. investment spending.
B. aggregate supply.
C. disposable income.
D. savings.
E. the 45-degree line.

13. High rates of inflation often characterize
A. depressions.
B. times of great unemployment.
C. wartime.
D. periods of falling aggregate demand.
E. rural areas.

14. Why was economist John Kenneth Galbraith opposed to the tax cut advocated by Walter Heller in 1964?
A. He did not believe the tax cut would have the desired impact.
B. He felt the tax cut would have the long-term effect of reducing the government’s income.
C. He did not believe the tax cut would get support in Congress.
D. He feared that tax cuts would gain popularity at the expense of important programs to assist the needy.
E. He wanted to be chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisers and was angry at being made ambassador to India.

15. The marginal propensity to consume is the
A. fraction of an extra dollar of GDP that becomes disposable income.
B. share of GDP spent by households and businesses.
C. proportion of an extra dollar of disposable income that is spent on consumption.
D. reciprocal of the average propensity to consume.
E. fraction of disposable income that is consumed.

16. Which of the following is NOT considered an automatic stabilizer?
A Changes in tax revenues that occur with economic activity.
B Unemployment compensation.
C Farm aid programs.
D Government expenditure for public works.
E Corporate dividend policies.

17. Social Security payments by the government are not included in GDP because
A. Social Security was not yet in place when procedures for calculating GDP were devised.
B. Social Security is counted as an economic cost and subtracted from output in determining GDP.
C. income received through Social Security is not directly related to contributions to production.
D. income received through Social Security is too small to affect GDP.
E. these payments are in current dollars and GDP is measured in constant dollars.

18 The primary reason President Johnson opposed raising taxes during his administration was that

A. until rather late in his administration, he feared that falling price levels would reduce government income.
B. he believed a tax increase to fund an unpopular war would be politically unwise.
C. his Council of Economic Advisers warned him that such a move would harm more than help the economy.
D. his attention was largely consumed with putting a man on the moon.
E. he felt the Federal Reserve System could control inflation by issuing more money.

19. In general, a business cycle goes through its phases in the following sequence
A. trough, peak, expansion, recession.
B. recession, trough, expansion, peak.
C. trough, recession, expansion, peak.
D. trough, expansion, recession, peak.
E. expansion, recession, trough, peak.

20. Inflation occurs whenever
A. aggregate demand rises.
B. the price of any given commodity rises.
C. the money supply increases more rapidly than output.
D. the tax rate is lower than the government spending rate.
E. the money supply falls.

Part 2: Short Answer questions:

1 (5 points) What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? How is it calculated and what does it tell us about the economy of a nation?

2 (10 points) According to Keynesian economics, a tax increase might have helped curbinflation during President Johnson’s administration. Why did Johnson oppose such an increase?

3. (10 points) On the first page of Chapter 1 in your book it states that economics is concerned with the way resources are allocated among alternative uses to SATISFY HUMAN WANTS (emphasis mine). In the video, then Senator, Harry Truman is quoted as saying “War is hell but peace could be worse” in reference to the possibility of a return of the Great Depression after World War II. Both the textbook and video credit the U.S. entry into World War II as causing the Great Depression to finally end. World War II did result in the full employment of all of our labor, land and capital resources and we even increased output capacity beyond what existed before the Great Depression. Setting aside for the moment the plight of our troops fighting at the front and the moral necessity of having to defeat the evil of fascism, were American households better off as a result of the full employment environment created by the war than they were during the Depression? Did the economy do a better job of producing goods to satisfy human (consumer) wants during the war than it did during the Depression? Explain your answer.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200
Spring 2006

Assignment 2

Review the discussion of the Phillips Curve on pages 175 – 179 in your book and then
read the attached article, entitled Who’s Afraid Of A Red-Hot Economy?, which
discusses current criticisms of the theory. Each question worth 12.5 points for a total of 50 points.

1. Why, according to the article, doesn’t economic growth cause inflation? How does economic growth help reduce inflation?

2. According to the article, what are Milton Friedman?s criticisms of the theory behind the Phillips Curve?

Answer the next two questions using your book, the videos and the ?Who’s Afraid Of A Red-Hot Economy?? article.

3. What is the NAIRU (non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment) and why are economists concerned with this concept?

4. In the Who’s Afraid Of A Red-Hot Economy? article Wayne Angell is quoted as describing inflation as a monetary phenomenon. What does he mean by this and how does this view of inflation differ from that presented in your book and the videos?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Take Home Test 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 – CRN 28101

Spring 2006

Test 1

Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions 5 points each:

1 If the supply of fishing licenses increases,

A the quantity of fishing poles demanded probably decreases.
B the supply of fishing poles probably decreases.
C the price of fishing licenses probably increases.
D the demand for fishing poles probably increases.
E none of the above.

2 There would be no economic problems in a world in which all resources were

A. free.
B. natural.
C. bought and sold for a price.
D. owned by the government.
E. scarce.

3 One of the four basic tasks any economic system must perform is
A. measuring the size of its production possibilities curve.
B. conducting a population census.
C. eliminating free resources.
D. classifying economic resources.
E. determining the kinds of goods to be produced and the amount of each.

4 According to economic analysis, shortages of a good mean
A. supply is too low.
B. demand is too high.
C. actual price is too low.
D. production is too low.
E. equilibrium price is too low.

5 A country’s standard of living is closely correlated with its
A. physical size.
B. population density.
C. mineral resources
D. cultural diversity.
E. labor force productivity.

6 The expression “there’s no such thing as a ‘free lunch'” is
A. generally untrue.
B. irrelevant to the subject of economics.
C. a recognition that our capacity to produce goods is limited.
D. an example of normative economics.
E. applicable solely to the inefficient use of resources.

7 According to the video, insufficient housing was a problem after World because
A. the United States experienced excessive numbers of people immigrating from Europe and Japan whose housing had been destroyed by the war.
B. the depression and mobilization of resources to fight World War II resulted in little housing construction for over 15 years.
C the supply of housing exceeded the demand for housing, pushing prices up.
D. unionization of construction workers shifted the supply curve of housing to the left, resulting in higher prices.
E. the availability of land in and around major U.S. cities was severely limited because of past development.

8 Which of the following is the best example of capital?
A. Mineral deposits
B. Human effort
C. Buildings and equipment that contribute to production
D. Accounts receivable
E. Goods and services purchased by households for their enjoyment

9 During the summer months, it is not unusual for both the price and the quantity consumed of gasoline to rise. These conditions reflect
A. a violation of the law of demand.
B. a shift to the left of the supply curve.
C. an increase in demand.
D. a condition of deficient demand.
E. a surplus.

10 In free markets, the price system encourages producers to meet consumers’ wants because
A. it signals producers as to which goods are profitable.
B. producers have the public interest in mind.
C. it allows the government to direct firms to the best production technique.
D. it rewards consumers for the resources they bring to the marketplace.
E. consumers are generally willing to pay more than the actual price.

11 Werner H., an engineer very experienced in bridge design, is looking for a position with a firm that specializes in bridge building. In presenting his qualifications, he takes care to point out his experience in handling difficult terrain. Werner is currently doing business in a
A. consumers’ market
B. business market.
C. product market.
D. resource market.
E. closed market.

12 According to Richard Gill in the Economics U$A video, the opportunity costs for preserving the Alaskan wilderness are measured by the loss of
A. worker health benefits in textile manufacturing.
B. minerals rendered unavailable for development.
C. wilderness areas in the lower 48 states.
D. tax revenues to the federal government.
E. foreign oil because of the cutback in OPEC oil production.

13 The idea that the pursuit of private self-interest by consumers and firms also promotes the public interest is called
A. roundabout production.
B. the circular flow.
C. opportunity cost.
D. the invisible hand.
E. innovation.

14 An improvement in technology or an increase in the amount of capital goods will
A. result in movement along a fixed production possibilities curve.
B. diminish the society’s production potential.
C. increase the opportunity costs of all goods.
D. cause the production possibilities curve to become vertical.
E. shift the production possibilities curve outward.

15 Economics is best defined as the study of how
A. to classify resources used to produce final goods and services.
B. resources are apportioned to satisfy human wants.
C. modern businesses have grown and prospered.
D. technology can be used to change scarce resources into free resources.
E. pure capitalism has become the best system for satisfying basic human wants.

16 New residents moving into a growing community increase the
A. size of housing.
B. elegance of housing.
C. housing surplus.
D. quantity demanded of housing.
E. demand for housing.

17 In a free market, actual price will
A. remain unchanged as equilibrium price changes.
B. move toward equilibrium price.
C. cause the demand and supply curves to shift direction.
D. always exceed equilibrium price.
E. be very difficult to calculate.

18 In a free market, producers’ desires to maximize profit
A. inevitably lead to rising market prices.
B. are inconsistent with incentives to introduce new technology.
C. guarantee that firms never take losses.
D. cause firms to use the most efficient techniques.
E. mean that government must control prices to prevent producers from overcharging consumers.

19 When Adam Smith described the invisible hand, he was talking about
A. the price system.
B. central planning.
C. opportunity cost.
D. the division of labor.
E. disguised unemployment.

20 In general, supply curves slope upward to the right because
A. increases in the price of a commodity lead to rightward shifts of the supply curve.
B. rising prices motivate producers to offer more units for sale.
C. technology progresses over time, increasing the ability of firms to produce more at existing prices.
D. of increases in input prices as production is increased.
E. empirical studies almost always show that this is the case.

Part II: SHORT ANSWER

1. (5 points) Read Case Study 1.3 (“Adam Smith, father of modern economics”) and Case Study 2.1 (“How the price system determines what is produced: low-cost homes after World War II”) in your book. Then explain how “the ‘invisible hand’ that leads the private inteest of firms and individuals toward socially desirable ends,…” works to have the economy produce what is needed without central direction from the governemnt.

For the next 2 questions read the article entitled “Happy Returns: Here’s What Happens To Many Lovely Gifts After Santa Rides Off” (Wall Street Journal, Wednesday December 26, 2001, Page A1)

2. According to the article (paragragh 19) , Mr. Topp of the Topp Group pays Uniden Corp. $15 per phone for returned telephones and, after refurbishing, re-sells them for $20. Below, In paragraph 23, the article states that Mr. Topp’s best technicians, who can refurbish 25 – 30 telephones per day, earn $60 per week.

a. (2 points) Assuming, for sake of arguement, a 5 day, 40 hour week, what is the hourly pay for the top technicians at Topp Group?

b. (2 points) At $60 per week, what is the labor cost to refurbish each phone if the technician refurbishes 30 phones per day (assume 5 day week)? What is the labor cost per phone if the technician only does 25 phones per day? How do the 25 and 30 phones per day rate affect the labor cost per phone if they work a 6 day week (pay remains $60 per week)?

c. (2 points) While numbers are not given in the article, there are other costs, besides the pay of the technicians refurbishing the phones (ex. the pay of those working on the shipping dock who unload the returned phones and re-load the refurbished phones on the trucks). Identify at least three additional costs besides technician and loading dock workers pay.

d. (2 points) Given that Topp Group’s gross profit (the difference between what they sell the refurbished telephones for and what they pay Uniden Corp. for the phones) is $5 per phone, what effect would imposing the U.S. $5.15 per hour minimum wage have on Topp Group’s NET profit (which is gross profit MINUS all costs incurred between the time they purchase the phones from Uniden for $15 and sell them to the retailer for $20)?

e. (2 points) Have any American jobs been lost as a result of the Topp Group’s operations? Explain your answer.

3. Because the work done by companies, like the Topp Group, is labor intensive and low margin, the companies cannot afford to opearate in the United States and therefore would not exist without the free trade environment created by NAFTA the North American Free Trade Agreement (and they did not exist prior to NAFTA). Jobs created by the Topp Group and similar companies in Mexico were new jobs and not jobs “exported” from the U.S. leaving U.S. workers out of work. Further, according to the article the value of goods returned to vendors by U.S. consumers (for replacement or refund) is in excess of $100 BILLION per year. Explain how each of the groups below benefit from the activities of companies like the Topp Group which exist because of NAFTA. (Hint: remember that people are employed and profits earned in the production, shipping, distribution, etc. of this EXTRA $100 billion worth of goods which ends up in Mexico as a result of American consumers returning them).

a. (2 points) Mexican workers employed in refurbishing returned goods.

b. (2 points) Mexican and South American consumers.

c. (2 points) Workers employed by Mexican shipping companies and retail outlets.

d. (2 points) American workers employed in manufacturing, shipping, retailing, etc.

e. (2 points) The environment.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – Assignment 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 10072
Spring 2006

Assignment 1

Read the article below entitled What is the Free Market? by Murray N. Rothbard. Also read the introduction and first two chapters of your text and view the first two broadcasts of Economics U$A. Then answer the following questions.

1 (10 points) According to Rothbard what two factors determine the terms of a voluntary exchange of goods (or money and goods) between two people?

2 (10 points) Explain how both parties in a voluntary exchange benefit from the transaction. Use an example from your own experience to illustrate. How does the concept of both parties benefiting from the exchange differ from the mercantilist view of an economic transaction?

3 (10 points) How does the use of money for exchange enable to market to facilitate larger and complex networks of transactions?

4 (10 points) Explain why the socialist planners in the former Soviet Union were unable to take a bumper (i.e., very large) harvest of wheat and convert it to bread and other baked goods for consumption by consumers in cities throughout the former Soviet Union?

5 (10 points) Rothbard states that voluntary exchanges in the market between two people are win-win situations where both participants benefit. Assume that you have a busy day at work and have to skip lunch. Leaving work late you rush to class without having time to stop for dinner. You have some major questions about an important assignment and stay after class to discuss them with the teacher. When you finally leave you remember that you haven’t had time to do grocery shopping and, as a result, have no food at home. Hungry, but wanting to get home to sleep you stop at the first fast food place you see only to discover that all they have left are some unappetizing hamburgers and French fries that have been sitting on the warmer for the last couple of hours. The price is $10 but you pay it and take the food because you are hungry? Was this a voluntary transaction? Did the aging hamburger and fries provide you with more value than the $10 bill you handed over? Will you return to this place or refer your friends to it? Explain your answers.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Assignment 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name: _____________________________________

Assignment 4
Part IV ? Chapters 11- 14
Economics 202 ? Macro
Spring 2006

1. (10 points) Describe the process by which banks create money.

2. (10 points) Describe the expectations (or Fisher) effect.

3. (10 points) List and describe the four positions held by monetarists that help to explain the monetarists view of the economy.

4 (10 points) List and describe the three monetary policy tools the Federal Reserve can use to increase the money supply. Which tool is used most often?

5 (10 points) List and describe the three functions of money.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Assignment 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name: _____________________________________

Assignment 5
Part VIII ? Chapters 15 – 16
Economics 202 ? Macro
Spring 2006

1 Read the insert on page 372 of your text entitled How Economizing on Time Can Promote Economic Growth.

A (5 points) Explain why time is considered as a resource.

B (5 points) How does saving time increase economic growth and cause the Production Possibilities Curve to shift outward?

C (5 points) Your book cites computers as an example of time saving technology that results in greater output. Name four (4) other technological devices and explain both how they save time and result in greater output.

D (5 points) Explain how the invention of the wheel helped the ancients save time and improve their output.

2 (10 points) List and describe four factors that can contribute to economic growth.

3 (10 points) Explain the relationship that exists between economic growth and the price level.

4 (10 points) Describe the new growth theory. Explain how it differs from neoclassical growth theory.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name: ____________________________

Economics 201 – NELC
Spring 2006

Assignment 1
Covers Topics & Concepts in Part Six (Chapters 1 ? 4) of Text

Total Points for This Assignment = 50

Read the article below entitled What is the Free Market by Murray N. Rothbard. Also read the first four chapters of your text. Then answer the following questions.

1 (10 points) According to Rothbard what two factors determine the terms of a voluntary exchange of goods (or money and goods) between two people?

2 (10 points) Explain how both parties in a voluntary exchange benefit from the transaction. Use an example from your own experience to illustrate. How does the concept of both parties benefiting from the exchange differ from the mercantilist view of an economic transaction?

3 (10 points) How does the use of money for exchange enable to market to facilitate larger and complex networks of transactions?

4 (10 points) Explain why the socialist planners in the former Soviet Union were unable to take a bumper (i.e., very large) harvest of wheat and convert it to bread and other baked goods for consumption by consumers in cities throughout the former Soviet Union?

5 (10 points) Rothbard states that voluntary exchanges in the market between two people are win-win situations where both participants benefit. Assume that you have a busy day at work and have to skip lunch. Leaving work late you rush to class without having time to stop for dinner. You have some major questions about an important assignment and stay after class to discuss them with the teacher. When you finally leave you remember that you haven’t had time to do grocery shopping and, as a result, have no food at home. Hungry, but wanting to get home to sleep you stop at the first fast food place you see only to discover that all they have left are some unappetizing hamburgers and French fries that have been sitting on the warmer for the last couple of hours. The price is $10 but you pay it and take the food because you are hungry? Was this a voluntary transaction? Did the aging hamburger and fries provide you with more value than the $10 bill you handed over? Will you return to this place or refer your friends to it? Explain your answers.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name: __________________

Economics 201 – NELC
Spring 2006

Assignment 2
(Chapters 5 ? 8)

1. (10 points) Describe the diamond-water paradox.

2. (10 points) Why are there so many more proprietorships than corporations, yet corporations account for so much more of the sales of business firms in the county?

3. (10 points) Define economies of scale and give two reasons why a firm may experience economies of scale.

4 (10 points) Explain the differences between a share of stock and a bond.

5. (10 points) Suppose the current price of gasoline at the pump is $2.50 per gallon and that one million gallons are sold per month. A politician proposes to add a 20-cent tax to the price of a gallon of gasoline. She says the tax will generate $200,000 in tax revenues per month (one million gallons x $0.20 = $200,000). What assumption is she making?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 3

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name: ____________________________

Economics 201 – NELC
Spring 2006

Assignment 3
Covers Material & Topics in Part Three (Chapters 9 ? 12) of Text

Total Points for This Assignment = 50

Read chapters 9 ? 12 in your book and the article below entitled Myths about Business by Ninos Malek. Then answer the following questions:

1. In the “Myths” article, the author provides the following quote from Ludwig von Mises

The common man is the sovereign consumer whose buying or abstention from buying ultimately determines what should be produced and in what quantity and quality. [“The Anti-Capitalist Mentality”, p. 1, Ludwig von Mises]

a. (5 bonus points) Explain how the purchasing choices of consumers determine the type, quantity and quality of goods and services that are produced.

b. (5 bonus points) Explain how a free market (with easy entry and exit for competitors) makes it difficult or impossible for a business to cheat its customers or the public on a regular basis.

2. (10 points) What is a price taker? Discuss the assumptions used to obtain the perfectly competitive model.

3. The concept of “consumer surplus” is discussed in the “Myths…” article below.

a. (3 points) Explain the concept of consumer surplus.

b. (3 points) Give an example of a product or service for which you would be willing or would expect to pay more than the vendor is currently charging.

c. (4 points) Do you feel you are cheating the vendor when you have to pay less than you intended to pay for an item?

4. (10 points) How is monopolistic competition like perfect competition? How is it like monopoly?

5. (10 points) Define price discrimination. What three conditions must exist before a firm can use it?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name: ____________________________

Economics 201 – NELC
Spring 2005

Assignment 4
Covers Material & Topics in Part Four (Chapters 13 ? 16) of Text

Total Points for This Assignment = 50

1 (10 points) What are the costs and benefits to the criminal of committing a crime? How do rising real wages act to reduce the rate of crime?

2 (10 points) A small commuter plane crashes and two of its passengers are killed. Both are 30 year old breadwinners whose families rely on their income for support. One is a carpenter earning $40,000 per year and the other a doctor earning $300,000 per year. Both families sue the airline for their loss. Using the concept of present value, explain why the court in calculating compensation due each of these two people’s families would come up with very different settlement amounts.

3. (10 points) Why is it possible for the recycling of paper or plastics to use up more resources than the activity saves?

4 (10 points) Read the section entitled “What are College Professors’ Objectives” on pages 353 ? 354 of your book. What is the evidence, according to Professor Arnold, that college professors try to influence the elasticity of demand for their labor in order to increase their wages? Do you agree or disagree with the contention that traditional classrooms, smaller class sizes and subsidies for education are good in themselves or are they just a means of influencing the elasticity of demand for the services of college professors? Defend your argument.

5 (10 points) Going back to the example in question 2 above, assume that a third person is also killed in the crash. However, this person has chosen to stay home to manage manage the household and raise the couple’s five young children while the other spouse works. Explain how present value can be used to calculate the amount due this family from the airline.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 6

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name: ____________________________

Economics 201 – NELC
Spring 2006

Assignment 6
Covers Topics & Concepts in Part Six (Chapters 19 ? 20) of Text

Total Points for This Assignment = 50

Read Part 6 of your text (Chapters 19 ? 20) and the article entitled The Alleged China Threat, by Robert Murphy, which is attached. Then answer the questions below.

1 (10 points) Professor Murphy uses the example of his trade deficit with McDonald’s to illustrate his point that there is nothing unnatural about America’s trade deficit with China. I presume that Murphy has children and, based upon my experience of taking my wife and two sons to McDonald’s periodically to eat, I assume he spends $20 – $30 per trip to McDonald’s with his family. Since McDonald’s obviously does not buy anything from Professor Murphy, how can he continue to run this trade deficit with McDonald’s year after year and what, if any, threat does this trade imbalance pose to the Murphy household’s financial stability? Will Murphy eventually be forced to quit his job as an economics professor and go to work at McDonald’s (i.e., export his services to McDonald’s) in order to keep the dollar value of what he buys from McDonald’s in balance with the dollar value of what he sells (his labor) to McDonald’s? Explain.

2 (10 points) I don’t know Murphy or his wife. But let’s assume for a moment that Mrs. Murphy initially stayed home to raise the children, cook the meals and take care of the house. Then assume that once the children were in school, Mrs. Murphy took a job outside the home and that is when the family began stopping at McDonald’s for dinner one or two nights a week. Is the family better off or worse off now that Mrs. Murphy has had her hours as the Murphy family’s cook reduced? What if, instead of Mrs. Murphy taking a job outside the home, Professor Murphy got a raise and that is when the family began going to McDonald’s for dinner a couple of nights a week. Has the family been harmed because Mrs. Murphy has had her hours as family cook reduced without any compensating job outside the home to make up for the hours lost? With her lighter workload at home (now that the family is dining out at McDonald’s more frequently) does Mrs. Murphy have more time and energy available to seek work outside? Explain.

3 (10 points) How are the trade deficits and surpluses accumulated by the Murphy household in their trade with the outside world balanced? How is this similar or different from the trade deficits between the U.S. and the rest of the world?

4 (10 points) What is meant by the term “Fair Trade”? Are American consumers better off or worse off economically when the Chinese government taxes its people and uses the proceeds to subsidize the price of Chinese goods so that American consumers do not have to pay as much for these goods? Explain your answer.

5 (10 points) What is meant by the statement that the Yuan is “undervalued”? Would you, as a consumer, be better off or worse off economically if the Chinese government stopped actions to manipulate the value of the yuan and let the market determine its value? Explain your answer.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Chinese New Year – Year of the Dog 4704

In reply to Supply & Demand

Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year’s celebrations for the Chinese lunar new year 4704. Since it is a lunar (moon), rather than a solar (sun) year New Year’s Day varies from year to year depending upon the cycle of the moon. In the Chinese calendar the lunar New Year begins on the first day of the new moon (i.e., when the dark side of the moon is facing earth and thus is not visible from earth).

Being a lunar rather than a solar calendar makes it somewhat difficult to convert between the modern Gregorian calendar (which was an updating by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 of the Julian calendar created at the direction of the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar in 46 B.C.). The Chinese lunar calendar consists of a cycle of twelve alternating years named after animals – Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare (rabbit), Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep (or goat), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig (boar) ? within a larger sixty year cycle. Where as the modern Western calendar uses the birth of Christ as its starting reference point and numbers years prior to the birth of Christ in ascending order backwards from his birth with the suffix B.C. for Before Christ and for years since his birth in ascending order with the suffix A.D. or Ano Domine(which is Latin for After Christ), the Chinese calendar used to number years for reference purposes according to the number of years since the start of the reign of the current emperor (this practice is followed in most countries down to the present ? official government proclamations usually reference the current calendar year and the year of the reign of the current monarch ? or, like the U.S. which is a republic the years elapsed since the founding of the republic ? the ratification of the Constitution in the case of the U.S.) Following the 1911 eleven revolution in China which ended the rule of the emperors, Sun Yat-sen abolished the link between years and reigns of emperors and changed the calendar to start counting years from the origin of the Chinese calendar which occurred about 2698 B.C. in the western calendar thus making the western year 2006 the year 4704 (2698 + 2006 = 4704).

The same historical forces which have made Christmas, a western holiday, known around the world are also responsible for the dispersal of the Chinese New Year celebration around the world. The fourteenth century publication of Marco Polo’s account of his travels in China is generally credited with the western world’s renewed interest in China and the Orient. Rising wealth in Europe brought about increased trade with the East. However, the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 cut off the main trade route to China from Europe forcing Europeans to seek a sea route to the Orient. Christopher Columbus stumbled into the New World in 1492 while trying to reach China and India by sea and Vasco de Gama successfully navigated to India in 1497 by sailing east around the tip of Africa.

The discovery of sea routes to Asia and of the New World brought about both a vast increase in trade as well as huge shifts in population. It is common knowledge that there was mass migration from Europe to the New World as well as to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 million people left Europe to seek a better life economically and politically in the new lands. Most of these chose to make the move but some, such as petty criminals, were transported to these lands in lieu of imprisonment at home. Large numbers were also transported, involuntarily, from Africa to the New World as the rising demand for cheap labor and new trading arrangements transformed the regional African slave trade into a global trade. In addition to the movement of Europeans and Africans, another 50 million from China and India migrated to the New World as well as to European colonies in the Pacific, other parts of Asia and Africa. Like the Europeans, the Chinese and Indians were motivated by the desire to better themselves economically as well as by the desire for more freedom. While the Chinese and Indians were often mistreated and exploited in the new lands, sufficient numbers found life in the new lands better than back home and elected to stay, giving rise to large Chinese and Indian communities throughout the world.

Today, economic prosperity has resulted not only in economic growth in China and India but also in a large and prosperous overseas Chinese community. Chinese New Year celebrations are taking place world-wide today and the press is full of stories and reports of celebrations in practically every major city in the world.

Like Christmas, there is some variation in the New Year’s traditions and customs practiced by Chinese in various parts of the world. Like traditions and customs in other areas, they evolve and change with time which does not make some people happy. An article in this morning’s Reuters UK quotes a Professor Gao Youpeng of Henan University saying:

Indeed, some worry that New Year traditions are being lost in the country’s headlong rush to develop economically.
“It is being attacked by Western culture,” Henan University Professor Gao Youpeng wrote this week in the official Guangming Daily, issuing what he called a “declaration to protect Spring Festival”.
“More and more people, especially the young, have no time to consider the true meaning of the festival and prefer to celebrate the game-like revelry of Western holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day,” he wrote.

Substitute Christmas for New Year and Spring Festival in the article and it reads like similar articles last month quoting disgruntled western traditionalists. The world is changing and evolving. Economic growth and rising incomes do result in new ways to celebrate holidays. But people still have the option to not adopt new traditions. Just because my neighbor prefers Jingle Bell Rock to Silent Night doesn’t mean that I have to give up Silent Night for Jingle Bell Rock. The beauty of the free market means that I can not only control what is done in my home (my private property) but also if I and others want to listen to Silent Night some enterprising merchant will see to it that we can buy it. So, if professor Youpeng wants to keep the traditions that he knew as a boy (and which may have been too modern and different compared to what his grandparents grew up with) more power to him! He is free to express his ideas and even go into business to promote and sell his traditional way of celebrating ? he just can’t use force to make others follow him.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Telecourse – EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS

In reply to Supply & Demand

This page contains the current extra credit assignment for my Economics 200 Telecourse students. All extra credit assignments will have a deadline and not only will extra credit assignments be accepted after that date, the assignments themselves will be erased from this page. If no assignment appears it means that an extra credit assignment is not currently available. To save you having to scroll down the blog to this page I will be posting a link to this page from my No Free Lunch webpage. Simply go to the web, click on the Economics 200 Telecourse page link and click on the Extra credit link to see if an assignment is available. Paper copies of the assignment will also be available at the Learning Resource Center at the Community Campus.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Microeconomics EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS

In reply to Supply & Demand

This page contains the current extra credit assignment for my Economics 201 (Microeconmics) students. All extra credit assignments will have a deadline and not only will extra credit assignments be accepted after that date, the assignments themselves will be erased from this page. If no assignment appears it means that an extra credit assignment is not currently available. To save you having to scroll down the blog to this page I will be posting a link to this page from my No Free Lunch webpage. Simply go to the web, click on the Economics 201 page link and click on the Extra credit link to see if an assignment is available. Paper copies of the assignment will also be available at the Learning Resource Center at the Community Campus.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 202 – Macroeconomics – EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS

In reply to Supply & Demand

This page contains the current extra credit assignment for my Economics 202 (Macroeconomics) students. All extra credit assignments will have a deadline and not only will extra credit assignments be accepted after that date, the assignments themselves will be erased from this page. If no assignment appears it means that an extra credit assignment is not currently available. To save you having to scroll down the blog to this page I will be posting a link to this page from my No Free Lunch webpage. Simply go to the web, click on the Economics 202 page link and click on the Extra credit link to see if an assignment is available. Paper copies of the assignment will also be available at the Learning Resource Center at the Community Campus.

This post originally appeared on an external website

SPRING SEMESTER EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS

In reply to Supply & Demand

An extra credit assignment has been posted for each of my three economics classes. Read the information below and follow the instructions for the credit. The deadline for submitting the assignment is Friday February 17, 2006 – either close of business of the campus or midnight if being submitted via email.

As I indicated in the orientation sessions for each of my three economics classes, I will periodically post some extra credit assignments. These will be announced first on the blog and then I will try to spread the word via email as well as leave a few paper copies at the LRC desk in the Community Campus (for the ECN 200 Telecourse students) and the NELC (for the ECN 201 and ECN 202 students).

A separate web page has been created for each of the three courses and any extra credit assignments will be posted on those pages. All extra credit assignments will have a deadline and not only will the assignments NOT be accepted after that date but they will also be erased from the appropriae extra credit web page.

You can check for extra credit assignments by going to my No Free Lunch web page and clicking on one of the extra credit links at the left of the page (NOTE: only students in the course will receive credit – I will not accept an ECN 200 assignment from a student in the ECN 202 course and vice versa). Or, you can go to the extra credit web page for your class by clicking on the approprieate link below or by bookmarkeing the link:

ECN 200 http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/2006/01/ecn-200-telecourse-extra-credit.html

ECN 201 http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/2006/01/ecn-201-microeconomics-extra-credit.html

ECN 202 http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/2006/01/ecn-202-macroeconomics-extra-credit.html

This post originally appeared on an external website

Supply and Demand

In reply to Supply & Demand

Demand Curve ? shows quantities of a good demanded (that will be sold) at various prices. The higher the price the lower the quantity demanded and vice versa.

Think of it this way, if you have $10 in your pocket and an item costs $10 you can afford to purchase one unit of the item. But if the price is $5 you can afford to buy 2, and if price is $2.50 you can purchase 4, etc.

Further, since there are more middle and lower income people than rich people, the lower the price the greater the number of people who will be able to afford to buy the product and the more people able to afford the product the greater the quantity that will be demanded.

Supply Curve ? shows quantities of a good supplied at various prices. The higher the price the greater the quantity supplied.

No business (supplier of a product or service) can afford to sell at a price lower than cost and remain in business. BUT all suppliers of a good do not face the same set of costs. A farmer with fertile soil, a good climate and sufficient rain can produce a larger crop, at a lower cost than a farmer growing the same crop in poor soil in the desert. The desert farmer incurs the same costs for seed, labor, etc. as the other farmer. But the desert farmer must also purchase fertilizer, install irrigation and pay for water. As a result, the desert farmer will have higher costs per bushel of product than the farmer in the ideal location. In order to make a profit on his crop, the desert farmer has to receive a higher price per bushel than the other farmer. The point is that producers of a good or service face different circumstances and some are able to produce at a lower cost (require fewer resources) than others. As the price of a good rises more producers are able to offer the good or service.

As a second example, consider yourself and the sale of your labor services. If you had tickets to a concert for tonight and your supervisor asked for a volunteer to work overtime at the regular hourly rate you probably would not volunteer. If double time was offered, you might be tempted but the desire to see the concert would probably be greater. But, if your supervisor offered a $1,000 bonus to put in an additional four hours this evening, doing your regular work, you would probably take the offer. As the price goes up you, as the seller of your labor services, are more inclined to increase the quantity of labor you are willing to provide. In this example the cost is your opportunity cost. If you earn $10 per hour and your concert ticket cost $50 the decision to volunteer or not is a no brainer since you will lose the $50 spent on the ticket and only gain $40 from working the four hours. If your supervisor offered you double time (i.e., $20 per hour) for the extra four hours you would earn $80 and lose $50 for a net gain of $30. More than likely the desire to see the concert would be greater than the $30 of additional net income so you would probably still turn down the extra work. But $1,000 or $250 per hour, for four hours of work would probably change the equation as the opportunity cost of giving up the extra pay ($1,000) dwarfs the $50 plus satisfaction of attending the concert.

In summary, the demand curve shows the various quantities of a good that will be demanded (i.e., consumers are willing and able to buy) at various prices, while the supply curve shows the various quantities of a good that will be supplied (offered for sale by producers) at various prices. The point where the two intersect is the point where the quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied and this is the equilibrium or market price.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Opportunity Cost Explained

In reply to Supply & Demand

Usually when we think about the term costs we think of money. However, in economics we use the word opportunity costs to consider costs in a larger sense.

Normally when we purchase something we give up money in exchange for a good or service we want. But the true cost, or opportunity cost, is usually more than this. If my wife and I decide to go to a movie and pay $20 for tickets we are giving up not only something else that we could purchase with the $20 but also something else that we could have done with the time spent in the theater viewing the movie. It is the other thing that we could have brought with the money as well as the other thing that we could have done with the time that is the true, or opportunity cost. Everything we do involves a choice and when we make a choice the cost of that choice is the other things we could have had or done if we had not made this particular choice.

Now, as rational economic beings we choose that which will give us the greatest satisfaction at that particular moment. The opportunity cost of a particular choice is the next best alternative that you would have chosen. This is the thing you give up in order to obtain the thing you choose.

I may not agree with your choice and, later today or tomorrow you may regret having chosen option ‘A’ over option ‘B’. But this does not invalidate the concept of opportunity cost. You choose what was most important to you at the time based upon the best information available and your desires at that moment. Part of growing up and acquiring knowledge is to enable us to make better decisions and look at choices from a broader perspective.

Advances in technology have done much to reduce opportunity costs but, in a world of unlimited wants and limited resources, opportunity cost still exists. As recently as two hundred years ago shoes (actually boots) were so expensive that most people, if they could afford boots at all, could afford no more than one pair and that pair had to last for years. In England at that time stealing a man’s boots was such a serious crime that the penalty was death (since walking was the main mode of transportation and most work was done outdoors, stealing a man’s boots was the equivalent of taking away his ability to support himself and his family). Thanks to advances in technology, shoes today are so inexpensive that even the poorest people can usually afford more than one pair. But while an average person may be able to afford as many pairs of shoes as they want and still have plenty of money left over for other things, opportunity cost is still present. While money may not be the major constraint, space is. Where do you store the shoes? Despite the relative affluence of the average contemporary American, most of us can’t afford mansions with unlimited rooms. So the more shoes one acquires and stores by stacking them from floor to ceiling in the closet the less space there is for clothes. With closet space as the scarce resource the opportunity cost of more shoes would be fewer clothes.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Videos for ECN 200 Telecourse

In reply to Supply & Demand

All students in the ECN 200 Telecourse should have received a Telecourse broadcast scheedule with the syllabus that was mailed to you by the Community Campus. In there it shows the ECN 200 course videos being broadcast on Comcast Channel 96 on Wednesdays from 6 – 8 pm and on Cox Channel 96 at the same time (Wednesdays from 6 – 8). It is very important that you make a point to watch these broadcasts as these constitute the lectures that you would be attending if this were a regular classroom class. If you schedule does not permit viewing at this time here are your additional options:

1 Set the timmer on your VCR and record the program for later viewing.

2 Go to the LRC desk at the Community Campus (located at 401 N. Bonita Ave.) and check out the three tapes that contain the entire series. This will require a Pima Community College ID card (which can be purchased at this or any PCC campus for about $2 upon showing proof of registration). You will be required to return the tapes at the end of the semester in the same condition as when checked out or a fine will be levied and a hold placed upon your records.

3 You can go to the Library at any PCC campus and check out a video FOR VIEWING AT THE LIBRARY.

4 Go to http://www.learner.org on the internet and view the videos on your PC over the Internet. See below for more on viewing the videos over the Internet.

A student in last Fall’s class discovered the Learner.Org site which contains numerous resources for students and teachers. The best way to access the videos used for the ECN 200 course is to click on the blue Telecourses button along the top of the page and then scroll down to the
Economics U$A
link. Each of the videos is listed and can be viewed by clicking the video button next to the one you wish to view.

This site does require you to register in order to view a video. But it is a one time free registration. I did quickly check it and they are the same videos that are broadcast for the class. The only limitation is that, being video, you need broadband access for good viewing. If you have a dial-up connection, as I have, it is slow and difficult. If you do not have broadband at home I suggest that you go to any PCC computer lab or library to view them or visit a Tucson Pima Public library and use their computers (U of A students can also use U of A facilities).

If you wish to go straight to the videos, click on this link and bookmark it in your computer:
http://www.learner.org/resources/series79.htmlAnnenberg

Those of you in my ECN 201 and ECN 202 independent study courses may also want to check out this site as the videos are an excellent resource and do a very good job of presenting the material in an interesting and understandable manner.

This post originally appeared on an external website

A Tribute to Sir John Cowperthwaite

In reply to Supply & Demand

On Saturday, January 21st of this year, one of the great figures of the twentieth century, Sir John Cowperthwaite, died in St. Andrews, Scotland at age 90.

John James Cowperthwaite was born on April 25, 1915 in Scotland. He studied economics at St. Andrew’s University and then continued his studies at Christ’s College, Cambridge. Upon graduation he joined the British Colonial Service and sent to Hong Kong. He, along with other members of the government were evacuated from Hong Kong as Japanese forces advanced on it during World War II. Cowperthwaite spent World War II as a British colonial administrator in Britain’s African colony of Sierra Leone.

In 1945, following the end of World War II in the Pacific, Cowperthwaite was reposted to Hong Kong with orders to implement policies that would revive the war torn economy of the colony. Upon his arrival in the colony he noticed that, in the interim between the exit of the Japanese and the re-entry of the British ? a period of minimal government ? economic reconstruction had already begun through the efforts of individual citizens as they went about their daily business.

Observing that the process of reconstruction had begun in the absence of government and was proceeding without any government guidance, Cowperthwaite decided to follow a a laissez-faire policy of non-interference in the economy. There is a story told that at a nineteenth century meeting of businessmen and politicians in France, a member of the French government asked the businessmen what the French government could do to help the economy. The bureaucrat’s question was answered with a resounding Laissez-faire, si vous plait! which roughly translates as Please leave us alone! The businessmen’s plea was ignored in France but, a century later, Cowperthwaite successfully implemented a policy of strict laissez-faire that resulted in Hong Kong, over the course of a couple of decades, vaulting from a poor Asian trading port into a major manufacturing and world financial center with a standard of living that exceeded that of both its Asian neighbors and the mother country of England. In fact the GDP (Gross Domestic Product or value of the annual output of the economy) of this tiny Asian enclave exceeded that of both Britain and Israel combined.

While the rest of the world attempted to grow their economies through varying degrees of bureaucratic management with little or no success, the economy of Hong Kong skyrocketed. Countries like the U.S. which retained considerable economic freedom had good, but not spectacular, growth rates while countries like the Soviet Union and Communist China saw their economies stagnate and die under the dead hand of bureaucratic management.

In the early second half of the twentieth century Hong Kong was considered a miracle. But Hong Kong’s success was due to neither luck nor divine intervention. Instead it was the result of Cowperthwaite’s unwavering policy of laissez-faire. This is not to say that Cowperthwaite was a do-nothing bureaucrat. He worked hard and diligently to prevent Queen’s ministers and bureaucrats from London and special interests in Hong Kong from forcing the government to intervene in the economy of Hong Kong. And, Hong Kong’s success was no exception to the laws of economics. Other than a good harbor, Hong Kong had no natural resources and, at the end of World War II was as poor as the rest of Asia. The fact that it was small with a relatively homogenous population also offered no special advantages. Despite its small size, during the period of its rapid growth the colony was flooded with refuges from neighboring Communist China ? causing its population to increase ten-fold. Still it grew, real income increased by 50%, the number of people in absolute poverty decreased steadily and disease and mortality rates declined to Western European levels. All of this was accomplished with low tax rates and minimal government social service programs.

While Cowperthwaite’s achievement in Hong Kong was considered miraculous at the time, subsequent history has shown it to be simply sensible policy. Close upon the heals of Cowperthwaite’s success in the then British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister of the mother country, Great Britain and, following policies similar to those of John Cowperthwaite, she soon transformed the British economy from stagnation to a major force in the world economy. Neighboring Ireland, long the poorest nation in Western Europe with a population steadily declining as its youth left for other nations turned itself into one of the richest nations in Western Europe within the span of a decade after abandoning the stifling regulations that were choking the economy and allowing the people the freedom to determine their own economic destiny. Former Soviet client states like Estonia, threw off the shackles of state planning and quickly made up for a half a century of economic decline with rapid growth.

Thanks in part to the changing political climate, John Cowperthwaite not only lived to see the success of his policies in Hong Kong but was rewarded with honors and a knighthood in recognition of his achievement.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 – Assignment 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Name: ____________________________

Economics 201 – NELC
Spring 2006

Assignment 5

Covers Material & Topics in Part Four (Soft Cover Chap 17- 18, Hard Cover Chap 29 – 30) of Text

Total Points for This Assignment = 50

Read the article entitled The Myth of the Tree Shortage by Charles Tomlinson (the article can be found on the web at: http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1625) and answer the questions relating to it below:

1. (10 Points) Both Tomlinson and the author of your textbook state that bureaucrats have an incentive to not solve problems because if a problem is solved there would no longer be a need for the bureau or department in question and would the people working for that department or bureau would then be out of a job. Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not (support your argument with specific examples)?

2. (10 Points) Tomlinson compares the privately owned southern forests with the government run forests of the west. The southern forests are described as being “vibrant”, “productive” and being replenished at a faster rate than we are harvesting them despite the fact that they produce more timber than any other nation in the world. While he describes the western forests as “stagnant”, “burning” and a resource being destroyed. Having watched thousands of acres of forest in the Catalinas burn the past few summers, do you think that private ownership of the national forests would result in better management? Why or why not?

3 (10 Points) Tomlinson states that one of the concerns of the report is the expansion of urban areas resulting in the conversion of forest lands into housing subdivisions and shopping malls. He also states that much of this is being offset by farmland being converted to forest land (Note: improvements in agriculture have meant that considerably less land is needed for farming and much of the former farmland in the eastern half of the U.S. has been converted to forest land by their owners). Given that the so called “urban sprawl” that has been underway in the eastern half of the U.S. for the past half century has resulted in an increase in forest land rather than being “paved over” as critics have feared is there any need, in your opinion, for Pima County to continue to try to enact strict land use controls intended to prevent undeveloped lands surrounding metropolitan Tucson from being developed? Why or why not?

4 (10 points) Give an economics explanation as to why it is more common for students attending colleges that are dormitory-based to study together than in commuter-based colleges like Pima College.

5 (10 points) Read the insert entitled “Are You Rationally Ignorant” on page 437 (NOTE: this should be about page 701 in the hard cover edition) and mentally answer the ten questions (you do not have to write these answers here). Then explain why it is either worth your while or not worth your while to seek and maintain current answers to these questions on an on-going basis. Are there benefits to you to knowing this information and do they outweigh the costs (time, etc.) of obtaining the information?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 201 & ECN 202: Corrected Chapter Numbers for Hard Cover and Soft Cover Editions of Anderson Book

In reply to Supply & Demand

Some students have pointed out to me that the chapter numbering on the Syllabus, assignments and tests do not match the chapter numbers in their books. Other students did not seem to have this problem, so I did some investigation.

The East Campus Book Store has the books for ECN 200 Basic Principles of Economics, ECN 201 Microeconomics and ECN 202 Macroeconmics together on the same shelf. All three courses use the same 7th edition text book by Roger A. Arnold. The only difference is that for the ECN 200 Basic Principles of Economics they have the hard cover edition (ISBN Number: 0-324-23662-x) which contains both microeconomics and macroeconomics. For ECN 201 Microeconmics they have a soft cover book (ISBN Number: 0-324-23670-0) which is identical to the hard cover book EXCEPT that it only contains the chapters that pertain to microeconomics. There is also a second soft cover book (ISBN Number: 0-324-23667-0) for ECN 202 Macroeconomics which is also identical to the hard cover edition EXCEPT that it only contains the chapters that pertain to macroeconomics. As I explained in the January 10th blog entry, students taking just ECN 201 or ECN 202 but not both should purchase the appropriate soft cover book as the price for one soft cover book was $35 LESS than the price of the hard cover book. But, those planning to take both ECN 201 and ECN 202 (either togehter this semester or one this semester and one next), should purchase the hard cover book as that book new was $71 LESS than the cost of both soft cover books.

I had a similar situation two years ago where there were both hard and soft cover versions of the text. It was a different publisher and author. That publisher used the same chapter and page numbers in the soft cover books as in the corresponding hard cover so it did not matter which book a student was using the page and chapter numbering was the same. But with this text it is not and there has been some confusion. I have gone through and changed the chapter references in the syllabi, take home tests and assignments where necessary to reflect both soft cover and hard cover chapter numbers. Below is a quick reference with links to all of the changed materials. This should clarify things for everyone.

ECN 202 – Macroeconomics: only Assignment 6, the final exam and the syllabus are affected as the first half of the book covers macroeconomics so the chapter numbering is the same. Assignment 6 and the final exam deal with the World Economy which is the last two chapters in the book and there is a gap in chapter numbering between Take Home Test and Assignment 5 and Assignment 6 and the final exam chapters.

ECN 201 – Microeconomics: Click on the links to be taken to the corrected items.

Syllabus

Assignment 1 The chapter references are correct.

Assignment 2

Assignment 3

Assignment 4

Assignment 5

Assignment 6

Take Home Test 1 No corrections are needed for Take Home Test 1.

Take Home Test 2

Take Home Test 4

Take Home Test 5

This should solve the matter for everyone. If you have any questions please see me.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Brown Lung Disease
Discussed in Lesson 1 of ECN 200

In reply to Supply & Demand

Brown Lung Disease, also called Byssinosis, is a lung disease that results from prolonged (often ten years or more) exposure to breathing of cotton fibers present in the air during the production of cloth from raw cotton (in the U.S. most textile mills process cotton fiber so the most common cause of Byssinosis in the U.S. is cotton fiber, in other countries it is caused by flax, hemp or other material fibers as well as cotton).

It is believed that byssinosis is the result of constant irritation and/or release of toxic substances by the fiber on the lungs over a long period of time. Byssinosis is characterized by shortness of breath, feelings of tightness in the chest and constant coughing. Continued exposure after onset of disease results in a reduced ability to breathe, especially exhale, which is very similar to the symptoms experienced by people with chronic bronchitis. There is some indication that smoking or occurrence of other lung ailments aggravates byssinosis. While “brown lung” is the term used to describe the condition, patients’ lungs do not turn brown as a result of the disease.

According to the video and statistics cited by OSHA at the time of the implementation of safety standards to prevent the disease in 1978, about 100,000 or about 20% of the workers in textile mills in the U.S. were AT RISK of contracting the disease. After implementation of the new rules, OSHA statistics showed that between 1979 and 1996 an estimated 35,000 current and former textile workers (due to long period needed to develop the disease, most of these probably contracted the disease in the years prior to the implementation of the safety standards) actually had the disease and, of these, between 120 and 188 died from it in the period 1979-1996.

While it was unfortunate that some workers contracted the disease and a few died of byssinosis, the cost of the cure according to your book was the loss of 300,000 jobs in the textile industry in the U.S. Additional jobs were probably lost in service industries that provided goods and services to the workers (stores, restaurants, bars, banks, etc. all of which would have seen business decline and would have laid off workers due to loss of business from the unemployed textile workers) and services to the companies themselves (delivery people, suppliers of raw materials, machinery, etc.). In many cases the impact of the closing of textile factories could be tremendous in cases where the textile company was the major employer in the area. Also, for many of the workers jobs in the textile mills were probably both one of the few jobs for which they had skills and the textile jobs probably paid more than the few other low skill jobs.

Why was the actual rate of disease and death so low? There are a number of possible reasons. First, the disease generally occurs only after long exposure to breathing the cotton fibers. Many people got a start in the textile mills and then moved on to work in another industry. Second, many of those who spent their careers in the textile mills only spent part of their career or part of their working time in those parts of the factory floor where the fibers were concentrated. Finally, contracting the disease and the severity of it once contracted can be related to one’s overall health. People with weak lungs are probably at greater risk than those with healthy lungs. Secondly, smoking and other activities that harm or weaken the lungs will increase the risk of byssinosis and this risk will be even greater in people whose lungs are weak to begin with.

While we cannot dismiss the deaths of 188 or so workers or the debilitating illness of 35,000 workers as an acceptable cost for the saving of over 300,000 jobs. But, at the same time, it is difficult to justify drastic actions that severely harm many to save a few especially when there are other alternatives. As your text and video pointed out, in the case of byssinosis, a mask that cost $1.49 per worker would have been a low cost interim solution. True, the masks were uncomfortable but that was better than losing one’s job in a job market with few other possibilities. As companies renovated factories and built new ones they would have installed the new equipment in an effort to keep their existing labor force and attract new workers from the firms that had older factories. But incorporating new technology into the building of a new factory is considerably less expensive than attempting to retrofit new equipment into an existing structure.

The study of economics should show you that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Everything has costs and all economic activity involves tradeoffs between costs and benefits. The goal should be to find production processes that yield the most benefits with the least cost. But more importantly, activists and policy makers should consider the implications of the policies they are pushing. The workers in the textile mills were free to choose between keeping their jobs and risking the possibility of contracting byssinosis or seeking a different job. While their options may have been limited, they were still in the best position to analyze their personal situation and make a decision. Instead, union officials, Congressmen, bureaucrats, Supreme Court Justices, etc. in Washington and other places far from the textile mills and with jobs that would be unaffected by their decisions, made the decisions that cost over 300,000 textile workers their jobs.

For more information on lung diseases and occupational dangers affecting lung health see the
American Lung Association web page.

This post originally appeared on an external website

How a Free Market Works

In reply to Supply & Demand

In both the ECN 201 Microeconomics class and the ECN 200 Basic Economic Principles courses I assigned the same article by Murray Rothbard entitled What is the Free Market? and one of the questions asked in both courses was:

Explain why the socialist planners in the former Soviet Union were unable to take a bumper (i.e., very large) harvest of wheat and convert it to bread and other baked goods for consumption by consumers in cities throughout the former Soviet Union.

To date the few assignments I have received have all paraphrased Rothbard to the effect that the Soviet planners lacked a free market and prices to guide them. Some have also added that the absence of prices and profits also resulted in a lack of incentives to produce. While I have accepted these answers so far, it is clear that those answering the question didn?t really grasp why the free market and price system is important and how they work.

A real life story from my wife?s experience may help clarify the problem. My new wife is from Ryazan, a city in western Russia with about the same size population as Tucson. Ryazan is located about three hours by train or car south of Moscow. According to my wife, there were no stores with food for sale in the city in the period prior to the fall of communism in the early 1990s. Despite the fact that among the city?s industries was a large meat processing plant (the total output of which was sent to Moscow for sale) people had to travel by car (if they had one) or by train to Moscow to do their grocery shopping. My wife and her former husband had to travel by car with his parents (who owned the car) once a month to do their grocery shopping. The trip took three hours each way to get to Moscow and back and the rest of the day was spent in lines in stores trying to get food. Back in Ryazan they had a small apartment (for themselves and their two children) with a small kitchen and a refrigerator about half the size of contemporary American refrigerators.

I had previously visited Moscow and St. Petersburg (then known as Leningrad) in my senior year of college 1969 as a part of a Russian history course that included a 2 week field trip to the Soviet Union. I observed that life was drab but the people I saw and met had sufficient food, clothing and shelter. There was not much variety in the food ? mostly fresh potatoes and vegetables. Meat was very scarce and people?s main source of animal fat for energy was the lard that food was frequently used for cooking. Obtaining food required going from store to store and standing in long lines hoping they still had food in stock when you reached the counter. The clothing was dull and ill fitting. The colors were mostly dark blues, grays, browns and blacks and even these dark colors were dull compared to the same colors in clothes manufactured in the west. The quality of western clothing was so superior that a westerner could not walk down a street without having a dozen or more people approach them with offers to purchase the extra clothes they had back at the hotel. The ruble prices offered for the used clothing were usually in excess of the original price paid in the west. This despite the fact that the buying or selling of items outside regular stores was illegal. The housing was mostly small apartments.
This was the situation in Russia for most of its citizens under communist rule. Practically everyone was poor by western standards but it was not the absolute poverty of the third world. Things were bad but not desperate.

In a market economy prices for food in a city, like Ryazan, would be high. This would signal producers that there was an opportunity for profit and they would begin moving food to Ryazan to sell. But, without a market driven price system, this signal did not exist so the city?s plight did not come to the attention of the planners in Moscow. The other, non-market, signal that would have alerted the planners would have been large numbers of people dieing of starvation or masses of hungry people taking to the streets and rioting. But, there was no shortage of food in the sense that people were going hungry. Food was not plentiful and it was inconvenient to obtain it but, with effort, sufficient food could be obtained. Like a person with a long illness who has learned to live with his or her pain, the people of the former Soviet Union endured. Thus, in the absence of signals, the planners, occupied with trying to make all the economic decisions for a nation that stretched from the Baltic to the Pacific, easily overlooked Ryazan.

As my first described it to me when I first visited her in Ryazan in 2002, ??there was a fellow named Gorbachev in charge and things got really bad. Then one day things suddenly changed. Gorbachev was gone and food appeared in the stores in Ryazan?. The change was literally overnight as Russia went from communist central planning to a free market. The first thing that changed was money became important. Under the communists prices were set by the planners with some attempt to ration scarce goods. But, both the lack of good information and political meddling made most prices meaningless and rationing was done by having people wait in long lines or use political influence to obtain needed goods. Further, incomes did not vary much so everyone tended to suffer equally. Acquiring money through saving was not allowed. The government owned all the businesses so there was no place to invest one?s money. Starting one?s own business was illegal. Finally, it was illegal to take money abroad, but that didn?t matter because, the currency was basically worthless outside of the Soviet Union.

With the communists no longer in control entrepreneurs were free to begin making money by providing products to consumers. Farmers dug into their limited supplies of food that they had hidden for emergencies and began selling it in the cities. Making a profit, they returned home and began growing and scrounging anything edible to take to the cites to sell. Others, not in farming began noticing arbitrage opportunities where food in large cities, like Moscow, was more plentiful and therefore less expensive while in places like Ryazan it was scarce and expensive. They went to the places with less expensive food, purchased it and returned home to sell it at a profit. (The fall of communism meant that people were no longer paid when they took off from work, it also meant that gasoline prices were allowed to rise and trains, which were still run by the state but needed money to keep operating, were now making everyone pay the regular fare. In the past paying was more of an honor system which most people chose not to honor.) It was thus profitable for people out of work to specialize in traveling long distances to obtain food and other goods for re-sale in their home cities but costly for people with jobs. In a market system goods that are in great demand and short supply command high prices while those which are in large supply and/or not in great demand have lower prices. While planners had to try to figure everything out in order to make the economy run (and when they did not know everything, which was all the time, goods became scarce), entrepreneurs in a market economy don?t have to know everything. They just have to be able to identify which goods command a high price and can be produced or obtained at a lower price somewhere else.

The Russia I visited in 2002 was vastly different from the Soviet Union of 1969. Food was plentiful and in greater variety. Clothing was also plentiful and of comparable quality to western clothing. In 1969 you could literally spot a foreign tourist a mile away by their clothing. In 2002 the only way to identify a western tourist was if they spoke in a language other than Russian or, in the case of Americans, if they wore a wedding band on their left hand (Europeans generally wear wedding bands on their right hands). I even took a three day bus tour with my then fianc?e using a Russian name and not speaking (I don?t speak Russian) and easily passed myself off as one of the locals.

Prior to the fall of communism people, including economists, were wondering if it was possible to convert from the communist economic model to a market economy peacefully given the huge distortions created by the communist central planning. In the 1999 book The Commanding Heights. The Battle Between Government and the Marketplace that is Remaking the Modern World. authors Daniel Yergin and. Joseph Stanislaw describe the situation in Poland when the communist economy collapsed. The communist generals who had staged a coup earlier and replaced the civilian communist rulers in a last ditch attempt to save the system gave up and turned the government over to Solidarity. American economists, trained in free market economics under the tutelage of Milton Friedman and the University of Chicago, and fresh from their success in turning the Chilean economy around after its short bout of communism under Salvador Allende were called in to perform the same miracle in Poland. But Poland was a complete disaster. With food supplies expected to run out in the cities in a matter of days and mass starvation imminent, the American advisors advised going cold turkey by instantly abolishing all forms of government control over the economy and letting it move to a free market instantly rather than the gradual transition the many were urging. The government declared that effective at midnight a couple of days later the transition would occur. The American economists crossed their fingers and made reservations to leave on the first plan out after midnight just in case the experiment didn?t work and chaos ensued. The transition to a market economy took place at midnight as planned and by 5 a.m. there were lines of farmers making their way to the cities with food. Within days the food shortage had ended.

Seeing Ryazan in 2002 I could easily believe my then fianc?e when she described the change as no food one day and food suddenly appearing within days of the unreported (in Russia) coup that moved the country from communist central planning to a market economy literally over night.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Receiving a Discount for Traveling Under an Assumed Name

In reply to Supply & Demand

In yesterday’s blog entry about the differences between market prices and socialist central planning I mentioned that while in Russia four years ago I had traveled under an assumed name for a few days. There was nothing sinister about this but it is a good story.

My then fiancee lived in Ryazan, Russia and the purpose of my trip was to visit her for two weeks. Ryazan is an industrial city that is home to about a half a million people. Since it has little to offer in terms of tourist attractions, few tourists visit. Wanting to make my trip more interesting, my fiancee checked the local papers and found an ad from one of the new tour companies that had been formed in recent years for a three day, two night bus tour of the Golden Ring a group of nearby cities which, like Ryazan, traced their cities back a thousand years. Again, like Ryazan, each had its Kremlin (fort) at the center with some old churches and simple palaces as well as historical museums. The package included hotel and restaurant accommodations as well as the bus, tour guide and museum passes all for a ruble price per person that worked out to U.S. $90 at the current exchange rate. I wired her $180 and she purchased two tickets.

When I arrived a couple of weeks later she informed me that the bus that was to be used for the tour had broken down and the tour canceled. However, they did have another four day, three night tour package for St. Petersburg and, despite the fact that it was a larger package in terms of both length and distance traveled, she had been able to talk them into substituting that package for the one we had purchased at no extra charge.

The tour started at four in the afternoon with the first night spent traveling to St. Petersburg. While waiting for the tour bus to arrive, she casually mentioned “Oh, by the way…” and informed me that the tour company had recognized my name as not being Russian and told her that their tours were designed for Russians, not foreigners. She quickly explained that I had been to Russia before and was familiar with local hotels and restaurant accommodations. She also added that she would translate for me. They then gave her the real reason for their concern about me and that was the fact that hotels and museums had discriminatory pricing policies in which foreigners were charged a higher price than Russians. Given the exchange rate and economic conditions in Russia the higher prices charged foreigners were very competitive compared to those charged in other parts of Europe which left the foreign tourists feeling they had found a very good deal. Further, since most foreign tourists did not speak Russian and did not understand the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, they were completely unaware of the difference. These hotels and museums recognized that they were dealing with two different markets, foreign tourists and domestic tourists, each with separate demand curves. Language was the main barrier separating the foreign and domestic customers. In the case of hotels there was also a second barrier in the form of the legal requirement that hotels are required to collect and hold the passports of their guests (in Russia passports are issued to everyone and used as national identification cards as well as identification for foreign travel) making it impossible for guests to hide their identities.

Since it served the local market, the travel company was under great pressure to keep prices low so that they were affordable for the average Russian. Their profit margin must have been very thin because they were worried that the extra fees that could be charged for my presence would wipe out most of their profit. But they also did not want to lose the $180 we had paid. So they listed me on their itinerary as Sergi Ivanov and instructed my fiancee to make sure that I did not speak in the hotel lobby or in the museums.

It was a great trip and I was able to keep my mouth shut and maintain my cover throughout the entire trip. Checking in at the hotel was interesting. After traveling all night the people on the bus were anxious to check in, freshen up and begin the tour of St. Petersburg. Our tour guide took my passport and told me to stand in the corner, away from the desk and then she and Bella, my fiancee, joined the surging crowd that was converging on the reception desk with its two clerks. Taking advantage of the chaos and confusion as well as the fact that this particular hotel catered to a mostly Russian cliental and was not used to foreign visitors, the guide was able to get me registered without showing a passport.

The St. Petersburg tour was great. In the museums I took a moment to study the price signs in the lobby which were posted in Russian, English and German. It didn’t take much to see that the rates next to the English and German postings were a little more than twice the size of the rates next to the Russian posting. But a quick currency conversion (at that time 30 rubles equaled U.S. $1 so all I had to do was divide the posted ruble rate by 30 to get the dollar value) showed me that it only cost about $3 for foreigners and just under $1 for Russians to visit the museums.

Upon returning to Tucson, the story of my covert side trip was a hit with my colleagues at work. Except for one, Edward, an adjunct instructor who had emigrated from Russia to the U.S. about ten years before. Instead of the usual laugh, Edward became very serious and told me about his experience. Edward is an engineer and when he first came to the U.S. he got a job with a small engineering firm which had just won a contract in Russia. Seeing that Edward was from Russia and spoke Russian, the president of the firm had him join the other two engineers being sent to oversee the project. Not being a U.S. citizen yet, Edward had to use his Russian passport for the trip. Upon arriving he and the other two checked into the hotel. The other two engineers were each charged the ruble equivalent of $25 per night for their rooms. Edward, with his Russian passport, was charged the ruble equivalent of ninety cents per night for an identical room.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Price Discrimination

In reply to Supply & Demand

In yesterday’s blog entry I stated that the hotels and museums in Russia were practicing price discrimination when they charged foreign tourists different rates than local Russian tourists. This is not the same as racial or other types of discrimination whereby people are denied rights due to their race or some other identifying characteristic. Instead, it describes a situation where seller’s can take advantage of the fact that not only are certain groups of consumers willing to pay more for a good or service than another but it is possible to charge each group what it is willing to pay AND prevent the higher paying group from paying the lower prices offered to the other group.

All of you should understand that the price of a good or service in the market by the intersection of the demand and supply curves. However, there are some people who fall along the portion of the demand curve that is above the equilibrium point. These people are willing and able to pay a higher price for the good or service but, seeing they can get it for the lower market equilibrium price, end up paying the equilibrium price. The difference between the price an individual is willing to pay and the equilibrium price that that individual actually pays is known as consumer surplus. Now, if I, as a consumer, drive into a gas station with my tank on empty and am willing and able to pay $2.90 per gallon but see that the gas is offered for $2.30 I am not going to insist that the attendant accept $2.90 per gallon for the gas I purchase. In fact, I will be angry if the attendant, somehow knowing that I am willing to pay $2.90, attempts to charge me that price after charging the customer ahead of me $2.30 for the same grade of gasoline. Given the opportunity, the consumer will always elect to pay a lower rather than a higher price, ceteris paribus, even though he is willing and able to pay the higher price.

The opportunity for price discrimination arises when a seller is able to first identify two or more different segments of consumers with each segment having a different price they are willing to pay. Second, the seller must have some control over price. Monopoly, monopolist competition and oligopoly all allow sellers to exercise some control over the price they charge as the products these sellers offer are to some degree unique. Price discrimination is not possible under pure competition since the good or service offered by each seller is identical to that of all other sellers of the good or service enabling consumers to get the lower price simply by going to a competing seller. Finally, and most importantly, it must be impossible or too costly for a buyer to purchase the good or service at the lower price and resell it to buyers in the higher price category at a price between what she paid and what the seller is charging that group. If such
arbitrage
opportunities exist any price discrimination will soon disappear.

The conditions described above existed in the hotel and museum industry in Russia and that is how they were able to practice price discrimination. Another example of price discrimination closer to home is the sale of seats on airplanes. Think of two passengers sitting next to each other in tourist class on a flight from Tucson to Chicago. One passenger paid $1,200 and the other paid $300 for the same service. How is the airline able to get away with this? Well, the first passenger is a businesswoman whose employer paid the $1,200 to get her to Chicago to close a multi-million dollar deal while the second passenger is a retired grandfather on a budget who had to purchase his own ticket. Being retired, the grandfather’s time is flexible so he was able to purchase a ticket twenty-one or more days before and able to schedule his departure and return such that he will be spending a Saturday night in Chicago. The businesswoman’s employer would have liked to pay $300 for her ticket but when the client called the day before and said they were ready to sign they had to send her immediately ? they were not about to lose a multi-million dollar deal by trying to save $900. Further, they are probably paying this woman a high salary and cannot afford to have her sitting around Chicago after the deal waiting until Sunday morning in order to qualify for the $900 savings. Business needs to respond quickly and usually does not have the luxury of 21 day advance reservations. Also, it is usually less expensive to pay the extra cost of the tickets than lose the employee’s services for a few days (to say nothing of the fact that the employees prefer to be home with their families on weekends rather than sitting alone in a hotel room in a distant city). Tourists have the luxury of planning ahead and don’t mind spending Saturday at their destination but they are also more price sensitive to price. The 21 day advance reservation and Saturday night layover requirements are effective ways to segregate the two groups of consumers. There is also no easy or inexpensive way for tourists to purchase extra tickets and make a profit selling them to business so the price discrimination works in this case.

The Anderson book also gives the example of monopolies charging more for the first unit of the good or service than for succeeding units. This works when the majority of the consumers have a compelling need for first unit of the good or service but not for additional units. Electricity is a good example here. It is almost impossible for a modern home to be without electricity. A certain minimal amount is needed each month for lights, alarm clocks, cooking, heating (or starting the heating unit if it is not electric) and, in Arizona in the summer, cooling. But after the basic electrical needs are met other uses are nice but not a necessary. It is necessary to use the air conditioner in summer to cool the house down while we are in it. It is nice, but not as necessary, to keep the house cool all day so you can walk into a cool home after work and not have to wait for it to cool down. Similarly, a twenty minute hot shower on a cold winter morning is great but two are three minutes are all that is necessary to clean yourself. Thus, people will purchase the first necessary units but are reluctant to spend the same amount for additional units. Recognizing this, the monopolist offers the additional units at lower prices to induce individuals to keep consuming past the first required purchase. (NOTE: this second example is also a good example of diminishing marginal utility where the satisfaction gained from consumption of the good or service declines with each additional unit consumed. In this case in order to keep the cost of the satisfaction or utility the same for each unit purchased, the price paid for each additional unit must be reduced proportionally.)

This post originally appeared on an external website

What Will Happen when the Boomer Generation Retires?

In reply to Supply & Demand

After doing the assignment and take home test for section two of the telecourse, which dealt with the Philips Curve and Inflation, a student asked if the coming retirement of the Boomer generation (of which I am a member) would be inflationary.

The simple answer to this is yes, as the removal of such a large section of the population from the workforce would result in a noticeable reduction in the labor force and decline in production of goods and services. Further, with their income from Social Security, pensions, 401(k) plans and IRAs, this large group, who would not be producing, would still be exerting significant demand for goods and services. The same amount of money chasing a reduced amount of goods and services would be inflationary as prices rose in response to people bidding up the prices of the shrinking supply of goods and services.

Having said that, do I think that this will happen? My answer to this is no. There are four reasons why I don’t think that, other things being equal, the pending retirement of the Boomer generation will be inflationary.

The first reason is the fact that, based upon both the past actions of this generation and present indications, a large number of these people will not be retiring. Many of the members of the Boomer generation do not have sufficient savings to be able to afford retirement. A number of these absolutely cannot afford to retire and others cannot afford to retire and maintain the life styles they are accustomed to living. Many others, including me, have indicated that they have no interest in stopping working. These people do not want to leave an active life of productive work and spend the rest of their days in idle leisure. Not only is the prospect of doing noting not attractive to these people, but both scientific studies and our own observations of our parents’ and grandparents’ as they aged have shown that people who remain active and productive tend to be healthier and live longer than those who simply stop working all together. Anyone who doubts this should take a trip down to Green Valley during the winter to visit the Green Valley Computer Club. This is a large active group of older people who volunteer as much as 40 or more hours per week running a computer training operation that rivals anything that Pima Community College offers in this area. I was invited to address this group a few years ago and was impressed by what this group, most of whom appeared to be in their late sixties or early seventies was doing. I was dumbfounded when I learned that most of the leaders who were showing me around were really in their late eighties and early nineties!

The second reason I feel that the pending retirement of the Boomer generation will not be inflationary is the global economy. While nations with advanced (in terms of economic development) economies – the U.S., Canada, Australia, Western Europe and Japan – have aging populations, the populations of the emerging economies of Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa are disproportionately young.

Outsourcing, or the shifting of work from one nation to another, is already an established practice for other reasons. The gaps in the workforce caused by the retirement of large numbers of people in countries like the U.S. can be offset by shifting the work to places like Asia or Latin America who have the population to do the work. Americans have the money to purchase the goods and these countries have the workers to produce the goods.

The third reason for being confident that the possible exit of large numbers of workers from income producing work in the U.S. due to retirement will not be inflationary is immigration. Again, aging populations in the U.S. and other economically advanced nations is offset by disproportionate numbers of younger workers in the developing nations. Immigrants are not just poor peasants from Mexico or Central America coming here to take low wage jobs that require few skills. Instead, they include people at all levels. Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the Fox media empire is an immigrant. Last week’s Wall Street Journal had an article about how as President Bush was finding an ally in the new Prime Minister of India, a leading critic of the President was the daughter of that same Prime Minister. However, she was not a foreign critic of the President but rather the leader of an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) team fighting the Bush Administration in court over their handling of prisoners in Guantanamo. Her father may be the Prime Minister of India, but she is a Yale educated lawyer, member of the American Bar, living and working in the U.S. and married to an American citizen (the article did not indicate whether she was a citizen or simply a legal resident). The fact is, the U.S. is a relatively open nation which offers great opportunity and this attracts people from all over the world. The U.S. has always been a nation with a shortage of labor and from the early days when we were still just a string of British colonies along the Atlantic coast we have relied on immigration to provide the labor need to build the country.

Finally, we have capital and technology. Capital is expensive and, other things being equal, it is less expensive to use labor rather than capital. But when labor is in short supply (as it has been throughout most of America’s history) business is forced to invest in capital. Critics constantly bemoan the decline of the manufacturing sector in the U.S. But we are still a major producer of manufactured goods and our output of these goods is increasing rather than decreasing. Manufacturing is as large as ever in the U.S., it is just that: 1) other sectors are growing as well so the proportion of the economy devoted to manufacturing is declining; and, 2) due to automation, the number of jobs in manufacturing are declining. Today, production processes that used to employ dozens now employ a half a dozen or less aided by robots and other automated equipment. The exit of the Boomers, if it occurs, will be further incentive to invest more in capital and technology to make up for their loss.

Contrary to Luddite mythology, automation and advancing technology creates rather than destroys jobs. Ceteris paribus, automation enables business to continue to expand without having to increase labor proportionately. The main reason why business invests in more capital rather than labor is that the needed labor is not available. When the labor needed is already fully employed the only way for one company to expand is to bid workers away from another company ? this results in an upward spiral in labor costs, which is inflationary, without a corresponding increase in output. Increased capital investment solves this problem in two ways: 1) it makes each existing worker more productive by allowing them to produce more in the same amount of time with the same or less effort; and, 2) it increases the pool of labor by enabling people who lack the physical and/or intellectual capabilities to do the job under the previous conditions to now do the job. For example, think of physical labor such as road building. If done with a pick and shovel the work is not only slow but the jobs can only be done by people who are physically strong. Bring in motorized earth moving equipment and not only can one worker now move as much dirt as a dozen or more using picks and shovels, but the person driving a piece of heavy equipment does not have to meet the same demanding physical standards, thus allowing employers a larger pool from which to hire. Early in my banking career I designed an automated system for doing the paperwork needed to process mortgage loans. Prior to the computer system this job required excellent typing skills as well as years of experience in order to know which documents to prepare for a given loan and how to prepare them. Increasing demands for home mortgage loans and increased complexity due to new government regulations put great pressure on the industry to expand but the cost of recruiting experienced labor from our competitors was prohibitive. With the system I designed it took about the same amount of time to produce a loan package. However, instead of 40 to 60 words per minute typing skills I could use people who typed at 18 to20 wpm. Instead of some post secondary education and ten years or so of experience, the new system allowed us to hire people right out of high school, train and have them producing mortgage loan packages within two weeks. We were thus able to increase our loans without driving up our wage costs.

It should be noted that most Boomers put off having children until they were in their late thirties or early forties. By deferring the start of their families for about twenty years we, in effect skipped a generation (it takes about 20 years for a new generation to reach adulthood). The so called baby bust refers to the roughly twenty year period when most of the boomer generation were not having children which resulted in the generation that immediately followed us being very small. Our own children are now reaching adulthood just as we are getting ready to retire. This generation is as large as the Boomer generation but, since it is just coming of age and beginning to enter the labor market, it has not had time to acquire the skills and experience needed to enable it to replace us in the workforce. However, technology could make up for much of the experience and skills that our children lack thereby enabling them to replace, to some extent, the retiring Boomers.

All of the above factors will come into play as individuals and individual businesses adjust to changing conditions. I am confident that, if left to itself, the market will adjust and the transition will be relatively smooth. The chattering classes, of course, will be devoting ever increasing amounts of time to worrying about this perceived problem over the coming years. However, anyone who feels the temptation to succumb to their doom and gloom predictions, should go to their local library or the internet and search out magazine and newspaper articles from the 1930s dealing with the perceived demographic crises of those years. Due to the Depression and other factors, the birthrate had dropped noticeably giving rise to fears that there would be too few people in coming years to do the work necessary to keep society going. That generation went on to push the economy to new highs and, at the same time, produce the Boomer generation.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Voluntary Transactions in a Free Market

In reply to Supply & Demand

When we speak of market transactions as being voluntary in a free market we are saying that the use, or threatened use, of physical force is not being applied to either of the two participants in the transaction in order to make them enter into that transaction. Unfortunate or unpleasant circumstances may leave a person with little or no choice as to whether or not to enter into the transaction but this is not the same as one of the participants or his/her agents threatening force to complete the transaction.

For instance, going to the dentist to have a cavity in one of my teeth filled is not something that I look forward to having done and it is certainly not something for which I enjoy spending my money. In fact I take steps to try to prevent cavities so as not to have to enter into such transactions. When I do get a cavity I have the choice of either paying to have it treated or living with the pain and knowledge that I will eventually lose the tooth or worse. So I go to the dentist and part with my money knowing that paying for the treatment is the better of two unpleasant and unwanted choices. Even though I view my choice as being the lesser of two evils I still freely choose to pay to have the cavity filled.

This is different from the dentist deciding that, because cavities are not healthy, people must be made to have them filled. To do this the dentist forces his/her patients at gunpoint to come in and pay to have their cavities treated. Whether the dentist personally confronts the patients or has an agent do the threatening, the use, or threat, of force by the other party to the transaction means that this is no longer a voluntary decision on the part of the other party to the transaction. The same would be true if the dentist, rather than personally threatening the patients or hiring others to do the threatening got the government to make it illegal for people not to have their cavities treated and used the police to force people obtain treatment. (While it may seem like a no brainer to have one’s cavities treated, a person could choose to live with the discomfort of a bad tooth if treating the tooth meant using money that was needed for something more important to them such as to purchase life saving medication for a loved one.)

The above example would be the same if it was the patient that threatened or used force against the dentist to fill a cavity at a price lower than what the dentist wanted to charge. Getting laws passed to limit what a dentist could charge to fill a cavity (and enforcing it with fines or prison if they insisted on charging a higher fee) would also be an example of force to make one party in the transaction participate unwillingly.

Circumstances are not always good and many economic decisions are made on the basis of choosing the lesser of two undesirable choices. But so long as we are free of man-made force and allowed to make the choice on the basis of the environmental obstacles alone, the choice is voluntary.

This post originally appeared on an external website

The End is Near

In reply to Supply & Demand

This is a reminder that the Spring 2006 semester is rapidly drawing to a close.

As posted in your syllabi, the following dates are the final dates for turning in work for each of my classes are as follows:

ECN 200 Telecourse ………. 4 p.m. Friday May 12, 2006

ECN 201 Microeconomics Self-paced at NELC ……. 7 p.m. Monday May 8, 2006

ECN 202 Macroeconomics Self-Paced at NELC ……. 7 p.m. Monday May 8, 2006

Because of the short window for posting grades, I cannot guarantee that work received after these dates will be corrected in time for grade posting. Students who turn in assignments after the due date may receive a temporary Incomplete grade with a grade change being posted after I have had time to correct their work. Further, I am reserving the right to NOT accept work after the official end of the semester on May 16th.

As an incentive to submit all work, including the mid-term and final exams, by the above dates I will be awarding 10 bonus points to all who have their work in by the above dates.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Grades Update

In reply to Supply & Demand

I have finished correcting about half of the work for my Northeast Learning Center Macro Economic Principles class (ECN 202) and have posted those grades to Banner Online this morning. The students who received these grades should be able to view them through their Banner Online accounts tomorrow. I may get some additional grades posted this evening and any additional ones posted this evening will be available for viewing tomorrow as well.

I have been inundated with work and my ECN 200 Telecourse still has until this Friday to submit their work, but I am working as fast as I can to correct work and post grades. It is still my goal to have all grades for ECN 202 and ECN 201 posted by Friday (5/12) so that they will be viewable by students starting Saturday. I will also try to post grades for ECN 200 students as they become available.

Please check this blog daily for updates on grading.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Grade Posting Update

In reply to Supply & Demand

While I have not finished grading all of the NELC ECN 202 Macro work, more assignments and tests were corrected and final grades were calculated and posted for additional students last evening and this morning. The system is showing me that everything I posted yesterday has been “rolled” which I am interpreting means that those items have been uploaded to the main system and are available for viewing by the student. Further, when I added grades for additional students last night I noticed that those that had been entered in the morning were showing as having been “rolled” so I am assuming that the system is being updated during the day as well as in the evening so grades may be visible to students sooner than I am predicting.

I have also started correcting the final exams for the NELC ECN 201 Micro class and have posted final grades on line this morning for those whose final grade was waiting for the final exam only. In the case of both the Micro and Macro class those students who handed in work throughout the semester will probably see their grades online sooner than those who submitted everything on the last day.

Finally, I also have collected final exams for some of the students in my Community Campus ECN 200 Telecourse and expect to have these corrected this evening and grades posted on line for those who had previously submitted everything but the final exam.

REMINDER FOR ECN 200 TELECOURSE STUDENTS the deadline for ALL work for this class is FRIDAY MAY 12TH AT 4:00 P.M. work submitted after that date will probably be given an incomplete with a week to complete it before I simply enter the grade earned as of that point. The exception would be students from whom I have heard nothing all semester in which case I assume they abandoned the course and give them an ‘F’.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Grade Posting Update

In reply to Supply & Demand

As of this morning more than half of the grades for my NELC ECN 202 class have been posted to Banner Online and I am quickly wrapping up the grading and posting of those grades.

I am also moving ahead with the correcting of work for my NELC ECN 201 and my Community Campus ECN 200 Telecourse. Some grades have already been posted to Banner Online for both of these classes and should be available for viewing online today. More will be posted tonight and over the weekend.

I am receiving conflicting dates for the closing of the posting window from the college. The original date was Monday May 15th at 10 p.m. but I have also been told that it would be open until Monday may 22nd. I am still targeting May 15th as the date for completion for having all grades entered online.

Note to students in my ECN 200 Telecourse for Summer: The syllabus is available from me via email. Please email me at nugentwork@yahoo.com and I will send you a copy. I expect to begin updating the course webpage (http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com)in the next few days and will make the syllabus available online at that time. I will also be posting the assignments for summer online soon. Both the syllabus and assignments should be available in paper format from the Community Campus LRC in about a week and paper copies will also be available at the course introductory session on Wednesday June 7, 2006 at the Community Campus.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Update on Grading

In reply to Supply & Demand

Additional papers were corrected today for all classes. All papers received to date for my ECN 200 telecourse have been corrected and all letter grades posted. I still have two or three students who have not turned in all of their work and will probably receive an Incomplete (I) unless I am able to receive and correct it prior to 10 p.m. on Monday evening. HOWEVER, WORK FROM ECN 201 AND 202 WHICH HAS ALREADY BEEN RECEIVED WILL RECEIVE PRIORITY AND THAT WILL BE POSTED BEFORE ANY MORE ECN 200 WORK IS CORRECTED. THE DATE FOR TURNING IN WORK FOR A GUARANTEED GRADE HAS PASSED. There are also 2 or three people in the ECN 200 class from whom I have received no contact for the entire semester. Unless I hear from these people prior to Monday evening, they will receive an ‘F’ for the course.

ONE ADDITIONAL COMMENT ON THE ECN 200 CLASS GRADES – EVEN THOUGH I HAVE BEEN POSTING GRADES FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS, AS OF THIS EVENING BANNER ONLINE WAS STILL INDICATING THAT IT HAD NOT ROLLED THE GRADES. IF YOU ARE IN THE ECN 200 CLASS, TURNED IN ALL YOUR WORK BY 4 P.M. YESTERDAY (FRIDAY MAY 12TH) AND CANNOT READ YOUR GRADE IN BANNER ONLINE PLEASE EMAIL OR CALL ME AT WORK AT 206-6569.

Banner Online is not available for posting on Sundays so no grades will be posted tomorrow (Sunday May 14th). However, I will continue to correct papers tomorrow and will be posting grades at 7 a.m. on Monday morning.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Job Opportunities

In reply to Supply & Demand

Two business people who I frequently work with as part of my regular job with the Pima Community College Center for Business Solutions have contacted me and asked for assistance in locating new employees for their companies. Both companies are local and growing.

The first company is a local software development firm located entirely in Tucson but with customers around the U.S. and Europe. Their sales of their software products have reached the point where they need a help desk person to provide help to clients who call with questions or problems. Please email me if you are interested and I will send contact information to you.

The second is a local company that is growing and has a number of positions open. Here is the position description and contact information:

Are you looking for fun and exciting employment? Online Self Storage, Inc.
is currently searching for sales-oriented individuals who enjoy working in a
friendly call center environment. We are looking for 30 – 40 employees who
are:

Highly energetic with a positive attitude
Must be able to multitask
Basic computer knowledge
Use of the Internet
Telephone skills
Call center or sales experience
Attention to details
Loves to exceed goals
Bi-lingual Spanish a plus, not a must

We are offering competitive pay and weekly bonus incentives. We have
immediate positions available for full time, part time, temporary and
permanent positions. We also provide friendly teams with supportive
leadership plus training & coaching! Close to bus line. Inbound Calls ONLY!

Contact
Online Self Storage, Inc.
Gloria M. Moreno
520-407-8117
6740 N. Oracle Suite#100
Tucson AZ 85704

This post originally appeared on an external website

Final Spring 2006 Grade Update

In reply to Supply & Demand

I have finished correcting all assignments received through this evening and have posted grades for all students in all three of my courses.

A total of 8 incomplete grades were given ? two in ECN 200, and 3 each in ECN 201 and ECN 202. One of the ?I? grades in ECN 201 and one in ECN 202 were requested by students with a reason. The remaining six ?I? grades were given to students who had missing work which I was either informed would be late or which may have been submitted on time and lost. In the past week I have been inundated with 200 or more assignments and tests coming from four different locations plus email. Some students dropped off paper copies of work at the NELC and emailed me copies of the same work. Out of this deluge there are a total of six assignments/tests from four students which are unaccounted for and have possibly been lost ? the remaining missing assignments are known to be either in transit to me or have been promised by the students in question. The students whose work may have been lost will receive the extra credit for having the work in on time and I will work with them to either get copies of the missing work or arrange to calculate their grade so as not to be penalized for the lost items.

Other than this, everything is in order and all of you should be able to view your grades today.

I have enjoyed having you in my classes and want to wish all of you the best of luck for the future and hope you have an enjoyable summer.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Assignment 6

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 31249
Summer 2006

Assignment 6

Read the article entitled Imports? Never! by T. Norman Van Cott (found at http://www.mises.org/story/1807) and answer the following questions.

1 (10 Points) According to the author, which of the two scenerios ? cheap foreign imports or expensive foreign imports (with “cheap” and “expensive” being relative to domestic American prices for these products) are bad for the U.S. economy? Why?

2 (10 Points) What does the author mean by the statement “What protection teaches us is to do to ourselves in time of peace is what enemies seek to do to us in time of war”? How are peacetime laws designed to prevent or limit the importation of foreign goods the same as wartime actions by one’s enemies to prevent their importing goods from abroad?

3 (10 Points) Why are we better off economically when we are able to import foreign goods for a lower price than what we produce domestically?

4 (10 Points) If my household were considered a nation would my family and I be better off trying to raise chickens on our townhouse (for eggs and meat) rather than “importing” eggs and meat from a “foreign” source such as Safeway or Fry’s? Why or why not? What is the difference between me “losing” my job as a chicken farmer and butcher (in a townhouse) to competition from Fry’s and an American steelworker losing his job to a “foreign” producer from Korea?

5 (10 Points) Explain why cheap foreign imports raise our standard of living and make us better off economically.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Test 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

NOTE!

Test 5 is the FINAL EXAM and must be taken at the Community Campus Test Center.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Assignment 5

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 31249
Summer 2006

Assignment 5

Read the attached article entitled “Rolling Back Government: Lessons from New Zealand” by Maurice P. McTigue and answer the questions below.

Each question is worth 10 points for a total of 50 points.

1. In the article the author states that the main problem with government subsidies is that they make people dependent upon the government. Why is this dependency bad for an economy? How do people react to dependency?

2. Why was France upset with Ireland when Ireland changed its corporate tax rate? How was France hurt by the Irish action? What should France have done to meet the challenge posed by Ireland?

3. In the article the author states that when the reform government in New Zealand was first elected they identified three problems: “too much spending, too much taxing and too much government”. How did the government of New Zealand cut spending, cut taxes and reduce government?

4. In the past couple of decades Ireland has gone from being the poorest nation in Western Europe to one of the richest. Meanwhile France has stagnated economically. Read the author’s comments on France and Ireland and give an explanation as to why Ireland is booming while France struggles with unemployment.

5. What reforms did the government make in education and why, according to the author did these reforms work?

Rolling Back Government: Lessons from New Zealand

Maurice P. McTigue

Maurice P. McTigue is a distinguished visiting scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where he directs the government accountability project. Previously, he was a member of the New Zealand Parliament and New Zealand?s ambassador to Canada, and was closely involved in New Zealand?s deregulation of labor markets, deregulation of the transportation industry, and restructuring of the fishing industry through the creation of conservation incentives. He also served as Minister of Employment, Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Minister of Railways, Minister of Works and Development, Minister of Labour and Minister of Immigration. Among his many honors, Mr. McTigue is a recipient of the Queen?s Service Order, bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. In the U.S., he was recently appointed to the Office of Personnel Management Senior Review Committee, formed to make recommendations for human resources systems at the Department of Homeland Security. He also sits on the Performance Management Advisory Committee for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The following is adapted from a lecture delivered on February 11, 2004, on the Hillsdale campus, during a five-day seminar on ?The Conditions of Free-Market Capitalism,? co-sponsored by the Center for Constructive Alternatives and the Ludwig von Mises Lecture Series.

Rolling Back Government: Lessons from New Zealand

If we look back through history, growth in government has been a modern phenomenon. Beginning in the 1850s and lasting until the 1920s or ?30s, the government?s share of GDP in most of the world?s industrialized economies was about six percent. From that period onwards ? and particularly since the 1950s ? we?ve seen a massive explosion in government share of GDP, in some places as much as 35-45 percent. (In the case of Sweden, of course, it reached 65 percent, and Sweden nearly self-destructed as a result. It is now starting to dismantle some of its social programs to remain economically viable.) Can this situation be halted or even rolled back? My view, based upon personal experience, is that the answer is ?yes.? But it requires high levels of transparency and significant consequences for bad decisions ? and these are not easy things to bring about.

What we?re seeing around the world at the moment is what I would call a silent revolution, reflected in a change in how people view government accountability. The old idea of accountability simply held that government should spend money in accordance with appropriations. The new accountability is based on asking, ?What did we get in public benefits as a result of the expenditure of money?? This is a question that has always been asked in business, but has not been the norm for governments. And those governments today that are struggling valiantly with this question are showing quite extraordinary results. This was certainly the basis of the successful reforms in my own country of New Zealand.

New Zealand?s per capita income in the period prior to the late 1950s was right around number three in the world, behind the United States and Canada. But by 1984, its per capita income had sunk to 27th in the world, alongside Portugal and Turkey. Not only that, but our unemployment rate was 11.6 percent, we?d had 23 successive years of deficits (sometimes ranging as high as 40 percent of GDP), our debt had grown to 65 percent of GDP, and our credit ratings were continually being downgraded. Government spending was a full 44 percent of GDP, investment capital was exiting in huge quantities, and government controls and micromanagement were pervasive at every level of the economy. We had foreign exchange controls that meant I couldn?t buy a subscription to The Economist magazine without the permission of the Minister of Finance. I couldn?t buy shares in a foreign company without surrendering my citizenship. There were price controls on all goods and services, on all shops and on all service industries. There were wage controls and wage freezes. I couldn?t pay my employees more ? or pay them bonuses ? if I wanted to. There were import controls on the goods that I could bring into the country. There were massive levels of subsidies on industries in order to keep them viable. Young people were leaving in droves.

Spending and Taxes

When a reform government was elected in 1984, it identified three problems: too much spending, too much taxing and too much government. The question was how to cut spending and taxes and diminish government?s role in the economy. Well, the first thing you have to do in this situation is to figure out what you?re getting for dollars spent. Towards this end, we implemented a new policy whereby money wouldn?t simply be allocated to government agencies; instead, there would be a purchase contract with the senior executives of those agencies that clearly delineated what was expected in return for the money. Those who headed up government agencies were now chosen on the basis of a worldwide search and received term contracts ? five years with a possible extension of another three years. The only ground for their removal was non-performance, so a newly-elected government couldn?t simply throw them out as had happened with civil servants under the old system. And of course, with those kinds of incentives, agency heads ? like CEOs in the private sector ? made certain that the next tier of people had very clear objectives that they were expected to achieve as well.

The first purchase that we made from every agency was policy advice. That policy advice was meant to produce a vigorous debate between the government and the agency heads about how to achieve goals like reducing hunger and homelessness. This didn?t mean, by the way, how government could feed or house more people ? that?s not important. What?s important is the extent to which hunger and homelessness are actually reduced. In other words, we made it clear that what?s important is not how many people are on welfare, but how many people get off welfare and into independent living.

As we started to work through this process, we also asked some fundamental questions of the agencies. The first question was, ?What are you doing?? The second question was, ?What should you be doing?? Based on the answers, we then said, ?Eliminate what you shouldn?t be doing? ? that is, if you are doing something that clearly is not a responsibility of the government, stop doing it. Then we asked the final question: ?Who should be paying ? the taxpayer, the user, the consumer, or the industry?? We asked this because, in many instances, the taxpayers were subsidizing things that did not benefit them. And if you take the cost of services away from actual consumers and users, you promote overuse and devalue whatever it is that you?re doing.

When we started this process with the Department of Transportation, it had 5,600 employees. When we finished, it had 53. When we started with the Forest Service, it had 17,000 employees. When we finished, it had 17. When we applied it to the Ministry of Works, it had 28,000 employees. I used to be Minister of Works, and ended up being the only employee. In the latter case, most of what the department did was construction and engineering, and there are plenty of people who can do that without government involvement. And if you say to me, ?But you killed all those jobs!? ? well, that?s just not true. The government stopped employing people in those jobs, but the need for the jobs didn?t disappear. I visited some of the forestry workers some months after they?d lost their government jobs, and they were quite happy. They told me that they were now earning about three times what they used to earn ? on top of which, they were surprised to learn that they could do about 60 percent more than they used to! The same lesson applies to the other jobs I mentioned.

Some of the things that government was doing simply didn?t belong in the government. So we sold off telecommunications, airlines, irrigation schemes, computing services, government printing offices, insurance companies, banks, securities, mortgages, railways, bus services, hotels, shipping lines, agricultural advisory services, etc. In the main, when we sold those things off, their productivity went up and the cost of their services went down, translating into major gains for the economy. Furthermore, we decided that other agencies should be run as profit-making and tax-paying enterprises by government. For instance, the air traffic control system was made into a stand-alone company, given instructions that it had to make an acceptable rate of return and pay taxes, and told that it couldn?t get any investment capital from its owner (the government). We did that with about 35 agencies. Together, these used to cost us about one billion dollars per year; now they produced about one billion dollars per year in revenues and taxes.

We achieved an overall reduction of 66 percent in the size of government, measured by the number of employees. The government?s share of GDP dropped from 44 to 27 percent. We were now running surpluses, and we established a policy never to leave dollars on the table: We knew that if we didn?t get rid of this money, some clown would spend it. So we used most of the surplus to pay off debt, and debt went from 63 percent down to 17 percent of GDP. We used the remainder of the surplus each year for tax relief. We reduced income tax rates by half and eliminated incidental taxes. As a result of these policies, revenue increased by 20 percent. Yes, Ronald Reagan was right: lower tax rates do produce more revenue.

Subsidies, Education, and Competitiveness

What about invasive government in the form of subsidies? First, we need to recognize that the main problem with subsidies is that they make people dependent; and when you make people dependent, they lose their innovation and their creativity and become even more dependent.

Let me give you an example: By 1984, New Zealand sheep farming was receiving about 44 percent of its income from government subsidies. Its major product was lamb, and lamb in the international marketplace was selling for about $12.50 (with the government providing another $12.50)per carcass. Well, we did away with all sheep farming subsidies within one year. And of course the sheep farmers were unhappy. But once they accepted the fact that the subsidies weren?t coming back, they put together a team of people charged with figuring out how they could get $30 per lamb carcass. The team reported back that this would be difficult, but not impossible. It required producing an entirely different product, processing it in a different way and selling it in different markets. And within two years, by 1989, they had succeeded in converting their $12.50 product into something worth $30. By 1991, it was worth $42; by 1994 it was worth $74; and by 1999 it was worth $115. In other words, the New Zealand sheep industry went out into the marketplace and found people who would pay higher prices for its product. You can now go into the best restaurants in the U.S. and buy New Zealand lamb, and you?ll be paying somewhere between $35 and $60 per pound.

Needless to say, as we took government support away from industry, it was widely predicted that there would be a massive exodus of people. But that didn?t happen. To give you one example, we lost only about three-quarters of one percent of the farming enterprises ? and these were people who shouldn?t have been farming in the first place. In addition, some predicted a major move towards corporate as opposed to family farming. But we?ve seen exactly the reverse. Corporate farming moved out and family farming expanded, probably because families are prepared to work for less than corporations. In the end, it was the best thing that possibly could have happened. And it demonstrated that if you give people no choice but to be creative and innovative, they will find solutions.

New Zealand had an education system that was failing as well. It was failing about 30 percent of its children ? especially those in lower socio-economic areas. We had put more and more money into education for 20 years, and achieved worse and worse results.

It cost us twice as much to get a poorer result than we did 20 years previously with much less money. So we decided to rethink what we were doing here as well. The first thing we did was to identify where the dollars were going that we were pouring into education. We hired international consultants (because we didn?t trust our own departments to do it), and they reported that for every dollar we were spending on education, 70 cents was being swallowed up by administration. Once we heard this, we immediately eliminated all of the Boards of Education in the country. Every single school came under the control of a board of trustees elected by the parents of the children at that school, and by nobody else. We gave schools a block of money based on the number of students that went to them, with no strings attached. At the same time, we told the parents that they had an absolute right to choose where their children would go to school. It is absolutely obnoxious to me that anybody would tell parents that they must send their children to a bad school. We converted 4,500 schools to this new system all on the same day.

But we went even further: We made it possible for privately owned schools to be funded in exactly the same way as publicly owned schools, giving parents the ability to spend their education dollars wherever they chose. Again, everybody predicted that there would be a major exodus of students from the public to the private schools, because the private schools showed an academic advantage of 14 to 15 percent. It didn?t happen, however, because the differential between schools disappeared in about 18-24 months. Why? Because all of a sudden teachers realized that if they lost their students, they would lose their funding; and if they lost their funding, they would lose their jobs. Eighty-five percent of our students went to public schools at the beginning of this process. That fell to only about 84 percent over the first year or so of our reforms. But three years later, 87 percent of the students were going to public schools. More importantly, we moved from being about 14 or 15 percent below our international peers to being about 14 or 15 percent above our international peers in terms of educational attainment.

Now consider taxation and competitiveness: What many in the public sector today fail to recognize is that the challenge of competitiveness is worldwide. Capital and labor can move so freely and rapidly from place to place that the only way to stop business from leaving is to make certain that your business climate is better than anybody else?s. Along these lines, there was a very interesting circumstance in Ireland just two years ago. The European Union, led by France, was highly critical of Irish tax policy ? particularly on corporations ? because the Irish had reduced their tax on corporations from 48 percent to 12 percent and business was flooding into Ireland. The European Union wanted to impose a penalty on Ireland in the form of a 17 percent corporate tax hike to bring them into line with other European countries. Needless to say, the Irish didn?t buy that. The European community responded by saying that what the Irish were doing was unfair and uncompetitive. The Irish Minister of Finance agreed: He pointed out that Ireland was charging corporations 12 percent, while charging its citizens only 10 percent. So Ireland reduced the tax rate to 10 percent for corporations as well. There?s another one the French lost!

When we in New Zealand looked at our revenue gathering process, we found the system extremely complicated in a way that distorted business as well as private decisions. So we asked ourselves some questions: Was our tax system concerned with collecting revenue? Was it concerned with collecting revenue and also delivering social services? Or was it concerned with collecting revenue, delivering social services and changing behavior, all three? We decided that the social services and behavioral components didn?t have any place in a rational system of taxation. So we resolved that we would have only two mechanisms for gathering revenue ? a tax on income and a tax on consumption ? and that we would simplify those mechanisms and lower the rates as much as we possibly could. We lowered the high income tax rate from 66 to 33 percent, and set that flat rate for high-income earners. In addition, we brought the low end down from 38 to 19 percent, which became the flat rate for low-income earners. We then set a consumption tax rate of 10 percent and eliminated all other taxes ? capital gains taxes, property taxes, etc. We carefully designed this system to produce exactly the same revenue as we were getting before and presented it to the public as a zero sum game. But what actually happened was that we received 20 percent more revenue than before. Why? We hadn?t allowed for the increase in voluntary compliance. If tax rates are low, taxpayers won?t employ high priced lawyers and accountants to find loopholes. Indeed, every country that I?ve looked at in the world that has dramatically simplified and lowered its tax rates has ended up with more revenue, not less.

What about regulations? The regulatory power is customarily delegated to non-elected officials who then constrain the people?s liberties with little or no accountability. These regulations are extremely difficult to eliminate once they are in place. But we found a way: We simply rewrote the statutes on which they were based. For instance, we rewrote the environmental laws, transforming them into the Resource Management Act ? reducing a law that was 25 inches thick to 348 pages. We rewrote the tax code, all of the farm acts, and the occupational safety and health acts. To do this, we brought our brightest brains together and told them to pretend that there was no pre-existing law and that they should create for us the best possible environment for industry to thrive. We then marketed it in terms of what it would save in taxes. These new laws, in effect, repealed the old, which meant that all existing regulations died ? the whole lot, every single one.

Thinking Differently About Government

What I have been discussing is really just a new way of thinking about government. Let me tell you how we solved our deer problem: Our country had no large indigenous animals until the English imported deer for hunting. These deer proceeded to escape into the wild and become obnoxious pests. We then spent 120 years trying to eliminate them, until one day someone suggested that we just let people farm them. So we told the farming community that they could catch and farm the deer, as long as they would keep them inside eight-foot high fences. And we haven?t spent a dollar on deer eradication from that day onwards. Not one. And New Zealand now supplies 40 percent of the world market in venison. By applying simple common sense, we turned a liability into an asset.

Let me share with you one last story: The Department of Transportation came to us one day and said they needed to increase the fees for driver?s licenses. When we asked why, they said that the cost of relicensing wasn?t being fully recovered at the current fee levels. Then we asked why we should be doing this sort of thing at all. The transportation people clearly thought that was a very stupid question: Everybody needs a driver?s license, they said. I then pointed out that I received mine when I was fifteen and asked them: ?What is it about relicensing that in any way tests driver competency?? We gave them ten days to think this over. At one point they suggested to us that the police need driver?s licenses for identification purposes. We responded that this was the purpose of an identity card, not a driver?s license. Finally they admitted that they could think of no good reason for what they were doing ? so we abolished the whole process! Now a driver?s license is good until a person is 74 years old, after which he must get an annual medical test to ensure he is still competent to drive. So not only did we not need new fees, we abolished a whole department. That?s what I mean by thinking differently.

There are some great things happening along these lines in the United States today. You might not know it, but back in 1993 Congress passed a law called the Government Performance and Results Act. This law orders government departments to identify in a strategic plan what it is that they intend to achieve, and to report each year what they actually did achieve in terms of public benefits. Following on this, two years ago President Bush brought to the table something called the President?s Management Agenda, which sifts through the information in these reports and decides how to respond. These mechanisms are promising if they are used properly. Consider this: There are currently 178 federal programs designed to help people get back to work. They cost $8.4 billion, and 2.4 million people are employed as a result of them. But if we took the most effective three programs out of those 178 and put the $8.4 billion into them alone, the result would likely be that 14.7 million people would find jobs. The status quo costs America over 11 million jobs. The kind of new thinking I am talking about would build into the system a consequence for the administrator who is responsible for this failure of sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars. It is in this direction that the government needs to move.

Copyright ? 2004

“Reprinted by permission from IMPRIMIS,
the monthly journal of Hillsdale College
(http://www.hillsdale.edu).”

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Test 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 – CRN 31249
Summer 2006

Test 4

Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions 5 points each:

1 The standard assumption in economic analysis is that firms attempt to maximize

A. sales.
B. profits.
C. costs.
D. reliability.
E. production.

2 Opportunity cost is

A. the variable cost a firm incurs by increasing output one unit.
B. the value of the best alternative use of a firm’s resources.
C. the output opportunities a firm gains when average fixed costs decline.
D. another name for explicit costs.
E. the difference between fixed cost and variable cost.

3 For a monopolist the Golden Rule of Output Determination is to set the output rate at the point where marginal revenue equals

A. price.
B. marginal cost.
C. profits.
D. output.
E. zero.

4 Experience with public regulation of monopolies indicates that

A. on the average, regulated prices are clearly lower than unregulated prices of the same item.
B. regulation provides a stronger set of incentives than competitive markets for firms to increase efficiency.
C. a decision to base a fair rate of return on either historical cost or replacement cost yields the same pricing result.
D. most public utility regulation should be in the hands of federal rather than state commissions.
E. if a firm is guaranteed a fixed amount of profit, it will be less efficient than if its profits depend on how efficiently it operates.

5 An advantage of proprietorship is that the owner is faced with

A. complete control.
B. easy-to-obtain financing.
C. unlimited liability.
D. limited liability.
E. lower tax rates than those applicable to a partnership.

6 A market consisting of many firms producing a homogeneous product, having complete knowledge of relevant information, no power over the product’s market price, and low barriers to entry is characteristic of

A. perfect competition.
B. monopoly.
C. monopolistic competition.
D. oligopoly.
E. none of the above.

7 A consumer buying food and clothing is in equilibrium when the marginal

A. utilities of food and clothing equal the total utilities of food and clothing.
B. utility of the last dollar spent on food equals the marginal utility of the last dollar spent on clothing.
C. utilities of both goods are the same.
D. utilities of both goods are the greatest.
E. utility of food equals the price of food and the marginal utility of clothing equals the price of clothing.

8 In a given year in the production function of a typical college or university, a tenured faculty member would be an example of

A. a fixed input.
B. a variable input.
C. an expendable input.
D. an average input.
E. a marginal input.

9 One of the major long-term effects of rent controls in New York City has been

A. an increase in the average size of an apartment.
B. the creation of above-average profits for landlords.
C. the creation of surpluses of affordable housing units.
D. a rapid increase in the rate of New York’s population growth.
E. the abandonment of buildings, reducing the number of rental units available to consumers.

10 The Golden Rule of Output Determination for a perfectly competitive firm is to

A. choose the output rate at which price is greatest.
B. choose the output rate at which price equals marginal cost.
C. produce to the point of diminishing marginal returns.
D. produce until total revenue exceeds total cost.
E. choose the output rate at which total cost is the lowest.

11 A notable movement in the direction of deregulation of industry in the United States occurred during

A. the 1930s.
B. World War II.
C. the late 1940s and early 1950s.
D. the early 1960s.
E. the late 1970s and early 1980s.
12 A market consisting of many firms, low barriers to entry, some control over price, but considerable non-price competition is characteristic of

A. perfect competition.
B. monopoly.
C. monopolistic competition.
D. oligopoly.
E. none of the above.

13 The important determinants of the price elasticity of demand are the

A. number and closeness of available substitutes, importance in consumers’ budgets, and length of the time period.
B. number of markets, size of buyers’ incomes, and empirical validity.
C. number of firms, number of variables that must be held constant, and degree to which markets are separable.
D. scope and method of measurement and calculation, and transitivity of preferences.
E. state of technology, size of the firm’s plants, and size of the absolute change in input prices and quantity.

14 A firm given exclusive rights by the government to do business in a particular area is

A. a patent monopoly.
B. an output monopoly.
C. a natural monopoly.
D. a franchise monopoly.
E. an input monopoly.

15 A market consisting of a few firms producing similar products with significant barriers to entry is characteristic of

A. perfect competition.
B. monopoly.
C. monopolistic competition.
D. oligopoly.
E. none of the above.

16 A business firm that is regarded as a fictitious legal person is called a

A. front.
B. corporation.
C. silent partnership.
D. limited proprietorship.
E. special interest.

17 An oligopolistic market is one with

A. firms having no power over price.
B. few sellers.
C. few buyers.
D. several monopolists operating simultaneously.
E. product groups.

18 A market demand curve shows
A. what price will prevail in the marketplace.
B. how much of a commodity will be purchased in a given period of time at various prices.
C. the rate at which consumption of a commodity will increase as income goes up.
D. the minimum price consumers will have to pay to get a certain quantity.
E. that as price goes up consumers will spend more money on a commodity.

19 In a market economy, firms decide what and how much to produce on the basis of their

A. income, tastes, and market supplies.
B. marginal and average utilities.
C. humanitarian ideals.
D. costs and what they can charge for their products.
E. orders from a central government planning bureau.

20 When Pester U. with an annual enrollment of 3,600 students raised its tuition from $18,000 to $19,500, its enrollment fell by 200 students. What is the school’s arc elasticity of demand?

A. 0.13.
B. 0.67.
C. 0.71.
D. 1.4.
E. 1.5.

Part 2: Short Answer questions:

1 (7 points) Read Case Study 16.2 (Oil price Increases and Drilling Activity) on page 380 of your text, then explain how rising oil prices during the OPEC oil embargo resulted in an increase in the supply of domestic oil production.

2 (6 points) Explain why a firm continues to produce in the short run so long as the price exceeds the average variable cost, even if the price is lower than the average cost.

Read Case Study 18.1 Price Ceilings and Price Supports and Case Study 18.2 Starting from Scratch: The Transition from Communism to Capitalism on pages 436-438 in your book, then answer the questions below:

3 (6 points) What is a price ceiling? Compare what is said in paragraph 2 of Case Study 18.2 on page 437 with the picture in Case Study 18.1 on page 436. Would the line of people in the picture have disappeared if the U.S. government had eliminated the price ceililng on sugar? Why or why not?

4. (6 points) Why do you think the bureaucrats and managers of state owned enterprises (see last paragraph of Case Study 18.2 starting on page 437) in the old Communist Bloc used their power to subvert the free market reforms the governments of these countries were trying to implement?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Assignment 4

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 31249
Summer 2006

Assignment 4

Read Case Study 20.3 (page 484) in your textbook dealing with Airline deregulation. Then read my comments and the article entitled Airport Privatization by the Alabama Policy Institute (found at http://www.alabamapolicy.org/GTI/GTI-government-5.html) and answer the questions here.

1 (10 points) What has been the effect on jobs (i.e., have the increased or decreased and by how much) in the Airline Industry and on airline ticket prices (i.e., increased or decreased and by how much) as a result of deregulation?

2 (10 points) Is airline travel safer or more dangerous as a result of airline deregulation? Explain your reasoning.

3 (10 points) List reasons for privatization of airports and the air traffic control system. Also, what are some reasons for NOT privatizing airports and the air traffic control system.

4 (10 points) In your opinion would privatizing airports make travel better (in terms of customer service, safety, efficiency, etc.) or worse than they are now.

5 (10 points) What has been Canada’s experience with airport privitization?

Instructor’s Comments

Your book and the videos discuss deregulation which was well underway in the U.S. at the time the Economics U$A program was being produced and broadcast. Deregulation involves the repeal of regulations that both restrict what the regulated industry can do as well as protecting the regulated industry from competition.

Mainly overlooked was the concept of privatization which involves the sale of government run operations. While governments at all levels in the U.S. provide goods and services (schools, roads, airports, water authorities, etc.) that could be provided by private business these are not as extensive as in other nations where a large percent (as in pre-Thatcher Britain, or places like Sweden today) or all (as in the former Soviet Union) of the productive capacity is owned by the government. But pressure for privatization appears to be increasing in the U.S. as governments at all levels find themselves strapped for cash due to taxpayer revolts and hard pressed to provide the variety that consumers desire (compare the wide range of specialized private schools with the “one size fits all” offering of public schools in the U.S.)

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Test 3

In reply to Supply & Demand

NOTE!

Test 3 is the MIDTERM EXAM which is a closed book exam that must be taken at the Community Campus Test Center.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Assignment 3

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 31249
Summer 2006

Assignment 3

Read the article below entitled Ronald Reagan and the Spirit of Free Enterprise by George Gilder and answer the following questions.

Each question is worth 10 points for a total of 50 points.

1. According to the article why does the lowering of tax rates cause government revenues to increase?

2. What does the author mean by the statement “That is why high tax rates do not redistribute incomes. They redistribute taxpayers out of taxable activities and onto golf courses, into barter exchanges and among foreign regimes with lower rates”?

3. What is Supply Side economic theory and what does it say about the relationship between taxes and government revenues?

4. The author, George Gilder, like Ronald Reagan, is a political conservative who prefers to see the government reduced in size. Yet, Gilder praises Reagan for the supply side economic policy that resulted in increased government revenues which resulted in an increase rather than a decrease in the size of the Federal Government (despite the claims of his political opponents, the size of the Federal Government increased rather than decreased during the presidency of Ronald Reagan). How does Gilder rationalize his support of an economic policy that increases government size with his political philosophy that seeks a smaller Federal government?

5. According to Gilder, under the heading of “Moral Foundations of the Free Market” in his article, the market does a better job of helping the poor than the government’s policies of redistributing income from rich to poor. Explain how the market, according to Gilder, improves the lot of the poor better than government redistribution policies.

Ronald Reagan and the Spirit of Free Enterprise
by
George Gilder
Chairman, Gilder Publishing LLC/Author, Wealth and Poverty

George Gilder is chairman of Gilder Publishing LLC and a senior fellow at the Discovery
Institute. He attended Exeter Academy and Harvard University, where he co-founded
Advance. Later a fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Politics and editor of the Ripon Forum,
he served as a speechwriter for Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney, Richard Nixon and
others. He is the author of the Gilder Technology Report and twelve books, including Men
and Marriage, Wealth and Poverty, The Spirit of Enterprise and Telecosm. A pioneer in
the formulation of supply-side economics, he is a contributor to Forbes magazine and has
written for The Economist, the Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal and
several other publications. In 1986, President Reagan presented him the White House
Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.

The following is adapted from a speech delivered on May 24, 2004, at a Hillsdale College
National Leadership Seminar in Seattle, Washington.

Since Ronald Reagan’s death, many inspiring speeches have been delivered and adulatory articles written about his presidency. But few of the tributes have recognized Reagan’s greatest achievement, which was indispensable to the U.S. triumph in the Cold War and is crucial for the current war on terrorism. Reagan tapped the creativity of America’s entrepreneurs to bring about a global, not just a national, economic revolution.

Poets describe creativity as “Promethean,” referring to the mythical hero who brought fire to the earth. A Promethean era in world history, the Reagan presidency lit the fires of American creativity – and they have been roaring ever since. Reagan’s ideas transformed American finance, global economics and world politics. They reverberated through Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and China with the power of Joshua’s trumpets. They made South Korea a more economically important and promising country than France or Germany.

To the defenders of the old order – Third World despots, legal monopolies, land trusts, gold funds, oil cartels, bureaucracies and tyrannies of all kinds – the Promethean roar was an insufferable racket. They mustered all their powers to prevent the transformation from occuring. The facts reveal their failure – and Reagan’s success: Since 1980, U.S. marginal tax rates fell some 40 percent on income and 75 percent on capital gains and dividends, and the American economy added close to 36 million jobs. During the same time period, Europe and Japan created scarcely any net new employment outside of government. American companies now constitute 57 percent of global market capitalization, and the U.S. commands close to one half of the world’s economic assets.
America, responsible for one fifth of global GDP in 1980, produced one third of global GDP in 2003. That is Ronald Reagan’s legacy.

The Lasting Impact of Supply-Side Economics

The key to this awesome and unprecedented triumph was Reagan’s dismantling of the confiscatory tax codes imposed on the capitalist world during World War II. Supporting Reagan’s tax rate reductions was a movement of economists and journalists called supply-siders. We were so unpopular that Bob Dole used to crack a “good news/bad news” joke about a Greyhound bus going over a cliff. The good news was that it was “full of supply-side economists.”
A central component of supply-side economics is the Laffer Curve – named for its inventor, the economist Arthur Laffer – which shows that low tax rates produce more revenue than high ones. Ronald Reagan understood and embraced the Laffer Curve. He would regale White House visitors with a story about actors and producers in Hollywood who simply stopped working when their marginal tax rates rose over 50 percent. A rate high on the Laffer Curve, as Reagan knew, means that more work for more income is less profitable than maneuvering to avoid taxes on existing income. According to my research, the correct curve shows that tax rates should be kept very low – well below 20 percent – and that higher rates tend to reduce long run government income and massively reduce private sector wealth.

In the media and the academy, however, the Laffer Curve is widely discredited. Even many Republicans speak of “paying” for tax cuts with spending cuts and claim that the real burden of government on the economy is what it spends rather than how it taxes. But to say that tax cuts cost money is to imply that current tax rates do not obstruct economic activity, and therefore that reductions are unnecessary. If you concede that tax cuts reduce government revenue, it becomes quite difficult to defend tax cuts effectively in a democracy where at least one third of the voters are directly dependent on government spending for their livelihoods, and where most of the rest cherish some kind of government program.

Reagan’s genius was to show us a way out of this dilemma: The real undeniable test of tax policy is not short-term shifts in revenue but long-term shifts in spending that are most clearly manifested by increases in the federal budget. Between 1981 and 2004, current government spending in terms of dollars increased fivefold while the total hovered a little above 20 percent of GDP.

In the mid-1980s, World Bank economist Keith Marsden showed how this is possible: Low tax countries increase their spending three times faster than comparable high tax countries. This is because the low tax economies grow six times faster. For most of the period since World War II, the fastest growing economy in the world, with the fastest growth in government spending, was Hong Kong, with a top rate of 16 percent. A study by Jude Wanniski at Polyconomics extended the analysis through the Reagan era, with the same results. In recent years, Ireland, New Zealand and Russia massively increased spending after drastically reducing tax rates. Russia has increased outlays by some 60 percent after enacting a 13 percent flat tax.

Why do I stress government spending, after a long career of attacking it? The reason is simple: What is crucial is not the absolute level of government but the size of government compared to the size of the private sector. In every country that enacted tax rate reductions, the absolute growth of the private sector enormously outpaced the growth of government.
The growth of the private sector is measured not merely by output but also by assets. In the 25 years since Reagan assumed office, U.S. household assets have more than tripled, to a current record of $52 trillion. Driven by a surging stock market, America’s increase in private wealth dwarfs the increases in debt that cause such agony for one-handed economists in Washington, who dutifully gauge the swell of liabilities but seem blinded to the mountainous growth of assets.

By cutting tax rates, Reagan was able to fund a 50 percent increase in defense spending. This expansion of the military was crucial to winning the Cold War. Social spending also grew by some 25 percent – although I should hasten to add that Reagan sharply reduced the nation’s debt by negotiating a Social Security Commission regime that extended the age of retirement and cut back the implicit liabilities in the Social Security program by some six trillion dollars. These reforms radically improved the fiscal position of the government compared to the 1970s, when real Social Security liabilities doubled.

The 1970s ended with a budget (minus Social Security) that was nearly balanced and a balance of payments surplus. When Reagan assumed office in 1981, the government was apparently in the black. But most of the private sector was in the red, with bankrupt Savings and Loans and interest rates over 15 percent. Reagan knew that all government spending ultimately depends on the output and assets of the private sector. While the federal budget deficit (exclusive of Social Security) swelled under Reagan in absolute terms as he confronted the Soviet Union in the Cold War, the federal debt shrunk sharply as a share of national assets. Far from losing ground in high technology, the U.S. began a 20-year surge of innovation in computers and communications that has made the U.S. the world’s dominant source of technical advance and new wealth. Personal computers and networks became central to world economic growth.

Meanwhile, with the top tax rate dropping from 50 to 28 percent under Reagan, tax contributions by the top five percent of earners rose from nine to 18 percent of the total, while contributions from the bottom 20 percent dropped from six to two percent. The top 50 percent of taxpayers paid 94.5 percent of the federal income taxes. Lower tax rates resulted in much larger tax payments by the rich.

Reagan’s economic policies proved to be so popular that they were extended, for the most part, under President Clinton and a Republican Congress. Whatever Clinton’s intentions were, he could not reverse the Reagan momentum. While Clinton hiked the top rate to 39 percent (compared to 50 percent when Reagan took office), Congress enacted and Clinton signed a drop in the capital gains tax to 20 percent and the U.S. became a nation of stockholders as Reagan had prophesied repeatedly.

Leading the Global Economy

The key Reagan accomplishment is rarely recognized at all: We are now in a global economy. While economists constantly parse statistics about the U.S., as if our economy were isolated from the world, the real impact of economic policy today can only be gauged by global data. Overall, the Reagan program led to a shift in the global economic balance of power as dramatic as the victory in the Cold War – and vital to it.

Far from falling behind Japan and Europe, as the experts had predicted throughout the 1980s, the U.S. surged into global economic dominance. To repeat: Beginning in 1980 with a GDP at one fifth of the global total, the U.S. had attained a national output of $11 trillion by 2003, fully one third of a global GDP of $33 trillion. This is an awesome and unprecedented change. In the entire history of the peacetime world economy, nothing like it has ever happened. Coming after President Carter’s “malaise” in the 1970s, the American ascent is directly attributable to the program of low marginal tax rates, deregulation of energy prices, collapse of inflation, expansion of trade, and active globalization launched by Ronald Reagan.

Why then do critics still speak of “voodoo economics”? Why is it that even some supply-siders insistently deny that lower tax rates pay for themselves with higher revenues, when Reagan’s tax cutting regime brought about a fivefold rise in federal spending without increasing the government share of GDP? Why does the current administration still speak of $1.6 trillion tax cuts and $300 billion stimulus packages as if it cost money to reduce perverse and counterproductive government burdens?

One key reason is the stultifying grip of the demand-side model on the entire economics community. University and media economists still find themselves far behind Reagan in grasping the dynamics of an international economy. The economics profession functions like an establishment of flat earth physicists still patiently waiting for the ships of supply-siders to fall off the edge of the world.

While the economics profession remained lost in a maze of equilibrium models, Ronald Reagan knew the facts of entrepreneurial disequilibrium and creativity. To a supply-sider, government is a kind of business. It competes with other governments around the world. It competes to attract entrepreneurs and capital to its jurisdiction and to foster expansion of existing enterprises. By lowering marginal tax rates – the rates on additional activity – governments can induce people to produce and invest within their borders. By raising tax rates, they drive entrepreneurs to other jurisdictions and to non-taxable activities. That is why high tax rates do not redistribute incomes. They redistribute taxpayers out of taxable activities and onto golf courses, into barter exchanges and among foreign regimes with lower rates.

Moral Foundations of the Free Market

The reason for tax cuts is not to allow the rich to keep their money. It is to enable entrepreneurs to invest money by making their investments profitable. Through the investment process, entrepreneurs give money to others, in their own or other businesses. By earning the money, they learned how to identify the people best able to increase its worth. They learned how to use the money in ways that respond to the needs of their customers. They mastered the magic of lowering prices in order to increase revenues. And they reached out to the largest untapped markets of the world economy, which are always the domains of billions of currently poor people struggling to gain wealth.

As Reagan understood, high tax rates do not stop someone from being rich: Those who are already rich can move their money to protected havens. High tax rates stop poor people from getting rich. They stop entrepreneurs from supplying new goods and services that generate more wealth and jobs and value and tax revenue. In truth, defending tax cuts as a way to keep more of one’s money is the opposite of the case. Tax cuts are good because they allow us to give our money to others in an ever-expanding spiral of economic opportunity. In the end, the rich can keep only what they give away – that is, what they entrust to others in the ever-spreading process of investment and growth.

These rules of giving and trust are no less important today, as the U.S. becomes an information economy. American entrepreneurs are, as we all are, not without sin. But their every decision has met an empirical test beyond appeal – a marketplace crucible beyond their control. Thus they are the world’s true realists and most proven pragmatists. All of them know deeply that to reach the top, they first have to get to the bottom of things. To lead, they first have to listen. To save themselves, they must serve others and solve others’ problems.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you and Give and you will be given unto are the central rules of the life of enterprise. Because you cannot give what you do not own, enterprise requires the rights of property. Because successful entrepreneurs often defy the conventional wisdom, the life of enterprise requires personal freedom. Because entrepreneurs have to serve and collaborate with others, they must be men and women of character and faith. Character enables an entrepreneur to commit his work and wealth over a period of years to bring into the world a new good that the world may well reject. Character is essential to the act of putting one’s fate into the hands of unknown others in a market of voluntary choice.

Bullheaded, defiant, tenacious and creative, America’s entrepreneurs continue to vindicate the faith of Ronald Reagan and the teaching of Hillsdale College. They continue to solve the problems of the world faster than the world can create them. Confronting the perennial perils of human life and the often overwhelming odds against human triumph, the entrepreneur finds strength in a deep faith and demonstrates that genuine charity is not to be found in government largesse. The entrepreneur’s success is a triumph of the American character.

Today is a heyday for entrepreneurs. As Reagan’s policies have taken hold, the proportion of new jobs created through self-employment and proprietorships has risen from five percent in the 1980s to nine percent in the 1990s, and to 31 percent today. President Bush’s low tax rates on capital gains and dividends have unleashed a new surge of entrepreneurship.

The ultimate source of American entrepreneurial character is our educational system. Today, more than ever, that educational system is in disarray. Too many schools are losing contact with the sources of the American character in family, faith, freedom and limited government. Too many universities are pandering to their students rather than teaching them.

In a contrarian spirit, Hillsdale boldly countervails this tide of mush and mediocrity, contining the entrepreneurial struggle and earning the faith of American entrepreneurs. And in its fealty to the cultivation of American character, it has become an American treasure.

Copyright ? 2004
“Reprinted by permission from IMPRIMIS,
the monthly journal of Hillsdale College
(http://www.hillsdale.edu).”

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Test 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 – CRN 31249
Summer 2006

Test 2

Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions 5 points each:

1. Gross domestic product
A. equals the total wages paid in a year.
B. is a measure of government output.
C. equals the total value of final goods and services produced in a year.
D. is the sum of all goods, both final and intermediate.
E. is an obsolete economic indicator of inflation.

2. Over the last 50 years, federal, state, and local governments have

A. increased their expenditures faster than the growth in total output.
B. gradually but steadily declined in importance in economic matters.
C. demonstrated a movement toward significant public ownership of the means of production.
D. moved increasingly toward nationalization of the defense industry.
E. appreciably expanded public ownership in the electric power industry.

3. Say’s law

A. states that the total amount paid out for resources must equal the value of the goods produced.
B. states that all income spent must have been earned.
C. is the intellectual basis for the Keynesian model of income and employment.
D. is an integral part of the Marxian analysis of capitalism.
E. requires the assumption of wage and price rigidity.

4. The three generally recognized types of unemployment are

A. voluntary, potential, and residual.
B. cyclical, frictional, and structural.
C. involuntary, temporary, and disciplinary.
D. teenage, female, and nonwhite.
E. classical, Keynesian, and post-Keynesian.

5. Which of the following was the most important force in bringing an end to the Great Depression?

A. The natural resilience of the economy
B. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies
C. U.S. involvement in World War II
D. Delayed impact from increased business investment in the early 1930s
E. Falling wages and prices

6. A basic objection to increased public works spending when serious unemployment appears likely to develop is that

A. such spending would lead to a budget deficit.
B. such spending would lead to a decline in GDP.
C. all public works projects are wasteful.
D. there is a long lag between authorizing a program and actually spending the money.
E. stabilization policy is more important than the long-run desirability of public works.

7. The fundamental idea of fiscal policy is that

A. the government should spend more than it collects in taxes.
B. decision making should be left to the Council of Economic Advisers.
C. the government can change the equilibrium GDP by promoting a change in public and/or private spending.
D. the government should always balance its budget.
E. unemployment is a less serious concern than inflation.

8. Currently, the largest share of the annual federal budget goes for

A. interest on the national debt.
B. energy programs.
C. education and health.
D. national defense and other items connected with international relations and national security.
E. Social Security programs, welfare and other income security programs, health, and education.

9. The phase of the business cycle in which output is lowest relative to its potential level is the

A. peak.
B. trough.
C. recession.
D. expansion.
E. trend.

10. According to economist Richard Gill, the source of our economy’s real income is

A. profits.
B. the goods we produce.
C. the resourcefulness and skill of our people.
D. impossible to identify.
E. the amount of money in circulation.

11. Using the spending and taxing powers of government to stabilize the economy is called fiscal

A. fitness.
B. policy.
C. federalism.
D. finance.
E. reserve.

12. The consumption function expresses the relationship between consumption spending and

A. investment spending.
B. aggregate supply.
C. disposable income.
D. savings.
E. the 45-degree line.

13. High rates of inflation often characterize

A. depressions.
B. times of great unemployment.
C. wartime.
D. periods of falling aggregate demand.
E. rural areas.

14. Why was economist John Kenneth Galbraith opposed to the tax cut advocated by Walter Heller in 1964?

A. He did not believe the tax cut would have the desired impact.
B. He felt the tax cut would have the long-term effect of reducing the government’s income.
C. He did not believe the tax cut would get support in Congress.
D. He feared that tax cuts would gain popularity at the expense of important programs to assist the needy.
E. He wanted to be chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisers and was angry at being made ambassador to India.

15. The marginal propensity to consume is the

A. fraction of an extra dollar of GDP that becomes disposable income.
B. share of GDP spent by households and businesses.
C. proportion of an extra dollar of disposable income that is spent on consumption.
D. reciprocal of the average propensity to consume.
E. fraction of disposable income that is consumed.

16. Which of the following is NOT considered an automatic stabilizer?

A Changes in tax revenues that occur with economic activity.
B Unemployment compensation.
C Farm aid programs.
D Government expenditure for public works.
E Corporate dividend policies.

17. Social Security payments by the government are not included in GDP because

A. Social Security was not yet in place when procedures for calculating GDP were devised.
B. Social Security is counted as an economic cost and subtracted from output in determining GDP.
C. income received through Social Security is not directly related to contributions to production.
D. income received through Social Security is too small to affect GDP.
E. these payments are in current dollars and GDP is measured in constant dollars.

18 The primary reason President Johnson opposed raising taxes during his administration was that

A. until rather late in his administration, he feared that falling price levels would reduce government income.
B. he believed a tax increase to fund an unpopular war would be politically unwise.
C. his Council of Economic Advisers warned him that such a move would harm more than help the economy.
D. his attention was largely consumed with putting a man on the moon.
E. he felt the Federal Reserve System could control inflation by issuing more money.

19. In general, a business cycle goes through its phases in the following sequence

A. trough, peak, expansion, recession.
B. recession, trough, expansion, peak.
C. trough, recession, expansion, peak.
D. trough, expansion, recession, peak.
E. expansion, recession, trough, peak.

20. Inflation occurs whenever

A. aggregate demand rises.
B. the price of any given commodity rises.
C. the money supply increases more rapidly than output.
D. the tax rate is lower than the government spending rate.
E. the money supply falls.

Part 2: Short Answer questions:

1 (5 points) What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? How is it calculated and what does it tell us about the economy of a nation?

2 (10 points) According to Keynesian economics, a tax increase might have helped curbinflation during President Johnson’s administration. Why did Johnson oppose such an increase?

3. (10 points) On the first page of Chapter 1 in your book it states that “economics is concerned with the way resources are allocated among alternative uses to SATISFY HUMAN WANTS (emphasis mine)”. In the video, then Senator, Harry Truman is quoted as saying War is hell but peace could be worse in reference to the possibility of a return of the Great Depression after World War II. Both the textbook and video credit the U.S. entry into World War II as causing the Great Depression to finally end. World War II did result in the full employment of all of our labor, land and capital resources and we even increased output capacity beyond what existed before the Great Depression. Setting aside for the moment the plight of our troops fighting at the front and the moral necessity of having to defeat the evil of fascism, were American households better off as a result of the full employment environment created by the war than they were during the Depression? Did the economy do a better job of producing goods to satisfy human (consumer) wants during the war than it did during the Depression? Explain your answer.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Assignment 2

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 31249
Summer 2006

Assignment 2

Review the discussion of the Phillips Curve on pages 175 – 179 in your book and then
read the article, entitled Who’s Afraid Of A Red-Hot Economy?, which
discusses current criticisms of the theory. (NOTE: print copies of the article are available from Community Campus Learning Resource Center or contact instructor for an electronic copy). Each question worth 12.5 points for a total of 50 points.

1. Why, according to the article, doesn’t economic growth cause inflation? How does economic growth help reduce inflation?

2. According to the article, what are Milton Friedman?s criticisms of the theory behind the Phillips Curve?

Answer the next two questions using your book, the videos and the ?Who’s Afraid Of A Red-Hot Economy?? article.

3. What is the NAIRU (non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment) and why are economists concerned with this concept?

4. In the Who’s Afraid Of A Red-Hot Economy? article Wayne Angell is quoted as describing inflation as a ?monetary phenomenon?. What does he mean by this and how does this view of inflation differ from that presented in your book and the videos?

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Test 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 – CRN 31249
Summer 2006

Test 1

Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions 5 points each:

1 The combination of high rates of unemployment and inflation experienced by the U.S. economy during the 1970s and early 1980s of was called

A. disflation.
B. reflation.
C. stagflation.
D. unflation.
E. proflation.

2 There would be no economic problems in a world in which all resources were

A. free.
B. natural.
C. bought and sold for a price.
D. owned by the government.
E. scarce.

3 One of the four basic tasks any economic system must perform is

A. measuring the size of its production possibilities curve.
B. conducting a population census.
C. eliminating free resources.
D. classifying economic resources.
E. determining the kinds of goods to be produced and the amount of each.

4 According to economic analysis, shortages of a good mean

A. supply is too low.
B. demand is too high.
C. actual price is too low.
D. production is too low.
E. equilibrium price is too low.

5 A country’s standard of living is closely correlated with its

A. physical size.
B. population density.
C. mineral resources
D. cultural diversity.
E. labor force productivity.

6 The expression “there’s no such thing as a ‘free lunch'” is

A. generally untrue.
B. irrelevant to the subject of economics.
C. a recognition that our capacity to produce goods is limited.
D. an example of normative economics.
E. applicable solely to the inefficient use of resources.

7 According to the video, insufficient housing was a problem after World because

A. the United States experienced excessive numbers of people immigrating from Europe and Japan whose housing had been destroyed by the war.
B. the depression and mobilization of resources to fight World War II resulted in little housing construction for over 15 years.
C the supply of housing exceeded the demand for housing, pushing prices up.
D. unionization of construction workers shifted the supply curve of housing to the left, resulting in higher prices.
E. the availability of land in and around major U.S. cities was severely limited because of past development.

8 Which of the following is the best example of capital?

A. Mineral deposits
B. Human effort
C. Buildings and equipment that contribute to production
D. Accounts receivable
E. Goods and services purchased by households for their enjoyment

9 During the summer months, it is not unusual for both the price and the quantity consumed of gasoline to rise. These conditions reflect

A. a violation of the law of demand.
B. a shift to the left of the supply curve.
C. an increase in demand.
D. a condition of deficient demand.
E. a surplus.

10 In free markets, the price system encourages producers to meet consumers’ wants because

A. it signals producers as to which goods are profitable.
B. producers have the public interest in mind.
C. it allows the government to direct firms to the best production technique.
D. it rewards consumers for the resources they bring to the marketplace.
E. consumers are generally willing to pay more than the actual price.

11 Werner H., an engineer very experienced in bridge design, is looking for a position with a firm that specializes in bridge building. In presenting his qualifications, he takes care to point out his experience in handling difficult terrain. Werner is currently doing business in a

A. consumers’ market
B. business market.
C. product market.
D. resource market.
E. closed market.

12 According to Richard Gill in the Economics U$A video, the opportunity costs for preserving the Alaskan wilderness are measured by the loss of

A. worker health benefits in textile manufacturing.
B. minerals rendered unavailable for development.
C. wilderness areas in the lower 48 states.
D. tax revenues to the federal government.
E. foreign oil because of the cutback in OPEC oil production.

13 The idea that the pursuit of private self-interest by consumers and firms also promotes the public interest is called

A. roundabout production.
B. the circular flow.
C. opportunity cost.
D. the invisible hand.
E. innovation.

14 An improvement in technology or an increase in the amount of capital goods will
A. result in movement along a fixed production possibilities curve.
B. diminish the society’s production potential.
C. increase the opportunity costs of all goods.
D. cause the production possibilities curve to become vertical.
E. shift the production possibilities curve outward.

15 Economics is best defined as the study of how
A. to classify resources used to produce final goods and services.
B. resources are apportioned to satisfy human wants.
C. modern businesses have grown and prospered.
D. technology can be used to change scarce resources into free resources.
E. pure capitalism has become the best system for satisfying basic human wants.

16 New residents moving into a growing community increase the
A. size of housing.
B. elegance of housing.
C. housing surplus.
D. quantity demanded of housing.
E. demand for housing.

17 In a free market, actual price will
A. remain unchanged as equilibrium price changes.
B. move toward equilibrium price.
C. cause the demand and supply curves to shift direction.
D. always exceed equilibrium price.
E. be very difficult to calculate.

18 In a free market, producers’ desires to maximize profit
A. inevitably lead to rising market prices.
B. are inconsistent with incentives to introduce new technology.
C. guarantee that firms never take losses.
D. cause firms to use the most efficient techniques.
E. mean that government must control prices to prevent producers from overcharging consumers.
19 When Adam Smith described the invisible hand, he was talking about
A. the price system.
B. central planning.
C. opportunity cost.
D. the division of labor.
E. disguised unemployment.

20 In general, supply curves slope upward to the right because
A. increases in the price of a commodity lead to rightward shifts of the supply curve.
B. rising prices motivate producers to offer more units for sale.
C. technology progresses over time, increasing the ability of firms to produce more at existing prices.
D. of increases in input prices as production is increased.
E. empirical studies almost always show that this is the case.

Part II: SHORT ANSWER

1. (10 points) Read Case Study 1.3 (Adam Smith, father of modern economics) and Case Study 2.1 (How the price system determines what is produced: low-cost homes after World War II) in your book. Then explain how “the invisible hand that leads the private inteest of firms and individuals toward socially desirable ends,…” works to have the economy produce what is needed without central direction from the government.

2. In a speech delivered at the American Bar Association, William Brewer said, ?The suggestion was put forth in a newspaper article last year that to solve the problem of the oversupply of attorneys, the government should pay lawyers $500,000 each to turn in their bar cards. It was proposed as a sort of a ?farm subsidy? solution ? whereby the government would pay lawyers not to practice law. So instead of say, wheat, the uncultivated crop in the fallow north forty would be litigation.?

a. (3 points) Is there a market for lawyers? If so, what determines the location and shape of the demand curve? Of the supply curve?

b. (3 points) If the market for lawyers were perfectly competitive, could there be an oversupply in the sense that the quantity of lawyers supplied exceeded the quantity demanded? Under conditions of equilibrium, could such an oversupply exist? Why or why not?

c. (3 points) If the government were to pay lawyers $500,000 to leave their profession, would this influence the demand curve for lawyers? Would it influence the supply curve? Would it influence the wage paid lawyers?

d. (3 points) Would the government paying lawyers $500,000 to leave the profession influence the wage paid lawyers??

e. (3 points) Do you favor a policy of the government paying lawyers to leave the profession? Explain your answer.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Assignment 1

In reply to Supply & Demand

Economics 200 ? CRN 31249
Summer 2006

Assignment 1

Read the article entitled What is the Free Market? by Murray N. Rothbard. (Article can be found at: : http://www.mises.org/story/1973) Also read the introduction and first two chapters of your text and view the first two broadcasts of Economics U$A. Then answer the following questions.

1 (10 points) According to Rothbard what two factors determine the terms of a voluntary exchange of goods (or money and goods) between two people?

2 (10 points) Explain how both parties in a voluntary exchange benefit from the transaction. Use an example from your own experience to illustrate. How does the concept of both parties benefiting from the exchange differ from the mercantilist view of an economic transaction?

3 (10 points) How does the use of money for exchange enable to market to facilitate larger and complex networks of transactions?

4 (10 points) Explain why the socialist planners in the former Soviet Union were unable to take a bumper (i.e., very large) harvest of wheat and convert it to bread and other baked goods for consumption by consumers in cities throughout the former Soviet Union?

5 (10 points) Rothbard states that voluntary exchanges in the market between two people are win-win situations where both participants benefit. Assume that you have a busy day at work and have to skip lunch. Leaving work late you rush to class without having time to stop for dinner. You have some major questions about an important assignment and stay after class to discuss them with the teacher. When you finally leave you remember that you haven’t had time to do grocery shopping and, as a result, have no food at home. Hungry, but wanting to get home to sleep you stop at the first fast food place you see only to discover that all they have left are some unappetizing hamburgers and French fries that have been sitting on the warmer for the last couple of hours. The price is $10 but you pay it and take the food because you are hungry? Was this a voluntary transaction? Did the aging hamburger and fries provide you with more value than the $10 bill you handed over? Will you return to this place or refer your friends to it? Explain your answers.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Syllabus – Summer 2006

In reply to Supply & Demand

PimaCommunityCollege
Community Campus

ECN 200 Telecourse Syllabus

Course Information:
Course Prefix/Number: ECN 200
Course Title: Basic Principles of Economics
Semester: 200630 Summer 2006
CRN (Section Code): 31249
Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: None
Estimated Study Time: 120 hours/semester
Course Web Pages: Blog for Course
Instructor Home Page
Course Calendar

Instructor Information:
Name: Chuck Nugent
US Mail: Pima Community College
Community Campus
401 N. Bonita Ave.
Tucson AZ 85709
Voice Mail: (520) 206-6419
E-mail: nugentwork@yahoo.com
Availability: By Appointment

Instructional Materials:
Required Text: Mansfield and Behravesh: Economics U$A (7th Edition), W.W. Norton & Co., (ISBN 0-393-92605-2)
OPTIONAL Text: Sondgeroth, Telecourse Study Guide of Economics USA, W.W. Norton & Co (ISBN
0-393-92606-0)
Note: Textbooks are available at the West Campus Bookstore (2202 W. Anklam Rd.) in the telecourse section and
other academic bookstores in town. The PCC Bookstore can be accessed and books ordered via the Internet at http://www.Pima.bkstr.com. (See Instructor’s Home Page or Blog for other on-line sources for purchasing the text).
Videotapes are available for viewing at any of the PCC campus libraries but may be checked out ONLY at the Community Campus Support Services Center. Bring your PCC picture ID.

First Broadcast: Week of May 30, 2006

Broadcast Schedule: Broadcast dates and times depend on your cable supplier and whether your TV is
cable ready or uses a conversion box. See PCC TV broadcast schedule for specific information

On Campus Sessions: Attendance at these sessions is strongly encouraged but not mandatory!
Introductory Session: Wed. June 7th 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus Review for Midterm Exam: Wed. June 21st 5:30-6:30 pm, Community Campus
Review for Final Exam: Wed. July 12th 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus

Please check lobby marquee for room assignment

Course Description: This course is designed to provide the student with an introduction to the ?ECONOMIC WAY OF THINKING?. The course will provide an overview of economic systems, microeconomics, macroeconomics and the international economy. Students will be exposed to how economics is used to analyze and predict the behavior of businesses, consumers and governments with regard to the allocation and use of society?s scarce resources. The ?old? industrial economy will be compared and contrasted with the ?new? information based economy that is emerging today. Finally, students will be made aware of how economic factors influence their lives as consumers, producers, employees, employers, taxpayers and citizens.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
1.Define scarcity, microeconomics and macroeconomics, economic theory and economic policy, factors of production, production possibilities model, and opportunity cost.
2.Explain a market and the Invisible Hand Doctrine. Understand Mises Concept of ?Human Action?; Compare and contrast market economy with government-planned economy.
3.State and illustrate the law of demand, law of supply; equilibrium price and quantity, shift variables for demand and supply; price elasticity of demand and supply: circular flow model.
4.Discuss sources and uses of household income, legal forms of business ownership, and how maximizing economic well-being is similar and different for households and businesses.
5.Explain two approaches for determining profit maximization, accounting and economic profit, and positive and negative externalities.
6.Give examples of production functions, short and long run as applied to economics, fixed and variable costs, average and marginal costs, and economies and diseconomies of scale.
7.Compare and contrast four basic market structures (competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly): basic characteristics, long run profitability, efficiency, impact on the consumer, and determination of the profit-maximizing level of output.
8.Discuss the goals and problems of the macroeconomy, including measurement and types of unemployment, measurement of Gross Domestic Product, and the measurement and winners and losers from inflation.
9.Describe the business cycle, total spending and economic equilibrium, effects of leakages and injections into the spending stream, and the multiplier effect.
10.Identify the largest categories of government expenditures and receipts, fiscal policy tools, automatic stabilizers, federal budgets, and the size and effects of the national debt.
11.Describe the functions of money, the components of money supply, the functions of the Federal Reserve, and the role of financial depository institutions.
12.Explain the process by which financial institutions expand (or contract) the nation?s money supply, monetary policy tools, the money multiplier, and the relationship between the economy?s money supply and the level of economic activity.
Course Outline:
Part I: Introduction to Economics
Part II: National Income and Output
Part III: Money Banking and Stabilization Policy
Part IV: Economic Decision Making ? The Firm, The Consumer, Society
Part V: The Distribution of Income
Part VI: Growth, Government and International Economics

Course Requirements: To complete the course successfully, students must do the following:
1. Complete and submit six assignments found on course web page
2. Complete and submit three unit take-home exams found on course web page
3. Take midterm exam at Test Center
4. Take final exam at Test Center
Important Phone Numbers
For questions concerning subject matter: 206-6419
For questions involving schedules, testing, etc.: 206-6454
For questions concerning TV broadcast errors: 206-6410
Attendance: Since this is a distance delivery class, you are required to come to campus only to take scheduled exams. Students are strongly encouraged to attend the live introductory class session and review sessions scheduled before each exam.

Academic Integrity: Students are expected to abide by the Student Code of Conduct and the Scholastic Code of Conduct found in the Pima Community College Student Handbook. Copies are available at PCC campus libraries and at http://www.pima.edu/studentserv/studentrights/

ADA Compliance: Pima County Community College District strives to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Students with disabilities requiring special accommodations must notify the instructor of this need or directly contact the Disabled Student Resources Office on your campus at the beginning of the semester.

Course Feedback: In order to increase interaction between instructor and students, students are encouraged (but not required) to submit written work via e-mail. Assignments may be submitted as part of body of e-mail text itself or as an ASCII or Ms-Word email attachment. Using e-mail for this purpose will increase the speed at which your instructor can return assignments with grades and comments. Students are also encouraged to contact instructor with questions concerning the course. To encourage dialog, instructor may share answers with the rest of the class by posting them to the web blog (http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/) and/or a course listserve (inclusion on the listserve is optional and all student email addresses are kept confidential by being sent from the listserve as “Bcc” or blind copies).

Exams: Students must come to the Community Campus Support Service Center (401 N. Bonita Ave.) to take midterm and final exams. Please bring your PCC picture ID. This is the only ID that will be accepted. The Testing Center has specific rules, a copy of which is included in the packet you received at the beginning of the semester. Seating capacity is limited and on a first-come, first served basis.

Review Sessions: Immediately before each scheduled exam, you will have an opportunity to attend a live review session during which you may ask any questions that you have regarding the course material. See class schedule (page 1) for specific times and locations.

Problems: If you have problems with the course, make arrangements to see me or call me through voicemail. Do not wait to ask for help.

Submissions: Please clearly mark all assignments with the following: NUGENT:ECN200. Include full name on both e-mail and regular submissions. Submissions other than via e-mail are to be typed.

Withdrawals: Students may withdraw from class any time during the first 2/3 of the semester (through July 6, 2006) without instructor permission and without incurring any grade penalty. Students not active after this date will receive an “F” grade at the end of the semester. Please be sure to withdraw yourself by July 6, 2006, if you do not expect to complete the course.

Grade Reviews: Students may request a review of their course grade. The request for review must be made within 90 days from the end of the course session; no requests will be considered after 90 days.

Final Grades:
Students will NOT receive a semester grade report from the college. Students who wish to check grades may call MAX 2000 at 206-4880 or access BannerOnline via the Pima College web site. For privacy and security reasons, instructors may not post grades and are advised not to give grades over the telephone.

Note: To help your instructor to improve this course, a variety of classroom assessment techniques may be used to determine if this course is meeting its stated objectives. Such techniques may include but are not limited to, short answers regarding comprehension of the material presented, pre- and post-tests, student interviews, self-evaluations, portfolio, journal and/or capstone experience.

Because this course fulfills a general education requirement, you will also be assessed on whether student skills have improved in any of the following areas: oral and written communication, critical inquiry, cultural diversity, and global awareness.

Students? grades will be based upon scores received on exams and assignments. Exams and assignments together total 1,000 points. The student?s final grade for the course will be based upon the total points earned and curved as follows:

920 to 1000 points A
820 to 919 points B
720 to 819 points C
620 to 719 points D
Below 600 points F

Point values for assignments and exams:

Assignment 1 50 points
Unit 1 Exam (Chapters 1 & 2) 125 points
Assignment 2 50 points
Unit 2 Exam (Chapters 3 ? 7) 125 points
Assignment 3 50 points
Mid-term Exam (Chapters 8 – 14) 150 points
Assignment 4 50 points
Unit 4 Exam (Chapters 15 ? 21) 125 points
Assignment 5 50 points
Assignment 6 50 points
Final Exam (Chapters 22 – 28) 150 points
?On time? Completion Credit 25 points
_________
Total 1,000 points

Note: Students who complete all exams and assignments by Friday July 21st, will receive the 25 completion points. Students who, for any reason, fail to complete all tests and assignments on time will not receive the 25 completions points. Students taking an ?I? (incomplete) grade will NOT receive the 25 completion points.

Incomplete (I) grade:
If you find that you cannot complete the course during the regular semester, you must request an ?I? (incomplete grade) in writing. This must be done before the final review session. You must state your reasons for the request. In order to be considered for an ?I? grade, you must have successfully completed three-quarters of the course. YOU MUST THEN COMPLETE THE MISSING WORK WITHIN THE TIME AGREED UPON WITH THE INSTRUCTOR. AT THE END OF THE AGREED UPON TIME, THE INSTRUCTOR WILL CHANGE THE ?I? GRADE TO THE LETTER GRADE EARNED FOR THE COURSE AT THAT POINT WHETHER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE WORK OR NOT.

Special Withdrawal (Y) grade:
Students desiring to withdraw from the class must do so prior to July 6, 2006, which is the last day allowed for withdrawals. THE INSTRUCTOR WILL NOT ISSUE ?Y? GRADES.

Midterm and Final Exams
You must come to the Community Campus Testing Center to take these exams. Information on the Testing Center is included in your packet. Notice that generally you will need to make an appointment to take your exam.
Students in Nogales and Sells may arrange with the instructor to take these exams at Pima College sites in these cities.
You may NOT use books, notes or other material as an aid.
Each exam covers specific material: Midterm Exam: Chapters 8 through Chapter 14 of text
Final Exam: Chapters 22 through Chapter 28 of text

Other Assignments and Exams:
All assignments and exams other than the mid-term and final will be done by the students at their homes. Books, notes and videos may be used as aids to complete these exams and assignments which are available on the course web page located at http://www.nofreelunch.bravehost.com

Caveats:
Your instructor will make every attempt to follow the above procedures and schedules, but they may be changed in the
event of extenuating circumstances.

Students submitting assignments through the mail or email are advised to make copies for their own protection.

Please note that the TV broadcast schedule does not observe PCC holidays.

Because so much of our contact with you is through the U.S. Postal Service, it is vital that we have your correct address. If you change your address during the semester, fill out a change of address form at any campus registration office and call our office at 206-6454 to keep our staff up to date.

Any tapes checked out by students are covered by strict copyright restrictions and must be returned at the end of the semester. Grades and transcripts will be encumbered and students not allowed to register for future PCC courses if tapes are not returned.

ECN 200 Telecourse Syllabus
Syllabus Acknowledgment Form

ECN 200 ? Basic Principles of Economics (Telecourse) ? CRN 31249

Please sign and return the following acknowledgment to me at the following address:

Chuck Nugent
Pima Community College
Community Campus
401 North Bonita Ave.
Tucson, Arizona 85709

Name:

Student Number:

Email Address (optional):

Please add me to the Class E-Mail list. I understand that this will involve broadcasting any course content questions that I submit along with the instructor?s answer to all other class members on the list.

Separate signature required.__________________________________________

____I hereby acknowledge that I have read and understand the ECN 200 (Basic Economics Principles) course syllabus
which includes objectives, policies and class schedule.

____I have no objection to receiving an occasional call from the instructor at the number given with my
registration materials.

____I prefer that the instructor not call or contact me by phone anytime during the semester.

____I would like to be contacted by the instructor regarding the following concerns:

My Cable provider is: ____Comcast ____People?s Choice ____Cox

Signature ___________________________________ Phone #_____________________________

Date ___________________________________ Student ID#_________________________

This post originally appeared on an external website

No Free Lunch at Microsoft

In reply to Supply & Demand

Yesterday as I was coming out of the local branch of the Tucson Public Library I was approached by a person gathering signatures for petitions and asked if I would sign them. All of them dealt with issues that various special interest groups want to have included on the November ballot. Since none of them were issues that I am in favor of seeing enacted into law, I declined to sign them.

One caught my eye and that dealt with an issue that certain groups in Tucson have been pushing unsuccessfully for quite a while and that is raising the minimum wage in Tucson. From a strictly selfish point of view, I probably should have signed that petition. Like anyone with any knowledge at all of economics and how an economy works, I know that raising the minimum wage has the effect of reducing the labor force as employers layoff marginal workers whose output is less than the new wage. To replace the lost output, these employers have to turn to more automation and this increases the demand for people, like me, with the skills needed to design and run these new systems.

However, in addition to not feeling right about advancing on the misfortune of others, I am the father of four children, three of whom are just entering the labor force. My oldest, started part-time work at minimum wage when he turned 16. In the six years that followed, and with no more than a high school education (his choice, not mine), he has advanced to over $13.00 per hour ? almost twice what those in favor of increasing the minimum wage are proposing.

Just as the Ritenour article which was the reading assigned with Assignment 1 for my ECN 202 class this spring) described, when my oldest son was earning minimum wage he lived at home with all of his basic living expenses (including medical insurance) taken care of by me. His income went toward his car, electronic gadgets and partying. After completing high school and working his way up to $13+ per hour he elected to move out and began supporting himself.

My three younger ones, who are still in high school and college, are working part-time at minimum wage jobs. However, their food, shelter, medical expenses (including insurance) and education expenses are covered by my wife and I. In an effort to induce a little reality I have started charging them $30 each (when they are working), but, instead of using it to defray the expense of supporting them, I have opened IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts) for each of them and deposit their $30 into these accounts.

While my children tend to be the norm for people earning minimum wage, I realize that there are some people who have to support themselves and, in some cases a family, on minimum wage. However, I have yet to see how they are helped by a law that results in the loss of their job. I don?t see how a person struggling to support themselves on a minimum wage are made any better off by reducing that wage to zero.

The expression there is no such thing as a free lunch is more than just a quaint saying. It contains a profound economic truth and that is that nothing is free. If the college decides to provide free meals in the cafeteria as a benefit to instructors the meals would cost the instructors nothing and, from their point of view, would be free. But someone would have to pay and the net result would be that either the taxpayers would have to pay through higher taxes, or the students would have to pay through either higher tuition and/or higher prices for meals in the cafeteria.

Today?s issue of Redmondmag.com provided a very clear example of the no free lunch concept. It seems that two years ago financial and competitive pressures forced Microsoft to eliminate free sodas, free massages at work and other employee perks common in high tech companies during the dot com era. Now, in order to keep the highly skilled workforce needed to compete against the likes of Google, Microsoft is being forced to reinstate many of these perks. This move is an investment by Microsoft which they hope will pay off with higher sales in the future. But, like all investment, the money has to come from current consumption which means that some group has to receive less in order for the Microsoft employees to receive more. For the current fiscal year (which, for Microsoft, ends on June 30th) the new perks just given to Microsoft?s full-time, regular employees will be paid for by Microsoft?s large body of contract or temporary workers in the form of an involuntary and unpaid seven day leave of absence (i.e., a seven day layoff). Microsoft apparently chose to place the burden on this group rather than making its stockholders (a group that includes multi-billionaire Bill Gates as well as mutual fund companies managing retirement accounts for minimum wage workers like my three youngest children).

While idealists can argue forever about how best to distribute the burden of a transfer of income or wealth from one person or group to another, the fact remains that, except for increases in productivity (which actually increase the size of the economic pie thereby making more available for everyone), there is no way to make one person or group better off economically without making some other person or group worse off. As Milton Friedman kept emphasizing to his students and TV audience

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH!

This post originally appeared on an external website

Textbook for ECN 200 Telecourse

In reply to Supply & Demand

There is only one REQUIRED textbook for this summer?s ECN 200 Telecourse (CRN 31249) and that is Economics U$A (7th Edition) by Mansfield and Behravesh, W.W. Norton & Co., ISBN 0-393-92605-2. A study guide and other supplementary books accompany the text on the shelf and I believe that the sign on the shelf states that the study guide is required along with the textbook. HOWEVER, AS THE INSTRUCTOR, I AM ONLY REQUIRING THE TEXTBOOK ITSELF FOR THE COURSE. THE STUDY GUIDE IS OPTIONAL!

In addition to the West Campus bookstore you can also purchase this along with textbooks for your other courses by going online to https://www.efollett.com/
This is the site for eFollett Books which is the company that manages the bookstores at each of the Pima Community College campuses. On this site you can order and pay for your books online as well as choose which campus bookstore you wish to pick up the books. For those in this course for whom the West Campus is not a convenient location or who are taking more than one course this summer from different campuses, this can reduce the travel time needed to acquire your books.

In addition to purchasing your books, new or used, from the bookstore, either in person or online, you can also find this and other textbooks online from other vendors. Sites like eBay, Half.Com (a division of eBay) and Amazon.com are the best known of these vendors but there are literally hundreds of other sites selling textbooks. I have been using online sites to purchase both new and used textbooks for my daughter who is in college. I calculate that, between the lower price I pay for both new and used, compared to the bookstore price for both new and used, and what I can get from re-selling the books at the end of the semester, my daughter?s book costs are about one-third or less than if she purchased all of her books from the bookstore. Given the relatively low tuition cost at Pima College (compared to NAU which she now attends) I was surprised to see that the cost of her books from the bookstore was equal or greater than the tuition.

For a longer discussion of the online textbook market, and links to some sites, continue reading below:

How to Buy and Sell Your Textbooks Online

In recent years hundreds of sites have sprung up on the Internet offering individuals and businesses the opportunity to buy and sell both textbooks and other books. While the largest volume on these sites is used books they also sell new books at a substantial discount as well.

While I have been aware of these sites for a long time, I never bothered to check them out or use them until a student in one of my spring 2004 classes suggested to the class that they check online for the text. The book retailed at the bookstore new for $135 and used for $95. She purchased it new on Half.com and, with shipping, the total price was $55 . I have since used Half.com and Amazon.com to purchase and resell my daughter’s text books. By my rough calculations I figure that I pay a little over a third of what I would pay to get the same books at the bookstore. Part of this savings is the fact that I have more access to used books online than in the bookstore but, like the bookstore, I sometimes have to buy new online. I then recover part of what I pay for the books from the proceeds of the sale of the books at the start of the next semester.

To find and purchase textbooks online, first obtain the ISBN number for the book. Like some other instructors, I have begun including the ISBN number on my syllabi or posting them online (see yesterday’s article for the ISBN numbers for the books I am using this semester). If the instructor does not provide these you will probably have to make a trip to the bookstore and obtain the ISBN numbers from the books on the shelf by your classes. This number is usually found on the back cover of the book as well as on the title page. An alternative is to obtain the title, publisher and edition and go to the publisher’s web page (use a Google search to find the publisher’s web page or obtain it from the book). If you do this make sure you have the correct version and edition as each one has a unique ISBN number.

Go online to your favorite site selling the books (I prefer Half.com and Amazon.com because I know them and have accounts with them). If you don’t have a favorite site, go to Google, type textbooks and hit the search button. You will usually come up with thousands of places to find the books. Not all sites will carry the book you want and many sites found this way will be ones trying to generate ad revenues by listing links to sites actually selling the books. When you find the book you want and at the price you want, order it with your credit card. Many also accept PayPal payments or checks.

To sell your books go to the site that allows individuals to post books for sale, read the Terms page carefully and set up an account to sell books. I prefer Half.com, first because I already have an account there (most places let you use the same account to both buy and sell) and because they do not charge a fee until you actually sell a book. There is a lot of competition for textbooks online and I have had books sit on Half.com for over a year before selling. With Half.com, which is a part of eBay.com (and lets you use you eBay account for Half.com buying and selling) you also have the option of moving the book from Half.com to eBay and back to Half.com if it doesn’t sell. When you do this you are charged eBay listing fees and are subject to eBay time limits. Depending upon the book, you can sometimes sell it faster and at a slightly higher price than on Half.com.

To list a book on most sites you simply enter the ISBN number, a description and price you are asking. With Half.com and many others they will automatically pull up a picture of that edition of the book and give you a suggested price based upon other sales of the book. Once you sell a book ship it using the U.S. Post Office or other shipping service.

Why Textbooks are Cheaper Online

Why the big savings? Competition. As with many other products and services, the Internet has created a huge, world-wide, textbook market with numerous buyers and sellers. This is in contrast to the off-line market in which each college bookstore has a near monopoly on the local textbook market. The vast majority of textbook buyers are students attending the college where the bookstore is located and about the only place they can purchase the required texts are from the bookstore. Competition does exist between publishers as they compete to get professors to use their textbooks but this is very limited.* Under this system it is often difficult to reduce costs through economies of scale since the bookstore has to stock rather limited quantities of different books for numerous classes and once the registered students have purchased their books it is very difficult to sell the remainder by discounting the price since there is no one to purchase them and this involves extra storage costs (if they save the extra for the next semester) or shipping costs if they ship them back to the publisher. There is also some competition from used books as students sell their books to those taking the class the next semester ? companies try minimize this by frequently updating the books and trying to get professors to use the latest edition but this frequent updating also adds to costs. As in any market of this nature, these higher costs are passed on to the buyers. Layered on top of this are the economic profits that the publishers and bookstores are able to obtain as a result of their near monopoly position.

The Internet, on the other hand, is not limited by the choices of individual professors. If a professor at one college decides to change the textbook for next semester, students in the current semester can now sell their used books to a student at another college. Meanwhile, students taking the class with the new book next semester are not limited to purchasing that book new from the bookstore as in the past but can go on-line and buy it used from somewhere else in the world. Similarly, when bookstores have a surplus of new books at the end of the semester they can cut the price significantly and sell them to enterprising students, staff or resale companies which can now resell them worldwide. Numerous opportunities now exist for arbitrage as college bookstores in certain areas have surplus stocks of books with zero demand due to the college changing texts while the books may be in great demand at other colleges where that particular book and edition are still in use. With a small investment, entrepreneurs can now buy these books at bargain prices and sell them at a higher price (but still considerably lower than those offered by the publishers) elsewhere with minimal transaction costs.

*NOTE: It is interesting to note that the Internet is changing this as well ? professors used to be able to get textbooks for free by simply requesting them from the publisher. Publishers also used to send free copies of their books to professors unsolicited. Even I, as a part-time instructor, used to receive occasional unsolicited books from publishers for free. Now days professors can obtain copies of books and publishers still market extensively to professors but books, solicited and unsolicited, usually come with an invoice and a note to review the book and either return it or pay for it within thirty days.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 Broadcast Schedule

In reply to Supply & Demand

ECN 200 Telecourse Class Schedule/ Calendar

Week Week of Topic Description

1 May 29 1. Program 1: Resources & Scarcity: What is Economics All About?
& 2 June 5 2. Program 2: Markets & Prices: Do They Meet Our Needs?
3. Program 3: U.S. Economic Growth: What is the Gross Domestic Product?
4. Program 4: Booms & Busts: What Causes the Business Cycle?

June 7 (OPTIONAL) INTRODUCTORY CLASS SESSION
Wednesday June 7th 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus

June 12 5. Program 5: John Maynard Keynes: What Did We Learn From the Great Depression
3 6. Program 6: Fiscal Policy: Can We Control the Economy
7. Program 7: Inflation: How Did the Spiral Begin?
8. Program 8: The Banking System: Why Must It Be Protected?

June 19 9. Program 9: The Federal Reserve: Does Money Matter?
4 10. Program 10: Stagflation: Why Couldn?t We Beat It?
11.Program 11: Productivity: Can We Get More For Less?
12. Program 12: Federal Deficits: Can We Live With Them?

June 21 (OPTIONAL) REVIEW SESSION FOR MIDTERM EXAM
Wednesday June 21st 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus
Midterm must be taken by 4 p.m., Friday July 21, 2006

June 26 13. Program 13: Monetary Policy: How Well Does It Work?
5 14. Program 14: Stabilization Policy: Are We Still In Control?
15. Program 15: The Firm: How Can It Keep Costs Down?
16. Program 16: Supply And Demand: What Sets The Demand?

July 3 17. Program 17: Perfect Competition and Inelastic Demand: Can The Farmer Make a Profit?
6 18. Program 18: Economic Efficiency: What Price Controls
19. Program 19: Monopoly: Who?s in Control?
20. Program 20: Oligopolies: Whatever Happened to Price Competition?

July 4 INDEPENDENCE HOLIDAY-COLLEGE CLOSED Telecourses are aired

July 6 LAST DAY FOR STUDENT INITIATED WITHDRAWALS

21. Program 21: Pollution: How Much is a Clean Environment Worth?
7 July 10 22. Program 22: Labor and Management: How Do They Come To Terms?
23. Program 23: Profits and Interest: Where is the Best Return?
24. Program 24: Economic Growth: Can We Keep Pace?

July 12 OPTIONAL REVIEW SESSION FOR FINAL EXAM
Wednesday July 12th 5:30-6:30pm, Community Campus
Final exam must be taken by 4:00 pm, Friday July 21, 2006

25. Program 25: Economic Growth: Can We Keep Up the Pace?
8 July 17 26. Program 26: Public Goods and Responsibilities: How Far Should We Go?
27. Program 27: International Trade: For Whose Benefit
28. Program 28: Exchange Rates: What in the World is a Dollar Worth?

July 24 Repeat of Final Broadcast
9

This post originally appeared on an external website

Videos for Course

In reply to Supply & Demand

http://nugent-economics.blogspot.com/2006/02/videos-for-ecn-200-telecourse.html
Watching the videos and reading the texts and outside readings are the major requirments for this course (assignments and tests also have to be submitted in a timely manner as well). For the videos, I have found the following four sources:

1 Watch or record and watch them from your cable TV. The schedule was sent to you with your packets (or can be picked up from the Community Campus LRC). The weekly program schedule was posted yesterday and is the next entry below this on the blog.

2 You can also check out the 3 video set, containing all of the broadcasts, from the Community Campus LRC. You must return these in the same condition or pay for them (no PCC grades will be given until videos are returned or damages are paid).

3 You can visit any PCC Library and check out the videos TO VIEW AT THE LIBRARY.

4 Go to http://www.learner.org on the internet and view the videos on your PC over the Internet. See below for more on viewing the videos over the Internet.

A student in last Fall’s class discovered the Learner.Org site which contains numerous resources for students and teachers. The best way to access the videos used for the ECN 200 course is to click on the blue Telecourses button along the top of the page and then scroll down to the Economics U$A link. Each of the videos is listed and can be viewed by clicking the video button next to the one you wish to view.

This site does require you to register in order to view a video. But it is a one time free registration. I did a quick check of it and they are the same videos that are broadcast for the class. The only limitation is that, being video, you need broadband access for good viewing. If you have a dial-up connection, as I have, it is slow and difficult. If you do not have broadband at home I suggest that you go to any PCC computer lab or library to view them or visit a Tucson Pima Public library and use their computers (U of A students can also use U of A facilities).

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Assignment Submission Schedule and Extra Credit

In reply to Supply & Demand

Many of you have called inquiring as to when assignments are due. My standard answer, as found on page 4 of the syllabus, is that everything is due by 4 p.m. on Friday July 21, 2006. HOWEVER, I always caution that leaving everything until the last minute is NOT a good practice as the work is usually poor quality AND students do not get the benefit of my comments on the early assignments and often make the same foolish mistake on all assignments. The end result is that, with few exceptions, most people who hand everything in at the deadline usually get the lowest grades.

Below, is a suggested assignment schedule which you can follow to submit your assignments in an orderly manner and one that allows me time to correct, comment and return them in time for you to benefit from my comments.

IN ADDITION TO providing the suggested schedule, I have also added optional extra credit points for turning the assignments and tests in on or before the suggested due date. These points are in ADDITION to the points for the assignments. The total possible extra credit points for timely submission of work is 25 (which is slightly more than 1/4 of the difference between two letter grades).

This schedule, and other extra credit assignments which may be posted during the semester is available by clicking on the ECN 200 Extra Credit Assignments link on the course webpage.

Grading and other course policies will be discussed in more detail in the orientation session which takes place this Wednesday (June 7th) from 5:30 – 6:30 in the evening at the Community Campus.

Work Submission Schedule
Dates and Extra Credit Points

Per page 4 of your syllabus, all work is due by 4 p.m. on Friday July 21, 2006. Work submitted after that time will not receive the 25 On Time Completion Points* and may receive an initial grade of Incomplete** if I do not receive it in time to post the grade. Work may be emailed to me (in which case the date/time stamp on the email is 4 p.m. or earlier on July 21st), drop off at the Community Campus LRC or mailed to the Community Campus LRC (in the case of drop offs and U.S. Postal Service mail make sure the work is in in sufficient time for them to have it ready to give me at 4 p.m.

As a further incentive to complete and submit work on a regular basis I am providing the optional submission schedule below AND offering EXTRA CREDIT for each assignment and test completed by 4 p.m. on the dates listed below. Unlike the On Time Completion Points, no points are lost for NOT following this schedule but up to 25 ADDITIONAL points may be earned by adhering to this schedule.

Assignment 1 June 15 2 points

Take Home Test 1 June 15 2 points

Assignment 2 June 22 2 points

Take Home Test 2 June 22 2 points

Assignment 3 July 5 2 points

Mid-Term Exam July 5 5 points

Assignment 4 July 11 2 points

Take Home Exam 4 July 14 2 points

Assignment 5 July 17 2 points

Assignment 6 July 21 2 points

Final Exam July 21 2 points

*NOTE: the On Time Completion Points are a time management assignment in which students who turn everything in on time receive the 25 points and those who fail to do so receive a zero. THESE ARE NOT EXTRA CREDIT as they are a part of the 1,000 points on which your grade is calculated. Students should consider this as a pass/fail Assignment 7.

**NOTE: this is a special, limited Incomplete given at my discretion. If I have evidence that leads me to believe that this is simply a case of work being late (or misplaced in transit after it was given to the college) I will give the incomplete and provide a week?s grace period in which to resolve the issue. After the week?s grace period I will change the grade to whatever was earned as of that date. In the absence of indications that this is a minor problem, I will just record the grade earned as of that date. Please see the syllabus for my policy and the procedure for applying for an Incomplete grade due to extenuating circumstances.

This post originally appeared on an external website

ECN 200 – Mid-Term Exam Review Notes

In reply to Supply & Demand

Mid-Term Review

Chuck Nugent
Economics 200
Summer 2006

The information below is a brief summary of important points in chapters 8 – 14 of the text entitled “Economics U$A”. These are the chapters that will be covered on the closed book Mid-term exam this semester.

Here are the notes that I used in my presentation for the mid-term exam review session last night. These notes intended as a study aid only and are not intended as a substitute for reading the book or viewing the videos. I reserve the right to ask questions on topics covered in the course but not covered in this review.

I. Chapter 8: Money and the Banking System

A. Money

1. Is a medium of exchange

2. Is standard of value (is unit in which values of other goods are defined)

3. Is store of value

B. Money Supply = coins, currency, demand deposits and other checkable (check like) deposits.

C. Fractional Reserve Banking

1. Legal reserve – amount of cash bank is legally required to keep on deposit

2. Excess reserve – cash in excess of legal reserve.

II. Chapter 9: The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy

A. Monetary Policy is exercise of Central Bank control over quantity of money and interest rates

1. Used to promote objectives of national economic policy.

B. Open Market Transactions

1. Federal Reserve buys securities in the market

a. Seller gives Federal Reserve securities and Fed gives seller cash that is deposited in bank.

b. This results in increase of cash in bank causing their reserves to increase thereby making more money available to lend

c. Effect is to increase amount of money in circulation in the economy

When Fed sells securities in the market

a. Buyer withdraws money from bank and exchanges it for securities.

b. By pulling money out of banking system bank reserves are drawn down leaving less cash in bank.

c. Bank now has less money to lend thereby reducing amount of money in circulation in the economy.

C. Change in Legal Reserve Requirement

1. By increasing or decreasing percent of deposits that must be held in cash (rather than being loaned at interest to borrowers) Fed is able to increase or decrease amount of deposits that banks can lend.

2. This has effect of increasing or decreasing money in circulation.

D. Change in Discount Rate

1. Discount rate is rate Fed charges banks for loans from Fed

2. Banks borrow money from Fed at one rate and loan it out at a higher rate.

3. By increasing or decreasing rate Fed effectively increases or decreases cost of borrowing for banks and this has effect of increasing or decreasing amount banks lend (as banks increase the interest rate the cost [price] of borrowing increases and this reduces the quantity [number & dollar amount] of loans demanded by consumers).

III. Chapter 10: Supply Shocks and Inflation

A. Stagflation refers to situation during the 1970s in which economy encounters both inflation (rising price level) and stagnation (economy stops growing and output declines)

1. Caused by AS curve shifting upward and to the left

2. New AS curve intersected AD curve at equilibrium point where price level was higher and real output lower

3. Many economists attributed this situation to following events that occurred at same time:

a. Series of poor harvests that reduced food output and drove food prices higher.

b. Temporary shortages in many raw materials causing prices to rise and output to drop

c. OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries – many of them Arab states in Middle East but led by Venezuela and other non- Arab oil producers) raising of crude oil prices – oil not only critical for transportation but also used to generate energy used in many manufacturing processes.

B. Wage and Price Controls

1. Refers to attempts by governments to limit inflation by passing laws limiting how much wages
and prices can increase.

2. Failed because:

a. Distorted allocation of resources causing inefficiency and waste

b. Were expensive to administer which added to inefficiency

c. Difficult to enforce resulting in widespread evasion which further added to inefficiency and waste.

d. Strongly opposed by public which saw them as limitation of freedom.

IV. Chapter 11: Productivity, Growth and Technology

A. Growth refers to increase in output relative to growth in population.

1. Per capita output = output / population

2. Growth defined as increase in per capita output over previous year

a. Growth means more to go around but no guaranty, in short run, that distribution of increased output will be equally distributed

B. Technological Change

1. Refers to new methods of producing existing products – assembly line that allows more cars to be produced in same amount of time & with same amount of workers

2. Also refers to new designs that result in new products such as TV, VCRs, etc.

3. Technological change usually results in economic growth

C. Productivity – refers to output per worker

1. Economic growth is the result of increasing productivity per worker.

2. Increased productivity means workers produce more with same amount of effort and time – OR – produce same amount with LESS time and effort.

D. Slowdown in Productivity in 1970s

1. U.S. productivity declined in 1970s

2. Reasons for decline

a. Changes in labor force – 1970s saw more first time workers (baby boomers on first job, housewives entering labor force, and influx of poor who had migrated from rural areas to urban areas)

b. Reduction in rate of growth of capital-labor ratio

(1) Investment in capital declined in this period resulting in less capital per worker

(2) Steiger Capital Gains tax cut in late 1970s encouraged investment in capital and reversed this trend setting stage for boom in 1980s

c. Increased government regulation – this added to workload of employees and increased costs but did nothing to increase output

(1) Spending one hour of every eight-hour day filling out forms for government reduces output of worker by 5 hours per week or by a factor of 12.5% (5 hours lost divided by 40-hour workweek)

V. Chapter 12: Deficits, Public Debt, and the Federal Budget

A. Deficit refers to excess of government expenditures over taxes collected

1. Deficit covered by short term borrowing (selling of government bonds)

2. Same as when individuals spend more than they earn and use a credit card to make up the difference.

3. Deficits for individuals or governments usually short term cash flow problems (i.e., individual has minor accident this month causing him/her to spend money on care and run short of cash for food so food charged on Visa. Next month expenses are down so individual pays off Visa ? government can work this way also)

B. Debt refers to long term accumulation of borrowing.

1. Government, business and individuals borrow for major investments such as highways (govt.), new factory (business) or house (individual) – then pay off in installments over long period.

a. Borrowing for major infrastructure/capital that lasts a long time makes sense economically

b. Borrowing long term for things consumed now (employees pay in case of govt. or business or vacation in case of individual) does not make sense as one is paying debt long after good/service has been consumed.

C. Federal Budget refers to government’s planned spending for year and anticipated tax revenues for year

1. Budget Deficit means government is projecting (planning) that it will be spending more than it receives in taxes.

2. Budget Surplus means government is projecting that it will collect more in taxes than it will spend.

D. Effect of Budget Deficits

1. if deficit financed by printing new money (only Federal government can finance a deficit in this manner) then deficit will be inflationary.

2. if deficit financed by borrowing then government will be competing with business for limited pool of loanable funds and this will reduce economic growth.

E. National Debt

1. is total money owed by Federal Government

2. will harm economic growth if debt owned by foreigners (most U.S. public or government debt currently owned by Americans) since in the future we will have to tax American people and send money abroad to pay debt.

a. this will reduce economic growth in future

3. American debt owned by Americans

a. net effect on economy is minimal since got will tax people to get money to pay debt and then pay money back to same people it taxed

(1) same as a family if father loans money to son one week and gets it back next week out of son’s allowance – total amount of money in family is unchanged, it is just redistributed among the
members.

b. can be a social problem if one group pays the taxes and another holds the debt – if brother borrows from sister and then sees his next allowance going to sister he may be mad (while conveniently forgetting fun he had last week with money she loaned him)

VI. Chapter 13: Monetary Policy, Interest Rates and Economic Activity

A. Demand for money

1. Transaction demand – people need money to carry out transactions

2. Precautionary demand – people and businesses also hold on to money because they don’t know what their future needs will be and want some money to cover future contingencies.

VII. Chapter 14: Controversies over Stabilization Policy

A. Monetarists vs. Keynesians – Keynesians stressed fiscal policy (taxes and spending) while Monetarists stressed monetary policy

B. Supply Side – focused on aggregate supply rather than aggregate demand.

C. New Classical School – three assumptions

1. markets cleared

2. people and firms have imperfect information

3. expectations of people and firms conform to theory of rational expectations

D. Rational Expectations

1. A person’s expectations (or forecast) of a particular economic variable are rational if the person makes the best possible use of whatever information is available.

2. People make rational decisions and learn from mistakes – causing them to anticipate government policy moves and take countermeasures thereby blunting effect of policy.

This post originally appeared on an external website

Tucson ISO User’s Group Bi-Monthly Meeting

In reply to Supply & Demand

Great Western Registrar &
AMIT ? The Aerospace, Manufacturing and Information Technology Cluster
In conjunction with Bouchard Quality Management, Inc.

Will be holding the informational
ISO USER?S GROUP
in Tucson

We will be discussing the following topics:
? Welcome and Introductions ? Justin Williams
? Turtle Auditing: Frank Bouchard
? Management Review: Importance, benefits ? Karey Cwiekowski
? Policy, Objectives, Measurements: Frank Bouchard
? Case Study: Robert Prescott (M.C. Davis) & Walter Tighe (Sustaining Edge Solutions)
? Announcements and Closing

Date: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
8am ? 12 pm

Place: Pima Community College
401 N. Bonita Ave.
Room A130
Tucson, AZ 85709
(Just West of I-10 off Congress Blvd.)

Sponsored by
Great Western Registrar LLC
Aerospace, Manufacturing and Information Technology Cluster
Bouchard Quality Management, Inc.

Please RSVP via
iso@amit-az.net(520) 490-6649

Organization name: ______________________# of people attending _________

This post originally appeared on an external website

[Author]

Replies