08A12: Econs Blog

Monopoly in HC!

2008-05-19T16:24:00.003+08:00

Single Seller:
You don't see any other gelato (Gelato is different from ice cream. Quote Gelato Uncle: The taste is more intense - !!!) seller in HC, do you?

Unique product:
The closest substitute gelato is probably the Meji yogurt sold in Fishtank -.-

Barriers to entry:
You can't set up your gelato shop in HC unless you are invited (to help raise funds no doubt).

qiuting.

2008-05-19T15:46:00.005+08:00

Hello,

Click to download notes/summary of the various econs topics:
(i've checked, it's legal to do so)

Resource Allocation:
click here

Firms and how they operate:
click here

Market Failure and Government Intervention:
click here

credits to Zhuoyi from Fivelesslnotes

ceteris paribus,
qiuting

nothing to do with econs.

2008-05-17T22:19:00.004+08:00

Just for fun, since Ashton has completed his very own parody of the song :D

The original 'A Whole New World'.. with a twist.

A Whole New Monopoly

2008-05-17T16:35:00.004+08:00

A Whole New Monopoly
Lyrics and Vocals by Sentrovasi
Original Song A Whole New World by Alan Menken
Listen Here

I can show you a hell
With a single supplier
Competition can't enter
Thanks to entry barriers.

Set exorbitant price
Knowing it's still demanded.
Profits earned getting super-
normal every single year,

Monopoly...
The government cannot ignore,
They'll say that no means no,
It's bad you know,
Though it may seem appealing

Monopoly...
Produced where MR meets MC,
Deadweight loss everywhere,
But they don't care,
'cos now this is a real monopoly...

They keep competitors out,
With predatory pricing:
Goods priced under cost of production
To maintain the market share.

Monopoly... (Watch them jack up the price)
A giant market just for you, (Watch their coffers get fatter)
Just cause AR's demand,
They're in command,
And get to set the prices...

Monopoly... (Profits all maximized)
Beware X-inefficiency (Always strive to be better)
'Cos when they're way up there
It's crystal clear
What they have is a monopoly...

They've got money...
Don't need AE...
A hellish place...
Consumers face...
Monopoly...

Cheers,
Ashton

Suggestion for wanted! - Music & Economics

2008-05-17T02:40:00.002+08:00

Hi all,

I came across this website which incorporates economics into music in the form of flash animations!

I feel this would be an effective way to reach out to students, especially if the students are familiar with the music used. It could perhaps be shown during lectures, as a short few minutes break to lessons taught with lecture notes.

Unfortunately, I am unable to request for access to the "Animation Database" and hence cannot evaluate the usefulness of the videos. (I can only view one very short demo video here .)

Perhaps the economics unit might want to take a look at the website? ..because it is stated on the website that

"*The database requires a user name and password so that we are only distributing this material to professional educators using it under the educational fair use clause of the 1976 Copyright act.
Please email with your name and departmental affiliation for access to the database".

"there is no such thing as a free lunch!"

2008-05-17T02:31:00.003+08:00

Please see Cartoon No 308

http://www.hagencartoons.com/cartoons_306_310.html

for a cartoon illustrating

what we learnt at the very beginning of our economics lessons-

"there is no such thing as a free lunch!"

cheers(:

CBS to buy CNET- merger/acquisition!

2008-05-16T23:43:00.002+08:00

Article from: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/348088/1/.html

not your grandma's lemonade stand

2008-05-16T22:53:00.002+08:00

Found a cool econs-related activity, of sorts.
It is probably below the standard of wht we're learning,
but it's interesting nonetheless.
Try it out when you're free.

Look at this (http://www.rockwellsite.com/files/bw/59_full.jpg) picture,
and do this (http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/em276/flash/popupActivity.html) activity.
See how much you score ! Lol I got 16 out of 20 qns correct (80%) and this is elementary level stuffs. Gosh I suck.
You can also open your own lemonade stall here : http://www.ae4rv.com/games/lemonade.htm

Enjoy !

~ Eileen

haw haw haw.

2008-05-14T22:56:00.004+08:00

http://netec.mcc.ac.uk/JokEc.html

1.
Humor is evolving, now we have a refinement:
"Economics is the only field in which two people can get a Nobel Prize for saying the opposite thing" is true, but is not strong enough. Better:

"Economics is the only field in which two people can share a Nobel Prize for saying opposing things." Specifically, Myrdal and Hayek shared one.

Roberto Alazar

(A rumor has it that there was a similar case in neuroscience, Golgi and Cajal, maybe economists are not so different!)

2.
A mathematician, an accountant and an economist apply for the same job.
The interviewer calls in the mathematician and asks "What do two plus two equal?" The mathematician replies "Four." The interviewer asks "Four, exactly?" The mathematician looks at the interviewer incredulously and says "Yes, four, exactly."

Then the interviewer calls in the accountant and asks the same question "What do two plus two equal?" The accountant says "On average, four - give or take ten percent, but on average, four."

Then the interviewer calls in the economist and poses the same question "What do two plus two equal?" The economist gets up, locks the door, closes the shade, sits down next to the interviewer and says "What do you want it to equal?"

3.
To an economist, real life is a special case.

4.
An econometrician and an astrologer are arguing about their subjects. The astrologer says, "Astrology is more scientific. My predictions come out right half the time. Yours can't even reach that proportion". The econometrician replies, "That's because of external shocks. Stars don't have those".

s'pore luxury home prices.

2008-05-14T22:28:00.004+08:00

-April 21,2008. HOME section of The Straits Times.

from http://singaporeluxuryhomes.biz/ :
"In 2007, average property prices have gone up 31%. For prime luxury properties, we are outperforming the market with more than 50% gain. Looking forward in 2008, we expect prime luxury property prices to rise 10%-20% year on year. Singapore was recently ranked one of the Asian cities with the most expensive properties. Rents are continuing to rise rapidly and thus providing better yields for investors."

rising property prices

WHY

"commodity price rises have brought wealth"
"rising affluence have also generted another market for 2nd homes and holiday homes"

based on YED, increase in income >> increase in the demand for normal goods >> more people buying houses, wanting to own their own properties, and 'upgrading' (ie moving into larger houses) some of them even owns more than one house now.

"prices grew strongly in the emerging economies, esp China and central and eastern Europe"

emerging economies >> developing at fast pace >> economic booms >> increased incomes >> more comfortable lifestyles and demand for luxury goods

from http://singaporepropertyfrontiers.com/2008/03/27/luxury-home-prices-to-fall-32-by-2010-nomura/ :

Source : Business Times - 27 Mar 2008

"As a result, mass residential prices will remain flat in 2008, climbing just 0.5 per cent, Nomura believes. And as new supply is completed in the prime districts, it expects prices to fall 10.3 per cent in 2009 and 10.1 per cent in 2010 - a total fall of some 19.4 per cent from the 2008 peak."

"Residential rents are likely to remain firm in the short term, given the low vacancy rate, Nomura reckons. But rising new supply is likely to cap rental gains from the second half of this year"

"Average rents are expected to peak in 2008...But with supply on the rise, rents will ease."

article review- merger of westpac and st. george.

2008-05-13T23:37:00.002+08:00

An article on the merger of Australian banks on Westpac and St. George.

This reminded me of the tutorial question we did on merger.

Youwen.

2008-05-13T23:07:00.002+08:00

This would be a horizontal integration, as both are banks providing the same service.
It has already been stated in the article that "the combined bank would have greater access to funding and generate savings. The concept of economies of scale can then be brought in, as the combined bank would probably enjoy Administrative and Managerial economies, and rationalisation would also get rid of duplicated services. This would then lead to increased cost savings. Also, it would create a oligopoly market structure in Australia as the combined bank would have 25% of market share, with several large banks like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (worth A$58billion) having the rest of the market share.

2008-05-13T21:40:00.004+08:00

YO!

ECONS > JUST LECTURE NOTES.

I am here to recommend an interesting econs-related book that i have borrowed last month ~~but.... didnt have time to finish before the due date~~ .

---
Chapter one excerpt:
What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?

Who cheats? Just about everyone . . . How cheaters cheat, and how to catch them . . . Stories from an Israeli day-care center . . . The sudden disappearance of seven million American children . . . Cheating schoolteachers in Chicago . . . Why cheating to lose is worse than cheating to win . . . Could sumo wrestling, the national sport of Japan, be corrupt? . . . What the Bagel Man saw: mankind may be more honest than we think.

source: http://freakonomicsbook.com/reviews/index.html
---

I have spotted a copy of this in the school library today by the way.... so yea...

(=

ceteris paribus,
qiuting.

Flowers, anyone ?

2008-05-12T00:59:00.001+08:00

Here's another econs article :

(click to enlarge)

...(continued)

-EILEEN

2008-05-10T12:43:00.004+08:00

I found something to support the Shocking Economics video

it is a website by American Freedom University (Shocking Economics is a global educational project)

http://shockingeconomics.com/AmericanFreedomUniversity.com/Shocking_Economics.html

the details in the video are current as of 1 Oct 2007.
and are based on details by IMF (2006) and US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

alternatively, if you guys are interested, you may want to check out the GDP of countries and GSP (gross state product) of states (of US) at the websites below:

Countries GDP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)

States GSP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_GDP_(nominal)

hmm, is GSP similar to GDP?

anyw, the GDP page is updated in 2007
but the GSP one reflects only details of 2006 stuff

so im not very sure if you can use the facts ):

however i found out that it is true that USA's GDP far exceeds that of Japan (#2) and Germany (#3)
here are the IMF 2007 stats:

USA 13,843,825million
Japan 4,383,762million
Germany 3,322,147million.

USA's GDP is clearly more than 3x that of Japan and more than 4x Germany.

- Jasmine K

2008-05-04T15:48:00.005+08:00

Hey guys I found a really really cool video on Youtube. Check it out:

And some jokes to end off:

"Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose your job. These economic downturns are very difficult to predict, but sophisticated econometric modeling houses like Data Resources and Chase Econometrics have successfully predicted 14 of the last 3 recessions."

"Talk is cheap. Supply exceeds Demand."

"Q. What does an economist do?
A. A lot in the short run, which amounts to nothing in the long run. "

"President Truman once said he wants an economic adviser who is one handed. Why? Because normally the economists giving him economic advice state 'On one hand and on the other...' "

HArry =)

cartoon :D

2008-04-28T23:43:00.002+08:00

quick post: just a small cartoon on the current US currency. (i think it looks so cute.)

youwen ^^

"When food is short again" (ST, Saturday, April 5 2008)

2008-04-28T00:26:00.011+08:00

Area of Concern:
Food Shortage (Rise in Food Prices)

Things to take note of:

1) "when the world began consuming more grain than it grew"
(Supply EXCEEDS Demand)

2) "food scarcity is accelerating"
(Scarcity = Limited resources available are unable to satisfy the unlimited human wants)

3) "world grain prices last year alone rose by 42%, and dairy, by 80%"
(An Increase in Demand and Decrease in Supply will cause the equilibrium price to RISE)

Reasons for supply-demand imbalance of grain:
A) Population growth and prosperity in new-rich countries (Increase Demand)
(Changes in Consumer Income is one of the determinants of demand / factors that shift the demand curve. The ability of consumers to buy goods is directly proportionate to their income. Usually, as the income increases, more of a good will be demanded. However, we must also consider that food is income inelastic as one need not consume too much food before feeling satisfied / the rate at which the desire of a good is satisfied as consumption increases is one of the determinants of Income Elasticity of Demand. An increase in income will lead to a less than proportionate increase in consumption of food.)

B) High price of oil (Decrease in Supply)
(This had led to increase in the price of fertiliser that is critical for improving crop yields)

C) Weather disruptions (Decrease in Supply)
(Changes in Climatic Conditions is one of the determinants of supply / factors that shift the supply curve. When there is storm, flood or rain, the supply of agricultural goods will be affected adversely. For example, bad weather conditions will lead to poor harvest for agricultural crops.)

D) Use of considerable amounts of maize and oil seeds to produce biofuels (Decrease in Supply)
(Although this his been beneficial to environment protection, this has led to further food shortages.)

Possible solutions:
i) Using more land for food production
(This method is near impossible due to the lack of land)

ii) Using high-yield strains of rice and wheat (GM food production)
(Genetic manipulation will be able to raise yields per hectare, saving on land area at the same time. However, we should consider the negative medical impacts of excessive consumption of GM food such as allergic reactions and toxicity)

Shocking Economics

2008-04-27T15:25:00.001+08:00

I dont know about you, but this certainly shocked me.

anyw, the video was posted on 29 Oot, 2007, so some stuffs might not reflect current situation.

love,
Jasmine Kwok

2008-04-27T13:13:00.004+08:00

This article is about the rising prices of rice :D
click on the picture to enlarge it if you can't see yah? (:

According to THE NEW PAPER (27th Apr 2008), the supply of rice is decreasing as major rice producing and rice exporting countries start to curb exports.

Thailand, the world's largest exporter, has seen merchants intentionally withholding grains to jack up prices.
Vietnam, the world's third largest exporter imposed a 22% cut in exports, contributing to the rise in prices.
In Bangladesh, the cyclonic weather caused severe flooding and destroyed rice crops in November last year.

With the supply of rice decreasing, price is expected to rise even more and the poor would be the most adversely affected.

with love,
Jasmine Kwok.

Yochai Benkler: Open-source economics

2008-04-22T20:25:00.000+08:00

(http://www.ted.com) Law professor Yochai Benkler explains how collaborative projects like Wikipedia and Linux represent the next stage of human organization. By disrupting traditional economic production, copyright law and established competition, they're paving the way for a new set of economic laws, where empowered individuals are put on a level playing field with industry giants.

That's just a glimpse of the future.

Oil producers reject raising output

2008-04-21T23:54:00.005+08:00

Full Article Here!
(http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/342577/1/.html)

1. Increasing Demand for Oil-related products + Scarcity / Factors leading to scarcity such as political unrest, with Oil being a finite resource
'Oil prices hit record highs above 117 dollars per barrel in New York, following a pipeline attack in Africa's biggest producer Nigeria.

Kuwait's acting oil minister said on Sunday that supply and demand factors are not to blame for the soaring price of crude oil, which reached fresh highs last week.

Oil prices hit record highs above 117 dollars per barrel in New York, following a pipeline attack in Africa's biggest producer Nigeria.'

2. OPEC nations still account for two-thirds of the world's oil reserves, and, as of March 2008, 35.6% of the world's oil production, affording them considerable control over the global market.
'Oil-producing countries have rejected calls to raise output amid record prices - five times higher in as many years - saying the rise in demand was artificial.'

'"The level of stockpiles does not currently affect prices on the world market," Mohammad al-Olaim said on the sidelines of an energy forum in Rome attended by oil-producing countries, companies and consumer nations.'

3. OPEC has the aim of ensuring the stabilization of prices / Cartel members may agree on such matters as price fixing, total industry output, market shares, etc.
'Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) president Chakib Khelil, currently touring Kuwait, echoed him, saying there was no need for an immediate hike in production.'

4. Effect of inflation/deflation (US dollar)
'Khelil, on his part, said the falling value of the US dollar was responsible for the surge in oil prices. "When the dollar loses one percent, the price of a barrel of oil rises by four dollars," he said.'

[FYI]
'The next largest group of producers, members of the OECD and the Post-Soviet states produced only 23.8% and 14.8%, respectively, of the world's total oil production. As early as 2003, concerns that OPEC members had little excess pumping capacity sparked speculation that their influence on crude oil prices would begin to slip.'
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC)

Economic Cartoons

2008-04-18T22:38:00.003+08:00

Economic Cartoons:
due to copyright issues, I am unable to post them on the blog.

Here's the link to it though: CLICK HERE!

My favourites:
1. http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=4826

2. http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=10035

----

Here's a joke to end things off:

"Economists have forecasted 9 out of the last 5 recessions."

news corp and AOL join in microsoft-yahoo fray

2008-04-18T21:53:00.004+08:00

hmm i found something on the microsoft-yahoo merger too.

Basically News Corp is considering joining Microsoft in a bid for Yahoo, which is in talks to merge with AOL.

Effects of merger:

1) Merging of MySpace, Yahoo, Microsoft would result in a very fierce rival to Google as the merger would result in a three-in-one company consisting of an online social networking site, a search engine, and operating systems and web portal services (example: hotmail, MSN)

2) Yahoo to use the Time Warner cash and other funds to buy back several billion dollars worth of Yahoo stocks

>> increase/gain back a larger market share

3) Merger would draw antitrust scrutiny

>> antitrust law: supervising the mergers and acquisitions of large corporations, including some joint ventures. It prevents abusive beahviour by a firm from dominating a market, or anti-competitive practices that tend to lead to such a dominant postion. If Microsoft does get News Corp in on its bid for Yahoo!, the combination of Yahoo!, MSN, and MySpace would indeed act as a formidable competitor to Google.

4) Yahoo to boost revenue by 10%

>> "free up money to invest in stronger businesses" can include adding more services/ functions to its webpages, and hence differentiating its servies from its close competitor, Google. This decreases the substitutibility of Yahoo because of its improved or new range of services. Also, investing in stong businesses would make Yahoo a more stable company because stronger companies are less likely to close down during recessions,etc.

get fuzzy!

2008-04-18T21:48:00.001+08:00

Microsoft + Yahoo = ?

2008-04-18T01:02:00.007+08:00

Click HERE for the full article.

Issue:
Possible merger between Microsoft and Yahoo

Rationale:
"Microsoft is feeling increasing pressure to compete with Google (GOOG), which plans to beef up its portfolio with a $3.1 billion purchase of online advertising company DoubleClick. "

Current Postition:
[Microsoft]
Microsoft currently trails both Yahoo and Google in the lucrative and growing business of Web search.

[Yahoo]
Yahoo has stumbled in recent years with a lack of strategic focus and laggardly technology at a time when Google has been able to monetize its search prowess to a degree that has startled investors.

Fact:
"According to newspaper reports May 4, Microsoft has asked Yahoo to enter formal negotiations for an acquisition that could be worth $50 billion. Yahoo's market capitalization was about $38 billion at the close of trading May 3."

"The deal came after Yahoo and Google said they were having a two week trial of an advertising space-sharing experiment. During the pilot, Google will be able to place ads alongside 3% of search results on Yahoo's website."

"Microsoft threatened to make its offer for Yahoo hostile and to reduce the amount it is prepared to pay if Yahoo's directors did not respond by 26 April." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7339992.stm)

Setbacks:
Recently, the shares of Microsoft fell 1.5% to $30.51.
=> Microsoft's falling share price has cut the value of its bid.

(to be continued)

Steven Levitt: the Freakonomics of inner-city gangs

2008-04-17T23:56:00.002+08:00

"Steven Levitt is an economics professor at the University of Chicago and the best-selling author of Freakonomics. In this talk, filmed at TED2004, he goes inside an inner-city gang to examine economic principles at work in the real world." (Recorded February 2004 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 22:00)

More Here!

vid + comic

2008-04-17T22:55:00.000+08:00

hmm, kind of found this video tht talks abt money/currency:

>click here to watch<

and here's a comic : DIFFERENTIATION ? lol.

Econs Article : Harley cuts guidance; to slash output

2008-04-17T21:37:00.000+08:00

Article : (click to enlarge)

Fig 1 : (click to enlarge)

With <3,
Eileen (:

2008-04-12T11:36:00.001+08:00

Hi all,

please contribute to this blog. it's OUR econs blog! =)

yay,
qiu

FYI

2008-04-11T00:09:00.000+08:00

1.TASK

Classes' blog entry may include the following:

Review of interesting economic articles from journals or internet
Economic jokes/cartoons that illustrate certain economic concepts.
Video clips depicting certain economic concepts
Q & A's, "forum-like" postings on views and comments that are economics related among class members
Any other relevant economics postings that will enhance the class's blog (i.e. ILP work. etc)

2. RULES AND REGULATIONS

All blog entries need to be original and not a duplicate of any print, otherwise, state the source of the entry and acknowledge the writer/author concerned
Entries must be suitable for publication (i.e. not obscene, offensive or indecent) and must not have been submitted in other contests or been previously published
Role of class members: (a) direct involvement in design of blog - template, content, updating and so on. (b) actively participate in the blogging activities

3. JUDGING CRITERIA

Content Relevance (Application of Concepts) : 50%
Active and consistent class participation: 30% (this component of the marks will also contribute to your individual class participation marks which is part of the the Continual Assessment)
Creative use of multimedia (e.g. flash, music, photographs) : 20%

4. PRIZES

Best blog will receive a cash voucher of $200 while next 2 best blog will receive a cash voucher of $100 each
Results announced on 25 July

----

ENJOY BLOGGING! :D

Reminder

2008-04-10T02:31:00.000+08:00

CLASS PARTICIPATION (5%) UPDATE 2008

Descriptor (2%):

Motivated
Prepared for tutorials most of the time
Hardly contribute to class discussions

OR

Not well-prepared for tutorials most of the time
Made consistent effort to contribute during class discussions

HOW TO UP TO 3-3.5%?

o Participate in Econ Blog - at least TWO thorough article
reviews + ONE of the following: video, song, cartoon, jokes, etc all
related to economics.

o Submit your own or in groups ONE entry for Wanted! (which can
be something you used for blog).

o Participate in Online Survey for tutorials and lectures.

BE A MATURE ADULT TO GIVE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK AND NOT JUST GIVE
JUDGMENT WITHOUT HIGHLIGHTING TO YOUR TUTOR OT LECTURER ON HOW TO
IMPROVE!

HOW TO UP TO 4-5%?

o Have been preparing and contributing in class discussion.

o More than the minimum requirements stated above, be it in terms
of quantity and quality.