Reflection Blog (27 February 2014)

For this weeks class, we learned about government spending, fiscal policy, and public transfer payments. We also learned different tax bases and tax structures. The people of Weserville got paid too and we have to demonstrate the progressive,  proportional, and regressive tax structures with the money that we just received (p.s. Jean Yanez did not get paid :D because he missed that day). We played a game which let us decide on the government spending which is hard for me since I did not know how to play and we only had a few minutes left in class. Another thing we did this week was watch another 20/20's video which talked about government spending and decide on what programs Weserville should keep (which was hard since they all had their benefits and if we do not fund them then they are gone for good). 

I found it very interesting in the 20/20's video on how government spend some of their money. What really shock me was that Alaska decided to build a bridge to Nowhere which would cost billions of dollars and only about fifteen cars use them (yea..... it is not like the United States is already in trillions of dollars in debt). Another thing is that the government spend billions of dollars to look for aliens instead of using it to help our nation/economy. What surprise me the most is that the senators get all worked up and offended because one of them (I cannot remember his name) thinks it is a terrible idea. 

This is related to economics because with these information, we could use them to help us find what is the most beneficial to the nation. It could also help us one day to balance our government spending and maybe increase the income. It lets us figure out how much money to spend on a certain program and to figure out if it is helping or not. 

Reflective Blog (21 February 2014)

For this this week, we learned about the impact of Walmart in small towns and we also dicusse if we want Walmart in Weserville. We also watch 20/20's videos about parks owned by private companies and subsidy. We learned the government role in the economy, and learned about private and public property. Some terms that we learned in this section are free riders (parks) and externality (house property value). We learned about the characteristic of public properties too (street lights).

Subsidy in economics are a government payment that helps cover the cost of an economic activity that is considered to be in public interest. It has its benefits and downsides. Like in the 20/20's video, some farmers take advantage of these by receving thousands of dollars even though they grow nothing. Also there are many loop-holes in the bill that let people take advantage of it because the bill is about as long as a football field. Some advantages of these subsidy is that it can encourage companies to produce some medicines that are not really produced for sick paticents.

These information could be important in economics because it can show us what is more benefital for our economy and which is not. It could also show the benefits and downsides of public and private property/service. For most parks, it is more benefital if it to be private owned while the police force is best to be public or government provided.

Reflective Blog (14 February 2014)

For this week class, we learned about the economic flow chart, the enterprise system, the fundamental of a market economy, and incentives. We watch an old, but informative, video on capitalism and we also made a video on the flow chart. We went into groups to discuss what business should be in Weserville and we still have not vote on the three business yet.   

The economic flow chart is like a the circle of life. It starts with business buy resources from the individuals/households. The individuals/households gets the money and the business use the resources to make goods at factories. The business then sell these goods to stores and markets. The individuals/household then buys the goods and the cycle then repeats again. 

This flow chart is important or related to the real world. Without the individuals/household, the business most likely won't get supplies in a market economy. Without the business, there will be no one to mass produce goods and sell them to stores. If one is missing it could ruin the flow chart and create an disorder.

Reflective Blog (7 February 2014)

For this week's class, we went over traditional, command, and market economy. We also pretend that we were Adam Smith and Marx Karl at a dinner party. 

Traditional is where when people make decisions custom and beliefs that have been handed down from generations. Command is basically the government controlling the entire economy, they say what is produced and dispute the resources (Marx Karl supports this because he believe it will make everyone equal and a lot of people are sick of the rich oppressing the poor). The last one we studied is market economy where the government has little intervene in business. People are allowed to own private property, make their own decisions, and decides how to run things [Adam Smith supports this because he believes it gives people the most freedom and benefits the nation the most (not everyone)]. 

My opinion on Capitalism (Adam Smith) and Socialism (Marx Karl) is neutral, depending on situation. Every economic and government system has their flaws and there is always a corrupted official that ruins it. Capitalism does not benefits everyone and creates a barrier between the rich and poor, but it does create competition (which make things cheaper) and it has more freedom. Socialism in the other hand, tries to break the social class but there is limited freedom and corruption could ruin its entire purpose.

This could relate to other class topics or current events because it can determine the welfare of the nation and can tell hold it mold the nation how it is right now. It could also tell some possible problems in the nation and  its condition right now.

Hey guys, do you wanna build a snowman? It doesn't has to be a snowman.