Month: May 2014

As we close out the semester here at the University of Puget Sound, I’d like to thank all those who have supported and contributed to Sound Economics in our inaugural year. Thank you to the Economics Department, the Office of Educational Technology, and the University for helping to make this effort happen. Most of all, I’d like to thank the contributors to the blog: our student writers- Collin, Matthew, Nick, Ricky, Holly, Morgan, Tom, and Jared- who worked tirelessly to produce thoughtful and sharp articles throughout the year; our faculty contributors; and, finally, our readers and commenters, who kept the Continue reading Thank you!→

In recent data released by the U.S. Census, it was found that college enrollment was at its lowest rate since the recession hit in 2007. The graph points out that college enrollment often rises during recessions. I found this to be very interesting. When a recession hits, and unemployment rises, and consumption falls. I would have thought that college enrollment would fall as well. But that isn’t the case. What we see occurring is in fact the opposite. During the first 2-3 years of our recession, we see college enrollment on a steady climb, and when our economy slowly started Continue reading Changes in College Enrollment→

A great visual of wealth inequality in the US: Put in real numbers, in the period of 2008-10, the top 1% wealthiest Americans had net worths of at minimum $8.4 million. (69 times that of the median US household)