Lukie Crowley – Page 3 – Sound Economics

Minor League Baseball Players are being Neglected

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Lukie Crowley — No Comments ↓

When hundreds of people in a “business” are making below the federal poverty line, then you would think that business would be doing quite poorly. Think again. Major League Baseball (MLB), which has heard the narrative that it is dying due to lack of interest from the younger demographic and the idea that is somewhat of a boring sport, is doing quite well at the moment. According to the Washington Post (WP) article linked first, “baseball has in recent years parlayed renewed popularity into record earnings, leveraging apparel and media demands into $9.5 billion in revenue last year; its 30 franchises averaged $23 Continue reading Minor League Baseball Players are being Neglected→

Surprising Statistics Among Voters in Support of Trade Agreements

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Lukie Crowley — No Comments ↓

The New York Times recently came out with an article outlining some interesting statistics about voters in the United States supporting trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This is most interesting because both major-party candidates actually oppose the trade agreement that was established by President Obama. In the article, the NYT outlines that the point that Republicans tend to be pro-trade but since the Republican candidate Donald Trump is so anti-trade, the R’s are staunchly against these trade agreements. However, younger voters still strongly support trade agreements such as the TPP and overall voters polled either support trade Continue reading Surprising Statistics Among Voters in Support of Trade Agreements→

Impacts of Wells Fargo Scandal

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Lukie Crowley — No Comments ↓

Yesterday, news came out that Wells Fargo Bank would have to pay $185 million in fines in addition to the $5 million they had to pay to their customers for accounts that were set up without their approval. Essentially, customers were being charged fees for accounts they had not set up on their own. Patrick Rucker and Dan Freed from the Huffington Post note that, “In a complaint filed in May 2015, California prosecutors alleged that Wells Fargo pushed customers into costly financial products that they did not need or even request.” $100 million of the fines went to the Consumer Continue reading Impacts of Wells Fargo Scandal→

The Why Axis: Be Careful What You Choose, It May Be Used Against You!

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Lukie Crowley — No Comments ↓

For chapter 7 of The Why Axis, Gneezy and List address the “hidden motives behind discrimination.” This idea looks at discrimination, whether with economic intentions or simply bad ones. You may ask, what is economic discrimination like? In some cases, it could make sense economically for the firm to discriminate, but it Gneezy and List note that it could come off as pure hostility towards the group of people that are being targeted. An example that they use looks at how an airline might address the cost of seat(s) based on a consumers weight. Southwest Airlines, for example, will charge an obese person the cost of two tickets if they meet Continue reading The Why Axis: Be Careful What You Choose, It May Be Used Against You!→

The Salary Cap in Sports: Part 2 (Basketball)

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Lukie Crowley — No Comments ↓

In our first post about the salary cap in sports, we learned about how unlimited the baseball cap was while higher revenue teams reap the benefits. In the second part of the three part series, we will be looking at the growing NBA salary cap as it looks to make a big leap in the next couple of years, increasing the player’s benefits. The salary cap has slowly been moving up over the past three years, from nearly $59 million in the 2013-2014 season up to $70 million flat for the 2015-2016 season. For the five seasons before that, it Continue reading The Salary Cap in Sports: Part 2 (Basketball)→

Thesis Corner: Jordyn McLuen

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Lukie Crowley — No Comments ↓

Lukie Crowley (LC): To start it off, what is your topic? Jordyn McLuen (JM): I did a policy theory paper on apple production in Washington State and how it’s impacted by potentially the implementation of a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system. LC: Why did you choose (topic)? JM: I have always found environmental issues interesting, so I knew that I would like to do something related to climate change and try to apply a macro topic in climate change policy into a micro area in terms of Washington State apple production being one relatively small market. LC: Was there Continue reading Thesis Corner: Jordyn McLuen→

How the Recycling and Oil Markets are Connected

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Lukie Crowley — No Comments ↓

When someone thinks about markets being connected, the oil and recycling markets aren’t the ones that usually come to mind. Yet, the oil market is significantly damaging the recycling market right now and it won’t get any better until oil prices rise again. According to a New York Times article from February, Waste Management (the main company that collects recycling) could sell a bale of plastic last year for $230. Now, the price is down to $112 for each bin. Why is this happening? Here’s an excerpt from the NYT article mentioned earlier: New plastics are made from the byproducts of oil and gas Continue reading How the Recycling and Oil Markets are Connected→

The Economic Impact of March Madness

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Lukie Crowley — No Comments ↓

With March Madness happening currently (embarrassed with how my bracket is performing), it’s only relevant to talk about the economic impact of the flurry of college basketball games throughout the month. The general thought is that the economy would suffer, with firms paying their workers an estimated $1.9 billion in wages while they aren’t working. Workers are constantly checking their phones and computers for scores (some just watching the games), and The New Republic noted that 86% of workers will check the scores throughout the day. The idea would be to punish the workers, right? That’s not what some businesses have Continue reading The Economic Impact of March Madness→