Not enough workers? The problem Denmark faces

It’s not often that you see countries have a lack of workers available across the nation, but it is the problem that Denmark has on its hands right now. An article from the New York Times outlines what the Danes are dealing with currently, but they simply don’t have enough skilled workers available to fill the jobs they need. The unemployment rate is at 4.3%, and has recovered extremely fast after the recession that hit across Europe. If the unemployment rate goes any lower, the country could run into inflation problems. The NYT notes that this has occurred before: During an economic Continue reading Not enough workers? The problem Denmark faces

The Broken Textbook Market

On average, an undergraduate student will spend $1200 annually on textbooks. I have become quite thrifty with my textbook shopping over the years. I ask friends if I can buy their old books, I check with the local libraries, and I scour the internet for deals. This year, I even waited to buy my textbooks until specific homework problems were assigned out of them, hoping I could skim by without the professor noticing- a tactic I do not recommend. Even after all of this, I still end up spending hundreds of dollars every semester on books. What makes textbook prices Continue reading The Broken Textbook Market

Maple Syrup: A Challenge to the Cartel

Did you know about 72% of the world’s maple syrup supply comes from Quebec, Canada? To clarify, I’m not talking about brands like Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Butterworth’s which use mostly corn syrup, but the authentic, came-from-a-maple-tree stuff. The stuff that costs $40 a gallon, not $8 a gallon. Some quick facts about maple syrup production. Maple syrup is generally made from the sap of either sugar maples or red maples. Sap production requires cold nights and temperate days, and is highly variable. The sap is transferred from the trees to the “sugar shack” by spouts using tubing and gravity. Once Continue reading Maple Syrup: A Challenge to the Cartel

Possible Economic Boom?

Generally, when an economics student is taking the introduction to Macroeconomics Theory the most commonly used word that will come out of the professor’s mouth is Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP is a term defined as the value of all final goods and serviced a country produces in a given period. This monetary value enacts as an indicator of how the overall economy is doing. However, two other factors play a role in what a sustainable economy looks like. These factors are 1) inflation: the change of prices over time and 2) the unemployment rate. In the eyes of economist’s, Continue reading Possible Economic Boom?

The Uncertain Future of Digital Advertising

So far, this series has examined recent trends in digital advertising, and covered various approaches to increasing digital ad revenue. This installment will take a look at the apparent trajectory of this industry, and some of the challenges that publishers and content creators face. At the moment, the future direction of digital advertising is in question. Agencies are being founded with the express purpose of selling unblockable advertising, while other companies opt for paywalls or simply barring adblock users from accessing their sites in the first place. Some companies such as Twitch have found success with new ad serving technology, Continue reading The Uncertain Future of Digital Advertising

The Upward Trend of Esports

More news in the world of Esports has emerged since my last post about professional gaming. The NBA franchise, the Miami Heat purchased a significant stake in the Esports organization, the Misfits on January 10th. The Heat also announced a partnership along with this deal, in which the basketball franchise will “cross-promote” both organizations. The team tweeted a picture of both the Miami Heat’s logo and the Misfits’ new logo side by side. The Esports team changed their logo to match the color of the Heat’s logo, further promoting the partnership. The basketball team’s CEO, Nick Arison made an official Continue reading The Upward Trend of Esports

The Irrationality of Free

One of the books I’ve been reading for Economics of Happiness, the best connections class to make you happy (maybe except for the wine-tasting one) is Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely, who examines some of the incentives and day-to-day interactions we have, how they affect our decisions, and more specifically, how they nudge us towards irrational decisions. One idea that we can’t deal with very well is the idea of free, or costing zero. If something is free, or costs zero, our decision making about that thing changes considerably. Predictably Irrational discusses how when presented with an otherwise great deal Continue reading The Irrationality of Free

Restauraunts Passing the Buck to the Customer due to Minimum Wage Increase?

The minimum wage in Washington has been of hot discussion for the past couple of years as there had been a push for higher wages for workers that had been relying on low-wage jobs. In the November election, Initiative 1433 passed across Washington to push the minimum wage up to $13.50 per hour by 2020. In other areas like Seattle and Sea-Tac, the rate can be as high as $15. Many businesses do not exactly support the increase, as they have to find a way to balance out the costs. Well, it seems that several restaurants across Washington are combatting Continue reading Restauraunts Passing the Buck to the Customer due to Minimum Wage Increase?

The Sharing Economy

In this booming technological age, American citizens are connected with each other like never before. Innovators are taking advantage of this new-era connectivity to build companies that rely solely on peer-to-peer contact. Companies such as Airbnb, Uber, and Taskrabbit are all examples of companies that network strangers together in order to optimize the wants and needs of both parties in the transaction. In economics, this has become known as the “sharing economy.” These “innovative” companies are simply eliminating transaction costs by kicking out the middleman. By doing so, people are able to better optimize their time and money and hopefully Continue reading The Sharing Economy

Identifying the Gullible: Why are there so many Nigerian princes out there?

The other day, I received a phone call from a number with my area code. I answered and then the conversation went like this: Caller: Hi… Me: Hello…hello? Caller: …Oh sorry…I was having problems with my headset… Me:[Realizing this is a recording] Oh alright then… Caller: I’m calling to let you know you’ve won… And that’s when I hung up. If you have a cell phone, you’ve probably received a phone call like this and wondered, how do scams like these still happen? Does anybody actually give their information? Then I wondered how schemes like this can even be profitable. After Continue reading Identifying the Gullible: Why are there so many Nigerian princes out there?