Silent Majorities Aren’t Silent Forever

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Yes, this is an Economics blog. But even an econ enthusiast like myself can recognize when to put economics in the backseat for a moment in the face of something much more important. And what can I say, the surprising election seems to be a bit more important. To seemingly all (though in reality only most) pollsters and experts this election was headed in one direction – a clear cut victory for Hillary Clinton. As late as Tuesday morning Nate Silver of Five Thirty Eight gave Clinton a 71.4% chance to win the election. He also gave Clinton an 83.5% Continue reading Silent Majorities Aren’t Silent Forever→

Is a Recession Nearing?

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In light of today’s big event, it is worth discussing what the winner will be faced with in the White House. There are two possible scenarios when looking at the movement of the economy- they will either face a recession in office, or have the longest economic expansion in US. History. Although the ladder seems quite more appealing, economists predict that the likelihood of a recession in the next four years at 60% You might be thinking if we know a recession is likely to come – how can we prevent it? The problem is that there are a number Continue reading Is a Recession Nearing?→

Pioneering Climate Change: Initiative 732

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[Written by Max Coleman] On Tuesday October 25th, the Economics Department hosted a talk about Washington Initiative 732, a carbon tax initiative which is on the ballot for November 8th. We heard from Yoram Bauman, a University of Washington professor and “standup economist,” about why we should vote yes on I-732.  Professor Bauman was one of the key economists and activists within CarbonWA, the group which brought I-732 to the ballot in its current form: “This measure was designed to impose a carbon emission tax on certain fossil fuels and fossil-fuel-generated electricity, reduce the sales tax by one percentage point, Continue reading Pioneering Climate Change: Initiative 732→

Volkswagen Still OK Even After Huge Settlement Approved

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After burning both their customers and the environment in the carbon emissions scandal, a federal court has agreed that $15 billion was the right number to reimburse all of the owners that qualified for the settlement. In September, the customers were given the choice to either have Volkswagen buy the car back or have them fix the computer that was cheating the tests that determined how much emissions were being put into the environment during the tests. According to the Associated Press, that choice is expected to go through in the next month or so. All of the money won’t go Continue reading Volkswagen Still OK Even After Huge Settlement Approved→

The Scoop on Obamacare

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The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was signed into law by president Obama in 2010. Our system differs from places with free healthcare such as Australia and the UK, because they pay higher taxes. But shockingly we as a nation spend the more money per capita on healthcare than Germany, the UK, or Canada. As of 2013, the US spent 18% of its GDP on healthcare costs. According to Forbes Writer, Jeffrey Dorfman, Obamacare does little if anything to reduce total expenditures on health care – mostly it just shuffles around who pays for what. Simply put, millions of Continue reading The Scoop on Obamacare→

What Happens if We Burn the Trees?

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In August of 2015, President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposal called the Clean Power Plan. Its aim is to reduce carbon pollution from power plants by generating a fair, flexible and strong national standard for clean energy and lower pollution. Just recently, on October 23rd, the EPA released its final rule for Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which is set to go into effect on December 22nd. The rule details expectations for states to regulate their carbon dioxide emissions by examining performance rates of pre-existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units (EGUs). While many are on board Continue reading What Happens if We Burn the Trees?→

Efficiency in Class Registration

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We are just about a week away from registration for Spring Term 2017. More than just being an easy topic to bring up to assuage an awkward conversation with that person you aren’t great friends with but somehow find yourself running into often, registration is cool because it gives most students a sense of excitement. I like to think there are two main reasons for this: 1) Most people like to plan, especially when the planning is almost entirely up to them. Registration gives us powerful autonomy, with a few clicks of a mouse we can essentially more or less Continue reading Efficiency in Class Registration→

Dependency on Sponsorship: Professional Gaming

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Video games have been around since the 1950s when the “cathode-ray tube amusement device” was first invented. But now video games have taken a new form of entertainment as “professional gaming” has become popular in the last few years. The video game industry has seen much growth, especially over the 21st century, and the industry has realized a total revenue of about $23.5 billion in 2015. Of course, with this type of money flowing into the industry there must be consumers who are dedicated to these products and there are. The reason that the industry has been expanding is because Continue reading Dependency on Sponsorship: Professional Gaming→

Release Strategy of Nintendo Switch

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I’ve been a Nintendo fan most of my life. I don’t actually remember a time in my life before I had a GameBoy with Pokémon. My favorite video game to this day is Super Smash Bros Melee, a game which feature characters from Nintendo’s most popular franchises, released all the way back in 2001. However, Nintendo’s most recent console, the Wii U, hasn’t done very well compared to higher capacity rivals, the Sony PS4 and the Microsoft Xbox One. This Forbes article talks about Nintendo’s odd release strategy of the New Nintendo Switch, which is due to be out in Continue reading Release Strategy of Nintendo Switch→