Sound Economics – Page 53 – Everyday economics from the University of Puget Sound

“The world has not turned on us, we have turned on her.”

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Janne Deng — No Comments ↓

“You’re living through a time when virtually half of humanity’s intellectual, social and spiritual legacy is being allowed to slip away. This does not have to happen. These peoples are not failed attempts at being modern — quaint and colorful and destined to fade away as if by natural law.” –Wade Davis; TED Talk The World Wide Web of Belief and Ritual (2008) Eight years and almost two presidential elections since Wade Davis’ TED talk was uploaded onto the internet, we have still only yet begun to understand and articulate the magnitude of our growing environmental catastrophe. We’ve begun to Continue reading “The world has not turned on us, we have turned on her.”→

Delaware: Worse Than the Cayman Islands

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Nicky Smit — 1 Comment ↓

Can you guess which State is home to the most Fortune 500 companies? I bet Delaware was not obvious. That random State most people rack their brains to place on a map is taking the lead over the equally un-placeable Cayman Islands for best tax haven on Earth. Delaware has more corporate entities than people – 945,326 to 897,934. Last year alone over 133 thousand businesses set up there, and they’re paying very very little in taxes. About $9.5 billion in taxes is assumed to have been avoided just do to Delaware being a lousy teammate. “The Delaware loophole,” as Continue reading Delaware: Worse Than the Cayman Islands→

Another Finance Post: What is Private Equity?

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Lorraine Black — No Comments ↓

What is private equity? For many, private equity just more financial-ese. For others, it’s an investment arena they’ll never get into. For some it’s the only way to keep a business running, and for the lucky few it’s a way to make big money fast. Equity is the portion of something that you own (a share if many people have own portions). It’s the monetary representation of ownership. More specifically it’s assets – liabilities, essentially the amount you own minus the amount you owe. Own minus owe! For example, if you are working on paying off a boat worth $40,000 but you still need to Continue reading Another Finance Post: What is Private Equity?→

How Much Luck Do You Have?

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Cole Driscoll — No Comments ↓

How does luck play into one’s success? When thinking about successful men and women, the fact that luck could have played a role in the road to success isn’t always brought up. This isn’t to say that successful people haven’t worked hard to get to where they are. But there are some people who possess hard-working qualities and superior knowledge, who do not catch a break. It possible that people “underestimate” the amount of luck that plays into their success and the success of people around them. If we take a look at the success of an athlete like, say Continue reading How Much Luck Do You Have?→

Why Do the Rich Give Less?

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Tesha Shalon — No Comments ↓

What motivates people to give their money to charity? As a college student I have heard many of my peers say things like, “well if I had more money I would donate more to charity”, but is that the case for the rest of Americans? When it comes to giving, humans clearly stray away from the rational model. Charitable preferences are never stable, information is very rarely asymmetric, and utility differs depending on how the donation is given and perceived. One of the most surprising facts of charity in America is that the people who can afford to give the Continue reading Why Do the Rich Give Less?→

“I Present to You the Rational Consumer”

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Geremia Lizier-Zmudzinski — 2 Comments ↓

In the Office’s sixth episode of season 7, Dunder Mifflin’s “accountant extraordinaire” Oscar Martinez dresses up as the “rational consumer” for the office’s Halloween costume contest. His character is inspired by the contest’s prize, a booklet worth over $40,000 in coupons to many of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s finest establishments. Though the rest of the employees come to work dressed in creative and sometimes head turning (Gabe as Lady Gaga) costumes they have obviously put a lot of thought into, Oscar comes dressed in jeans, a collared shirt and a cardigan as a sign that the booklet should be of no interest Continue reading “I Present to You the Rational Consumer”→

National Parks, Elephants, and Sustainability

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Janne Deng — No Comments ↓

National parks are often seen from a western perspective as cool and exotic tourist locations that can bring about a sense of interconnectedness between the urban mind and the natural world. Unfortunately national parks are also the hunting grounds for many profitable underground poaching businesses, and the high demand that the regulatory system around poaching constructs is only further detrimental to the wildlife. Earlier in September 2015, “Kenya’s then-President Daniel arap Moi ignited a pile of 12 tonnes of elephant tusks and helped change global policy on ivory exports. After that, the trade was banned under the Convention on International Trade Continue reading National Parks, Elephants, and Sustainability→

Thesis Corner: Lorraine Black on Video Games

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Nicky Smit — No Comments ↓

Below I present an interview I had with our very own Lorraine Black, discussing her highly intriguing senior economic thesis. Let’s dive right in! Okay, first couple questions: what was the topic of your thesis, and why did you pick that? The topic of my senior thesis was the economic behavior of consumers that play free-to-play multiplayer online video games. I picked it because it struck me as pretty irrational behavior in a relatively new industry. Also I like video games. Good a reason as any. What were your findings? I conducted a survey of 300 League of Legends players Continue reading Thesis Corner: Lorraine Black on Video Games→

With Big Banks Coming Clean – Should We Start Breaking Them Up?

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Lorraine Black — 1 Comment ↓

With Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo paying multi-billion dollar settlements after admitting to being less than truthful about their mortgage practices, it’s possible other banks on Wall Street might come clean. There is much debate about whether sub-prime mortgages were a conscious (and idiotic) attempt at making a ton of money, or if the banks were as in the dark about the consequences as consumers were before the financial crisis of 2007-2008. It’s easy to blame the banks, they’re the ones who had the power and they knew exactly what they were doing – right? Steve Eisman, the hot-headed portfolio manager from the Big Short Continue reading With Big Banks Coming Clean – Should We Start Breaking Them Up?→