Sound Economics – Page 58 – Everyday economics from the University of Puget Sound

Homes going solar! How helpful is your state?

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Nicky Smit — No Comments ↓

Here’s a cool graph that shows just how rewarding it is for citizens to buy solar panels for their houses. Washington is doing iffy in 26th place, Oregon is rocking it in 6th place, and California is in a solid 14th place. Also, I see absolutely zero correlation between how sunny a place is and how much the government helps subsidize solar panels. But it appears most of the great plains states are not convinced solar power should be promoted. This isn’t to say that buying solar panels is a bad idea in those states, it will just take around 18 years Continue reading Homes going solar! How helpful is your state?→

The Filter Bubble

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Andrew Monaco — No Comments ↓

For your weekend watching, my favorite TED talk. It’s from Eli Pariser on “The Filter Bubble” – where the internet isn’t always what you think it is.

Is There a Student Loan Bubble in the Not-So-Distant Future?

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Lorraine Black — 1 Comment ↓

Take a look at this ticker. Student loan debt is increasing by $2700 a second, with over $1.3 trillion American student loan debt (when I last checked). I’ve been wearing my student loan tin foil hat and ranting about a bubble for a couple years now. Think about it: 70% of students are graduating with some amount of debt and college attendance is increasing by about 0.3% a year since 2009. On average students are graduating with $35,000 in loans. The bachelor’s degree is now argued to be the new high school diploma. Being employable now depends heavily on your education, the higher the better – Continue reading Is There a Student Loan Bubble in the Not-So-Distant Future?→

The Salary Cap in Sports: Part 1 (Baseball)

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Lukie Crowley — 1 Comment ↓

I think it would be efficient (haha) to introduce myself as a new writer for Sound Economics at the beginning of my blog post. My name is Lukie Crowley, a sophomore economics major and I am thrilled to start writing for Sound Economics. My first post will be part one of a three part series about the salary cap in baseball, football and basketball. I will be discussing about how it differs in each sport and the incentive to change it or stay stagnant in said sports. In the rare major sport that does not have a salary cap (while Continue reading The Salary Cap in Sports: Part 1 (Baseball)→

Stopping Population Growth: “Get Used to it”

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Cole Driscoll — No Comments ↓

Have you ever thought about how many humans there are on this planet? The simple answer is a lot. But by digging a little further, it is evident that the Earth’s population is continuing to grow at astonishing speeds. The world’s population was recorded by WorldBank.org to be at 3 billion in 1960 and 7.125 billion in 2013. BBC estimates that the population will grow to 10 billion by 2083. Many people have seen this as an obvious problem, but what is to be done? Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institutet and co-founder of Gapminder, Hans Rosling makes the case Continue reading Stopping Population Growth: “Get Used to it”→

What Percent are You In, and Will it Make You Happier

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Alex Shaw — 1 Comment ↓

Would you rather make $100,000 a year or $200,000 a year? You probably think that’s a dumb question, and in its current form, it is. Of course you would rather take home twice the money. You can make the argument that you’d have to work more, or work in a field you don’t like, but for this case, we’re assuming that for the same job, if you could either make 100,000 or 200,000 dollars, you’d pick 200,000. However, the answer may actually change based on what your peers make. Researchers have found people are happier based on their relative wealth Continue reading What Percent are You In, and Will it Make You Happier→

Why Negative Interest Rates Even Work At All

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Matthew Moreno — No Comments ↓

Reading Lorraine’s post last week on negative interest rates, I did a bit of a double take. “Negative interest rates!?,” I wondered, “Why would any right-minded entity enter into such a disadvantageous arrangement?” Well, it turns out that having money–as in actually possessing currency–can be costly, especially if you have very large amounts of it. NPR’s All Things Considered put out a nice little exposition on this concept. One of my favorite parts of the story is a quote excerpted from a speech by Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer that lays out why holding currency can be costly: “It turns out that holding currency is Continue reading Why Negative Interest Rates Even Work At All→

Does it Cost More to be Female?

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Tesha Shalon — No Comments ↓

It’s common knowledge that there is a disparity between men and women’s wages, but is there also a gap between the prices of products that we buy that serve the same purpose? Products marketed to women and girls on average cost 7% more than identical products sold specifically to men. The reason so many companies are able to do this is that neither gender searches outside products marketed to them, rather they make an economical choice between brands within their gender packaging. Most astonishingly a study found that Target sold three wheel scooters, one red for $24.88, and one pink for Continue reading Does it Cost More to be Female?→

Is Economics a Science?

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Geremia Lizier-Zmudzinski — 2 Comments ↓

Two prominent economists, Russ Roberts from the Hoover Institute, and Noah Smith from Stony Brook University, partook in an insightful conversation on Roberts’ podcast EconTalk a few weeks ago. Though they covered many interesting topics, most provoking to me was their discussion regarding whether or not economics is a science (Found from approximately minute 14 to minute Roberts, a strong neoclassical liberal economist, fell strongly on the side that economics is not a science arguing that “economics is not much of a science in the way that people in everyday English think about it” because “it doesn’t produce reliable empirical Continue reading Is Economics a Science?→

Stoned Moms: The Marijuana Industry’s Greatest Untapped Market

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Janne Deng — 2 Comments ↓

If you’ve seen this video of grandmothers getting high then you’re going to love this Granny who loves her weed too. Since the legalization of recreational weed use in Colorado in 2012 entrepreneurs and investment bankers have been looking for the next big push to get the legal marijuana industry profitable. Justin Hartfield is the creator of WeedMaps, a yelp for marijuana dispensaries that marries the marijuana and tech industries into a modern entrepreneurial dream. However the next untapped market that the medical and recreation marijuana industry needs are everyday people, you, me, and your mom too. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of Continue reading Stoned Moms: The Marijuana Industry’s Greatest Untapped Market→