The Whole Can Be Less Expensive than the Sum of Its Parts Pt. 2:

This is a continuation of blogpost #2. While it’s clear that a weird phenomenon is taking place, it isn’t clear what the crux cause of the broader market situation. The question still remains why was I rcenetly able to buy a prebuilt PC from MSI that was less expensive than if I had bought the parts individually? Let’s generalize this scenario: Scenario: Given two computers with the equivalent (equivalent here meaning performance-wise) parts where: one of which is pre-built and the other of which is self-assembled, how can the situation arise where the pre-built is less expensive than the self-assembled?                                                                  Continue reading The Whole Can Be Less Expensive than the Sum of Its Parts Pt. 2:

The Whole Can Be Less Expensive than the Sum of Its Parts Pt. 1:

This post is a continuation of my first blog post. In the first post, I mentioned pre-built computers—computers with parts pre-assembled by manufacturers—can be a cost-efficient alternative to a custom-built computer—computers with individual parts bought and assembled by the consumer. This should strike you as strange as it violates common sense. This is implying computer parts plus the labor to assemble those parts cost more than solely computer parts. You might be wondering why is this the case If you recall from blogpost #1, GPUs are one of the essential parts of a computer. They have always been traditionally expensive, Continue reading The Whole Can Be Less Expensive than the Sum of Its Parts Pt. 1:

Modeling a Risk-Averse Investor in the Stock Market Pt. 3: Trying to Find a Closer Approximation for the net value

In this blogpost, I will attempt to find an approximation for the series posted in part 2. In part #2, we had the table:   ROI based upon the period we invested in  (1/r)         Sum of each investment   Period 1 ROI  Period 2 ROI Period 3 ROI Period 4 ROI Period J   *SPECIAL CASE* $1/1 $1/1 $1/1 $1/1 + … 1+1+1+1 + …  = $J Investment #1 $1/2 $1/4 $1/8 $1/16 + … ½ + ¼ + 1/8 + 1/16 + … = $2.00 Investment #2 $1/3 $1/9 $1/27 $1/81   + … $1/3 Continue reading Modeling a Risk-Averse Investor in the Stock Market Pt. 3: Trying to Find a Closer Approximation for the net value

Modeling a Risk-Averse Investor in the Stock Market Pt. 2:

*This is just a continuation of the first blogpost titled “Modeling a Risk-Averse Investor in the Stock Market Pt. 2”. * Finding an Upper Bound for our Heuristic: To approximate the upper bound, let’s take J –> ∞ and not include the investment# 1 case as it is a special case then we have: Above, we shifted the index of r by 1. It now has to have an initial value of r = 2 insuring the first-rate equals ½. We can make another table to intuitively understand what this represents:   ROI based upon the period we invested in Continue reading Modeling a Risk-Averse Investor in the Stock Market Pt. 2:

Modeling a Risk-Averse Investor in the Stock Market Pt. 1:

Suppose someone wants to invest in the stock market, how would you approach modeling an individual investing in this asset class? The particular asset class at hand here is stocks. We will make intuitive assumptions about the stock market and how a risk-averse individual operates in the stock market. Then, we will try to transform said assumptions to make a simple heuristic. This heuristic will then generate a numerical value which we will describe in terms being between an upper and lower boundary. Let’s make the assumptions Creating the Assumptions: ROI on stocks to diminish overtime due to increasing market Continue reading Modeling a Risk-Averse Investor in the Stock Market Pt. 1:

Why Does Building a Computer Cost so Much? Pt. 1

Pt.1 Why does my GPU cost so much? This blog topic will be a multipart series reviewing the changing nature of PC markets along with plausible mechanisms for these changes. To answer the title question, it would be useful to know what expectations one should have for changes in PC prices over time. Setting Expectations: The two most expensive computer parts’—the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and CPU (Computer Processing Unit)—performances have vastly increased over time. The increase in performance more or less follows a heuristic called “Moore’s law”. According to Moore’s law the number of transistors in are expected to Continue reading Why Does Building a Computer Cost so Much? Pt. 1

Free or Fast: WiFi on the Plane

Internet access has become so ubiquitous to many of us that we barely notice it until we don’t have it. At home, cable broadband or DSL quietly connects our phones, computers, TVs, and even—for some of us—our light switches to the world-wide-web and the vast wealth of information it holds. While out and about, our phones are connected through the cellular network to that very same informational hub. Even when all else fails, Starbucks and its ilk will happily keep you connected. However, one of the few remaining places where we seem to surrender our entitlement to the net is… Continue reading Free or Fast: WiFi on the Plane

Econ of the Anti-Vaxxer

On January 25th of this year, the state of Washington declared a state of emergency because of a measles outbreak.  Following this, and previously to this, vaccinations have been a large part of the local and national conversation. I have to start this post by saying that I am a biased source in the sense that I believe everyone should get vaccinated, but I am going to try to look at this topic from purely an economic standpoint. In order for vaccinations to be effective and prevent an outbreak, the vaccination rate needs to be about 90-95%. Unfortunately, vaccination rates Continue reading Econ of the Anti-Vaxxer

The Utility of Schadenfreude

Recently, in one of my economics classes, the professor decided to have us play a game theory scenario. The first interesting factor to know for context, is that the class consists of a minority of economics majors. The second factor is that the class consists of over 20 students (decently sized for a Puget Sound econ course). The game we played was a basic variable contribution mechanism game, with the class splitting into groups of around 3 and given the opportunity to contribute ‘tokens’ to a group pot to get points for the entire class or keep the ‘tokens’ to Continue reading The Utility of Schadenfreude

Everyday Economics: Not Just Supply and Demand

As an economics student, few things make me happier than applying economics outside of the classroom. While I admittedly over do it (sorry Sara, Doug, and Jenna) I still love finding examples in everyday life. My favorite definition of economics is, “Economics is the social science concerned with how individuals, institutions, and society make choices under conditions of scarcity.” This is definitely different than most people’s idea of economics, which tends to be something like, “the branch of knowledge concerned with the production, consumption, and transfer of wealth.” In this article, I’m planning to briefly summarize many of the ideas I have had Continue reading Everyday Economics: Not Just Supply and Demand