This chapter discusses financial economics. It covers the the investment aspect of economics which is more specifically the investments portion of GDP. While I originally knew how to derive/ isolate the I in the equation of GDP (Y), I'm not too sure how to find the other equations that the book gave us. I know that we will most likely have to have memorized those though, I know that I will definitely have to commit that to my memory in the coming days.
Another thing that this chapter cover was the idea that the laws of supply and demand play a similar role when talking about investments. This to me was very shocking, as I did not think that I would be using a supply and demand chart in a chapter like this. This, however did make the concept easier for me to understand as it is not very complex. From there the chapter then talks about the factors that then affect the equilibrium interest. This was too difficult to comprehend either as this was also very similar to the factors stated in supply and demand. I think that this chapter will not be bad, however the tests always trip me up, so we'll see.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Monday, January 16, 2017
Chapter 24 Blog Post
This chapter moves onto CPI (consumer price index) and PPI (producer price index). This however becomes a little confusing at times, as one can't help but wonder what the purpose of GDP and the GDP deflator is at this point. It is important to remember (or learn I suppose) that GDP measures produced goods, while the CPI focuses on purchased goods. This most definitely one of the more trickier parts of the chapter. The equations were not that hard to grasp, however I'm sure that will trip up a lot of people. I hope to fully grasp the importance and differentiate the two measurements. I also hope to remember the factors that weight into CPI misconceptions (substitution biases, Introduction to new goods, and Unmeasured quality changes.
Something I didn't quite like from this chapter was how they approached the explanation of measuring inflation. I fail to understand the differences between the inflations received from CPI and GDP deflators. The chapter also makes it seem as though the price will always increase. I think that that is very misleading, as that may not be the case if one might be looking a recession. I myself am still not quite sure how to figure out when a recession occurs, but I think that it would be great if the writer (Mankiw) or Mr. Waller took time to explicitly talk about this.
Something I didn't quite like from this chapter was how they approached the explanation of measuring inflation. I fail to understand the differences between the inflations received from CPI and GDP deflators. The chapter also makes it seem as though the price will always increase. I think that that is very misleading, as that may not be the case if one might be looking a recession. I myself am still not quite sure how to figure out when a recession occurs, but I think that it would be great if the writer (Mankiw) or Mr. Waller took time to explicitly talk about this.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Chapter 23 Blog Post
This chapter begins by differentiating between microeconomics and macroeconomics. After having spent the first half of the schools learning about micro it was nice to look back at the definition, because it reminds you the purpose of everything you've learned.
The new information in this chapter covers Gross Domestic Product and the many markets that contribute to a nation's GDP. I thought that this all seemed fairly similar as we have covered something similar to the flow chart in the micro section of econ. It also made sense that black market products did not contribute as they are not sold over the counter/ legally. While I knew about the Gross Domestic Product and its use before this chapter I had no idea that there were different types or about GDP Deflator. I don't quite understand the reason for there being two different measurement, but I acknowledge them. I like how the book thought to finish off by saying economically well off does not equate to happiness. This seems to be a common debate, and I found it interesting that the book even felt the need to bring that up.
The new information in this chapter covers Gross Domestic Product and the many markets that contribute to a nation's GDP. I thought that this all seemed fairly similar as we have covered something similar to the flow chart in the micro section of econ. It also made sense that black market products did not contribute as they are not sold over the counter/ legally. While I knew about the Gross Domestic Product and its use before this chapter I had no idea that there were different types or about GDP Deflator. I don't quite understand the reason for there being two different measurement, but I acknowledge them. I like how the book thought to finish off by saying economically well off does not equate to happiness. This seems to be a common debate, and I found it interesting that the book even felt the need to bring that up.
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Chapter 18 Blog Post
This chapter covers the idea of markets for factors of production. Before even reading this I immediately remembered the flow chart we received numerous chapters ago relating firms, households, job markets, and factors of productions. This chapter dives further into what factors of production might entail and why it is so important for a company to heavily consider them when pursuing their business.
This chapter overall made sense to me. I understood it pretty much as marginal cost only with people, which was made it easier take in at first. I understand that it is highly beneficial for competitive markets, however the book made it seem as though this were not applicable to markets such as monopolies of oligopolies. Would this idea not be just as beneficial to them? I was a little confused by this but I won't let this get in head. Another thing that kind of confused my in this chapter was the differentiated factors that affect supply and demand. I didn't quite understand why they some of the situations didn't go both ways, but again this is something that I know not to focus too heavily on. Overall the chapter was easy to understand, but a little clarification in class would be great.
This chapter overall made sense to me. I understood it pretty much as marginal cost only with people, which was made it easier take in at first. I understand that it is highly beneficial for competitive markets, however the book made it seem as though this were not applicable to markets such as monopolies of oligopolies. Would this idea not be just as beneficial to them? I was a little confused by this but I won't let this get in head. Another thing that kind of confused my in this chapter was the differentiated factors that affect supply and demand. I didn't quite understand why they some of the situations didn't go both ways, but again this is something that I know not to focus too heavily on. Overall the chapter was easy to understand, but a little clarification in class would be great.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Chapter 17 Blog Post
In this chapter, Mankiw discusses oligopolies. It talks about the difficulties of maintaining such a market due to the greed of an individual firms and antitrust laws. It also talks about the many theories that go into maintaing an efficient market. I thought that this chapter was actually pretty easy to understand, because the chapter basically described something that fell in between perfectly competition and monopoly. I found it fairly easy to understand why oligopolies might've wanted to form cartels through collusion, and why it might've been a problem. It also made sense to how too many would just create another competitive market. Something that actually didn't quite make sense to me was the in depth game theory ideals. The stuff discussing Bonnie and Clyde kind of confused me, because I feel as though oligopolies would talk before making any decision. If this were the case then prisoner theory wouldn't actually be a problem worth worrying about (unless selfishness were the only factor driving decisions). Other than that the chapter was pretty interesting and I can't wait to have it throughly explained in class as I find that to be really helpful.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Chapter 16 Blog Post
This chapter begins by discussing/ exploring the idea that monopolies have the potential to also be competitive. This idea confused me from the beginning, as I thought that monopolies were characterized as having no competition what so ever. I know that I will struggle to grasp this chapter as I was able to get by the previous one with this understanding. It'll be a pain trying to distinguish markets, oligopolies, and markets in this aspect now since they're like all very similar. I also really thought that there were no close substitutes in the market when there was a monopoly so the fact that competition happens due to potential replacements definitely confuses me.
Besides this concept (really just the beginning) this chapter was not that bad. I was definitely able to understand the long and short run affects for the monopolistic market. It all made sense, because the previous chapter helped us understand what dictates profit and everything. I don't quite understand why it is so desirable to exactly break even, however I do know that that is a good place to be regardless so I might bring it up in class, or just shut up about it, depending on further reading/ rereading.
Besides this concept (really just the beginning) this chapter was not that bad. I was definitely able to understand the long and short run affects for the monopolistic market. It all made sense, because the previous chapter helped us understand what dictates profit and everything. I don't quite understand why it is so desirable to exactly break even, however I do know that that is a good place to be regardless so I might bring it up in class, or just shut up about it, depending on further reading/ rereading.
Monday, November 7, 2016
Chapter 15 Blog Post
Shahid Monametsi
This Chapter discuss the affects and rises of monopolies. I think that this is actually a fairly simple chapter to sink one's teeth into as this was not a very difficult chapter. I thought that this was fairly simple, because the we have kind of touched on the topic of monopolies and their power however it is nice to finally read the extent of their power. In this chapter you not only read about what they are (along with real world applications), but also the regulations put in place to check their power. This was once again easy to take in, because we have covered the idea that government intervention is necessary so that the market (perfect or not) works at full efficiency.
If I had to really pick something tricky about this chapter, it would be the fact that there was so much covered in a single chapter. If I do recall this was same stuff was covered for markets, however it took around 4 or 5 chapters to summarize all of the knowledge pertaining to deadweight loss, government intervention etc. I know that it should be easy to understand to an extent, however I had a troubles taking in all of the information and I know that this will definitely mess me up on the test.
This Chapter discuss the affects and rises of monopolies. I think that this is actually a fairly simple chapter to sink one's teeth into as this was not a very difficult chapter. I thought that this was fairly simple, because the we have kind of touched on the topic of monopolies and their power however it is nice to finally read the extent of their power. In this chapter you not only read about what they are (along with real world applications), but also the regulations put in place to check their power. This was once again easy to take in, because we have covered the idea that government intervention is necessary so that the market (perfect or not) works at full efficiency.
If I had to really pick something tricky about this chapter, it would be the fact that there was so much covered in a single chapter. If I do recall this was same stuff was covered for markets, however it took around 4 or 5 chapters to summarize all of the knowledge pertaining to deadweight loss, government intervention etc. I know that it should be easy to understand to an extent, however I had a troubles taking in all of the information and I know that this will definitely mess me up on the test.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)