Q4W5 Economics

     I am frustrated by the limitations of virtual learning, especially at a time when America is in crisis.  We need to come together as a nation to deal with the issues that have caused the unrest.   I have always viewed history as a road map to the future, and we  can learn from the mistakes as well as the success of the past to help guide us to the future.
     There are many lessons we can learn from history, and the best lessons are often explained by students.  One of the best responses I recieved throughout this remote learning period was response to a question in last week's assignment in freshman world history and was submitted by Aurora Wentzell, who agreed to let me use her response:

1.  Social Darwinists view war as  a ____Natural__ and inevitable state of human affairs. 
2. Do you agree or disagree?  Explain.

 
 Aurora wrote "I somewhat agree because war is natural, but we don't need it.  It's like poison ivy, it grows naturally, but we don't need it.  Poison ivy doesn't serve  a purpose to us, and if we touch it, it makes us uncomfortable and it spreads, just like war."

     War is not an inevitable state of human affairs, and neither is the current social unrest throughout the country.  The riots that plague America today have been sparked by the brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week.  There are numerous factors that have contributed to this unrest, among them: anxiety over the deadly pandemic of Corona 19, frustration over high unemployment and income inequality, and fury over the death of another African American while in police custody.  The fury has been compounded because while his brutal killing was videoed and made public, and the officers involved were immediately fired, it  took  5 days after Lloyd's murder for an arrest to be made.
     The Mayor of Miami, Francis X. Suarez,  estimated that 80-90% of the protesters are peaceful, but that 10-20%  have used these protests to loot and cause mayhem.  These violent radicals and reactionaries have used the cover of peaceful protests to bring chaos and mayhem.
       I am not sure what the result of this crisis will be, but understanding and addressing the root causes will be the first step in resolving this crisis.  I agree with Aurora, war is not  a natural and inevitable state of human affairs, and its roots (like poison ivy) have to be pulled out and destroyed in order to address  the problem.

CP1 answer 3 of the 4
Honors 4 of the 4

1.   Let me know what you think about the current protests and my comments.   I encourage you do disagree with anything I wrote.  As Gandhi said "Honest disagreement is a sign of progress."


2, Read this article on economic news, and answer the quesions that follow:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dont-expect-a-quick-recovery-our-survey-of-economists-says-it-will-likely-take-years/ 
  a.  bullet 3 facts from the reading
  b.  This focuses on GDP/business cycle  after the Covid crisis.  Why do you think a W shape recovery  with a second drop would be dangerous?   How would consumer confidence be impacted by  a second major outbreak?
   c. Why do you think President Trump said "We are not shutting down the economy again" if there is a second wave of Covid 19?


3. Watch the following interview with NYU prof, Scott Galloway  answer 4 of 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM5HkpyXxsQ 
 a. How are foreign students the cash cows for colleges?
 b. How are wealthy people and luxury brands doing during this crisis?  What type of businesses and colleges will be "culled from the herd":   top tier, middle tier, bottom tier?  Why?
 c. How has America become a  caste system according to Galloway?  What if anything should be done?  Is a bailout of failing schools the answer according to Galloway?
 d.  According to Galloway what should happen to professor tenure in business schools?  How does this lead to more household debt for young professionals?
e.  Do you agree with Galloway's solution to the problem of college education?  Can a hybred education solve the problem of college costs?
 
4.    Watch Clifford's review of Spiderman Homecoming:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDxS7VtRT5s
  a.  How is your friendly, neighborhood Spiderman like the study of microeconomics?
 b.   In work there is a tradeoff for your time of labor vs. _____________ what "l" word?
 c.   How do you increase your marginal revenue product?  Why go to school?
 d. Businesses need workers like colleges need students (Galloway interview above). How do most capitalists believe the best way is to find a fair wage?
 e.  How did Spiderman find contentment in life?  Why did he reject Tony Stark's job offer?

Q4 W4 Remote Learning due by May 30, 2020

On this Memorial Day, please remember the ultimate sacrifice of those men and women who gave their lives to protect and defend our country.

Good news for seniors,  if Q4 weeks 1,2,3 are complete than you have passed  THIS COURSE for the quarter.  Check Aspen or email me if you are unsure or have any questions about your grade.
The bad news, if you have not completed the work it must be done by Friday. or you will fail for the quarter.
In THIS elective class, but NOT ALL senior classes, 3 weeks of work must be completed for seniors to pass for the quarter. You can substitute this week's work for a missing previous week's work.
Just to be clear, 3 week's work may not be enough to pass ALL other  Senior classes. Check with your other teachers about work due for their courses. 

Q4W4 Work due by Friday for all Juniors or Seniors missing work.
I wanted you to watch the 60 Minutes interview with Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Unfortunately, it is on CBS All Access, so we will watch parts of it on other venues

 Watch the top takeaways from Fed Chairman Powell's interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCwxphhfR7Y
  1. How long is Powell's term as Chairman of the Fed, (he was appointed last year by President Trump)?
2.  Can he be fired by the President before his term expires?  Will Powell resign?
3. Why do you think the Chairman won't respond directly to the President's criticism?  President Trump wants the Federal Reserve to do more in this crisis.
4. List 3 of the biggest financial risks Powell identified facing the US during this COVID crisis.

Powell discussed income disparity in the US, the richest 50% of Americans control 90% of the wealth.
Which leaves 10% of the wealth for the poorest half of Americans. Watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI9IcSnaWyU
5. What does Powell say is the best way to increase productiviy and help end the dual problems of low social mobility for Americans, and stagnation of incomes.

Watch Powell discuss  the safety of American banks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3WOkqEh2sY

6. List two ways banks are stonger today than they were before the 2008 Financial Crisis.

Watch the 2017  Overtime segment and how Scott Pele views his interviews with two Fed Chairmen: former Chairman Ben Bernanke (2006-2014) and current Chairman Jerome Powell (2018-2022).
Not interviewed was the first female Chairperson, Janet Yellen (2014-2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrDvsyo5vcM

7.  Why do you think Ben Bernanke waited years before he told Pelle that the 2008 was the worst financial crisis in history?  What would have happened to the market if he let them know how he thought at the time?
8. What were the "Green Shoots" ($$) Bernanke describes. Describe the type of recovery under the Fed  during Bernake's term.
9.  Why have the Fed Chairmen hav become more transparent in their actions since the Great Recession?
10.  Why do you think the President is not allowed to replace the Chairman of the Fed whenever he chooses? What do you think would happen in the months before an election, an easy or a tight money policy?  Explain why you feel this way.

Q4 W3 Economics due by Friday, May 22, 2020

Honors complete 4 of 4,  CP1 complete 3 of 4

I.  Watch Mr. Clifford  Limitless:  booms and busts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7n_NuAZLq8
   1. How is the movie Limitless an allegory for the business cycle and the economy?
   2. Describe  the cause of the 2001 dot.com bubble?
   3. What caused the housing bubble of 2008?
   4. What two potential bubbles did Clifford identify in 2017?
   5. Former Chairman of the Fed, Alan Greenspan coined the term "irrational exuberence" to describe the dot.com bubble.  What do you think "irrational exuberence" means?


IL Fed Printing Money: Read the story for the USA Today about the Federal Reserve stimulus package
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/money/2020/05/12/coronavirushow-u-s-printing-dollars-save-economy-during-crisis-fed/3038117001/

  1. Where does the stimulus package come from?
  2. What percent of the national debt did the Fed have before the COVID crisis?  Who held much of the Federal debt?
  3. President Trump appointed the current Chairman of the Fed.  What is his name?
  4. What does Libertarian Ron Paul call this current action of the Federal Reserve?  Do you agree?
   5.  What national goals are the job of the Fed?  When should they limit their actions?
   6.   Some economists think the Fed action will cause inflation with this action, while other economists are more afraid of deflation caused by the high unemployment and recession.  Which do you think poses a bigger threat to the US right now:inflation or deflation?  Explain your answer.

III.    Read this Yahoo news story about deflation
 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/disinflation-the-next-big-economic-trend-morning-brief-100855635.html
   1. Why do some Fed Economists think there is little chance of deflation next year?

  Listen to this NPR interview with Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny  Perdue (son chicken entrepreneur, Frank Perdue)  about the impact of  coronavirus.
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/15/856594198/agriculture-department-to-fix-disruptions-in-nations-food-supply-chain
   2. Why doesn't he anticipate food shortages and higher prices next year even though the supply chain to the stores has been disrupted.

   3. After  reading this, has you opinion of whether the US will face inflationary or deflationary pressures next year changed?


IV.  Some might say the movie Limitless is riduculous and there is nothing like that today.
Read this story from the Associated Press out of Columbus, OH.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Caffeine bought online killed teen. But is Amazon at fault?

Andrew Welsh-Huggins
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Logan Stiner was just days from high school graduation when his brother found him unresponsive in their family’s home southwest of Cleveland in May 2014.
Stiner, 18, died of cardiac arrhythmia and seizure from acute caffeine toxicity, a coroner ruled. He had more than 70 micrograms of caffeine per milliliter of blood in his system —as much as 23 times the amount found in the system of a typical coffee or soda drinker.
What’s undisputed is that Stiner ingested powdered caffeine given to him by a friend who bought it on Amazon and was using it as a “pre-workout” boost.
The question is what, if any, liability Amazon had in Stiner’s death.
The Ohio Supreme Court plans Wednesday to hear arguments for and against a lawsuit brought by Stiner’s family arguing that the online retail giant, as the company that shipped the product, should be held responsible under Ohio product liability law. A decision isn’t expected for several weeks.
Attorneys for Stiner’s father say the company was not a “neutral platform” in the powder’s sale but promoted it, introduced it to Stiner’s friend as a customer and played an “indispensable role” in its sale.
“The idea that Amazon cannot be a ‘supplier’ because it did not physically touch or take title to the product at issue ignores both the manner in which e-commerce is conducted today and Amazon’s crucial role in recommending the deadly powder,” Brian Balser, a lawyer for Dennis Stiner, said in written arguments last year.
Lawyers for Amazon say the company doesn’t meet the definition of a supplier under Ohio law — ownership, control and hands-on actions with a product. They note that Stiner’s friend has testified she chose to click on the product she then bought.
“Amazon never touched the product, and third parties provided all of the website content and delivered the product directly to the purchaser,” Joyce Edelman, an attorney for Amazon, said in a December 2019 court filing.
In 2015, the governor at the time, Republican John Kasich, signed into law a bill inspired by Stiner’s death that banned the sale of pure powdered caffeine in Ohio.
Two lower courts ruled against Stiner’s family, and both the Ohio and U.S. chambers of commerce have urged the Ohio Supreme Court to uphold those decisions.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia is reviewing a lawsuit against Amazon brought by a Pennsylvania woman who was blinded in one eye after a retractable dog leash she bought snapped and hit her.
In that case, a three-judge panel ruled last year that Amazon could be sued over a defective product sold by one of its third-party vendors. That ruling was then vacated when the full court agreed to hear the case.
The Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers to avoid pure powdered caffeine. Even a teaspoon could be lethal. It is equivalent to about 25 cups of regular coffee, the FDA says.
In 2018, the FDA said supplements consisting of pure or highly concentrated caffeine in powder or liquid forms, often sold in bulk, are “generally unlawful” when sold directly to consumers.

Answer these two questions.
  1. Should Amazon be responsible when people die or lose eyes from legal products sold online?
  2. What protections, if  any, do you think the state or federal government should impose on retail establishments?
  3.  Bayer has lost billions in lawsuits against Roundup, an herbicide which causes cancer.  Do you think settlements against companies like Bayer, or hospitals or nursing homes with Covid should be limited?   Should there be a cap on the amount for settlements?  Explain your answer.


IV.    Read this Yahoo news story about deflation deflation
 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/disinflation-the-next-big-economic-trend-morning-brief-100855635.html
   1. Why do some Fed Economists think there is little chance of deflation next year?

  Listen to this NPR interview with Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny  Perdue (son chicken entrepreneur, Frank Perdue)  about the impact of  coronavirus.
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/15/856594198/agriculture-department-to-fix-disruptions-in-nations-food-supply-chain
   2. Why doesn't he anticipate food shortages and higher prices next year even though the supply chain to the stores has been disrupted.

Q4 W2 Economics virtual learning experiences

CP1 complete 3 of 4  (I,II,III,IV),  Honors complete 4 of 4

I. Watch Mr. Clifford's review of the Terminator movies on the government and the economy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud6TCYbBilE 

Answer the following questions

  1. Why are forced transactions bad for the economy?

  2. In our social contract why is important to respect property rights?

  3.  Where do hard core socialists want to take the social contract?

  4. What do Neo-liberals (Adam Smith is the original liberal) want the role of the government to only include?

  5. What do you think the best role of the government is?  Explain your answer.

II. The Washington Post  this week wrote: 

The sudden economic contraction has already forced millions of Americans to turn to food banks, seek government aid for the first time or stop paying rent and other bills. As they go without paychecks for weeks, some have also lost health insurance and even put their homes up for sale. There is a growing concern that the damage will be permanent as people fall out of the middle class and young people struggle to launch careers.

Click on the following story

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/08/april-2020-jobs-report/

  1. Read the story and in a few sentences tell me if your answer for #5  from the Terminator Movie review has changed.  Explain why or why not your answer for #5  changed or remained the same.

III.

Look at the 6 charts from the Boston Globe

Remember that since 1948 the  3 national goals for Macro-economic policy are:

            Growing GDP

            Price Stability

            Low Unemployment

Click on the story below:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/08/nation/six-charts-that-show-extent-economic-devastation-caused-by-coronavirus-pandemic/

1. -Bullet the 6 ways  the corona virus has impacted  the economy.
2. Identify which if any of the national goals are impacted next to your bulleted impacts

IV.  Watch Mr. Clifford's three minute take on the spending multiplier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg-0z5RWbAU

 1. Define MPC

 2. Define MPS

 3. Fill in the blank: The spending multiplier is 1 over the _________

 4.  The higher the spending multiplier the greater impact on the economy and the greater chance of inflation.  Do you think the recent Covid government  stimulus checks  have a greater or smaller multiplier effect on the economy?  Explain your opinion by looking at the MPC and MPS.

Q4 W1 outreach due May 10th

CP1 complete 3 of 4
Honors  complete 4 of 4
   I. Globalization and trade have brought many changes to the American economy.
  Watch Mr. Clifford's review of the Lion King and answer the questions that follow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eyQuNZVJGc#action=share

Answer 5 of the questions in complete sentences
1.  Define or give an example from the video of creative destruction. What happened to Blockbuster or Toys R Us?
2. Why do most economists think bailing out failing businesses by the government is not good policy?
3. Complete the statement and answer the question:
    Free enterprise capitalism creates winners and __________________.
    What do the losers often want the government to do for them?
4.  Simba learned if he just focused on the past what did he miss? What is the lesson from the movie?
5.  How best should we prepare for the future? Should we focus on the impact of how globalization and trade took American factory jobs?  Or should we do something else?
6. What did you think of Clifford's movie review? Why did you like it or dislike it?

II. Read the Boston Globe Story: How will coronavirus change the way we shop
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/04/26/business/how-will-coronavirus-change-way-we-shop/

1. Bullet 5 of the 10 changes that the Globe story predicts will occur after the Covid 19 lockdown lifts.
2. Think about Clifford's points on winners and losers being part of capitallism.  Do you think the government should step in to save malls?  Explain your answer.


III.  Listen to the Washington Post Podcast the History of American antipathy toward tmask or read the story below
shttps://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/the-history-of-american-antipathy-toward-masks/

The story is identifed by the Post with the question: Will Americans wear masks to prevent coronavirus spread?  The link to the story is below
Politics, history, race and crime factor into tough decisions.

1.Bullet 3 facts from the video or the reading.
2. How  do Red State Republicans/Libertarians tend to differ in their view of masks to Blue State                    Democrats?
3. Why do many African Americans avoid wearing masks? Do you sympathize with their dilemma?
 4.  Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader called Covid 19 a Blue State problem (big cities),  Do             you agree or disagree with him based on this podcast?


 IV.  Watch the Washington Post video on the Novel Corona Virus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/health-science/the-novel-coronavirus-is-a-master-of-disguise-heres-how-it-works/2020/05/01/70b98db0-ca93-4dfc-859d-3ac026cf6d1b_video.html?itid=hp_hp-banner-main_virusvideo-615pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans

1. Describe human relationships with virus in the past.  How did virus help to make us?
2. What is SARS,  and MERS? Where did they originate?
3.  When Covid 19 is called  zoonotic, what does that mean?
4.  Why is it good news that Covid 19 is not mutating quickly?
5.  Is knowing about the causes of Covid 19 more or less comforting to you?  Explain your answer.