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-HugginsCOLUMBUS, 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.
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