He's still a doctor

okay...this will be a short update because I'm on my iPod in the library so I can only stand this little keyboard for so long. This is basically another Edition of "Word to the Wise."

First:

If you don't undestand the material, it's not that the professor is dumb. Last time I checked, he has a doctor before his name and you do not. If you actually take some time to read BEFORE (gasp) class... I promise it will help you. It also doesn't hurt to put your phone up during class. Texting your BFF and telling them how hard the class is or telling them about the hottie next to you will NOT improve your comprhension of the material (go figure).

Second:

Damn I forgot #2 because it took so long to punch in #1. Maybe I'll remember later.

Why is this not Surprising

Record 2009 deficit - White House
White House blames economic slowdown and stimulus payments to 130 million households as budget deficit headed to nearly half-trillion dollars.

The next president will inherit a record budget deficit of $482 billion, according to a new Bush administration estimate released Monday.

Read More...

Why is this not surprsing? Who would have thought....

Let's start with a deficit (Spending>Tax Revenue).

There's two real ways to fix this:
1)Reduce Spending
2)Raise Taxes

Pretty common sense right? Obviously not. What does the Government do?

1)Increase spending (Sending out all those rebate checks? Oh, praise them now for all that extra money. All they did was print those checks, not actually generate any funds to pay for it. Why do you think inflation is so high?)

2)Lower taxes. This is their backward attempt to fix the economy. Let's raise LESS money. It worked with Reagan in the 1980's with the Laffer Curve, but obviously if you hit that key tax rate that generates a lot of tax revenue... STOP LOWERING TAXES!

So kids, what have we learned today? If you're in debt, keep spending and quit your job! The government thinks it will work.

Price Stickiness & Menu Prices

Now I'll actually start my first relevant post about Economics and why it actually does matter to EVERYONE! Below is an example of Price Stickiness and Menu Prices. When the Price Level rises (inflation), sometimes it is just too expensive to change your prices. How to solve that problem? Look no further:




Read more:

http://consumerist.com/5027023/how-would-you-like-your-inflation-served




I did send this to Greg Mankiw in an attempt to have it posted to his blog. We'll see how that goes.

Reality Check

So, this is going to be a quick, short post. I'm in the Student Center eating lunch and there is an Orientation Student across the floor talking about how much of a "bad ass" (my interpretation) he is because he told the BearkatOne office that he was not going to smile. Here's news for all people, regardless of age/classification.

1)Don't piss off people who control the disbursement of your refunds.
2)Don't piss off people who are trying to help you

Look, let's settle things once and for all. You're not better than the student worker taking your picture. You are one of 3000 students that hasn't even started college yet. It doesn't matter how bad ass you were in High school, you're not nearly at that level here. The safest thing to do is adapt to your surroundings that way you don't piss off the school. Simple as that.

(Reality) Check please?

Word to the Wise

Well, today was a productive Economics-filled day. I received the results from my Macrotest today and it was an A. I made the second highest grade, but still not a 100. Oh well, maybe next time.

I overheard some girls behind me in Labor Economics complaining about how hard college is (who would have thought), so here's a word to the wise:

For future students:
Do not take the "easy teacher." I know this sounds like the opposite of all the logic that other collegiate friends, may tell you, but trust me. Too many times people search RateMyProfessor and MySpace Ratings searching for the easiest A possible. Here's the problem with that approach:

You normally learn squat from the "easy A teacher." And when you get into your 400-level Capstone class (google it if you don't know what that means), you will wish you had learned the material earlier.

Trust me, I'm guilty of taking the "easy teachers," but I refuse to take courses from said teachers for anything in my majors because of the fact that I want to learn something.

You are in college to LEARN, not to get out of class early. You are in college to gain EXPERIENCE, not text through the entire class. You are in college to CHALLENGE yourself, not hunt for the easiest professor. Finally, you are in college to EXCEL, not to scoot out with a 'D.' D is not for Diploma, it's for "Damn, I just wasted $40,000." Your job is not going to be easy when you graduate. It's not going to be filled with bosses who let you leave early everyday, but still pay you the same as others who work twice as hard. It's not going to be filled with bosses who allow you to do mediocre work and expect a pay check.

Your job is going to expect you to have:
LEARNED from college
EXPERIENCED different values & ideologies
CHALLENGED yourself to out perform others
EXCELED at your projects.

Soap box has been pushed back in the closet.