friday1econlive

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Working Out vs. Not Working Out

By: Joan(Jojo) Tu

ID: 48781797

As a result of the pandemic, I gained double the weight I gained from what most first year college students call “freshman 15”, except for me it was “freshman 12”. I still look generally the same but the weight gain has definitely lowered my self-esteem and motivation to improve and build good habits. I stopped taking pictures, doing things I used to enjoy, maintaining a social life, and attending my classes to sleep all day. This led to me failing my O-Chem class and getting stressed about whether or not I should switch majors. At that point, I felt like I was just trying to convince myself that I am passionate about pursuing optometry and interested in science, but my actions weren't reflecting it. The rigor of being in BioSci was too much for me to handle in the current state that I was in; it wasn’t worth trading-off my mental stability. So, I looked into alternative major/minor routes that were less rigorous and would allow me some time to figure out what actually interests me and some more time to work on my mental and physical health. This is why I decided to switch to Public Health with a minor in Accounting, because financial literacy is important to creating wealth, and the idea of stocks and trading have recently been intriguing me.

Now that I had more of a balance between school and personal life, I should have been able to work on myself beginning with getting back in shape. I knew that tackling one problem at a time would inspire me to tackle the next problem and eventually resolve all my problems. However, even with this manageable workload, I still found myself doing the same things as I was doing before. I kept trying to work on so many things at once that I shut down and didn't accomplish anything. I really wanted to get in shape but now, I was contemplating the opportunity costs of working out or just accepting myself for how I look now and get on with the other goals I have in mind. Below is a table of the opportunity costs/pros and cons of my dilemma:

There are many more opportunity costs and trade-offs involved with the decision to work out, but the ones presented are a summary. Based on those opportunity costs, the most rational decision to make is to work out since it will benefit me in the long-run as it is a part of building a strong foundation to accomplish other things in life. Working out will teach me endurance, discipline, and time management, all of which leads to a better mindset. I can build this habit by reminding myself that I have to suffer before I can yield results and even if I have to start with just walking everyday, I should do it and stop making excuses for myself. In addition, I have to remind myself that it is okay that I’ve gained weight and I am still pretty even during the process of getting fit again.

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Supply and Demand of Sneakers

Ryan Kennedy (17359160)

As a person who loves because of the various colors and creative style. It has been a very tough time for me to get a pair myself. I wonder why that is? So I'm going to be looking at the economics of sneakers and how they affect supply and demand. Fashion Trends are a sense of art that is uses in the modern era to show your creativity and as well to be notice. Sneakers area big trend in the modern era as well as in the pop culture world. The reason is the vast majority of people making these sneakers so much publicity love through social media, branding an etc. that shoes build a following. In doing so , making these sneakers as a trend makes the value increase drastically and peoples love of buying sneakers regardless of the quality of the shoe. Also with the help of certain sponsorships of artist and rappers the popularity of sneakers only further increases which helps makes these brands of sneakers more profit. Especially in a pandemic during covid -19, life makes it so much more difficult of trying to get your hands on a pair, the consumer will still find away to get the newest hottest shoe coming out.

Sneaker shopping is a culture of style and bragging rights as well as for playing sports of course and it seems every one now and days is trying to get here hands on that new shoe(good). Before, you could go in your local sports store at the nearest mall hold, touch, even smell a shoe or even stand in line of a shoe that you were waiting to get at a retail price of $100.When it comes to these high end sneakers now and days that are released every month, only a limited amount are released which can be a hassle fore consumers because currently they have to purchase only online which shoes very competitive when shopping. This creates a rarity or like I stated before the value to increase which leads to a shortage for the market of these sneakers as there are a higher demand for consumers that want to purchase than their are certain shoe brands able supply for tthe consumer to buy. Overall leaves people without the shoe and to find an alternative/substitute because of there such high demand.

This the graph or market of the sneakers at retail stores when there isn't enough to the public and there's still a high demand because of a limited amount made which creates shortage. Which leads them to be not at equilibrium point where the supplier can still supply sneakers and the consumers can still demand sneakers

The alternative however are resellers and reselling sneaker websites that somehow are able to get their hands on these sneakers for the retail price in large quantity amounts. Therefore because its a business they charge way higher price for the sneakers because they know the public wants the shoe due to popularity which. Its so effortless to control the price of the market is because they are not in perfect competition with anyone else as these resellers are now the only one with the new product which is the shoe which means they can control the price because of the value. Even though people were in such high demand for the certain sneaker that they long awaited to get their hands on, paying an extra couple hundred dollars doesn't quite sound so appealing. In doing so, cause movement along the demand curve upwards and actually makes the quantity in the sneaker reselling market to decrease because peoples willingness to pay will most likely is lower.

The is the movement along the demand curve of market for a reselling of a sneaker with higher prices and the quantity gets smaller.

On the right Retail Price of This specifically between $170-$195and on the left is the new resell price from from the resell sneaker website or roughly $400+

Also due to the pandemic, it changed and ruined the economy and for family as there were more lost of jobs and income . Furthermore, Large masses of the population cannot purchase a pair which ultimately affects the businesses of these popular sneakers retail or at resell prices, turning this product into a normal good as income falls there demand falls. The demand curve will shift down or rather shift to left a little bit. In doing so creates a slightly lower price and smaller quantity in the market than usual.

This what happens to market of sneakers as a whole when there's a factor I why people cant by sneakers anymore shift the demand curves to the left just a little bit. Therefore slightly decreases quantity to a new quantity as well as price to a new price.

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Pandemics and Planes (Friday 1:00-1:50) Audrey Tai 43991082  Iantha Khan 77482331 Amber Huynh 83158360 Jareice Graham 42411665 Resources: https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/7767/business/airline-price-discrimination /https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-02-05/how-airlines-and-travelers-can-benefit-from-flexible-tickets

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Opportunity Cost of My Weekend Routine

Alexander Huynh, ahuynh14@uci.edu, ID#19138064

Honestly, ever since the pandemic has started, nothing significant has changed in terms of habits and hobbies at home. I rarely go out and hang with my friends on occasions, nor am I active in other activities. Since we’re near the end of the Winter Quarter, there are a lot of options I could have done that may have impacted me differently, whether it be beneficial or detrimental. Thus, it includes my typical day on the weekends since it’s the time to worry less about school (for the most part). On my weekends, a typical day would start like this:

Events:

10:00 am: I wake up and check my emails and assignments due for the week and eat later.

12:00 pm: I would join discord with my friends and play games with them all day, with small breaks every hour to watch anime or YouTube videos.

3:00 pm: I would have lunch and relax for an hour, then back to gaming.

6:00 pm: I would start studying and make progress on my assignments, turn them in.

8:00 pm: I would cook dinner for myself.

11:59 pm: I have movie nights with my friends where we would watch the movies on Disney +.

Although these are the things that I decided to do, I would miss out on an opportunity to do a different activity, along with its advantages and disadvantages. This is where Opportunity Costs play a role in my life. With each time of the day, there are different options that may provide me with better opportunities and advantages for my goals and well-being. Here are some of the opportunities I would have to take into consideration:

Opportunity Costs:

10:00 am: I wake up and make breakfast if I’m really hungry.

12:00 pm: Start studying and read materials for all my classes.

3:00 pm: By contrast, I could stop gaming and continue studying for my Microeconomic assignments and eat lunch.

6:00 pm: Take a nap or break from my studies and workout.

8:00 pm: Eat some healthy snacks and get back to studying or submitting assignments on time.*

11:59 pm: As an alternative, I would look at my emails and plan out for next week’s assignments and sleep early.

Overall, since my activities are done in a timely manner, my opportunity costs are based on how I spend my time throughout the day at home. With these events and activities, there are few opportunities that I should take advantage of depending on my goals. In regards to Covid-19, my activities at home would be well off if I were to change most of my options and habits during the weekends to achieve my goals for this quarter. Instead of taking this day as a break from classes, I should consider the options I have for the quarter and further improve my time management skills.

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Supply, Demand, and Externalities of Face Masks

Alexander Lopez

Student ID: 72488467

ECON 20A

Over the past year, Covid has had profound effects on the way people live their lives. For many people, behavior and interactions have changed as a result, among a variety of other differences they face in their individual lives, including my own. Every time I need to go outside to the store or to some public area, I make it a habit to wear a face mask for the protection of myself and those around me. It is apparent though, that people are not the only ones suffering from the effects of the pandemic, market and business operations too have changed just as much as we have.

For example: the market for face masks. Face masks have received a lot of attention especially in the past year because of the virus outbreak and their demand has largely increased due to peoples’ expectations for the future and efforts to prevent the further spread of the virus. This demand surge has caused an increase in the price for face masks, making it more costly for the public and healthcare workers to obtain them.

Some companies, like Ford, H&M, General Motors, Razers, and many others, have rearranged portions of their supply chains to producing face masks. These efforts paired with the arrival of new sellers to the market has helped to increase the supply of face masks to the public and to healthcare workers and to help return the price to a normal state relative to what it used to be.

Although this may be the case for some companies, some third party vendors have increased the price of their masks to take advantage. Governments and companies have responded to price markups from these vendors by placing price ceilings on the sale of face masks to counteract this, which also has a partial contribution to the shortage in masks we have seen at the earlier months the pandemic.

The production and use of these face masks overall have a positive benefit to society, but there have recently been some negative externalities of face masks that are apparent as well, especially face masks that are single use. The negative externality of the production and use of these face masks is the damage they cause to the environment, as face masks are taking up larger portions of landfills and being tossed out, as they can be seen on the floor in public areas, especially beaches. In the Philippines, for example, a huge amount of face masks is washing up on shore and littering the coral reefs. This has detrimentally impacted both the marine wildlife and those that depend on the coastal environments as a resource, who have nothing to do with private transactions in the market of face masks.

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Effects of Lower Pollution Levels Due to Covid-19

Jamie Chen - ID: 10581971

Cristian Manzon - ID: 91485170

Karen La - ID: 86511641

Jhanavi Jupudi - ID: 55488301

How the pandemic reduced pollution

With the emergence of Covid-19 and global lockdown measures aimed at containment, transportation activity decreased tremendously as nonessential travel became less frequent. As a result, there was a significant reduction in transportation sector emissions from motor vehicles, railroads, and airlines.

*As an added benefit, the government could spend less time and money on implementing regulations or setting taxes to deal with congested roads.

Furthermore, the forced closure of many businesses from the lockdown order led to a reduction in activity by major contributors to air pollution such as factories.

*Here is a comparison of the air pollution levels before vs at the start of the global pandemic.

Image source: https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/air-pollution-drops-across-the-globe-amid-covid-19-pandemic-data-suggests

Effects on the general public/environment

We will be able to gain better access to important common resources such as clean air and clean water. We will also be at lower risk for less health problems such as heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory diseases. Moreover, the non-human animals will have better living environments, and there will be a smaller likelihood of increased species endangerment. Thus, obtaining clean air and water will be beneficial for us and to the environment.

Effects on agriculture

Before the pandemic, high levels of air pollution damaged the yield of food crops. During the pandemic, the result of the reduction in transportation activity improved soil fertility, leading to the growth of crops like wheat, rice, and maize because of cleaner air. Simultaneously, however, the restrictions in the transportation of goods as well as the migration of labor caused severe disruptions in livestock production, slowing the delivery of agricultural inputs to markets. This could have negative effects on the quality and freshness of food that we receive as consumers.

Effects on the economy

With the decrease in air pollution, there was less need to allocate global funds into efforts to prevent pollution. As a result, governments could allocate the money towards emergency aid for the pandemic or citizens struggling during these times. For example, we received stimulus checks that helped boost the economy and affected everyone in a positive way. Those struggling received a good amount of money, and they were able to apply it to whatever help they need, whether it's food, bills, or technology to improve their lifestyle. Additionally, the food sector was affected by the decrease in pollution because as energy price declined, it lowered the prices for feedstock crops. Overall, this led to an increased supply and a lower cost for crops because of decreased input costs. This was crucial in the time we are in because some people received job losses or wage cuts.

What will happen after the pandemic is over? (our conclusion)

As businesses slowly start to back up and people resume their day to day activities, comparisons will be made between low pollution levels at the beginning of the pandemic and the rising pollution levels as things get back to “normal”. Hopefully, people will take more precautions to reduce waste as well as promote cleanliness in order to prevent another global issue.

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Changing Demand

Name: Vicki Bui

ID: 86807461

I was always frugal with money. In fact, one of my closest friends once said that she likes shopping with me because I don't allow her to spend money on pointless things. I keep track of most of my expenses. The only exceptions are groceries, gas, and required school supplies, since those are purchases I wouldn't like to stress over, and because I never overspend in those areas (according to the 50-20-30 rule). Before I turned 18, I relied heavily on my parents for disposable income. My family doesn't have much money, so I limited spending to an average of $100 a month, excluding groceries. At the start of quarantine, I wasn't really going out that much, so I was spending way less money. My parents also weren't working as much, so I couldn't feel good spending as much money as I normally would. With income being a shifter of demand, my demand decreased when income decreased. Below is a list of transactions, although I blurred out the descriptions and only kept dates and prices. You can see the huge difference between spending before and during quarantine. 

After I turned 18 in August, most of my spending came from my own money, which consisted of cash savings from either holidays or, ironically, my parents. About a month after I turned 18, I also got my own bank account in order to accept financial aid money from UCI. Getting a debit card made spending much easier, since beforehand, I gave exact change down to the penny. In November of last year, I got a job at a clothing store, which meant that my monthly income went from $0 to 3 figures, and my monthly budget went from $100 of my parents' money to around $150 of my own money, which I calculated using the 50-20-30 rule. Side note: much of my financial knowledge comes from Tik Tok, it's suuperrr helpful. I would also recommend The Financial Diet on YouTube for budgeting advice. I have gone slightly above that limit, but that's okay because it's good for the economy. Below is a list of purchases from January and February of this year (ignore that $300 purchase, I needed a new phone). As you can see, after an increase in income, my demand increased as well. 

COVID business policies have definitely affected both demand and supply at the store I work at. We get our inventory when people come in to sell their clothes, but until recently, we only accepted clothes inside reusable bags, and did not accept trash bags or no container. That limited the amount of clothes we could look through to buy, decreasing supply. We only started accepting all sorts of bags and containers in order to increase inventory. Furthermore, dressing rooms are closed. Without knowing how the clothes will fit, more customers are hesitant to make purchases, which decreases demand.

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Supply and Demand at Starbucks

(Saul Ocampo ID#: 22404045 saulo1@uci.edu)

I have been working for Starbucks as a supervisor for almost three years now and I have noticed a pattern that affects how our sales turn out at the end of every day. With every seasonal launch, Starbucks loves to bring out new drinks, food, and merchandise. However they always fall short by not being able to provide each store with enough supplies and product. What has been affecting our stores in our recent launches is that our distributors are not able to keep up with producing the supply we need. The most recent example of this would the Spring Launch which happened on March 2, 2021. The most popular items were the Brown Sugar Oat Milk Shaken Espresso and the Chocolate Almond Milk Shaken Espresso. 

Brown Sugar Oat Milk Shaken Espresso 

Chocolate Almond Milk Shaken Espresso

The main component for these drinks is Blonde Espresso and another primary component is the Oat Milk. The first week all stores ran out of Oat Milk on the second or third day of launch, now this week all stores ran out of blonde espresso. 

Not only did we get unsatisfied customers, but we also lost a lot in sales because we were not able to make these drinks when they were on such high demand. What Starbucks began to do in order to support our stores and business needs, they are allowing us to order Oat Milk form our distributors every day instead of every week. To help with the shortage of Blonde Espresso, the company began to find alternatives based on the supply for each store. This scenario is an example of supply and demand at my work during COVID-19 times, as we continue to get shorted product by our distributors. This has caused us to also spend more money on trying to obtain the product from retail stores which have higher prices. Therefore these impacts are really making the profit cost decrease while the unit price remains the same. While every customer waiting in line is excited to try our new drinks, we have been having to tell them that we are out.

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Life On Hold: My Twenties in a Pandemic

Nergis Mahajar

Student ID: 16794247

Econ 20A

Friday 1pm 

Throughout my teen years, I had always heard that “your twenties are for experiences”. People that I have looked up to were always sharing stories from their youth, and the best ones were always in their early twenties. Whether it be a travel experience of meeting new people and being introduced to new cultures, an internship to an admired person which offered years worth of insight into their future, what my older sister addresses as a first serious “big girl” job which was the beginning of a career that she fell in love with, or even a crazy story or two to share with my grandchildren someday; the theme was one and it was clear: that my twenties were for enrichment, and they would be the best years of my life. 

To say that the reality was underwhelming, would be quite the understatement.  For reality is often not what we expect is to be; and if learning Microeconomics in this pandemic has taught me anything, it is that no matter how much we plan for things and how many expectations we set, the world will simply do what it wants to and there is nothing we can do to stop it.  A perfect example would be the sudden increase in demand for GameStop Stock which led to one of the most significant downturns in the history of the stock market; all the evidence was leading to that the GameStop stock had become worthless, and yet something so random as a Reddit meme page motivated thousands of millennials to buy and hold the stock, raising its value almost instantaneously.  Witnessing that happen, was a great reminder that even when there are set laws of nature, or of a free market in this case, that rule our expectations about events, no certain outcome is ever guaranteed.  Though I must confess, I did take pleasure in witnessing the people be heard and move against the odds of this capitalist economy.  

My point is that even while knowing that things would not go as expected, I was still overrun with disappointment when I had my twentieth birthday alone, in isolation, entering the “best era” of my life away from all of my friends and loved ones.  I realize that I might be sounding like a bit of a pessimist right about now, but I promise you; I am a rather optimistic person.  I am the “happy friend” whose color is yellow and greatest dreams include helping others.  Of course, worse things have happened than being alone on one’s birthday, but this assignment is to share my own experience and my twentieth birthday is where it began.  Aside from all the fun and travel which was gladly sacrificed for health and safety; my main hope this year was to get a job.  To say the least, job hunting was difficult.  This pandemic had led to one of the highest rates of unemployment in the US since the Great Depression. 

 In addition to that, I had no prior job experience.  I was trained for nothing, and though I still applied to as many jobs as I found myself interested in, I didn’t even get so much as a call back from any of the companies.  This disheartened me, especially since I viewed it as failure as a result of incompetence on my part, not as a failure that traced back to the unfortunate circumstances.  After all, that is what our capitalistic society teaches us at a very young age.  Though we are taught that we are simply powerless at the mercy of the “invisible hand” of a free market economy, simply price takers, average people that think at the margin and move in predictable ways, we are simultaneously told that we are unique individuals who are responsible for their own fate. We are taught to follow the rules and adhere to a system that limits our potential when we are different, yet told to use our individuality in competing to get to the top.  

I did not get a job, I did not travel, I did not spend enough time with my loved ones.  The opportunity cost of my safety as well as the safety and well-being of others was the experiences that I would have lived through, had everything been well.  I realize that my story is not unique when it comes to this, for we are all paying that cost for safety in some ways.  Taking this class during this time, however, did give me some insight into the forces that control the economy, lending me a more informed perspective on the events that affected us all, like the downturn of the stock market, the economic disparities between different social groups, and the rise of unemployment. Had I not understood the imbalance of the forces of supply and demand in the market for labor leading to the high unemployment rate, perhaps the job hunt would have been a more dispiriting experience. 

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Opportunity Cost of Visiting Friends in San Diego

Daven Gomez

62912072

I grew up as a military kid and often moved around a lot. I always saw friends come and go. As a result, I had friends all over the place. A lot of them ended up moving to San Diego as there’s a major navy base there. I try to visit them every once in a while as a day trip just to relax and spend time with some old friends.

The biggest costs would be time and money. Last time I took a trip down to San Diego, I usually drive a total of about 3-4 hours. I spend about 10 hours there, and end up being back home around 2am. I ended up using a half tank of gas which cost me about $25 and spent around $30 on food, boba, etc. I usually get a haircut down there from one of my friends which I pay my friend $20 for. My total expenses often vary depending on what we do that day, but I usually spend about $65 for a trip down there and spend about 14 hours of my day on this trip. 

As a college student and also being on the quarter system, time is valuable. Being an engineering major, I spend a lot of my time throughout the week working on assignments or studying. However, I make time to go out. Maybe a little bit too much time, but I always try to prioritize my school work whenever possible. As a big slacker, this 14 hours could be put to better use such as catching up on assignments, studying for midterms, or even getting ahead so I can have more time to slack off. 

Being unemployed at the moment and relying mainly on the money I saved up from working a summer job, I have to be aware of how much I’m spending. I could be saving up that $65 and using that for other things. This means more boba runs, more money to use when eating out, and more money set aside for if I want to go shopping. 

Money isn’t too much of an issue to me, however I believe that time is a big thing to think about. Going down to San Diego is a bit of commitment and would effectively mean losing a whole day to do work. There are other factors that may pose additional risks such as the dangers of driving and additional stress put on my old car which may result in more money and time needed to upkeep my car.

Another big thing to consider is my haircut that I previously mentioned. I’m loyal to my barber. My friend’s been cutting me up for about 2 years now. He’s been my barber in high school and ever since we both went off to college this year, I always wait until I go to San Diego to get a haircut. Not going to San Diego means my hair gets longer. Getting a fresh cut from my friend feels good. In fact, if we do a cost-benefit analysis, getting a haircut from my friend yields more benefit than going to a simple barber shop. I get to spend quality time with a close friend and get a well needed haircut. If I try a barber shop in Irvine, I’d feel guilty going to someone else and would take some time to build a connection with another barber.. Being able to get a haircut and also spend quality time with some friends is an added bonus.

At the end of the day, the time spent can be used in two ways. It could be used for productivity or leisure. I believe that the time I’ll be spending to meet up with old friends is much more worth it than spending a day studying. I only do these trips on the weekends, so most of the time my assignments are already completed and all I really have to do is spend extra time studying. That can always be put off since it’s the weekend. I often find myself being stressed out a lot throughout the week due to taking tough classes, so having the time to just get away from the thought of school and have a good time is beneficial to my mental health. I also only see these people only a few times, so spending the time to make memories with close friends and be happy is priceless compared to spending one day to stay back in Irvine to study. The opportunity cost of going to San Diego is insignificant to the benefit I receive. This makes going down to San Diego a worthwhile experience for me. 

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3 Principles of Economics that Tether with my Daily Life during COVID-19

Name: Yusef Mohammed Angar

ID #: 17458780

A concept map (a text-heavy one!) that is meant to be informative while introducing essential economic principles in relation to my quotidian life. NOTE: These are merely examples of transactions that I have encountered in recent memory, and there are certainly a plethora of other instances that correlate to the 3 economic principles of People facing trade-offs, Trade can make everyone better off, and The cost of something is what you give up to get it. Because there are legibility issues, I will transcribe whatever text is included on each of these individual pages.

While there are impertinent concepts mentioned near the title, including Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), Supply/Demand and Equilibrium, and productivity’s relation to standard of living, it is intended to function as a Segway toward Economics. However, Consumer and Producer Surplus play minor roles in what will be discussed shortly. The hills are representative of Standard Deviation curves, and the “Toll” sign implicitly mentions the opportunity cost of following the “Principle 2 : The Cost of something is what you give up to get it″ route relative to the other route that is primarily about “Principles 1 : People face trade-offs and 5 : Trade can make everyone better.” The individual at the bottom (an animated version of myself) states that “Man, now I want to barter the item that I originally strived to purchase!” This is indicative of the business cycle, and its never-ending existence within the realm of economics; the arrows in between the routes illustrate this trend. In other words, I won’t be satisfied in the long-run, as the likelihood of using whatever I purchase might eventually fade, and would therefore want to trade with somebody else.

Transcription: (Top Left): “START: Once the eve of the pandemic ensued, I was contemplating on how to reorient my free time; thus, I decided to pull off a beneficial transaction among myself and my sister. The Nintendo Switch, a revolutionary handheld/hybrid console that has been engineered and endearingly crafted by Nintendo’s illustrious team, appealed to my desperate disposition...

Image description: “STOP” sign includes a Nintendo logo on top of it, which also accompanies a Nintendo Switch to the right of it. There are two flags, each attached to the left and right of the STOP sign, and they both indicate that the date is “March 2020.”

(Top center/Blue Stripes): “It was then that I tempted my sister into a deal regarding her console; however, due to the Switch’s market price being sold at $300 (with used variants selling at slightly lower prices), I certainly casted doubts on resonating alongside conventional wisdom. What I did, however, required an iota of guile...”

Image Description: Green arrow pointing along a pathway that mentions how “THE ROAD STARTS HERE!”, and a sign that states how there is “ONE WAY ONLY! DECIDE!” This therefore demonstrates a sentiment that I must be assured of; that I did want to purchase the Switch, and it was a definitive decision that I made over the course of a few months. Some supplemental additions include Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Pokémon insignias across the road, and then an arrow pointing directly to the next section.

(Center/Brown): “PLAN: Because my willingness to pay was ~ $110 (for a 2-year old Switch), it did not appear to be probable. There is a caveat; because employment opportunities were scant in the economic workspace, making money by means of toil was narrowed down to a shadow of its past self....”

Image Description: This sector was intentionally set within an area of construction, which reciprocates with building my way toward a successful barter with my sister. A blue arrow then points directly into the blue section, which is what will be transcribed in the bottom left. A sign above the blue portion of text echoes apportionment from self-elation, and how the “SPEED LIMIT = 15 mph. DON’T GET TOO EXCITED!” If I were to exceed this imaginary speed limit, then my assurance of safety would be tarnished, much like how the deal would get steamrolled! 

(Bottom Left/Blue): “My sister was not too dilatory per se, but mused on having to deposit her Switch in return for an opportunity that was of a paucity. Because she originally received it as a gift, there was no “cost of production” to consider.”

(Bottom right/Pink): “Per contra, there was a trade-off, one of the Ten Principles of Economics; because of the miniscule time she invested into her Switch, she eventually accepted $100! A casualty of this deal was a consumer surplus of $10 for me (alongside the Switch of course) and my sister receiving $100.”

Image Description: On the middle of the road, there is a “SIDE NOTE” that conspicuously conveys the following: “A positive externality for Nintendo, the pandemic caused a surge in sales experienced since March 2020.” Even though Nintendo’s flagship console was successful prior, it convincingly prolonged its success, and therefore led to stores having low stocks available. There is also font directly above the Pink section, which iterates as follows: “FROM then ON, I was able to utilize my... (traverses toward the right) FREE TIME fruitfully.” The ellipsis mirrors the conservative approach that is tacitly required during this trade-off, and how my composure has to prevail over internal apprehension (that is, whether or not the deal would triumph).

(Purple section): (font near “CONCLUSION” sign) “Because the Switch’s stock would continuously plummet, my incentive on purchasing a Switch from my sister became grander. (Speech bubble above CONCLUSION): “This mutually forged bridge between me and my sister’s economic wavelength permitted this trade to transpire, and thus left everyone better off.”

Image Description: There is an “OPPORTUNITY COST: REDUCED TOLL + TIME” sign to issue how there was time used in reading this section, alongside a more diminutive toll relative to the “TOLL” sign on the first/front page. There is also a blue-striped arrow attached to the pole of this sign, which essays to make clear that there is a “LONG WAY AHEAD! JUST 10 MONTHS LATER...” This is mentioning the date set for the following example concerning opportunity cost, and how that event occurred in January of 2021. Within the vicinity of the arrow, a “CONCLUSION” sign is slotted, which mimics the “everyone better off” conjecture (both me and my sister smiling, hence Principle 5′s significance in this interchange of commodities and money). 

Next Page:

(Top left/Orange Stripes): “JANUARY 2021: As my assortment of Switch titles implacably amplified, I faced a difficult transaction that I was willing to take. Should I get Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, or CELESTE!?!?”

Image Description: The arrows moving counterclockwise (the small black arrows moving in the orange-striped locus) function as an extrapolation of the business cycle, which was already mentioned beforehand. The animated version of myself surfaces an imperative query regarding this juxtaposition, and rose the “COSTS & BENEFITS” paradigm into full prominence. 

(COMPARISON): “Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove: PROS: Contains a multitude of titles that grace the timeless tropes of Shovel Knight, which includes: 

1) Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope *The only multiplayer game in this bundle*

2) Plague of Shadows

3) Showdown

4) Specter of Torment

5) King of Cards

CONS: COSTS $40, which fails to match my willingness to pay of ~$20 (that might be setting a relatively quixotic bar when it comes to spending, but the Nintendo eShop intermittently includes surprising deals!). 

“CELESTE: PROS: A platforming title that integrates storytelling alongside interstellar game mechanics and charming visuals --> received a 92/100 on Metacritic, and is only $20!

CONS: Unfamiliarity with developers’ previous works and only supports Single-Player Mode.

(RED-STRIPED SPEECH BUBBLE next to Shovel Knight’s enumeration): :HAS RECEIVED A 91/100 on Metacritic, hence classifying its “universal acclaim” tag.

(Bottom Left/Purple Section): “VERDICT: While both titles certainly garner captivating qualities, the opportunity cost definitely binds my decision even more! Whichever game I choose, it will likely itch my excitement and would startle it with authentic thrills; however, my cross-examination led to an intermediary decision that exploits both sets of pros simultaneously. It turns out that Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope is sold separately (move toward bottom right) and costs $15. The opportunity cost of not getting Celeste... (move to the right of the street, but below Shovel Knight’s list) and the other games bundled with Treasure Trove is still intact, but my salience instantly shifted toward Shovel of Hope.”

Image Description: Toward the bottom left and above the “VERDICT/purple section”, the “FINAL DECISION ERODED opportunity cost from my perspective” was engraved on the street heading toward the other page. The severity of one’s opportunity cost is highly dependent on one’s salience, and because I donned a negligent disposition on Celeste and the other titles listed in Treasure Trove (for now at least), my opportunity cost did not prove to be too costly. Additionally, a byproduct of this road map on purchasing Shovel of Hope meant that I wielded a consumer surplus of $5. 

Image Description: The red-striped bubble next to the Shovel Knight title meanders within the circumference of ulterior considerations, and how “I initially thought that Yacht Club Games, the developer of this title, attempted on tying Shovel of Hope with the other games.” This postulation was effectively debunked once I realized that 1) Yacht Club Games is an Indie developer, meaning their stronghold in the video game industry is miniscule; this therefore means that oligopolistic/monopolistic practices are truly improbable. As was previously stated, this was an ulterior thought, and was an economic observation that I deciphered. 

Stylistic Choice: Why did I construct a concept map that anyone can get easily lost in once they indulge themselves into reading it? This is due to the parochial vision that one asserts when committing economically-oriented decisions, and how there are implicit corollaries to account for when taking such risks. It is easy to get lost in excitement and foreseeing a favorable resultant, yet it is tumultuous to maintain a realistic perception of what might transpire. My sister could have easily rejected my offer if the climate was wholly distinctive, as she would have recouped $100 following the acceptance toward job opportunities. Had I not been explorative enough, I may have been compelled into shelling out a whopping $40 compared to $15, and would likely cogitate on purchasing Celeste instead. Economics suffers from the scourge of inconsistencies, and applying such parables into the experiences I mentioned assisted in the construction of a bridge between Economics and everyday life.

[friday1econlive]

Supply and Demand at Yogurtland

Daisy Rodriguez

Student ID: 95182973

Econ 20A

Friday 1pm

I have been working at Yogurtland for quite some time now and have been able to see first hand the effects Covid has had on business. When Yogurtland first opened back up after the original stay at home order, many people were still very scared to go out and others did not know that we were even open again. This led to much less customers and the demand for yogurt decreased greatly. As summer came around, business picked up a little but overall, demand has still been much lower compared to pre-covid times. 

This graph represents the change in demand at Yogurtland as a result to Covid.

 Another factor that contributed to this decrease in demand was the new cashless policy. 

Ever since October, we have not been accepting cash. When customers walk in, I like to remind them of this policy because majority of customers do not read the signs at the door. As a result, I have seen many customers leave the store after telling me they only have cash on them and some explain that they do not even own a card.  This can be seen as an example of economic discrimination, because typically people who are on the lower side of the economic scale are the ones who cannot get a credit card. Many businesses have enacted the cashless policy as a result of Covid, which means that these people cannot shop at a multitude of businesses anymore. 

As a result of the overall decrease in demand of yogurt, my boss has had to cut down on supply. We were not going through the toppings and yogurts at the same rate we used to and since these are items that obviously need to be fresh, the orders placed for supplies became smaller and smaller. 

As you can see by the graph in this particular case, the decrease in both supply and demand caused the price to increase. Before Covid, the price of yogurt was 51 cents per ounce. Now, the price has increased to 55 cents per ounce. This is because the decrease in supply was slightly greater than the decrease in demand. I attribute this to the fact that two yogurt machines no longer work and Yogurtland could not afford to buy new ones. As a result these two machines, which hold four flavors, do not need to be filled anymore. Yogurt flavors have to be bought per box and each box holds four gallons of the flavor. The cost of a box, or 4 gallons of yogurt, is $80. With four flavors gone, that is already $320 less that needs to be spent each time we place an order. This is in addition to already decreasing the overall supply of yogurts and toppings in order to keep them fresh each week. This graph also displays a decrease in quantity. I have noticed that once people realize the price has gone up, they fill their cups much less than they did before. 

In addition to decreasing supply, my boss also decided to cut down on workers. When I first started working there, there were about 7 workers and there were typically 2 people working per shift. Now, there are only 3 employees and we typically work shifts alone. This is an example of how businesses choose to cut down on variable costs in order to maximize profit at their level of production. Fixed costs cannot be changed, such as rent, so businesses have to decide where they can afford to cut down in order to stay up and running. 

The last effect Covid has had on business at Yogurtland is on our store hours. Since demand has decreased, my boss pays more attention to what hours of the day bring the most customers. By doing this, he is weighing the opportunity costs of opening earlier/ staying open later. After weighing these opportunity costs, he decided it was not profitable to be open as long as they used to be before Covid. The amount of customers that we were getting before 1 pm was not worth being open at that time because of course that means paying for all of the fixed and variable costs that come with being open without enough customers to make it worthwhile. I have seen other stores, such as Starbucks, adjust their store hours after Covid as well.

Overall, I have seen many changes in the economy due to Covid. Although I know of the effects Covid has had on businesses, I do not think I would be as educated about the changes businesses need to make as a result if I did not have this job. Sadly, I have seen the extreme effects of Covid on businesses at this job as well. My boss manages multiple locations and since Covid, he has had to close two stores because their costs were exceeding their profit and they could not afford to keep those stores open anymore. 

[friday1econlive]

Opportunity Cost: Asynchronous Classes vs Synchronous

Jay Lee

61145573

Econ 20A

Friday 1 pm

Due to the COVID19 Pandemic, I have been taking online classes for almost one year already, and it seems like I am taking more online classes next quarter. Online classes have been very different compared to in-person classes, however, there are options that I can choose when taking a class online.

Online classes tend to have two options. The first option is to take the class synchronously, which is most likely through Zoom.

The second option is to take the class asynchronously, or in other words, there are no live lectures, so, no Zoom.

Now, most of my classes are asynchronous, which means that I do not have any options but to take the class on my own time. For this quarter, I have two classes of this type: my Economics class and my Writing class. This means that I cannot examine these classes for any opportunity costs.

However, I have one class this quarter that I can choose between either synchronous or asynchronous, and that is my Computer Science class. For this class, I have the choice of attending live lectures every Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 am - 12:20 pm, or, not attending lectures at all. Each of these choices comes with its own trade-offs, so let's examine them.

Option 1: Synchronous

If I take this class synchronous, meaning that I attend lectures at the assigned time, I am giving up the many different things that I can do in this time period. Usually around this time, I am probably still asleep, and because I sleep very late, the more sleep I can get the better. I can also use this time to go out and take a walk, exercising is key and can benefit with my health. Additionally, I can use this time to do other work for my other classes. However, in taking classes synchronously, I can easily earn my required participation points by just attempting some simple poll questions.

Option 2: Asynchronous

If I take this class asynchronous, meaning that I do not attend lectures at the assigned time, I am giving up my ability to earn easy participation points. Instead, I will need to watch the lecture on my own time, and answer questions from a quiz, which is way harder, and the points are not guaranteed. However, in taking classes asynchronously, I get to spend the time getting more sleep, which can benefit with my health, or getting more exercise, which can also benefit with my health.

My Final Decision:

So what is my final decision? Did I choose to take the class synchronous, or did I take it asynchronous. The decision ultimately came down to what I value more, and it became less of Asynchronous vs Synchronous, but more of Health vs Better Grade. In the end, I chose to take the class synchronously, meaning I chose grade instead of health.

[friday1econlive]

My Everyday Life in a Global Pandemic:

Joey Ye 61754403

Econ 20A

In this video I talk about shortage, shift in the supply and demand curve, opportunity costs, and incentives. 

[friday1econlive]

COVID’s effect on Cryptocurrency

[friday1econlive]

Cosmetic Marketplace of Phantasy Star Online 2

Jeffrey Ling (ID: 48158644)

Econ 20A

Phantasy Star Online 2 is a Japanese MMO (massively multiplayer online game) and my most recent gaming addiction. PSO2 features a bustling inter-player economy consisting of easily accessible personal shops, a convenient item search function, and free entry and exit. Essentially, every player has the option to put nearly any item up for sale with an asking price and customers can simply search for the name of said item and purchase it directly from the player shop. Buyers can sort by lowest asking price, transactions are made instantaneously, and the quality of goods is guaranteed.

One of the most prominent kinds of goods in PSO2 is premium cosmetic items such as clothing, accessories, emotes, hairstyles, weapon skins, etc. PSO2 has a system of premium “Scratch Tickets” aka the infamous loot boxes, however the contents of said loot boxes are entirely cosmetic and tradable for the in-game currency Meseta, resulting in a happy and healthy social environment and a booming in-game economy. Regardless, cosmetics provide an interesting demonstration of the factors influencing the supply and demand curves.

Some of the determinants of a typical supply curve remain constant in this virtual scenario. A single “AC Scratch Ticket” costs $2 USD and contains a single random cosmetic item from the chosen item pool, thus there can be no new technology or advancements in the production of these goods. Additionally, the total quantity supplied of each item in a pool roughly equal to the product of drop rate and number of scratch tickets bought. Unfortunately, about 30-40% of the items in every pool are considered to be undesirable. This is because the item pool consists of gender specific clothing and an overwhelming majority of players of “anime-style” games would choose to play as female avatars over male characters (myself included). This creates a large surplus of male cosmetic clothing which would be wasted as quantity supplied would far exceed the number of buyers, however all premium cosmetics can be scrapped into valuable raw materials. The ability to dismantle premium cosmetics essentially forms a binding price floor for all premium cosmetics. All of these factors culminate into a largely unchanging supply curve where the quantity supplied of most popular items is approximately equal to the quantity demanded at market equilibrium and the entire inventory of unpopular items are sold at the price floor, which is equal to market value of its raw materials.

One of the most popular tradeable premium hairstyles in the game is the Armeure Hair which was only obtainable through Scratch Tickets during July 2020 and the few remaining copies were each worth over 60 million Meseta in the player shop in November 2020. However, in January 2021, the hairstyle became obtainable again from Scratch Tickets for a single week. The sudden increase in supply caused the price to drop to around 20 to 30 million during the week. I expected the price to rise again after the hairstyle stopped being obtainable, thus I bought five additional copies, planning to resell them later when the price is higher. After about a month, I managed to sell most of them at about 40 to 50 million each and made a total profit of about 100 million Meseta.

Then in mid-February 2021, a new hairstyle called Armeure Hair GV was released which the same as the Armeure Hair except it had colorable highlights. This meant that the original Armeure Hair was now the inferior good to the new GV version and the demand curve for the Armeure Hair shifted leftward. The decrease in demand caused the price to drop from 50 to around 30 to 40 million. Because these two hairstyles fill a similar purpose, they are substitute goods and their prices will rise and fall together.

On the other hand, I have also learned that players are extremely picky about their fashion. Currently, there is a popular premium piece of clothing called Anberil Delica which comes in five different colors: black, white, red, blue, and purple. All five colors have the same drop rate, so the quantity supplied at equilibrium are all the same, but the black variant is priced at around 40 million and all the other colors cost less than half of the black version. Despite these items being substitute goods for one another, players would still opt for the black version instead of settling for any of the other colors. This color rule holds true for almost all cosmetic items: the “Shadow” or black version of all outfits is significantly more expensive. In some cases, the black version can cost over 10 times as much as yellow or brown versions of the same outfit. This shows that not all substitute goods are equal, instead they can have varying levels of effectiveness as substitute goods and slight differences between products can massively change their demand curves.

[friday1econlive]

The Opportunity Cost of Taking Online Class in Different Countries Carol Chen, Linqi Leng Carol’s Student ID: 91352569 Linqi’s Student ID: 91719920

Earlier in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic had just started, students had a chance to go back to their home country to prevent themselves from getting Coronavirus, while being able to take online classes for their college. They had two choices, one is to stay in the United States, one is to fly back to their home country. The opportunity cost for the student(carol) who chose to stay in the United States is the fun they would have had if she went back to her home country, such as visiting aquarium, traveling around, dining in restaurants, etc. Under the call of quarantine, she cannot go anywhere crowded in the United States, cannot visit the places she had on her plan, and she cannot even dine in restaurants due to health concerns.

The opportunity cost for the student(Linqi) who chose to study in China is the healthy sleep time and the convenient class schedule that she would have if she stayed in the United States. She cannot take class in the daytime and sleep regularly at night when she is in China; She has to use vpn everyday in order to open canvas software to do homework, and sometimes she even has to stay up all night to take classes following Pacific times.