RS -THE END

To me this whole semester was a mess. At the beginning of the semester it was amazing, I was happy to be back at Sacred Heart and I heard about how cool of a Professor Dr. Engel was. These assumptions turned out to be right. He was the reason why I chose my major ( Finance and Economics) and I actually liked learning about economics because I like making money. But then right before spring break I got mononucleois. Which makes a person extremely tired and unmotivated to do anything. So this happened at the most crucial point of my second semester and literally threw me off of all my classes. I tended to miss easy/fun homework assignments because I physically couldn't do them. It was the most miserable month and a half of my life.

The past couple of weeks have been very tough because of how much make up work I've had to do, but surprisingly I haven't done too-too bad, but not nearly of where I am capable of.

I guess I started off this blog post like that people I know I could have done so much better but ever since having mono, I fell behind in everything and didn't really catch up to where I wanted to be.

But other than my unrelated story the time that I was in this class I loved. Dr. Engel always had a good story to tell before class either about something funny about drugs/alcohol or about Florida State being the center of the universe. Also these blog posts are one of the coolest things I've ever personally done in a class. I've never had a teacher or professor that actually had us Blog about certain topics or how we were feeling towards a situation.

In years to come I know I want to take Dr. Engel again because I actually did learn a lot from his class even though my grade doesnt show it as well as it should.

Thank you Dr. Engel for an awesome semester, and please don't think I'm just trying to suck up to get a better grade!


-John Callahan

Interview

1.       In your lifetime, what city that you are familiar with has changed the most (both positive and negative)?

Grandfather- Bedford, MA. When I grew up it was a very small town but then local business started to bring up the town economically, which made a lot of its citizen’s pretty wealthy. A negative effect of the town was that big business never really came into Bedford.

Dad- Andover, MA. With the help of small and big business and colleges in the area, Andover became a pretty wealthy town. On the negative side the town lost a lot of its “mom and pop” stores because of big business.

Me- Nashua, NH. I’ve grown up in Nashua, NH and I see the change all around me. Big business is starting to move into the city which will help it grow even more. Negitive sides are the public school system is really starting the slack and that is the core of our future is education.

2.       In your opinion, what president had the biggest positive impact on the economy? Why?

Grandfather- Ronald Regan. He helped promote small business which made the economy grow and make more money.

Dad-Ronald Regan. He promoted small business which helped me with my career and make my money.

Me- George W. Bush because after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 he helped us get out of it and got the economy back on track.

3.        What is your first memory of a major economic event impacting your life?

Grandfather- I was born in the Great Depression Era and at a very young I knew something was wrong with the country. This hurt my family a lot and this is what helped motivate me to make a lot of money.

Dad- The collapse of the housing market, this did not help my career at all and was a major setback.

Me- These past couple of years with the recession the United States has been having, and its been really hard economically on people.

4.       How do you get economic news? How has this changed over your life?

Grandfather – I watch Fox News every day or the Stock Market Channel ( NYSE). Well in my business I need to check my stocks to see how my money is doing, so if I am generating money or losing money.

Dad- I watch NYSE all the time. I also have money in the stock market so I have to see if I gained money or not.

Me- I really don’t watch economic news. Sometimes I do watch Fox News.

5.       What is your definition of economics ( when you hear the word economy or economics what do you think about)?

Grandfather- Economics is the gain and loss of money in a certain system.

Dad- Economics is using goods and services at a certain price.

Me-  Economics is the science that deals with demand and supply.

6.       How do you deal with rising prices e.g. substitute cheaper brand, stop buying? Any examples?

Grandfather- Rising prices in the United States is tough. Since I am retired I no longer need to worry about business related price increases but for example gas prices has sky rocketed and to me this is very bad news and we need to figure out a new form of transportation without using gas.

Dad- I deal with rising prices by buying less of that brand and try to do more with less.

Me- I need to stop buying expensive things ( clothing) that I do not need.

7.       What product or service has most changed over your lifetime?

Grandfather- Throughout my life time, the telephone has changed the most. At first the telephone was huge and not wireless. Now they are small and wireless, they can do all sorts of things like take pictures and even go on the internet.

Dad- Building Commercial Construction, this has changed throughout the years because of how different the labor is now and how much faster buildings can be put up.

Me- The telephone has changed the most throughout my life. They came out with new and improved phones every year. It is pretty crazy that how fast technology is moving along.

8.       How have you handled saving and how has this changed?

Grandfather- Ever since I was young I have always saved my money. I never really had the chance to even spend money because my family was very poor. So the only thing I could spend money on were “needs” not “wants”.

Dad- Saving has always been a big resource in my life. I used to love spending money when I was a kid but now I need to save money because I want my family to live happily and comfortably.

4.  What was the price of gas when you got your first car?

Grandfather- .31 cents in the 1950s.

Dad- .52 cents in the 1970s.

Me- $ 1.79 in 2009.

6. What was your wage at your first job?

Grandfather- 5 cents. I was a plumbers assistant.

Dad- 25 cents. I worked construction.

Me-  $7.25 I am a golf cart boy.

RS- Not Everything Sucks

The first video was on the wealth and health of 200 countries in 200 years.  Hans Rosling took a really creative approach to this with the help of a technical group.

They effectively made stats of the richness of a country and health of a country into a very interesting 3-D graph. Seeing all these countries rise and fall during different times in the world was very cool. Rosling specifically pointed out WWI and how the countries who lost that war fell dramatically. And then fast forwarded to present day and see how the future looks very bright and how every country has improved.

I really wish in stats class we did projects like this because that was very interesting and had a really cool outcome.  This just shows the statistics is a cool subject even though when sometimes it seems really dry.

The second video was on Peter Diamandis talking about the world and the US’ future. He is very optimistic about the United States and the world’s future because how much it is improving. He even says "I’m not saying we don’t have our set of problems; we surely do. But ultimately, we knock them down.”  

The future looks bright for us. Even with rising prices there is still hope and even these two men still believe in a bright future.

RS- Spring Break

1.       What is your strongest memory from this class so far

My strongest memory from this class so far is making the Xtranormal video with Tom Breen and Nick Ballas. To me this was a fun way to learn more about economics while also putting humor in it. It was a different method so the students weren’t stuck doing the same thing over and over again.

2. What is your strongest memory about an economic concept

My strongest memory about an economic concept is learning about supply and demand curve because economics is all about supply and demand. If the supply and demand curve change the whole outcome of revenue will change and that is really important.      

3. Why do you think I had you create the xtranormal video

I believe you made me create the xtranormal video to expand our horizon on economics and also our creative side. Everyone knows that sitting in a classroom doing economics problems is better than watching Jersey Shore but sometimes people have to do something different and I think the xtranormal was that different thing to keep us interested.

4. What was your favorite topic to write a blog post about? Why?

My favorite topic to write about on a blog post was probably this one. This one is my favorite because they are questions that I can answer directly.

5. What blog post do you think you did your best work on? What was good about it?

 The Katy Perry blog post I believe I did the best work on because the information I got on her also because I love Katy Perry. The music industry is also very interesting to me to I really wanted to look into the financial side of it.

6. What about the Engel Indoctrination Program (this class) has made you a better person? Or are you worse? If so, why? As always, creativity counts

I know this class has made me a better person because I have learned to be more economical in my decision making and know how to manage my money better. Also I have learned  that you love Florida State University and this had made me a better person listening about all the great things FSU has done in the world because besides Sacred Heart University, Florida State University is the best University ever.

RS 7- Moon Shine

This podcast was published in August 2010 and it is about the Alcohol Prohibition.

The prohibition was awful for people in the United States. Alcohol is such an economic growth for the United States. So in the prohibition people used Moonshine which was inelastic good because people will still buy it. People will also still drink is as much as possible because it makes people happy. Even though most people don’t know that alcohol is a depressant.

                FDR used to go to a little cove in Georgia and buy moonshine. FDR loved moonshine and even swore to protect the law against drinking alcohol. People still loved alcohol during moonshine and still drank it.

During Prohibition you couldn’t get beer because it was hard to hide. So spirits and hard liquor was easy to hide so more people started drinking that which helped the economic growth in revenue. 

When FDR was running for president he said he would repeal the 18^th amendment and people loved it. This was also very economical because once he took office the U.S was in the Great Depression and after making alcohol legal this helped the United States make peace with the Great Depression.

I learned that Alcohol is an inelastic good and always will be one because how much people enjoy it.   

RS 7 & 8 Mix-up

Sorry Professor Engel, I accidentally wrote RS 8 for RS7 and RS7 for RS8.



---FSU ACC Champs....got to love it

RS 8- Why a Dead Shark Costs $12 Million Dollars

This podcast was produced by Jacob Goldstein. This article is about a piece of art and how it is priced. Sometimes people think it is way too high while other people could think the piece is worth a lot more. Formula for the price tag is, the size, intensity, and medium ( what the art wood is like a painting or sculpture). 

The reason why the Shark made of aldehyde is worth 12 million dollars because the artist is very famous. The piece is rather large and really rich people would love a shark made of aldehyde in their mansion.  This piece is also very rare. There are not many pieces that are full length sharks. This makes the price go up even more and also the shark being in aldehyde will help preserve the shark for a very long time.

These are some reasons why this shark would be worth $12 million dollars. I would never want a shark in my house in the first place but I guess to some people that would be pretty cool.