Econ300: Math and Economics

Article of the Week: 10 May

2009-05-04T11:49:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to Josh Orell, winner of Article of the Week (10 May)!

The Greater of Two Evils

This article touches on the subject of not inflation, but deflation. With interest rates close to zero, this article deals with the possibility of deflation and how bad that could be for us.

Article of the Week: 3 May

2009-04-28T08:09:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to Sobia Ijaz, winner of Article of the Week (3 May)!

Worries Rise on the Size of U.S. Debt

This article delves into the long term viability of government spending and borrowing. The authors claim that the current government policies are not sustainable because they would drive up interest rates. This would be specifically bad because it continues to increase our national debt. This is especially dangerous because there are fewer countries willing to buy our debt.

Article of the Week: 26 Apr

2009-04-20T09:10:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Sobia Ijaz, winner of Article of the Week (26 Apr)!

A nice article on the role of central banks and the difficulties they have faced in the past and those that lie ahead. The author writes that central banks will have to change the tools they have used in the past to counter the global economic crisis. Their central role will have to change from exclusively fighting inflation to also trying counteract deflation. The author also writes that central banks will play a greater role in the future, and will therefore be effected more by politics.

Article of the Week: 19 Apr

2009-04-13T14:05:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Ricardo Lansiquot, winner of Article of the Week (19 Apr)!

It May Be Time for the Fed to Go Negative

Discusses the idea of the Fed setting the interest rate to negative a number.

Article of the Week: 12 Apr

2009-04-06T12:48:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to David DeVries, winner of Article of the Week (12 Apr)!

Is the economy picking up? Investors think so with last months 21% market increase. But is everything really getting better? This article takes a look at many indicators and quotes professionals that don't think we are quite done.

Tip of the Month: April

2009-04-01T12:03:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Sobia Ijaz, winner of Tip of the Month: April ($112 at Amazon).

Tip 1: I was having some trouble with the LaGrange Multiplier and found this tutorial video extremely helpful, it walks you through the steps. I hope it helps!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry9cgNx1QV8

Tip 2: Practice Makes Perfect

I found working problems from the book, in particular the first and sometimes the second problem for each section is usually a good drill of the basic concept the section is teaching. Once you are able to master the basics, by practicing the beginning problems, it makes doing the problem set, doing the practice exam, and of course the exam much more understandable and workable.

For example with Chapter 11 11.1.1 gives you 5 problems to drill on solving constrained optimization problems using the substitution method. Similarly, which I found extremely helpful, was 11.2.1 problems on using the Lagrangian multiplier method. I highly recommend going through these to get down the basics.

Working problems, sometimes over and over again until you fully understand them can be tedious, but when it comes to math, practicing really does to help perfect.

Article of the Week: 5 Apr

2009-03-30T09:53:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to Janee Banks, winner of Article of the Week (5 Apr)!

The Incredible Shrinking Economy, Economist 2 Apr 2009

This article discusses Japans crumbling economy.

Article of the Week: 29 Mar

2009-03-23T09:54:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to David DeVries, winner of Article of the Week (29 Mar)!
Dr Geithner's bank rehab, The Economist, 26 Mar 2009
This article takes a good look at the proposed public-private bank for toxic assets. It takes a look at the good, the bad and the questionable elements of the plan.

Article of the Week: 22 Mar

2009-03-09T17:02:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Kwame Asumadu-Sakyi, winner of Article of the Week (22 Mar)!

The world's informal economy has been condemned in the past for creating stagnant growth and lower standards of living. Now it's become a critical safety net.

Article of the Week: 8 Mar

2009-03-02T06:05:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to Jake Niemyer, winner of Article of the Week (8 Mar)!
A.I.G., Where Taxpayers’ Dollars Go to Die
This is a fascinating article about insurance giant AIG and the immense difficulties they face in staying solvent. New York Times reporter Gretchen Morgenson gives an in-depth description of the poor decisions AIG made on its path to near destruction. The main problem AIG has is its inability to pay back the money owed on derivatives they have sold. Unfortunately, they did not have enough collateral to pay back the buyers back when a huge number of payments defaulted. It is clear that it would be disastrous for AIG to fail, but it is unlikely taxpayers will see any of the money back that they have unwillingly invested.

Tip of the Month: March

2009-03-01T18:28:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Juan Zavala, winner of Tip of the Month: March ($112 at Amazon).

INSTALL MATHEMATICA!!!

Also, if you have installed mathematica then do all the tutorials and "how to's", this really helps you understand modelling and follow the mathematica demonstrations the professor does in class.
If you are having trouble installing mathematica, heres wat you have to do:

1. buy the cd from OIT (or the Terrapin Technology Store)
2. call OIT and get the campus license number and instructions.
3. register mathematica and obtain a password so the software wont expire in 14 days.

http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/PartialDerivativesIn3D/

I also found this demonstration interesting...partial derivatives in 3d, click on the demonstration and do either web preview or download live version.

Seriously, get and install mathematica...it is awesome and has helped me alot and its a great skill to put on your resume, especially if your planning to go into a field of quantitative analysis..i.e. finance, wealth management, etc.

Article of the Week: 1 Mar

2009-02-23T07:07:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to Sobia Ijaz, winner of Article of the Week (1 Mar)!

A ghoulish prospect
This article discusses some of the possible pitfalls of nationalizing banks. The author discusses the effect on raising capital, bond markets, and the housing market. Overall though, the author argues that some nationalization may be the best option when considering the difficulty in revamping banks with government intervention.

Article of the Week: 22 Feb

2009-02-17T13:31:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to David DeVries, winner of Article of the Week (22 Feb)!

This article talks about transparency in the market place. The article argues transparency is a good thing but emphasizes that it is the quality of the information that is important. Not all information is equally valuable.

Article of the Week: 15 Feb

2009-02-09T10:02:00.005-05:00

Congratulations to adriana lopez, winner of Article of the Week (15 Feb)!
This article criticizes the economic stability plan announced last week by Tim Geithner. It describes markets dislike of the lack of detail in the plan and the hesitation to participate in a market for toxic MSB’s as well as making investments in banks that may or may not be nationalized in the near future.

Article of the Week: 8 Feb

2009-02-03T04:57:00.008-05:00

Congratulations to Sobia Ijaz, winner of Article of the Week (8 Feb)!

Bank Bailout Plan Revamped
By Deborah Solomon and Damian Paletta

Tip of the Month: February

2009-02-01T16:39:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Seth Davidson, winner of Tip of the Month: February ($112 at Amazon)!

http://www.themathpage.com/index.html

For anyone that needs help with math this is the best website I've found. It is very user friendly and explains everything in detail. It covers most of high school math and has sample problems for people to do.

Article of the Week: 1 Feb

2009-01-27T10:03:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to Brian Conway, winner of Article of the Week (1 Feb)!

Welcome!

2009-01-21T10:05:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Economics 300. This is the course blog site, which we will use throughout the semester.

More later.