Friday 4/19/2013

Apr 19th

Posted by Derek D'Angelo in Uncategorized

  • Time for students to complete Price: Combining Supply & Demand assignment given at the end of the hour on Thursday.
    • When complete, students bring up to me to get stamped in and graded for completion and distribute correct answers for students to check how they did.

  • Passed out Activity 1 Markets Interact assignment
    • Due on Monday.
    • Helpful hint: Here are the curves that are shifting on each page:
    • Page 1
      • 1 D
      • 2 S
      • 3 D
      • 4 D
      • 5 D
      • 6 S
      • 7 S
      • 8 S
      • 9 D
    • Page 2
      • 1 S
      • 2 S
      • 3 S
      • 4 S & D
      • 5 D
      • 6 S
      • 7 S
      • 8 D
      • 9 S
  • Passed out Extra Credit assignments, due Monday. Worth 5 points each.
  • Went down to media center for students to complete UCS District Technology survey.

Apr 18th

Posted by Derek D'Angelo in Uncategorized

    • Discussed Board of Zoning meeting tonight at Sterling Heights City Hall at 7pm.
      • 20 points extra credit for attending, be sure to sign in.
      • This is a special meeting and we only have one case involving a sign for Freedom Hill.
      • Freedom Hill and Sterling Heights were involved in a lawsuit at U.S. District Court a couple years ago so this issue becomes complicated.
      • Freedom Hill wants 4 variances:
        • 25 sq. ft. area variance for electronic message board
        • Permit the electronic message board to contain moving images that change more frequently than every 30 seconds
        • To permit the electronic message board to operate continuously
        • To waive the 2 foot brick/masonry sign base
    • Went over answers to Analyzing Demand and Supply headlines assignment that some students were assigned on Wednesday due to their score on the supply practice assignment.


 

  • Went over answers to price learning assignment from Wednesday

 

 


 

 

  • Assigned Price: Combining Supply & Demand.
    • Students had 10-15 minutes in class to work on this. More time will be provided on Friday at the beginning of the hour to complete this assignment. It will be collected and/or checked in on Friday.
  • Upcoming plans:
    • 2nd half of hour on Friday will be spent taking a survey in the media center as required by the school district.
    • Monday we will look at government intervention into the marketplace with price controls.
    • Tuesday we will have our Chapters 5 & 6 test

 

Wednesday 4/17/2013

Apr 17th

Posted by Derek D'Angelo in Uncategorized

  • Corrected Supply practice sheet in class.
    • Explained each answer.
    • Collected after correcting. Those with under 5 wrong on the supply practice sheet will receive a perfect score in the grade book.
    • If you got 5 or more wrong you must complete Analyzing Supply & Demand Headlines assignment as homework and be ready to turn in on Thursday.  If you complete this assignment you will receive a perfect score on the supply practice assignment.
  • Passed out How Markets Work supply & demand figures for reference and notes.
  • Demonstrated the market for a product by combining the supply and demand curves. I chose the market for a used ipod touch 2nd generation.

    • This is a snapshot of a specific moment in time.
    • The point where supply and demand meet is called the equilibrium point. It is also known as the market clearing price and quantity. The market always tries to find a way to get to this equilibrium point. Picture Best Buy in your mind’s eye. You go in the TV section and there is a TV for $1000. Best Buy has 20 of them and 20 people come in to buy the TV. The market is in perfect balance. There are no extras or unhappy people who can’t get the TV they came in for.
    • If the price is too low there will be a shortage. This is also known as excess demand. There is more demanded than supplied at that low price.
    • If the price is too high there will be a surplus. This is also known as excess supply. There will be more supplied than people want at that high price.
      • The reaction of most businesses is to put things on sale (lower the price) to get rid of this surplus.
      • The other option would be to keep the high price, but find a way to shift the demand curve to the right.
  • Remainder of hour was given to complete Price, Combining Supply & Demand learning assignment

Tuesday 4/16/2013

Apr 16th

Posted by Derek D'Angelo in Uncategorized

Monday 4/15/2013

Apr 15th

Posted by Derek D'Angelo in Uncategorized

    • Happy Tax Day & Happy Jackie Robinson Day
    • Played movie trailer for ’42′

  • Showed an email I received from mlb.com.

  • Jackets were 40% off this weekend. Instead of $135 the cost was $80. I am sure at a lower price there were people who now had demand for this product. We would call this an increase in quantity demanded at lower prices, a movement along the curve.
  • The movie ’42′ came out this weekend. Let’s suppose mlb.com usually sells 5 Jackie Robinson jerseys a week. I would think that the movie ’42′ increased demand for his jersey, perhaps they sold 50 this week. This would be something other than price that changed the demand, which is something that shifts the curve to the right.

  • Passed out and explained Demand Situations assignment.


Friday 4/12/2013

Apr 12th

Posted by Derek D'Angelo in Uncategorized

    • Reviewed the difference between a change in demand and a change in quantity demanded

  • More examples of real-life demand shifters-things other than price change that cause a change in demand.
      • Listerine commercial-If they are successful, people will demand twice as much Listerine without lowering their price.

      • Subaru sales increase 26% in 2012. For some reason there are more people demanding Subaru vehicles. Perhaps it won a safety award or was rated high in Consumer reports. Perhaps it was their latest ad campaign. These type of things cause a shift to the right of the demand curve (known as an increase in demand)

    • The Detroit Tigers signed Jose Valverde because the poor performance of their relief pitchers has increased their demand for his services.

  • Graded Demand Practice assignment from Thursday together in class. Turned in after grading.

Thursday 4/11/2013

Apr 11th

Posted by Derek D'Angelo in Uncategorized

  • Provided examples of the 6 categories of demand shifters from yesterdays 5.3 Demand Shifters assignment. All of these demand shifters are something other than price changing that causes an increase or decrease in demand.
    • Change in income
      • If I had more money I would buy more electronics at Best Buy.
      • If everyone in the city won the lottery then the local restaurants would probably be more busy.
    • Number of consumers
      • Since the Ford plant at 23 & Mound closed, the bar/restaurant across the street saw a decrease in demand since there weren’t as many consumers around.
      • Now that there is a growing middle class in China they have demand for more automobiles than 10 years ago.

    • Consumer tastes & preferences
      • McDonalds has offered the new McWrap because of consumers changing preferences. In the past McDonalds wanted to find a way to increase demand for its burgers. They found people weren’t coming because they thought fast food was dirty. Thus, McDonalds ran ads to change that impression.
      • Wendy’s has redesigned their burgers and now calls them Dave’s Hot & Juicy.
      • Taco Bell promises better nutrition by 2020 article
      • Businesses try to change tastes and preferences at times with a catchy jingle. Check this one out from Dr. Pepper.



    • Consumer expectations about future price
      • Meijer sends out gas alerts via text when prices are increasing. People have 3 hours to go fill up before prices increase. This might explain why Meijer has a line for gas even though the price has not changed yet.

      • Best Buy probably sees less demand the Tuesday before Black Friday than most Tuesdays because people are expecting prices to go down a couple days later so why buy at the current price?
    • Price of substitute goods
      • If McCafe is a substitute good for Caribou Coffee then Caribou will see a decrease in demand for its product despite not changing its prices. Perhaps this is why Caribou is closing all of its Michigan stores as announced yesterday. People don’t see McCafe as a substitute for a premium brand like Starbucks so it hasn’t affected demand for Starbucks.
      • Little Caesars now has a Deep Deep Dish Pizza similar to Jets, but cheaper. Instead of buying Jets 4 times a month, I may now only buy it two times a month. Jets would see a decreased demand despite not changing anything.


    • Price of complementary goods
      • If the price of french fries goes down people will likely demand more ketchup.
      • If the price of ski boots increases people will likely demand less skis.
  • Collected 5.3 Demand Shifters assignment
  • Reviewed the difference between a change in quantity demanded and a change in demand

  • Passed out & explained DEMAND PRACTICE assignment. Only do first 4 pages of this linked document. Students had 10-20 minutes to work on it in class, must finish the remainder for homework and have it done for the beginning of class tomorrow.

Wednesday 4/10/2013

Apr 10th

Posted by Derek D'Angelo in Uncategorized

  • Reviewed correct answers for the DEMAND practice sheet assigned yesterday.
    • Your demand schedule numbers should follow the law of demand. Price should be on the vertical and quantity demanded on the horizontal.
    • This is a snapshot of a moment in time and ALL ELSE IS HELD EQUAL.
    • This shows you how the quantity demanded will change based upon a change in price of the product.
    • If something other than price changes, this data and graph are no longer valid. There will be new numbers and a new graph. We call this a change in demand.
    • Let’s say a new study determined Snapple helped prevent cancer. I am sure people would demand more Snapple than before and out number would be larger. This would shift the demand curve to the right from its original point. This is known as an increase in demand.
    • Demand can also decrease, or shift to the left. If a news report stated they found evidence of Salmonella at the Snapple factory I’m sure the number would decrease from their original point.
  • Businesses always want to shift the demand curve to the right. This is why they advertise. They do not want you to think there is a substitute for their product.
    • I had the Deep! Deep! Dish Pizza! from Little Caesars last night. It cost $8. While it wasn’t as good as Jet’s, it was pretty close. Jet’s is $11. If we usually get Jet’s 4 times a month, perhaps we will only get Jet’s twice a month now and get Little Caesars the other 2 times. If everyone of Jet’s customers did the exact same thing they would lose half of their business. If they usually sell 20 pizzas an hour for $11, now they would only sell 10 pizzas an hour for $11. This is an example of a decrease in demand that would result in a demand curve shift to the left.
  • Shared examples of how businesses attempt to increase our demand (shift it to the right)

 

      • Demand for this product skyrocketed due to it being featured on a popular TV show called MASH.
    • Diners, Drive-ins, Dives effect on demand for food at restaurants they visit.
    • The Oprah Effect-Austrailia paid millions of dollars for Oprah to come film her show in Australia to promote tourism.

  • Passed out 5.3 Demand Shifters assignment. Students had time to complete in class. Assignment will be collected on Thursday
  • While students worked we watched failed launch of New Coke in 1985.
    • They were attempting to increase demand for its product, but instead caused a decrease in demand.

Tuesday 4/9/2013

Apr 9th

Posted by Derek D'Angelo in Uncategorized

  • Focused on 5.2 section of chapter about DEMAND
  • Law of diminishing marginal utility
    • Spike Albrecht is the surprise NCAA Championship MVP article
      • Used this article as an example of law of diminishing marginal utility from page 79
      • As Spike played longer than he was used to playing he began to tire and not perform as well. The utility Spike provided in the first half did not continue into the second half.
  • Income effect
    • If the price of a good or service increases, you will not be able to continue to buy the same quantity as you did at the original price.
      • If a Wendys Frosty is $1 and I have $100 to blow on Frostys I can buy 100 of them. If the price jumps to $2 I will only be able to buy 50. The income effect makes you feel poorer. Your income doesn’t change, but what that income can buy decreases as prices increase.
      • If I have a fast food budget of $100 a month my family can go out 5 times and eat 30 burgers in a month. If the prices at fast food places increase I will either have to budget more money for fast food and take away from other consumption OR only go out to eat 3 times a month and only consume 18 burgers. Either way, I feel poorer because my money doesn’t buy as much.
      • Wal-Mart tries to fight the income effect. They want you to shop there so you don’t have to feel the effect of rising prices, can still buy what you need and have money left in the budget to spend on other things like vacations.




    • Kid Rock announces Detroit concert dates for summer tour, rolls dice with new pricing scheme article
      • Kid Rock is fighting it by keeping his prices at $20 on his concert tickets this summer. His hope is that lower prices will spur higher sales volume. This follows the law of demand. At lower prices he will likely sell out his concerts because therer will be more demand for tickets at lower prices.
    • Tiger ticket prices are different depending when you go. For $90 you could go to 10 games during the week in April & May or go to 4 games on Friday nights in the summer.

    • Substitution effect
      • Two different goods satisfy the same want.
      • This can be a very personal decision. There are some things I have no problem substituting and others that I wouldn’t substitute even if it was double as much as the other brand. 
          • I went to Salvation Army over break and bought 6 pairs of shorts for $19. I can substitute the shorts I bought at Salvation Army for new ones bought at Old Navy.
          • I buy Up & Up (Target brand) face wash because it is $1 less than St. Ives apricot scrub. It is so similar I don’t have a problem substituting. I wouldn’t substitute my favorite peanut butter (Smuckers All-natural creamy) for another brand unless the price more than doubled.
          • I am going to try the Little Caesars Hot & Ready Deep Deep Dish tonight. I am hoping it will be as good as Jets because then I can use Little Caesars as a cheaper substitute.
          • The Target ads below shop how consumers can use Target as a substitute during the recession.



          • Meijer shows that there is no difference between there brand and the name brand.

          • Kindle Fire advertises that it is a cheaper substitute for the Apple iPad.

          • Businesses and individuals are not going to substitute until it makes financial sense. I’m not going to get an electric car if it is going to cost me $10,000 more, but only save me $6000 in fuel costs. IBM shows this idea with their Going Green ads.

    • Watched Demand video for explanation of what a demand schedule and demand curve are showing.

  • Passed out DEMAND assignment. Students had 10-15 minutes to work on it during class. This should be completed for the start of class tomorrow.

Monday 4/8/2013

Apr 8th

Posted by Derek D'Angelo in Uncategorized

  • Beginning of 4th quarter.
  • Talked about weather, Spring Break, my daughter’s t-ball practice.
  • Passed out Chapters 5 & 6 text
  • Transitioned the discussion into the definition of demand.
    • Does demand come before supply or does supply drive demand?
      • On my way home from my daughter’s t ball practice my wife made a comment about how it was nice to see homes being built. Did the builder respond to demand or is he building the home hoping to create demand?
    • To have demand you must meet BOTH criteria.
      • You have to want the good or service.
      • You must have the ability (usually financial) to obtain the good or service.
      • Used an example such as a person might WANT to date Kate Upton, but if she doesn’t know who you are you probably don’t have demand.
      • A more concrete example: I saw a red Lamborghini on the way to my daughter’s t-ball practice. Although I may want the vehicle, I don’t have the ability to pay for it. Thus, I do not have demand for a Lamborghini.
      • A business is only going to be concerned about the people who have demand for their products.
      • No noon meal for kids in debt at middle school article. (They didn’t have demand!)
    • Usually a business wants to increase the quantity demanded of its products. It can lower prices to increase the number of people who can afford it.
      • I like Arnold Palmer Arizona Iced Tea. For $.99 I may buy a couple at the grocery store. If it was $1.49 I wouldn’t buy any. If it was on sale for $.69 I would have demand.

    • Demand for a product is unique to each individual. Individual demand can be compiled to be analyzed as a market demand. 
      • How many people in a given market are willing AND able to buy chocolate covered pretzels for $2 a bag? Would we make more money if we sold less, but charged $3 a bag?
    • Demand can change over time. The demand for seeing Carrie Underwood live jumped astronomically when she won American Idol.
    • Demand can change because you have more money. 
      • Typically you will want more of a “normal” good the more money you have. 
      • An inferior good is one you would demand less of when you have more money. (Ramen noodles, Mac & Cheese, store brands)
    • Demand can change because of new laws or changing employment needs of a company.
      • Discussed the demand for Japanese engineers in the Novi area. They are on a work visa for usually about 3 years. Due to the poor dental care in Japan and the good dental health care benefits they receive while in America, they get a lot of dental work done at my wife’s office in Novi. When they return to Japan when the 3 years are up they are usually replaced by another person who does the same thing, this has actually increased their business during the recession.
      • Frenzy likely for high skilled visas article
      • Discussed some recession proof items where demand doesn’t fall even when there is a fall in income.
      • Bullets in high demand over gun control fears article
    • Discussed “Hallmark Holidays”-an attempt to increase demand for cards.
    • Demand for chocolate, Peeps, & jellybeans at Easter
  • Economics of “March Madness”

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