Blog #6 - Standard M14 Forms of Businesses; Businesses characteristics of monopoly; oligopoly; monopolistic competition; pure competition

Entrepreneurship interview guide (**End with a personal reflection about your own thoughts about the business and the business owner)

1. Name of entrepreneur/Name of entrepreneur's business/complete address (including zip code)
Alfie Baugh

Clean Cutz

1815 Austin Dr
Decatur, GA 30032-4800

2. Type of business organization

Salon and barber shop
3. Length of time the business has been in operation
The business was opened in 2007

4. List products provided by the business (goods and/or services)

• Food
• Coffee
• Hair products
• Television

5. Number of employees/skills needed to work in the business

8 employees

Skills- cut or style hair
6. List benefits of business to community/What does this business provide that similar businesses don’t provide
Benefits- Having a hair shop close to home,cheap prices,flexable times

Provides- Family environment,free donuts on sundays

7. Major competitor for this business and how this business remains competitive

The shop competitor is this shop half a mile away and Clean Cutz remains competitve by having comunity events at the shop and matching or lowering prices

8. Describe methods used to increase growth of business and any future plans for expansion

They method they use to increase growth is alot of advertising and events. The shop have plans to open another location Old National

9. Three greatest challenges in operating the business

• Locatin, because its alot of shops in decutar
• Workers Commission, So workers dont note all their customers and keep all money
• Break ins, The shop has been broken into two times

10. Three greatest rewards in operating the business

• Profit, the shop has great business
• Connection, you meet alot of people who could be useful for the shop
• Expansion, the shop will be able to grow

Sample Script: Hello, my name is __Maurice McMillian____________and I’m a student in an Economics course at South Atlanta HMS. We’re studying the three types of businesses and we have to interview a business owner in the community to learn something about owning a business. Would you mind answering a few questions for me about your business so that I can share this information with my class….Closing: Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me.

Reflection

This interview gave me a new outlook on the hair industry. I gained more respect for the shops and learned theres alot more that go into running a shop other than just collecting booth rent. You have to know how to handle money and people , and know how to make rational decisions that will better the business then and in the long run. Alfie Baugh was very informative and is a very smart business owner. She had everything mapped out and was planning future events for the shops to increase business flow. The business is doing great and is rapidly increasing as a whole, I see Clean Cutz as being a mini corporation. I predict that this business will be around mini years to come.

Assignment #5

Using the typical 'Face book' lingo, write a definition for Microeconomics and then provide a Standard English translation for your 'Face book' definition.

¨      The study of economics behavior and decision making of small units such as, households, individuals, families and businesses.

Title:  Role of Money - M11

1. Using what you learned about the three functions of money, explain how 'play money' differs from 'real' money?

¨       They differ because real money has a unit of account and medium of exchange.
2.  Money has no actual value other than the value we attach to it. The barter system would still be practiced today if the participants did not agree to set a value on a piece of printed paper that represented the value of the goods and services they had to offer.  What would you accept in place of money, if someone wanted to 'buy' you’re most prized material possession? 

¨       I would accept a lifetime supply of food, protection, housing, and more for my family now and when I get older and past away.

Circular Flow Model - M11

1.  What does a circular flow model tell us?

¨       Tell us how the flow of money goes.
2.  What is the role of households in the three sector circular flow model?

¨       To pay taxes, provide labor and buy goods and services from businesses.
3.  What is the role of businesses in the three sector circular flow model?

¨       To pay taxes, supply goods, give income.

4.  What is the role of government in the three sector circular flow model?

¨       To give income to the households and payments to the businesses in exchange for goods.
5.  What role do households have in the factors or resource market (inputs)?

¨       They pay taxes to the government and payments to businesses.

Title:  Law of Demand and Law of Supply - M12

1.  For each event described below, explain what happens to either the demand or supply curve. Increase/decrease?  Shifts left or right?)

(a)  What happens to the demand for chicken if concerns about mad cow disease lead to widespread euthanizing of cows on U.S. cattle farms?

¨      The demand curve will shift left.

(b) What happens to the supply of orange juice if Florida is hit with very severe weather?

¨      The supply curve will shift left.
(c) In the market for coffee, severe global weather systems destroy 30% of the coffee bean crop.

¨      The curve will shift leftward.

(d) In the market for cereal, if the price of cardboard material used to package cereal increases.

¨      The curve will shift to the left.


2. For each part below, EXPLAIN what happens to equilibrium quantity and price (increase or decrease?).

a)  In the market for doughnuts, if they were found to be a major contributor to high cholesterol in adults.

¨       The equilibrium and price will decrease causing the curve to shift left.
b)  In the market for doughnuts, if widespread unemployment continues.

¨       The equilibrium will shift to the left.c) In the market for doughnuts, if Krispy Kreme introduces a new whole wheat 'low-calorie' doughnut.

¨       The equilibrium and price will increase.
3.  What are two factors that can change the quantity demanded?  Provide an example for each.

¨       Income changes- people are getting less money.

¨       Available Substitutes- another product can replace it.

4.  What are two factors that can change the quantity supplied?  Provide an example for each.

¨       Buyer Income- buyers can start to get less money.

Advance in technology- buy things to help produce goods at a greater pace.

Economic Goals; Role of Government; Economic Growth and Productivity

1) How are the economic goals of freedom, security, efficiency, equity, stability, and economic growth achieved in a market economy?


Answer: Because without freedom the Market Economy wouldnt be as sucessful as it is today. Freedom give the market economy the right to get a product sold by any means necessary. The security of the system is what keep the market economy going, without security , it is possible for one company or individual to dominate a industry without any compentition. You have to have efficiency in order to sucessfully be invovled in the market economy because everybody have to have the same amount power or capcity to produce a product. Equity is a key requirement of the market economy, thats when the government step in to make sure everyone have a fair chance. In order to have stability you have to have an economy with fairly constant output growth and low and stable inflation would be considered economically stable. Economic growth is where the economy be at a stable pace, while increasing






2) Why has the role of government in the economy increased dramatically since the 1880s ?


Answer:  The role of government increased to incern that the 6 economic goals of freedom, efficiency, equity, stability, security and economic growth be enforced properly






 3)Write an argument that supports or opposes the statement in the visual below that says deregulation wont work because people are greedy ?


Answer:(No Picture) I believe deregulation wont work, the whole purpose of starting a business is to make money. Its very little people who can say they have enough money. WHY ?? Because you can never have enough money. And without regulation prices will be through the roof, workers will be mistreated, and it wouldnt benefit the consumers or owner, because it will be less purchases made, which means consumers will have to go without and the owner will have very little profit.




4) Explain why the government provides public goods and services? Why are these public goods and services NOT provided by the private sector?


Answer: The government collect taxes and provides things such as sidewalks, street lights, police services, etc. Government provides these goods and serivces because its more efficient and promotes economic. Private sectors does not provide goods and services because the value of goods and services is more than a individual can afford and would only be provided to a few




5) What are the 6 functions of government in a market economy( Provide an example of how the government fulfills each of these 6 functions)


Answer:




1. Nationalize businesses and then micromanage them into bankruptcy.






2. Choose the businesses to nationalize based on their nearness to bankruptcy anyway, so the people will become owners of the biggest failures in the country.






3. Lend massive amounts of money to these companies just before they go bankrupt and default on the loan, leaving all that massive debt on the taxpayers to repay it.






4. Provide a virtually unlimited supply of cheap immigrant labor with H1b visas to replace all highly qualified and experienced college graduates with decades of experience and mortgages to pay and kids to put through college.






5. Let illegal workers swarm into the country and travel thousands of miles into U.S. territory unopposed, then let them stand around in big crowds all over every major city, waiting to take even more jobs from highly qualified and experienced blue collar workers.






6. Bury all U.S. businesses in a moutain of regulation that drives up their costs for the sake of protecting the rights of the workers, the consumers, and the environment, but then insist on "free trade" so that businesses can't possibly compete with foreign sweatshops in countries that do not enforce any such laws, so they have a huge cost advantage.






6) Describe the relationship that inputs and outputs have on productivity?

Answer: The input is adding more capital to a business to increase the workers productivity, which will improve the business output. In additional to that also increase the company's profit.




7) How do investments in capital goods, technology, human capital and training and educating workers, improve productivity and economic growth?


Answer: Because the more money you put into a business determines the money you get out of a business purchasing a capital good increase your productivity rate. Technology improves everyday, and having the lastest technology is a very smart and useful investment which will make a business compatible and able to make more money. Educating and training human capital is always a plus for a company to thrive. In order for a company to be relevant 5 years from now you have to be up-to date on the latest. So sending workers back to school or training them to increase their knowledge is necessary to improve a company as a whole.




8) Refer to the chart below and explain the cause of the decrease in the ouput , productivity and employment in manufacturing in the United States. What can the United States do to reverse this downward trend in manufacturing?

How different economic systems answer the three basic economic questions

1) What are the three basic economic questions that every society must answer ?

Answer: What to produce, how to produce it and whom will use it

2) What is an economic system ? And what are four types of economic systems? Give one example of each.

Answer: An economic system is the system of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services of an economy. The four types of economis systems is Market, Command, Traditional, and Mixed.
Market ex. > Uses supply and demand
Command ex. >  Under complete government control
Traditional ex. > Custom methods
Mixed ex. >  Combination of all 3

3) Write a detailed explanation of how each of the four economic systems answer the three basic economic question.

Answer: In a traditional economy the 3 basic economic questions is determined by members of the society while and a command economy the government officials answer the 3 basic questions and in a market economy the buyers and sellers answer the 3 basic questions. But in a mixed economy its not completely clear on who answer the 3 basic questions because the mixed economy is a combinationh of all 3 of the economic system

4) How does the United States reflect a combination of economic systems.

Answer: The United States reflect the market economy because the 3 basic questions is answered by the buyers and sellers and everything is based on supply and demand because if americas wont buy a product it wont continue to be produced. Its reflect the command economy because ever business has it limits by the government and it reflect the traditional economy because

5) The inuit tribe in Alaska teach their childern that they must always do their best at every task. The child begins by observing the adults doing a tasks. When the time comes for the child to do the task, the task is first divided into smaller tasks. The adults praise each stage of the task the child successfully completes. What economic system is used by the inuit ? Explain.

Answer: Traditional system because the tribe is teaching the next generation after them how to produce a product that is necssary to their living

6) How do the market, command and traditional economics systems compare and contrast with each other in terms of profit motive, private ownership, consumer sovereighty, competiton and government regulation ?

Amswer:  They all is similar when it comes to profit motive, because they all want to make money, the main purpose of all the system in the first place is to make a profit. Private ownership only exist in the market economy and some what a traditional economy , but and a command economy the government control everything from ownership down to the prices. Consumer sovereighty

7) Give a specific example of why you support Adam Smith's theory of laissez faire and the invisible hand in a market economy and one example of why you would oppose his theory? Explain

Answer:  I think the idea of self regulating is a good idea because the owner will be able to have a say-so of how to run a business. A baber shop is a good example of a self regulating business because you control the prices , labor , time , location ,etc. of a business , but the invisible hand is still there because they have to follow state laws. I oppose the theory because if a owner have to much control it will only benefit them and not the consumer.

Limited Resources and Unlimited wants and needs--August 14, 2010

How does scarcity influence the choices you make about how you spend your money? Give a specific example of a trade-off that you had to make. What was the opportunity cost of your decision? How did you make your decision? Afterwards, how did you feel about your choice?

Answer-  Scarcity influence the choices i make because have to decide what to do with the resource i have. Like one time i had four eggs and i wanted to make breakfast, but i needed the four eggs for the pasta i was making later on that night. So i had decided to keep the eggs for the pasta. My friends and I had two tickets to the lakers game but decided at the last minute we wanted to go see Takers. So we drove to AMC 24 to see if somebody wanted to trade, after a while two boys wasnt able to get in the movies because their age. They wanted to go to the Lakers game instead of home, we had a trade-off over the movie and lakers tickets, that trade-off benefitted my friend and I and the other group of boys. The opportunity cost was us missing the lakers play to see the movie Takers. I made my decision by thinking of everything you had to go throught to get into the Lakers game, then to get into the movies. I felt good about my choice because i was closer to home and the benefit out weighed the cost.
There are four factors of production – land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship .How do business owners influence each of these factors of these factors of production? What is a risk and reward those business owners might incur with each four factors of productions?
Answer: A business owner influence all these factors by buying the land hiring the labor and making money off the capital and by being a entrepreneur because they own the business. The risk is that might open a business in a bad location that wont benefit the business, hiring the wrong laborer that will decrease the business profit instead of increasing. The capital might not be in demand to match the supply. And the some business owners is not fit to be a entrepreneur. The reward is that the land will probably be in the perfect location, the labor will work to increase the business profit and the capital will benefit the business and the owner will be the perfect owner.

Do you see yourself more as an individual that will supply labor or as an entrepreneur who makes decision about the use of labor ?Explain how your reached this conclusion.

Answer: I see myself as a entrepreneur , because i have good decision making skills and will be committed to the business  

Include two relevant visuals (based on standards) with captains that explain their significance to the standard(s)

Workers who benefits an entrepreneur business by using the capital supplied

A welding machine will be classifed as a Capital Good

Formative assessment Reflections-How do you feel about your knowledge of this standard? What are two questions that you have about this standard?

Answer: I feel like i get the information and i understand the general message of this standard. But the two questions i have is why is trade-off needed in the business world and how can scarity problems be fixed

Production Possibilities Curve; Rational Decision Making; and Specialization

1.) If you owned a business, what would a production possibilities curve tell you? Be specific. What are two factors that could cause your production possibilities curve to shift outward??



*If I owned a business I would own a shoe store. A PPC would tell me what items I should sell more of; for example if was selling shoes and shirts and I could sell more shoes efficiently in a hour than shirts the PPC tells me that I should really focus on making shoes.

Two factors that could cause my PPC to shift outward is if I hire more employees and lowering my prices.



2.) What is the best way to determine whether or not we are making a rational economic decision?



* The best to determine whether or not your making a ration decision is to make a PPC (which compares two products) Chart/Graph and look at your Absolute advantage and your Comparative advantage.



3.) Why do companies choose to specialize and trade? What would happen if companies did not choose to specialize?



* Companies choose to specialize and trade because some companies can make products faster and more effiecent then other companies. If companies chose not to specialize there will more likely be a waiting period for product because everything will just slow down and some companies will defintely lose there businesses.



4.) Include two relevant visuals ( based on standards) with captions that explain their signaficance to the standard.

5.) How do you feel about your knowledge of this standard? What are two questions that you have about this standard?



* I feel like i understand this standard enough to move on to the next one. But two questions I would like to know is more information about the PPC chart, like what the point mean. And i want to go over the Rational Decision Making more and hear more examples.