Deciding

Hello,

Have you ever faced trouble in deciding a between two  big options? One an easy one the other worth taking the risk. I had to decide one last week, and I am still quite not sure. Let's see what the future holds.

Besides, the personal note. The summer is kicking in well in Seattle. I am loving the atmosphere. Enjoying Seattle as much as I can as I am going to Nepal for a month. I am super excited for Nepal and coming back to Seattle again for the second time. I think it will be a thrilling experience.

I was planning to include some pictures but I lost my phone and photos with them, the other day. (4th day without phone) After I started living by myself cooking was one of the biggest problem. I did not think it for the first couple of month but now that I have seen my body change I have decided to learn cooking. Today I tried making orange chicken and it turned out to be pretty good.

Rice with orange chicken and salad. Looks yummy right? It was indeed.  :)

Spending Summer wisely

Hello,

Most of us are out of school and excited for summer. I am too, but I am worried on how to spend it wisely. I have created a list of task I plan on doing this holiday.

1. Practice my French. 
 I learned french in my first quarter. I am not at all good at it, but I want to improve my spoken talent. For that I downloaded a app which helps you learn various language, Duolingo. It has daily practice sessions.

Also, Formal education will make you a living, self education will make you a fortune.

2. Watch Documentary and read books relation to my school. 
I have been spending past couple of days watching documentaries on economics and entrepreneurship. They give practical idea and open by my horizon.

3. Keep my self fit. 
Yes, as every girl wants a  fit and healthy body so do I. I plan to work at out at least 3 times a week. (Walking or Swimming).

4. Spend time with family and friends. 
I am going home for a month. I have missed them a lot and I plan to spend quality time.  Super excited for the trip.

5. Learn to cook. 
I am a horrible cook. Sometimes I throw the food I cook for myself. This is the perfect time for me learn that basic skill. I am looking different you tube videos and following the instruction. YouTube has wide range of cooking videos.

(Photo from Google image)


These are the 5 goals I have set for this summer, besides my regular work. I hope to complete them all.

Documentary on economics.

Hello,

Now that the school is over, I can do so many activities that I have been wanting to do. One of these is to watch many documentaries as I can. I think documentaries have so much to give, they show real stories and give valuable lessons.

One of the documentary that I recently saw was, named Spent and it shows how people suffer a life long financial problem because one situation in their life. I also learnt that banks are very important, and so much of our economy is dependent through banking system. Imagine a day without banks, (Difficult right?) there are thousands of people who do not have banking system.

I have attached the  LINK here. So if you have an hour to spend this is a good investment. This website also has a lot of other documentaries to look up and they are divided into categorizes.

Enjoy summer!

Looking back on my freshman year.

Hello,

I moved to United States for college and I can't believe I have completed my freshman year already. It seems like yesterday that I first began college.

This year was by far the most thrilling year of my life. Living away from home, new country, new people it was an amazing experience. I learnt a lot but I hope to learn even more in coming years. I am also glad that I found a subject that I liked, econ and I am happy to have my major conformed.

Today I was done with my Econ finals and was sad to leave the class for next 3 months. This week has been like a roller coaster to me waiting for decisions, finals and paper works. I hope tomorrow will bring a better day.

Today, while going through my face book and came across this quote,

"I learned that the world didn't see the inside of you, that is didn't care a whit about the hopes and dreams, and sorrows that lay masked inside skin and bone. It was simple, as absurd and as cruel as that." Khaled Hosseini, And the mountains echoed.

It struck in my mind, and I have been thinking about it. Is it true? It fairly is.

:) 

World Cup Match.

Hello,

So today's match (Germany Vs Portugal) was awesome. My heart races when there are two good teams playing. Luckily, this world cup we have seen some very good matches so far.Germany's first being my most favorite and followed by Spain's on second.

I was so much looking forward to this match and it happened right  during my econ class. I had to go to class, (I wanted to see the match desperately) even though I was looking up scores every now and then. I have always supported Germany in world cup, their game is fast. Their Next match is on the 21st.  :)

Thomas Muller, first hat-trick  scorer in WC 2014. 

So I came home, and now I am looking all over internet to see the match again. 

For all the Portugal's supporters, Good luck!  for next time. 

ciao and for now its, Go USA!! 

What Mohomad Ali and economics have in common.

Hello,

I have always been inspired by Mohammad Ali (Professional Boxer). He has many inspirational stories and one story says that what motivated him the most was thinking about his other competitors. He questioned himself that where were his competitors doing now? And his answer was "practicing" that made him practice even more.

Sounds something like Game Theory? Not so much but the concept of considering your competitors while making your own decision is economics.  It helps you decide about your situation by considering others behaviors. This is mostly, applied by competitors in same field, like telecommunication. For example what happens to AT&T when T-Mobil decreases its price?
This study is related to Game theory model.

There is a good movie based on the Nash equilibrium (John Nash) called a beautiful mind. This movies is worth the time. And gives more idea about the origin of game theory.

 

Minimum Wage

Hello,

Today I was thinking about the topics to blog about and it occurred that I haven't talked about minimum wage. It is a very important economic factor that deals with micro and macro world.

Minimum wage is lowest pay that an employer may pay their workers. The first minimum wage law was introduced in New Zealand   in 1894. However, in the US the first minimum wage was introduced in June 25, 1938. (25 cents an hour)

There are many concepts about minimum wage, some people think it helps workers and others that minimum wage does not let them earn higher wages. This both can be true according to the economy they are in. Minimum wage does help teenagers while entering the market, they have skill and experience however it also helps a person who has worked few years in the same field.

There are so many papers written on minimum wage and articles are  published worldwide. Recent increase in the Seattle's minimum wage is a good situation to look forward to.

(Picture from know.org)

The topic of minimum wage has a lot to offer but I hope this gives a little idea about it.

Quantity theory of Money

Hello,

So we were studying the chapter money growth and inflation. I find it so challenging, is it just me?
There are so many sub topics and examples. However, the quantity theory of money gives a lot of information.
M*V = P*Y

Quantity of money (M)
Velocity of money (V) (the rate at which a single quantity of dollar flows in market.)
Price of Output (P)
Amount of output (Y)

The velocity of money is constant over time, thus increase in money supply must increase the nominal value of output (P*Y).

We can also see it this way, when the fed increases the money supply M, it results in the increase of Price level P as Y does not increase due to increase in money supply.

Confusing right? I have the same difficulty. I will have to go through the chapter again and see if I can come up with a easier way to understand this.

But for now, time to make my grocery list for this week! :)

Econ Joke!

Hello, 

So today I was reading the book, "The undercover economist Strikes back", and I came across a joke. I could not help myself but share it here. 

A mathematician, a statistician and an economist apply for the same job.

The interviewer calls in the mathematician and asks, "What does two plus two equal?" 

The mathematician replies, "Four."

Then the interviewer calls in the statistician and asks the same question, "What does two plus two equal?" 
The statistician says, "On average,  four - give or take ten percent, but on average four."
Then the interviewer calls in the economist and poses the same question, "What does two plus two equal?"
The economist gets up, locks the door, closes the shades, sits down next to the interviewer and says, "What do you want it to equal?"

This made my day! 

Walk!

Hello,

I have been into finding new places near my neighborhood. Yes, I am slow on that. However, I visited a park near by  and it was such a refreshing feeling. After reading the Friedman's Presidential address (LINK) on Monetary policy earlier today and my walk gave me the time to sink the information in.

I was looking forward to swim today but it was windy and 22 degrees Celsius (Still, can't deal with Fahrenheit), thus a walk was perfect supplement.

An escape to greenery! 

Coming back on Friedman's view. He did not support government intervention in market and believed that it should be let free. His view contradicts Keynesian economist.  He believes that monetary policy may have its effect on current market but in the long run it cannot keep the interest rte down for long time and cannot decrease unemployment. Friedman is correct in some cases but Keynesian are correct too when it comes to different situation. Thus, for his view on Monetary Policy Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize in  1976. 

:)