10 Jan Why do you think

Module 1 discussion

Freakonomics

One of the few books about economics to recently hit the New York Times bestseller’s list was Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner. The book was so popular they even made a movie about it. The specialty of Levitt and Dubner is applying economics to unconventional, controversial, or sometimes even downright bizarre topics. Some praise them for bringing economics to a wider audience, while others criticize them for not tackling serious issues or for delving into overly conversional areas.

So what’s all the fuss about? Take a look for yourself by viewing some of their videos from YouTube, including clips from their movie, or take a look at some articles at their blog. The links are below:

https://www.youtube.com/user/FreakonomicsVideos/playlists

http://freakonomics.com/category/freakonomics-blog/

Choose one of the videos or blog articles that you find most interesting, and share the link with your classmates. Discuss some of the following issues based on what you have viewed or read:

What did you find interesting about the video or article that you found?

Did you find anything from any of the videos or articles that might help you understand some concepts from the class, or is their stuff too odd or far out there to be useful for this class?

Overall, what is your impression of Levitt and Dubner? Silly? Interesting? Bizarre? Informative? Boring? Other?

Module 2 discussion

Interactive Tools for Production and Costs

For this discussion, we will be looking at several interactive tutorials or quizzes that might help you and your classmates with any concepts or calculations that you are having difficulty with.

If you are having difficulty with the numerical calculations covered in this module, try this interactive tutorial:

http://www.sambaker.com/econ/cost/cost.html

If you are having difficulty with some of the conceptual issues covered in this module, try the following interactive tutorial:

http://www.pearsoncustom.com/mct-comprehensive/asset.php?isbn=1269879944&id=12353

Note that you don’t need to look at both tutorials, just pick one or the other and share with your classmates whether you found it useful or not.

Then search the web and try to find at least one other tutorial on production costs (marginal costs, variable costs, total costs, etc.) that you find useful for this module. This could be a tutorial, a video lesson, an online practice quiz, etc. Share the link with your classmates and explain what you found useful about it. As a follow-up to your first post, try using one of the tutorials that your classmates found and share your thoughts.

Module 3 discussion

Oligopoly and Game Theory

You may have noticed the discussion in Taylor (2014) at the end of Chapter 10 about oligopoly and the prisoner’s dilemma. The prisoner’s dilemma is an example of game theory. A “game” is like a board game, as your optimal move depends on what your opponent does. The same holds in oligopoly, as your own decisions as to what price to charge or how much to produce depend on what your competitors do.

Take a look at the following video that tries to illustrate oligopoly and game theory through a Batman movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMq059SAQXM

Find one other YouTube video on game theory and share the link with your classmates. Then discuss the following issues:

Did the Batman video or the other video you found help explain the concept of game theory? Or was it just silly?

Besides oligopoly, can you think of any other situations that game theory is useful for? This can be situations in the business world, in your own workplace, or even something you saw in a movie or TV show.

What do you find easier to follow – the game theory matrices or the math equations/computations that you’ve used in this class?

Finally, watch some of the game theory videos that your classmates found and give your comments on these videos.

Module 4 discussion

Mergers

One of the hottest topics in the business press are rumors of major corporations merging together. Just as the entertainment press likes to report on rumors of celebrities who are dating, the business press likes to speculate about “corporate match-making”. For example, Whole Foods was subject to rumors about several potential suitors including supermarket giants such as Kroger, Albertson’s, and Walmart. But the world was somewhat surprised when a merger deal with Amazon was announced, as this seems like a bit of an “odd couple”.

Go to Google news or other news search engines and see what the latest merger rumors are. Pick one of the merger rumors that seems the most unusual to you – one that makes you wonder why these two companies think they are a good match for each other. Share the link to the article with your classmates, and discuss the following issues:

Is this merger horizontal? Vertical? Conglomerate (unrelated diversification)?

Why do you think these companies would or would not make a good match?

Do you think this merger will actually go through? Or won’t get beyond the gossip stage?

Module 4 reflective discussion

Summary and Reflection

Identify one substantive topic in the course that you will use in your job in the future. Specify the topic, your job, and how you will use this knowledge to make better decisions.

Looking back at the analytical tools you used throughout the course, name one specific instance when you could use one of these tools to better understand your organization, the market, or the environment in which your employer operates.