ECONOMICS WITH Senior Saints!

FUNDAMENTAL

100

anything that can be used to create or manufacture valuable goods or services

What are productive resources?

200

A graph that illustrates a relationship between supply and the demand for a particular good and/or service.

What is a supply and demand curve?

300

A basic premise in marketing is to create a demand for your product. One of the tricks of creating a demand is scarcity. The scarcer something is, the more valuable it will seem and presumedly the more people will be willing to pay for it. Think oil, gold and diamonds, for example. Scarcity also creates in some people a desire to have that scarce commodity whether because of wanting to feel different or better by having such a scarce substance or the desire to be seen as special and therefore possess more power than others. Scarcity has also been used throughout history as a means of control. Consider this, if Germany had not been in such dire straights, such dismal economic conditions, if jobs and food had not been so scarce – would Hitler have risen to power? Or perhaps a more general question – if millions of people hadn’t been convinced that we were running out oil, clean air and polar ice caps, would so many of us be so scared we were going to kill the planet? Or feel we had to come up with alternate solutions (even bad, expensive, unworkable solutions) to deal with that fear of scarcity? For example, the United States has lots of oil. However, we’re not allowed to drill for it. Our government has essentially ensured that we cannot tap our own resources. How? By creating other scarcities, from animal and plant species to clean air to clean water and other reasons why we dare not tap resources that might create other scarcities. The tactics used are many and varied – however the most effective among them is fear. Fear that the planet will be killed or destroyed. Fear that we’ll all be wearing gas masks. Fear that we will die because we have no clean water to drink. Fear that if we don’t get our unemployment checks we will starve. Fear that if taxes aren’t raised the national debt will just continue to rise and never be paid off and our children will become slaves. Fear that if we don’t allow the government to grope us at airports we will be blown up by domestic extremists. Fear that if ordinary citizens are permitted to own guns that crime will rise. And the list goes on. When people are scared they are ever so easy to control. Don’t believe me, think about this – ever been in a situation that scared you? Your adrenaline is pumping, you are confused, you don’t know what to do. And then suddenly some cool-headed person steps in and takes charge, directs other people’s actions, makes things happen and gets the situation under control. Think car accident. Think house fire. Or even family emergency. We’ve all been there, something devastating and terrible happens and we lose it. We can’t think, in some cases maybe we can’t even move. And thank God somebody came along who had a cool head and could think in a crisis. Had they not, God only knows what might have happened – how much worse things might have turned out. And so maybe the next time something terrible happens we look to that person, rather than ourselves to get things under control. We give power over to that person, rather than address the situation ourselves. Soon, whenever that type of situation rears its ugly head, we wait for that special talented person to take care of it for us, perhaps even giving up our own control or ownership of a situation. And before we know it, we think what we are told to think, do as we are told and simply have no choice but to go along. If you think about it the concept of scarcity is actually pretty ridiculous. Just do a cursory study of planet Earth and all her natural resources – not the least of which is the human race. Without the human race we would not have any kind of machinery, power, agriculture, technology, art, music, literature, etc. Though human beings have gotten a horrible rap of late for their greedieness and consumption, few have acknowledged what human beings have brought to the planet. In fact, if not for human beings you would not be reading this post. There would be no Internet, no computers, no cell phones, facebook, twitter, text messaging nor commerce – heck there wouldn’t even be green technology. I submit that mankind has more than contributed to life on this planet and will continue to do so, as long as it exists. And it is man’s ability to think, consider, and create that has enabled us to evolve and live better, more interesting and productive lives. There is no scarcity of ideas or solutions – yet we seem to be convinced that there are. Today we are told there is a scarcity of jobs. Well, I suppose that is true in a way – however not quite. If you haven’t been living in a cave you may have read articles discussing the fact that businesses throughout the United States have lots of funds that they are sitting on and not using. They are not hiring and they are not expanding their businesses. The resources are there, but they are not using them. Why? Because the business world is expecting scarcity. They are expecting that their profits will dwindle because of new taxes and government regulations. They are expecting they will not be able to compete and do business without further and additional restrictions, that they will have less control over their businesses, the decisions they can make and fewer options. So, the scarcity vicious cycle is creating even more scarcity than has been created. And this scarcity perpetuates more scarcity – because people believe there are no jobs, that no one has any money and even if there is money that no one will spend it and so they look to the government to make up that scarcity rather than put on their thinking caps and resolve their own situations. I believe that as long as anyone believes in scarcity, they will continue to be controlled and manipulated. I also believe there is no scarcity of anything, anywhere on this planet. If an animal or plant species dies out, other and new species come along and take their place. When sources of oil or other resources dry out, others are found or resources that can replace their function are discovered and created. If we all just believed in abundance for all of us, perhaps we’d discover that indeed abundance exists everywhere we look. copyright 2010 Share this: StumbleUpon Digg Reddit Facebook More Like this: Like Be the first to like this post. . from → Deep thoughts, my opinions ← Scanners – Follow the Money (Millions for Billions) What’s Your Christmas Elf Name? → . No comments yet Leave a Reply Enter your comment here... Biz Register Log in Entries RSS Comments RSS WordPress.com Hit Me, Baby 252,758 hits facebook Anita Rodgers - Mystery Author Promote Your Page Too Faves Grey Rain - Theme Friday I Think my Job is Making me Sick When Things Go Wrong Scarcity, Control and Fear On the Debt Ceiling... Is your story plot-driven or character-driven? Can You Actually Get Drunk on Food? You Might be a Worry-Wart if... Maxine is my Hero You might be heading toward brain death if... I Say The Ant Brigade Just do it! Saving a Life Serving your own best interests Spam and Affiliate Marketing You Say Potato scuffle | Aceflyer on Christmas Bird Dreaming of my escape on I Think my Job is Making me Sick http://dream-analysis.org on More Little Known Christmas Facts… Vanessa Grassi on Just do it! Cathie Lippman, M.D. on About Me Caryn Caldwell on Saving a Life PiedType on Saving a Life Don’t Steal! Politics Bill Whittle Brit & Grit JOS Kruiser Nuke’s news Provide for the Common Defense Ricochet.com Right Aint Wrong Rosemary's Thoughts Scrappleface The Bosun The Patriot Post The Sage Vodka Pundit The Neighborhood Angie Coyote – Running Cause I Can't Fly CuriousC Daisy – the thinker Di Dustbury Fat Quarter (Sally) Joan of Fun Kanlaon kroniclife Mr. Manly Ms. B Pied Type Site Meter Squawkbox Noise Stapled Forehead Tech Tips from geeks To Be Me Touchstones Big Time Thanks! Sending Joy tribute 2996 2996′ers 911 tributes Let’s say thanks Writers & Poets Christine CJ Good at Getting Better Hippy Urban Girl One Voice Sarah – Simply Put sarah flanigan Writing & Poetry bloggy stuff Blog at WordPress.com. Theme: Vigilance by The Theme Foundry. Follow Follow “Writer Chick Talks” Get every new post delivered to your Inbox. Join 148 other followers Powered by WordPress.com A basic premise in marketing is to create a demand for your product. One of the tricks of creating a demand is scarcity. The scarcer something is, the more valuable it will seem and presumedly the more people will be willing to pay for it. Think oil, gold and diamonds, for example. Scarcity also creates in some people a desire to have that scarce commodity whether because of wanting to feel different or better by having such a scarce substance or the desire to be seen as special and therefore possess more power than others. Scarcity has also been used throughout history as a means of control. Consider this, if Germany had not been in such dire straights, such dismal economic conditions, if jobs and food had not been so scarce – would Hitler have risen to power? Or perhaps a more general question – if millions of people hadn’t been convinced that we were running out oil, clean air and polar ice caps, would so many of us be so scared we were going to kill the planet? Or feel we had to come up with alternate solutions (even bad, expensive, unworkable solutions) to deal with that fear of scarcity? For example, the United States has lots of oil. However, we’re not allowed to drill for it. Our government has essentially ensured that we cannot tap our own resources. How? By creating other scarcities, from animal and plant species to clean air to clean water and other reasons why we dare not tap resources that might create other scarcities. The tactics used are many and varied – however the most effective among them is fear. Fear that the planet will be killed or destroyed. Fear that we’ll all be wearing gas masks. Fear that we will die because we have no clean water to drink. Fear that if we don’t get our unemployment checks we will starve. Fear that if taxes aren’t raised the national debt will just continue to rise and never be paid off and our children will become slaves. Fear that if we don’t allow the government to grope us at airports we will be blown up by domestic extremists. Fear that if ordinary citizens are permitted to own guns that crime will rise. And the list goes on. When people are scared they are ever so easy to control. Don’t believe me, think about this – ever been in a situation that scared you? Your adrenaline is pumping, you are confused, you don’t know what to do. And then suddenly some cool-headed person steps in and takes charge, directs other people’s actions, makes things happen and gets the situation under control. Think car accident. Think house fire. Or even family emergency. We’ve all been there, something devastating and terrible happens and we lose it. We can’t think, in some cases maybe we can’t even move. And thank God somebody came along who had a cool head and could think in a crisis. Had they not, God only knows what might have happened – how much worse things might have turned out. And so maybe the next time something terrible happens we look to that person, rather than ourselves to get things under control. We give power over to that person, rather than address the situation ourselves. Soon, whenever that type of situation rears its ugly head, we wait for that special talented person to take care of it for us, perhaps even giving up our own control or ownership of a situation. And before we know it, we think what we are told to think, do as we are told and simply have no choice but to go along. If you think about it the concept of scarcity is actually pretty ridiculous. Just do a cursory study of planet Earth and all her natural resources – not the least of which is the human race. Without the human race we would not have any kind of machinery, power, agriculture, technology, art, music, literature, etc. Though human beings have gotten a horrible rap of late for their greedieness and consumption, few have acknowledged what human beings have brought to the planet. In fact, if not for human beings you would not be reading this post. There would be no Internet, no computers, no cell phones, facebook, twitter, text messaging nor commerce – heck there wouldn’t even be green technology. I submit that mankind has more than contributed to life on this planet and will continue to do so, as long as it exists. And it is man’s ability to think, consider, and create that has enabled us to evolve and live better, more interesting and productive lives. There is no scarcity of ideas or solutions – yet we seem to be convinced that there are. Today we are told there is a scarcity of jobs. Well, I suppose that is true in a way – however not quite. If you haven’t been living in a cave you may have read articles discussing the fact that businesses throughout the United States have lots of funds that they are sitting on and not using. They are not hiring and they are not expanding their businesses. The resources are there, but they are not using them. Why? Because the business world is expecting scarcity. They are expecting that their profits will dwindle because of new taxes and government regulations. They are expecting they will not be able to compete and do business without further and additional restrictions, that they will have less control over their businesses, the decisions they can make and fewer options. So, the scarcity vicious cycle is creating even more scarcity than has been created. And this scarcity perpetuates more scarcity – because people believe there are no jobs, that no one has any money and even if there is money that no one will spend it and so they look to the government to make up that scarcity rather than put on their thinking caps and resolve their own situations. I believe that as long as anyone believes in scarcity, they will continue to be controlled and manipulated. I also believe there is no scarcity of anything, anywhere on this planet. If an animal or plant species dies out, other and new species come along and take their place. When sources of oil or other resources dry out, others are found or resources that can replace their function are discovered and created. If we all just believed in abundance for all of us, perhaps we’d discover that indeed abundance exists everywhere we look. copyright 2010 Share this: StumbleUpon Digg Reddit Facebook More Like this: Like Be the first to like this post. . from → Deep thoughts, my opinions ← Scanners – Follow the Money (Millions for Billions) What’s Your Christmas Elf Name? → . No comments yet Leave a Reply Enter your comment here... Biz Register Log in Entries RSS Comments RSS WordPress.com Hit Me, Baby 252,758 hits facebook Anita Rodgers - Mystery Author Promote Your Page Too Faves Grey Rain - Theme Friday I Think my Job is Making me Sick When Things Go Wrong Scarcity, Control and Fear On the Debt Ceiling... Is your story plot-driven or character-driven? Can You Actually Get Drunk on Food? You Might be a Worry-Wart if... Maxine is my Hero You might be heading toward brain death if... I Say The Ant Brigade Just do it! Saving a Life Serving your own best interests Spam and Affiliate Marketing You Say Potato scuffle | Aceflyer on Christmas Bird Dreaming of my escape on I Think my Job is Making me Sick http://dream-analysis.org on More Little Known Christmas Facts… Vanessa Grassi on Just do it! Cathie Lippman, M.D. on About Me Caryn Caldwell on Saving a Life PiedType on Saving a Life Don’t Steal! Politics Bill Whittle Brit & Grit JOS Kruiser Nuke’s news Provide for the Common Defense Ricochet.com Right Aint Wrong Rosemary's Thoughts Scrappleface The Bosun The Patriot Post The Sage Vodka Pundit The Neighborhood Angie Coyote – Running Cause I Can't Fly CuriousC Daisy – the thinker Di Dustbury Fat Quarter (Sally) Joan of Fun Kanlaon kroniclife Mr. Manly Ms. B Pied Type Site Meter Squawkbox Noise Stapled Forehead Tech Tips from geeks To Be Me Touchstones Big Time Thanks! Sending Joy tribute 2996 2996′ers 911 tributes Let’s say thanks Writers & Poets Christine CJ Good at Getting Better Hippy Urban Girl One Voice Sarah – Simply Put sarah flanigan Writing & Poetry bloggy stuff Blog at WordPress.com. Theme: Vigilance by The Theme Foundry. Follow Follow “Writer Chick Talks” THE Basic premise in marketing is to create a demand for your product. One of the tricks of creating a demand is scarcity. The scarcer something is, the more valuable it will seem and presumedly the more people will be willing to pay for it. Think oil, gold and diamonds, for example. Scarcity also creates in some people a desire to have that scarce commodity whether because of wanting to feel different or better by having such a scarce substance or the desire to be seen as special and therefore possess more power than others.

How would you define SCARCITY?

400

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished). About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from hydroelectricity. New renewables (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuels) accounted for another 3% and are growing very rapidly.[1] The share of renewables in electricity generation is around 19%, with 16% of global electricity coming from hydroelectricity and 3% from new renewables.[2]

What is renewable energy?

500

6,840,507,003 - 2010

The world population is estimated to be approximately

MICROECONOMICDomain

100

Command, Market, Traditional and Mixed

What are the 4 different types of economies

300

A factor of overall unemployment that relates to the cyclical trends in growth and production that occur within the business cycle. When business cycles are at their peak, cyclical unemployment will be low because total economic output is being maximized. When economic output falls, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), the business cycle is low and cyclical unemployment will rise. Economists describe cyclical unemployment as the result of businesses not having enough demand for labor to employ all those who are looking for work. The lack of employer demand comes from a lack of spending and consumption in the overall economy.

How do you explain cyclical unemployment?

500

The basic formula for calculating the GDP is: Y = C + I + E + G where Y = GDP C = Consumer Spending I = Investment made by industry E = Excess of Exports over Imports G = Government Spending

How does one compute GDP?

Macroeconomics

100

The total marker value of all goods and services produced annually within the boundries of the US.

What is GDP

200

Gross National Product-GNP is a measure of a country's economic performance, or what its citizens produced (i.e. goods and services) and whether they produced these items within its borders.

What is GNP?

300

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam then joined on 7 January 1984, Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.

What is ASEAN

500

DAILY DOUBLE

DAILY DOUBLE

International/Global Economics

100

2.The study of the interaction of people with their environment.

What is ecology?

200

OPEC is a permanent intergovernmental organization of 12 oil-exporting developing nations that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its Member Countries.

What is OPEC?

300

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Canada. In terms of combined GDP of its members, as of 2010 the trade bloc is the largest in the world.

What is the NAFTA?

400

Monopolistic competition is a type of imperfect competition such that one or two producers sell products that are differentiated from one another as goods but not perfect substitutes (such as from branding, quality, or location). In monopolistic competition, a firm takes the prices charged by its rivals as given and ignores the impact of its own prices on the prices of other firms.

What is MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION?

500

The most accurate term used to describe the paper currency (dollar bills) circulated in the United States. These Federal Reserve Notes are printed by the U.S. Treasury at the instruction of the Federal Reserve member banks, who also act as the clearinghouse for local banks that need to increase or reduce their supply of cash on hand. This term is often confused with Federal Reserve Bank Notes, which were issued and redeemable only by each individual member bank, but phased out in the mid-1930s.

What is a Federal Reserve Note?

Personal Finance

100

A mutual fund that comes with a sales charge or commission. The fund investor pays the load, which goes to compensate a sales intermediary (broker, financial planner, investment advisor, etc.) for his or her time and expertise in selecting an appropriate fund for the investor.

What is a load fund?

200

Annual Percentage Rate

what is APR?

300

A type of security that signifies ownership in a corporation and represents a claim on part of the corporation's assets and earnings.

What is a share (of stock)?