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.
