Category: News Stations

The Arizona Republic

Chris Frisby lost his job due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the economy. Soon after, he was evicted from his home and was sleeping on the street. One way to teach the importance of fiscal policy and minimizing implementation tags is to identify real people who can be helped through these policies. Targeted policies that can reach people quickly will help stave off the impact of recessions (or pandemics!) and allowed the economy to continue producing at a reasonable level.

Thanks to Bill Goffe for the clip recommendation.

0

60 Minutes — Changing Preferences

One of the common shifters of demand is changing tastes/preferences, but that is often taught as something beyond the control of firms. It’s often associated with fads or maybe new research, but firms can also adjust the tastes of their products to induce new preferences. This 60 Minutes segment looks at how companies are changing demand for their products by directly changing the product, or at least the perception of their product.

Thanks to John Kruggle for the submission!

0

John Stossel — Blue Laws

Blue Laws in the United States date back to Puritanical times when local governments wanted to ensure that people were in church on Sunday and observing the sabbath. Today, Blue Laws are a form of prohibition that limits the amount of time that businesses can sell profits. While most states have removed their blue laws, some still remain, like the inability to sell cars on Sundays or more extreme limitations like those in Bergen, NJ. This Stossel clips argues that the prohibition is a restriction of freedom for businesses that want to sell products.

0

CBS TV — Kennedy on the Labor Market & Unemployment

In a 1963 Labor Day interview with Walter Cronkite, President Kennedy discusses his position on handling the labor market of the United States with around 4 million unemployed (about 5.5% at the time). Kennedy notes that the growing labor force in the United States requires that if the US wants to “stand still,” they still need to move very fast. Kennedy’s main policy focus at the time was retraining workers who had been displaced by technology and making sure that significant amount of workers have the necessary education to handle the growing workforce.

Kennedy also speaks to the lost jobs in “hardcore unemployed” industries like coal and steel and how it’s important to make sure those workers are retrained because those workers are no longer needed. He then laments that there’s a different issue with older workers replaced by technology and younger workers who don’t have the education to handle that technology. Kennedy ends this portion of the interview with a very powerful quote about the fear of automation:

Too many people coming into the labor market, too many machines are throwing people out.

You can view the entire interview, courtesy of the Kennedy Presidential Library, on YouTube.

0

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — Two Jobs Gaffe

 

In an interview segment discussing the economy, primarily the unemployment rate, Ocasio-Cortez dismissed claims that the economy is strong because of a historically low unemployment rate because “unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs. Unemployment is low because people are working 60, 70, 80 hours a week and can barely feed their family.”

The issue with this claim is, namely, that the unemployment rate does not distinguish between the number of hours that people are working, nor the number of jobs they hold. While there are a narrow set of rules to be considered unemployed, only about 5% of Americans currently hold multiple jobs:

While politicians routinely make mistakes regarding the economy (1, 2), this gaffe is particularly note-worthy because Ocasio-Cortez holds a bachelors degree in economics from Boston University.

1

CBS Boston — Avoiding Price Discrimination

 

This CBS clip details ways families can avoid being subjected to price discrimination tactics by firm. CBS affiliates across the country started searching for different items around the country to see how varied the prices were. While customers may prefer to pay the same price (an argument for equity), firms can actually improve efficiency by practicing price discrimination.

0

KRON 4 — Online News in 1981

A look back at a 1981 news segment that covers the Internet and the eventual push to online media. At the time, 8 newspapers were currently part of the network delivering their daily news via this system. The “paper” included all text, but not images or classifieds. Near the end of the segment, they predict that nearly all news will be delivered electronically, but that the time would be a few years away. The segment closes with a look at a newspaper salesman who would potentially become structurally unemployed when the need for physical papers vanishes.

0

Tampa ABC — Rays Looking for New Stadium

 

When teams request public funding for new stadiums, they often do so with the threat of relocating to a city that is eager for a team. These credible threats must be without a team (either never having one or recently lost one) and are willing to put up the money to support a team. With a credible threat in place, host cities are often left with the option of paying large public subsidies.

0

Up ↑