Econ 490 Fall Joan Robinson

I was originally a mathematics major and switched to economics my sophomore year. I have always loved math and after taking some economics courses I realized I wanted to switch majors.   Economics would give me more opportunities in the work force and a mathematics major would have been more limited. I believe giving myself more options career wise with my degree is a form of self-protection.   I will have more opportunities to different jobs and this reduces my probability of being unemployed after college. Additionally, on campus I am involved with the service fraternity on campus for a few reasons. First, I am passionate about volunteering my time to help others who need help. My parents taught me an appreciation for what I have and that volunteering is extremely important. The second reason, is that volunteer is an important aspect of a resume. I believe employers want to see that a person has volunteer experience. This also goes towards the candidate’s character. In ...

The concepts we have blogged about so far are organizations, opportunism, teams, and transfer prices. These concepts we have addressed in our posts connect to one another greatly. Organization and teams are very similar. They both consist of groups of people that have a common goal or mission. Teams commonly exist in organizations at different levels. Teams however, lack a manager, which is a key player in an organization. Teams can have leaders, but I would argue there is a difference between the two. Managers are found in a professional setting and usually are appointed by higher ups in the company. Leaders of a team usually run for or apply for their position. In relation to organizations and teams, opportunism can be found frequently throughout the groups. Opportunist team members can negatively or positively affect the other members of the group, but if their opportunism positively impacts the organization or team then it could be a benefit. Although, good citizens are thought to...

The implementation of “Illinibucks” on campus would be an interesting concept. We are under the assumption that the campus sets the price of the “Illinibucks”, so I would argue a few things come into pay to determine the price. I’m sure they consider how many students are enrolled (including undergrad and graduate students), the value of what the bucks are used for or the demand, and the cost to transfer over to the new system. It is left up to interpretation, how the “Illlinibucks” are monitored and distributed. There are many different forms of distribution that could be practiced here, like at the beginning of the semester, beginning of the year, or throughout the semester. If the students had the opportunity to get more “Illinibucks” throughout the semester, then they would feel less stress to hold on to them. In contrast, If the bucks are distributed at on a single time basis for the semester or year, students might feel the need to hold onto them. In addition, it is importan...