Archive for the 'Microeconomics' Category

Philanthropy Paradox

Monday, September 5th, 2016 by Abbas

Educational philanthropy is a prime example of human generosity and the will to help others. It is especially fruitful when geared into the education and productivity of the youth, and it perhaps seems luring as a break-down of the cynical premise of ‘rationality’ that is the life-blood of conventional economics.

But can good-natured, well-intentioned philanthropy not do the good it is meant to do? Could it even lead to elitism and inequality? Could it be… harmful? On the surface, one is inclined to say no (especially as a donor), but a deeper look is warranted:

(more…)

Competition and Living Standards: the Moroccan Software Engineer

Friday, February 26th, 2016 by econ-network

For this story about the effect of economics in one person’s life, we thank guest author Elena Fernandez Prados for sharing an extract from her new book, Economics through Everyday Stories from around the World. ISBN 978-1523296415

Rachid Benchekroun is a software engineer from Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city. Rachid works for a technology company developing computer games and lives in an elegant villa around the corniche (waterfront promenade), one of Casablanca’s fanciest neighborhoods. But life has not always been easy for Rachid, and at the age of twenty-five, he feels that he has come a long way in life.

Rachid grew up in Casablanca’s suburbs, in a small one-bedroom apartment that he shared with his parents, his three siblings, and two of his cousins from the village. Abdel Karim, Rachid’s father, was a mechanic, while his mother, Fatima, was a homemaker. From an early age, Rachid learned the value of hard work. He attended school in the mornings and helped his father in the garage in the afternoons, oiling engines and pumping tires. At night, Rachid did his school homework diligently under a kerosene lamp. “Study hard, young boy,” his father often reminded him, “for it is the only way that the son of a mechanic from Chefchaouen can become someone in life.” (more…)

Demand and Supply

Friday, February 3rd, 2012 by eoghan

Ever wondered why demand and supply are so important? Wonder no more …

What makes you happy?

Monday, October 3rd, 2011 by Anh

This is probably my final blog post…

What is happiness? I don’t think anyone can pinpoint the definition of this word because there are so many ways to be happy. One thing for sure, happiness is not proportional to the amount of wealth in one’s possession. In fact, we can be happy from very simple things that are given to us. For me, happiness comes from the ability to appreciate what you have. Coming from this perspective, being well-off sometimes just doesn’t do the good. Well, this is the case with me at least.

When I first came to Ukraine, my family didn’t have much money. We were living in a very small two-room flat. My dad was finishing his PhD thesis, so we had to live off the money he had earned before that. It was difficult, but during the first summer my dad would still drive the whole family to the local McDonalds to buy the cheapest ice-cream they had on offer: vanilla cone that back then cost around 20p. My sister and I would have one ice-cream each because that was all my parents could afford. Looking back, those were the happiest days in my life. Now my family is in a much better position; my parents can afford to send me to England to study and I have Häagen-Dazs instead, but all these are not necessarily as valuable as the vanilla cones I had when I was nine. I definitely appreciated everything I had more back then.

Luckily, we can use economics to explain the phenomenon of happiness. (more…)

The World Question Centre 2011

Monday, January 24th, 2011 by Anh

My colleague Martin sent me a rather interesting link to EDGE World Question Centre 2011. I found two particular articles on Positive-Sum Games and The Law of Comparative Advantage interesting. Below are the links to them:

Stephen Pinker answers “What scientific concept would improve everybody’s cognitive toolkit?” with “positive-sum games”

Dylan Evans answers “What scientific concept would improve everybody’s cognitive toolkit?” with “The Law of Comparative Advantage”

Hope you all enjoy reading this :D

Economics in one picture

Monday, March 15th, 2010 by econ-network

Is this economics explained in one picture?

Who would you give the iPod to?

Hat tip @gregmankiw