Trip to Washington D.C.

This weekend I made a trip to Washington D.C. with a group on campus. While in Washington, I found many things that related to Economics Class. The first thing that I realized was the opportunity cost of making the trip. The trip fell on THON weekend, and I was unable to partake in any of the events. I feel that my choice was the correct choice for me, although my next best alternative would have been THON. I also noticed that all of the food in D.C. was very expensive. A meal at Subway cost me $8.00, when I can purchase the same meal in my hometown for a little over $5.00. This situation is a result of supply and demand. In D.C. there is a much higher demand for food, then there is in rural Wellsboro. It is also a result of the higher cost of living. I noticed that there are vendors on the street that sell, not quite genuine products. The fake Prada purses typically start somewhere around $15.00. It is somewhat easy to haggle the price down to at least $12.00. This is an example of consumer and producer surplus, I would be willing to pay the entire $15.00 for the cute purse, but I only have to pay $12.00, the vendor would most likely be willing to sell for $10.00 but sells the purse at $12.00. On the streets of D.C., you also have the "vendors" that sell the stolen goods, such as watches. This is an example of the black market. Here the goods are stolen and sold at the true market value. The "vendors" get what the consumers are acutally willing to pay. Another example of supply and demand is the price of gas. As we took the trip back home, I noticed how gas prices fluxuated. There seemed to be a trend that in lower populated, more rural areas, the gas prices were higher. This seemed to occur because there was a more limited supply of gas stations. This left the gas stations with less competition and it was much easier for the them to set a higher price.

Japanese Cotton

In the article, "Art in Review; 'Japanese Country Textiles'", the author describes textiles that were produced pre-World War II. The textiles are work coats, jackets, and futon covers, that were used by famers, fishmen, and workers. The textiles are made from cotton, a scarce item in Japan. Since cotton was a scarcity it made the common everyday coats and jackets, that common everyday people wore, into items worthy of show. As we learned in class, a good is scarce if it takes time, energy, or money to acquire it. In Japan, it is very hard to acquire cotton, it requires all three aspects; time, energy, and money, making it a scarce good. The textiles were mended to extend the wear, and used to their full extent, but even so, they are an item worthy of show. Ater World War II, trade with America, opened new doors for Japan. They now had acess to cotton, and the good was more readily available. Since cotton was now available, anything made after World War II is not valued nearly as high as the pre-World War II textiles. Cotton became less scarce, and changed the way that the country vauled the textiles. The new acess to cotton significantly lowered the value of any cotton textile produced after World War II.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE2DC1E30F937A15751C1A9629C8B63