Scot Wick Blog

  Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 9 The Real Economy in the Long Run Chapter 28 of 36 Unemployment Section 8 of 21 ... Why do economies experience unemployment? In most markets prices adjust to bring quantity supplied and quantity demanded into balance, so there is no surplus nor shortage of supply. In the labor market the surplus of supply is unemployed people. In an ideal labor market, wages would adjust to balance the quantity of labor supplied and the quantity of labor demanded. This wage adjustment would ensure all workers are always employed. Even when the overall economy is strong there are always some unemployed workers, the unemployment rate never drops to zero. Rather, it fluctuates around the natural rate of unemployment, per Figure 2a. ... We will discuss four explanations for long-run unemployment: -1- frictional unemployment -2- minimum wage laws -3 - unions and collective bargaining -4- efficiency wages Frictional unemplo...

  Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 9 The Real Economy in the Long Run Chapter 28 of 36 Unemployment Section 7 of 21 … Measuring the economy’s unemployment is not a straightforward task. For example · it is easy to distinguish between a person with a full-time job and a person who is not working at all · it is not easy to distinguish between an unemployed person and a person not in the labor force ... People commonly move into and out of the labor force. More than a third of the unemployed are recent labor force entrants. These recent entrants include · young workers looking for first jobs, e.g. recent college graduates · older workers who left the labor force previously but have now returned to look for work Not all unemployment ends with the job seeker finding a job. Almost half of unemployment periods end when the unemployed person leaves the labor force. ... Because people often move into and out of the labor force, unemployment stati...

  Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 9 The Real Economy in the Long Run Chapter 28 of 36 Unemployment Section 5 of 21 … Figure 3 – Labor Force Participation Rates This shows the percentage of adult men and women in the U.S. labor force. In recent decades the percentage for women has gone up and for men has gone down. (Figure 3a includes recent years data). … Women's role in American society and economy has greatly changed over the past century. Commentators have identified many causes for this change, including · new technologies, such as the washing machine, clothes dryer and dishwasher, which have reduced the time required for household tasks · improved birth control, reducing the number of children in the family · changing political and social attitudes, which have been affected by the advances in technology and birth control ... Figure 3 shows labor-force participation rates of men and women in the U.S. since 1950. In the early 1950s o...

  Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 9 The Real Economy in the Long Run Chapter 28 of 36 Unemployment Section 5 of 21 … Figure 2 – Unemployment Rate Since 1960 This graph uses annual data on the U.S. unemployment rate to show the percentage of the labor force without a job. The natural rate of unemployment is the normal level of unemployment around which the unemployment rate fluctuates. (Figure 2a includes recent years data). … The labor market data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics help economists and policymakers evaluate on-going changes in the economy. Figure 2 shows the economy always has some unemployment and the unemployment rate constantly changes. The normal rate of unemployment around which the unemployment rate fluctuates is called the natural rate of unemployment. Deviation of unemployment from natural rate is called cyclical unemployment. The natural rate of unemployment is estimated by Congressional Budget Office e...

  Fumiko Scot's information: Weight at 166 pounds, got to 160 pounds five years ago and have recently been bouncing between 163 and 168. Common sense ways to lose and keep off weight are eat right and light and get lots of exercise. Main exercise is walking, do 1~2 miles most days. Over career worked as a salesman in the steelmaking, fasteners, and auto manufacturing industries, lots of travel in U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Japan. Have visited every U.S. city with a major league, MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, sports team except Sacramento, have gotten as close as Travis Air Force Base. Often traveled on Sundays, much time on the road so could not eat right and get enough exercise so got heavy, up to 200 lbs. Was on commission and made enough to retire early, able eat good food and get enough exercise. Now spend most time reading and writing. Our Wick branch goes back to the brother of owner of the Wick House at Morristown National Historical Park in Morristown New Jersey, and on back to Staine...

  “The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.” - William James “All experience has shown mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” - Thomas Jefferson “Wherever good fortune enters, envy lays siege and attacks it. And when it departs, sorrow and repentance remain behind.” - Leonardo da Vinci “Struggle is the indispensable accompaniment of progress. If men were entirely social, man would stagnate. A certain alloy of individualism and competition is required to make the human species survive and grow. Without qualities of an unsocial kind men might have led an Arcadian shepherd life in complete harmony, contentment, and mutual love. But in that case all their talents wou...