Economic History
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History of Opportunity Cost: Be careful what you choose
In the late 19th century the Austrian economist Friedrich von Wieser is credited with conceiving and formalizing the concept of “opportunity cost”. Source Example: A good example of opportunity costs is in the synaptic pruning of our brain. From birth to age three the brain rapidly grows, increasing our synapses from approximately 2,500 to 15,000. However, by the time we reach adulthood, that number is cut in half. The reason for this reduction? As we gain new experiences, some brain connections are strengthened, while those we neglect are reduced or eliminated. The reality is, for everyone, that you cannot have it all; at least not everything all at once. Each…
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When was the World Wide Web Born?
First off, there is a distinction to be made between the internet and the World Wide Web. The internet has been around since the 1960s, though the average person wasn’t aware of its existence. Those utilizing its power back then were a few select professionals working in government and research. When the World Wide Web came along in 1989, it was the perfect time. It came about after the expansion of all the multitudes of interconnected networks and other infrastructure necessary to lay the foundation. Sir Tim Berners-Lee is responsible for inventing the World Wide Web. He was a British computer scientist. His creation of HTML, HTTP, and URLS opened up the…
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Alice M. Rivlin, Founding Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Dies at the Age of 88
Rivlin once described herself as, ” a professional critic of wishful thinking”. This critic of wishful thinking characteristic was an ideal trait for someone in charge of governmental purse strings; a perfect attribute for a budget official. Georgianna Alice Mitchell began life on March 4, 1931 in Philadelphia. She spent her childhood years primarily in Bloomington, Indiana. Her father, Allan C.G. Mitchell, was a physicist who helped develop the Atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. Her mother, Georgianna (Fales) Mitchell, was a national officer of The League of Women Voters. Alice was a Havard graduate and recipient of the Brookings fellowship. Her Ph.D dissertation was on Projecting Demographic…
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History of Opportunity Cost: Be careful what you choose
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The Great Recession
The Great Recession began in December 2007 and lasted eighteen months. This was the longest economic decline since The Great Depression of 1929 to 1941. The NBER defines an economic recession as: “a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.” According to Elizabeth Warren, United States Senator from Massachusetts, in the Sat 17 Sep 2016 article,” Elizabeth Warren is still mad about the financial crash, and we should be too,” there are facts about the recession that should not be ignored. Warren’s focus is primarily on the lack of…
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History of Opportunity Cost: Be careful what you choose
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One of the Largest Financial Frauds in United States History
Bernie Madoff was at once family man, trusted friend, business success story, and one of the most notorious Ponzi Scheme Kingpins in history. His scheme devastated the lives of thousands including his own family. By all appearances the Madoffs were to be envied. They flew in private jets living the high life of luxury, but the stability of their American Dream was fragile built upon the shifty foundation of fraud. The decades long gig was finally up, when Madoff was arrested on December 11, 2008. He was surprised by the FBI in the early morning hours, while still dressed in his pajamas. Upon hearing the big confession his sons did not wait,…
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Keynes Essay of Possibility
In John Maynard Keynes’ 1930 essay, Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren , he comments on the then current “prevailing world depression” and the general feeling of pessimism hanging as a dark cloud overhead. The cloud being filled with joblessness, soup lines, and in some cases, suicide, in response to sudden financial ruin. The aftermath of economic disaster was so tremendous that its destruction created The Great Depression. Keynes purpose in putting forth this essay was to look beyond the 1930 economic state of affairs, and past the present malaise, to future generations and what possibilities there could be for them. He believed that there were redeeming, underlying trends, buried beneath the rubble of the fallen financial structure; and that these trends pointed to a…
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History of Opportunity Cost: Be careful what you choose
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The History of Money
The objects of value that have served as forms of currency, have gone through considerable change over the past 10,000 years. We began with a barter system, where traded services and resources resulted in an agreed upon exchange of mutual advantage. In fact, individuals, organizations, and governments still prefer to use the barter system of exchange in some cases. In 9000 – 6000 B.C with agricultural based communities, cattle and other livestock (sheep, camels, etc.) are the first and oldest forms of money. The use of grain and other vegetable or plant products became standard forms of barter in many cultures. The first use of cowries, the shells of a…
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History of VA Home Loan Program
On October 26, 2012 the 20 Millionth VA Home Loan was purchased by the spouse of an Iraq War Veteran who passed away in 2010. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) home loan program first got its start as part of the GI Bill of Rights in June of 1944. The GI Bill, officially named the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, was established to provide benefits for those returning home after serving in World War II. Besides the government backed, low interest home loans, the bill also served to provide veterans with college scholarships. The legislation was of such immense influence it is credited with helping to establish the American middle class. Source: VA Website ,…
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Stock Market Crash of 1987
I was in my 20s and working for a small business owner on Black Monday, October 19, 1987. I did not own stocks. I was doing good just to get by on my modest income; this was before finishing college and gaining valuable work experience. My boss, on the other hand, was in a terrible mood that financially dark, historic day. It was blatently apparent that something had gone seriously awry to everyone who came across his path. He had heard the news. The stock market had spiraled downward dropping 508 points, or 22 percent. I don’t know how much he had invested, but from his fowl disposition it was substantial and he, of course, was not alone in this predicament. A predicament that had…
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History of Opportunity Cost: Be careful what you choose
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Ayn Rand’s Objectivism
by Research History In 1959, when Ayn Rand was relatively unknown, Mike Wallace conducted her first interview. This broadcast stirred up quite a controversy. The Russian-American philosopher and novelist called her philosophy Objectivism. Her beliefs seemed strange and extreme from an American’s point of view, but when you consider her experience as a Russian at the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917 it begins to make sense. When Rand was twelve, she and her family had their lives disrupted by the Bolshevik party under Vladimir Lenin. This resulted in the eventual confiscation of her father’s pharmacy and they were forced to flee to Crimea. Personal experience and cultural context are the staples…
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History of Opportunity Cost: Be careful what you choose
