Is Odd Future Taking Over the Music Scene?

Odd Future has been making headlines recently with their charged and sometimes racy lyrics. Rolling Stone recently reported that the group, comprising of multiple solo rappers, has decided to team up with Red Distribution and Sony to create their own record label: Odd Future Records. For months they have been using the internet to hype up their music, all while having some animosity. The hype they have created has generated an increase in demand for their music, which Odd Future puts online for free download. The free downloads (supply) from the group helps satisfy the demand for their music, but people are craving for more. Their music has also stirred up controversy for their very racy lyrics. This decreases the demand of some people who do not want to listen to such vulgar and demoralizing music. But there is still enough of a demand for Odd Future to make new music. By opening their own record label, they are giving themselves artistic domain over themselves, creating an environment for them to create whatever music they want without having to censor it. They can also distribute and produce albums at whatever price they want (as to satisfy the label to keep it afloat). This can help satisfy the demand of some who want hard copies of their music, but how long can they keep making racy music without talking about the same things over and over again? They have created the hype and demand of their music, but if they do not try to vary their music in some aspect, then they can personally decrease the demand of their music, which would lead to excess supply in the fact that they have all of these physical albums and t-shirts and whatnot, but no one to sell them too. Only time will tell to see if they can remain a hot commodity in the music business, or if they will forever be just a flash in the pan.

Caitlin Harrington

The Politics and Economics of a Falling Dollar

According to a recent article in the Washington post author Steve Pearlstein argues that national problems in the United States are really global finical crises in disguise. Pearlstein’s bold claim goes back to the restructuring of the world economy in the 1940’s, as Pearlstein notes after World War II and the collapse of previously dominate nations the United States and other nations were forced to restructure the world economy based upon the dollar. However the transferring of the dollar to foreign nations has allowed clever individuals to manipulate the value of the dollar and allows the United States to borrow beyond its means. The article also discusses the macroeconomic imbalance and disequilibrium created by Asian nations such as China, and Taiwan using the dollar as much of their currency. Furthermore Pearlstein argues that the dollar being the main base of currencies around the world is rooted in an old mindset beginning in World War I and ending after the Cold War. However as time passed European nations and Asian nations alike have been allowed to grow their economies creating disequilibrium in the international arena, and shifting the tide away from the United States previous influence. Pearlstein concludes noting that the dollar will decline the question is merely how fast and when. He notes that the United States national problems are actually related to growing influence internationally, other nations currencies have grown and some people are getting more creative on how they use a dollar.( unlike the United States). Feel free to post comments related to macroeconomics and the dollar.
Blake A.

The Tragedy of the Commons and Overfishing

According to a recent article in the Huffington post the World Trade Organization or WTO is currently working on fishing subsidies that would attempt to eliminate unfair and destructive fishing policies while allowing for fishers to have continued access to abundant resources. The WTO says that if the negations fail to make headway in the international arena it would not only affect global health and economic policies but would also undermine the policies that the WTO is working on in other areas. The WTO hopes to pass the regulations in 2011 as part of the Doha trade round, while the United States already supports some measures of reducing overfishing the WTO calls for more cooperation from U.S. ambassadors and political figureheads. The article sums up noting that the 153 countries that are part of the WTO need to be held responsible for their fishing policies and that the implications in such countries as China and Brazil could effectively help mitigate the environmental problems currently associated with overfishing. Feel free to discuss the implications of international cooperation in overfishing, is it possible? Also does the Tragedy of the Commons prevent any real change from occurring? Finally how do countries make decisions on a macroeconomic level with regards to international agreements?
Blake Andrews

America’s Comeback Cities

America’s economy was set back by the economic recession, but some cities took harder blows than others. However, some economists expect things to turn around as early as this year. Five cities, 4 of which are located in Tennessee and Florida, are projected to have the largest turnaround in 2011. The average unemployment rate of these cities is roughly around 10%, but that number is expected to drop throughout this year. Florida is relying on tourists to begin returning to the coast to increase profits in the hotel and restaurant industries. In return, these two industries should increase their work forces and lower unemployment rates. Tennessee is relying on two of their main auto plants, VW and Nissan, to hire more workers and increase production. These giant automobile factories employ a large labor force, which is very good for the economy. If more people have jobs, then more people will have money to spend, thus increasing revenue for corporations. Hopefully this sort of mindset will ripple out and other companies will begin hiring again. People are all expecting this year to be the turning point; let’s hope their right.

Matt Willis

Rebecca Black's "Friday"

It is hard to write about this topic without including phrases such as “worst singer ever” and “what did I just listen to?”, as well as taking a bitterly sarcastic tone throughout the entire blog post. However, based solely on facts alone, Rebecca Black’s song “Friday” has reached an insane amount of 120,000,000 views on Youtube, more than pop stars such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. What this says about our country and internet fads…well…I don’t know. But I do know that this girl has attracted more attention in just a couple months than some artists have spent years building up to or have never achieved. The video was posted on Youtube roughly two months ago by Rebecca’s production company called “Ark Music Factory”, where it quickly gained attention as “the worst song ever.” While the attention it received was predominately negative, it was enough to spark attention from big time artists, as well as interviewers and talk show hosts wanting to sit down with Rebecca and discuss the reaction to her song. As media attention grew, so did the number of viewers not only for Rebecca’s video, but for all other artists associated with Ark Music Factory. How is this affecting the economy you might ask? With all of these views, Black is having a serious affect on the music industry. Stars such as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry have given her attention, and famous bands have even taken to covering her song. There are also rumors that the show “Glee” will be covering her song on an upcoming episode. All this attention means big bucks for Ark Music Factory. The more attention Rebecca receives, the greater the demand becomes for her song. Sales of her song and covers of her song have shot up on Itunes, earning the production company an amount of money well in the millions…and the number is only climbing. With the continuous attention, demand will always be increasing. Rebecca also plans to release an EP, which, I’m sure, will earn big bucks from virtually everyone whom curiosity will get the better of.

Allie Armstrong

The Royal Wedding

With the Royal Wedding just around the corner (April 29th to be exact), everything from doughnuts to garden gnomes have been made in support of the marriage of William and Kate, attracting an abundance of media attention to the event that seemingly everyone will be watching. If you haven't heard about the Royal Wedding by now, it is safe to say that you must be living under a rock. An estimated 2 billion viewers worldwide are planning to watch the ceremony and festivities on Friday, serving as a cultural phenomenon that will bring together an abundance of nations. With the immense amount of media attractions comes business opportunities, of course! Businesses across the world have taken advantage of the excitement and created products such as Royal Wedding garden gnomes, Royal Wedding inspired cakes, Royal Wedding Ring Pops, Royal Wedding doughnuts, Royal Wedding pizza...even Royal Wedding beer. With all of these business opportunities, entrepreneurs are able to take advantage of the high demand for such goods and monopolize the amount they produce and the price they sell these goods for. These entrepreneurs are aided by the media, who have been successful in creating the frenzy that prompts people to shell out their money for all of the latest Royal Wedding gear. The demand for these goods will increase as the wedding approaches, allowing the producers to up the prices in the days prior to the wedding. However, much like World Series tickets that drop in face value after the first pitch is thrown, the demand for Royal Wedding gear will drop an exceeding amount after the wedding has taken place. Knowing this, producers should evaluate the amount supplied and plan accordingly.

Allie Armstrong

Can the Heritage be Saved?

The tough economic times are even hitting the golf courses. One of the most popular small PGA golf tournaments might have had its last final day on April 27^th. Verizon due to the tough times stepped down as the major sponsor almost a year ago, with them leaving The Heritage golf tournament has had limited funding, mainly from donations. It’s a victim of bad timing and the falling of the scale of the PGA tour’s economics.  With these golf tournaments, the whole point it to have it fully funded without any loans or having to pay more money after the tournament itself is finished. The viewers of this tournament has dropped, and without a lot of the big name players the interest for people to watch and sponsors to pay just isn’t there. This tournament use to be the huge tournament post-Easter right after the masters, but now without the demand from viewers is not even listed on the schedule online on the PGA’s website.  Even without the hype of this tournament there are still 37 players that were in the masters signed up to play in this event, five more than last year. They have had a few interests on sponsors but they aren’t willing to pay for a majority of it like Verizon was able to do, leaving loans as an option, but they do need money to pay those back. With no stability in the economic world big companies aren’t budging on who has to pay for what, they need their money because without it, they are barely surviving.

-Haley Mccrary

What's Coming to the Holiday Table

The cost of food is rising and according to this article, global famine, disaster, and war are to blame. Holidays are becoming more expensive now, for example Hershey’s chocolate Easter bunnies; according to this New York Times article Hershey’s stated that they have increased the cost of their merchandise by about 10%. But, its not just chocolate’s prices that are rising. Coffee and even cereal are becoming more pricey for the normal consumer. The cost of coffee is going to dramatically increase because of drought (resulting from climate change), which in turn will limit the supply of coffee to consumers. The big problem that we are about to face is not just those small luxury goods, but the prices of staple goods are also becoming higher. According to this article, “wholesale food prices rose 3.9% in February, the largest increase on record for one month since 1974.” Not just consumers in the U.S. are being affected by this sudden change in price, but consumers around the world. “The cost of food worldwide rose 37% from February 2010 to this year,” according to the United Nations. Meat prices are especially being hit hard this year, experts say that this year brisket at Passover is costing 17% more than it did last year. Manufacturers and producers must now figure out how to break this news to consumers. They say that there are only two options: charge more or sell smaller packages at the same price.

-Analisa