Fighting Inflation

College Writing w/Ms. Rand 5/4/11

Fighting Inflation

            We have all heard stories like "I remember when a gallon of gasoline cost 23 cents," or "I used to be able to buy a loaf of bread for a dime," so we are all familiar with the idea that prices go up over time; what causes these price increases can be a little more difficult to grasp.  You have probably heard the term inflation correlated with these price increases, but what exactly is inflation, and how does it work?  Inflation is the term economists use to express the gradual rise in the prices of goods and services over time due to an excessive number of dollars being in circulation.  This can happen when the government prints too much money, or when it is too easy to borrow money; the three main strategies to fight this are raising interest rates, stopping the printing of money, and intentionally raising unemployment rates. 

            There are a couple of different things that can cause there to be too many dollars  in circulation: printing too much money and lax lending practices, or monetary policy (Friedman 264-66).  When the Department of the Treasury prints excessive amounts of money, which the government in turn uses to perform its various functions, it puts an additional amount of money into circulation without an actual demand for that money, causing the value of the money to drop (Sowell 389).  Loose monetary policy has essentially the same affect; when banks are given the ability to lend excessive amounts of money, it gives people and corporations additional money to spend, effectively putting additional money into circulation.  This excess of money changes the value of the dollar because of the affects of supply and demand. 

            Supply and demand is the idea that when there is more demand for a product than there is a supply of that product the price of that product is raised, and when there is a greater supply of a product than there is a demand for that product the price is lowered.  Say, for example, that you have the last ten oranges on the planet, and I have the last ten apples.  If we both wanted to trade one of our pieces of fruit with a third person who had 10 bananas, they would have approximately the same value to the seller of the bananas.  Now let's say that a warehouse has been discovered with 1000 new oranges in it.  It would now "cost" you a lot more of your oranges to acquire a banana while I could still trade one apple for a banana.  The value of the banana hasn't changed, as evidenced by my one apple still buying one banana.  What has happened is that with additional oranges in circulation they have become easier to acquire, making them worth less.  We can see this same effect all the time: priceless French paintings are "priceless" because they are so rare.  The same effects apply to antique cars.  Antique cars are actually increasing in value as they get older and become less available, because the demand for them far outweighs the supply.  When very few of something are available, people are willing to give up more to get it; if more of those things become available, and they become easier to get, people become willing to give less to get them.  The same laws of supply and demand apply to money; if an additional supply of money is available to purchase products, then the value, or purchasing power, of individual dollars will be lessened. 

            When there is excessive inflation, consumers can feel the effects of it every time they go to the grocery store or fill-up at the gas pump.  With a less valuable dollar, you have to give more of them to get the same amount of goods or labor, effectively cutting your salary by reducing its purchasing power.  Aside from the direct effects on consumers there are other, secondary, effects of inflation.  Businesses find that even though they are getting more money for their products, it is costing them more to make the products, and the money they get from selling their products buys them less labor to produce more products causing their actual profit to drop.  When a business' profits drop, they in turn end up either laying people off, raising prices more, or some of both.  This is all assuming moderate levels of inflation; for an example of what happens when inflation gets to the extreme we need only to look to post World War I Germany.  In 1920 it took 40 German marks to equal one dollar, but by 1923 it took over four trillion marks just to equal one dollar! (Sowell 395).  That meant that people's entire life savings would not have bought them enough food to eat for a single day. 

            Now that we know what inflation is and the devastating affects it can have on consumers, as well as entire economies, what can be done to halt inflation, or lessen the affects of it?  This can be a topic of great debate.  Several different strategies have been employed with varying degrees of success, but there are three main theories when it comes to dealing with high inflation.  The first of these theories centers around raising interest rates.  The idea is that raising interest rates would increase the flow of money back to banks.  Once the money is back in the hands of the banks, the Federal Reserve (or "Fed") gives the banks treasury bonds in exchange for the money (which can in turn be sold back to the Fed when they ease monetary policy in the future) bringing the money back into control of the Federal Reserve.  At this point, they can take the money back out of circulation, reducing the monetary base (Masci). 

            The second theory is that simply stopping, or slowing, the rate at which new money is printed would gradually and, in theory, less painfully curb the rate of inflation.  Proponents of this theory maintain that growth in economic output would eventually catch up with the amount of money in circulation so long as the amount of money does not continue to grow (Friedman 270-73).  Basically, what this means is that the prices of goods and services would essentially level off, or possibly even drop if production increases, while wages would gradually increase to match the new, higher, prices of goods and services. 

            The third and final theory, while widely held. is more controversial.  This theory is that higher rates of employment mean more people with money to spend, causing demand for products to go up.  This also means that the inverse would be true, raising the rate of unemployment means less people with money to spend therefore the demand for products would be reduced (Laffer 239-40).  This third theory is controversial for obvious reasons.  People are more hesitant to employ this strategy because of the potential political and social fallout of deliberately high unemployment rates, but the main premise is a widely held belief in economic circles. 
            Except for in very rare circumstances there is always a certain amount of inflation, and it is actually a fairly widely held belief that a low amount of inflation is even desirable, so why is it something that people should be concerned with and learn more about?  If people know how inflation works, and particularly what causes inflation rates to increase, they can see the warning signs ahead of time and prepare themselves for it before it happens.  The main thing the average person can do to prepare for high inflation rates is to buy ahead of time.  If there is something people know they are going to have to buy in the near future, and they see inflation coming, they can buy those things now before the prices of them are inflated.  That idea applies particularly well to food; food is one of the things that is hit first, and hardest when inflation rates are high, so stocking up on food when inflation rates are expected to be particularly high is a good way to prepare.  There are a number of other things people can do to prepare based on their resources, but they will not know to do them if they do not see the signs of inflation ahead of time.

Sources: 

Friedman, Milton, and Rose Friedman. Free to Choose. 1990 ed. 1980. San Diego: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1990. 253-75. Print.

Laffer, Arthur B., and Stephen Moore. Return to Prosperity. New York: Threshold Editions, 2010. 235-50. Print.

Masci, David. “The Federal Reserve.” CQ Researcher Online. N.p., 1 Sept. 2000. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://library.cqpress.com//.php?id=cqresrre2000090100&type=hitlist&num=1>.

Sowell, Thomas. Basic Economics. 4th ed. New York: Basic Books, 2011. 389-401. Print

Pearl Harbor and WWII VS. 9/11 and the War on Terror.

Composition II w/ A. Novinger 08/16/2011

Pearl Harbor and WWII VS. 9/11 and the War on Terror.

       Death was inevitable as the air crafts descended from the clouds; both on December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001 -leaving between 2,400 and 3,000 dead in each attack independently (History.com, 2011). Though there were similarities in the number of victims, the events were vastly different. While U.S. presence remained in greater Europe for three years and nine months before liberation occurred, the war on terror that began after the 9/11 attacks has continued for almost ten years and has shown minimal signs of withdrawal (Amarain, 2005). The United States was targeted for simply being American, but World War II was initiated in Germany by a charismatic dictator and helped boost the United States' devastated economy out of the Depression; whereas, the war that began in 2001 was initiated as a means of self-defense against a region that targeted the American people with little provocation and threw the economy into crisis. The United States' response to each attack, however, was pure vengeance.

         World War I left Europe in a vulnerable state; the economic and political instability provided a vital platform for Adolf Hitler. The United States was involved in internal political turmoil as well as working to recover from the Depression which left them, for the most part, unimpressed by the situation in Europe. America did not enter World War II until December 8, 1941, a day after the Japanese warplanes bewildered the U.S. people in an attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (History.com, 2011). The U.S. entry into the current war on terror occurred in a similar fashion after an extremist group known as Al-Qaeda also astounded the American people by absconding with four commercial airliners and successfully derailing them into three of their four intended targets. Though involvement in WWII was mainly an attempt to prevent Hitler from achieving his goals of world domination, the involvement of U.S. forces in the Middle East has ranged in purpose from hunting known Al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, to controversies over control of natural resources. The largest contrast between WWII and U.S. presence in the Middle East is the point at which the United States entered each war. WWII had been in full swing for nearly three years before America's leader, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, lead the country to war. After the attacks of 9/11 America's leader, President George W. Bush, declared war on terrorism and initiated conflict in the Middle East.

         Thought he political and economic ramifications of each war differed greatly, there were startling comparisons to be made. Steven Alan Carr, Ph.D. (2003) compared 9/11 survivors to those that survived the Nazi Concentration camps of the Holocaust by saying, "like those interned in concentration camps, Americans could not control what had happened to them, but they could control their response to it." Carr goes on to say that each tragedy is essentially independent and not reasonably comparable, "but they were tragedies of distinctly different meaning and magnitudes." The comparison is not between the number dead and the reaction  that ensued, but between the impacts of the racially driven nature of the events. While Hitler was working to create the perfect race though, Al-Qaeda's goal was to destroy the American people.

          WWII was a devastating war; however, the economy of the United States benefited and was able to recover dramatically from the Depression that had previously crippled a large percentage of American people. Economic response was, in fact, the most dramatically different aspect of the response to the individual attacks of Pearl Harbor and 9/11. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks the economy of the United States took a tailspin, having destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centers, which was the heart of the financial district of downtown Manhattan, NY, but was also home for numerous areas of national and international financial industry.

          Each attack was, in some regard, politically motivated, but had vastly different effects on the United States economy. America was blindsided on each occasion by other countries or regions that sought to provoke what has been called, "The Sleeping Giant" (PBS.org, 2003). With on war stimulating the U.S. out of the most desolating economic crisis in the country's history and another catapulting America back into comparable financial devastation, the economic repercussions of war were startlingly different. Through everything the numbers are still startling: over 3,000 dead and 10,000 wounded in the 9/11 attacks, and 2,400 dead and 1,200 injured at Pearl Harbor (History.com, 2011). Each even, 9/11 and Pearl Harbor, will remain emblazoned on American hearts and minds as attacks with devastating death tolls and catastrophic repercussions of war.

Sources:

Amarain. (2005). One big difference between Pearl Harbor/WWII and 9/11.

           http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/index.php?topic=39664.0

History.com/9-11. (2009-2011). 9/11 Attacks.

          http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks

History.com/Pear-Harbor. (2009-2011). This Day in History - Dec 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Bombed.

          http://www.hisotry.com/this-day-in-history/pearl-harbor-bombed

History.com/WWII. (2011). World War II.

          http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii

PBS.org. (2003). Pearl Harbor

          http://www.pbs.org/perilousfight/battlefield/pearl_harbor/

Steven Alan Carr, Ph. D. (2002-2003). American Holocaust.

          http://users.ipfw.edu/carr/writing/americanholocaust.htm

Tassava, C.J. (2010). The American Economy during World War II. Economic History Association

          Retrieved from http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/tassava.WWII

Invasion of Privacy Through Cell Phones

Composition II with A. Novinger 08/08/2011

Invasion of Privacy Through Cell Phones

         Cell phones have provided a huge convenience to many people over the world. Just from 2006 to 2008 the percentage of cell phone owners in the United States jumped from 77% to 89% (Cellular-News, 2008). The increase in cell phone usage in the U.S. has increased the government's availability to access our private lives. After the devastation of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the government has devised multiple tactics to micro-manage its citizens through the use of technology such as the cell phone. The technological advancements of the cell phone, the internet, and their respective providers has provided legally unprotected ground for consumers. Through carefully hidden privacy policies many companies have protected themselves by not so obviously disclosing that they'll be spying on their customers. From email services storing our private messages to the president of the United States screening our calls it seems that our privacy isn't as secure as we once thought it was.

         In 2006, it was discovered that the Bush administration was eavesdropping on cell phone calls within the U.S. Several attempts to stop the eavesdropping by the government have failed. It was taken to the Supreme Court in 2008, and that became the second court to throw out the case. President Bush had been quoted previously as saying he would continue eavesdropping U.S. calls regardless of the outcome of court rulings. Cell phone companies have actually been provided with immunity to work with the government in this endeavor (ACLU.org, 2009).

          Within the terms and conditions of many cell phone companies they state that they reserve the right to track their customer's activity. Of the privacy policies reviewed, AT&T is the only copmany that clearly states their reasons for monitoring activity; they have a promise to their consumers to avoid confusing legal language (AT&T, 2011). Sprint and other companies simply state that they have the right to monitor, track, and store all activity on any device they sell (Sprint, 2011). Many companies hide behind legal vocabulary to avoid the conflict of explaining what they are really doing. Many of these companies are legally protected by stating in this legal language what their intentions are although most of their consumers will never read nor understand it.

          Companies other than cell phone providers are also invading the privacy of consumers. Google and all affiliated products are covered by widely controversial privacy policies (Google,  2010). Within the policy of Google they reserve the right, just as many cell phone providers do, to monitor activity conducted using their services. These companies are storing information and have admitted to disclosing it to the government. All of the aforementioned companies are invading our constitutional rights of free speech and can also be considered an invasion of our 4th Amendment rights against illegal search and seizure.

          Although AT&T can, for the most part, be trusted while many other companies cannot, sprint and Google clearly state their intentions for monitoring and storing our private activity. The United States government has offered immunity to these companies as long as they are willing to work with their less than ethical practice of monitoring that activity of the U.S. population. It can be clearly stated that the effect of the increase of cell phone usage has allowed cell phone companies and other companies to work with the U.S. government to invade our privacy.

Sources:

ACLU. (2009). http://www.aclu.org/print/national-security/aclu-v-nsa-challenge-illegal-spying

AT&T. (2011). AT&T privacy policy.
          http://www.att.com/gen/privacy-policy?pid-2506

Cellular-News.com. (2008). Cell Phone Usage Continues to Increase in the USA.
          http://www.cellular-news.com/story/30323.php

Google.com (2010). Google privacy policy.
         http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacy-policy.html

Sprint. (2011). Sprint privacy policy.
          http://www.sprint.com/legal/privacy.html?INTNAV=ATG:FT:Privacy

The Evolution of the Legend of Zelda

Composition I with A. Novinger - July 26, 2011

The Evolution of the Legend of Zelda

          "Since 1987 The Legend of Zelda has sold more than 52 million units worldwide," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications (Zelda to debut, 2007). From its original debut on the Classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to its most recent announcement for the Nintendo 3DS the legend of Zelda has evolved from an 8-bit wonder to a 3D phenomenon. The industry of gaming was revolutionized with the initial introduction of the main character, Link, and has continued to set the bar through two and a half decades of sword slashing, rupee collecting, and princess rescuing fun. Each introduction of Nintendo gaming systems have brought with them advancements in the legend's story as well as cutting edge technology for interactive game play.

         Nintendo's technological advancements erupted in 1985 when the Classic NES redefined gaming. The 8-bit wonder of the NES was dwarfed by the arrival of the first Game Boy system in 1989. "Since its introduction in 1989, Game Boy has sold well over 150 million systems worldwide." (Nintendo - Company History, 1985-2011). Introduced in 1991, the Super NES (SNES) eventually reached over 49 million sales.

         Again the technology of the future out shined that of the past when the 16-but marvel of the SNES was replaced by the 64-bit innovation of the Nintendo-64 and the Game Boy Pocket in 1996. Expounding upon the technologies of previous hand held systems the 2001 Game Boy Advance introduced a bigger and better version of the original Game Boy, and eventually reached sales in the tens of millions worldwide (Zelda.com, n.d.). Continuing to build upon previous systems the GameCube replaced and improved upon the previous N64 system. 2003 introduced another advancement in the Game Boy family by making the same system of the Game Boy Advance smaller, lighter, and collapsible "...to become truly pocket portable." (Nintendo - Company History, 1985-2011).

          Since the introduction of the newest Game Boy system in 2003 there has additionally been the introduction and advancement of the Nintendo DS. The DS Lite was introduced in 2006 (the same year as the Wii's wireless technology) and was expounded upon with upgrades to the DS XL and finally the 3DS. This new wave of technology brought with it wireless game play and touch screen interaction.
         The Legend of Zelda was first introduced on the Classic NES in 1987 and was adapted to the Game Boy Advance in mid-2004. In the first adventure Zelda is abducted by an evil king, Ganon, and Link (the player) is responsible for rescuing her by way of collecting all of the pieces of the shattered Triforce of Wisdom. The 8-bit NES version was the first game of its kind to allow the player to walk freely through an open screen, which was an innovation in comparison to the classic side-scrolling game play experienced with The Mario Bros. and other similar games of their time. Free to roam where he may, Link faces enemies coming from all directions. Step by step he collects rupees to buy armor and solve puzzles to win prizes by throwing bombs at rocks, burning bushes, and pushing levers.This classic version of one of the most popular and lucrative games in Nintendo's history set a standard for game play that leaves children of the 80's and 90's captivated by reminiscence.
          The legend continued with Zelda II: The Adventure of Link introduced originally in 1988 on the NES and later in 2004 on the Game Boy Advance. This game play reverted back to the classic side scrolling platform and was less popular than its predecessor, but set up the RPG format that all proceeding Zelda games would follow. Armed with a sword, shield, and green tunic the adventure continues again as a sorcerer curses Princess Zelda, and Link races off to solve more puzzles and collect shards of a Magical Crystal in order to wake the princess.
          With the introduction of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) Link continues his legend of rescuing the Princess Zelda from the clutches of evil. Ganon is back from his dark prison and Link must find a way to send him back to the Dark World. Though remarkably more advanced than the original game this 16-bit evolution was short lived, and the SNES was soon dwarfed by further system advancement. The story of the escape of Ganon and his journey back to the Dark World is little known in comparison to its more prominent story counterparts and more successful systems.
          The Game Boy systems created worlds of their own and encompassed the stories of Link's Awakening (1993 and 1998), Oracles of Ages (2001), Oracle of Seasons (2001), The Minish Cap (2005), and a revitalized version of the original Legend of Zelda (2004). Link hits the high seas to bring peace to the Koholint Island, travels 400 years into the past to come head on with a dark sorceress, battles the seasons to destroy Onox and restore peace, and explore the tiny world of the Minish with the use of a magical cap. Players are tossed into the whirlwind of the classic puzzle solving green clad recruit in a handheld console monopoly.
          Within the years of 1998 and 2000 the Nintendo 64 system gave us a 64-bit evolution and with it we gained two of the most memorable stories in the Legend of Zelda legacy. Ocarina of Time ventures between the past, present, and future to help Link unwind the evil that Ganondorf, the King of the Gerudo Thieves, and bring Hyrule from a barren wasteland back to its lush green nymph-inhabited land. In addition to normal gape play, six of the characters in Ocarina of Time are named after towns in  Zelda II as homage to the history of the Legend. Majora's Mask builds up the suspense to allow only 72 game hours to stop a suicidal moon from crashing into the world and stop the Skull Kid from letting havoc reign (Zelda.com, n.d.). Time travel is again a large part of the story line to allow the player to utilize the minuscule amount of game hours allotted by  turning back the clock.
         The GameCube as a system was a wash for the Nintendo empire, but allowed epic advancement in the Legend of Zelda graphic technology. This system introduced a graphic technique known as cel-based graphics, which presented a more realistic cartoon feel (Moore, n.d.). Though the GameCube system was not entirely successful due to the competition with the Game Boy Advance that was released the same year, the technological advancements were pivotal in later, more advanced, versions of the Legend of Zelda.
          Wii's wireless console remote technology took our favorite green-clad forest nymph to a whole new level, and introduced the ability for Link to transform into a wolf during game play. The weapon maneuverability during combat created a more realistic interaction with Link in The Twilight Pricess (2006) and Link's Crossbow Training (2007).Wii also made available the Classic NES games for the first time since their replacements to newer systems; not having access to the original NES system was no longer a problem due to advancements in downloading the original Legend of Zelda  from the Wi-Fi internet adaptations of the Wii.
          The most recent technological marvel of the Nintendo empire introduced us to the same Legend of Zelda name while introducing us to Phantom Hourglass (2007) and Spirit Tracks (2009) on the DS system, and Ocarina of Time and Link's Awakening (2011) on the 3DS system. Spirit Tracks takes a new approach to the age-old story in introducing a locomotive as a means of transportation where in the past Link has traveled by horse or foot. The innovation of the story in Spirit tracks changes the dynamic of rescuing Princess Zelda by separating her from her body and having her spirit traveling with Link in the adventure to rescue her body.
          In all adventures there are key points that remain the same and have stayed true to each addition of the family of The Legend of Zelda games. Each game has various levels to complete, new weapons to find, new puzzles to solve, and a princess to rescue. Along with the main points of the adventure remaining the same, the main concept designer has also remained the same. Joining the Nintendo empire in 1977, Shigeru Miyamoto was the main force behind The Legend of Zelda and its subsequent sotry additions. His most notable titles, aside from The Legend of Zelda, were Donkey Kong, and Super Mario Bros. Along with his two other more notable games The Legend of Zelda has marketed over 271 million unit sales worldwide as of 2005 (Hall, 2005).
          From its 8-bit roots in 1987 to its more modern 3D achievements in 2011 the evolution of The Legend of Zelda has been a 25 year gaming legacy that will be difficult to top. Each introduction of Nintendo gaming systems have brought with them advancements in the legend's story as well as cutting edge technology for interactive game play. With all of the advancements there have been in the last 25 years it will be thrilling to see what the next 25 years have to offer.

SOURCES:
Hall, K. (2005, Nov 14). Gaming's grand master. Business Week, (3959), 24-25. Retrieved from
          http://search.proquest.com/docview/236726413?accountid=131689


Moore, C (n.d.). Retrieved from eHow.com:
          http://www.ehow.com/facts_5335913_zelda-games-gamecube.html

Nintendo - Company History. (1985-2011). Retrieved from Nintendo.com:
          http://www.nintendo.com/corp/history.jsp

Zelda.com (n.d.). Retrieved from Zelda.com:
          http://www.zelda.com/universe/game/

Zelda to debut on Nintendo DS in October. (2007). Wireless news, , 1. retrieved from:
         http://search.proquest.com/docview/210119673?accountid=131689

The Adventures Of A Weary Mind

It has been years that I have been writing blogs. Within those years the words I typed with feverish disdain were personal and intro-reflective. In an effort to expand my experiences I have decided to write a blog that has little to nothing to do with me.
If you are interested, read on. The first few posts will be added within the next week and will be copies of college papers on various topics. From there I will continue to draft similarly formed ideas and arguments for your reading fancy.
Enjoy. Comment. Follow.