When answering the questions below, be sure to be as detailed as possible. The purpose of this assignment is to develop your critical thinking skills in regards to economics and your communication skills. Questions should be answered in paragraph form, using proper grammar and sentence structure. When supporting your position, uses examples from work, school or other areas of your life to illustrate your point. Remember, do not simply cut and paste from a website etc, as this can be construed as plagiarism.
Freakonomics Core Competencies Questions
Answer all sub-questions in Q1 through Q5, below.
Chapter 1
1. (REQUIRED) Explain how the imposition of a fine for tardy parents at a day care center may have altered the motivations of these parents. Given what was found, what would you do or have done to improve the situation? Would your solution solve the problem or would it create other motives for the parents? What is an incentive? How does it relate to the study of economics?
Chapter 2
2. (REQUIRED) The authors state that one of the biggest strength at the disposal of the Ku Klux Klan involved “information asymmetries. Explain what is meant by the term “information asymmetries” and give examples of information asymmetries we encounter in everyday life. Explain how such innovations as the Internet have affected the prevalence of information asymmetries.
Chapter 3
3. (REQUIRED) Sudhir Venkatesh – a PhD student – took his life in his hands by walking into a low income, traditionally violent neighborhood, to do a research project. He came out (alive) with much more. In the process of interacting with the inhabitants, he became involved with a drug-dealing gang. After many months he learned some valuable lessons in Economics (even if they were of a dubious nature). So, with that in mind, I’ll ask you the same question the authors asked. Why DO drug Dealers Still Live with their Moms?” Explain the economic impact of doing “business” in the illegal drug trafficking ‘industry”. Who makes the money? Where does it go? And, what is the impact on the basic “worker”. Use the Laws of Supply and Demand as well as the principles we’ve learned so far, including opportunity cost and price v. quantity.
Chapter 4
4. (REQUIRED). Provide at least three reasons why crime actually dropped when the experts were so certain it would do the opposite. In the process, provide your thoughts on which of those three potential reasons you feel had the biggest impact and why (remember to support your answer with strong economic principles).
Chapter 5
5. (REQUIRED) What is “fear mongering” and why are parents so susceptible to it? What market forces give rise to parenting books that appeal to a parent’s fears and inadequacies rather than books which present an objective and evenhanded articulation of the state-of-the science of good parenting? According to the data developed from the ECLS, what is more important regarding a child’s success on standardized tests: what a parent does for a child or what a parent is? In your opinion, what might be an explanation for such a strange conclusion?
