The Auto Industry Post

I am one of the biggest automotive fans in the world.  If  I could own my own company, it would be a company that creates super cars.  The auto industry has suffered in recent years.  It hurts to see companies such as Ford, Chevy, and GM suffer in such proportions in Detroit.  The auto industry seems to be doing better now though!! Yes, Ford has had many stock market problems, but they are recovering slowly but surely.  I actually like the job that wikipedia does in describing the General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization.  This reorganization is actually helping the company in the short run.  These policies and plans that are being used to recreate these automotive companies are a positive and will help the hurting industry in many ways!

Interesting Statistics on the Automotive Industry

http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iagauto.htm

Very good blogging site for people interesting in the super cars industry!!

http://www.autoblog.com/

Annotated Bibliography

Bibliography

“Daytona 500 not Immune from Recession’s Squeeze”

Empty seats for NASCAR's biggest race? Braig, the Daytona track operator, states that Daytona has sold roughly 110,000 of the track's 168,000 seats, and that he's expecting a full house on the day of the Daytona 500.  This lack of interest of tickets was shown on the date of January 11th, only one month before the country’s biggest NASCAR race.  Braig and his staff watched as Walt Disney World in Orlando awarded free nights at its hotels, as the NFL lowered ticket prices by 10 percent, as the recent Dolphins-Ravens playoff game in Miami featured a multitude of empty seats. In a crowded and competitive Florida entertainment market, Daytona couldn't stand still.  The article also mentions how other track facilities are considering lowering the prices and the market leaders in Daytona are starting to take the same approach.  

David Caraviello.“Daytona 500 not Immune from Recession’s Squeeze.” NASCAR.com. January 11, 2009. NASCAR. <http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/headlines/cup/01/11/daytona.500.tickets/>

“NASCAR and the Recession - Is This the Beginning of the End for Racing”

We all know that the Recession is taking its toll on sports worldwide. Perhaps no sport is being hit as hard as motor sports around the globe.  However, no sport is being hit as hard as Nascar because there is no sport that is, at its core, as tied to the American auto industry.  Sponsors are starting to pull out of the sport because they do not have enough sponsorship money to put their decals on the car.  With the lack of sponsorship in the sport due to recessionary times, there is a risk of the sport failing in the future.  Nascar has just as much riding on the White House bailout discussions as does GM and if I were Brian France, the Nascar CEO, I would be very, very worried right now.  

“NASCAR and the Recession - Is This the Beginning of the End for Racing” blogger.com. December 17, 2008. Blogger. <http://thesportsbizblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/nascar-and-recession-is-this-beginning.html> 

“For NASCAR , Clouds of Recession are Starting to Part”

There is a brutally competitive atmosphere for sponsorship. Some teams will steal sponsorship right from under the feet of another.  Let's face it, whether the deal you're doing is big or small, there's a lot of value in that. They tend to cost a pretty decent sum of money, whether it's half a million dollars or $5 million, whatever it may be.  There are corporations right now that are sitting on billions of dollars. They are gun shy right now because they don't know what the tax rules are going to be.  NASCAR is still a phenomenal place to market. But there are just still way too many questions out there that need to be answered relative to what the administration will do.

David Caraviello. “For NASCAR, Clouds of Recession are Starting to Part.” NASCAR.com. November 3, 2010. Inside NASCAR. <http://www.nascar.com/2010/news/features/11/03/inside-nascar-optimism-sponsorships/index.html>

“5 Ways to Fix NASCAR”

NASCAR's tightest title battle in 18 years took place three months ago, yet it was hard to find the electricity at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  NASCAR has spent the past three seasons trying to inject excitement on the track, and it resulted last year in records for green-flag passes, average lead changes and leaders per event.  There are five ways to fix the current NASCAR problem.  NASCAR needs to try and get the younger crowd back.  They need to bring back the “It” factor and bring back the “basics” of NASCAR.  They also need to make the season shorter.  Finally, NASCAR needs to discover a new working-class hero.  

Nate Ryan. “5 ways to Fix NASCAR.” USA Weekend. February 20, 2011. USA Today. < http://www.usaweekend.com/article/20110218/ENTERTAINMENT07/102200315/5-Ways-fix-NASCAR>

“Daytona Drag: NASCAR Tries to Outrace the Recession”

This article focuses on how NASCAR should rev up its popularity during the Recession.  Many of the drivers on the current circuit are considered very boring and stale.  NASCAR needs to get back to its roots of crazy and interesting drivers who express their opinions at every chance they are given.  With manufacturer problems present in Detroit, the introduction of more commercial time is presently at a stand still. Sponsorships are being dropped and revenue is being lost during this Recessionary period.  What can NASCAR do to stop it?

Sean Gregory. “Daytona Drag: NASCAR Tries to Outrace the Recession.” Time.com. February 12, 2009. <http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1879136,00.html> 

“Top 5 Issues Facing NASCAR” 

There are currently five major issues in NASCAR.  There is currently a lack of sponsorship seen in NASCAR from team to team.  The current rule regulations in NASCAR are very imbalanced by current technology.  There are current problems with the feeder series in NASCAR and it is not sufficient in audience attention.  The current championship system is under very tough debate in the sport.  The major decline in TV viewership is also killing the sport in revenue loss.

David Caraviello. “Top 5: Issues Facing NASCAR.” NASCAR.com. January 1, 2011. Top 5. <http://www.nascar.com/news/110101/top-5-issues-facing-nascar/index.html>

“Fixing NASCAR: Attracting, retaining sponsors requires teamwork between NASCAR, tracks and teams.”

In the last few years, NASCAR has said good-bye to Texaco, Verizon, Old Spice, Jim Beam, Jack Daniel’s, Irwin Tools, AT&T and Wrigley’s. The economy certainly has impacted sponsorships renewals.  There are many ways to fix this current problem of lack of sponsorship.  Teams and Track Owners need to work together to try and make this happen as a whole.  Sponsorship is needed for this sport to survive.

Bob Pockrass. “Fixing NASCAR: Attracting, retaining sponsors requires teamwork between NASCAR, tracks and teams.” SceneDaily.com  February 7, 2011. NASCAR News Now. <http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/Fixing_NASCAR_Attracting_retaining_sponsors_requires_teamwork_between_NASCAR_tracks_and_teams.html>

Final Paper Proposal

Paragraph of Topic Proposal:  I would like to focus my topic around the economics of NASCAR auto racing.  NASCAR is a very, very big passion of mine. I have been watching it since I popped out of my mother’s womb.  Although I believe NASCAR is an amazing sport, it has recently incurred many losses.  NASCAR was a sport throughout the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s that was growing at an incredible rate. But, due to the recent recession suffered through by many Americans, NASCAR’s revenue has decreased to a negative rate for the past few years.  Not only are they operating at a negative rate, they have lost many sponsorships and are close to an almost complete shutdown.   NASCAR is a sport, but it is also a complicated business.  It is a business that may need to be helped or subsidized in the future to even survive.  There have been several policy proposals by NASCAR and many outsiders on how to fix the current problems found in NASCAR.  These policy proposals include: the lowering in ticket prices, the decrease in the amount of races, the use of only one network for the broadcast of NASCAR, and etc.  I believe that NASCAR Inc. needs to take a combination of these to increase revenue and their fan-base overtime.  They have lost many of their core fans (blue-collar workers) because of the inability of these fans to afford merchandise and tickets to races.  This is my topic and my policy proposal to fix the current problems found in NASCAR.  

HMMMMM... TECHNOLOGY

The development of a society relies heavily on the technology around it and how fast that technology is evolving.  The markets for new and improved technology are every changing.  Just a few years ago, no one would have thought we would be sitting here talking about different tablet computers and the evolution of such.  As seen in the NYTimes article, the iPad itself has created a whole new market that is trying to be kept up with by other companies such as Samsung and others.  This shows just how there are new and diverse economies that are developed and that will create an even more diverse economy.  Technology is something that keeps the mind open of not only scientists and engineers but also economists.  This is a perfect topic to bring up in a seminar such as ours because it brings up different economic questions.  These questions include: Availability of resources? Who will produce this technology? What will this technology be used for? And whom will consume/use this technology?  

 

Italy's Problems compared to Greece

http://www.zimbabwemetro.com/?p=30168

Response to the Euromess!!

Europe is in a financial mess right now, and it is one that is presently being worked on bit by bit.  The euro problem can then be defined as finding a way (1) to finance these imbalances in the short run (2) end the imbalances over the medium run.  Proposals are starting to rise slowly but surely to the top of the heap to try and help the current situation in Europe.  The present imbalances in finance are trying to be tackled by many economists including people such as Davies.  There are short run and medium run problems. The long run will not be a problem for the Europeans because it is believed that there will be a balance achieved for the long run, and the best way to solve problems is in the short and medium runs.  The United States does not have these sort of internal affair problems present because we have a current currency that is powered by a single and whole nation.  This is something that a lot of the European nations should try to model themselves after and create the same currency under different unified nations.   

What!! A huge decrease in Daytona 500 tix???

http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/headlines/cup/01/11/daytona.500.tickets/

2008 articles on how the Recession created a downfall in racing

http://thesportsbizblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/nascar-and-recession-is-this-beginning.html

The effects of the Recession on NASCAR

http://www.nascar.com/2010/news/features/11/03/inside-nascar-optimism-sponsorships/index.html

Response to Greece Articles

Wow. Where to start in on this heavy material?  A good place is how bad the euro was and still is.  I personally didn't know how the situation in Europe had gotten.  Greece seems to be one of the worse off countries currently.  I took away from the articles that Greece feels like they have been slighted by other nations and government around them.  The prime example is Germany against Greece.  Many diehard Greeks have claimed they have felt these German/Nazi effects since World War II and even before then.  Even the Greek president has gotten negative remarks from citizens who call him a "traitor" for even trying to work with the Germans on different agreement procedures.  This conversation of improvement of the Greek economy and the entire European economy as a whole can be identified with the Recession the United States has suffered from in the last several years.  The Recession had some of the same causes as this European crisis has.  When looking at a recessionary period from another point of view, Americans analyzing Europeans, there can be similar aspects that present themselves, but there can also be interesting contrasts.  Americans never put blame on anyone but themselves as a government and nation.  We fell into debt, and never recovered and it reached a peaking point late in 2008.  The Greeks and other European nations have different opinions on who has created their economic crisis.  This brings up an interesting economic question:  Could the American Recession have been formed by another nation's relationship with the United States?

Interesting Article that Expands on These Articles

http://thesportseconomist.com/2010/07/11/cowboys-stadium-financing/

This is an article that I found very interesting.  It caught my eye when I was looking at different Economics in Sports Articles.

Response to Economics in Sports Articles

Will posted some great articles with some great information hidden in them.  Sports, in cities like Memphis, are a big source of revenue as seen in the article.  I can see why the NBA season not happening would hurt Memphis in many aspects.  18 million dollars lost is a lot of money folks.  So, is it wrong for the the Memphis Grizzlies to want to sue the NBA and take them to court? No!!! They were guaranteed by the association that they would be guaranteed seasons after seasons of basketball.  A city like Memphis cannot take a hit like this to their  revenue and to their influx of economic growth.  The frustration by the team and their Memphis area fans can by far be understandable.  Along with this posted article was the article about the "Occupy the NBA" article.  I love the comparison made with how the economics of the NBA is so similar to those of different states that have "Occupy" situations as well!  There is also a great comparison between the NBA's billion dollar owners and Wall Street.  I love how the article brings up how much these big money players are going to to have to learn from this situation.  It is so true how these big name players like Lebron James and Dwayne Wade are going to have to grow a backbone and fight against these big business owners who want to take a large portion of their income away.  It truly is like people fighting against big businesses.  This same aspect was seen in the recent NFL lockout which lasted for a substantial time period.

Social Security 10/19

Social Security is a problem that even I have addressed in our recent topic essay for class. Social Security is  slowly decreasing in many areas and by the article that Dr. Herron has given us to review, you can see the decrease in Social Security Funding by the trustees.  Social Security Reform has been started though in the form of a 75 year reform that plans to officially start in the year 2014 or 2015.  Is this reform really going to help the current and recurring social security problem.  In a time of downturn in the country's economy, it will be tougher for the government and United States as a whole to help the social security funding problem.  What will the future look like for social security and how will future generations be taken care of by the suffering retirees and senior citizens today?  Reforms are in place by the government and officials across the country.  As the year of exhaustion of all funds for social security draws closer and closer, it will be interesting to see how the government reacts by reforms that are put in place for the future and for now. In closing, the struggle for Social Security Reform will be one that is dealt with many decades, but how will this nation react to the changing ways of taxation and government manipulation in the next ten to twenty years?

Earnings Cap Democratic Debate (President Obama CNN)

Barack Obama strongly supports raising the earnings cap on Social Security, which is currently $102,000

"Q: We all know that Social Security is running out of money, but people who earn over $97,500 stop paying into Social Security. What is up with that? A: I think that it is an important option on the table, but the key, in addition to making sure that we don't privatize, because Social Security is that floor beneath none of us can sink."

WATCH VIDEO NOW

Post of ABC News President Obama interview

Barack Obama strongly opposes privatizing social security throughpersonal Social Security accounts

"Privatization is not something that I would consider. And the reason is this: Social Security is the floor. That's the baseline. Social Security is that safety net that can't be frayed and that we shouldn't put at risk."

WATCH VIDEO NOW

"We need to preserve Social Security by stopping any efforts to privatize it and will work across party lines to maintain Social Security's solvency for generations."

Response to 10/5 Podcast

Banking and marketing are both very important to move forward.  I really like the examples used that describe owning a pizza place and an ice cream place.  These are great examples that show how the business world has recently changed over the past few years.  There is a rise in capitalism and a rise of monopolies.  This may be a good thing and from the podcast you hear that many excellent economists have said that there should only be about 3 companies in any major form of business anyway.  There is a new form of business and I agree with how it works; that the actual returns in the "financial markets" will return over 3 to 4 times as much as the old business would return to you.  "Old business" would be considered building things like airplane wings or buildings and selling them in the open market. Finally, close to the end of the podcast, there is a description on how the economy has slowed down to a very slow rate ever since the end of the 1980s, and that is something that could be a slight cause of the Recession that we are still feeling today.  Overall, this was a great audio recording that broke down many aspects of banking and marketing that I now understand much more clearly.

COME ON STOCK MARKET!!!!!!!!!!! LISTEN TO HER!!!!!!

Response to the 9/30 Reading Assignments

The first article that was posted was a great metaphorical way to show how things can work for the Fed and for everyone in the government realm of economic decision making.  This idea of baby-sitting the economy that Paul Krugman brings up is a great metaphor in showing how about 150 couples that have governmental connections will agree to babysit each others children under certain conditions and that if they do it once then the other couple will have to pay them back by babysitting their kids.  This is very, very interesting in every sense of the word.  Scrip (tiny pieces of paper) were handed out and traded as each one equaling to one hour of babysitting time for each couple. Really?! This is a very interesting part of the metaphor because Krugman brings out the point of inflation and if their is more "scrip" out their to be spent then more people would be more willing to go out and do what they wanted and hire a babysitter.  So, overall this is a very good metaphor that I enjoyed reading about and learning from.
"Re-targeting the Fed" is an article that refers and analyzes the most recent economic downturn we have had in this country, "The Recession."  This recession started at the end of 2008 and we are still feeling the effects of it today in our everyday lives.  The second article that was posted was a review and analyzation of how and why the recession happened and was so detrimental to the economy.  It refers distinctly how the decrease in NGDP was a major cause of this recession and is overlooked a lot by many economic thinkers.  This was a very informative article that helped me dive into even more of the reasons for why we suffered through this recession and still are.

Response to the 9/21 TBA Reading Assignments

I have some interesting take aways from the article that was concentrated on the Obama Administration and  President Obama himself.  Has he actually been sexist toward some of the the administrators? After Christina Romer's quote , "I felt like I was a piece of meat," the question becomes an answer. The conversation presented about the administration downgrading women in the government workforce is very interesting from many different aspects.The article also states that he is a very poor economist and there is not too many arguments against that statement. There hasn't been too many presidents that have made excellent economic decisions though anyway. So..... we can see that he has solely acted on his common sense and what he thinks will work overtime in the recession that we find ourselves in today.  We don't know if we will ever be out of the recession, but we do all agree that we would like an administration that will get along so we can function as the government and society we claim to be.