Archive for the ‘Production costs’ Category
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/why-ibm-paying-15-billion-lose-business
Summary: IBM has fell 7 percent off its stock price this week. IBM is selling its chip making company to GlobalFoundries for $1.5 billion over the next three years. It would sound unconventional, except when looking to the future. IBM will be receiving chips for the next ten years from GlobalFoundries. Deals like this are exceedingly rare, but IBM has realized truth: it would be more costly to shut down than to sell, and they may be saving money in the end.
Original Air Date: October 20, 2014
Length: 2 minutes 22 seconds
Prompt / Discussion: Discuss how this type of deal differs from collusion.
Link: http://freakonomics.com/2014/10/02/fixing-the-world-bang-for-the-buck-edition-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/
Summary: Return on Investment (ROI) analyzes at the most efficient way to spend money. An example given is the difference between curing malaria and HIV/AIDS. To cure malaria, it would cost about $1,000 per person, while it would cost ten times that to cure HIV/AIDS, and it is decided that they would rather save 10 people from malaria before they save one from HIV/AIDS. The United Nations, with their Millennium Development Goals coming to a close, will be looking to set new goals in 2015, to be completed by 2030. One of the issued they will focus on is how they are setting goals, and how to be more efficient with the help of the Return on Investment analysis.
Original Air Date: October 2, 2014
Length: 43 minutes 34 seconds
Prompt / Discussion: You are a member of the United Nations, and are put in charge of coming up with new development goals for 2015. You have $100 billion to invest in various development aid. Discuss how you would prioritize between an important, expensive goal (such as getting all kids into school, which was one of the Millennium Development Goals), and something that might not be seen as highly important, but cost effective.
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/09/25/223787129/what-happens-when-a-store-lets-customers-return-whatever-they-want
Summary: This podcast examines the pros and cons to a lenient return policies for businesses and the affect it has on their brand. Some companies see it as a loss of business while others view it as cheap marketing.
Original Air Date: September 25, 2013
Length: 4 minutes 23 seconds
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2015/02/13/386005044/episode-603-a-rose-on-any-other-day
The Planet Money Team investigates the logistics and risks that accompany the iconic Valentine’s Day flower, the rose. Additionally mentioned is cost of shipping and seasonal demand.
Original Air Date: February 13, 2015
Length: 17 minutes 37 seconds
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/11/28/366793693/episode-586-how-stuff-gets-cheaper
Summary: The Planet Money team looks at how some things get cheaper over time. The podcast hosts visit a company called Monoprice, whose job it is to find out ways to make things cheaper–in other words, a lot of detective work.
Original Air Date: November 28, 2014
Length: 14 minutes 11 seconds
Prompt: Write a brief letter to Monoprice with your thoughts on their job. Is it efficient? Is it cost-productive?
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/made-italy-may-not-mean-what-you-think
Summary: The Country of Origin label is a powerful element on upscale brands. Italians consider it a national economic resource, but the stamp can’t always be believed. US laws say the “last substantial transformation” must be in the country of origin, and tracking manufacturing is difficult at best.
Original Air Date: September 24, 2014
Length: 3 minutes 55 seconds
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/new-financial-innovation-housing-market
Summary: Large investors have started buying houses–in the past few years, they have bought almost 200,000 new homes. The strategy was to buy low, and set the rent high. Interestingly enough, housing prices have appreciated, and rental prices have stayed the same, which results in not as big of a profit for the investors. This has created what they call rental-backed securities.
Original Air Date: October 13, 2014
Length: 2 minutes 52 seconds
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/what-could-slow-uss-surging-oil-output-low-prices
Summary: The oil the United States has been pumping has been getting less and less profitable. In North America, oil comes from fracking shale, and after the first initial output, oil companies have to drill deeper and deeper to get to the oil, causing it to be more expensive to access. However, the price of oil is dropping worldwide, and that could mean that the United States could be out of the oil industry, simply because it costs too much to produce.
Original Air Date: October 10, 2014
Length: 2 minutes
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/04/18/304540007/episode-533-why-cars-from-europe-and-the-us-just-can-t-get-along
Summary: An exploration of how different safety standards across countries impact the automobile industry. Discusses differences in regulations from turn signals to windshield wipers, and how that impacts production choices and costs in the industry.
Original air date: April 18, 2014
Length: 17 min
Discussion Prompt: Reflecting on what you’ve learned about international trade, production costs & the content of this podcast, discuss what impacts the differential regulations on cars in the U.S. and Europe have on (a) production decisions for the firm, and (b) international trade.
Follow-up Prompt: Using economic thinking, consider the tradeoffs between security and cost in this podcast. The governments/regulators in these countries might say it is worth it for consumers to pay more to get more security. What do you think?
Follow-up Prompt: Considering production costs in the context of firms’ desire to maximize profits, what strategies might firms employ to maximize profits under these conditions of different regulations across countries?
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/12/13/250747279/episode-503-adding-up-the-cost-of-the-planet-money-t-shirt
Summary: A detailed review of the costs that went into producing the Planet Money t-shirt.
Original Air Date: December 13, 2013
Length: 21 min
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