Ask an Economist
Welcome to Ask an Economist, a public service of the Department of Economics at Iowa State University, designed to answer your economic questions.
Our talented faculty and alumni can answer questions on a variety of economic topics to help you make more informed choices about your day-to-day decisions--or to just add a more reasoned voice when talk of the economy comes up around the dinner table.
Questions & Answers
Traditional economics tells us that price ceilings lead to shortages. A lower price encourages sellers to reduce the quantity they supply to the market. A lower price also encourages buyers to increase the quantity they demand.
I think you are using the term "nationalize" to mean the US government buying US farm products. The US is a major exporter of meat and grains and these products are typically more expensive in other countries than they are in the US.
It seems there are two markets for condominiums: units that allow dogs (Market Dog) and units that do not (Market Sad). My black lab mentioned that the latter group are probably sad folks. OK – my econ jokes in class aren’t any better.
I think the basic mechanism you describe could well be part of the complex story of how the H1-B visa affects domestic workers in IT.
I will try to answer the questions as I interpret them, but first, it is important to explain what the facts are.
Iowa has updated the soil productivity system from Corn Suitability Rating (CSR) to Corn Suitability Rating 2 (CSR2) in 2013, and the USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey tool allows you to compute the new CSR2 for your farm (Google ISU Extension Ag...
Continue Reading AnswerArtificial Intelligence is likely to impact all of our jobs, just to varying degrees. Specific tasks that we need to perform in our jobs, skills required, wages, and hours will all likely be adjusted.
Auto repair is an example of a "credence good," which is a type of product or service where an expert knows more about the quality the consumers need than the consumers themselves.
Economists generally agree with Henry George that land value taxes promote efficient use of land. A small country with a tourism-based economy seems like an excellent case for the efficiency of a land value tax.
You have asked a very interesting question. Without more specific information, it would take volumes to answer this general question appropriately; however, I can point you to a few resources that may be useful.
In short, there are probably many ways that you could get a rough estimate of this and they are all likely flawed in some way or another which makes this a really tough question to answer.
Here are several resources that begin to address many of your questions.
Beef Marketing Margins - http://jaysonlusk.com/blog/2020/5/4/beef-marketing-margins
Ours is called a consumer economy because consumption is nearly 70% of our GDP. Countries like China, are more investment-driven with investment (often by the public sector) at nearly 50% of GDP.
Continue Reading AnswerEconomists measure the economic health of a country by its G.D.P per capita. They see low unemployment as good because it means labor resources are not sitting idle. They also consider whether income disparities are good or bad.
In short, we do not know, especially so because nothing like this has hit the US in modern times. The Great Depression was a massive disrupter and devastator but caused ultimately by economic forces from within.
The most relevant reports to track the evolution of the financial situation of well-managed mid-size commercial farms in Iowa are:
The way in which prices and money enter models of the economy is important and potentially confusing. So this is a great question.
The short answer is, no. By law, the U.S Fed is an independent authority in charge of the monetary affairs of this nation. The White House cannot formally ask or force the Fed to do anything.
It is common for industries to claim that they create jobs outside the industry, especially when they are seeking government subsidies. A few years back, a consultant for the Iowa ethanol industry claimed that ethanol was responsible for 90
My best understanding is that the acquisition you indicated was completed in 2007, but Aramark retained its identity as a company.
How very thoughtful and considerate a project you have in mind!
I am assuming you have to keep the cell or wifi plan and you are just upgrading the fixed cost of a new router or cell phone. Let’s take the smartphone/cellular plan case.
The most correct way should be adjusting inflation according to each country's inflation data before converting the values to NZD if New Zealand is the baseline to compare with.
1) The coronavirus is everywhere. It is not obvious it would affect the U.S. dollar differently than the Euro or Yen or Yuan. All the governments and economies are stressed, and so relative values will be unaffected.
When banks lend out money, they do so expecting repayment. If banks are not repaid, the value of the loan decreases. By law, banks are obligated to value their loans at the fair market value. Mandating that all repayment stop wou