IOUSA, yo.

Happy birthday to me... What a way to spend my birthday - my water was shut off yesterday and I've been hoarding blankets for weeks since I can't afford to pay the heating bill. The economy has gotten so much worse than when I was in high school. It's crazy to think of how easy I used to have it. Now here I am, still swimming in college debt, just hoping to have enough money to buy groceries for the week.

Inflation is probably the biggest factor that has contributed to the economic down spiral. That, on top of the awful competition to find a steady job is what has ruined me.

Now all I can do is wonder... what could the government have done differently to prevent this?

History of Disneyland, yo.

The Creation of Disneyland & Its Effect on Economy

Disneyland - the most magical place on earth. From thrilling rides, to lovable cartoon characters, to themed bathrooms, this park has it all. But how did this empire start? Where did it come from and how has it affected the economy? The answer is simple: Disneyland started with one man’s dream that grew into a glorious reality and contributes hugely to the economy through its ability to entice customers with the overall charm of the park.

Disneyland was first opened on July 17, 1955, but the process to create it began in 1952 when Walt Disney established Disneyland Incorporated. The company began designing ideas for Disneyland before they even had a site for the park. Walt Disney dreamed of a place where parents and children could have fun together in a not-so-typical sort of amusement park. He wanted a place with a magical feel that brought his characters to life in a way unlike any other. His idea was to incorporate his characters into a theme park that was unique in that it was lined with souvenir shops, did not have roller coasters, did not sell alcohol, and focused a lot on the general sanitation of the park. He didn't want Disneyland to be known as a stereotypical American amusement park; greasy and vulgar. He desired a more family-oriented setting. However, the uniqueness Walt dreamed of made it hard for him to gain support, even from his own brother. Disney turned to television to help him raise funds for the project. “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” brought his dream to life for him and the American citizens, as well as providing Disney with the financial support he needed to make his dream a reality. In 1953, Disney and his partners purchased a 160-acre orange grove in Anaheim, California and began construction on Disneyland in 1954.

In order to build the park, the citrus trees lining the 160-acre grove were cleared and 15 houses were moved. Disney enlisted the help of his movie studio staff to help him design certain difficult areas in the park. The park would have five differently themed lands surrounding a huge castle. Disney had a reason behind each of the themes in the park: Main Street, USA; Adventureland; Frontierland; Fantasyland; and Tomorrowland. Each theme brought something unique to the park to create the overall family experience. Main Street was a typical turn of the century main street that older generations could remember fondly and younger generations could get a glimpse of their grandparents’ lives. Adventureland explored what it was like to live in a completely different setting far from civilization. Frontierland was a tribute to the pioneer days of America. Fantasyland was created to make dreams come true. Walt explained Fantasyland: “‘What youngster. . .has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London, or tumbling into Alice's nonsensical Wonderland? In Fantasyland, these classic stories of everyone's youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in’” (Wingert). Finally, Tomorrowland was created to look ahead to the future. This one was difficult for Disney to design because he realized that as soon as he created something futuristic, it could turn around and become modern. As one can imagine, these many different lands took months of designing, planning, and actual building. However, the park was ready to open in just a year.

Disneyland’s debut came on July 17, 1955 and it was a disaster. A sweeping heat wave caused a temperature of 110 degrees and a plumber’s strike led to problems with the water fountains. Moreover, most people forged their tickets to get into the park, so it was extremely overcrowded and added to the sweaty mess. The asphalt had been laid the night before, so the ground was literally steaming as patrons of the park tried to enjoy their first experience in Disneyland without roasting to death. On top of all the malfunctions going on in the park, many of the employees were cold towards visitors and failed to model the true Disney experience. Park attendance decreased drastically in the next couple weeks. However, Disney was able to use the failed opening day as a learning experience. He made sure that there was never a shortage of water fountains in the future and coordinated the fountains as well as the bathrooms and trash cans with the areas of the park they were located in. He came up with a lettering system to keep track of tickets that also allowed people into different parts of the park depending on their tickets. This helped to spread people throughout the park as well as eliminate long lines due to people having to carry money with them to pay for each ride individually. Finally, Disney made sure that none of his employees were sour towards customers anymore by sending them to “Disneyland University” to learn the Disney way. After making these adjustments, the park began to run more smoothly and attract more customers. After being open for ten years, 50 million people had visited Disneyland.

Disneyland’s rise to popularity has actually been good for the economy as well. As well as contributing $4.7 billion annually to the Southern California economy, Disneyland sparked the building of Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Disneyland also provides jobs for around 21,000 people and generates new jobs each time it opens a new facility (such as California Adventure, which created 1,000 new jobs). Moreover, the resort supports 57,400 jobs in Southern California. If Disneyland were to be taken out of the picture, the economy, especially that of Southern California, would suffer hugely.

In conclusion, Disneyland may seem just an extravagant theme park for children to enjoy, but in reality it contributes a lot to our country. Despite its rough start, Disneyland has created a plethora of jobs and added a huge amount of money to the economy. By taking a closer look at this fantasy world we can see that it has benefited us in ways we could not have had with any other organization.

Works Cited 

 

Fisher, Reece. "The Creation of Disneyland." The Creation of Disneyland. N.p., 2004. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

Polsson, Ken. "Chronology of Disneyland Theme Park." Chronology of Disneyland Theme Park. N.p., 21 Sept. 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

Wingert, Chris. "Disneyland History." Disneyland History. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.
 

Fiscal Cliff, yo.

"How would you explain the Fiscal Cliff to one of your peers here at school? Be sure to include information you gathered from the extra sources you read as you explain this to your curious peer."

Basically, the Fiscal Cliff is our economy going into the toilet in 2013. It's $500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts for the year of 2013 alone. What this means is that taxes will be raised for pretty much every taxpayer and business. This will probably end up killing off a lot of small business and will most definitely lead our country into a recession.

The Bush Tax Cuts will be expiring on January 1, 2013. Obama wants to end tax cuts on income over $250,000 which is all fine and dandy for some folks, but it could potentially hurt small business and job growth. Not only could it hurt businesses, but it is really not fair to those who have worked hard for their money; they should not be punished for their hard work.

Finally, something that sticks out to me about the Fiscal Cliff is that the payroll tax holiday will be ending. This was not something I had known about before, but basically we have been getting 2% off our payroll taxes for the past two years. When this ends, it means we will have less money - and for someone working minimum wage and trying to save up money for a car and college and life in general, I'm sure it will be noticeable. It will also put a damper on my parents' efforts to save money to send me and my siblings to college. 2% can really add up, so it stinks that the government will be taking that away from us.

My Manifesto, yo!

I think the government should definitely have some involvement in the economy, but it should just be to an extent that they can maintain the flow of currency in our country and make sure it stays relatively constant. I think taxes should be collected equally from any adult who works and be used in ways that will benefit everyone in the country and keep our country moving forward.
I think the government's role in education is a good thing because it provides everyone with an equal opportunity to educate themselves.
Our infrastructure should be funded and maintained by taxes and government officials. I don't really know much about this.
I think we should spend a substantial amount of money on military, police, fire, and emergency services because these things help to preserve the safety of American citizens.

Minimum Wage, yo.

I think minimum wage is definitely a good thing to keep. It sets a fair wage for working Americans, which is very important for the well-being of many working-class people. I don't think it should be raised, because that would put a strain on companies with more experience employees and would lead to them having to cut expenses somewhere else. This would most likely have a negative effect on employees. Although a higher minimum wage would certainly be nice, it would simply put too much strain on small businesses to actually work. However, it is extremely important that we actually have a minimum wage and that it is not abolished because it is what maintains fairness and equality in the work force. I think the minimum wage should remain as it is, because it seems to function well this way. Either that or it could be raised a little bit, but not so drastically that it has a huge effect on businesses.

Price Floors, yo.

This is very similar to the price ceilings question... I don't think a price floor should be imposed by the government because companies have the ability to reach their own market equilibrium. If a product is priced too low, people will buy a lot of it and the company will run out of products to sell before the end of the day. Furthermore, the company will be unable to make a profit from products priced too low. Once the company realizes this, they will raise the price to reflect what consumers demand.

Price Ceilings, yo.

I disagree that our government should place price ceilings on certain items. Too much government interference in a market economy could lead to socialism, which is not a path our country wants to take. I think businesses should be able to put whatever price they want on a product, but ultimately the demand for the product will decide what it is actually priced at. If a product is priced too high, consumers will not want to buy it and the company will be forced to reduce the price to a reasonable one. Prices can easily be maintained by the consumers because the prices ultimately depend on how consumers respond to products. The more inelastic the demand proves to be, the higher the price can be raised. Therefore, if people refuse to give in to their desires at insane prices, companies will be forced to maintain reasonable prices with no government interference.

Supply Wrap-up, yo.

Demand Finalé, yo.

Choose one of the aspects of demand that we have studied in this unit thus far (listed above) and reflect upon an example of it in your life. Make a connection between what we have studied in class and what you personally experienced.

One of the aspects of demand that I can easily connect to my life is the difference between elastic and inelastic demand. Since I work now, I have my own money and I get to decide what to spend it on. However, I have a minimum wage job so my funds are limited and I have to pick and choose what I spend my money on. Most of the things I buy, I have elastic demand for. Since I mostly buy clothes and shoes, it is easy to stop when the prices go up, I run out of money, and no longer have a demand for them. 

An example of inelastic demand in my life is my need for gas. Basically I buy gas no matter what, because it is something I constantly need. No matter how much the price changes, I will still buy it because I need it to get to school every day. My parents actually gave me a gas card and they pay for my gas, so I don't have to alter my spending in order to be able to afford gas. This makes me wonder if I would spend less money elsewhere or not drive as much if my parents didn't pay for my gas.

Demand Wrap-up, yo.

Inelastic vs. Elastic, yo.

Headings, yo.

Complementary Demand: Katy Perry is photographed eating a hot dog, sales on buns and condiments increases.

Substitute Demand: Prices on Coke triple; sales in Pepsi increase rapidly.

Elastic Demand: As prices on toys increase, children are forced to be more inventive with the materials they already own.

Inelastic Demand: Diaper prices shoot through the roof, much to the dismay of helpless young parents.

Many consumers are stressing over the recent jump in diaper prices. However, since there is no substitute for diapers, there is nothing young parents can do about this. One woman complains, "I don't understand why the prices must shoot up. It simply makes things harder for young parents who are already struggling financially and have no choice but to buy the product." Other parents are equally as dismayed. Many are concerned over what this will do to struggling parents, who may have to give up other less important necessities in order to be able to afford the diapers. Although less important, these other products increase the quality of life; without them it is doubtful that the children will have as good an upbringing. The moral of this story is that companies should think about the effects their increase in price levels will have on the quality of human life. 

Demand, yo.

This is the url for the image of the shoes.

Market Economy, yo.

I think the part that stood out to me the most about what makes the Market Economy so unique is that workers have the freedom to change jobs and move elsewhere. They also have the ability to decide when and where they work. This is relevant in my life because I have a job and for the most part I get to decide my own hours (or at least tell them the hours I don't want to work). I never really considered that I have this freedom because of little government control in our economic system. 

To add to that, my dad got laid off a few years ago and had the freedom to find a new job that he liked better and that paid more. Since we have a market economy, he was able to move freely to a new job and take advantage of new opportunities (even if it was sort of forced upon him).

One thing that I would like to know is how our work system would be affected with a different economy. For example, if we lived in a command economy, would the government be able to choose our jobs for us and force us to stay with those jobs for the rest of our lives? Maybe it's not so extreme, but it would be interesting to see how different economies have an effect on different work forces.

Opportunity Cost, yo.

“Think about a time in your life where you had to choose between two or more options. Explain the opportunity cost involved in that decision.”

There is a significant time coming up in my life where I am going to have to make a decision about where I want to go to college. So far my options are Biola University, Corban University, Azusa Pacific University, and William Jessup University. My decision can greatly affect how my future plays out, so it is something where I really need to consider the opportunity cost of going to each college.

If I choose to go to Corban University in Salem, the opportunity cost will be going to California and experiencing a new place and meeting a lot of new people. I would be closer to my family, so I would probably still have some of their influence and not get to be as independent. However, if I went to any of the other three schools in California, the opportunity cost would be the ability to stay in touch with my family and friends more easily. The opportunity cost of going to one school versus another would simply be the people I meet and the experiences I have. I could even end up marrying a different person and settling down in a different location if I went to one place over another.

This is something that is really scary to think about. The opportunity cost of going to each college is ultimately uncertain since I don't know what experiences I would be giving up at the other colleges. It's insane that I have the ability to decide my future and really not know what I'm getting myself into. How can I tell which is the best option when I'm not completely sure of the consequences?

Scarcity, yo.

Raspberry lemonade is a scarcity in my life because we never have it in my home. Whenever we do have it, it gets consumed quickly and we have to wait a long time before we get more. Also, when we do get more we are desperate to get the best kind of raspberry lemonade there is, so we spare no expense to get Simply Lemonade raspberry lemonade.

Huzzah for blogs!