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Abstract: Handling the multiple functions of monetary policy that protect the U.S. economy not only on a short term, but also long-term scale is a complicated responsibility assigned to Federal Reserve, in which their actions present a profound impact on consumer confidence towards financial markets and global economies. Specifically, one of the most important goals of the Federal Reserve is to mitigate the risk of the United States to enter a recession, while maintaining a balanced approach when making those policy decisions. In this thesis, we focus on the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve, particularly, their role in controlling interest rates to prevent recessionary sentiment in the current state of the economy. Since 2008, markets have been stronger and previous policies like Dodd-Frank have ensured that market collapses during the Great Recession do not repeat itself. Yet, fluctuations in the yield curve, polarizing investment views, and unsettled consumer confidence has pointed to another recession in the near future. In this case, we will look at the way the Fed has implemented short term policies to lower this risk in order to fight volatile markets, however, fluctuating interest rates has its consequences. The goal of this thesis is to analyze the various ways the Fed has managed interest rates in the past and present, and further, to offer a framework to serve as the most effective policy to combat volatility and recessionary sentiment in the U.S. economy.
ContributorsPatel, Dylan (Author) / Sacks, Jana (Thesis director) / Simonson, Mark (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This essay examines national leaders’ shaping of K-pop into a foreign export, specifically looking into how K-pop is used as a soft power for South Korea. I also examine how effective K-pop is as a soft power. Because of its growing global popularity and use of K-pop artists for international relations, such as Red Velvet performing for Kim Jong Un, we might expect K-pop to act as the gateway into South Korean culture, often being the first exposure that other countries have into this country’s way of life. Through a qualitative analysis of resources ranging from news articles, videos, and social media posts, we see that K-pop idols, a term for K-pop celebrities, are heavily groomed and shaped by their labels to promote the South Korean national brand. Combined with a well-made business model to appeal to different countries, they also create sentiment for South Korean culture throughout the world with the support of the government and a strong fanbase. This plan is extremely effective in generating revenue for a multitude of South Korean brands beyond K-pop and even fosters South Korean affection in North Korea.
ContributorsMendez, Audrey F (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / Sandoval, Mathew (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Economists, policy-makers, and various intellectuals have consistently debated the strongest way to support citizens. Lately, however, the simplest idea has managed to gain an unbelievable amount of traction. Maybe, rather than a complex policy solution targeted towards to certain demographics and with various work requirements we should simply give people money. The beauty of the idea is in its simplicity – and it is a key reason for its growing popularity. Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a policy proposal that has been steadily gaining momentum throughout the United States and across the world. Recently, it has been viewed as a stimulus to the economy in the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as well as a solution to labor-displacing technological advancements. Additionally, many economists, politicians, and various thought-leaders have portrayed basic income as a one-stop solution to many challenges facing the world. The idea behind UBI comes down to this idea – basic income will not solve all your problems – it makes your problems easier to solve. Many UBI advocates use that phrase to argue in favor for a basic income, but it is important to ensure that it doesn’t add to most people’s problems by discouraging work and encouraging seemingly unhealthy habits.
ContributorsRamesh, Neel (Author) / Hill, Alexander (Thesis director, Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor, Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This paper, titled “Factors of Economic Development and Implications for the Future” focuses on identifying historical factors that have impacted economic development and analyzing what changes may be important for the future. It uses studies done across the world in energy economics, economic development, economic policy, and more to identify important considerations for evaluating historical growth, as well as concerns for the future, particularly given the threat of climate change. Historically important papers, as well as newer insights both feature heavily. This literary review resulted in the finding that education, energy, trade, policy, institutions, endowments, and culture are all important factors for economic development. Endowments and institutions that arise from them are found to be the most important factor in explaining historical development. The paper also analyzes policy that the existing literature suggests could be beneficial for growth. Next, an analysis of factors that the literature identified as important for growth is carried out to assess which countries may have the highest potentials for future growth. The countries are ranked based upon a composite scoring system created from those factors. Countries in Central Asia feature heavily in the top ten entries, while many African countries narrowly miss out on the top ten but still rank relatively high. Together, the findings of both sections are used to discuss how economies have historically developed as well as possible policies to encourage future sustainable development. Both the literature and statistical findings suggest that for future growth promotion of strong institutions that promote property rights and economic growth will be important. They also suggest that coordinated energy policy to increase green technologies and decouple growth from emissions will be essential.
ContributorsJohnson, Evan Reeve (Author) / Hill, John (Thesis director) / Fried, Stephie (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The esports scene has been constantly evolving ever since its inception in the early 1970s, growing from small arcade based tournaments to the multibillion dollar industry that can be observed today (Bountie Gaming, 2018). In fact, the term esports was not widely used until the early 2000s, decades after the first gaming tournaments had taken place. Decades prior, the earliest large-scale gaming tournament was hosted by Atari in 1980 for the game Space Invaders . While still primitive by today’s standards, games such as Space Invaders inspired fierce competition and effectively laid the foundation for what would grow into the booming industry that we see today (Edwards, 2013).
ContributorsCollins, Neil Andrew (Author) / Mendez, Jose (Thesis director) / Foster, William (Thesis director) / Pierce, John (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The purpose of this paper is to explore and minimum wage and whether it serves its purpose of fighting poverty. After extensive research on the origin and purpose of minimum wage laws in the US via reading different studies and weighing its positive and negative effects, I have found that minimum wage is not the most effective tool to fight poverty. There exist programs that would be more beneficial in fighting poverty such as earned-income tax credit (EITC) or training programs.
ContributorsHarvey, Vanessa Nicole (Author) / Douglas, Kacey (Thesis director, Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This project was organized to analyze a multitude of data in order to determine the economic impact of a professional sports team starting in a particular location, or “market”. The thesis group (“group”) collected historical data on professional sports teams from 1975 to present, state economic data as applicable, and data indicating sports fan preferences and behavior. This data was collected, cleaned, and analyzed in order to understand trends and impacts of sports teams in local economies. The group looked at a number of statistical factors including team performance, championships, state GDP and employment, and digital trends regarding the sports teams. Using economic models and statistics, the group was able to derive insights on the factors that cause sports teams to influence the economy they are located in. Additionally, the group analyzed reporting on teams in particular markets, as well as the financing surrounding stadiums to provide a diverse perspective on the topic. At a high level, starting a professional sports team in a new market does not have a significant impact on the economy: the data did not demonstrate statistical significance and qualitative analysis proved that the impact of a new team is negligible. The following serves as documentation and explanation of the group’s analysis on this topic.
ContributorsFriedman, Jared Davidson (Co-author) / Conner, Joshua (Co-author) / McClain, Jacob (Co-author) / Foster, William (Thesis director) / Lee, Christopher (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This paper proposes that voter decision making is determined by more than just the policy positions adopted by the candidates in the election as proposed by Antony Downs (1957). Using a vector valued voting model proposed by William Foster (2014), voter behavior can be described by a mathematical model. Voters assign scores to candidates based on both policy and non-policy considerations, then voters then decide which candidate they support based on which has a higher candidate score. The traditional assumption that most of the population will vote is replaced by a function describing the probability of voting based on candidate scores assigned by individual voters. If the voter's likelihood of voting is not certain, but rather modelled by a sigmoid curve, it has radical implications on party decisions and actions taken during an election cycle. The model also includes a significant interaction term between the candidate scores and the differential between the scores which enhances the Downsian model. The thesis is proposed in a similar manner to Downs' original presentation, including several allegorical and hypothetical examples of the model in action. The results of the model reveal that single issue voters can have a significant impact on election outcomes, and that the weight of non-policy considerations is high enough that political parties would spend large sums of money on campaigning. Future research will include creating an experiment to verify the interaction terms, as well as adjusting the model for individual costs so that more empirical analysis may be completed.
ContributorsCoulter, Jarod Maxwell (Author) / Foster, William (Thesis director) / Goegan, Brian (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This paper analyzes responses to a survey using a modified fourfold pattern of preference to determine if implicit information, once made explicit, is practically significant in nudging irrational decision makers towards more rational decisions. Respondents chose between two scenarios and an option for indifference for each of the four questions from the fourfold pattern with expected value being implicit information. Then respondents were asked familiarity with expected value and given the same four questions again but with the expected value for each scenario then explicitly given. Respondents were asked to give feedback if their answers had changed and if the addition of the explicit information was the reason for that change. Results found the addition of the explicit information in the form of expected value to be practically significant with ~90% of respondents who changed their answers giving that for the reason. In the implicit section of the survey, three out of four of the questions had a response majority of lower expected value answers given compared to the alternative. In the explicit section of the survey, all four questions achieved a response majority of higher expected value answers given compared to the alternative. In moving from the implicit to the explicit section, for each question, the scenario with lower expected value experienced a decrease in percentage of responses, and the scenario with higher expected value and indifference between the scenarios both experienced an increase in percentage of responses.
ContributorsJohnson, Matthew (Author) / Goegan, Brian (Thesis director) / Foster, William (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The purpose of this analysis is to determine the economic impact that the distribution of the SolarSPELL digital library system to Peace Corps volunteers in Vanuatu will have on the citizens of Vanuatu by quantifying the potential for SolarSPELL and its health education content to reduce rates of certain illnesses and thereby reduce the demands on the Vanuatu healthcare system. The research was carried out by researching the most prominent non-communicable diseases in Vanuatu that could be affected by lifestyle changes as a result of exposure to the health education content on the SolarSPELL and determining the expected changes in rates of each non-communicable disease as well as the expected changes in the individual and hospital costs, the loss of income due to missed work, transport costs within Vanuatu, and international medical evacuation costs. Ultimately, these costs were collectively reduced by approximately 2.046% due to SolarSPELL intervention, a reduction of approximately $7,000. However, given the limited scope of available information within the healthcare system of Vanuatu, it can be inferred that the impact of the distribution of the SolarSPELL is likely significantly larger. Consequently, it is recommended that the Vanuatu Ministry of Health, the SolarSPELL team, and the Peace Corps implement policies to increase the volume of healthcare data collected in Vanuatu in order to assist in future analyses of the healthcare system.
ContributorsErspamer, Brett Thomas (Author) / Ross, Heather (Thesis director) / Silverman, Daniel (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05