THE ECONOMICS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Economists try to understand and explain the world by assuming that the phenomena they observe are the outcomes of people's purposeful decisions.

• Individuals try to achieve their objectives given their limitations - limited time, money, and energy. They optimize.
• Individuals reacting with each other will eventually achieve market equilibrium. Government intervention alters that equilibrium.
• For economists, goods are just things we want to obtain; tangibles such as oil and cars, or intangibles such as esteem and peace.
• The full price people pay is a composite of the time, money, and effort they must give to obtain the good.
• Criminals respond negatively to costs and positively to benefits.
• There is a direct relationship between education and human capital. As people invest in themselves, purchasing education and training in order to earn more later in life allows them to build skillsets; which in turn increases their rate of return on the investment.
• General training will be paid for by the worker in the form of lower wages while training, but the costs and benefits of specific training will be split between the worker and the firm.
• The way in which a household accomplishes its goals is inextricably related to the members' abilities in the market and household, and whether specialization in either of these sectors is profitable.

Semper Fi

MARKETS AND STATES IN TROPICAL AMERICA

With regards to farming/agriculture, "why should reasonable men adopt public policies that have harmful consequences for the societies they govern?"

In describing the agricultural policies of African states, we therefore examine government intervention in three markets: the markets for agricultural commodities, the markets for inputs into farming, and the markets for the goods that farmers buy from the urban-industrial sector.

Basic Tenets of African Governments

• Governments wants to stay in power, the must appease powerful interests. Political action is used to secure special advantages - rewards that cannot be secured by competing in the market.
• Governments finance production programs over pricing policies to promote superior political attractions. Such programs fail because the resources are spread too thin.

Policies Toward Cash Crops for Export

• Most African states possess publicly sanctioned monopsonies (a single buyer); where there are many sellers but only one buyer.
• In Africa, public agencies are by law sanctioned to serve as sole buyers of major agricultural exports. They purchase cash crops for export at administratively determined domestic prices, and then sell them at the prevailing world market prices.
• During economic crisis, these agencies kept the price paid to farmers below the price set by the world market; becoming the wealthiest and economically most significant single units in their respective economies.

Semper Fi

WEEK IN REVIEW

Last week, I was basically working at the studio. Well, the time I spent there should have qualified as work. Being my last week in San Diego, I took practicing to heart and tried everything I could to perfect my skills. It's that same sort of stubborn determination that always gets me in trouble in life. I somehow got slated for 4 routines (Tango, Cha-Cha, Swing, Waltz) to perform in front of the judge (Nick Kosovich) on Sunday. The family and J came to watch the event. It's a rather big deal since I don't normally let other people come watch my events. I guess I'm starting to let loose a little.I got my critiques after going through the freestyles and routines. Oddly enough, the judge enjoyed our Swing routine the most. His impression was that we really loved swing. Immediately after saying that, J and I looked at each other and bursted out laughing. Too bad he didn't say that about the Cha-Cha or Waltz. J, J, and I definitely put way more effort into the Cha-Cha and Waltz. In any event, I thought that would be the last time I'd see both J's for a while.

Monday was activation day. I struggled with a few pre-deployment activities during the work day; I fell asleep at the desk every day. It was awesome. I couldn't resist going to the studio, so I went Monday and Friday. If anything, to get the last little bit out of me for a long time. It was a good choice. The Madder wanted me up in OC a few times before leaving. I took advantage and dropped both Giada and Mandy off in OC, leaving me without any mode of transportation.

It's an odd feeling - leaving everything behind to fend for itself. Crazy world I live in. North Carolina hasn't been a peach, either; 88 degree weather with full 100% humidity. To top it off, the GySgt has been prepping us by letting us acclimate to the weather. I haven't sweated so much in a very long time. It's pretty gross. Our first day of PT was spent running 4 miles total, split with calesthenics in between. 10 pull ups, 10 Tire flips, 9 pulls ups, 9 Tire flips, etc. Lovely stuff. I pulled something in my back and popped both knees. I'm gettin' old. I can feel it. But, my mind won't quit. Darned determination.

Semper Fi

I THINK YOU KNOW THE ANSWER...

So, we all got in trouble. We're now not supposed to help anyone with anything at anytime. I can understand why, however, it is in our nature to help other people with problems. Now, we just have to do the helping at starbucks. In any event, we're all guilty - it was just rather unpleasant. Then, I got commissioned by the Director to help break up a husband/wife couple and have a Tango round with them. When I asked the wife how many times she had been there, she replied "only once," and that she didn't know the steps to Tango. Great. Now I'm stuck being asked by the Dance Director to help someone out AND I was just told there was a new rule not to do so. Perfect. A quick look-around had me locking eyes directly with the girlfriend/coworker of the instructor who just informed us of the new rule. I sighed a heavy sigh and told the lady the basic steps. We just did the basic steps for the entire 4 minutes of the song. She got it and, so did I.

It's not that I'm being insolent. I get it. It's the rules and so be it. You can't make exceptions for one and expect everyone to follow the rules. Make it even, make it fair. Next subject...

It's the last week of San Diego for a very long time. It's also the first week for the near year or so. 2 days in and I've already fallen asleep at my desk two days in a row. I'm not really off to a very good start. We'll see how the rest of this thing goes.

Someone asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Everytime someone asks, I always reply, "I just want to spend time with you." I honestly mean it. Most people just brush it off like it's nothing and end up trying to buy me something. While I will never refuse a gift, I really just cherish those times spent. It's something that I will more than likely not forget. I might not remember the exact wordings used during the conversations, but I will always remember that certain people always went out of their way to spend those few precious moments. I got a call from someone wishing me happy birthday. I wasn't around to pick up the phone, but I still got the call and a voicemail from them singing happy birthday to me. It was cute, and I'm a sap.

Semper Gumby

CACKLING HENS, PT 1

For the last 2 years, I've been on a new company project. The project is great, except for where I sit. I know of 3 people on my FB that have experienced the ultimate doom... the Cackling Hens. What are Cackling Hens? Well, as my project engineer so delicately put it, "Those f*cking hens do nothing but gossip all day long and have nothing better to do but stick together and disrupt other people." Lo and behold, I sit next a set of Hens. Everyday, and I really do mean everyday, they get together anywhere from 10-45 minutes to discuss... nothing.

What type of people are these Hens? My versions are late 40's to early 50's Caucasian females. I can't tell if they're married because the fat rolls on their fingers are covering up any potential rings. They are all plus sizes, love to eat, smaller torsos with gigantic bottoms, and somehow are higher up in the food chain. When they rant, they generally like everyone within a 30 ft radius to know what they're discussing. Here is an excerpt from today. Notice their skill in transitioning from one topic to another...

... I've always liked cheddar cheese the best, after string cheese. I use to measure out my portions, you know, back when I was on weight watchers. But, I didn't like throwing out all of my trash because, you know, I'm on this green thing. I try not to throw anything away.

One day my mechanic came by to fix my washing machine. I left the house to do some errands. When I came home, he threw all of my trash away, including my bottles! I was so mad.. I wanted to recycle everything. I couldn't believe it. My sister tried to throw away her recyclables as well, but I wouldn't let her. I even got her to rinse out her bottles. I read somewhere that you need to wash the recyclables to keep the bugs out of it. I don't know enough about the process, but it helps keep the trash clean. I went grocery shopping with my mom. My mom was taking a plastic bags for the vegetables, I yelled at her saying "mom, that's not recyclable".

When i visited my friend in sunnyvale, she couldn't recycle cereal boxes. They only took newspapers, glass. She was always so proud that sunnyvale recycled everything before anyeone else. Now they're doing phone books, etc. I think it had something to do with the glue, making it unrecyclable.

Calculus hasn't changed in years. Amazon has this thing where sellers can resell used books. I've ordered some of these books, and they're really good! There are some things like geography, that you might be iffy. I had my dad's old geology book, it was interesting but i didn't believe it because they come up with new stuff on plate tectonics. That's why they don't use encyclopedias! I was shocked, looking at encyclopedias that were a year old, and stuff was outdated! Britannica funds studies to compare their sources with wikipedia and they're still winning, but wiki is getting closer. One thing you have to be careful of is people writing autobiographies or changing other people's profiles, especially political rivals and celebrities. Okay, whew! gotta go..

Seriously? How the hell did we start from Cheddar cheese, to weight watchers, to recycling, to calculus/geology books, to wikipedia?? Holy beans, that's amazing... Ya, ladies and gentlemen. That is what C, S, L, and I have had to endure every day. On those longer stints lasting 45 minutes or more, we would just put our headphones on or sit on the company chat system making fun of their ridiculous comments. It's one thing to have sporadic conversations far and few in between, but every freakin' day? C'mon... Maybe I'll make a series out of this.

Semper Fi