Notes on Basic Economics: Chapter 1

"Economics is more than just a way to see patters or unravel puzzling anomalies. Its fundamental concern is with the material standard of living society as a whole and how that is affected by particular decisions made by individuals and institutions."--Thomas Sowell

Economics is not strictly about money as most people think, money is just the artificial device that helps drive the market. What economics really boils down to is resources, the scarcity of those resources, and how those resources are distributed.



"...Economics isn't just about dealing with the existing output of goods and services as consumers. It is also, and more fundamentally, about producing that output from scarce resources in the first place ---turning inputs into outputs."--Lionel Robbins from his paper What is Economics? 

 Most of the time those resources, where they go and how they're used, is determined by the government. The Soviet Union produce more electricity usage than the American companies, they had less output despite having more steel, wood, and other natural resources than the American's. Which run along with what Lionel Robbins said , "Economics is more about producing a greater output from less of an input." Or making more with less.  

Taking a look at some of the examples given in the first chapter, I find that it's quite interesting how some countries have fewer natural resources(sometimes massively less) than other countries but have a much better condition of life. How can that be? You would think those countries with an oversupply of resources would be much better off. But take Japan, they have considerably fewer resources than Venezuela, the life style is many times better. So it isn't how much you have, if you use it inefficiently then you will have a lesser output than a somebody who uses less more efficiently.

Short Putts

When I was in the basement this morning, I went 9 for 9 in the 3, 6, 9 putting drill prescribed by my teacher Tom Torrington.

This is how it works: you take three balls and roll three putts from three feet. If you make all three putts, you move back to six feet. Make all of those and move back to nine feet. If you miss any of the nine putts you have to go back to the beginning and start all over again, until you make all nine in a row. 

I figured something out today: if I keep my head down until the ball hits my target, I have a better chance of making the putt. I'll need to overcome my habit of lifting my head to see if the ball goes in. By keeping my head down I'm able to release the putter while starting the ball on my line. But when I lift my head I have to keep the face open with my hands or it shoots dead left, which — as you can imagine — leads to inconsistency. The point is that I have to keep my head down and body still to put my best stroke on it.
    
How much longer until golf season?

Shoveling Boardom

Yesterday my sister and I got Henry a snowboard. As it is his birthday today, we went out and used it. We have a nice yard/driveway for sledding and we went out and made a run and a jump. Off we went getting some air and pulling 180's. After a few runs I went in and tried to start up the snow-blower which didn't take very kindly to that. So I grabbed shovel and started to clear the driveway the hard way and Henry, being the good guy that he is, joined me. We made quick work of it and took a few more runs afterwards. After that fun we went inside to enjoy the rest of the day. Happy 12th birthday Henry! May you have 98 or so more.

Rory Mcilroy Joins Nike

Today in Dubai, in which was probably the worst kept secret in the golfing world, Rory Mcilroy from Northern Ireland, the number 1 golfer in the world, signed a $250 million contract over 10 years with Nike Golf. He will be playing Nike equipment, driver through putter and playing the 20XI-X ball, the lower spinning tour ball from Nike. He will also be wearing Nike apparel, hat, glove, shoes, ect...

He will also be appearing in several Nike ads, along with Tiger, such as this one:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3z_DWZqW8I

It is yet to be seen whether or not switching from Titleist equipment will affect his play, but I doubt it will considering all the companies have gotten so good at club-fitting and getting the correct specs on all the clubs.