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William Baumol Econ 490 fall 2017

I am a student in Professor Arvan's Econ 490 class, writing under an alias to protect my privacy, using the name of a famous economist as part of the alias.

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September 03, 2017

here we go

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Check Your Facts

November 30, 2017

Description: With the abundance in resources and the ease in which people use to spread information, the issue of misinformation has become more and more prominent. Facebook is one of the platforms that has received lots of attention as of late for not handling misinformation. With the claims that there were campaigns to misinform people during the Brexit vote and even the recent presidential election, the company made the decision to combat it. There were a bunch of solutions that people suggested Facebook take. Some wanted a bunch of moderators to be hired, or have some program created that would automatically detect false information. In the end, Facebook decided to outsource the task to third party fact checking companies. Many of which are news publishers themselves. A year into this attempted solution, and many are protesting this solution. One reason being that these journalist companies are hurting for money, and that the opportunity presented by Facebook would create...

Gift Giving

November 03, 2017

When someone dies, they often distribute what was theirs through a will. The most common possession that is doled out is any money they might have left over, along with any other valuables. With the person dead, there really can't be any quid pro quo going on here, and even if there was, the deceased wouldn't experience any of the economic benefits that might come from it. So why have a will? Why not just invest all the money into a really nice grave stone or plot of land? Perhaps they want their legacy to live on, or maybe they're more altruistic and want to leave the people or causes they care about better off. Maybe they're not a fan of the government, and believe that their money would be better off anywhere other than there. The idea of a will has been around for ages. One of the earlier examples is the middle eastern version called the waqf. By protecting the deceased's wealth from the government and locking it into an investment of their choosing, the needs...

Illinibucks

October 07, 2017

Meet Dave. He's a soon to be college freshman, on the hunt for the school he'll call home for the next four years. A visit was scheduled to tour the University of Illinois, and he's driving towards the campus right now. While he's sure the tour will be great, he's also really looking forward to visiting his brother, who's currently a senior. As he drives down the highway, he passes the sign that says he's approaching his destination. Peering down the road, he see's what looks like might be a great wall of some sort. Needing to resolve this mystery, he puts the pedal to the metal and races towards it. He hits a bump and the information packet that the University sent him fell from the dash and the contents spilled everywhere. Maintaining his speed, he reaches down to pick up what fell, when he sees what looks like a role of cash money protruding from the information packet. He picks them up and unravels the roll with one hand, and is surprised to see the ...