Current Events:
Conference
DEMO Fall 2010
Market Segment
Consumer
Funding Amount
$5,000,001-$10,000,000
Funding Round
Series A
Funding Details
This information is confidential.
Competitors
No direct competitors
Product Description
TuneUp is the #1 selling plug-in for iTunes and Windows Media Player that lets you get more from the music you love: Fix mislabeled or missing song information (like "Track 01" and "Unknown Artist"); fill in missing cover art; get upcoming concert alerts based on the artists in your music collection; experience the best music-related content from the web; and share stats about your music collection with your social network.
Market Opportunity
Anyone who uses iTunes and Windows Media Player. We estimate that between the two, there are 600 million users worldwide.
Why do innovators and entrepreneurs attempt to build a better mousetrap?
Points above the production possibilities frontier cannot be produced using current resources and technology. To produce beyond the frontier, a more productive point is not obtainable unless more or higher quality resources--human capital--become available or technological change--entrepreneurship or innovation--occurs.
Results from yesterday's poll are available here.
To participate, you can only vote online:
If you were an investor in entrepreneurs, would you fund Vizerra for virtually offering the best world landmarks without ever leaving home?
Yes 12 Votes 46%
No 14 Votes 54%
Total number of people voted: 26
Chapter 1: What Is Economics?
Section 3: Economic Choices and Decision Making, p. 19
Choices are explained in terms of trade-offs, or alternatives that are available whenever a decision is made. The cost of every decision is measured in terms of its opportunity cost, which is the cost of the next best alternative use of money, time, or resources when one choice is made rather than another. Trade-offs can be analyzed with a production possibilities frontier, a diagram representing various combinations of goods and services an economy can produce when all its resources are in use. Furthermore, economists use cost-benefit analysis to evaluate choices.
A second reason for the law of increasing cost is the fact that resources are specialized. Some resources are better suited for some some types of productive activities than for other types of production. Suppose, for example, that a farmer is producing both wheat and corn. Some land is very well suited for growing wheat, while other land is relatively better suit for growing corn. Some workers may be more adept at growing wheat than corn. Some farm equipment is better suited for planting and harvesting corn.
The diagram below illustrates the PPC curve for this farmer.
Now, let's suppose that this farmer either does not use all of the available resources, or uses them in a less than optimal manner (i.e., either unemployment or underemployment occurs). In this case, the farmer will produce at a point that lies below the production possibilities curve (as illustrated by point A in the diagram below).
Points above the production possibilities cannot be produced using current resources and technology. In the diagram below, point B is not obtainable unless more or higher quality resources become available or technological change occurs.
Thus, for the production of both goods: an increase in the quantity or quantity of resources will cause the production possibilities curve to shift outward.
Cf. http://www.oswego.edu/~economic/eco101/chap2/chap2.htm
Identifying Possible Alternatives
Fully Employed Resources
The Cost of Idle Resources
Opportunity Cost, p. 22
Economic Growth
Reading Check
Synthesizing
How can the production possibilities frontier be used to illustrate economic growth?
Thinking Like an Economist, p. 23
Build Simple Models
Apply Cost-Benefit Analysis, p. 24
Cost/Benefit Analysis, 5:24
Here's a short little video that explains the economic concept of Cost/Benefit Analysis, made by high school students for their economics class. We do not own the music, "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson. Also, our use of an H.E.B. store as our filming location was a matter of convenience. We did not intend to promote or disparage the store in any way.
Take Small, Incremental Steps
The Road Ahead
Topics and Issues
Economics for Citizenship, p. 25
Understand the World Around Us
Reading Check
Determining Cause and Effect
How do you think our society would be different if citizens did not study economics?
In an interconnected world of finite resources, understanding the principles that govern the allocation of goods and services—economics—is essential. Although economics has not traditionally been a part of the liberal arts core, informed citizenship in the 21st century requires instruction in economic principles and the fundamentals of the marketplace.
Yet, most colleges and Universities do not require Economics study. Schools receive credit for Economics if they require a course covering basic economic principles, preferably an introductory micro- or macroeconomics course taught by faculty from the economics or business departments.
In which colleges can I study Economics?
Consult the list of colleges that require Economics.
Case Study
Gap, Inc.
References
Sustainable Energy Systems: Scale, Tradeoffs, and Co-Benefits, 1:03:53
October 14, 2009 - Sally Benson, director of the Global Climate and Energy Project, Pamela Matson, dean of the Stanford School of Earth Sciences, Lynn Orr, director of the Precourt Institute for Energy, Stephen Schneider, Stanford professor of Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies, James Sweeney, director of the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center, and Buzz Thompson, co-director of the Woods Institute for the Environment, discuss the interconnected aspects of future sustainable energy systems with a focus on the scales, tradeoffs, and co-benefits involved.
Preview:
Debates in Economics
Should the Minimum Wage Be Increased?
Chapter 2 Economic Systems and Decision Making
Section 1 Economic Systems
Section 2 Evaluating Economics Performance
Section 3 American Free Enterprise
Chapter Overviews
Section 1: Economic Systems
Economic systems help societies provide for the wants and needs of their people. Three major economic systems have evolved over the years: traditional, command, and market economies. In the traditional economy, the WHAT, HOW, and FOR WHOM questions are answered by tradition, customs, and even habits handed down from generation to generation. In a command economy, a central authority answers the three basic questions. In a market economy, decision making is decentralized with consumers and entrepreneurs playing a central role. Most economies in the world today feature some mix of traditional, command, and market economies.
Chapter 2, Video Library, 4:44
Cf. http://www.glencoe.com/video_library/index_with_mods.php?PROGRAM=9780078747649&VIDEO=4757&CHAPTER=2&MODE=2
traditional economy
Definition
An underdeveloped economy in which communities use primitive tools and methods to harvest and hunt for food, often resulting in little economic growth. Traditional economies are often found in rural regions with high levels of subsistence farming. Countries that evolve their economies past the traditional level often develop into market economies or command economies.
Command Economy
An economy where supply and price are regulated by the government rather than market forces. Government planners decide which goods and services are produced and how they are distributed. The former Soviet Union was an example of a command economy. Also called a centrally planned economy.
Market economy
A system of allocating resources based only on the interaction of market forces, such as supply and demand. A true market economy is free of governmental influence, collusion and other external interference.
Interactive Graphic Organizers: Chapter 2, Section 1 - Reading Strategy
Cf. http://glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/socialstudies/igo_08/epp/ch_02/EPP_ch02_sec1_1.pdf
Why It Matters, p. 32
The BIG Idea
Guide to Reading, p. 33
Section Preview
Content Vocabulary
economic system
traditional economy
command economy
market economy
market
capitalism
mixed economy
socialism
communism
Academic Vocabulary
stagnation
allocate
emphasizing
Reading Strategy
Comparing and Contrasting
Companies in the News
McDonald's and Hindu Culture
Traditional Economies, p. 34
Characteristics
Examples
Advantages
Disadvantages
Reading Check
Describing
What are the advantages an disadvantages of a traditional economy?
The Global Economy & You, p. 35
Command Economies
Characteristics
Examples, p. 36
Advantages
Disadvantages, p. 37
Reading Check
Market Economies
Characteristics
Examples, p. 38
Advantages
Disadvantages, p. 39
Reading Check
Identifying
What are the main characteristics of a market economy?
Mixed Economies
Characteristics
Examples, p. 40
Advantages
Disadvantages, p. 41
Reading Check
Explaining
How can you explain the range of mixed economies in the world?
Section 1 Review
Case Study
The Home Depot
HW: email (or hard copy) me at gmsmith@shanahan.org.
Ch. 1 Sec. 3
1. Gerard has two choices for a summer job--a manufacturing job that pays $10.25 per hour or a landscaping job that pays $8.65 an hour. At the landscaping company, he could work and have lunch with three of his closest friends.
For one 40-hour workweek, what would be the opportunity cost, in dollars, of accepting the landscaping job?
What would be the cost of accepting the manufacturing job?
Which would you choose if you were Gerard?
