econ essay
tenuised
TopicList1.docx197 Topic List #1
1. Discuss the economic research behind the connection between money (or GDP in a country), and happiness or life satisfaction. What does the research reveal? (There is a lot of economics research on this topic both between nations with different GDP levels, and within countries comparing individual incomes with others.)
2. What would be the economic implications of California successfully seceding from the United States. (I would merely address the economic independence of CA in terms of the U.S. “losing” CA’s economy, but also from the vantage point of CA. This leaves out the obvious potential costs of violence, etc. but if you choose this topic I would ignore that aspect given its’ uncertainty)
3. What is the future of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin? Can/Should we move toward a system of cryptocurrency? (you could analyze things like its volatility, security, usefulness)
4. Should we remove taxes on feminine products? Someone presented this topic in a 197 class that focused on the costs to women and girls globally and how in some places it has large and negative impacts on the economy because women and girls are essentially unable to work, go to school, etc. due to the cost of these products.
5. Should Universities pay their college athletes?
6. How has the plastic straw ban affected different markets? Is the environmental benefit worth the cost to consumers? (There is probably a cost/benefit on this in CA). (There is also the topic of plastic bags which is interesting because now we have them back due to Covid-19 and no reusable bags are even allowed)
7. Are targeted advertisements good or bad for consumers. You can weigh the costs of lost privacy against the benefits of targeted ads which consumers tend to like until they learn how they are targeted.
8. Analyze the economics of male birth control. Is there sufficient demand for such a product? What is the effectiveness of current options given the available science?
9. Analyze the economics of the drug war. Does criminalizing “drugs” reduce consumption? Would de-criminalizing them increase consumption significantly? What other solutions to drug use and addiction are there that have proven to be more successful than the drug war? You could also discuss the costs of the drug war relative to measures of success. (Several countries have dealt with the problem by de-criminalizing and have had success – you could compare outcomes, etc.)
10. Has the “war on terror” been effective? You could discuss the “economics” of it in terms of the cost of all of the new agencies (Homeland Security) and rules (TSA and increased security costs) along with the estimated impact.
11. How do companies use benefits (employee perks) such as free food, nap rooms, gaming areas, on-site child care, on-site medical care to drive efficiency and maintain employee retention? (Cynically you could also discuss the potential motivation for such “perks” is to keep employees on site for much longer duration, etc.)
12. Should we lower the drinking age? What would be the economic impact (sales, safety (DUI?), criminality, lost productivity, etc.). There is a lot of research about the state of the human brain at various ages and levels of maturity that could be relevant to this question. In some states, there are much higher costs of getting caught than in CA and similarly the states themselves spend vastly more resources trying to catch minors with alcohol.
13. How can transportation at UCSC be more efficient? For this question, you could discuss the strategy of trying to significantly reduce demand for “driving” by reducing prices of substitutes (free bussing), raising the price of complements (parking). Given that strategy, is it efficient (optimal number of drivers/parked cars). Is there a better solution to the lack of parking? You could also discuss traffic on campus, etc.
14. What would be the economic impact of the population transitioning to veganism (or vegetarianism?) More specifically, how would the reduction of meat and dairy production affect the environment, labor market, and food prices?
15. Did Trump make a good (economically sound?) when he blacklisted Huawei? What were the immediate impacts and what will be the long run impact?
16. How big of an influence has China had on the NBA?
