Effects of Change on Demand

There is multiple reasons for the demand for products or services to change. To begin with there is individual reasons such as your preference or income. After that the prices of related products/services, expectations for the future, or population changes.

When it comes to me, I have a demand for going out and having a quality meal somewhere. This demand is affected personally by; my income, available time and if I have a desire for certain food. Outside things that affect my demand are; limited seating at restaurants and the quality of food available.

Here is a chart that shows a possible demand for me to go out for dinner over a 2 week period, and how it relates to the going price of a single entree.

Economics Game

I've spent more time than I probably should have playing this McDonalds game. Although it is a fairly simple game it took me a few trys to get it down pat. Back in my slightly younger days I was an avid player of Sim City. In the later years of the game it was very involved, including elements of trade with neighbors, taxes, zoning, and even random events like natural disasters.

In the game of McDonalds there is the drive to make as much money and growth as possible and it gives the possibilities of cheating people and the system. I found it was possible to run the game without feeding dead cows to other cows and without taking advantage of the town and it locals. Being socially responsible cost in the short term payments but paid back over time with sustainability and public support. 
There is probably more than a few ways to win at this game and that would depend on your definition of winning. 

Production Possibilities

When I look at a production possibilities graph there is a few things that come to mind. First I see a give and take relationship that is a bit of a balancing act to get right. There is a lot of factors that can come in to play when comparing even two items for production possibilities. When looking at capital goods versus consumer goods it is clear that some sacrifice earlier really pays off later. But this is not the society that we live in now so much, its constantly said now that in North America we live in a consumer based economy. This is evident when looking back at the financial crisis of 2008 where everyone was told the best way out, was to keep spending and buying consumer goods.


An economy can produce multiple items but not all at the same efficiency. We only have a limited workforce and in that workforce not everyone is as qualified, trained, and capable of doing all tasks. Makes throwing man power at producing items noneffective beyond a certain point. Where I work in the oilsands it wouldn't be good to haul and crush more material that can be efficiently produced. Also only a given percentage is close enough to the surface to be worth accessing by traditional mining. That is not to say that with more effort in removing over burden more oilsands couldn't be accessed, but cost of running the extra equipment and man power when compared possible profit doesn't make sense. On the other hand if you don't move enough product you may not be able to pay for the overhead cost, hence the balance act.


In my life there has been lots of choices, but of the more recent was the choice to move and work in Fort McMurray. Some of the negative trade offs here can be: my health from working shift work with poor sleep patterns, contact with carcinogens and pollutants in the air I breath. Now there are a few positives here also, such as: reasonable monetary compensation, working 7 on 7 off, and hopefully some room for advancement. I find that now doing online courses probably takes me more time than it should. Putting my thoughts on paper never been my strongest point, so hopefully this course will help and I will become quicker and be able to return to the gym some nights.

My first post

I'm fairly new to blogging, as in I had to check with Wikipedia the definition and what exactly they were. It is not that I didn't have any idea, but because my class mark relies on it, I'd better check.