International Economic Summit Project
Summary:
The International Economic Summit Project (IES) was a project based around the economics of different countries and how we, as student representatives, could help make a positive change. The project started with us filling out a players guide about our assigned country (mine was France). The point of the guide was to help us learn about our assigned country and encourage us to do some research about it. After completing the guides, each group had to participate in something called a Mini Economic Summit. During the summit each group represented their country, and tried to get other countries to help them and meet goals they had set earlier for their country. One of the things that we completed in the players guide was setting a goal for ourselves during the project. Mine was as follows: "I would like to better understand what inflation is, why it happens, and what it results in." I think I met this goal. My group also made goals to work well together, because it was such a big project, and to always communicate with each other. In addition to the group goals we also set import and exports goals. These goals show what sorts of products we would have liked to attain at the mini summit. They are shown below:
The International Economic Summit Project (IES) was a project based around the economics of different countries and how we, as student representatives, could help make a positive change. The project started with us filling out a players guide about our assigned country (mine was France). The point of the guide was to help us learn about our assigned country and encourage us to do some research about it. After completing the guides, each group had to participate in something called a Mini Economic Summit. During the summit each group represented their country, and tried to get other countries to help them and meet goals they had set earlier for their country. One of the things that we completed in the players guide was setting a goal for ourselves during the project. Mine was as follows: "I would like to better understand what inflation is, why it happens, and what it results in." I think I met this goal. My group also made goals to work well together, because it was such a big project, and to always communicate with each other. In addition to the group goals we also set import and exports goals. These goals show what sorts of products we would have liked to attain at the mini summit. They are shown below:
We were able to meet all but two of these goals during our participation in the mini summit.
Reflection:
The most interesting/surprising thing that I learned during the IES project is how important making an alliance is, and having connections so that you can complete goals that you set for yourself. This is especially important to economics because alliances are key for a productive world. Another interesting thing that I learned has to do with the standard of living and how drastically different it is from country to country, and even from community to community. During this project, I also found a lot of connections to economics in my everyday life. One example of this is the abundant amount of terms we learned during this project. I now feel confident that when watching the news, or hearing about something, like Occupy Wall Street I will understand what they are talking about. Something that I learned about myself during this project is that I work best in a group when we constantly communicate. The group I was in (which consisted of Molly, Alicia and me) was highly productive, and I think for the very reason that we were in regular commuication.
Standard of Living Paper:
After the majority of this project was completed, we were assigned to write an essay about the Standard of Living (SOL) in our assigned country. Mine was France. Below is one of the paragraphs I am most proud of from the essay. This excerpt talks about how a lot of the people in France are living below the poverty line, and living in hard conditions without the necessities to live. It also talks about different ways France could fix these problems. For example, they could tax the rich. I think that the overall standard of living in France is fairly good. It has few problems and by doing things like raising taxes and increasing exports, France would have more money to put into other things like infrastructure which would positively effect the country.
"But even with those impressive numbers, France could improve the gap between its rich and poor. Eight-million people are living in poverty. In a recent article by Judith Prescott, she says, 'People still live below the poverty line, defined as a monthly budget of 949 euros.' That is the equivalent to $1,313 in the United States. One thing that France could do to close the gap would be to significantly lower taxes on the poor, which is currently 5.5% (for those making 5,000 to 12,000 euros a year) and raise them for the rich, at least temporarily (Angloinfo). This would give the government more tax money to use for a variety of endeavors. For example, France could take the money it gains from higher taxes on the rich and use it to create more jobs, like projects to improve the country’s infrastructure. The French people would not only be making and spending money, but France’s bridges, highways, and waterworks would be improved as well. This would create a positive impact because in order to have a good trading system you need adequate roads and other things like working electricity in order to complete transactions. It would also cause the unemployment rate to go down and the GDP to go up. The implementation of this solution would help France in the long run, and similar ideas could also be used for other issues."
If you would like to read my completed SOL essay, you can download it below:
michael_liuzzi_sol_final.doc | |
File Size: | 34 kb |
File Type: | doc |
After the written essay, we were given an assignment to create something called a photo essay. Do you know the phrase, "A picture is worth a thousand words"? That quote was literally the basis of our project. We had to compile images (or take them ourselves) that reflected the standard of living of our community. Each photo had a small caption at the bottom talking about the photograph. My photo essay is below:
My Photo Essay
You can fill a room full of people for many different kinds of events, but this one is a gathering of entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their merchandise. An entrepreneur is a person who decides to start his or her own business. This specific event is something called a “Pop-Up Holiday Boutique” at the Hera Hub, which took place on a weekend in December. Its name originated from a bunch of entrepreneurs coming together and selling things for the holidays. A number of these entrepreneurs started their businesses after being laid off. These entrepreneurs’ experience that as both good and bad because they did lose a job, but in turn, created a new life for themselves.
Unfortunately, times are hard. This entrepreneur’s yawn is a sign of the times. It mirrors the slow and sleepy economy and how people living in our society cannot afford to come out for holiday shopping. At this Hera Hub event, entrepreneur Jessica Althoff spoke with only one consumer in an hour.
The consumers who did show up seem to be “window shopping” or browsing more than actually purchasing. Their paychecks did not allow them to do anything more.
Even with a convincing shine some sellers were having difficulties making a sale or even getting a steady flow of customers. Jewelry designer and artist April Star Davis says this is the second shopping event she’s been involved with in two weeks, and people just aren’t buying much. Even when they do buy, they go for the less expensive items.
The Hera Hub is a community workplace for entrepreneurial women who can rent out space to work, or in this case, come together and sell things. At the Pop-Up Holiday Boutique, there were more vendors than shoppers, which is another indicator that times are not the greatest. I can easily relate this to my life because my mom is an entrepreneur. She started her own executive coaching business eight years ago. She says there was a definite economic slowdown in the past two years, but that business has started to improve in the last quarter of 2011. My dad is also self-employed and agrees with my mom. He says, “I have absolutely noticed an economic downturn in the past couple of years, but I believe we’ve bottomed out and things are beginning to improve.” With what I have observed, I don’t think I want to be an entrepreneur, at least not early in my working career.