Unit 2- Games On!

I chose to play the McDonalds game for Exercise 2.2. It was an interesting game considering the options that were given to improve sales. It allowed you to add hormones and animal parts to the feed, genetically enhance the soy, bribe different people and organizations, and a few other options. It took me a few times to learn the game and to figure out the process and what my goal was but overall it was a fun and addictive game.

The prices definitely determined what I would buy and how much. Because everything came at a cost, whether it was buying land to grow soy or firing employees, there were a lot of areas that you had to pay attention to. Not only were you responsible for the selling of the burgers but also how much soy you would produce, how many cattle to raise, what hormones would be added, who to pay off in order to keep organizations happy, and which marketing schemes were to be used. When I was making lots of money it really felt good and I felt like my hard work as a manager was paying off but when I lost the game by going bankrupt after decades of being in business it was sort of sad that I failed.

Overall I think after getting a feel for the game it was fun and I enjoyed seeing how my classmates did as well.

Unit 1- Production Possibilities

There are 4 figures in chapter 1 that represent production possibility curves which are made up of different combinations that output can be produced depending on the availability of resources and technology. The graphs can be inturpreted by looking at three different areas: scarcity, choice, and opportunity costs. Scarcity plays a role in the graphs because it is not possible to produce all the productions that society wants because there are limited resources. Choice plays a role in the graphs because a choice needs to be made in order to decide what will be produced and opportunity costs plays a role in the graphs because certain products must be sacrificed in order to produce other products that have been choosen and that there are sufficient resources to produce.

In everyday life we all have to make decisions based on scarcity and choice. A few areas that top my list are income, time, and vacation days. Income is probably a main concern in a lot of peoples lives but for me specifically I have to make sacrifices and choices daily to manage my income so I can afford the things that I need and the things i choose to buy that I don't necessarily need but that I want. Time is another big concern when it comes to choice and scarifices. A lot of people comment on how there are not enough hours in a day; with the amount of things that we have on our plate it is very common to try to jam pack as many tasks and activities into a day or a few hours. For me vacation time is another big one because I have family that live on the other side of the country so evern though i want to see them as often as i can i also want to see the world so I have to divide my vacation time between the two.

When going back to school the one significant opportunity cost  that I have experienced is my spare time and how I choose to spend it. Between school, a full time job (which requires overtime during busy times), my boyfriend, and my friends I have to choose what i do in with my evenings and weekends. Taking courses means that I need to drop my plans and do my school work before I can have fun. I think that most things in life involve giving something up in order to have something else in it's place.