Halloween costumes: NOT age appropriate

What are retailers thinking when they make Halloween costumes for young girls that are NOT age appropriate? Where are the little ballerinas, fairies, and princesses? Now they have little black dresses  for 4-5 year olds. Young girls are being influenced by TV and advertising and are going for the racy costumes. We forget that this is all led by the clothing market of skinny jeans and for lack of a better word, “sexy” T-shirts for tots.  Young girls are learning that their value comes from how they look and being defined as “sexy and sassy”. The retailers are extending this idea of sexy and sassy into costumes that are being bought up with no problem at $35 - $40 per costume. These retailers are banking on advertising campaigns with huge temporary storefronts to attract families young and old to walk in and buy these ridiculously expensive but, cheaply made costumes. As these companies spend money on advertising and the packaging of these costumes, they are hoping for an increase in demand for their goods. The demand for these goods has evidently increased because Halloween has turned into an $840 million business to $1billion business in the course of 1 year. With the economy not doing well, the consumer is choosing to spend their income on a luxury item. They could make a costume, borrow a costume, and have something that is age appropriate rather than spending the extra money. In my opinion, they are EXTREMELY influenced by the media at such a young age; they have plenty of time to grow up. A kid needs to be a kid!

Potato Chips Consumption Increase

Potato Chips have become more popular during the last few years, and are continuing to get more popular as new flavors come out. When the economy started going south, during the recession, the sales for potato chips increased by 22%. Reasons behind this could not only be because of new flavors, brands, etc., but because of their affordability. Most potato chip bags are sold very cheaply which could contribute to the great consumption in order to save money buying food. Even after the recession, potato chip sales continued to increase. Research has been done showing that there’s a trend of consumers increasingly eating salty snacks between meals and after dinner. The affordability has also greatly contributed to the consumption of potato chips. With the low prices of chips and their increasing demand companies could easily decide to raise the price in order to meet the new equilibrium price that has been created.

Could Google TV become a top Contender?

When Google TV launched in October 2010, all signs pointed toward success. But, lack of user and cooperation from major TV companies caused the previous signs to be meaningless.  Other turnoffs included a poor operation system that was too confusing for users.  Recently though, Google has announced that Android is updating the software for Google TV.  The upgrade is planning on making the user interface much simpler and making it easier to scroll through the available shows.  By employing android to perfect this update, Google is hoping to shift the demand of Google TV outward.  They are hoping to raise the equilibrium price to a level similar to what was originally predicted after Google TV’s launch in 2010.  Another reason for Google’s attempt to shift the demand of Google TV is to try to make it a more desirable substitute than its competitors.  Right now Companies like Netflix, Apple TV, and Amazon instant video have become greater demanded substitutes for Google TV.  This software update may be the increase in “curb appeal” that will bring upon Google’s command of the TV streaming market.  

Peanut Butter rise

Due to the poor harvest season of peanuts, the price of peanut butter is going to increase for the following weeks. This is the worst harvest in decades says CNN. This rise is going to affect a lot of other markets because consumers will now try to find a substitute for a cheaper price. It will be this way until there is a new harvest of peanuts to come. Another way this will effect a good is its complement jelly with either making the consumption of it decrease while its prices stay the same. Peanut butter is one of the most commonly bought items in most households, and with an expected 13% drop of its amount sold will show that some people will find a new way to substitute this common good. This is also going to raise the prices of goods containing peanut butter, so if there is a way that the harvesters could begin harvesting for peanuts again it would be a great thing to lower this good back to its original low price.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/31/markets/peanut_butter_prices/index.htm?hpt=hp_t1&iid=EL#TOP 

Tainted Cantaloupe: Listeria

In late September, an outbreak of Listeriosis cases were reported throughout California. 13 deaths have been linked with the disease, and potentially an additional two. The tainted cantaloupes causing the outbreak was traced back to Jensen Farms in Holly, California. The bacteria carrying the disease is more deadly than E. Coli. Between July 29 and September 10, these infected cantaloupes were nationally distributed. By September 12, the first case had been reported and recalls began. The recalls took a huge toll on the entire cantaloupe industry. Demand plummeted when Americans heard of the crisis. Although it was only a select group of cantaloupes tainted with the bacteria, customers have avoided purchasing cantaloupes in general in fear of Listeria. The contamination of one batch of cantaloupes completely altered the buyers' desire to purchase them. This affects cantaloupe producers all over the world, not just Jensen's farm. The shift in demand causes these producers to lose money. Without the money they are forced to produce fewer to no amounts of cantaloupe. The cantaloupe industry has turned into a downward spiral, most likely not to recover for months and possibly years. 
-Morgan C.

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2011/09/cantaloupe_recall_listeria_deaths.php

Airline Fees

It was recently reported that airlines, including United Continental and US Airways, have made a smaller profit since the end of the third-quarter. Five of the biggest airlines have been following the "charge more and fly less" strategy ever since the jet-fuel bills peaked to $3.14 billion. Obviously, this method is not working. Profit for US Airways has dropped about 68 percent to $76 million, when just last year profit was at $240 million. the CEO of farecompare.com, Rick Seaney, told Dallas Morning News that there has been 18 attempted faire increases in 2011 thus far, only about half succeeding. When such a large business, such as an airline, and you see that your revenue is decreasing, wouldn't you want to lower the prices in hopes of making more money? Because airfare is so high, people have been flying less, taking away from Delta, US Airways, United Continental, Southwest, and Jet-Blue's income. I personally think that they would have a better chance of surviving this dilemma by lowering their prices so more people will be willing to fly with airlines. Eventually, they would be able to pay for the jet-fuel bills. If the companies are expecting lower demand like the article reads, then why not do something about it? Am I wrong for thinking this?

Students Helped With Debt

Student debt is a challenge many have to go through, but Obama is putting in a new act to enhance and diminish the problem of students having long term debt to pay off their school loans. This new program is supposed to debut in 2014 and help students to keep more money and get out of debt faster. It seems as it could greatly help some people but where will the government have to achieve all the money from, more than likely either increase taxes on certain things or employ better federal spending. The debt of school loans, right now, is more than credit card debt. So helping out all of these students is going to increase our economy in the future because it is a twenty year plan. Another main point is that now the rate of unemployment for right of college is 9.4%, so the ability for a part of graduates to pay off their loans is very difficult. So through these new efforts it will help students and recent graduates get out of debt, and enjoy their future lives.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/25/news/economy/Obama_student_loan/index.htm