Super Computer's Win May Benefit Others

This article discusses other possible uses for the Semantic Analysis Technology (SAT) IBM's super computer used to win Jeopardy. The technology was made to do "much smarter searches on larger amounts of data." It could be used to help lawyers find documents that are relevant to their cases, detect financial fraud in banks, and match customers to the customer service representative that would work best with them. The assistance to lawyers could save people thousands in lawyer fees. That's good for them and good for the economy, since they have more to spend. The same goes for banks. The banks don't lose money and neither do the account holders. The cost of the machine would be heavy, but probably not as much as the money they save by preventing fraud. As for customer service, if people get better treatment they're more likely to buy the company's products again and recommend that product to others, which can't be bad for business.

Detroit's Decline

An article discussing Detroit's decline points out that it's moving from decline to decay. The population has decreased by 25% in the last ten years and buildings are continuing to be abandoned. The dilapidation will probably make it hard for Detroit to ever recover. Despite recent pushes to revamp Detroit, people are continuing to leave. Most people that emmigrate from the city are the ones that can afford to and/or have opportunities in other places. They're the more educated, which means the poorer, less educated demographic is what is left. As a result, (especially with the recent cuts to education) the population of Detroit is even less likely to help the city rise from the ashes than before. That along with the fact that Detroit is decaying and that it is one of the more dangerous cities in the country makes it pretty unlikely that educated people are going to seek it out. All in all, Detroit's fate is looking pretty grim right now.

Is there Little concern for Verizon

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/as-att-strikes-big-deal-verizon-looks-set-to-stay-put/

We the recent announcement of AT&T making a bid to by T-Mobile for $39 billion does Verizon have anything to worry about in the upcoming change in the economy for wireless devices? Verizon says they have nothing to worry about at least in the short term, but in the long run to stay in the game they will need to do something. They will have to stay technologically ahead of AT&T or have better service. Either way this buy out is a major change to the wireless world because it will change the wireless service as we know it. With this buy out it will leave only 3 major wireless in America. But what most are concerned about is a monopolization. With a monopoly one company takes over all the other companies in its field of work leaving only one choice for buyer. The scarcity of services would decrease to one as all other companies would be bought out or run out of business. This could negatively affect the economy because they could drive prices up because there would be no competition. This would mean people would be forced to pay this price or not have a wireless server. Leaving less money to be spent in other areas of the economy.

Stink Bugs Are Creating An Economic Problem

An article in DailyFinance discusses the increase in the stink bug population. Not only do they emit an awful smell when threatened, they wreak havoc on crops. This is a big problem for farmers trying to recover in this economy. Their income determined spending would be completely eliminated if the problem gets too out of hand. As of right now, no one can come up with a solution to get rid of these bugs. A lot of people are turning to exterminators, though, so the bugs are helping that business significantly. It's even better for them because most of the affected property is farmland, and the exterminators have the opportunity to make a lot of money. GDP is taking a hit though, because the exterminators don't produce any products. The farmers do, and their product has been cut by 40% in some states.

iPad 2

According to the iPad 2 to Sell Faster Than First iPad: Munster article the iPad2 is predicted to sell over 1 million units faster then the original. The release of the iPad2 in general will be a benefit to the economy. It will produce a stimulant for the economy wether it be big or small a stimulant in this situation is good. What I mean by a stimulant is that it will create spending which is need to help circulate the economic cycle. By spending you are allowing the company to prosper by creating a flow of income. This income can then be invested in newer and better products which could create or maintain many jobs. With these jobs people will be able to lower the unemployment rate if even by the smallest of margins. With this people will get a steady flow of income for there house holds allowing them to live comfortably and eventually contribute to the spending part of the cycle. what people overlook continuously is that it is products like these that can have a bigger impact on the economy. By the release of newer products that people want, they would be willing to spend to get it. But when companies release products that people don't want or need they wont spend money therefore decreasing the flow of the cycle.

Charlie Sheen Is Crazy, But Is He Helping the Economy?

An article in Daily Finance discusses the possibility of Charlie Sheen's recent stunts to be good news for a lot of people. The biggest winners in this situation are the tabloids. There's always a lot of celebrity gossip, but seldom are there topics that everyone is constantly discussing. And the people that don't know what's going on will want to be in the loop soon, and what better way than to buy a magazine with an extensive story on the whole thing. As demand for their products increase, they can increase their prices and also increase production. It's probably not a big enough production increase to affect employment, but it does affect products produced, which helps the nation's GDP.
It seems as though CBS would be hurt by Charlie's behavior, but it's actually doing just fine. Even though new Two and a Half Men episodes aren't airing right now, more and more people are tuning in for the re-runs. This way, advertisers still get their money's worth and they get it on people who may not watch CBS normally. That might mean an increase in sales for them. As more people spend on their products, they'll spend more money in their employee's salaries, which will allow the employees to spend more, and the business cycle continues.