Today Shreejal and I took the first of two Econ tests. While the test only covered a week's worth of material, I feel as if I have learned so much more. It's incredible how much faster you can learn if instead of taking lots of classes you might not like, you're taking one that you enjoy. Now while I learned a lot, the test was still quite challenging, but while looking at the questions I thought it was amazing that just a week ago I would have had no idea what the question was asking, let alone how to answer it.
Other than the exam, we learned about our group project which will act as a final for the class. As a group, we have to choose an economic question based off a topic in the book to answer. We will have to look up existing research on the topic that we are covering, then summarize it in one or two pages and present it to the class. I'm looking forward to this because I think it's a lot more interesting than just taking a test as a final, and I enjoy working with my group because they are all really interesting and talented people.
We also did another experiment today, this time about public goods. We will discuss the results and implications of the experiments in more detail in class tomorrow, but the main purpose is to see the effect of implementing a tax or fee for using a public good. For example, could we reduce traffic congestion if we charged people $10 to use the highway? I think its a really interesting concept to play around with, but I think for this issue I have a moral problem with allowing rich people to use the highway and basically preventing poorer people from using it so that the richer people can drive faster. Maybe this will come up tomorrow during the analysis, which I'm looking forward to.
This evening I went over some of the lecture slides from previous classes to really understand the concepts while hanging out with friends. I'm going to give some basic info about a few more people, but after today I think I will have mentioned almost everybody.
Yet again, left to right. First, playing the air drums is Tyler, from Northside Chicago. He lives about an hour and a half away from campus. He is taking creative writing. Next is Emma, who is also taking creative writing, and who lives in New Jersey. And finally in the bottom right is Jasper, who is from Georgia. She is taking Philosophy of Religion and a Psych course, which seems like a lot of work.
I can't wait to read what your professor, TA and/or classmates say when you raise "a moral problem with allowing rich people to use the highway and basically preventing poorer people from using it so that the richer people can drive faster." Great question!
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