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Ski for the love of itShane Dobies Portfolio Article/ PPF Diagram “Hurricane Ike brings spike in gas prices” MSNBC Date of Article: 9/24/2008 Word Count: 569 Date of Commentary: 10/1/2008 This article was about the recent hurricane Ike and how it brought about a “spike” in gas prices. Ike hit a heavy cluster of gulf coast oil refineries, which eventually caused a surge in the price of gasoline. Following these events, the offshore oil production in the gulf shut down. The last time a natural disaster shut down that much oil production was in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina happened. In this article many important economic terms were mentioned. One of the important terms mentioned was the word Consumers, who are individuals, households, organizations, institutions, resellers and governments that purchase the products offered by other organizations. Another important word in this article is surge, which is a sudden or abrupt strong increase, which in this case, was the price of gasoline. Also, the word demand was used; this is how much people want a specific product or good. The word stock, which is the capital raised by a corporation through the issue of shares entitling holders to an ownership interest, was also used in this article. Another example of a word used in this article is production, which is the output or quantity of something being created. The last word used in this article that is a significant economic term is capacity. Capacity is simply the maximum production possible for a specific product or good. All of these economic terms are important in understanding our general economy and its problems. Economic concepts are also crucial in the understanding of our economy, in that they allow us to know how things work. For example, in this article the concept of “supply and demand” is illustrated. This concept was demonstrated perfectly in this situation, the supply of gas was low and the demand for it was still the same, which caused prices everywhere to increase. This concept of supply and demand is illustrated on the attached page, in the form of a PPF Diagram. This diagram shows the direct relationship between the supply and demand of oil prices. Shown in the diagram, the price of gas in June 2008 was much lower than the price of gas after the hurricane, and the reason for this was that in June of 2008, more barrels of oil were being produced compared to the times after the hurricane. Therefore, if less barrels of oil are being produced with the same demand from the people, the companies will increase prices. There are both pros and cons to this situation. Some pros of the hurricane were that it increased the need for labor in surrounding areas because the need for lumber and other supplies in hurricane devastated areas increased. The need to build homes, schools, and other buildings in the aftermath of the hurricane was great, and in order to produce those supplies the need for labor of surrounding areas increased. Even though new labor was needed to help rebuild, there were still many cons of this hurricane. One of the major cons was the sudden price increase of gasoline. American families were already struggling with the rising gas prices and the new sudden increase did not help. Overall, there are both pros and cons that came out of this situation, but I believe that the cons outweigh the positives in the end.

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nope.Shane Dobies Business Communications Period 2 Unmarried America Throughout the years, the general views and values that Americans encompass have greatly changed. Perhaps one of the biggest changes has occurred in the ways in which people view the concept of marriage. Not only does this mean saying good-bye to traditional families, but also fundamental changes in business and society’s of America. There are many pieces of evidence that suggest that these changes are in fact happening. For example, the US Census Bureau’s newest numbers show that households of married-couples have gone from nearly 80 percent to 50 percent since 1957. Also compared to older times when the fathers went to work to provide for the family, while the mothers stayed home to take care of the house, today is much different. Only 1 in 10 houses have this value system now; along with a dropping number of married couples with kids. Not only does this represent a domestic change among families in the United States, but also a change in business. With the values of Americans changing, this also means big changes in the workplace. For example, in years past when a child was sick, he would stay home with his or her mother, allowing the father to carry on with his normal routine. However, now with the increasing number of single parents, businesses must allow a child’s illness as a legitimate excuse for their employee’s absence from work. In order to prepare for these changes, leaders of companies everywhere will have to give their employees more flexibility regarding reasons for taking sick days. Another area for concern regarding the changes in values of America is the decline of job benefits. Companies subsidize job benefits is to assist the employees spouse and children, leaving the unmarried employees with nothing to make up the difference. Also for spouses, job benefits are tax-free, unlike domestic partners whose job benefits are taxed. Overall these changes can be considered neither a bad or good thing, but a matter of opinion. Personally, I see nothing wrong with these new values and ideas. I believe that people are entitled to their own choice on what they want to do and how they do it. Nonetheless, if you choose to be in a domestic partnership rather than a legal marriage, you need to understand you’re subject to things such as higher taxes and fewer job benefits. My plans for the future are to get married, and raise our children together. Yet, if I were to end up not finding a spouse, I would not like to raise children on my own. In doing this you are not allowing them to have the enjoyment of having both a mother and father. As long as the choices you make will make you happy, then you should have the right and power to do so.

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