Topic 14 : Productivity Experiment

In the experiment that we did in class was to demonstrate the law of diminish return. We tried to produce widgets (those paper rings). At first, there was only one labor. As the labor gradually increases, the products increase. However, the more the labor gets, the products start to decrease due the law of diminish return. This happens because the labor might not have enough equipment and the spaces are limited. Therefore people have to share the equipment and squeeze in the same limited space, which reduces the efficiency.

There were many problems when producing widgets. I think the main cause was that the manager didn’t carefully plan how the factory should run. Therefore in the beginning, people weren’t cooperating but just did there own products. Because of improper management, the number of products was quite messed up. I believe that for the company to improve productivity in the short-run, it’s number of labor should be well controlled, not too many and not to few. As for long run, there should be more capital, increasing the equipment and space. It seems that this experiment actually did symbolize the real life situation, because sometimes we produced really bad products due to the inconsistent skills.

Journal Topic 13: The Return of the Zeppelin

After seventy years, Zeppelin airships are coming back. However, technologies have improved their qualities. Now they are using helium instead of hydrogen. This airship is one of the three in the world. Therefore the market structure is oligopoly. Few markets compete with each other. Today, people might think that Airship is really unique that they want to try out at least one since there hasn’t been any airship up on the sky for a long time. Also, people’s income has increased over the years, which cause them to willing to pay to ride the Airship. The demand therefore will increase. Other determinants or variables that caused the increase of demand might be that the population increases, price of a substitute rises such as airplanes, the expected future price of an energy bar rises, and etc. Well, I think I might want to try to go on a airship travel once in my life, since it’s a rare thing do it. I think it’s quite expensive to do go on it. However, besides from the cost, I will like to look at the word in a different view. It seems that being inside an Airship is just way too cool. I think it will just be an experience for me.