Economics-A Living Wage Video

6th Period Economics Students:

First and foremost, my apologies for the video difficulties today in class. The Loyola server was being a little ridiculous.

Over the past week, we've been looking at wages, earnings and discrimination. One of the topics discussed in class was the living wage, or the thought that a person's earnings should cover the basic necessities of life. That topic is a source of debate in many areas of the country, and one such example is on college campuses. I would like you to go to this site and click on the video link entitled "A Living Wage" on the right hand side of the page. You need to watch the first 10-12 minutes of the video (I could not get an exact time, but when you see actor/labor activist Danny Glover, you should stop watching...just like in any of his Hollywood movies, ha!)

After viewing this video, I would like you to answer the following three questions by commenting. A sufficient answer does not have a set length, but it should include relevant economics terms from the video or class.
1. Why is the wage of the maintenance worker at Vanderbilt at its current level (use what is said in the video and what we have seen in class)?

2. According to the university, the benefits provided by Vanderbilt are fantastic and make up for the level of their wage. Your thoughts?

3. At the end of this video, it is shown that the worker received a boost from $8.16/hr to $10/hr in pay over a two-year period. While this move is obviously good for the maintenance workers, what effect (or effects) could it possibly have on the labor market? on other college and universities? on the Nashville economy? You don't have to answer all of those questions, just pick one of the areas and discuss how the Vanderbilt story could have a larger impact.


The blog will close at 9ish on Monday December 8th. Questions? Email jdees@loy.org.

Economics--Auto Bailout Questions

After reading the article "Auto Bailout Aimed at Unions, not Companies," please answer the following three questions by commenting below:

1. In what way did the author best prove her point that the unions are the major recipient of the proposed auto bailout?

2. In your opinion, is it the union's fault for asking for high demands concerning health care and pensions or the automakers' fault for agreeing to those demands? Answer in a sentence or two.

3. Are unions a necessary tool in 2008? Or, have conditions and wages reached a fair point for workers, thus leaving unions a relic of the past?


Responses are due by Monday at 8:00 AM. Be sure to put your first name and last initial on your answer (ex: Bobby J.).

Hey Hey!

Welcome to the NEW place to be for online Social Studies discussion!! The old blog site has been put out to pasture for being too slow and annoying. The new and improved Mr. Dees Social Studies blog is here to stay!