No need to be Uni Student to understand Prices & Market

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Since January, the start of a new semester at school,
I've been given a "Learning Diary" assignment from "Prices & Market" module.
In my mind, I imagined it to be a diary like how I would write for my blog,
something that records my personal development as I progress through the course. 

The intention was behind it was intelligently construed
as revision is needed for each lecture before you can start writing.
On top of that, it makes me reflect on the concepts developed
& I'll have to relate them to the real world in order to score high grades!
Thus, all that I had to do was to simply answer the following given question!!

Q: "What did you learn in this topic 
& how did it change your understanding of the world?"
*BTW, The word limit is only 100 words for each journal entry
*& you will get penalized if you write more than 100 words!!



 #Lecture 1 - "Demand & Supply"
"Out of lecture 1, I find the part about substitute or complementary goods
will be the trickiest depending on how a question is structured
& if there will be enough details to differentiate between the two.
The same applies to normal or inferior goods too
as personal opinions of necessity defers depending on individual.

After this lecture, it opened my eyes on how price is set in the real world
as I start to find the link between products in the supermarket
and classify them to the group they belong to.

One example of complementary goods is shampoo & conditioner!"
Word Count: 100 words


With that, I tried to remind myself what difficulty I had with the lecture
& may be I will be differentiated from other student's work.
However, I found out that it wasn't the case when I got back my score,
Each journal carries is up to 5 marks, 4 for the write-up
& 1 for extra quiz if all answers are correct.
My lecturer thinks the "standard" of my journal is only worth "2/4" marks,
Strictly speaking, the scoring system is of 'half' mark increment
& my "2/4" becomes "4/8" if you look it that way.

No matter how I look at it, I don't think this should be a just pass?

If it is so hard to get a "pass", where does the "Bell Curve" starts?
So I was pretty confused how the grading criteria goes about
as there was nothing said and it was too ambiguous.

*I did reply to the journal's question, didn't I? *

What shocked me more was the next thing I found out!?!?
Many students out of our class only got (8.5 - 10)/20!!!
.... and so, our lecturer started to explain himself of his "standard"
BTW, he is impressed with a minority of "High Distinction" students
& enlighten us on how we can make our journals better for the rest of our submissions.

How to get the prestigious "High Distinction", you ask.

Basically, students just have to quote articles and relate to current news
as he was showing examples with scraps of newspaper & printed articles
from those impressive journals of those possibly "High Distinction" students.
Similar to what a Junior College student have to do for his general paper???


*What can I do?*
 I lifted my spirits up & do better in the next submission.
I'm perfectly fine if your intention to want us to improve & I will,


#Lecture 5 - Market Failure

China is a fast developing country,
but the air pollution (negative externality) is not accounted for
& the citizens (third parties regardless consent) have to bear 
the consequences of production or consumption;
 the marginal social cost will become dead weight loss
& affect economic growth in the long run. 
*The Japan Times – China’s Pollution Problem*

In contrast, Singapore Government have to impose high levies taxes
on beer, wine and liquor, tobacco products, motor vehicles and petroleum products
for social and environmental reasons(negative externality). *customs.gov.sg*

Singapore Government also provide subsidies in education (Polytechnic)
to allow citizens to further studies and benefit society as a whole (positive externality). *tgonline.moe.gov.sg – Tuition Grant*
100 words excluding *references*



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



#lecture 6 - Utility

Linking my online shopping experience to utility,
every increasing purchase makes me happier,
but the usage (marginal utility) decreases as quantity increases
till the point I throw them away (law of diminishing utility).

Budget constraints considering my income or allowances,
practice of optimization is essential to fill my wardrobe
with highest number of variations (most effective outcome)
according to usage of shirts, pants, shoes and accessories
(matching marginal utility per unit).

This comparison between 2 categories at a time is hard,
but the difficulty increases exponentially when going through multiple categories
all together especially when no utility score is given. 
*www.qoo10.sg*
100 words excluding *




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



In planning my business startup of selling only ____ ______, 
huge sum of capital (TC) is needed if setting up retail outlet in Singapore
as to cover high rental and salaries (TFC);

Despite TFC will be zero in the long run,
there is no guarantee for business to succeed;
by setting up online outlet with delivery system in place,
the business model is built upon VC per postage
which reduces financial risks until business gets on track. 

Once increasing VC exceeds hiring my own permanent deliveryman (FC),
switching over will be more effective and efficient in achieving optimal financial gains. 
*TC = Total Cost, TFC = Total Fixed Cost, FC = Fixed Cost, VC = Variable Cost*
100 words excluding *short forms legend*


How much I get for this submission??
To my readers, go ahead & make a guess!!


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The exact same score as what I had for the lecture 1, "2/4" marks!!
Not for just 1, but all 3 of my submissions!!
Yes, there is no mistake you (my readers) have read it right!!!
No matter how long I stared at it or how i think about it again,
IT DIDN'T & WILL NEVER CHANGE!!!!
None of my "Variety" captured his attention.

I didn't just quote articles (lecture 5), but I linked it to my life (lecture 6)
& I also shared how I intend to start my own business model (lecture 7)
What was happening this time?

Next, I saw my friend's journal, "3/4" marks.
A journal with printed article.
I didn't really read her work, but just skimmed through.
That was it.
I was furious with the lecturer, but not at my friend.

If my lecturer just want ACTUAL printed articles or newspaper,
I don't think that is the right thing to do regardless he got hundreds of journals to mark.


In my mind, I was thinking should I even do the last submission?
Only the best 8 out of 11 journals will be selected & total up to 40%

#Battlefield in Mind
I already submitted 7 & gotten 20/40%.
Is the extra 3 marks really worth my time?
I just finished my law test on Thursday night without much rest.
Friday, I haven fully recovered, but I still went for project meeting & go out.
The only time that was left was 10 pm (Fri) - 10 am (sat) considering if I don't sleep at all.
Of coz it is not that hard for just another 4 journals hahaha.
I will probably be done by latest 2 am? 1 hour for each journal??
Just Do It!!!

As I was going through the lecture notes,
What online examples I can use for my writing?
Do I really have time to browse & read newspaper at all??
*BTW, I specially bought newspaper & will print articles if i find them*
An idea sparked me just when I was going through the last lecture.

"Lecture 11 - Oligopoly"

As of now,
other batches "Prices & Market" of haven't submit their last assignment
& I won't be able to post them up until probably end of this month.
If you (my readers) liked reading my journals thus far,
you will be amazed with what I have in my final episode of journals!!




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