ECON 101 as explained by Sloan 2008s

Reporter : S. B.


Econ :
1. Short for Economics, Economic etc
2. Has the term “Con” in it. Need I say more
3. Branch of empirical science developed to explain events many years after they have happened. New theories are constantly produced to predict future events and explain past events that older theories had failed to predict.

Decreasing Rate of Marginal Returns :
1. Explains why the more the time one spends studying for an exam, the less one will remember during the exam

Deadweight Loss :
1. In economics, a deadweight loss (also known as excess burden) is a loss of economic efficiency that can occur when equilibrium for a good or service is not Pareto optimal.
2. In Sloan Land, a Deadweight Loss occurs when one spends a huge amount of time on an individual assignment and later finds out that the assignment only counts for 0.02% of the final grade.

Zimbabwe :
1. Country in Africa whose economy is in such an unbelievably bad shape that it can be used to explain every possible economic theory however ridiculous it might be. Example : Nations can use price controls to combat inflation. E.g. Zimbabwe (or) Reducing taxes does not help the economy as proven in the case of Zimbabwe

Bartering :
1. System used by Sloans to allocate work in their study groups
Example : I will work on the initial model, if you will clean it up and write the report (or) I will bring pastries for our next study group meeting, if you can finish the assignment without me.

Ceteris Paribus :
1. The clause is often loosely translated as "holding all else constant." A prediction, or a statement about causal or logical connections between two states of affairs, is qualified by ceteris paribus in order to acknowledge, and to rule out, the possibility of other factors which could override the relationship between the antecedent and the consequent.
2. For Sloans, you may receive extra credit if you pre-pend this term to answer all questions regarding Shadow Price, Reservation Price, Reduced Costs, Crystal Ball Simulations, Explaining Coefficients etc. in Modeling and Analysis.


N.A.I.R.U :
1. Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment
2. Also known as natural rate of unemployment
3. 2008 Sloans know that this definition caused Prof. Flanagan to say “Ladies and gentlemen it is 15 minutes to 2 PM and the man is awake”

Fundamental Value of Currency
1. If a Sloan Fellow’s value in the job market were a currency, this would be what his/her worth would be in the open job market based on his/her skills and experience

Overvalued Currency
1. Again, if a Sloan Fellow were a currency, this is what the Sloan Fellow would expect their value to be after the Sloan Program.

Twin Deficits :
1. Term to used to explain how one can spend a lot of time on a subject and yet they seem to fall farther behind while also not getting enough sleep.

China :
Antonym : Zimbabwe
1. Country in Asia that one has to use as a standard disclaimer to all growth based econ theories.
Example : Raging fast growth will always cause very high inflation except in the case of China