Unsolicited Career Advice

September 8, 2010

Raquel

A perk of working here at DECO is having the ability to teach courses at Towson University.  This is my third year teaching introductory courses in economics and although it requires a lot of hard work and dedication – it’s something I truly love doing.  Inevitably, in each of my courses, I come across students that have yet to pick a major.  As someone who truly enjoys the field I work in (and obviously likes to provide unsolicited advice), I feel it is important to talk to those students about some of the benefits of a major in economics.

Lest you think I’m steering these individuals in the wrong direction, let me share with you some of the benefits of majoring in economics.  Contrary to popular belief, an economics degree is not only for those that want to work as an economist full time.   On the contrary, a degree in economics helps individuals develop essential quantitative and analytical skills which can be adapted and applied to a number of different careers.    In this weak economy, many students are concerned about finding a job after graduation.  However, the good news, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is that employment for economists is expected to grow 6 percent from 2008 to 2018.   If honing your analytical skills is not your cup of tea, the money may provide an incentive.  According to PayScale, Inc., a degree in economics is in the top ten of best-paying college degrees with a staring median pay of $48,800.  If that’s not enough, just take a look at the list of successful individuals that have econ degrees:

  • Warren Buffet
  • Donald Trump
  • Sam Walton
  • Ted Turner
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger

All that being said, a career as an economist is not for everyone. For example, economic-related careers usually require the ability to be comfortable with math.  You must also enjoy conducting research, collecting and analyzing data, preparing reports and enjoy having a structured work schedule. Economists mostly work alone so this career might not suit a very sociable person.  On the other hand, if you enjoy working with numbers and spreadsheets, solving complex problems and conducting research – this may just be the kind of job for you.

Photo Credit: www.Dilbert.com

1 Comment | Business Analysis, Economic Analysis, Education | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Raquel Frye

Slots and Maryland, too little too late?

July 27, 2010

Dr. Daraius Irani

Recently the Board of Public Works approved the purchase 5,000 video lottery terminals (slots) and while I cannot feign that I have not followed the debate for the last several years, I began to wonder if Maryland’s foray into the world of organized gaming is too little and too late.  The underlying reasons for introducing slots into Maryland was to provide an additional source of funding for the state and perhaps provide a spark for economic redevelopment programs for the City and Western Maryland.

Maryland had slots from 1943 to 1968 and while many question the reasonableness of reintroducing slots into Maryland, I question why are we only considering slots?  Why not table games? Especially, since we are one of the last states in the region to even consider slots.  Go big or go home, I say.  It also strikes me odd that Maryland is proposing one o f the highest taxes on slots in the region, or is this part of the “if you can dream it, we can tax it” motto Maryland is trying to shed?  Or do we want to remain in the shadows, only tolerating the newly proposed slot palaces.  We need to go to “11” on this

Once the slot palaces or emporiums are up and running, Maryland could realize significant tax revenues as well as additional employment opportunities for individuals.  However, the challenges to realize those significant tax revenues are

  • Neighboring states are upping the ante by introducing table games which may make Maryland’s slot palaces less attractive and the trek north and west to Delaware and West Virginia would continue.
  • The slot palaces could serve to only rearrange the discretionary spending of Maryland households and as a result other forms of entertainment, eating and drinking establishments could see a decline in their activity resulting in a little or no overall gain in economic activity.

There are those who argue that exploiting a vice to finance state government is not in society’s best interest.  I would argue that we already exploit vices for those purposes-cigarette taxes, liquor taxes and the lottery just to name a few.    I firmly believe, we are not going to balance the state’s budget on the backs of gamblers, but I truly believe that gambling can serve as an economic redevelopment tool.

If someone asked me, which two places in Maryland would you put slots (aside from Cecil County); I would say the Rocky Gap Resort and Pimlico in a heartbeat. Many people pass by the Rocky Gap Resort as they whiz by on Route 68 going to Deep Creek and other points west.  Imagine if there were a fully functional casino (oh the dreaded C word) located at the resort.  People from other states might want to visit and leave their money at the crap tables in Rocky Gap.  Pimlico with all of its storied history is, and this depends on whom you ask, either distressed or in transition (to what I do not know).  It would not be a stretch to allow a casino at a horse track that already has gambling in the form horse betting.  Putting slots near the Inner Harbor and Arundel Mills could displace economic a activity for those locations and not serve as a tool for economic developments.

1 Comment | Business Analysis, Economic Analysis | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Daraius Irani

The Potential Economic Benefits of World Cup Soccer

May 24, 2010

Thomas

The World Cup will start June 11th and last for a month until July 11th in South Africa.  The competition will be like March Madness at the world stage (64 games will be played) and it may benefit local areas in the U.S., such as bars in Fells Point and television networks.  These benefits will depend on the success of the U.S. soccer team and it is highly probable that the team will perform well.

The tournament is the biggest international event in the world of soccer and it is maybe as popular as the Olympic Games.  Not surprisingly, the U.S. soccer team qualified for the event. The national team has been a recurring participant and has had a few good runs in the past, most notably in 2002 after beating Mexico in the playoff stage.  During the pre-qualification stage of the 2010 World Soccer Cup, the team finished first just in front of Mexico, their archrival. The Mexican national team has always been dominant in North America so that was an added bonus for the U.S. to finish first. Many U.S. players are members of some of the best professional soccer teams. For instance, Tim Howard plays for Everton; Clint Dempsey plays for Fulham, which lost in the final of the Europa League; Oguchi Oneyewu, from the D.C. area, plays for AC Milan. I can go on and on, but the point is that the U.S. soccer team has a good chance of performing well because of the increasing number of talented individuals. As a result, the more games the U.S. team will win, the more people are going to be excited, and the more it will economically impact some areas of the economy.  I am not arguing that the event will make the unemployment rate decrease and the stock market go up. But, it will be a nice distraction during this hard time. And there is potential for restaurants and bars to serve increased numbers of customers and for television networks to acquire additional viewers.

Remember last year when AC Milan played against Chelsea Football Club in Baltimore in the M&T stadium more than 70,000 people came to watch the game. That’s as many as any Ravens’ games.  The same scenario happened in Washington DC and several other U.S. cities. The economic benefits to Baltimore occurred due to the increasing number of people who spend money on local restaurants and stay in hotels before the game.  The game brought $20 million in added revenues to local business, $1.5 million in combined state and local taxes and supported 300 Maryland jobs according to the Baltimore Business Journal.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of United Kingdom adults found that 26 % of them will buy more in bars and restaurants if England wins the World Cup in South Africa.  Even though the survey was specific to UK, the finding can apply to the U.S. market to a lesser degree.  Soccer in the U.S. has increased in popularity and many people will go to sport bars if the U.S. performs well in the World Cup.

By the numbers:

  • In the 2002 World Soccer Cup, more than 7 million U.S. viewers watched the quarterfinal between the U.S. and Germany, which was shown in the morning.
  • During the 2006 World Cup final, which did not show the U.S. play, 16.9 million people in the U.S. watched the game compared to 91 million in the 2006 Super Bowl.  The U.S. viewership number for the World Cup is not as high as the Super Bowl, but it shows that the event can be popular.
  • Last year, when the U.S. played against Brazil in the final of the Confederations Cup, more than 4 million people turned on ESPN to watch the game in the U.S.

While the U.S. is preparing for the tournament in South Africa, look for some nice places to see the game. I would recommend Slainte Pub in Fell’s Point.  As an added bonus, the first game the U.S. team plays in the tournament is against an old enemy, England.  So go out in June to support the U.S. team.  You will have a good time and help the local economy.

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Posted by Past Bloggers

Hooray for Women!

March 25, 2010

Raquel

This past weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to be a speaker at the Second Annual Harford County Women’s Conference.    I was asked to speak about the national and regional economy and how it will affect Harford County going forward.  The day was broken up into different topics relating to Women’s Health.  For example, Women’s Financial Health, Women’s Medical Health, Women’s Physical Needs and Women’s Emotional Health.  I was part of the Women’s Financial Health portion along with Kathy Wajer, Chief Financial Manager of Harford County Economic Development. While my presentation was a bird’s eye view of the economy, Kathy focused on more county-specific data and an overview of business activity.

The theme of my presentation was the 2010 Economic Outlook – Hump Day. So, what exactly does that mean?  My colleagues and I thought having a theme would be a clever way for us to summarize our sentiment for the economy.  Our feeling here at RESI is that 2010 can be categorized as Hump Day.  Meaning we may have gotten past those first rough few days of the week (in this case, 2008 and 2009), but we still have a way to go before we can get to that carefree weekend.  We must get over that hump, so to speak.

click here to view the presentation

The conference’s inclusion of a variety of different topics was a great way for women to gather pertinent information specific to them.  In particular, I thought the Women’s Medical Health portion was interesting and timely.  The first presenter, Leni Preston from the MD Women’s Coalition for HealthCare Reform spoke about the impact of the healthcare reform bill on the citizens of Maryland.  It was a rousing topic that garnered passionate feedback from attendees on the eve of a historical vote on healthcare reform.

Overall, I felt the conference was extremely informative and truly reflective of the issues that women must deal with in everyday life.   I’m already looking forward to attending next year to see what new and fresh topics are presented!

Leave a Comment » | Community Outreach, Economic Analysis, Events | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Raquel Frye

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act analyzed by TU experts

February 23, 2010

Thomas

February 17, 2010 marked the anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) implemented by the Obama administration to boost employment and lead us out of the economic recession of 2008 and 2009.  RESI, also, held an important event on this day, our Annual Economic Outlook Conference. Ok, maybe, I exaggerate when I compare a national event to our event but it was still important to us.  During the conference, three panelists provided us with some excellent opinions on the effects of ARRA on the economy. In particular, two Towson University economists, Dr. Dorn and Dr. Rhoads, were especially knowledgeable and gave us two differing opinions.

Dr. Dorn and Dr. Rhoads

Professor Dorn opinioned that ARRA has not been an efficient policy and American taxpayers will have to pay the bill through higher taxes in the following years. In his view, the government sector is not as efficient as the private sector and increasing public sector spending does not provide as many jobs as the private sector.  He also questioned the assertion by some people that the US had many “shovel ready” projects that needed investment from the federal government.  Few of the allotted dollars have been spent on public infrastructure projects so far and maybe there were not as many “shovel ready” projects as portrayed.  In his opinion, the problem was the supply side of the economy. Instead, the Federal government should have given more tax breaks to businesses and eliminated corporate taxes for example. Also, the ARRA money would have been more efficient if the government would have given it to the private sector to spend and manage public infrastructures.

Professor Rhoads had a different take on the efficiency of ARRA. He reminded us that in extremely difficult times, the government needs to provide short term economic relief and has a legal obligation to create policies leading to full employment. In his opinion, the private sector does not have the ability to lead us out of one of the most difficult economic times facing the US economy.  Many economists participated in the craft of ARRA and found this policy necessary. According to Dr. Rhoads, another positive aspect of ARRA was that the government made sure that it did not put all its eggs in the same basket. Seemingly, the government had learned from past policy mistakes. Therefore, spending for ARRA was rightly divided in several different areas; tax breaks to businesses, extended financial support to unemployed people or people in dire economic situations, and investment in public infrastructures.  In addition, the use of monetary policy could have not been as successful. The federal interest rate has been kept at almost zero percent since 2000, which meant that it was not as effective as before.

These two distinguished experts made some excellent arguments regarding the efficiency of ARRA.  And I left with so many questions of my own.

  • Was the policy crafted efficiently?
  • Will American taxpayers pay higher rates of tax in the future?
  • Should the Obama administration have implemented more tax breaks for the private sector?
  • Will more tax breaks on businesses create more jobs?

Etc… All in all the RESI conference displayed TU’s expertise at providing varied solutions to complex problems while also giving the audience food for thought going forward.

1 Comment | Community Outreach, Economic Analysis, Events, TU Faculty & Staff | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Past Bloggers

What do you DO all day?

September 15, 2009
Raquel

Raquel

It’s usually one of the go-to questions a person asks at a party or networking event – So, what do you do? When I tell them I’m an Economist they either seem interested or annoyed (these days it seems to be more of the latter). In certain cases, some are even bold enough to ask – Well, what do you DO all day?

So, what exactly does an Economist do all day?  Fortunately being a part of the Applied Economics group here at DECO means that we get to do a variety of things.  Our work is always changing, right along with the economy.  Since its imperative that we stay on top of economic news, my morning usually starts by browsing online sites of newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and the New York Times.  On any given day, I could be downloading and analyzing data from a variety of government websites such as employment and wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics or personal income data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  The data collected is used as the foundation for our employment and personal income forecasts.

If I’m working on a particular project for a client, it usually entails topic specific research and data collection.  For instance, I could be examining current film incentive programs in the State of Maryland or using Federal procurement data to outline economic opportunities for Maryland’s small and minority businesses as a result of BRAC movements.

I love that there’s never really a “typical” day at my job since projects and clients are always changing.  So, when someone asks me what I do all day, I usually respond with – A little bit of everything!

Source: www.dilbert.com

Source: www.dilbert.com

4 Comments | Economic Analysis | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Raquel Frye

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