discussions and responds to post

Discussion 2: Making Irrational Choices

Respond to the following prompts in a post with a minimum of 200 words, then comment on at least TWO other posts.

• Brainstorm common items that you think consumers pay too much for or that you think are overpriced (i.e. movie theater popcorn, brand name items, souvenirs,, etc.). Now think of something more specific, either something that you or someone who know has purchased. For example, I know someone with a baby who was traveling and purchased a small pouch of baby food for $2.00, when even more baby food could have been purchased in a jar for around $0.50.
• Write about your example, then use the principles you’ve learned about (like scarcity, opportunity cost, rationality, and marginal analysis) to explain why a person would make the decision to purchase that good.

Post 1 -DALONNA

Hello Everyone,

When planning to stay to Las Vegas more people will pay around $280 a night to say on the Stripe at popular hotels like the Luxor or Circus Circus. When they could still stay in Las Vegas away from the strip for around 50 percent less a night at a cost of $180 dollars a night. Scarcity which means in short supply this doesn’t apply to this situation because there are many hotels in Las Vegas. Opportunity cost is the loss of potential gain by way of other alternatives when one alternative is chosen. For instance, in this case people choose hotel on the Las Vegas Strip because you are in the middle of all the casino, but you could have these same experiments if you stayed at a hotel that isn’t on the Strip. Rationally is define as the quality of being based on the accordance with reason or logic. In this scenario I understand the logic of wanted to stay on the Strip because its more convenient because it isn’t cost effective. Marginal analysis is the examination of costs and benefits of certain activities in this case its hotel cost. It’s a fact that hotel cost more than hotel on the Strip and hotel that are not on the Strip are cheaper.

POST # 2 -OCIEL

I have a close friend who recently bought a TRD off road Toyota Tacoma at an MSRP of 60k. Normally these types of trucks are priced slightly above 35k. Due to Covid 19, many production companies shut down and there was less man power to produce products and the semiconductors industry was affected the most. It has affected the tech industry and auto industry causing a production disruption that has not allowed them to keep up with the demand. The result of this has been a mark up on new vehicles and used vehicles, as there are less cars being produced and the demand continues to increase. Based on the high demand the consumers are willing to pay excessive mark ups to be able to obtain a vehicle to do their day to day activities. Opportunity cost definitely comes into play in making sure that the new car purchase outweighs the price. In my friends case he used made a decision using rational thinking and compared the marginal benefit to the marginal cost and take the decision of purchasing the truck at the given price, even though the truck is expensive compared to the prices he believes he paid a fair price. Primarily he uses truck to transport himself from point A to point B and to carry his tools to work. Work leads him to earning his wages and the wages to be pay for the cost of living including the car payment.