Ben Bernanke Blog

I find that most of the decisions I make are only slightly motivated by reducing income risk. Most of the decisions I have made in college are because they are convenient and seem right in the here and now. For example, I chose to major in Economics my sophomore year after being in DGS my freshman year. My decision to major in Economics wasn't  motivated by the potential future employment it offered. My decision to major in Economics was because I really enjoyed economics. At the time of me choosing my major it seemed like a good idea to major in something I enjoyed. I would argue that there are other majors out there that I could have done, but didn't because I wouldn't enjoy them in the here and now. However, they would probably reduce my income risk after college, like accounting. However, I also decided to minor in business to gain more experience in a range of fields. I did this to reduce the risk of potentially not being able to find a job after college. The decision ...

There are a few themes that I habitually mention throughout my posts. The first major theme that I generally have throughout my posts is mentioning transaction costs. I have gone into depth how transaction costs play a role in almost all of the organizations I'm involved with. For example, I mention working for the dining hall and there are transaction costs for workers being managed by two different authorities. This theme was also present in my post where I talked about working for the Illinois football video team. For the video team there is a different kind of organization, but there is still a dual authority in place. Like in my dining hall job, there are also transaction costs that arise form working under a dual authority. Another theme that I see in my posts is opportunism. I focused an entire post on how I could have acted opportunistically, but decided not to in relation to having to pay an Uber driver extra. However, the theme of opportunism taking place at work was al...

Hypothetically, the University of Illinois could use "Illinibucks" to satisfy students demand to move to the head of the line for different activities. One such activity is registering for classes. Everyone wants to schedule their classes as early as possible, but many freshman and sophomore students are stuck with undesirable class times like 8 or 9 am. Also, students will want to register for classes that are already filled and their only option is to be added to the waiting list. With the introduction of Illinibucks, students could use them to move to the head of registration. This concept would be interesting and the activity of priority registration would probably be in high demand. Another instance where the University could use Illinibucks is for signing up for dorms. Similarly to registering for classes, many students don't always get their first choice when signing up for a dorm. Many freshman who would rather secure a favorable dorm than compete with the huge de...

I was hired in the beginning of 2017 by the Illinois football team. I currently work for the video department of the football team. I film the football team's training camp, practices, and games. Illinois football video is a small team, but still has an invaluable job. When this job is performed well the coaches are happy and it helps our football team succeed. The structure of the video department is like that of the dual authority team discussed in B&D. I report to two bosses who are the director of football video and director of coaches video. Both my bosses have authority over me and supervise me throughout practice or a game. Usually at the start of practice, one of my bosses is on the field and the other is in the office working on film. Halfway through they switch and than my other boss is supervising and performing certain tasks on the field. The rest of the video team reports to the two bosses. However, there is an informal structure based on how "new" the ...