6A- Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

·      The rise of the housing market has created an opportunity for economic growth since the collapse of the housing market in 2007-2008. With a minor in real estate, taking classes such as real estate analysis, I’ve been able to dive into this problem faced by many over more than a decade ago in my textbook and lectures. The market has seen a major climb since the devastating crash of began in 2007. The most likely customer would be those looking to own a home, current homeowners, and the owners of rental properties. Those with the capital to buy real estate to be used as rental properties can also be “customers” with this opportunity. As a student very interested in the real estate market, currently working on completing my minor in real estate and an interest to possess my real estate and brokerage license, I have followed the real estate trends closely enough to realize that there is plenty of money to be made in this field.

·      Another economic trend is the United States unemployment rate reaching a 50-year low under President Donald Trump. I have found this information ranging anywhere from The Alligator, CNN and Fox News. The Trump Administration has put a major emphasis on creating jobs and the job creators have been given the framework needed to expand businesses and offer more job opportunities for workers. A household survey revealed that unemployment remained below 4% for 19 consecutive weeks, in September of 2019. The rate reached its lowest point since May 1969, over 50 years ago. I found this information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I believe that with the economy slowly recovering, job opportunities open and the desire for hard working employees, this can lead to many financial improvements to families across the country. The most likely customer in this scenario would be an unemployed worker seeking employment, those currently possessing and looking to retain their jobs and employers hoping to continue to expand their business. I do not believe this opportunity is hard to exploit, the opportunity and search for jobs is something faced by a growing minority of people, though, can be a major issue for some.

·      On December 20, 2019, President Donald Trump signed a new law raising the smoking age to 21. With the recent teenage vaping epidemic, this law seems to have come at a perfect time. This marks a major public achievement for the White House with many states beginning to adopt this new law. I found this particular article on CNN, but since the passing of this new law, many media outlets have covered this topic in detail. As a college student with 3 years of experience working in nightclubs downtown, I am well aware of this vaping epidemic. The most likely customer affected by this law would be any smoker/vaper below the age of 21. This law also directly affects the profits of these vape shops, their owners and employees. This law has been pushed by a bipartisan mix of senators, ranging from Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Mitt Romney, Todd Young of Indiana; as well as Democrats such as Senator Richard Durbin, Tim Kaine, and Brian Schatz. I believe that this is a great move by the United States government. Although this law will not eliminate the vaping epidemic all together, as underage smokers will find a way to get their hands on this product, this law will make the purchase of these products more difficult. As vaping began to gain popularity, the goal of this habit was to draw smokers away from cigarettes, not for teenage non-smokers to develop a severe nicotine addiction. This law will help teenagers rid themselves of this costly habit.

·      In this new era of advanced technology, various professional and collegiate athletic leagues have begun using instant replay. With leagues like the NFL and NBA using instant replay to allow their human officials/referees a second look to “get it right,” Major League Baseball is taking the next step. Major League Baseball began their experiment this past summer, using robotic umpires in the independent Atlantic League and the Arizona Fall League in September. This robotic umpire provides a consistent strike zone, from team to team, game to game, season to season. I found this article on Sports Illustrated, but articles regarding this potential change can be found anywhere sports are discussed. As a former baseball player and little league umpire, the vagueness of a human umpire can vary from game to game. This is an extremely difficult job/profession that allows a lot of room for ambiguity, an inning, game or series can be severely altered due to a human error. This new change can eliminate the human error, which we have all grown to love (or hate). This engages the likes of baseball fans, owners of baseball teams, managers/coaches, players and the higher ups of Major League Baseball and beyond. Since the beginning of time, human umpires have been the standard precedent for the game of baseball, I believe this robotic umpiring system can potentially work, but before we remove humans from officiating the game of baseball, I believe we must iron out the kinks that will come with robotic umpires in order to maintain the integrity of the game. The opportunity and potential for this change is relevant and can very possibly improve the game drastically. This robotic umpiring system can remove the human errors, speed up the game, and create a “better” and more consistent strike zone for players. As a fan of the game that I grew up playing and watching, removing umpires completely would change the game drastically for the better. We’ll never know unless we try, with spring training (preseason for Major League Baseball), I believe this is a great time to test these robotic umpires.