Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

1. Combating inequality: Rethinking policies to reduce inequalities in advanced economies

A. An article on this site. https://www.piie.com/events/combating-inequality-rethinking-policies-reduce-inequality-advanced-economies

B. I believe there is an opportunity available because inequality in our economic system has been a problem in recent news. This issue is one that many people care deeply about, and have fought very tirelessly and hard to try to overcome. For us, as a nation to implement a policy that would make this happen for all the women in our country would be amazing, and would be long overdue. 

C. I believe the prototypical customer would be women of all races in advanced economies.

D. I believe this would be relatively hard to exploit, because if it was easy it would’ve been done already. Many people aren’t going to vote for this because it’s nit something they are used to. I think until we start getting forward thinking people that looks past a person race, gender, social class, sexual identity, etc. and focus on skill, and attributes we will always deal with this problem. 

E. I seen this opportunity because I am a young female adult. I would like things to change in betterment of myself, because I too will one day be given a lower pay because of my gender, and race, and it’ll be nice to know that won’t happen when it comes time for me to be considered as part of that group. 

2. How the Social Safety Net Reduces Childhood Poverty

A. An article on this sit. https://www.piie.com/newsroom/short-videos/how-social-safety-net-reduces-childhood-poverty

B. I believe there is an opportunity here, because poverty is an issue that has been present in our economy since the beginning of time. But, recent studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between a child’s growth, and behavior and their family’s socioeconomic status. Families plagued by poverty have reported children with more behavioral issues than their more wealthier counterparts. There is an opportunity for our government to implement a real solution rather than these band aids that aren’t really solving the issue. 

C. I believe the prototypical customer would be families with young kids being plagued by poverty. 

D. I believe this is relatively hard to exploit because our society has a history of taking advantage of government assistance. Additionally, many people who believe that people essentially choose poverty won’t like a new government assistance to help these people. I can’t really see the votes going through for this particular issue. 

E. I noticed this opportunity because poverty is an issue that I take great interest in. I’ve seen poverty, and I want to help eliminate at least the overflow of poverty in our country. This is a real issue, and little steps is better than no steps at all.

3. San Francisco’s cheapest real estate is a 100,000 parking spot

A. An article on this site. https://www.foxnews.com/auto/100g-parking-space-is-san-franciscos-cheapest-real-estate

B. I believe there is an opportunity to introduce a cheaper housing option for the citizens of this beautiful city. Though it will be a competitive market, I believe the cheaper prices will gain a lot of clientele, and the cheaper cost will also draw a lot of attention without having to spend a lot of money on advertising. With the cheaper prices, and an abundant amount of tenants I don’t think the owner will have to worry about ever having to shut down the building. 

C. I believe the prototypical customer would be anyone trying to live in the city of San Francisco without having to spend an outrageous amount of money. 

D. I believe this will be relatively easy to exploit with the right amount of money, and with all the necessary paperwork, permits, etc. I am not sure about the steps to becoming a landlord, but I’m sure it’s not a problem that can’t be handled with little hurdles. Additionally, the difference in prices versus competitors would make the business soar. 

E. This caught my attention because of the outrageousness of the price. I am someone who likes to shop, and I can talk myself into buying a lot of things, but when seeing this price I knew that even I 

couldn’t talk myself into buying that parking space. Additionally, the opportunity was clearly laid out, it instantly caught my attention.

4. Prank callers and internet trolls sought to sow chaos on Iowa caucus night

A. An article on this site. https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/06/politics/iowa-caucus-prank-callers-chaos/index.html

B. I believe there is an opportunity to create an app or something that allows you to generate a phone number for things like this, and there’s an algorithm that filters out prank calls by introducing a small questionnaire before popping up on your end of of the phone. I think something like this could be used in many different ways. With the right modifications, I believe our police systems would be able to use this to help filter out, emergencies versus problems that could stand to wait a few minutes. 

C. I believe the prototypical customer is anyone that wants to gather data on a phone, or are dependent upon serious, related calls. 

D. I believe this is something that is not easy to exploit. It’s actually a little unrealistic with the police station, but to come up with something that helps will be hard work. There’s so much that’s involved that will make this project a little difficult, but will definitely pay off.

E. This caught my attention, because I have notice this being an actual issue. Along with this I personally hate wasting time, which is why I hate having to deal with telemarketers. So, the unimportant phone calls are a big issue for me, so this definitely caught my attention.