Fantasy football is a game derived from America’s National Football League and involves players managing “teams” of fantasy football players. Given that the game contains elements of value, risk, and reward, this project aims to draw parallels between fantasy football and Modern Portfolio Theory, a well-regarded theory describing portfolio construction and performance in financial markets. This hypothesis is tested through a simulation of the 2019 – 2020 fantasy football season using this strategy; a sample team is generated, the team is adjusted as per the rules outlined in the risk-reducing and value-preserving strategy, and the results are tabulated per the team’s fantasy football scoring output. The results show that a volatility-reducing strategy fails to achieve a consistent, good performance from the fantasy team portfolio, but can result in a relatively successful season. Key issues to consider in this outcome are the low volume of data, the high volatility and situational nature of the underlying statistics from which fantasy scoring is derived, and the inefficiency of financial markets. The value of this research demonstrates that strict algorithmic, numerical, or technical methods are insufficient to succeed in fantasy football, and that information availability, access, and speed, along with a significant allotment of luck, are needed to succeed. The implication for the financial field is that the rules and theories formulated for it are based on certain crucial assumptions such as a centralized supply and demand for securities, an objective theory of value, and efficiency of markets, which cannot be translated directly to fantasy football.

In this paper, I discuss my findings from The Toyota Way, 2 Second Lean, and Lean Thinking, I present an analysis of my implementation of lean processes for Page Petal, and I recommend a set of lean<br/>philosophies that I found to be successful for e-commerce product-based small businesses. I also focus on how the economy plays an important role in the demand for goods, a major factor in<br/>which lean processes will ultimately be successful. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the value of mindful risk-taking in entrepreneurship and to reveal what was effective with Page Petal in hopes of giving other small businesses insight into how to be successful.

The United States has an institutional prison system built on the principle of retributive justice combined with racial prejudice that despite countless efforts for reform currently holds 2.3 million individuals, primarily minorities, behind bars. This institution has remained largely unchanged, meanwhile 83.4% of those who enter the system will return within one decade and it currently costs nearly $39 billion each year (Alper 4). Because the prison institution consistently fails to address the core root of crime, there is a great need to reconsider the approach taken towards those who break our nation’s laws with the dual purpose of enhancing freedom and reducing crime. This paper outlines an original theoretical framework being implemented by Project Resolve that can help to identify and implement solutions for our prison system without reliance on political, institutional, or societal approval. The method focuses on three core goals, the first is to connect as much of the data surrounding prisoners and the formerly incarcerated as possible, the second is to use modern analytic approaches to analyze and propose superior solutions for rehabilitation, the third is shifting focus to public interest technology both inside prisons and the parole process. The combination of these objectives has the potential to reduce recidivism to significantly, deter criminals before initial offense, and to implement a truly equitable prison institution.

Space-based solar power is a renewable energy that is an alternative to all other forms of energy production. It takes on a new approach that pushes energy production off-world. Energy is harnessed and beamed down to a ground receiver via microwaves which is then sent to the grid and distributed to people across the country, and even globe. While the technology is new and still in the research and development stages, the ability is there. An economic analysis of the various technology yields levelized costs of energy comparable to current prices—under $.10/kWh. The markets and profits for this type of technology are abundant, ranging from commercial to military uses, with profits in the millions to billions of dollars. The environmental impacts are low compared to current energy production methods. The potential is great, the technology is close, and the future is near.

Unintended consequences occur in the supply chain process when managers fail to fully prepare for the social and environmental outcomes of their initiatives. By analyzing these unintended consequences, we are better prepared to make supply chain initiatives that are truly sustainable for all. This paper utilizes a model developed by Dr. Carter and Dr. Kaufmann which creates a mutually exclusive and exhaustive framework in order to fully develop the relationship between intended and unintended consequences. Furthermore, paradox theory is implemented in order to refine the differences between intended and unintended outcomes to create a clearer understanding. Over the course of this paper, real world examples will be utilized from company social responsibility reports in order to populate and explain the matrix. Through this work, we show how companies take on a broad range of actions with outcomes varying from positive to negative. We expect that through this paper, we can make this topic more easily understood so that further research and understanding can be achieved.

This paper seeks to explore connections between the industries and sociopolitical environment in Costa Rica and human capital. Human capital for the purpose of this paper is an individual or a population’s ability to produce goods and services concerning human factors of productivity namely their health, education, or technical skillset. This question is interesting because improving human capital, in general, allows for more goods and services to be produced, and therefore higher welfare. This means recognizing conditions that improve human capital may provide a guide to enhanced prosperity. The paper identifies the characteristic industries in Costa Rica as tropical agriculture and small electronics manufacturing, provides insight as to how on the job training and externalities of these industries might affect human capital, and compares other similar nations’ data to world data provided by the world bank. The other central aim is to draw insight on how a nation having a standing military might impact human capital, which is relevant because Costa Rica abolished its military over fifty years ago.

With the ongoing student debt crisis and the continuing increase in the cost of attending a college or university, there has been an increasing conversation regarding the price of room and board. Prior studies have shown the presence of a relationship between the distance to a location of interest, but few have been done with college campuses in mind. To answer this question, we used the Hedonic Pricing Model in order to isolate the effect that the distance to campus has on the rental price of apartments. Our results showed a clear positive nonlinear relationship between distance to campus and the price of apartment rentals in the area surrounding Arizona State University.

Economists, policy-makers, and various intellectuals have consistently debated the strongest way to support citizens. Lately, however, the simplest idea has managed to gain an unbelievable amount of traction. Maybe, rather than a complex policy solution targeted towards to certain demographics and with various work requirements we should simply give people money. The beauty of the idea is in its simplicity – and it is a key reason for its growing popularity. Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a policy proposal that has been steadily gaining momentum throughout the United States and across the world. Recently, it has been viewed as a stimulus to the economy in the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as well as a solution to labor-displacing technological advancements. Additionally, many economists, politicians, and various thought-leaders have portrayed basic income as a one-stop solution to many challenges facing the world. The idea behind UBI comes down to this idea – basic income will not solve all your problems – it makes your problems easier to solve. Many UBI advocates use that phrase to argue in favor for a basic income, but it is important to ensure that it doesn’t add to most people’s problems by discouraging work and encouraging seemingly unhealthy habits.

Air travel has become increasingly popular, becoming the preferred and most efficient method of travel throughout the years. With air travel projected to double within the next 20 years, more people than ever will be utilizing this form of travel. However, an increased demand requires an equivalent increase of security and safety. Many individuals have pondered this concept in an effort to better understand the corrective action in store following two deadly crashes that killed over 300 people. Are the airlines and aerospace manufacturers able to ensure a specific safety standard across all aircraft models and is this enough to reassure the public? Boeing, one of the industry’s leaders in aerospace manufacturing, found itself at the forefront of this movement for safety after the tragic system failures of its aircraft, the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
This report has been curated in an effort to highlight the injustices and oversights that have occurred throughout the course of the Boeing Crisis. These have formed during the early stages of designing, manufacturing, and integration process of the Boeing 737 MAX 8. The coverage and investigation that this crisis received was not cumulative of all factors that contributed to the failure of the aircraft to perform as designed while in flight. With many official reports from Boeing and the FAA being insufficient in both scope and detail of the crashes, this report will highlight the integral details that should play a larger role in the future manufacturing processes of aircrafts.

To address and evaluate opioid legislation in the United States and its effectiveness in combating the opioid epidemic.
This paper will assess current and past legislation, on both the state and federal level, in terms of its effectiveness by cross-examining it with existing data. This paper also examines failures on the state and federal levels to properly target at-risk groups. Furthermore, this paper makes recommendations for future legislation to properly allocate resources to localities most affected by the opioid epidemic, and contribute to the decrease in opioid-related overdose deaths.