Cirelli 1

Marcello Cirelli

New Media Economics

July 27, y

Assignment 2

Consumerism is all around us. In todays age, everything seems to

be controlled by the economy. As someone who is very careful with

their money, I have observed various economic systems and theories

apply to my life. A few months ago I purchased my first car, a 1987

BMW 3 Series. When the car originally sold in 1987, the MSRP was

$25,150. Due to the economic principle of depreciation, the car was

only $4,000 after 30 years. This depreciation is caused by a number of

factors including obsolescence and decreased demand for this

particular car. When I first purchased the car, many things were

broken. The floor was completely rusted through, the central locking

did not work, nor most of the interior electronics, and the dashboard

was heavily cracked. I am someone who prefers to spend as little as

possible for what I need. Demand for parts is high now while the

supply is low, which means that buying directly from BMW is quite

expensive. It is my choice to pull parts myself from a junkyard and to

install and fix them myself to save money.

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Another big purchase for me has been the tuition for Berklee.

From 2005-2015, Berklees tuition rate has nearly doubled from

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$20,450 to $38,910. This is a direct result of the economic theory of

inflation. According to the text, [Inflation is] related to the aggregate

supply and demand levels of goods and services. I asked some of my

previous professors why this has occurred at our school and they told

me a few things. They told me that after Roger Brown was hired in

2004, the school became much more selective in its application

process, diversity has increased, opportunities for online learning have

opened up and a multitude of student programs and scholarships have

been created.2 This has made Berklee a much more desirable place to

learn, thus allowing the school to increase its tuition.

A similar thing has happened in the new media. Video games are

a form of new media that provides proof of many different economic

theories at once. The prices of game consoles in their original year of

manufacture would be much different today due to inflation. For

example: The Atari 2600 was originally released in 1977 for $199.99.

After an inflation rate of 258.90%, the cost of it today would be

$771.83! The Xbox 360 originally sold for $399.99 back in 2005, its

1 SEUI
2 Berklee
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release year. 12 years later, that console would be $479.99 if sold new,

due to 19.80% inflation.3 The games themselves, however have greatly

fluctuated in pricing. I remember 13 years ago buying games for $40

each, and now they are $60 each. Back then, games were sold in their

complete form, whereas now developers sell you most of the game,

and release paid downloadable add-ons later. So really, if you want a

complete game these days it can run you upwards of $100.

Works Cited

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). All

U.S. institutions: Published in-state tuition and fees (current year),

2014-15 and 2004-05; Published out-of-state tuition and fees (current

year), 2014-15 and 2004-05.

"Roger H. Brown, President." Roger H. Brown, President | Berklee

College of Music. Berklee College Of Music, n.d. Web. 18 July 2017.

Moriarty, Colin. "The Real Cost of Gaming: Inflation, Time, and

Purchasing Power." IGN. IGN, 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 18 July 2017.

3 IGN