Computers in Economics, Politics, and Social Structures

Computer Economics

Stock Market
Today's financial markets experience larger swings partly because of program trading, where large stockholders use computers to decide when to buy or sell stock in large quantities. When the specified conditions are met and the programs trigger, the large transactions can cause other programs to trigger, leading to a spiral of selling and buying that produces the large swings in the market.

On the other hand, computer trading has also allowed more people to participate in the stock market through low-cost Internet stock trading sites.

E-commerce
There has been a meteoric rise in online business, a phenomenon that is termed e-commerce. Many consumers now pay their bills entirely online. Online shopping at sites like Amazon.com has become routine for many consumers. It did not take many years for online auctions at sites such as eBay to become enormously popular.

These pages were written by Jeffrey L. Nyhoff and Steven H. VanderLeest and edited by Nancy Zylstra
© 2005 Calvin University (formerly Calvin College), All Rights Reserved.

If you encounter technical errors, contact computing@calvin.edu.