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Marenne M

Rice Subsidy in Thailand causes Debt - 0 views

  • drop its multibillion-dollar rice subsidy program and scale back
  • make room for spending on projects that enhance growth
  • stimulate spending in rural areas and support Thai farmers
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  • government buys rice from local farmers for a set price above market rates
  • “It is inevitable for the government to incur losses as long as the scheme remains unchanged,” the IMF said.
  • The subsidy program left Ms. Yingluck’s administration with a big bill and millions of tons of unsold rice
  • egan buying rice at premiums of 35%-50% above market rates
  • isplacing Thailand from its perch as the world’s biggest rice exporter
  • eopardize a government commitment to balance the budget by 2017 and keep public debt below 50% of GDP
  • Thai authorities said the subsidy aims to address economic inequality and help poor farmers improve productivity
  • suggested that a reduction in the pledging prices or limits on the amount of purchase might be needed to ensure the sustainability of the policy
  • For the third subsidy year, which began last month, the government made some minor moves to scale back the subsidy
  • ay around $8.6 billion on the subsidy for 2013-‘14
  • hat losses from the subsidy could threaten Thailand’s credit rating
  • 5 million tons of rice in its stockpiles
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    This article describes how the government is trying to stimulate the rice market in Thailand by buying rice and placing subsidies on it. These major investments, however, are causing debt for the government, and prevent the government from investing in other projects.
Amanda Anna G

Morocco government raises energy prices to cut subsidies - Yahoo News - 0 views

  • RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's Islamist government raised energy prices on Monday as it began sensitive subsidies reform needed to meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) requirements.
  • Five ministers from the government's junior partner party have resigned in protest over the decision to raise prices.
  • But the move could shake the frail economy of the North African kingdom which relies mostly on tourism, agriculture and remittances from Moroccans living abroad. The government said it would return part of the increase on diesel fuel to professional drivers in the goods and people transport sector to avoid a snowball effect on prices.
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    This article relates to subsidies since the government of Morocco has raised energy prices to save subsidy money that is needed for the International Monetary Fund requirements. Protests have been made from the government's junior partner party over the raise in price of energy. Higher taxes for energy will cause higher price for transportation for tourists and higher costs of production for agriculture. The government though, said they will return parts of the increase of energy prices for professional drivers to avoid a "snowball" effect on prices. But is the raise in price of energy due to the save of subsidy money rational for the country, looking upon the people's use of energy and the agriculture?
Marenne M

Regulating the petrol oligopoly - The Express Tribune - 1 views

  • In theory, petrol prices in Pakistan are deregulated, but in practice, the government still has considerable sway over oil pricing. This is because of the unusual structure of the oil marketing industry, which has fewer than a dozen national players, and the largest company in the industry is a state-owned entity that controls over two-thirds of the market.
  • It is also a market that sells a necessary product where many of the suppliers can often have local monopolies or oligopolies. In short, it is ripe for market manipulation, unless the government acts to control such activity.
  • What is the point of having a regulatory authority if it does not have the power to levy punishments for those who violate the law?
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  • ensure a level playing field and fair play
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    The article is about regulating the petrol oligopoly in Pakistan. It argues that the petrol-firms under oligopoly set their own high prices, and the government is deregulating the prices but the prices are still too high. 
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    Oligopolies contain firms that operate at a profit maximizing level and that in the short run can have burst of price changes. These changes in prices are due to an instant attempt at increasing the market share, however this leads to issues for other firms as well as consumers. In order for this to be prevented, government regulation is an option. This article describes how instead of regulating the industry the government is operating it, and what problems this causes
Haydn W

Royal Mail shares soar 38% as Labour complains of knockdown price | UK news | The Guardian - 0 views

  • Royal Mail shares soar 38% as Labour complains of knockdown price
  • Ed Miliband blames government for underpricing in 'fire-sale of a great British insititution' as investors make £284 paper profit
  • The government has been accused of shortchanging taxpayers by selling off Royal Mail at a knockdown price after shares in the privatised postal service rose by 38%
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  • Miliband, the Labour leader, said the jump in the share price – which made an immediate £284 paper profit for almost 700,000 Royal Mail investors – showed that the privatisation was a "fire sale of a great British institution"
  • Royal Mail stock, which the government sold at 330p, leapt to 455p
  • Royal Mail's market value rose by £1bn to £4.3bn – confirming that it will join the FTSE 100 list of Britain's biggest companies.
  • The government had valued Royal Mail at a maximum of £3.3bn, and had attacked analysts' valuation of £4.5bn as "way out".
  • Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC, tweeted: "Privatising #RoyalMail has become little different from selling five pound notes for four quid."
  • George Osborne said the privatisation had been a huge success.
  • Asked whether the shares had been sold too cheaply, the chancellor said: "All privatisations are done at a discount.
  • The National Audit Office, the public spending watchdog, will investigate the pricing of the float, but Cable dismissed the huge share price rise – which was bigger than that experienced on the 1980s flotation of BT and British Gas – as "froth and speculation" and said "what matters is where the price eventually settles".
  • The stockbrokers Peel Hunt said: "This is not 'froth'; it's real people buying, selling."
  • Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital, described the share price surge as a "dazzling stock market debut".
  • Private investors who bought their shares directly from the government will have to wait until at least Tuesday if they want to sell. About 690,000 people were granted 227 Royal Mail shares worth £749.10 (at the 330p float price) following overwhelming public demand for the shares.
  • The public applied for more than seven times the number of shares available to them, which meant nearly everyone did not get as many shares as they had asked for.
  • More than 36,000 people who applied for more than £10,000 worth of shares were prevented from buying any at all. About 40 people applied for shares worth £1m or more.
  • It is understood that about 20% of the shares available have gone to sovereign wealth funds – including those of Kuwait, Norway and Singapore – and other foreign funds. Royal Mail's 150,000 employees collected 10% of the shares free of charge, worth about £2,200 each at the flotation price and now worth £2,900. Employees were also allowed to buy a further £10,000 worth, but are not allowed to sell for three years
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    This article shows how demand for shares in the newly floated UK postal service Royal Mail has pushed the price up from 330p a share to 450p. This is the price in which demand is seen to be equal to supply, something the UK Government are being criticised for failing to notice as they believed 450p was a far to high price. The move itself if highly controversial and has been a hotly debated topic ever since it's proposal with many employees fearing that jobs will be lost.
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    I think this is really normal. Simply because private companies tend to have higher efficiency rates and therefore make more profits, this is the business part of the reason. Now if we consider the economical reason, I think that higher profits (deviants) will attract a lot more shareholders, this means higher demand. from the other side, shareholders will be willing to keep their shares as the company is making more and more profits, therefore less shares supply. So in short, more demand, less supply of shares could not lead to anything else except hiher prices and greater value of the company.
Haydn W

Rules on unemployment benefits tightened to end 'signing on' culture | Politics | The G... - 2 views

  • Rules on unemployment benefits tightened to end 'signing on' culture
  • Jobless will have to take 'basic steps' towards finding work before they can claim, as part of government push on welfare
  • The government is to hail the end of the "signing on" culture when it announces that unemployed people will have to take "basic steps" towards finding work before they can claim benefits.
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  • the employment minister, will launch a significant government push on welfare this week by saying that unemployed people must prepare for their first interview with a Jobcentre Plus adviser by preparing a CV.
  • McVey will highlight tough new rules for newly unemployed people. She will say: "With the economy growing, unemployment falling and record numbers of people in work, now is the time to start expecting more of people if they want to claim benefits.
  • "This is about treating people like adults and setting out clearly what is expected of them so they can hit the ground running.
  • In return, we will give people as much help and support as possible to move off benefits and into work because we know from employers that it's the people who are prepared and enthusiastic who are most likely to get the job.
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    This new policy, outlined from the UK government's recent budget announcement aims to get young people out of the so called welfare culture and into employment. From around the end of the Second World War there has been a rapid increase in people leaving education and signing onto unemployment benefits. With these tougher measures the government hopes to prepare these people for work and curb the relative 7 - 8% unemployment rate. However the government has faced severe criticism, notably for their lack of efforts to get university graduates into jobs since raising university fees here from £3000 per year to £9000 when they came to power in 2010.
Yassine G

RealClearMarkets - The Federal Government's Increasing Tax Impact On the Private Sector - 0 views

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    this article is very interesting. It illustrates how the government could affect the private business. This could be by imposing taxes on them. This article is talking about the American Federal government. In this case, the government is imposing more and more taxes which is increasing the cost on businesses. This affects negatively their ability to supply and global combativeness. What i also liked about the article, is the amount of measured data it contains. there are many numbers that help you understand what happened and what will happen.
John B

William Easterly: Singing About Fighting Poverty, Slightly Off-Key - WSJ - WSJ - 1 views

  • The progress against poverty in China is obvious, but whether China's government deserves to be held up as a development model is not so clear. For instance, who gets to decide whether mainland Chinese citizens should be content with improved standards of living and so few protections against the frequent violations of their rights by their own government?
  • Extreme poverty in China has been reduced over the past few decades precisely because Beijing permitted the freedoms of a market economy to infiltrate a communism-blighted society. If the regime's repression now worsens, count on the end of the country's high growth rates.
  • Yet freedom is arguably central: first, as an end that people want for themselves, and, second, as the most well-proven path to escaping poverty. Consider among others North America, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Chile, where the answer to poverty was economic and political freedom.
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    In this article, the author discuss the affects of the actions of the government in China. It is a modern topic today due to the demonstrations being held in Hong Kong. The authors mentions that the statement about entering a democracy, and then pulling back on the decision means that they were on the right track to get the market more free from the government, hence less poverty, but now he thinks it is gonna worsen the economical conditions. A free market has saved many economies, why should China still not give in for the human rights and improve their economy?
Yassine G

Price Controls Cause Chaos in Ethiopian Markets - 0 views

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    I choose this article as I found that It demonstrates all the consequences of a price control and from different points of view. In this case, the government set a maximum price. A lot of the citizens were very happy, as they can now afford what they couldn't before, however, with time, they started to realise that the products are disappearing from shelves. The reason is that with the lower price, demand has increased and suppliers can't supply more. The suppliers were affected by this price control too. They are not able to pay their costs any more, and profit made is very little. If the government doesn't take another action to fix what they did, they will have a bigger problem than food being expensive, which is food not exciting due to most groceries closing after not being able to make profits. 
Marenne M

Sweet and sour: Sugarcane farmers object over price set by mills - The Express Tribune - 0 views

  • bumper crop this year but the government’s delay in setting a minimum selling price has soured their happiness
  • rice at which sugarcane is sold to sugar mills is usually set by the government in consultation with the Kisan Board
  • price floor is to protect the farmers’ interests as their costs are ever-increasing
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  • mills have unilaterally declared the buying price to be Rs10 higher than last year’s price per 40 kilogrammes (kg)
  • ugar mills purchase and crush sugarcane without considering the rising cost of the primary sector
  • Farmers, on the other hand, dislike the idea of fixing the price on the basis of price of sugar as sugar mills have other products to earn from whereas the cost for cane growers has almost doubled
  • mill owners are trying to get the maximum benefit for the lowest price from their (the farmers’) hard work
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    This article describes how every year the government places a price floor to ensure the farmers interest as prices increase. This article concerns the fact that the government has not yet set a minimum price for the purchase of the sugarcane. This leads to problems for the farmers, because the mills decide the price of the sugarcane without considering the cost of the farmers.
Haydn W

Fossil fuel subsidies 'killing UK's low-carbon future' | Environment | The Guardian - 0 views

  • Fossil fuel subsidies 'killing UK's low-carbon future'
  • despite commitments to cut carbon emissions and reduce "perverse" fossil fuel subsidies.
  • Britain is "shooting itself in the foot" by subsidising its coal, oil and gas industries by $4.2bn (£2.6bn) a year even as government reviews the "green levies" on energy bills which support energy efficiency and renewable power, according to a report published on Thursday.
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  • The figures from the Overseas Development Institute suggest that Britain is now the world's fifth largest subsidiser of fossil fuels
  • For every $1 spent to support renewable energy, another $6 were spent on fossil fuel subsidies
  • In 2011, the latest year for which data is available, Britain gave tax breaks of £280m to oil and gas producers and reduced VAT on fossil fuels by several billion pounds
  • Rich countries have committed to phase out "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies but the ODI figures, drawn from the International energy agency, OECD and other sources, suggest global subsidies to fossil fuel producers totalled $523bn a year in 2011 – dwarfing subsidies to renewable energies.
  • £2.6bn yearly incentive favours investment in carbon at the expense of green energy, says thinktank
  • In effect, each of the 11.6bn tonnes of carbon emitted from the top 11 developed countries comes with an average subsidy of $7 a tonne – around $112 for every adult
  • The figures have been released as ministers prepare to go to Poland for the deadlocked UN climate talks and as uncertainty surrounds the future of government-mandated levies on energy bills that support fuel poverty schemes and renewable energy.
  • G20 governments accepted in 2009 that fossil fuel subsidies encourage wasteful consumption, reduce energy security, and undermine efforts to deal with the threat of climate change.
  • The report said: "Investors are being sent the wrong signals on two fronts as carbon prices decline and fossil fuel subsidies increase."
  • The report argues that fossil fuel subsidies also fail in one of their core stated objectives, which is to to benefit the poorest.
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    This article describes how the UK government is heavily subsidising fossil fuel producers instead of prioritising and investing money in renewable sources of energy. Although it is essential to keep crude oil and fossil fuel prices low, as they are essential to many businesses, consumers and indeed the country itself, the G20, of which the UK is part of, has made a commitment to phasing out fossil fuels in favour of greener and more sustainable energy sources. 
Haydn W

EU, China Reach Tentative Deal to End Telecom Equipment Tariff Threat - WSJ - 3 views

  • The European Union and China have reached a tentative deal that will end the threat of punitive import tariffs on Chinese telecommunications equipment makers
  • Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng and the EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht are expected to meet in Brussels on Oct. 18 after the Asia-Europe summit meeting in Milan to complete the agreement, an EU official said.
  • The agreement would sweep away the cloud of tariffs that has been hanging in particular over Huawei, which has become a major supplier of equipment to European telecommunications companies.
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  • The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, in 2013 said it was ready to start investigations into imports of mobile telecommunications equipment made by Huawei and ZTE, claiming the two companies received unfair subsidies from the Chinese government and were “dumping” their products onto the EU market at rock-bottom prices.
  • The agreement will create an entity to review the market-share of Chinese equipment manufacturers in the EU and European companies
  • China has also committed to further discussions on the hefty loans and loan guarantees that the government gives to Huawei and ZTE to finance their exports, mostly to the developing world, the official said.
  • That represents a modest victory for the EU in an area that is highly sensitive for the Chinese government.
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    The European Union have reached an agreement with China to end the threat of EU tariffs on Chinese telecommunications equipment. The tariff was going to be imposed as a form of protectionism to protect the European manufactures Ericsson, Nokia and Alcatel against the Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE. The Chinese firms are able to produce equipment cheaper than the European firms, due to more abundant natural resources, but also, crucially through subsidies from the Beijing government. The deal reached on October 9th, sees the Chinese companies granted a share of the market, but not access to it fully, as this is reserved for the European firms, to protect EU economic growth in such a tempestuous time, showing that, forms of protectionism still exist in the market, despite this agreement.
Yassine G

Pollution as a Public Good - NYTimes.com - 1 views

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    This is a very interesting public good. It is both helpful for the government and the public. Pollution will decrease, which means better and healthier living condition, and the cost of the permits allows the government to add new public gods or improve the quality of its services. 
John B

How "Dead Men" Fiscal Policy Is Paralyzing Government - 1 views

  • More and more fiscal policy is designed to be permanent and out of the effective control of the lawmakers who create it.
  • The reason is the classic prisoner’s dilemma. Lawmakers (some of them anyway) know they’d benefit from a political grand bargain where Democrats agree to reduce spending by restructuring the big mandatory programs and Republicans agree to raise new revenues by slashing tax subsidies.
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    This article is dealing with a book called "Dead Men" that is about how the government is so divided into two halfs, where both try to stay away from increasing taxes as that is what the voters mostly look for.
Zube Iheobi

European Central Bank slashes interest rates as eurozone suffers 'lowflation' crisis - ... - 0 views

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    this is relevent to this weeks reading because it amother way of the government making changes, however here its not the government its the central bank. and acts of the central baks are more monetary poilicy as they predominantly affect AD
Haydn W

France's Fiscal Policy Targets Very Challenging Says IMF - NASDAQ.com - 0 views

  • PARIS--French President Francois Hollande has chosen the right path to repair the country's economy and finances, but its fiscal targets are very challenging, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.
  • At the start of the year, the socialist leader switched from a policy of tax increases to spending cuts to bring down the budget deficit.
  • The planned reduction in taxes mean that the cutbacks to spending relative to trend will need to be very large if public finances are to be brought back to balance
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  • If the government delivers the EUR50 billion ($68.5 billion) of savings over 2015 to 2017 that would be "remarkable by historical standards," the IMF said.
  • data on Thursday showed the French economy remained weak at the start of this year, while Germany posted better-than-expected growth. France escaped the wider euro-zone recession that followed the bloc's debt crisis, but it has failed to post strong growth for the last two years and the government has repeatedly missed its targets for bringing down the deficit.
  • Mr. Hollande launched a Responsibility Pact, under which payroll taxes on businesses would be cut in an effort to boost investment and recruitment
  • The IMF said the measures in the Responsibility Pact would only slowly boost growth to around 1% this year and 1.5% in 2015. It also warned there are risks of a weaker rebound and that inflation would remain around 1% with the economy operating well below capacity.
  • The IMF said the European Central Bank--which indicated last week it may launch stimulus measures in June--could do more to help France meet its targets.
  • "More accommodative monetary conditions would help with the implementation of the fiscal program and bring forward the benefits of structural reforms," the fund said.
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    This article details France's success in it's road to recovery following the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis. This week the IMF has hailed president François Hollande's cutback path to repair the countries economy but commented that his targets may be 'very challenging.' This comes after the French government has delivered vast savings through austerity measures whilst retaining general stability despite the rise of far-right groups like The Front National. In my opinion for a country in the eurozone Hollande's France seems to be doing well for itself on the road to recovery and could set an example for other Eurozone countries, like Greece and Portugal.
Amanda Anna G

Beer Store Monopoly's End Would Mean Higher Prices: Study - 0 views

  • Ontario beer drinkers can expect to see prices rise if sales are allowed in convenience stores, according to a new study carried out for the province’s Beer Store.
  • The study, to be released Monday at the Toronto Board of Trade, says consumers can expect to pay about $10 more for a 24-pack of beer if the Beer Store’s monopoly ends.
  • The study says privatization in Alberta and British Columbia led to higher prices in those provinces. It also calculates that, if Ontario had followed Alberta’s lead on beer sales, the Ontario government would have missed out on $5.4 billion in revenue over the past 20 years.
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    This is an interesting article about monopoly. In the article, it is argued that as beer also gets allowed to be sold in convenience stores and not only in the beer store which has been a monopoly of beer, then there will be a rise in price. The government argues that it would have gained revenue if sold in convenience stores, as a study said that privatization in Alberta and British Columbia led to higher prices in those provinces.
Fiete M

Vote on Account 2014: Scrapping state monopoly over coal a priority for next government - 0 views

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    This article talks about how the new government is supposed to get rid of the governments monopoly on coal
Yassine G

BBC News - Apple, Microsoft and Adobe summoned by Australia - 1 views

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    This article talks about price discrimination. In Australia, the government things that the prices are higher than anywhere else in the world ( prices charged by foreign companies). In my opinion, this is because these major companies had the ability to discriminate, due to income, which is found to be higher and the geographical destination. It is a third degree discrimination. All the required conditions for discrimination were available. The companies have ability to set prices, as they are in an oligopoly competition. The consumers in other parts in the world are not likely to by the product and sell it to Australians. And price elasticity in Australis is found to be higher due to the higher income they have, 
John B

Government Backing Of Cable Oligopoly Shuts Apple Out Of TV Market, Says VC Stewart Als... - 0 views

  • The government endorses a cable TV system that makes it extremely difficult for any innovation to happen
  • Alsop thinks that if any company can find a way to force monopolies or oligopolies to open up, it’s Apple, not just because of its history of doing so in music but because it’s one of the most influential and innovative companies on the planet
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    This article deals with the oligopolies of cable TV and that Apple would be the company to open them up.
Yassine G

World economy needs more aggregate demand - Economic Times - 0 views

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    This might look like a very short article, however, i found it to pretty much sum up the whole theory, Aggregate demand is influenced by the government and hence decisions must be taken to increase aggregate demand. However, they must pay attention to other factors such as inflation and unemployment. this is what happens in real life. It is not just making the decision or finding a solution, it is also considering consequences and real needs and the ability to conduct a change. 
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