Group items tagged

This article, from news agency Reuters, outlines Mario Draghi's, head of the European Central Bank (ECB), statement in Italy this week, regarding the Eurozone, a form of monetary integration. Draghi outlined the need for European countries to complete the monetary union and integrate policy to avert another crash. 

This article relates to externalities of production, since air pollution caused by industries and transport emissions is classified to be carcinogenic to humans and raises the risk for illness. The harmful effect the industries make, causes a negative externality upon the third party- the society breathing in polluted air, who indirectly receives an extra cost by the pollution.

This article states that air pollution is the main cause of cancer. In terms of economics, this means that it is an external cost of production received in consumption - as the process of recovering from cancer is very costly.

Australia, Russia exports seen hit; Indonesia to be exempt * China thermal coal futures, China shares of top coal firms rise (Adds analyst's comments, coal futures and coal firms' shares) By Fayen Wong SHANGHAI, Oct 9 (Reuters) - China, the world's top coal importer, will levy import tariffs on the commodity after nearly a decade, in its latest bid to prop up ailing domestic miners who have been buffeted by rising costs and tumbling prices. China will levy import tariffs between 3-6 percent.

Credit: Reuters This article concerns the apparent policy decision facing China as to whether it should cut interest rates and loosen lending so as to decrease the deflation in Chinese growth. Historically China has artificially manufactured low exchange rates so as to benefit their exports to other countries. This new policy therefore represents a step away from this traditional approach.

This article is about a car made by General Motors. The company have, if we look at this as in the way that the car will never be profitable, made a huge mistake of miscalculating the costs and profits earned from the car. But if we look at it as if the car would be profitable, they might have thought of making a good car that will sell easily. It is a car that is environmental friendly, and this will affect the cars coming up in the same series. It will then be more of a long-run investment.

This article refers to the current price feud between two of America's largest mobile phone providers, T-Mobile and AT&T. Having earlier employed aggressive tactics to try to gain consumers from AT&T, T-Mobile recently suffered a set back as a result of a counter-move by AT&T, who offered monetary compensation for those consumers switching from T-Mobile. As a result of the apparent price war, Wall Street has become increasingly concerned by the prospect of a dramatic loss of profits in the industry, as both firms may eventually settle at the so called Nash Equilibrium point.

This article discusses Germany's GDP in detail

The attached article compares and contrasts the contribution made to aggregate demand by varying foreign and domestic demand. It states, that despite relative increases in demand overall (especially in public opinion), domestic demand figures are still low. Instead, foreign trade appears to make up the majority of aggregate demand in the overall economy.

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?

This article describes how processed food and fast food have many negative externalities which in the end makes them cost more than organic foods which are more expensive in the stores. Processed foods may be cheaper than organic food, however the pollution during the process of producing the food, the health problems involved and the low wages which are unpaid for are all consequences which in the end will make these foods cost more.

The article discusses inflation in the eurozone.

This is an article on how Russia's central bank will address the sharp oil price drop. This article relates to what we are doing because it talks about the strategy of the Russian central bank. the central bank is a key tool for the monetary policy, which we are covering right now. Also this article briefly mentioned balance of payments, and the negative consequences of the bank failing to address this issue. It was a very interesting read.

This article concerns the challenges facing the new leader of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, specifically the prospect of fiscal stimulus to the economy, the breaking down of government bureaucracy, and the supply-side reforms that may make this possible. It also discusses the personal experience Widodo has in combatting similar challenges as Jakarta Governor, and concludes that, on their own, supply-side reform will not "boost the economy in the short term, but announcing some positive reforms should encourage investors and that should help with the demand side as well."

From Al Jazeera I chose this article about the poor state of the economy in South Africa, 20 years after Nelson Mandela and the ANC came to power, ending the system of political, social and economic segregation, Apartheid. Despite reforms in the 90's the majority of wealth and power is still held by rich whites. With around 30% unemployment rate and young people struggling to find work many feel only anger and resentment to the current ANC government led by Jacob Zuma. Economically speaking South Africa's imports are up and exports down, reducing GDP as AS is shifted left. This is especially evident in industries like mining and banking which many are now calling for to be nationalised. 20 years on from Nelson Mandela's historic victory in the 1994 general election, South Africa, despite being free of the shackles of segregation is not in the boom many predict. The ANC must be careful in there actions, should they, following the death of Madiba lose contact with his legacy and what he stood for.

This article discusses the possibility of a further step in the trade liberalisation of East Africa. The EAC (already a common market) now wants to go further and create an economic and monetary union within 10 years. This would greatly help the trading in that region.

Russians had 3.856 trillion roubles' ($82.27 billion) worth of foreign-currency deposits as of Nov. 1, compared to 3.421 trillion roubles on Oct. 1, an increase of more than 12 percent. Their rouble deposits fell by 0.3 percent to 13.829 trillion roubles over the same period, according to the central bank.

The article presents an insight on what seems to be the most significant economic effect of the sanctions the EU has imposed on it in response to their invasion of the Ukraine.

This article is a summery of GBP/EUR exchange rate forecasts issued by by Barclays, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and a Reuters Smart Estimate.