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Marenne M

U.S. Imposes New Sugar Tariffs, but Pact May Negate Them - WSJ - 5 views

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    This article describes how the US is trying to impose a Tariff on sugar imports. The reason for this tariff is that the Mexican sugar producers are being subsidized and can therefore export their sugar for a lower price which undermines the American producers. The tariff should narrow the gap between the American prices and the Mexican import. prices.
Yassine G

Canada threatens tariffs on American wine, orange juice and ketchup in meat labelling d... - 4 views

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    this article shows how some regulations in some countries could effect export of other countries and how the WTO handles the situation to ensure fare trade.  
John B

Long-term unemployment: What the U.S. can learn from Sweden - The Term Sheet: Fortune's... - 1 views

  • less than 10% of Americans who were unemployed had been so for more than 27 weeks. Now, 35.8% of unemployed Americans fit into this category.
  • Long-term unemployment is a particularly pernicious problem because of its compounding nature -- long stretches of unemployment erode workers' skills, while employers have an irrational bias against the long-term unemployed.
  • Take Sweden
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  • these workers find it harder and harder to find a job.
  • One 2007 study showed that out of six different Swedish programs, whose purposes ranged from worker retraining, helping workers maintain contact with former colleagues, temporary government employment, and employment subsidies, only the latter was effective at bringing down long-term unemployment.
  • A wage subsidy is a program where the government pays part of a worker's check, thus raising the worker's income and inducing firms to hire more workers.
  • Wage subsidies aren't just a potential solution to the debate over the minimum wage. They could also help bring down U.S long-term unemployment as well.
  • Wage subsidies haven't taken off in the U.S., primarily for political reasons.
  • The experience in Sweden shows that this policy can help the long-term unemployed find gainful employment.
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    This article deals with the long-term unemployment issue in the US that have been rising a lot since 2002. One solution to this is to follow one of the Swedish programs, wage subsidies. This have given great results and might be a good solution to the problem in the US as well.
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.
Hardy Hewson

Mexico Ends National Crude Oil Monopoly - 4 views

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    After 75 years of barring foreign investment into her oil fields, the Mexican government (particularly President Enrique Pena) is set to repeal laws that had previously ensured a state monopoly of Mexican crude oil. As one of the biggest crude resources in the Western Hemisphere, this move poses a dramatic increase in North American crude exports, which will rise to second in quantity behind only Saudi Arabia. The bill to end the monopoly was approved by the Mexican Congress in mid-December and could see foreign investment eventually rise to approximately $15 billion per year. However, potential issues arise in the form of material delays, local opposition to drilling and a lack of pre-existing infrastructure.
Pietro AA

Propane Distributors Seek to Boost Demand With Lawn Mowers - WSJ.com - 0 views

    • Pietro AA
       
      The propane economy had problems after the natural gas industry introduced a cheap and comfortable energy source. Clearly propane and natural gas are substitute goods. This article discusses how the propane industry seeks profit by helping a complimentary product: propane lawn mowers. If one buys a propane land mower he obviously then has to buy propane.
    • Pietro AA
       
      Here is another way the propane industry seeks a greater demand: exporting. More people will certainly want the propane.
  • Propane Distributors Seek to Boost Demand With Lawn Mowers
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  • The propane industry has set its sights on that symbol of American middle-class achievement: the lawn mower
  • Blame it in part on the natural-gas drilling boom, which has left distributors scrambling to find new ways to increase demand for propane
  • By promoting the benefits of propane lawn mowers—which have lower emissions, are cheaper to run and last longer—the group is betting it can grow to a 3% share of all commercial mowers sold in the U.S. by 2016 from 1% now. That would goose propane consumption by the machines to 23.8 million gallons by 2016 from about 7.9 million gallons this year.
  • How much the push into lawn mowers will help propane retailers remains to be seen.
  • In addition, the U.S. has become a net exporter of propane in recent years—supplying countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador and Chile with propane for residential heating and cooking
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    Propane producers try to gain more by selling more. But they need a greater demand. Since natural gas and propane are substitute goods, and the natural gas industy has recently boomed, propane lost a lot of demand. So "propane distributors seek to boost demand with land mowers" and by exporting these two complementary products to other countries.
Haydn W

Scrap the licence fee and privatise the BBC - The Commentator - 0 views

  • The next two years will see a lively debate over the future of the British Broadcasting Corporation, with the current Royal Charter due to run out at the end of 2016.
  • According to an ICM poll in the Sunday Telegraph last month, 70 per cent of voters believe that the licence fee should be abolished or cut.
  • With the licence fee scrapped, should the BBC remain in public ownership? Or should the BBC be privatised, so that it can compete on a level playing field with the global media giants that are now emerging? 
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  • Paul Samuelson, the Nobel-prize-winning American economist, advanced the concept of "public goods" in his classic 1954 paper "The Pure Theory of Public Expenditure", demonstrating that such goods had to be financed by taxation and could not be left to the free market. The hostility to advertising meant that broadcasting was the textbook paradigm of a "public good".
  • Still benefiting from the halo conferred by its wartime role, the BBC was by far the most influential broadcasting service in the world. Further, with the UK accounting for almost 10 per cent of world output in the late 1940s, its state-owned monopoly was a vast broadcasting business by international standards. The BBC may not have been part of the British constitution, but it was undoubtedly a "national champion".
  • Advertising is sometimes demonised by left-wing commentators as capitalism without taste or shame, and as free enterprise at its selfish worst.
  • The actual position is far more even-handed and complex. As the growing unpopularity of the licence fee has constrained the BBC's revenues, TV advertising spend is now about the same size as the total money collected by the licence fee and well above the portion of this money devoted to television.
  • But the truly spectacular development of the last few years is that both total advertising spend and the licence fee money have been surpassed by BSkyB's subscription revenue. As BSkyB also picks up advertising revenue on its channels, its annual income is well above the BBC's.
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    This article talks about the logistics of scraping the license fee that finances one of the worlds most famous examples of a public good, the BBC. Economic stagnation and falling wages have left many consumers disgruntled at the license fee and with the BBC failing to keep up with it's competitors in terms of revenue, costs have had to be cut at the world renowned corporation. The article explores the concept of the public good and how politicians have began to propose alternatives to the license fee.
Amanda Anna G

U.S. be warned: Default would cause global crisis - CNN.com - 0 views

  • The impact of default could be catastrophic, and not just economically. As Secretary of State John Kerry asserts, this would send a message "of political silliness" that we "can't get our own act together" so we need to "get back on a track the world will respect."
  • As the U.S. partial government shutdown continues into almost a third week, the stakes are growing
  • This builds on earlier studies by the organization, including in 2011-12 which highlighted "intensified speculation about America's long-term stability," partly as a result of the downgrade by Standard & Poor's of the country's credit rating. This was prompted by the last near debt default of Washington in 2011.
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  • Then, as now, however, the country retains attractive qualities for many foreigners, including its popular culture and economic innovation.
  • And the fact remains that, in times of major urgency, Washington can transcend partisan divisions and work in the national interest.
  • This was demonstrated, for instance, during the 2008-9 financial crisis when Congress and the administration acted more swiftly and comprehensively than many other countries to counteract the worst economic turmoil since at least the 1930s. This has been key in enabling the country to recover more quickly from recession than some other areas of the world. While current problems should therefore be put into context, the situation is nonetheless troubling. And this is not the first time this year that a Washington political impasse has threatened negative economic repercussions
  • Only at the 11th hour did Congress in January agree a deal to prevent the U.S. falling off the "fiscal cliff." It is estimated that the automatic tax increases and spending cuts might well have taken the U.S. economy back into recession.
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    This article relates to equilibrium and price mechanism because it describes changes in impacts of the market. Stakes are growing, there are "intensified speculation about America's long-term stability" due to a downgrade in the country's credit rating, and an unstable state at the "fiscal cliff". These worries and a political impasse in Washington are some impacts that has threatened negative economic repercussions in the US, moving the market equilibrium. In response to changes in price, resources are allocated and re-allocated. However, profits are still able to be made making the equilibrium more stable without excess demand and supply, due to that the US has its popular culture and economic innovation, helping the country to retain attractive qualities for many foreigners.
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    I think this is a very serious matter, that could affect the world's over all economy if it goes on for a while. We can see that obviously a majority of the world's largest companies are american and based in america. If this effects any of those companies, the market they operate at will see a big change, both in the good way and the bad one.
Amanda Anna G

Why extending unemployment benefits could be a logistical nightmare - 1 views

  • Why extending unemployment benefits could be a logistical nightmare
  • But the state agencies responsible for administering the benefits say actually helping that population could prove to be logistically difficult.
  • "With unemployed Americans continuing to struggle, it’s our responsibility to provide them a lifeline," Perez said in an e-mail to The Post. "I’ve spoken to many governors and state labor secretaries who are ready to implement any changes -- because they understand that whatever administrative burden they might face pales in comparison to the burdens confronting the long-term unemployed. The workforce system is capable of handling this task."
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  • . A few states have even warned that implementation could be so unwieldy that they may opt out of Labor Department program that provides the benefit to workers.
  • Hiring and training new employees to handle retroactive benefits would also draw out the timeline for implementation.
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    This article is about the unemployment and the negative sides of the unemployment benefits. "Whatever administrative burden they might face pales in comparison to the burdens confronting the long-term unemployed."
Haydn W

Income distribution of New York City: What does it take to be rich? - 1 views

  • So You’re Rich for an American. Does That Make You Rich for New York?
  • New Yorkers have a notoriously skewed sense of wealth—at least when they work in industries like finance or media and live in Manhattan or Brooklyn. It’s hard not to, seeing how we’re surrounded by expensive restaurants, expensive apartments, and expensively dressed people who seem able to afford it all.
  • If I mention that a six-figure salary counts as rich in much of the country—that just $250,000 gets you into the top 2 percent—the response is usually, “Sure, but that’s not New York rich.”
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  • The greater New York metro area may be home to an enormous share of the country’s 1 percenters, and it's certainly a magnet for exorbitant, plutocratic wealth. But in the city itself, the basic income curve isn’t that exceptional. In the entire U.S., according to the Census, about 22 percent of households earn six figures. In NYC, it’s about 25 percent.
  • Real estate here is expensive, and we don’t get much square footage for our buck. But as I wrote yesterday, the high rents in this city are balanced out somewhat by the low, low cost of commuting on the subway. (Not paying for a car, or gas, or car insurance is pretty financially sweet.)
  • Combine that with the fact that salaries are somewhat higher than average here, and New York is reasonably affordable compared with other large cities.
  • The upshot: If you’re rich by U.S. standards, you’re probably also rich by New York standards. Now, if you do want to see a city where incomes are crazily out of line with the national norm, check out San Francisco, where 39 percent of households make six figures—it really is becoming a city for the rich.
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    This article from Slate tackles the issue of income distribution in one of the most notoriously expensively cities on Earth - New York. The article relates the economic principles learned this week to real life and the cost of living in a bustling city, with an interesting conclusion that might surprise some.
Amanda Anna G

Obama: No 'sugarcoating' problems with health website - CNN.com - 0 views

  • Washington (CNN) -- An unscripted moment Monday summed up President Barack Obama's effort to downplay problems plaguing the government website used to sign up for required health insurance under his signature health care reforms.
  • In the same assured and upbeat manner, Obama also attempted to discuss the myriad problems of HealthCare.gov, the website for the 15% of Americans lacking health coverage to sign up for insurance.
  • "It's time for folks to stop rooting for its failure, because hardworking middle class families are rooting for its success," Obama said of the health care law.
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  • "God only knows how much money they've spent, and it's a failure," McConnell said Sunday on the CBS program "Face the Nation." "You know, the government simply isn't going to be able to get this job done correctly."
  • Carney hinted that lingering problems in signing people up could result in relief, noting that the law makes clear that "if you do not have access to affordable health insurance, you will not have to pay a penalty for not having affordable health insurance."
  • He also repeated the President's assertion that high demand in the first weeks of the new exchanges contributed to the website problems, noting that the larger-than-expected response exposed existing "glitches and kinks."
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    This is a question about price elasticity, since something needs to be improved in the quality of the website so there will not be problems anymore, often resulting in a necessary price change. Since health insurance is seemed as necessary for many and hence the responsiveness is big, the demand might not change as much in a change in price of the website even tough there are problems at the website. If there will not be an improvement of the website and the price will increase, there might be a smaller change in the quantity demanded.
John B

Drop in U.S. Jobless Claims, Rising Consumer Confidence Point to Recovery - Bloomberg - 2 views

  • Fewer Americans filed claims for jobless benefits last week and consumer confidence stabilized
  • indicating strengthening sales in the U.S. and overseas are helping manufacturers like United Technologies Corp. (UTX)
  • We have an economy that is growing solidly,
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  • A slowdown in firings and growing payrolls may spur further gains in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy.
  • report today showed orders placed with factories unexpectedly fell in February for the first time in four months, reflecting weaker demand for capital goods and military aircraft.
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    This article is dealing with the economy in the U.S. It starts with stating that consumer confidence is stabilized, which could be because of the growing economy in the U.S. For example, the sales in U.S. and overseas are strengthen. One could also see from this article that the amount of people being fired from their jobs decrease which contributes to a growing consumer spending. Although, the demand for capital goods and military aircraft is becoming weaker.
Daniel Soto Aggard

Ireland the main beneficiary of US foreign direct investment - 0 views

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    Ireland is the number one destination in the world for US foreign direct investment (FDI), according to a new report. The study, which was commissioned by the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, reveals that US firms have invested more than $277 billion here since 1990.
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