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Haydn W

Falling oil prices offer the west a great chance to refashion itself. Let's seize it | ... - 1 views

  • Falling oil prices offer the west a great chance to refashion itself. Let’s seize it
  • For the past 18 months, the world’s biggest oil producer has been the US.
  • One first good result of this oil price shift, however, was witnessed at Opec’s meeting in Vienna last week. The once feared cartel of oil-exporting countries, with Saudi Arabia at its core, a cartel that at one time commanded more than half of global production, is now a shadow of its former self.
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  • the US will maintain this new standing for the foreseeable future, according to official projections.
  • It should be no surprise, then, that in the past rising oil prices were associated with recessions and falling oil prices with booms. If the oil price carries on falling back towards $50 a barrel, and if history is any guide, the western economy should respond – to the good.
  • But although particular companies may lose out, the first-round effect of this fall should provide good news. High oil prices depress economic activity. They suck money from consumer spending and redirect it to oil-exporting countries, which typically hoard it in elephantine foreign exchange reserves or unspent  bank deposits. It is a tax by the few on the many.
  • With the US needing to buy less oil on international markets and China’s growth sinking to its lowest mark for 40 years, there is now, amazingly, the prospect of an oil glut. The oil price instantly nosedived to its lowest level for four years, around $70 a barrel – down more than a third in three months.
  • Suddenly, the balance of economic advantage with Russia, no less dependent on oil and gas exports, will flip. Russia’s 2014 budget was based on an oil price of $100 a barrel. At $70 a barrel, the economy will contract by at least 3% in 2015, the country will run a balance of payments deficit and the government’s finances will spin out of control.
  • The chances of Russia sustaining a surrogate war in Ukraine have suddenly been reduced. All good news.
  • But western governments cannot hope that economic benefits will arrive automatically. These are new times.
  • Uncertainty and fear abound. Interest rates in Britain alone have been pegged at 0.5% for more than five years. But still business is reluctant to invest, not knowing what technologies to back or not knowing how much demand there will be for new products and services. We live in an era of stagnation, “secular stagnation”
  • So falling oil prices offer the world economy a great opportunity. But if it is not leapt upon purposefully by aggressively expansionary economic policy, secular stagnation might worsen.
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    The recent fall in oil prices, largely due to America's newfound dominance in the market, will cause Russia to experience a balance of payments deficit, according to this article from the Guardian. This is based on Russia's overestimate of the forecast for the global oil price and can be said to be an example of how global prices often influence balance of payments for countries, especially when it concerns national resources.
Yassine G

BBC News - Intel to cut 5% of staff after forecasting no growth this year - 0 views

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  • which
  • Intel's division which makes chips for desktop computers fell
  • s chips for desktop computers fell
  • % in 2013.
  • However, the company said there had been signs in the past few months that the PC sector was "stabilising".
  • For the full year 2013, the firm reported a net profit of $9.6bn, down 13% from a year ago.
  • Intel's chief financial officer, Stacy Smith, said the division's revenues in 2014 would probably come in toward the bottom of the previous estimate of 10% to 15% growth.
  • 'Bringing innovation
  • That included a 3D-camera technology, where one of its depth sensors could be used to interpret gesture controls and to separate foreground objects from the background.
  • It said laptops featuring the technology would go on sale this year.
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    this is a very interesting article that demonstrates the total revenues and how they can fall or raise, it also compares different years' revenues and shows us how intel plans to overcome the fall in revenue. 
Haydn W

Asda takes fight to discounters as sales fall - Telegraph - 2 views

  • Asda takes fight to discounters as sales fall
  • Asda’s chief executive has insisted that he is countering the rise of discount retailers Aldi and Lidl
  • Andy Clarke said recently-introduced price cuts had begun to pay off
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  • Despite this, Asda’s like-for-like revenues fell 0.1pc in the final three months of 2013 against the same quarter a year ago. This was the first fall since 2010, and means that three of the UK’s “Big Four” supermarkets saw declines in the period, with only J Sainsbury bucking the trend.
  • Asda announced a £1.3bn investment in cutting prices and improving quality in November
  • Asda’s market share declined from 17.6pc a year earlier to 17.1pc in the final quarter of the year, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel
  • Aldi and Lidl grew from a combined 5.8pc to 7.1pc.
  • Wal-Mart, the US giant behind Asda, also revealed a sales decline. The world’s biggest retailer said like-for-like sales fell 0.4pc in the quarter.
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    This article details the rise of so called 'budget supermarkets' Aldi and Lidl in the UK taking market share from the 'Big Four' supermarkets Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons. The supermarket industry in the UK is a prime example of an oligopoly, I'd argue that there isn't perhaps a better example anywhere as this market features all the tell-tale signs; the four supermarkets often compete in price wars, especially Asda, the store mentioned here. Also the firms often collude and fix prices across the board together. The market, however is changing with other firms entering the market to provide cheaper alternatives to the ' Big Four' whom so many consumers have become disenfranchised with.
Mariam P

Robusta coffee going the arabica way,prices fall below cost of production on good crop ... - 0 views

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    This article is about the fall of the price of robusta coffee. The largest producer of robusta coffee, is pushing prices down in the global market.And they believe that the output will increase. As there is an oversupply, the stock is likely to be sold at a discount before the harvest for the next crop begins.
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.
Haydn W

Taxing Carbon Is Like Taxing Diamonds | Mary Manning Cleveland - 0 views

  • Taxing Carbon Is Like Taxing Diamonds
  • To reduce carbon emissions, we must tax fossil fuels -- but, say the pundits, we can't do so because the tax would be regressive, clobbering the poor.
  • Imagine that we impose a sales tax on diamonds. Would we worry about the burden on middle-class purchasers of one-fourth-caret engagement rings? What about the part of the tax "passed back" onto the DeBeers Group? Not much sympathy for global monopolists either.
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  • Surprisingly, a carbon tax would operate much like a diamond tax, for reasons both of demand and supply.
  • Demand: The wealthy actually consume a disproportionate amount of carbon. Discussions of a carbon tax usually focus on the price of gasoline. One gallon of gas produces about 17 pounds of CO2. One metric ton is 2,204 pounds. So a $100 tax on a ton of CO2 comes to $0.77 per gallon -- a significant cost to low-income commuters and small truckers.
  • But the very poor don't drive or travel or occupy much space; the rich fly planes, including private jets; drive to low-density suburbs; occupy and heat multiple houses and hotels; and buy lots of stuff. Clearly the rich consume much more carbon per capita than the poor.
  • Demand elasticity for oil is low, about 0.5; so a 1 percent increase in oil price would cause a 0.5 percent decrease in consumption. That makes sense, since in the short run, it's hard for people to cut energy consumption, especially if they must drive to work. But, though numbers are hard to come by, elasticity of supply is much, much lower, for two reasons. First, oil production takes decades and billions in capital investment; producers cannot quickly increase or decrease supply. Second, oil producers form an international cartel, an organized mega-monopoly, which holds down production to drive up prices. Since they're already charging what the traffic will bear, they can't much raise prices to cover a tax.
  • As economists long ago figured out, buyers and sellers share a tax in inverse proportion to elasticity. Therefore, if supply elasticity of carbon is, say, 0.1, while demand elasticity is 0.5, the suppliers will pay five times as much of the tax as consumers. That reduces that $0.77 per gallon gas tax to only $0.13. Moreover, precisely because most of the tax falls on suppliers, it will generate plenty of revenue to help those unfortunate long-distance commuters and small truckers, to build more public transportation, to invest in renewable energy, and even to cut super-regressive taxes like the payroll tax.
  • According to Edward Wolff, in 2007, the top 1 percent in the U.S. owned 43 percent of non-home wealth, mostly securities, including of course energy company stocks and bonds. The top 10 percent of wealth holders owned 83 percent.
  • A May 2013 federal study of the Social Cost of Carbon estimated costs of additional CO2 emissions for 2010 to 2050 ranging from $27 to $221 per metric ton in 2050, depending on assumptions.
  • So we have good news and bad news. Good news: The cost of reducing carbon emissions will fall hardest on the 1 percent, who consume the most energy and own the energy companies. Bad news: Ditto. Expect a fight!
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    This article talks about the economic implications of imposing a tax on carbon emissions and how this would affect the different social classes of society in different ways. The article makes specific reference to economic theory and the elements on elasticity.
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    Taxation almost always decrease the economic surplus and therefore it makes a decline in effectiveness. In this case, the energy companies will be the most affected group.
Marenne M

Wages beat inflation as unemployment falls below 7% | Economy | The Guardian - 0 views

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    This article describes how the trade-off in Britain between unemployment and inflation is improving. It states how finally after several years, the rate of increase in wages is larger than the increase in the rate of inflation, causing a greater demand for work, and decreasing unemployment.
Amanda Anna G

GBP/EUR, GBP/USD, GBP/AUD, GBP/NZD Exchange Rates All Weaker on House Price Falls - Exc... - 1 views

  • The Pound (GBP) exchange rate remained weaker against the majority of its most traded peers on Thursday as house price data added to concerns that the UK economy is slowing down and reduced pressure on the Bank of England (BoE) to raise interest rates.
  • Against the US Dollar, the Pound weakened to a fresh 14-month low and against the Euro, it declined to its weakest level in three weeks. Against the Australian and New Zealand Dollars, the Pound fell to its lowest level in 2-weeks.
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    This article is about the exchange rate in the UK for the Pund (GBP), which has become weaker during the past weeks. This implies that the UK economy is slowing down. 
John B

Sweden Q3 Current Account Surplus Falls - 0 views

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    This article says there has been a decline in the current account surplus in Sweden.
Clemente F

Japan's Current Account Falls into Deficit - 0 views

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    This article talks about Japan's current account balance that fell in to deficit for the first time because robust income from overseas investments wasn't enough to make up for ongoing trade deficits.
Haydn W

Ukraine Uncertainty Depressing Growth and Investment | The Moscow Times - 5 views

  • As world leaders increase or trash their political clout depending on their audience and the statements they make about the situation in the Ukraine, some analysts were revising Russian GDP growth estimates to as low as 1.1 percent for the year.
  • Wednesday was a calmer day on the stock markets, following a dip of 10.8 percent Monday morning that vaporized near $60 billion of valuation from Russian companies.
  • Although Russia has seen some short-term budget benefits from ruble devaluation and increasing oil prices, the current impasse is not helping to fight stagnation or attract investment.
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  • The ruble strengthened slightly to 36 against the dollar and 49.4 against the euro Wednesday evening. This was well above the lows reached on Monday
  • Tightening fiscal policy was topped by possibly impending U.S. sanctions, including economic ones, followed by President Vladimir Putin's claims that Russia may use force in Ukraine if necessary.
  • The heap of these latest events has caused some analysts to revise their overall economy forecasts.
  • PSB Research said Wednesday it would decrease its initially modest GDP growth estimates for the year from the range of 1.5 to 1.8 percent to 1.1 to 1.3 percent.
  • Political standoff will also further stimulate the outflow of capital, Fedotkova said, as investors are reluctant to channel their money into the country that may be possibly involved in any kind of military activity
  • As for businesses, a recent survey done by the Gaidar Institute suggests that more than a third of CEOs and owners of private companies would consider investing in production this year if the price for equipment went down and if the macroeconomic outlook were more certain, Vedomosti reported Monday. At the same time macroeconomic uncertainty was a headache for only 10 percent of surveyed state-controlled companies. No margin of error was given for the survey.
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    This article explains how the recent stand-off crisis in Ukraine is having a negative effect on the Russian economy, with the Rouble taking a further fall and GDP growth estimates being revised downwards. Predictably sanctions imposed by the west on Russia in response to the occupation of Crimea, an autonomous region of Ukraine populated largely by ethnic Russians, have affected businesses in Russia. We learn from the article that some $60 billion valuation has been lost by Russian companies in light of the tensions. This article relates to the macroeconomic concept of circular flow being a complex process with international trade and governments being involved majorly in proceedings.
Clemence Lafeuille

Pound falls on Bank meeting minutes - 2 views

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    This article presents how a report done by the Monetary Policy Committee of the UK has lead to the value of the pound falling slightly against the dollar. This shows how the direct action of a central bank (here refusing to increase the interest rate) can impact the exchange rate.
Yassine G

BBC News - UK industrial output in surprise fall - 0 views

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    The article is talking about the overall decrease in output in the UK. According to the article, some industries have been responsible for this, such as the industries of electronics, food and beverages. This hence affected the overall economical situation in the country which also affected the levels of imports and exports. The interesting thing is that even though the production has fallen in the short run, in the long run it was doing okay this demonstrates how we shouldn't judge from the short run situation and that we should take a look the overall result from the long run 
Mariam P

Exide Industries hit by poor economies of scale - 0 views

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    The company sells batteries to automobile manufacturers and the replacement market .But fall in sales and margins hit the company hard.
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.
Marenne M

Oil prices will drop if U.S. lifts crude export ban: study | Shanghai Daily - 2 views

  • Gasoline costs are tied to a global market, and this study shows that additional exports could help increase supplies, put downward pressure on the prices at the pump and bring more jobs to America.
  • if export was allowed, the cost of gasoline, heating oil and diesel fuel is projected to fall
  • United States is expected to shift from a net importer to a net exporter by 2020
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  • On an aggregate supply-demand basis, the country is rapidly approaching a self-sufficiency rate of 90 percent
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    This article describes how the U.S. is considering becoming more self-suffiecient in the fuel industry. The want to decrease their  imports and increase exports. Decreasing their imports will decrease import cost, increasing the aggregate supply. Simultaneously, increasing export will increase aggregate demand. This will shift the U.S. from a net importer to a net exporter.
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.
Amanda Anna G

Wage rises outstrip inflation for first time in six years - Telegraph - 1 views

  • Wage rises outstrip inflation for first time in six years
  • Wage rises are outstripping inflation for the first time in six years, official figures will show on Wednesday, leading to claims that the cost of living crisis is at an end.
  • Inflation figures showed a fall for the sixth month in succession to 1.6 per cent, leading Mr Osborne to say that it was “welcome news for families”. Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics is expected to announce that regular pay is rising at a rate of 1.8 per cent, up from 1.3 per cent.
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    This article is about inflation, and that it has fallen after six months to 1.6 per cent. However, regular pay is  expected to rise in rate from 1.3 per cent to 1.8 per cent. 
Hyobin Lim

S.Korea's inflation falls to 7-month low on easing supply-side pressure - 2 views

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2014-10/01/c_133686923.htm

supply side

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