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Clemence Lafeuille

India Ranks 135 in Human Development Index: Report - 0 views

www.ndtv.com/...evelopment-index-report-593061

human development index india standard of living life expectancy

shared by Clemence Lafeuille on 13 Feb 15 - No Cached
  • Clemence Lafeuille on 13 Feb 15
     
    This article is really nice as it gives HDI, GII and GDI information about India. Additionally, it states how India has had progress in the 3 components of HDI over the years, but that it still has a relatively low ranking in HDI. This shows that the whole of the world is then slowly improving on HDI levels.
John B

The Chevy Volt's $89,000 production cost: A waste of money? - The Week - 0 views

theweek.com/...oduction-cost-a-waste-of-money

Production cost

shared by John B on 17 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • the environmentally friendly Volt's base price is about $40,000, says Reuters, production costs per vehicle run a stratospheric $89,000 — given the car's pricey lithium-polymer batteries, hybrid gas-electric engine, and next-age electronics. That means GM is losing $49,000 for each Volt it sells.
  • No. The investment in the Volt will pay off: The Volt represents "a long-term investment" that is helping GM become a car company of the future
  • Yes. The Volt will never be profitable: The Volt's high production costs "prove that the innovative plug-in hybrid is impractical and will probably never be more than a niche product,"
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The Volt demonstrates to consumers that the "reinvented company is capable of producing a high-tech, fuel-efficient car," and the Volt's technology "will almost certainly find its way into" other cars in GM's lineup.
  • John B on 17 Jan 14
     
    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.
John B

CNN - GalapagosQuest: Water Scarcity in the Galapagos - March 9, 1999 - 0 views

edition.cnn.com/...index.html

Scarcity of Water

shared by John B on 13 Sep 13 - No Cached
  • Water is a scarce and valuable resource in the Galapagos and always has been. Only a few of the islands have regular springs where people can find water. The presence of water depends mostly on rainfall, which happens only between January and June, the wet season. The amount of rainfall is different from year to year and from island to island. But the greatest variation is a result of altitude. The highlands receive a lot more rain than the coastal areas and are a better place for most plants, animals, and people to live. Most of the underground pools and springs are found only on the older islands, like San Cristobal, Santa Cruz, and Santa María. Here, thousands of years of erosion created pockets and caverns deep underground where rain water and dew could pool and be collected. Patrick Watkins figured this out pretty quickly and managed to survive here for years. Others weren't so smart, or so lucky.
  • Back home we take water for granted, even though we know we shouldn't. People here on Santa María know what it's like to not have water for days, to go without showers and to settle for just one glass of water a day. That trickling rock where pirates filled their water casks still keeps Santa María alive. Rubber hoses carry water over four miles downhill to town, irrigating gardens and watering cattle along the way.
  • John B on 13 Sep 13
     
    I think that this article has a very important aspect on the water scarcity in the world. It's about a person visiting the Galapagos where water is seen as a very valuable resource. It can pass days before the people living on the Galapagos can drink water again. This made me think about how we (in Sweden) even flush down clean water in the toilet, and then there are people who does not even have clean water to drink every day. Though the article was posted in 1999, which was a while ago, but there is still water scarcity in parts of the world that we need to consider in our daily life. To perhaps donate money to organizations that help these people who have a lack of clean water.
  • Jakub B on 16 Sep 13
     
    Yes, indeed. There are few people from Western countries who notice that problem because they do not face with it. Of course there are still many other locations (especially in Africa), in which the residents' strongest desire is connected with scarcity of water.
  • Yassine G on 23 Sep 13
     
    In order for people to realize something is to go through it. I think that if governments around the world start supplying a limited amount of water to every house, depending on how many people live in it. this would make people realise how scarce water is and eventually start using it efficiently.
Aleksi B

India Plans Price Controls on Patented Drugs - WSJ.com - 0 views

online.wsj.com/...390443819404577633070809995582

india price controls drugs

shared by Aleksi B on 17 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • India plans to widen the scope of price controls on pharmaceuticals
  • The new proposals would extend price restrictions beyond generic medicines to apply for the first time to patented drugs
  • The plans come as Bayer AG BAYN.XE -0.17% Bayer AG Germany: Xetra €94.89 -0.16 -0.17% Nov. 15, 2013 5:35 pm Volume : 2.67M P/E Ratio 25.24 Market Cap €78.47 Billion Dividend Yield 2.00% Rev. per Employee €363,176 10/31/13 Bayer Boosted by New Drugs 09/13/13 Bayer Under Scrutiny in China More quote details and news » BAYN.XE in Your Value Your Change Short position is fighting an order from India's patent authority that required the Germany company to issue a license allowing an Indian generic-drug company to sell a less expensive copy of Bayer's patented cancer drug Nexavar.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • India sets prices for 74 generic medicines and is considering increasing the number of medicines covered by price caps to 348
  • Any attempt to restrict prices of patented drugs likely will rankle foreign pharmaceutical companies
  • The move raised fears in India that without price controls patented drugs might be unaffordable for a majority of the country's 1.2 billion people.
  • Aleksi B on 17 Nov 13
     
    The article explains on how India are planning to put price controls on their drugs making them go for lower prices so that people can afford them.
John B

Technology Eases the Ride to Higher Tolls - New York Times - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...04leonhardt.html

Price mechanism

shared by John B on 14 Oct 13 - Cached
  • I imagine that some of the children being driven to the Jersey Shore today won’t even look away from their DVD players as they glide through a toll.
  • As a result of E-ZPass and its ilk, even many adults don’t notice the cost of a toll.
  • Which raises an interesting question: If you don’t know how much you’re paying for something, will you notice when the price goes up? Or has E-ZPass, for all its benefits, also made it easier for toll collectors to take your money?
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • fter an electronic system is put in place, tolls start rising sharply. Take two tollbooths that charge the same fee and are in a similar setting — both on highways leading into a big city, for instance. A decade after one of them gets electronic tolls, it will be about 30 percent more expensive on average than a similar tollbooth without it. There are no shortage of examples: the Golden Gate Bridge, the George Washington Bridge and the Tappan Zee Bridge, among them.
  • “You may be less aware you’re paying the toll,” said Ms. Finkelstein, now an associate professor at M.I.T., “but you’re paying a higher toll than you used to.”
  • The E-ZPass economy is indisputably more convenient. It saves time and frustration. But the old frustrations that came with cash also brought a hidden benefit: they forced you to notice that you were spending money. With electronic money, it’s much easier to be carefree.
  • John B on 14 Oct 13
     
    In this article we read about how ignorant we can be for the taxes we pay when entering cities due to the electronically tolls. It is very easy for the E-ZPass company to raise the cost when going through a toll since it is payed with electronic money. Still we get something out of this. We save time and we don't get frustrated on waiting to pay the toll. That is a demand that is very high since everyone has very little time to spare and we really don't Want to become frustrated. So this company use these demands in to their benefits.
  • John B on 14 Oct 13
     
    In this article we read about how ignorant we can be for the taxes we pay when entering cities due to the electronically tolls. It is very easy for the E-ZPass company to raise the cost when going through a toll since it is payed with electronic money. Still we get something out of this. We save time and we don't get frustrated on waiting to pay the toll. That is a demand that is very high since everyone has very little time to spare and we really don't Want to become frustrated. So this company use these demands in to their benefits.
Amanda Anna G

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

edition.cnn.com/...index.html

Equilibrium- Price Mechanism

shared by Amanda Anna G on 11 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • 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.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • 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.
  • Amanda Anna G on 11 Oct 13
     
    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.
  • Yassine G on 12 Oct 13
     
    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.
Haydn W

Japan's consumer inflation set to reach five-year high | World news | The Guardian - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...sumer-inflation-five-year-high

The Guardian Japan 'Inflation

shared by Haydn W on 19 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • Country sees core consumer prices soar as sales tax hike forms part of PM Shinzo Abe's plan for reviving moribund economy
  • Core consumer prices in Tokyo, a leading indicator of nationwide inflation, appear to have risen by the largest amount for 22 years in April after an increase in Japan's sales tax drove up prices
  • The poll also suggested the headline figure for Japan's nationwide consumer inflation may have reached a five-year high in March
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Higher inflation is a key aim of the economic policies of the country's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who was elected in 2012
  • Japanese consumer prices are expected to keep showing steady headway towards the Bank of Japan's 2% inflation target. But the erosion of consumer spending power due to the sales tax increase – to 8% from 5% – underlines the need for long-stagnant wages to catch up with inflation to underpin consumption and help economic recovery.
  • The core consumer price index for Tokyo, available a month before the nationwide data, is likely to have increased 2.8% in April from a year earlier
  • Haydn W on 19 Apr 14
     
    Japan's inflation rate continues to rise according to this article from the Guardian. Prime minister Shinzo Abe aims to boost the inflation rate in the country to an approximate 2% level but, as typical with many countries, wages have not caught up with these levels and thus consumer spending power has been reduced drastically. Other interesting things to note are the rise in electricity and gas prices contributing to the increased CPI data.
Amanda Anna G

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

edition.cnn.com/...index.html

Price - Elasticity

shared by Amanda Anna G on 21 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • 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.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • "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."
  • Amanda Anna G on 21 Oct 13
     
    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.
Hardy Hewson

Breakfast Items Lead a Big Jump in Food Prices - 3 views

www.nytimes.com/...a-big-jump-in-food-prices.html

government aggregatesupply Production Scarcity price

shared by Hardy Hewson on 28 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • Hardy Hewson on 28 Mar 14
     
    The cost of meats, fish and eggs led last month to the biggest increase in food prices in nearly two and a half years, according to government data. An index that tracks those foods rose 1.2 percent in February and has climbed 4 percent over the last 12 months. This article outlines the effect of diminishing supply on national food prices. The example featured in this brief article is on the increase price of breakfast foods in the United States.
Haydn W

South Africa at 20: Storms behind the rainbow - Opinion - Al Jazeera English - 1 views

www.aljazeera.com/...-behi-2014320155339545752.html

Aggregate Supply South Africa GDP Mandela

shared by Haydn W on 30 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • April 27 marks the 20th anniversary of South Africa's first democratic elections.
  • Many things have improved in South Africa since 1994, to be sure. State racism has ended, and the country now boasts what some have described as the most progressive constitution in the world. People have rights, and they know that there are institutions designed to protect and uphold those rights. Still, everyday life for most South Africans remains a struggle - a struggle that is infinitely compounded by the sense of disappointment that accompanies it, given the gap between the expectations of liberation and the state of abjection that the majority continues to inhabit.
  • South Africa's unemployment rate in 1994 was 13 percent - so bad that most were convinced it could only get better. Yet today it is double that, at about 25 percent.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • Still, when the ANC assumed power in 1994 it implemented a progressive policy initiative known as the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). The RDP was designed to promote equitable development and poverty reduction
  • South Africa also boasts a reputation for being one of the most unequal countries in the world. Not only has aggregate income inequality worsened since the end of apartheid, income inequality between racial groups has worsened as well.
  • According to the 2011 census, black households earn only 16 percent of that which white households earn. About 62 percent of all black people live below the poverty line, while in the rural areas of the former homelands this figure rises to a shocking 79 percent.
  • The ANC's Black Economic Empowerment programme has succeeded in minting new black millionaires (South Africa has 7,800 of them now), but can't seem to manage the much more basic goal of eliminating poverty.
  • during the negotiated transition of the 1980s and early 1990s. The apartheid National Party was determined that the transition would not undermine key corporate interests in South Africa, specifically finance and mining. They were willing to bargain away political power so long as they could retain control over the economy. And so they did.
  • The ANC was forced to retreat from its position on nationalisation and an IMF deal signed just before the transition deregulated the financial sector and clamped down on wage increases.
  • And that's according to official statistics; a more reasonable figure, according to most analysts, is probably closer to 37 percent. The situation is particularly bad for young people. The Economist recently reported that "half of South Africans under 24 looking for work have none. Of those who have jobs, a third earn less than $2 a day."
  • Despite its successes, this policy framework was abandoned a mere two years later. Mbeki and then Finance Minister Trevor Manuel held clandestine discussions with World Bank advisors toward drafting a new economic policy known as GEAR (Growth, Employment, and Redistribution, even though it accomplished precious little of the latter).
  • Given these contradictions, it's no wonder that South Africa is ablaze with discontent, earning it the title of "protest capital of the world".
  • Early this year some 3,000 protests occurred over a 90-day period, involving more than a million people. South Africans are taking to the streets, as they give up on electoral politics. This is particularly true for the young: Nearly 75 percent of voters aged 20-29 did not participate in the 2011 local elections.
  • The government's response has been a mix of police repression - including the recent massacre of 44 striking miners at Marikana - and the continued rollout of welfare grants, which now provide a vital lifeline to some 15 million people.
  • So far the protests have been focused on issues like access to housing, water, electricity, and other basic services, but it won't be long before they coalesce into something much more powerful
  • as they did during the last decade of apartheid. There are already signs that this is beginning to happen. The Economic Freedom Fighters, recently founded by Julius Malema, the unsavory former leader of the ANC Youth League, is successfully mobilising discontented youth and making a strong push to nationalise the mines and the banks.
  • It seems that the ANC's legitimacy is beginning to unravel and consent among the governed has begun to thin. It is still too early to tell, but the death of Mandela may further widen this crack in the edifice of the ruling regime, as the ANC scrambles to shore up its symbolic connection to the liberation struggle.
  • In short, the situation in South Africa over the past 20 years opens up interesting questions about the meaning of democracy. What is democracy if it doesn't allow people to determine their own economic destiny or benefit from the vast wealth of the commons? What is freedom if it serves only the capital interests of the country's elite? The revolution that brought us the end of apartheid has accomplished a great deal, to be sure, but it has not yet reached its goal. Liberation is not yet at hand.
  • Haydn W on 30 Mar 14
     
    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.
Haydn W

What are multinationals doing to champion rights of millions trapped in modern-day slav... - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...ations-compliance-human-rights

Multinational Corporations The Guardian Fair Trade Slavery

shared by Haydn W on 10 Mar 15 - No Cached
  • What are multinationals doing to champion rights of millions trapped in modern-day slavery?
  • With almost 21 million people working in forced labour conditions in the global economy, companies are being made to clean up their act
  • In a world of complex supply chains, migrant workers, sub-suppliers and a constant squeeze on costs, corporate leaders and their stakeholders are keenly aware of the risk of labour exploitation.
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • No industry or region is fully insulated from the social deficit which has emerged from the rise of the modern global economy.
  • Given the influence and impact that multinational corporations have, there is significant scope for corporate leaders to champion reform and action in this area.
  • However, the ILO estimates that 44% of those working in forced labour are also victims of trafficking (pdf).
  • The fight to eradicate the scourge of forced and child labour, sometimes referred to as modern-day slavery, has re-emerged as a defining issue in this century
  • The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that almost 21 million people are currently working in some form of forced labour, with 14.2 million in economic activities such as agriculture, construction, domestic work or manufacturing (pdf).
  • Beginning in California in 2012, following effective campaigning and lobbying to then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, mandatory corporate disclosure of a company’s non-financial activities has been on the rise.
  • From US President Obama’s executive order on trafficking and federal procurement, to the UK Modern Slavery Bill’s recent amendment to include supply chain disclosure provisions, to the EU’s adoption of a non-financial reporting directive, compulsory transparency around global corporate practices – including human rights, labour and social impacts and policies – is the latest tool being employed by legislators to place social expectations on corporations.
  • multinational corporations have grown significantly in terms of size, assets, resource control and revenue, not to mention societal influence.
  • This growth has been accompanied by growing expectations by society and government.
  • It is, of course, critical to recognise that the global corporate supply chain can be a force for good.
  • However, with their multiple levels of subcontracting, particularly throughout impoverished regions where labour laws are non-existent or not enforced, global labour and product supply chains also provide fertile ground for inhumane practices and working conditions.
  • The United States Department of Labor, for example, has produced a list of 136 goods produced in 74 countries using forced labour, child labour, or both.
  • Many leading companies already understand that their strategies shape the lives of millions. The most forward-thinking believe that business is an integral pillar of society and recognise that the people they rely on at home and abroad are central to building sustainable and lasting businesses.
  • And since mandatory disclosure requires all multinationals to take notice and action rather than just the industry leaders, this ultimately helps level the playing field.
  • Some believe supply chain transparency laws do not constitute any real change from the prevailing corporate-driven model for CSR, while others oppose increased regulation and oversight as unnecessary state intervention, believing that industry led efforts have the best chance of success.
  • it is a combination of corporate leadership and regulation in this area which will help ensure all market participants rise to acceptable standards.
  • The trend away from voluntary reports towards mandatory social reporting for global corporations is here to stay and may represent a first step towards increased legislative requirements
  • No matter where one believes the solutions lie, the ultimate goal is a global economy free from forced labour, trafficking and other abuses. For the millions of victims who go out into the world seeking work in the hope of building better lives, we must commit to seeking the best path forward.
Pip Dop

Exposed: The Africans named in the HSBC Swiss Leaks - 0 views

asmarino.com/...-named-in-the-hsbc-swiss-leaks

human development index inequality income distribution Africa

shared by Pip Dop on 14 Feb 15 - No Cached
  • Pip Dop on 14 Feb 15
     
    This is an interesting article that exposes some African clients involved in the HSBC Swiss leaks. It is a striking real life example of how inequal distribution of income is still an issue; Eritrea, ranked 182nd out of 187 in the HDI report has the client banking the most substantial sum of all Africans considered.
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