Group items tagged

This article discusses how to secure the UK's economic recovery. It is suggested that increase in employment and hours worked could restore economic growth. At some point, this increase will diminish due to growth in the aggregate demand combined with education and welfare reforms that results in a decrease in the available workers. However, it is argued that rising aggregate demand would lead to increase in the productively over time, but other reasons are holding back productivity growth. 

The article states in a very clear way which supply-side policies are effective and describe their advantages and drawback. It also refers to the usual 'conventional' policies that can do more harm than help. It ends with a recipe for the proper use of supply-side policies.

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."

This is a very interesting article because it presents a well-known health care reform in the context of a supply-side policy. The article is about how Republicans have been blaming Obamacare for having negative supply-side effects on the economy and the labour force by reserving budgets for subsidising the system.

Republicans believed that supply rather than demand was to be blamed for the economy's state. However, there has been clear evidence that the job market was held back due to low demand. The article then starts to delve int Obamacare and how it had negative supply-side effects on the economy.

Obamacare is nothing new - it has been debated about for months, if not years, in one shape or form. This problem with Obamacare is that it has negative supply-side effects. These effects were offset by a half, with the presence of Medicaid, but now that the subsidies for health care have shrunken, the marginal tax rate would rise, thus discouraging people to find work and keep working. Politicians are pushing for supply-side reforms, but the Congress isn't budging due to the possibility that Obamacare, an expensive and time-consuming venture, might be scrapped.

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 impact of oil imports on the Pakistani balance of payments. In Pakistan, each year approximately 5 billion dollars worth of oil is imported due to its heavy consumption, which has a large impact on their balance of payments. Their large number of imports gives them a negative balance of payments and therefore slow down economic growth and impacts other parts of the economy. In the article it is suggested that the Pakistani use domestic coal for power production rather than importing as much oil, which could half the amount of money spent on oil imports therefore reforming their balance of payments.

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 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 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.

I just read this incredibke article that has to do with many things in microecon. It talks aboup the rice industry in the philippines. More specifically, about the competition between the local producers and a monopoly that involves importation. It is an actual situation where you have Monopoly vs. perfect competition. You should read it!!!

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.

This interview details the style of policy making to promote growth initated by Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister. Economic growth and development is arguably the most important area of policy in India and will be a huge focal point of any international discussions centered around the region.

This article details the so called resurgence of the US dollar, in terms of currency value. The currency itself has risen by around 7% against other currencies but Guardian economist Mohamed El-Erian warns that without the appropriate accompanying central bank policies, the rise of the dollar could cause further market volatility and at worst a new crash. El-Erian calls for governments to enact policy to support balance the current currency realignment.