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Home/ Jacob Solomon's group - M2015(B)/ Contents contributed and discussions participated by John B

Contents contributed and discussions participated by John B

John B

Troubled TTIP isn't the only 'trade' takeover busting our sovereignty | openDemocracy - 0 views

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    This article deals with a potential agreement between US and EU where completely free trade is supposed to be the main aim. This agreement would mean that the free trade between US and EU would be the largest free trade zone.
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.
John B

Indias balance of payments in Q2 2014-15 - 0 views

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    This article is about the balance of payments for India in Q2 2014-15
John B

No downward pressure on currency: banker - 3 views

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    This article deals with the currency of Sri Lanka, the rupee. The traders say there is a downward pressure on the currency, while the government denies this.
John B

Large fishing nations fail to agree to deep cuts in Pacific tuna quotas | Environment |... - 2 views

  • The 33 member states of the commission, which is tasked with ensuring sustainable fishing, negotiated a proposal to reduce the amount of yellowfin and bigeye tuna, which is regularly used in sashimi and sushi, by 2018.
  • The US, China, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Taiwan are responsible for 80% of bigeye tuna caught each year. In 2012, a record 2.6m tonnes of tuna was hauled from the Pacific – 60% of the global total.
  • “The big nations are the disappointing ones, given that they’ve refused to take cuts in their quota,” said Amanda Nickson
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  • Large fishing vessels will also now have to carry unique identification numbers, similar to passenger and cargo ships. The move is aimed at reducing illegal and unreported fishing.
  • Although there has been progress on some measures, it’s disappointing to see the commission fail on its core objective, which is to ensure sustainable fishing.
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    This article deals with the quota put on the big nation's extreme fishing. The problem is that the nations ignore the quota and therefore there are species that are on their way to becoming extinct.
John B

Hästens år gynnar exporten - dt.se - 1 views

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    This article is about a Swedish symbol called "Dalahästen" and its relations to Asia. This year, in some countries of Asia, is the year of the horse, and the material is wood. This is the optimal opportunity for the production to increase as the demand will be much higher as the proportion of people having a demand for them is larger than before.
John B

William Easterly: Singing About Fighting Poverty, Slightly Off-Key - WSJ - WSJ - 1 views

  • The progress against poverty in China is obvious, but whether China's government deserves to be held up as a development model is not so clear. For instance, who gets to decide whether mainland Chinese citizens should be content with improved standards of living and so few protections against the frequent violations of their rights by their own government?
  • Extreme poverty in China has been reduced over the past few decades precisely because Beijing permitted the freedoms of a market economy to infiltrate a communism-blighted society. If the regime's repression now worsens, count on the end of the country's high growth rates.
  • Yet freedom is arguably central: first, as an end that people want for themselves, and, second, as the most well-proven path to escaping poverty. Consider among others North America, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Chile, where the answer to poverty was economic and political freedom.
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    In this article, the author discuss the affects of the actions of the government in China. It is a modern topic today due to the demonstrations being held in Hong Kong. The authors mentions that the statement about entering a democracy, and then pulling back on the decision means that they were on the right track to get the market more free from the government, hence less poverty, but now he thinks it is gonna worsen the economical conditions. A free market has saved many economies, why should China still not give in for the human rights and improve their economy?
John B

How "Dead Men" Fiscal Policy Is Paralyzing Government - 1 views

  • More and more fiscal policy is designed to be permanent and out of the effective control of the lawmakers who create it.
  • The reason is the classic prisoner’s dilemma. Lawmakers (some of them anyway) know they’d benefit from a political grand bargain where Democrats agree to reduce spending by restructuring the big mandatory programs and Republicans agree to raise new revenues by slashing tax subsidies.
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    This article is dealing with a book called "Dead Men" that is about how the government is so divided into two halfs, where both try to stay away from increasing taxes as that is what the voters mostly look for.
John B

What trade offs come with Austin housing? City investigates - Austin Business Journal - 0 views

  • housing prices are going up in the area — through they're still considered very reasonable compared to many coastal markets
  • The city's housing survey, conducted by the Austin office of Neighborhood Housing and Community Development, has so far found that more than half those who moved to Austin made some sort of trade off in order to live where they do.
  • more than half those who moved to Austin made some sort of trade off in order to live where they do.
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    Micheal Theis writes that according to a survey conducted by the Austin office of Neighborhood Housing and Community Development, more than half of the ones who moved to Austin had made some kind of a trade off to be able to live where they do. This is because the housing prices are going up and are considered very high.
John B

Reserve Bank India may eventually tighten rates to tame inflation: HSBC - The Economic ... - 0 views

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    This article is dealing with the inflation in India. The inflation in India are seemed to be sticky, but due to El Nino (the warmer-than-average sea surface temperature in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean). It contributes to extreme droughts that makes the price of food increase, and therefore the inflation for food increase
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.
John B

Report: Fresno area aggregate supply slipping - 1 views

  • Despite several approved and extended rock mines in the last 10 years, Fresno County's current aggregate reserves are not expected to last very long
  • aggregate is still in short supply in the Valey
  • Current mining operations in the region are estimated to have less than 10 years remaining to meet the projected demand in construction.
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  • Northern Tulare County was shown to have a little more leeway with 27 million tons of permitted reserves. That represents 22 percent of the area's 50-year demand of 124 million tons, a supply of 11 to 20 years.
  • Much of the aggregates needed in the Fresno area are produced in Coalinga out of mines operated by Granite Construction and Jaxon Enterprises, both of which are reaching the end of their supplies
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    This article deals with the fact that the company Fresno County has little aggregate reserves compared to its competitors. This means that they cannot produce as much as they would need to in order to keep its business going.
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.
John B

Jobs at a Turning Point - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • the employment report for February was a relief. The news that the economy added 175,000 jobs last month was better than anticipated, and much better than the dismal reports in December and January.
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    This article is talking about how the unemployment has gone down. Even decreased more than expected. It also discuss how the parties have been thinking about the unemployment in the US.
John B

Government Backing Of Cable Oligopoly Shuts Apple Out Of TV Market, Says VC Stewart Als... - 0 views

  • The government endorses a cable TV system that makes it extremely difficult for any innovation to happen
  • Alsop thinks that if any company can find a way to force monopolies or oligopolies to open up, it’s Apple, not just because of its history of doing so in music but because it’s one of the most influential and innovative companies on the planet
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    This article deals with the oligopolies of cable TV and that Apple would be the company to open them up.
John B

A Fair, Free Market Or The Copyright Monopoly? - Falkvinge on Infopolicy - 0 views

  • The copyright industry likes to pretend that making copies is somehow “stealing” and that on a fair and free market, everybody would be forced to buy from them.
  • the copyright industry deliberately confuses the goods that they offer for sale with the service of duplication, which is a completely different kind of offering. The service of duplication is what’s on an immoral, anachronistic monopoly, not the goods themselves.
  • In my world, and in a fair and free market, any entrepreneur or executive that claims a moral right to prohibit others by law from competing with them can fuck off and die.
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    this article wants to tell us that the copyright monopoly is something bad. That it slows down the development in the future. Personally, I would say that this article is not thought through since it is contradicting and use language like "can fuck off and die". The writer aims a lot on the right of duplicating, and that copyright monopoly stands in its way for that. I would say that duplicating something that a company has put a lot of money and time on, would not be morally right, because the one that is duplicating it will spend a very little fortune and time on doing this compared to the real producers. It is actually a pretty bad article, it feels like the writer tries to promote the duplication right of copying movies, programs, etc. and then share it on for example pirate bay.
John B

Hybrid Air: Improved vehicle efficiency through air propulsion - 0 views

  • Peugeot Citroën is pioneering a new direction for hybrid vehicles with its innovative Hybrid Air concept. The combination of a standard gasoline engine and compressed air system enables the car to achieve an efficiency of up to 81 MPG.
  • a car that can effectively run on, you guessed it, the very air we breathe
  • This makes for a far more affordable, lighter, and easier to maintain car, with emissions of 69 grams of CO2 per kilometer driven, rivaling that of the Prius’ 92 g/km. Also prepare to pay less for fuel, with the concept’s exceptional city driving mileage of 81 miles per gallon (MPG).
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    This article is about a new car from Peugeot Citroën. It will use the air that we breath to accelerate, creating a more fuel efficient car. This is a great step towards environmental friendly cars.
John B

Consider Economies of Scale When Evaluating Money Saving Tips and Tricks - 2 views

  • Factor in the economy of scale for the changes you're making to see the true savings.
  • The small initial cost of the thermostat combined with a small amount of your labor, multiplies over time to make the value of that single hour of labor worth significantly more than the initial investment.
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    This article is about taking economies of scale into account when trying to save money. Instead of buying your breakfast, you can make your own, like burritos. It will require little labour, time and money when it is spread on all burritos.
John B

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

  • 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,"
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  • 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.
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    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

Is Education a Public Good or a Private Good? - Innovations - Blogs - The Chronicle of ... - 1 views

  • Advocates for more generous support of students frequently bemoan what they perceive as a social shift from viewing higher education as a “public good” to viewing it as a “private good.”
  • The concept of public goods is central to economic analysis of the role of government in the allocation of resources. Public goods are defined by two characteristics: 1) Non-excludability: It is not possible to exclude non-payers from consuming the good. 2) Non-rivalry in consumption: Additional people consuming the good do not diminish the benefit to others
  • Advocates for more generous support of students frequently bemoan what they perceive as a social shift from viewing higher education as a “public good” to viewing it as a “private good.” What they mean is that the public gets benefits from people going to college and should not be transferring responsibility for the costs of education to students themselves.
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  • This is not an either/or question. The benefits of college are not all public and they are not all private. The debate should be over what fraction of the cost of postsecondary education students should bear and how large society’s subsidy to them should be. It should not be over whether education is a “public” or a “private” good.
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    This article is telling us about how the higher education (college) is allocated. If it is a private good or a public good. I would say that for the moment, it is a good that is can be excluded for people who cannot afford it. Therefore it is not a public good.
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