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

Contents contributed and discussions participated by Marenne M

Marenne M

Companies with foreign debt likely to feel the heat when US hikes rate - 0 views

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    This article describes how the strengthening of the USD will cause problem for the countries which are in debt with the US. As the value of the US dollar rises, the countries in debt will have to compensate for a larger amount of money due to the increase in value of the USD. As a result, their debt increases.
Marenne M

Tanzania scales up efforts to increase foreign direct investment - - 0 views

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    This article describes how the government in Tanzania uses regulations to control and encourage foreign direct investment. All owners of land, in this case both locals and foreigners, are obliged to invest in their land through farming or constructing buildings, thus encouraging economic growth. This means that if a foreigner wishes to own land in Tanzania, they must somehow invest in the economy to help the economic growth of Tanzania
Marenne M

Ebola Brings West Africa Economic Development to Screeching Halt - 0 views

  • United Nations Development Program finds the Ebola epidemic is dramatically setting back prospects for economic development in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
  • impact of Ebola has caused a breakdown in trust between these governments and their people.
  • “For instance, Liberia is going to record its first negative growth trend in 2014, which we estimate to be something as high as minus 1.8 percent negative growth, which is very serious,"
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  • fragility of the countries' health systems, a lack of health care workers, and cultural practices that often accelerate the spread of Ebola.
  • Ebola crisis in West Africa has resulted in job losses, rising food prices, and agricultural disruption.
  • harp drops in the use of health and education services are likely to increase poverty, child and maternal mortality, and facilitate the spread of HIV/AIDS and malaria, particularly for the rural poor.
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    This article describes the impact of the Ebola virus on the economic development in Western Africa. The lack in health infrastructure has not only lead to negative economic growth, however it has also led to the decreased use of education and healthcare services, increased job losses, rising food prices, agricultural disruption, increased poverty, increased child and maternal mortality, and increased the spread of HIV/AIDS. The initially poor infrastructure in Western Africa has led to negative development.
Marenne M

Energy challenges: Importing coal will darken balance of payments, says Bengali - The E... - 0 views

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    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.
Marenne M

Nigeria devalues currency as oil prices drop - FT.com - 5 views

  • Nigeria has devalued its currency by nearly 10 per cent and raised interest rates to record levels, in one of the clearest signs yet of how oil producing nations are struggling as energy prices drop sharply.
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    This article describes the devaluation of the fixed currency rate of Nigeria as a result of the decreased energy prices. Nigeria is an oil producing country and therefore earns a lot of its income through oil exports. Now that the prices of other energy has dropped, there is a lower demand for the Nigerian oil, leading to fewer exports. The Nigerian central bank has now devaluated its currency by 8.4 percent in the hope that the lower prices will encourage a greater demand for their oil exports.
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.
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.
Marenne M

There Is No Evidence Inflation Is Hitting the Poor Hardest - 1 views

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    This article describes how the CPI works and how inflation affects different groups of people with different incomes differently. Ben Casselman claims that inflation is higher for the poor households, by looking at the poor separately instead of as an average with the rest of the CPI. This way he says that he can show that the poor spend differently than the rich and that therefore the inflation is higher for them. This is not evidence, however, because inflation is about the rising of prices, and the prices rise equally no matter whether you are rich or poor. The only difference is the impact it has on the different groups.
Marenne M

Youth unemployment: Generation Jobless at risk of becoming reality - 3 views

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    This article describes the unemployment among youths in Australia. It describes how no matter whether you have a degree or not, it is barely possible to find a job. This is due to a lack in demand for labor, which generally results from a lack of aggregate demand, meaning that the economy isn't operating at its full potential. Therefore there is a surplus of supply for a minimal demand of labor, leading to a decrease in wage cost and a decrease in chances of finding a job. This is why many people are recommending doing internships for free, because firms are no longer paying as much for the employees, but even these internships are hard to get.
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.
Marenne M

Demand soars: Sydney houses start going for more than $1m over reserve price | theteleg... - 1 views

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    This article describes the great aggregate demand in the housing industry in Sydney, leading to massive consumer spending. People are buying houses way over their selling price, because the aggregate demand is so high. 
Marenne M

Dutch Economy Emerging From Two-Year Recession - WSJ.com - 1 views

  • he Dutch economy is emerging from a two-year long recession
  • The country's gross domestic product will expand by 0.75% in 2014, slightly higher than a previous forecast of 0.5% growth
  • The economy will grow by 1.25% in 2015, it added
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  • CPB said the government's budget shortfall will narrow to 2.9% of GDP in 2014 and 2.1% in 2015
  • it was hit by the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone and deep problems at home
  • A slump in the housing market has hit highly indebted households
  • he recovery will largely be driven by a pickup in exports as a result of the improving global and European economy
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    This article discusses how the Netherlands are finally picking up after a 2 year long recession. One of the main problems during the recession was that the Dutch citizens became afraid to spend money because they were unsure of their financial state in the near future. This caused a sort of glitch in the macroeconomic cycle of Holland, because people stopped spending and the companies stopped making as much income, therefore people got fired, and the cycle continues on. The economy in Holland is finally picking up and the GDP is said to rise by 0.75% this year.
Marenne M

Regulating the petrol oligopoly - The Express Tribune - 1 views

  • ensure a level playing field and fair play
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    Oligopolies contain firms that operate at a profit maximizing level and that in the short run can have burst of price changes. These changes in prices are due to an instant attempt at increasing the market share, however this leads to issues for other firms as well as consumers. In order for this to be prevented, government regulation is an option. This article describes how instead of regulating the industry the government is operating it, and what problems this causes
Marenne M

HPGCL starts process of slimming power generation bills - Economic Times - 0 views

  • improve efficiency of its thermal power stations and bring down cost of generation.
  • power distribution utilities in the state were turning to non-state players due to the high variable cost.
  • ring down the cost of generation at Panipat, Hisar and Yamunanagar.
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  • analyse performance parameters, cost, heat rate, efficiency and safety at the plants every month.
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    This article describes how the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd (HPGCL) is trying to bring down the cost of generation after an increase of competition due to the electricity act of 2003. Power Distribution companies in the state are turning to non-state generators due to the high variable costs of HPGCL. They are now trying to bring down these costs by more closely monitoring the heat rate, the efficiency and the cost.
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    This article describes how the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd (HPGCL) is trying to bring down the cost of generation after an increase of competition due to the electricity act of 2003. Power Distribution companies in the state are turning to non-state generators due to the high variable costs of HPGCL. They are now trying to bring down these costs by more closely monitoring the heat rate, the efficiency and the cost.
Marenne M

True Costs of So-called Cheap Food | Ellen Gustafson - 0 views

  • when you look at the prices of so-called "conventional" junk food compared with local, organic fruits and veggies, on a calorie per dollar basis, the junk often wins.
  • Many people assume that it's the produce or organic foods that "cost more" than highly processed, shelf-stable ubiquitous and cheap junk food, but what if the price tags that we see don't tell the whole story?
  • hich requires acres of corn fields, seeds, gallons of water, gas for heavy machinery, pounds of fertilizer and sprays of pesticides, and government subsidies.
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  • give them antibiotics, deal with their waste, transport them to slaughter, power the slaughter facility, refrigerate the ground meat and then cook it
  • processed wheat bun and condiments.
  • so efficient that all of those costs amortize over tons of ground beef and fixings to make a really cheap burger, or are there parts of that whole list of "costs" that don't actually show up in the price of our fast food burgers?
  • Examples of costs not currently factored into our food supply include the environmental outcomes of chemically-intensive and petroleum-intensive agriculture, costs for soil erosion, real water and irrigation costs, pesticide and waste runoff that creates dead zones in our waterways (like the "New Jersey-sized dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico" that stems from nitrogen runoff from our Corn Belt) and then affects the livelihoods of fishermen and shrimp farmers in the Gulf region.
  • Hidden health costs like our global obesity epidemic and the food-related public health issues of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are certainly not included in the cost of your fast food meal.
  • unpaid externalities like low wages for food workers that often mean government subsidies like food assistance, which is what over 50 percent of fast food worker families are getting
  • "value" and "low prices" of cheap food that we see at the cash register, are not the whole story
  • We are paying today in our health and our taxes and our children
  • will be paying tomorrow with a degraded environment, dirty water, decimated communities and jobs, and denigrated health.
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    This article describes how processed food and fast food have many negative externalities which in the end makes them cost more than organic foods which are more expensive in the stores. Processed foods may be cheaper than organic food, however the pollution during the process of producing the food, the health problems involved and the low wages which are unpaid for are all consequences which in the end will make these foods cost more.
Marenne M

Sweet and sour: Sugarcane farmers object over price set by mills - The Express Tribune - 0 views

  • bumper crop this year but the government’s delay in setting a minimum selling price has soured their happiness
  • rice at which sugarcane is sold to sugar mills is usually set by the government in consultation with the Kisan Board
  • price floor is to protect the farmers’ interests as their costs are ever-increasing
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  • mills have unilaterally declared the buying price to be Rs10 higher than last year’s price per 40 kilogrammes (kg)
  • ugar mills purchase and crush sugarcane without considering the rising cost of the primary sector
  • Farmers, on the other hand, dislike the idea of fixing the price on the basis of price of sugar as sugar mills have other products to earn from whereas the cost for cane growers has almost doubled
  • mill owners are trying to get the maximum benefit for the lowest price from their (the farmers’) hard work
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    This article describes how every year the government places a price floor to ensure the farmers interest as prices increase. This article concerns the fact that the government has not yet set a minimum price for the purchase of the sugarcane. This leads to problems for the farmers, because the mills decide the price of the sugarcane without considering the cost of the farmers.
Marenne M

Rice Subsidy in Thailand causes Debt - 0 views

  • drop its multibillion-dollar rice subsidy program and scale back
  • make room for spending on projects that enhance growth
  • stimulate spending in rural areas and support Thai farmers
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  • government buys rice from local farmers for a set price above market rates
  • isplacing Thailand from its perch as the world’s biggest rice exporter
  • The subsidy program left Ms. Yingluck’s administration with a big bill and millions of tons of unsold rice
  • egan buying rice at premiums of 35%-50% above market rates
  • “It is inevitable for the government to incur losses as long as the scheme remains unchanged,” the IMF said.
  • eopardize a government commitment to balance the budget by 2017 and keep public debt below 50% of GDP
  • Thai authorities said the subsidy aims to address economic inequality and help poor farmers improve productivity
  • suggested that a reduction in the pledging prices or limits on the amount of purchase might be needed to ensure the sustainability of the policy
  • For the third subsidy year, which began last month, the government made some minor moves to scale back the subsidy
  • ay around $8.6 billion on the subsidy for 2013-‘14
  • hat losses from the subsidy could threaten Thailand’s credit rating
  • 5 million tons of rice in its stockpiles
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    This article describes how the government is trying to stimulate the rice market in Thailand by buying rice and placing subsidies on it. These major investments, however, are causing debt for the government, and prevent the government from investing in other projects.
Marenne M

Super Bowl XLVIII Pricing: A Lesson In Demand Elasticity - Forbes - 1 views

  • club-level seats in the mezzanine of MetLife Stadium are likely to cost about $2,600, as compared to the $1,250 charged for the top tickets at last year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans.
  • next-cheapest set of tickets in the lower bowl of MetLife would cost about $1,500, up from the $950 charged for second-tier seats sold in New Orleans.
  • professional sports teams typically price their inventory in the inelastic portion of their demand functions.
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  • eams charge too low a price to maximize ticket revenues
  • maximum attendance
  • omplementary purchases associated with sporting attendance…such as concessions, parking, merchandise.
  • maximizing ‘revenue per seat’ as opposed to just gate revenues
  • onsiderable mark-ups for Super Bowl tickets
  • willingness to spend thousands of dollars above face in some cases merely reflects the uniqueness of the event
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    This article describes how many sports events try to keep their prices low, in order to maximize attendance and thereby complementary costs such as food and parking. However, the Superbowl tickets are very expensive, and increasing in price. This is because they want to earn more money purely on ticket sales, and they believe they can make more revenue because the high prices only show how special this event is, which means there is a high demand to meet the high prices.
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    This article describes how many sports events try to keep their prices low, in order to maximize attendance and thereby complementary costs such as food and parking. However, the Superbowl tickets are very expensive, and increasing in price. This is because they want to earn more money purely on ticket sales, and they believe they can make more revenue because the high prices only show how special this event is, which means there is a high demand to meet the high prices.
Marenne M

Apple's 9 million iPhone weekend: The good and bad - CBS News - 1 views

  • the stock closed last Friday at $467, well off the 52-week high of $705
  • 5C as an attempt to shore up the low end of the market
  • expand market share
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  • price of the 5C, starting at $99 for what a U.S. consumer would pay with a two-year service commitment with a mobile carrier, was nowhere near low enough
  • more price sensitive
  • missed its opportunity to improve its standing in such important markets as China and India
  • a small share would be a significant boost over previous years
  • sold out virtually everywhere
  • old out customer satisfaction and convenience to fuel its need for PR
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    This article describes the sales of the new Iphone 5s and 5c over the first weekend. They had a great number of sales, however the demand for the Iphone 5c is not what they expected. It is said that the price is still too high for their target market. Apple was hoping to expand their market into Asia by producing a cheaper version of the IPhone in order to increase their market share, however it is likely that they will fail to do so, because the demand will remain low as the product is still not affordable for many Asians. Relating to our question of the week, the price helps allocate a product in the free market because it determines who the target market is, and if the pricing is off, it will effect the efficiency of the sales.
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    This article describes the sales of the new Iphone 5s and 5c over the first weekend. They had a great number of sales, however the demand for the Iphone 5c is not what they expected. It is said that the price is still too high for their target market. Apple was hoping to expand their market into Asia by producing a cheaper version of the IPhone in order to increase their market share, however it is likely that they will fail to do so, because the demand will remain low as the product is still not affordable for many Asians. Relating to our question of the week, the price helps allocate a product in the free market because it determines who the target market is, and if the pricing is off, it will effect the efficiency of the sales.
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