Jacob Solomon's group - M2015(B)

This article talks mainly about economics in the UK and how we have two different sides (left wing and right wing (Tories) ) and the article is quite biased, however, it has some statistics on how people in the UK feel about price controls.

This article details how UK labour leader Ed Millaband's planned price ceiling on energy prices could actually be feasible despite widespread outcry from conservative party who claimed it would cause blackout. Interestingly the latter party are now planning a move of the their own, 0.75% cap on energy. The article displays a labour bias.

This article relates to externalities of production, since air pollution caused by industries and transport emissions is classified to be carcinogenic to humans and raises the risk for illness. The harmful effect the industries make, causes a negative externality upon the third party- the society breathing in polluted air, who indirectly receives an extra cost by the pollution.

This article states that air pollution is the main cause of cancer. In terms of economics, this means that it is an external cost of production received in consumption - as the process of recovering from cancer is very costly.

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.

The article discusses the topic that regards children as a 'public good' and treats natural increase as a problem that should matter every citizen of a particular state. The selfisg parents do not invest money in their children since they cannot see any potential benefits from children and also can get pension when they will be elderly Therefore, the parents do not compete to have the best child (because it is costly). There are high IQ children who tend to be more beneficial to the society, while others tend to be less productive. Eventually, the author disagrees with the considered statement as the obtained knowledge as a part of human capital is excludable.

The title of the article already explains it all, it is a brief history about public goods.

I found this article very interesting because it has to do with externalities and common goods. I think this article may be associated with the article "Trajedy of the Commons" which we read because instead of talking of men's overconsumption of grass lands, it talks about the overcosumption of the ocean's self-purifying system. Generally, when talking about production of electricity through fission power plants, there will be unusable waste that is highly harmful for men and the environment because it emits highly ionizing radiation. But producers of that energy simply throw that waste in the oceans and wash their hands of the problem. The cost of society for that energy is equal to the producer's cost plus the cost for that damage the nuclear waste does. The marginal social cost is greater then the marginal private cost. But since, in a free market, it the private who determines the quantity consumed, there will be too much nuclear electricity produced with respect to society. "too much" means that resources are not optimally allocated and therefore there is a market failure.

This article is about when a large firm- NextStage decides to merge with another firm. The merger should help lift the firm's value. The firm and the other firm- VuQo would provide a platform to raise capital and then be able to create a high-potential export product from the Philippines. Also, the merge will benefit for VuQo's part since it brings positive strategic synergy that will create more business opportunities and hence might increase the value of VuQo.

This article explains how production costs in India could have been cut if Coal India had kept prices lower. The article also tells us that the company has a monopoly on the industry and is state-run which has lead some people to criticise the government. The company has been accused of protecting its own interests by raising prices to cache its bank balance. 

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 

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.

The Fiat S.p.a Italian company after a few years bothe chrysler. There was a merge between the two companies that ended up with Fiat taking full control of Chrysler.

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.

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.

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.

This article, written by Stephen Hawking, talks about how the NHS (british heath care paid for by the government) is a great public good and should not be made private and given a charge. He talks about his personal experience.

This article discusses how healthcare in the US is being made a public good.

This article is about the main public Canadian corporation that delivers radio and TV. On the example of hockey it discusses the matter of media as a public good.

This is a very interesting public good. It is both helpful for the government and the public. Pollution will decrease, which means better and healthier living condition, and the cost of the permits allows the government to add new public gods or improve the quality of its services. 

This article shows how bike sharing scheme spreads all around the world in last decades. This idea is more and more popular in every region. Moreover, this concept has a lot of positive externalities. For example, healthier and environmentally friendly mean of transport.

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.