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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.
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.
Haydn W

Rules on unemployment benefits tightened to end 'signing on' culture | Politics | The G... - 2 views

  • Rules on unemployment benefits tightened to end 'signing on' culture
  • Jobless will have to take 'basic steps' towards finding work before they can claim, as part of government push on welfare
  • The government is to hail the end of the "signing on" culture when it announces that unemployed people will have to take "basic steps" towards finding work before they can claim benefits.
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  • the employment minister, will launch a significant government push on welfare this week by saying that unemployed people must prepare for their first interview with a Jobcentre Plus adviser by preparing a CV.
  • McVey will highlight tough new rules for newly unemployed people. She will say: "With the economy growing, unemployment falling and record numbers of people in work, now is the time to start expecting more of people if they want to claim benefits.
  • "This is about treating people like adults and setting out clearly what is expected of them so they can hit the ground running.
  • In return, we will give people as much help and support as possible to move off benefits and into work because we know from employers that it's the people who are prepared and enthusiastic who are most likely to get the job.
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    This new policy, outlined from the UK government's recent budget announcement aims to get young people out of the so called welfare culture and into employment. From around the end of the Second World War there has been a rapid increase in people leaving education and signing onto unemployment benefits. With these tougher measures the government hopes to prepare these people for work and curb the relative 7 - 8% unemployment rate. However the government has faced severe criticism, notably for their lack of efforts to get university graduates into jobs since raising university fees here from £3000 per year to £9000 when they came to power in 2010.
Yassine G

Unemployment Claims Decline to Nearly a 7-Year Low - NYTimes.com - 0 views

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    This article talks about how unemployment is decreasing and what are the causes. We saw that there was a seasonal unemployment and that the government's intervention was helpful as it created new jobs 
Mariam P

Australia's unemployment rate fell to 5.8% in March from February's 6.1% - 1 views

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    This article is about the unemployment rate in Australia. It shows different opinions from different experts in the country.
Amanda Anna G

Why extending unemployment benefits could be a logistical nightmare - 1 views

  • Why extending unemployment benefits could be a logistical nightmare
  • But the state agencies responsible for administering the benefits say actually helping that population could prove to be logistically difficult.
  • "With unemployed Americans continuing to struggle, it’s our responsibility to provide them a lifeline," Perez said in an e-mail to The Post. "I’ve spoken to many governors and state labor secretaries who are ready to implement any changes -- because they understand that whatever administrative burden they might face pales in comparison to the burdens confronting the long-term unemployed. The workforce system is capable of handling this task."
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  • . A few states have even warned that implementation could be so unwieldy that they may opt out of Labor Department program that provides the benefit to workers.
  • Hiring and training new employees to handle retroactive benefits would also draw out the timeline for implementation.
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    This article is about the unemployment and the negative sides of the unemployment benefits. "Whatever administrative burden they might face pales in comparison to the burdens confronting the long-term unemployed."
Pietro AA

No inflationary pressure in budget, say experts - Zawya - 0 views

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    Here is an application of what we sudied on Qatar.
Clemente F

Aggregate Supply - 2 views

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    This article discuss how the aggregate supply curve works in the U.S economy
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.
Mariam P

No inflationary pressure in budget, say experts - 2 views

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    This article represents the point of view of the experts about the effect of the increase in the budgetary on aggregate supply in Qatar, Peninsula.
Haydn W

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

  • 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.
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  • 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.
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    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.
Amanda Anna G

DHM Markets/Marketers: Per capita production - 0 views

  • We've all heard about per capita milk consumption – how many pounds of dairy products we consume annually on a milk equivalent basis. Hint: It's about 600 lbs. per person in the United States.
  • But what about per capita milk production?
  • The Central federal milk marketing order administrator's office tracks per capita milk production annually, identifying states producing enough milk within their borders to meet the needs of their population. When compared with population estimates, the information helps reflect the aggregate supply and demand balance for individual states and regions throughout the U.S.
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    This article is about the consumption and production of milk in the US. The comparison helps reflect the aggregate supply, as I believe- milk is a product that is bought in nearly every household in the US, and hence takes up a big proportion of the economy. 
Hardy Hewson

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

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    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.
Daniel B

Five economic issues that have the RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan worried - 1 views

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    This article talks about five important economical problems
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    ("Growth in 2013-14 is likely...) NEW DELHI: In its macroeconomic Review of the economy, the Reserve Bank of India has underlined various risks to a sustained recovery for the economy. RBI is of the opinion that a durable domestic recovery remains contingent on addressing persistent inflation and bottlenecks facing the mining and infrastructure sectors.
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.
Pietro AA

Gov't urged to abolish NFA monopoly | Inquirer Business - 1 views

  • “costly, impractical and discredited” rice self-sufficiency policy and has sought the abolition of the monopoly of the National Food Authority (NFA) on rice importation.
  • reforms in the country’s policy on rice procurement were necessary to “improve the welfare of consumers, to foster agricultural growth, to reduce graft and corruption and truly implement ‘Daang Matuwid’ (righteous path).”
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    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!!!
Yassine G

Aggregate Supply, Aggregate Demand, and Coal - NYTimes.com - 1 views

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    this article talks about how a policy change could affect aggregate supply. It is quit hard to understand but it is very interesting. Of course this is from the point of view of an economist, Paul Krugman 
Pietro AA

Breaking America's meat monopoly - Chicago Sun-Times - 0 views

  • Breaking America’s meat monopoly
  • The quest for cheap meat has resulted in a ruthless market that has left 85 percent of supply in the hands of five companies.
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    I found this article interesting even if it still has to do with microeconomics. I tals about the meat monopolistic competition in U.S. that is more of a monopoly than a perfect competition. It describes how the monopoly have negative externalitites because of poor animal treatment and conludes by stating that the market should become more competitive and differentiated.
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.
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