Group items tagged

This article stresses the continue increase of the prices of goods and services in Singapore, causing the inflation in the country to keep growing further. Moreover, this article talks about that the consumer price index (CPI) has risen in August of this year 2% more in comparison with the last year, they also had calculated the CPI in July of this year, which was 1.9% meaning that the inflation kept increasing constantly. This article also strains that one of the main causes for the increase in inflation in Singapore is because of the government measures to slow the inflow of the cheap foreign workers into the city-state. If the inflation in Singapore continues to increase, in the long run this will cause the country's currency to have a value of almost nothing. The consequence of this will be that the people living in this country won't have enough money to live a normal life. Therefore, they will have to have an aid from the government.

Singapore has been dealing with high inflation, which has risen significantly. This is especially in relation to core inflation, that excludes house and car costs, which is higher than had been predicted. Their CPI has increased as well. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has tightened the monetary policy in response to decrease the rate of inflation.  The inflation has partially been caused by restrictive government policies, which attempted to reduce the amount of low-wage foreign workers. These actions were taken due to locals' requests as there is a limited amount of jobs in this small state. The effect was that firms had to increase prices because of increased wages (cost of production) once the cheaper workers were no longer available. Consequently inflation increased more quickly, as did the CPI. To solve the issue, governments are encouraging firms to hire Singaporean employees.   

1.The article, which reports an increase in poverty levels in Italy, discusses about both relative and absolute poverty. Relative poverty places the concept of poverty in a social context, people are defined poor when compared to those around them but still have money to survive, relative poverty is based on the cultural environment of the person. Absolute poverty, on the other hand, is when people don't have enough money to meet a basic threshold that is need by everyone to survive, and so cannot afford food, clothing, a house, heating etc. which is what is needed for survival.  2.The biggest causes of poverty in Italy are: unemployment and health/disability. According to the article Italy has been facing its greatest post-war recession, war can also be a huge cause of poverty in countries. Also, the article talks about how in the southern part of Italy people are poorer, when compared to the north, that is also because in Italy southern regions are less economically developed compared to north regions.  3.The article discusses about some consequences of poverty in Italy, by saying that poverty has risen unemployment and has declined purchasing power which have been caused by an increase in taxes which aimed at strengthening the public's finances. The article then discusses about more of personal consequences for Italians which have been considered poor, with poverty levels rising those Italians can no longer afford heating for their homes, holidays away from Italy and purchasing/eating meat. 

1. The article talks about both relative and absolute poverty. Depending on the conditions of the households, the level of poverty changes (mix of them in Italy).   2. Some of the possible causes of poverty are because there is high unemployment and higher lack of skills in the southern regions of Italy which are less developed and account for high amounts of poverty in the country. Another cause is that some families have many children, meaning there is less disposable income (they cannot work) and there are higher costs to pay for them. This is also true when the heads of the families are unemployed (unemployment benefits are not enough to support a family) or factory workers (below minimum wage, low wages, lots of hours, low skilled jobs, structural unemployment, firing because of recession). Another issue is when there are two or more elderly people (do not work, or retirement funds are lower with recession, retirement age has increased therefore with aging less productive and lower wages, less disposable income because they have to be sustained). The recession is the main cause of the unemployment and lack of disposable income, therefore purchasing power and consumption have decreased, especially because of a high increase in taxes.   3. The consequences are that people are going below the poverty line and cannot afford necessities (the amount of people in absolute poverty continues to increase, as well as the one in relative poverty). This means that people cannot afford certain key necessities; some mentioned in the article were heating, holidays and meat. 

1) Distinguish whether or not the article is talking about absolute or relative poverty. The article talks about both relative and absolute poverty. It mentions that there are people living in extreme poverty, thus, unable to provide themselves with basic necessities, as well as people that are relatively poor in comparison to households with greater incomes. 2) According to the article what are some possible causes of poverty. The cause of poverty discussed in the article is the inequality and limited opportunities for the poorest people in each country, which can increase instability, and a rise in conflicts. Furthermore, another cause is the fact that prosperity is reserved for a restricted group. 3) According to the article what seem to be some of the consequences of poverty. The overall consequence is that greater inequality in income distribution will occur if the gap between the rich and the poor grows even further. This would eventually lead to a struggling economic class as well as economic instability.

1. Britain wants to open up a free trade agreement with China; this would be a multi-billion dollar agreement. The EU is highly opposing this, and especially believes that this decision would have to be discussed for a lot longer. Britain's future in the EU is unknown, as they may no longer be welcome due to decisions such as these, which also involve nuclear weapon production and exchange.  2. The article is arguing against free trade, because it seems like the decision would solely benefit the UK and China, whereas other countries will be left out and may even be in danger. Also, because there are so many against it, it would seem best to wait.  3. Domestically, Britain would be extremely benefitted, as the would get a very high profit. Their consumers would have more choices at lower prices. Also their firms will be able to expand their markets, though may face new competition. The government will also gain a very high profit.  Foreignly, it will have many problems with the rest of the EU and other countries, so it may seem unadvisable, especially if it gets cut off from the union. Also, this will mean less exportation therefore loss of money. 

In this article the British prime minister David Cameron promised the leaders of China that he would advocate a multibillion dollar free trade deal. The British prime minister states that China is the second best economy after the USA and so he decided to advocate this free trade deal because he believes that in the long run it will benefit his nation. Opposing his thought though is the European nation, who stated that advocating such deal was a premature move. After this the discussion of human rights drops in, on how EU believes that by advocating such deal there will also be negative consequences on the citizens of Britain.

This article discusses about the recent (August) increase of inflation in Japan, after a deflation that had been lasting for fifteen years. The labor market is very tight and companies have been starting to raise wages, which would indicate that prices will still rise, leading to Japan reaching its goal of a 2 percent inflation rate. Japan has come through recession in 2012, and prices raising tend to indicate that Bank of Japan's monetary stimulus and reflationary policies have been bringing improvements to the economy.  The fact that inflation has been increasing lately will have absolutely a positive effect on Japan's economy, which has grown by a third between April and June. What Japan needs to focus on now is keeping the inflation rate stable and not letting it be affected by disinflation. Prime Minister Abe has been pressuring employers to raise wages, which it might not be the best move, since it will reduce their competitiveness. In the long-run, if the inflation is kept at a normal and stable percentage it will surely be positive for Japan's economy. 

1) Distinguish whether or not the article is talking about absolute or relative poverty. This article is talking about absolute poverty 2) According to the article what are some possible causes of poverty. According to the article some possible causes of poverty are: a. Inflation increased b. Wages increased slower than the rate of inflation causing people to be earning less. 3) According to the article what seem to be some of the consequences of poverty. Some of the consequences of poverty are: Income fell as the earnings and benefit grew more slowly than the cost of living. Therefore there is also a decrease in the living standards.