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. 

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. 

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.