Group items tagged

This article covers the story of how a political party in India promises to eradicate tolls on a road if they get elected into power in the upcoming elections. Currently, it would take over 20 years for the cumulative toll to cover the cost of paying the company which built the roads. If the party does indeed come into power, then they would have to find a space in the budget for five times the current allocated money for road works. The political party saw an opportunity to get publicity by making this promise, since all commuters hate paying tolls.

This article talks about the negative externality of smoking. It tells that when adults smoke the bad side effects affect small innocent children.

This article talks about how the number of children submitted to hospital with asthma has decreased by 12% after smoking bans were put in place. This shows that the externality created by smoking is negative, it does not only affect the individual but the society as well therefore the social costs are greater than the private benefits. It shows how government intervention helps reduce the negative externalities.

In introducing the smoking free regulation, the british government has successfully reduced the number of admissions with children suffering from asthma attacks by 12%. In addition to showing that this government intervention has successfully reduced the negative externality caused by smoking cigarettes, this form of intervention has increased social awareness and also the willingness of many individuals to prefer "smoking free homes". The Article thus demonstrates that there has not only been a change in legislation, but also a change in the attitudes of the population, which will also have an effect on demand.

This article is about the spike in corn prices in 2007. It talks about the price of corn which is the main ingredient in ethanol, the primary alternative fuel, is increasing fast and causing a series of problems on the market e.g. the price of other food which is made of corn is rising dramatically, farmers complains that corn price is too high for them to feed live-stocks. There are also many predictions in the article about the future price of corn based on the demand and supply rules. This is an great article related to what we have learned. So check it out!!

This article talks about how owners of rare artworks are exempt from paying inheritance taxes as long as they allow viewing access to the public. This is somewhat an inverse of the tragedy of the commons where instead of restricting the usage of the "commons", the government encourages allowing more access to the commons. The main reason for this would be because artworks have cultural significance.

Interesting how artworks have been worth so much money and are a private good by ownership, but still are available to the public.Take any museum, its artworks are all privately owned, but have been determined to be part of our culture that cannot remained unseen. It must be public for reasons of conservation.

This whole article is just a review of what was said by an economist. The part I found especially important is towards the end of the first page, where he talks about how aggregate supply is sometime undervalued. The Commerce Department generally does not report on the aggregate supply, but rather they focus on aggregate demand. For the aggregate supply. the work actually needs to get done for it to happen. The work being labour and productivity.

This article outlines the rising gasoline price in US in 2008 and speculation about how and whether Americans will change their behavior in the long run. The article compares the change in gas price in US to many other countries, and give the PED value of gasoline. So check it out!

This article outlines the rising gasoline price in US in 2008 and speculation about how and whether Americans will change their behavior in the long run. The article compares the change in gas price in US to many other countries, and give the PED value of gasoline. So check it out! (week 9)

This article outlines the decrease in availability in foreclosure (aka mortgage, a real estate loan) in the area of Charlotte. As the availability of credit is a non-price determinant of demand, the demand curve has shifted to the left, which has changed the point of market equilibrium (when one graphs the price against the quantity of houses), and thus, the supply of houses in the area. This example clearly displays how shifts in the demand curve affect the overall market equilibrium, through the nature of the price mechanism.

The article is a special example of a common good, as it gives us an example of a private property that is now going to be opened to the public. Lisa and Leon Gorman, the prior owners of Lane, an island near the mouth of the royal river in Yarmouth, have donated their private property to the Main Coast Heritage Trust. The Island formerly being a private hunting territory shall now become accessible to the public. It has been recognized as an "ecologically significant site" and shall now become part of Royal River which is being restored and protected. A long-term management plan is being developed, which includes the economic vitality as well as the significance of ecological protection of the Island and its surroundings. Although in a slightly different scenario, this article could give us an example of Elenor Ostroms theory of effectively sustaining resources through a self-motivated community.

This article talks about how the US has imposed tariffs on importers of Chinese solar panels. The Chinese panels were being sold in the World market at a very low price due to subsidies that the Chinese government had been giving to solar panel manufacturers which resulted in the low selling price. Due to this, demand was high in the US for these panels as opposed to domestically made panels, therefore the aim of the tariffs was to increase the price of the panels so that people in the US would buy locally made panels boosting the local solar industry as opposed to the Chinese one.

Trying to protect Brazils forests is a difficulty. Logging cannot be stopped due to common access to the amazon. Farmers make use of the forests until they maximize their utility, causing negative externalities. River banks are ednagered by erosion and wildlife loses its inhabitat. The new Laws by the government are not good enough to prevent logging and support sustainability.

This an interesting article about the economic happenings from the Great Recession to the present day. It explains how the US economy progressed through and after the recession through the use of fiscal and monetary policies. However, these "policies" did not seem to efficiently help in the recovery of economic growth. Issuing higher taxes (for the so-called sake of increasing government revenue) on both the demand side and the supply side caused further damage to economic recovery and unemployment.

This article talks of the results that happened in Cuba when they abolished all private property rights and turned to communism. This eventually led to the collapse of the Cuban economy. The article mentions, "On the eve of the Cuban Revolution about 80 percent of Cuba's arable land was under cultivation (or used for grazing) and domestic production supplied 70 percent of the country's food consumption." Over grazing of the fields led to similar tragedy of the commons.

This article describes three major "tragedies" inflicted on the Great Plains of the midwestern United States. The near-extinction of the bison population, the destruction of the grasslands, and the current issue, the massive drilling and oil fracking. It details the repercussions of these tragedies, including a major reduction in its biodiversity.

This article outlines the international negative externality of greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases harm the environment on a global scale, yet firms can overlook this, as the effects of the externality do not have a very direct effect on the society, or the world as a whole, and the cost of reducing emissions in the future does not have be paid for yet, and thus they reap private benefits. At some point however, the global society will have to come up for these unaccounted costs.

This article discusses how the inflation rate of the UK has decreased to 1.7% - a four-year low. This is in cohesion to increasing wages, and Prime Minister Cameron has used this to praise his cabinet's economic policy, aiming to further decrease the rate to 1% by the end of the year.

This article highlights how the UK inflation rate has fallen to a four-year low of 1.7%. The drop in petrol prices is the main reason of this fall in inflation rates.

This article details how the economy in Pakistan is showing signs of improvement. The level of economic activity has increased, especially due to reforms in the electricity sector (problems with load shedding have been resolved). The GDP has had better than expected growth, which brings about a positive outlook for the country's economy.

This article describes that beer sales in Russia have risen by more than 40%, while vodka sales have fallen by nearly 30% during the past decade. And then, in 2010 the tax on beer went up by a staggering 200% and would keep going up. The article also talks about different beer titans in Russia and the emotional criticism about the price of beer. So check it out!

This article talks about how the PED of tobacco is not as inelastic as once previously thought. The price of tobacco is increasing due to the government adding taxes, and because of the large increases in prices, the demand for tobacco is decreasing.

This article mentions how the Colorado regulators are seeking to impose an excise tax on the upcoming sale of cannabis. They need to figure out the right percentage to use for the tax, but since they don't have previous sales figures, they will have to do further market research to find the optimal percentage tax to put on marijuana.

This article is about China fighting inflation in May 2011. It describes the food prices in China were up 10.3% in January versus a year earlier and the price of gas also rises. The article also outlines the plan of China government to keep down the price of goods--price control. Check it out!