EconM2015 September 2013

Economic growth: Men work at a construction site on Jl. Pramuka in East Jakarta on Wednesday. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced the domestic economy grew 5.62 percent in the third quarter of 2013, the slowest since 2009.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A New Jersey energy company required by an unusual legal settlement to build an extensive network of electric car chargers throughout California has delivered just 10 percent of what it promised in the first year. By fortifying the state's still-spotty charging infrastructure, the settlement between NRG Energy Inc.

The PlayStation 4, which goes on sale in Latin America on Nov. 29, runs only $399 in the US - but for the average Brazilian, it will cost two months' salary. It's not easy being a gamer in Brazil.

This articles explains the worries and benefits that come with putting Cancer and Aids drugs under price control. Generally, the positive effect will be on drug companies, and the consumers. A win, win situation

The NIH are against government price controls and for the third time in a row had to reject the governments aid, as it would be against the law if the government did aid the NIH. The government wanted to fund drugs essential to specific and vital purposes.

This is an article of a man who wants to put price control on essential items.

The article talks about the price freezes that have been proposed for gas and electricity markets as well as for controls on pension fund management companies, of which the latter will receive a 0.75% price cap while the former is still being rejected by the government. The article also lists some examples of price controls that have been implemented in the past.

This article talks about the inspection of 1500 businesses in Venezuela that have been charging (too) high prices for their products. The subject of Price controls arises as a method of intervention suggested by Nicolas Manduro, the president of Venezuela.

In his latest health push, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a bill that would require retailers to keep tobacco products out of sight. It's companion bill, however, is seeking to ban cheap cigarettes and cigarillos by setting a price floor of $10.50 a pack across the board.

I thought that this article was very related to our topic this week and it is an interesting read. It talks about how an enormous price cut in Venezuela brought about many different effects and mixed emotions. Because of the price cut, people were happy to get things at a very cheap price. However, there were some consumers that were unhappy because of the shortage.

The United Nations could implement a universal price floor for carbon offsets. This is due to their falling prices, which have dropped by 95%. This was due to the falling demand for them. In order to stop this a price floor would help significantly, especially because the UN wants them to be implemented in developing countries to reduce carbon emissions.

It is the story of a dairy farmer who sold milk for very low prices and other producers complained and tryied to get back their clients

Domestic producers were harmed because America was putting high subsidies on shrimp's importet from Malaysia, China, Ecuador, India and Vietnam. It was now decided to put anti-subsidies on shrimps to help producers inside the own country

This article discusses the effects of price ceilings and floors on greenhouse gas emissions and its potential drawbacks with a slower economic growth of the state. This is a good example on considerations of instating an excise tax, because it would reduce emissions, but lower economic growth.

In Maryland people get excise tax credit when buying an electric vehicle. This has increased the quantity demanded.

This article discusses Mexican plans to implement a 5% percentage tax on fattening foods, a 16% percentage tax on chewing gum and a 8 cents specific tax on sodas. This is a fine example in which a government is using excise taxes as a means of discouraging consumption of a product that is harmful for one's health.

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 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 how Starbucks and other major companies have been avoiding tax payments. It explains that though tax avoidance is legal, it is done through dubious transactions and fraudulent reports. This has occurred because of the high tax placed on coffee by the government.

This article talks about how Apple seemingly tried to avoid high taxes by filling returns through a subsidiary because taxes were lower. The government and tax officials will have to take on a better control of those companies under their taxes.