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Monique T

When talk isn't cheap | The Globe and Mail - 0 views

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    This article describes the cell phone costs that one small business owner is experiencing. These cell phone costs could be both fixed and variable costs - she still has to pay her basic cell phone bill no matter how many clients she has, so that cost is fixed regardless of output, in that sense, because at a certain rate the costs are constant. However, if she has a larger number of customers, and needs to call to deal with more of these customers, therefore going over her monthly plan limits, than the cost will begin to vary, so in that sense it is a variable cost. Overall, she needs to attempt to reduce this production cost in order to gain a better profit for her business.
Katie Edwards

How Energy Drains Water Supplies - NYTimes.com - 1 views

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    This article outlines how dependent energy sources are on water. The wants and needs for water resources are increasing worldwide, and this could become a problem to power plants, hydroelectric facilities, and other major sources of global water supply.
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    Aha! Scarcity of water supply, and it's a need. It is really important for us, human beings to know the importance of preserving the environment!
Katie Edwards

NBN to drop CPI+ price mechanism (ITWire) - 0 views

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    The National Broadband Network Company (NBN) wanted to slowly reduce their internet connection prices to benefit consumers. However, any price mechanism they try is just increasing the CPI (Consumer Price Index). The CPI measures change in price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households; in this situation specifically internet providers. We all obviously need the internet, but many companies are struggling with correct pricing, a key component of their business. They are beginning new projects that need more money, which in turn causes a price hike. The article uses a lot of technological 'lingo' with statistics to back up plans of price comparison.
Katrina D

Obama's reform needs a public option - 0 views

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    As many of us know, Canada has a great healthcare program that is provided by the government. The US, on the other hand, has opted in the past to keep healthcare a private good. The American goverment is now seeing negative repercussions of this decision, and this article outlines how they are thinking of modelling their healthcare system after Canada's by introducing government healthcare insurance. Although this may not completely eliminate private healthcare companies, it may discourage them for the reasons we learned in Week 12. This idea of reforming the current policies has stemmed from stories of families who have gone broke after needing emergency surgeries while not being able to afford insurance.
Lola Z

India needs a dose of supply-side economics - Economy and Politics - livemint.com - 0 views

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    India's booming GDP has been making it become a leading pioneer in economic development. However, while the demand side is soaring, the supply side is lagged behind. The production capacity is not enough to catch up with the expand in demand. However, while the trend could not slow down, India can neither create enough jobs nor fund an ambitious welfare state without faster economic growth.
Adam C

Occupy needs a lesson on financing the public good - 0 views

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    This article discusses the current "Occupy" protests which are taking place worldwide, and how the effect which they are having. The protesters are pushing to government to expand the budget of the government so that more goods can become public goods, like health care, for example. The article also discusses how protesters stood outside malls pleading for consumers not to purchase goods however if that were to happen, the economy would obviously sink back into recession.
Tim O

MP's urge ministers to scrap a planned rise in fuel duty tax - 0 views

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    Hello, In this video it talks about how the fuel prices have tripled over the last 20 years. It says that most of it has come from taxation and how in January the tax will increase by 3p a liter. This will translate that the average price will in by $1.50, however, if the government decided not in impose the tax then they would lose out of $1.5 billion of much needed revenue. Today, people spend a lot of their income on fuel and for people who own their own businesses they need have as much burden as possible because they will lose their demand. All in all, the government can keep the drivers and motorists happy by not increasing the tax or increase there revenue to help themselves out of the European economic crisis. From Tim
Monique T

Hunger in North Korea: Let them eat maize husks | The Economist - 4 views

  • exaggerating its troubles for political gain
  • North Korea’s food needs has long been a politicised business
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    This article demonstrates the scarcity facing the food supply of people in North Korea. Although we would normally expect food scarcity because of, for example, a natural disaster, the food scarcity experienced by the people in North Korea is not only because of a lack of food being made... It is scarce because the government is preventing the supply of food from getting to the people, creating a greater demand than supply. Food is a limited resource, but the problem of scarcity in this part of the world is because of political reasons in addition to natural.
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    It's really disturbing to read this. When we're working towards satisfying as many wants as we have, some people don't even get what they need.
Amy X

China to create jobs to counter economic slowdown - The Economic Times - 0 views

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    China will make job creation a more urgent priority in the face of slowed economic growth and weakened exports. Equilibrium is connected to this article because of the balance needed to keep the economic growth in china. The growth of China may be going too fast and it is needed to slow down and in order to keep the Economics i china, China had create jobs to counter the economics slowdown.
Lola Z

Mitt Romney's Secret Fundraiser Remarks Put The Lie To Supply-Side Economics - 1 views

    • Lola Z
       
      Sometimes economic policies have become slogans for political campaign. It may not do good to the real society but just a strategy helping one to be a president. 
  • lowering taxes for "job creators" benefits the poor and middle class by spurring job creation.
    • Lola Z
       
      This is a supply side policy. To lower the taxes for the producers will lower their costs. As a result, they will cut less personnels or even create more jobs to increase production.
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  • So he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich.
Katie Edwards

Fed's Policies Have Been 'Hideous' for Economic Recovery - 2 views

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    "We need to have a much more honest conversation about the tradeoff between inflation and real growth." There is an ongoing conflict of how to manage inflation via increasing aggregate demand which is the classic trade off. The article indicates "liberals arguing for government intervention and conservatives often pushing for tax breaks and incentives to get the private sector moving again." This is not only a national economic conflict, but a political conflict as well.
Mirren M

What's "Perfect" About Perfect Competition? A Prosperous Economy Needs Innovators - 0 views

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    "Hewlett-Packard (HP), the world's largest information technology company and an icon of U.S. business, announced that it intends to exit the personal computer industry, including the rapidly expanding smartphone and tablet segments"
Mirren M

Cardiff has UK's highest energy bills - 2 views

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    This article talks about how the cost of heating homes are impacting the people of Cardiff - how it has affected their budget and how suppliers are still continuing to raise prices. Therefore, price control needed to be implemented so the situation goes back to being under control. "People shouldn't have to choose between whether to eat or heat but many do."
Tim O

Venezuela's inflation quick fix? - 0 views

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    Hello, In this article it talks about how the Venezuelan government are trying to control inflation by setting fixed prices. The government's policy of price control demonstrate faith that one day they might succeed and lower their inflation rate which is at 27 per cent, the same as last year. The government are imposing a new law which the price controls will affect five general areas; personal and domestic hygiene products, car parts, medicines and health services and food. The government tries to prevent companies from "hoarding and speculation" and "exploiting the people". Also, the prices for 18 products are being frozen, and companies like Heinz, Pepsi, Coca Cola, and Nestle need 'special' attention. People say that the fear the private companies how will lead to more shortages and more inflation. From Tim
Adam C

Private Jails? - 0 views

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    This article discusses the option and possibility of Private Jails coming to Canada. This is because there are so many prisoners who need to be cared for that the cost has risen by extreme amounts! The possibility that jails could become a private enterprise is a very likely possibility.
Katrina D

Student jobs program gets $10M boost: CBC News - 0 views

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    This is pretty neat considering it relates to people our age living in Canada (aka me!). The Canadian government, who have set a minimum wage of $9.60/h for youths and $10.50/h for those older than 18, have decided to subsidize part or all of the payroll given out by small business to their student employees. The purpose is to try and invest in student employees so that they get the work experience they need. Although not mentioned much in the article, minimum wage plays a big roll, as now it is the government paying for the wage they set themselves... perhaps there is a chance it will be changed in the future for this reason.
Lucas G

Price increase; Higher minimum wage increases unemployment - 0 views

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    This article relates to government intervention in the form of increasing the minimum wage in some states. However, this increase was met with an increase in unemployment; which we also looked at. This unemployment is caused by a high price where supply is greater than demand, and the need for workers therefore decreases (increasing unemployment).
Mirren M

Malaysia sees need for easier monetary policy - 0 views

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    Due to the United States and European debt crises, Malaysia is adviced to keep monetary policies loose. As of last August, "Malaysian annual inflation touched a 27-month high at 3.5% in June, reinforcing expectations of a 25-basis point rate rise in September."
Desmond M

AP IMPACT: Hospital drug shortages deadly, costly - 2 views

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    This demonstrates scarcity by showing that a shortage of drugs, caused by manufacturing problems, is causing high markups from secondary suppliers. 
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    I never thought how the shortage of drugs could be so impacting because companies are always producing drugs and we never think how it could affect our lives without them. I has to make you think how different our lives would be without modern medicine.
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    I recently heard about a similar issue in Canada and I assume the same problem is occurring elsewhere... Drug companies have decided to switch their focus to more expensive drugs, such as cancer treatment drugs, because they can make so much more money on them. At the same time, they are reducing production of the cheaper drugs because of the low profit margin, even though these drugs may be essential in saving people's lives. The scarcity of the drugs for the people who need them could be easily fixed, but is being prevented due to the greed of large corporations.
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    It's really unfortunate how so many individual events, such as stolen goods or contaminated drugs, have lead to so much suffering. The market is the big, but (as the article says) there are only about a half-dozen companies that produce these drugs, and so when there is one little problem, it quickly becomes something much bigger. It isn't just one reason, this article otulines several, all of which are wreaking havoc on patients and the healthcare system as a whole. Clearly, pharmacists are scrambling to provide for their patients. Hopefully, this shortage doesn't lead to illegal imports or other bad things that can occur when people are desperate.
Sebastian van Winkel

Water scarcity 'now bigger threat than financial crisis' - 0 views

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    By 2030, more than half the world's population will live in high-risk areas By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor Humanity is facing "water bankruptcy" as a result of a crisis even greater than the financial meltdown now destabilising the global economy, two authoritative new reports show.
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    This seems like a big issue that will unfold during our generation. In Canada, we have one of the world's largest fresh water supplies, and that will be an important resource for our country moving into the future. But even with such a large supply, it is still a very scarce resource. Last year I visited a museum exhibit on the world's water supply, and it demonstrated the amount of water usage per capita in places around the world... In North America, we were using around ten times more water per day than people in Africa. This demonstrated the availability around the world affecting people's usage, but even in places where water is abundant, if we use too much it can still run out, so we need to be careful in everything we do.
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