Group items tagged

This article discusses the American economy, and tax policy fairness, just like our weekly discussion did! It's fascinating to read about "societal notions of fairness" in the context of the tax policy to raise revenue. (read this it's super relevant.)

This article expresses the opinion that in order to experience the best economic growth, America must move towards more supply-side policies, and encourage education, hard work, and investments. There are arguments to support both sides of the debate on govt. spending vs. supply-side policy, but the end goal of achieving a better economy are the same.

This article is about how the Indian government is going to end its drug control policy. By keeping the "anti-competitive" policy, the Indian government has been artificially keeping the supply of drugs low.

This article examines the effectiveness of fiscal policy in the stabilization of the Euro-zone. It includes the view of various European economists, on the issue of what role fiscal policy should play in repairing surplus and inflation in Europe.

One topic we have discussed a lot in supply-side policy is the funding of education, and how increased funding can lead to more efficiency in the economy. However, after the Ontario budget, the government decided to freeze teacher wages to try to reduce funding in this education sector; which has created many problems in our province as teacher unions are now taking action, with the threat of a strike still being possible. Supply-side policy gone wrong.

This article from the Financial Times regards fiscal policies in different EU countries. After the double-dip recession that has been experienced in Europe, many governments' fiscal policies are coming into question and being scrutinized by American commentators.

This article highlights the positive economic growth seen lately in Norway, and how those positive changes caused the central bank to hold their decision to increase action and monetary policy. The adjustments will not be necessary if in fact the domestic economy continues to improve.

This article relates to the fact that the economic indicators in China have been significantly lower than what was expected. In response, the central bank has decided to "loosen monetary policy", in the attempt to stimulate the economy.

This article offers an explanation of the role of the bank of Canada in the economy and all the different factors they have to assess and keep in mind in order to help economic growth...one of the factors they must consider is aggregate demand....as it is related to a lot of other factors.

This article details the risks that are associated with the cut in interest rates in Australia. Interest rates are a form of monetary policy that is being used by Australia to try to create a better economic situation.

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."

This article discusses a new study that shows rising levels of equality do not necessarily result in lower crime, or health. On the contrary, it shows that higher inequality is associated with higher growth. However, the author argues that extreme levels of poverty should be combatted, and that economic policy should be used to promote "human exceptionalism."

China's 40% tax imposed since 2008 is a violation of WTO regulations. As such, they have to renew their policy. However, this would raise their exports competitions decreasing FOB price.

This article discusses inflation in Poland, and includes a lot of information from the nation's policy-makers and economists. This represents a case of anticipated inflation, because they are looking to combat rising prices, and evaluating which methods work, and which do not. The inflation has slowed down, and forecasts/estimates of the economy are looking better, due to increasingly manageable factors such as borrowing costs, interest rates, & price growth.

"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.

This article describes a decision by the US Federal reserve regarding inflation rates. The article points out that the unemployment rate has declined and inflation has increase, showing the trade-off. They hope, by monetary policy, however, to attempt to both reduce unemployment and achieve a stable rate of inflation.

Jan 11th 2012, 15:07 by C.O. | LONDON SCOTT SUMNER recently wrote a nice post entitled "The myth of the pro-German ECB". I disagree with his argument that the Balassa-Samuelson effect explains higher inflation rates in the European periphery (isn't this effect based on productivity gains in the tradables sector?), but in my view he is right on his main point: monetary policy by the ECB was too tight for Germany. This article is about how Germany seems to be the only country in the eurozone not failing because of the reduction in aggregate demand from the euro. It explores the reasons for this.

This article talks about how supply-side policies are implemented and how it affects the price of gasoline. This is mainly because of the global crude oil prices decreasing. On top of that, there is an increase in supply from the Middle East supplemented by a decrease in demand. "If there are any problems on the supply side, as in Iran, Libya or Nigeria, then prices will be right back up," said Michael C. Lynch, president of Strategic Energy and Economic Research.