Economics HL - Jacob Solomon's group - Year 1

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 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.

A study done in Canada by the University of BC looked at who REALLY made up this '1%' that all the Occupy protesters hate so much. Something important they conclude is that the gap between low-income and high-income demographics is massive; nothing to this degree has been seen since the Great Depression. It makes us think about how serious our economic situation really is right now. Another interesting section is around the middle of the article, where they discuss possible reasons for this severe inequality.

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."

MITT ROMNEY'S dense comments about the dependency of Americans who pay no income taxes were dense not only because they seemed to write off a significant portion of... This article talks of how the amount of people who pay no tax is very high and tax cuts are currently being discussed to try to decrease the burden on the middle class. The upper class currently has quite a high tax rate. This is trying to distribute the income more fairly.

A year ago, the Occupy movement became one of the big news topics of the year - the popular slogan of this movement being "We are the 99%." This was reference to distribution of income, because protestors were angered at the unequal distribution of income leading to the "Top 1%" having such control over the economy. This article takes a look at how income inequality has continued to change since the movement has started.

This article on the distribution of income interested me because of the connection to economic growth and development. The efforts to create more equal income distribution are not only good for the population socially, but for helping economic performance. From the article; "This goal is worthwhile not only for reasons of fairness and social welfare, but because it would improve economic performance," says UNCTAD.

The world economy is in a troubling situation right now, and leaders of the G-8 countries have often disagreed on how to deal with economic troubles. Angela Merkel (Chancellor of Germany) has pushed Europe into using austerity measures to attempt to solve its debt problems; but with this meeting the focus shifted rather to economic growth, and how the countries would work together to achieve this in the next few crucial months.

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 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 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 talks about how the GDP increase fell in the U.S but that does not mean that the economy is doing badly at all. There IS an increase and overall better numbers for most aspects in terms of the goals of macroeconomics but it is just at a slow pace. The economy fluctuates and even though the increase is "pitiful", it would just mean that the economy would most likely only increase more from here on. This is also linked to the rate of unemployment. "Let's face it, the Great American Bread machine is expanding, but at a pretty sorry rate, and not nearly enough to bring the 8.3 percent unemployment rate into 7.0 percent territory." "Yes, gross domestic product is expanding, but the unemployed are still trying to recover. This is why so few wish to call the current uncertainty-plagued growth an expansion."

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 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.

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 disscuses the rising rates of unemployment as well as a rising rate of inflation at the same time in the eurozone. This goes to show that sometimes, when you are trying to mend both, both can end up going in the wrong dirrection and causing a very unhealthy economy

This article talks about how inflation affects the economy and society. It mainly talks about how it affects unemployment. It later goes on to test the theory that (quote) "a short-term rise in unemployment can permanently damage an economy, by making it harder for those laid off to find work even when times recover". The government, however, is tackling the problem.