Economics HL - Jacob Solomon's group - Year 1

The UK has the highest level of inflation in Western Europe and only three countries in the EU have a higher rate, according to the office of statistics the EU, Eurostat. Yesterday, the Office for National Statistics announced the CPI annual inflation rate in the UK rose to 4.4 per cent in February, its highest level since 2008.

This article talks about the economy of India, and talks bout how recent budget talks have affected the economic outlook, not only nationally but globally on the economy. It largely consists of questions and answers, asking questions such as when is the price of oil likely to rise, and budget resposnses to rapid GDP growth.

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.

"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 is about how the Venezuelan government intervenes with the economy by implementing price controls and other regulations. This forces Venezuela to depend more on imported goods and decrease the country's productivity level.

This article concerns the 'simultaneous' rise of the unemployment and inflation rate in the UK. This goes against the Phillips curve; which shows an inverse relationship between the two.

This article describes the current situation in Canada with the unemployment rate rising to over seven percent...this article discusses the actions of the government and the casues of this rate to increase

This article discusses the increase in inflation that is occurring in the Eurozone, even though the economic conditions are weak. The article cites high energy and transport costs as one of the reasons inflation increased. This inflation affects consumers because they must pay higher prices to buy items that they require.

This article is about the trade off and trade defiecits between America and China during iPhone production and exportation. It discusses the idea in terms of America and China, but also uses an example involving fictional places to give a clearer picture and explanation of the idea.

This article discusses the problems of unemployment around the world - while unemployment is leveling off in the United States, it continues to increase in the Euro Zone, which is suffering from economic problems.

Victoria Cadman, economist at Investec, said no change in the rate of inflation would be an "uncomfortable reality" for the Bank of England, which confidently forecast inflation to fall rapidly throughout 2012 and into 2013. The Bank's policy-makers will be less inclined to pump more money into the economy through its quantitative easing programme if inflation continues to remain above target. This article discusses the expected increase in inflation figures which are coming out tomorrow because of high oil and food prices. These increases in inflation will lead to a higher cost of living, which is undesirable for pretty much everyone.

This article from the Wall Street Journal discusses how the Bank of Korea in South Korea lowered its economic forecasts. It also discusses that the BOK has announced that the inflation rate is within the target range for SK; 2%-4%.

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.

Brad Delong goes through the changing american economy and showing how the unemployment rate affects the real GDP.

According to the article, there was in increase in the number of applicants filling for jobless benefits literally just last week! It has reached such a drastic level that it is the highest since two months ago.

Quote from article :"A large chunk of the industrial world has fallen into deep and long depressions characterised by persistent high unemployment". Basically the article talks about how unemployment impacts the AS and AD of an economy and its domino effects as well.

This article discusses the imminent increase in unemployment as 100,000 public sector jobs are going to be cut. This seems to be "cyclical unemployment" as the job-cuts are due to a recession rather than permanent structural unemployment.

I found this article particularly interesting because it sheds light on motivations to quit the job search - lack of experience and education, as well as the reliance on (the now changing) federal Extended Benefits program.

This article discusses the UK's big issue of rising food prices as a result of inflation. It says that the UK hasn't had a let up in rising food prices for a long time, with prices on a constant rise and the considerable issue of those poorer customers who are struggling to afford these high prices.

This article discusses how the euro zone has hit a slump and reached a 15 year high of unemployment levels. the level has risen to 10.8% which is completely detrimental to the economy.