Economics HL - Jacob Solomon's group - Year 1

This article talks about how putting taxes for fossil fuels may help to reduce the the consumption of fossil fuels. This is necessary because fossil fuels are become very scarce and we are running out of them as they are a non-renewable energy source. However, not everyone wants the tax to go up as this would mean increased spending when they cannot afford to do this. Many energy companies will be able to push this increase of tax onto the consumer as it is an inelastic product and the demand will not decrease much if the price is increased.

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.

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."

In this video, it talks about how the younger generation and the increase in population has caused for house prices to rise, resulting in the lack of cheap homes for young people to buy. It talks about how the government are buying brown field sites, fields and other places in order to build cheap, small homes for people to buy. It talks about how the demand for houses increased while the supply has stayed the same, resulting in the rise of its prices. Thus, young people who do not earn that much money can not afford to buy a house for themselves.

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 news article is basically concerning the issue of scarcity of natural resources in Africa. We are all well aware that the continent is undergoing an adaptation period with the ongoing climate change and this affects the agricultural aspect of the entire continent (more so in the rural areas). The article talks about the steps that are intended to be taken to withstand the impact of the change in climate and its effects on resources.

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 describes the recent growth in a number of firms producing Greek Yogurt in the United States. As a result of this growth, the firms are experiencing economies of scale and they are all expanding their factories to increase their output. As the article states: "The Chobani plant today bustles with 14 production lines mechanically squirting yogurt into plastic cups that zip down conveyor belts." - this shows a technological improvement that is an economy of scale: due to the increase in size in the firm, it can employ more efficient, lower cost methods of production.

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 adresses the issue regarding freshwater. We do not have an immediate shortage of water, but many countries do not have access to clean freshwater, and the countries that do are wasting it... By misusing water we are not only harming the environment, but we are also putting the future generations at risk of sever shortages.

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 rising problem in New Zealand, of rising prices on dairy products. We can see a distinction in this article between milk, on one hand, and on the other, butter and cheese. Milk in relatively inelastic, because it is a necessity for a healthy diet (especially for growing children), however milk and cheese are relatively elastic, because they are not as vital for a good diet, and their demand will likely drop a lot more than the demand for milk.

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.

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!

This article demonstrates opportunity cost because it shows that eating healthy food costs less but most people prefer not to because of the inconvenience of cooking it.

This is a really neat way of looking at opportunity cost! It not only shows the opportunity cost of specific products, but how we as humans determine what's important, or what's the most important.

"The study looked at 'demand elasticities' in Australia for 15 food categories and is the most comprehensive ever done in the field. The degree to which a product's demand or supply reacts to a change in price is known as its 'elasticity'" This article highlights that out of 15 food groups studied, milk, bread, fresh fruit and fresh vegetables all have an inelastic demand. This is the opposite as to what i personally would have predicted, because with varying prices and what i assumed was a varying demand for fruits and vegetables, i thought that this could be an elastic demand. Some of the products with an elastic PED are All meat types, rice, margarine and preserved vegetables. This is interesting as it seems as though consumers would rather pay more to have food that can spoil, compared to food which can be stored or freezed.

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 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.

Jan 26th 2012, 15:07 by E.G. | AUSTIN MATTHEW YGLESIAS, writing at Slate, is perplexed by Barack Obama's plan to "boost the economy by hindering trade". He argues that in his state-of-the-union address, the president evinced "a strikingly retrograde, self-contradictory, and confused agenda of reviving American prosperity through mercantilism". He says that due to macroeconomic events out of their control people are losing jobs and the economy is shrinking.