Group items tagged

Although one of the world's most prosperous nations, America does seem to lag behind most in one area: life expectancy. This is due to the generally unhealthy lifestyles of Americans and the inequalities between African Americans and whites. This article finds however that the gap between the two races is slowly narrowing, and life expectancy as a whole is increasing.

The demand for plastics has increased and is expected to grow even stronger due to the eradication of taxes by the government, which has logically lowered prices. Elasticity is here referred to as demand for plastic increases due to the decrease in prices. However, plastics industry fears a decrease in demand if taxes are re-established; referring to elasticity as well.

This article is about how the financial crisis of 2008 has affected the market for luxury yachts in the Middle East. The article reports that sales of leisure boats are expected to plunge up to 75% as people are less willing to splurge on luxury goods. This shows that the YED for luxury yachts is relatively elastic, as the loss of income resulting from the crisis has caused a greater than proportional change in quantity demanded.

This article relates to the great competitivity which is undoubtedly present in the Canadian music market, "with 11 times the music businesses expected for its size."

The US Congress is expected to back a set of punitive tariffs on Chinese imports in order to compensate for the artificial lowering of the value of the yuan. China's currency makes its products very cheap. The US is engaging in this protectionism in order to protect domestic workers.

This article mentions a possible tariff to be applied on cheap chinese products in the US. Such protectionism would result in higher prices for consumer, and possible retaliation from China.

As the World Trade Organisation (WTO) gathers in Hong Kong for fresh negotiations between rich and poor countries, should Africa be hopeful?

Almost one in three public sector employers plan to shed jobs this quarter. Markets keep on chrashing due to economic ressesion. and people constantlt lose their jobs. However, there was better news from the private sector, which expects to see staff numbers grow for the first time since the start of the recession.

Apple will host a product event on Jan. 27, giving chief executive Steve Jobs a chance to unveil a long-rumored, touch-screen tablet device for surfing the Web and playing movies and music. This is an example of non-pricing competition because Apple is introducing a new product through product innovation and improved technology. Apple has been succesfull in grabbing the consumer's hearts with their unique design and functions.

The British government promised not to raise any income tax, believing that the British labor would "rebuilt the economy, renew the society, and restore trusts in politics." This topic is relevant to this week's topic because delaying the tax increase is a type of deregulation. The consumer are likely to buy consumer goods before a leap in the tax rates occur and the extension of income tax delay would probably contribute to a small increase in AD since the disposasble income remains the same. The expectation of increase in tax rate would induce consumer to buy more product before the actual rise.

This article is talking about the UK's labour party wanting to rebuild the economy because the conservative party does not think that they deserve a fourth term. This article links to this week's subject because the labour party promised to keep 'business tax as low as possible' to give maximum protection to frontline public services.