Competition among firms that choose to differentiate their products by nonprice means, for example, by quality, style, delivery methods, locations, or special services. Nonprice competition is often practiced by firms that desire to differentiate virtually identical products. In this one the product is food.
This is a very interesting article about how Chinese economists are going to raise the value of the yuan. It seems that there are outreaching effects in the United States - the exports from China will raise in price and therefore Americans' disposable income will start to decrease.
This article discusses the current disequilibrium in the fibre market, stating that the price elasticity of fibre may reduce the harm of this disequilibrium to the industry.
Talia, the articles from The Economist are good for learning how to analyse, it is actually the best economics magazine on the market that gives great analysis of many things economics. But these articles leave little room for providing own analysis. More 'raw' articles which do not provide the analysis would be more useful in this course in the future.
This article talks about how the inflation rate in UK has increased rather than decrease (which was what they were expecting). It is said that the inflation occurring mainly due to the increasing oil prices.
U.S. is having a supply shortage of sugar. The retailer prices have increased. More sugar import is planned to increase the supply and reduce the prices.
This article talks about how the Pound weakened against the Euro and other currencies. This would suggest that the UK imports are likely to be at a lower price, as well as Pounds becoming less attractive to hold onto.
This article talks about how Australia has experienced a fall in their terms of trade at the end of 2011 (last year), and it is the first time since 2010. This occurred due to an increase in import expenditures and a slight fall in export prices.
This article talks about how the export sector in Switzerland are pressuring the Swiss National Bank into raising the exchange rate from 1.2 frank to 1.4 frank. This is most likely so that the exporters are able to sell their products at a higher price.