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Foreign unemployment fall cuts jobless rate Published on: 10 Apr 2015 09:23 CET Facebook Twitter Google+ reddit Switzerland's official jobless rate fell in March to 3.4 percent from 3.5 percent in the previous month, driven by a drop in foreign unemployment, according to government figures released on Friday. The decline marks the first time since June 2014 that the rate has fallen in a further indication that the Swiss economy is so far weathering the rise in the value of the franc, which forecasters have said will cut growth this year. The percentage of foreigners registered as out of work tumbled to 6.7 percent from seven percent, while the rate for Swiss citizens remained unchanged at 2.3 percent, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said in its monthly report. The number of unemployed registered in regional job placement offices in March dipped by 4,813 from the previous month to 145,108, Seco said. But the jobless rate last month remained above the 3.3 percent level in March 2014. The rate declined or remained the same in all 26 cantons with the canton of Valais recording the biggest fall, from to 4.6 percent from 5.4 percent. Neuchâtel registered the highest rate (5.7 percent, down from 5.8 percent), just ahead of Geneva (5.6 percent, unchanged). Obwalden had the lowest rate at one percent, down from 1.1 percent. Unemployment in Zurich, Switzerland's largest job market, remained unchanged at 3.6 percent. The impact of the strong franc may not have yet affected the Swiss job market but observers believe that unless the currency weakens, jobs cuts can be expected. In January, the Swiss National Bank abandoned a policy of maintaining a euro floor of 1.20 francs and foreign exchange traders immediately bid up the value of the franc. On Friday, with uncertainty about Greece's finances lingering, the euro was trading at around 1.04 francs, making life difficult for Swiss exporters selling products into the eurozone, the biggest ma

This article looks at the Elasticity of Demand and Supply for oil. The increased costs of the production and higher prices are not leading to a fall in demand, but instead a fall in the elasticity of demand.

This article fits in my opinion very well to the topic of elasticities. It deals with price elasticity of both supply and demand for oil. The author is concerned with the increasing inelasticity of supply: "reserves we're now exploiting are not only more expensive to develop, but they also take much longer between the time the first well is drilled and the when the first oil is produced". There's also a graph in the article which shows the constant fluctuations of both supply and demand for oil, and how the American oil supply struggles to adjust itself to American demand for oil.

This article addresses the changes that have occurred in the oil market over the past ten years. The author claims that changes in the demand of oil have increasingly been playing a role in maintaining the supply/demand balance. He argues that these changes will be burdensome to our economy unless the demand for oil is made more flexible. According to the article, there is not a shortage of oil. Today, due to rising oil prices, we are able to exploit oil reserves which were previously too expensive to exploit. Since these new oil reserves are more expensive to develop and take longer to access, the time it takes for oil supply to respond to changes in price is increasing as well. This means that "...the oil is becoming less elastic..." meaning that "a large change in price produces a small change in supply." In regards to the elasticity of demand, "the elasticity of oil reflects the options we have to using oil for our daily needs." Our ability to reduce oil consumption is fairly limited in the short term, but increases over the long term. However options for reducing oil consumption over any time period are often inconvenient. Reductions in demand due to high prices can be called demand destruction (a permanent move down the demand curve toward reduced demand) which can be detrimental to the economy. This is why people such as the media and politicians wish to have supply adapt to changes in demand instead. However, "there are also limits to the ability of oil supply to adjust." Oil is not easily accessible. Because oil supply has become less elastic, prices has had to become more volatile to force market adjustments. The author concludes by suggesting ways that the elasticity of oil demand can be increased and the pain of demand destruction decreased.

This article discusses the need for the US economy to become more sustainable and the role of the American government in this process. The author argues that the private sector can't make the transition from a waste-based economy to a renewable one by itself. He believes that a public-private partnership is necessary. The article claims that the private sector has a more important role in the transition because it produces the goods and services that are depended on today. However, the government can implement rules to ensure that economic activity does not destroy the plant. The government can fund basic science needed for renewable energy and resource technology and uses taxes, government purchasing power, and other financial tools to steer private capital toward investment in sustainable technologies and businesses. The government can also invest in sustainable infrastructure, regulate land use, work with private or state organizations, measure society's progress toward sustainability, and transfer sustainability technologies to the developing world. It is the belief of the author that sustainability issues cannot be addressed by the private sector/free market alone and require government action. The future of the nation and the plant depends of the government's role in a transition to a renewable resource based economy.

According to this article from the Deloitte University Press, the length of recovery has little to do with the probability that a recession might occur. Dr. Daniel Bachman claims that modern business cycle thought and recession data suggests that business decision makers should look elsewhere to gauge where the economy is headed. Since WWII, the average US business cycle expansion has lasted 56 months. The last three expansions have been exceptionally long and the current expansion is already longer than most of the expansions in the 1950s-70s. Therefore, it is possible that something such as a the role service in the economy has changed but the sample is small and the uncertainty is high. In fact, most economists who study business cycles do not view them as cycles. The world's first industrialized economy, the UK, suffered banking panics in 1825, 1847, 1866, and 1890 and the fact that a crisis appeared every 20-25 years suggest that there was some form of regular force at work in modern economies that lead to a cycle. However, as economists began to use statistical techniques, they discovered that the cycles in the data were probably illusions. As, a result, economists have mostly rejected the idea of business cycles repressing an inherent, regular feature of the economy. Instead, they view the economy as experiencing random shocks, both positive and negative.

The Nigerian government must diversify the economy if the country is to survive falling global oil prices, said World Bank VP and Treasurer, Arunma Otteh. She said that Nigeria ranks 152 out of 188 in the HDI, and ranks below the average for sub-saharan Africa. Life expectancy in Nigeria is 53 years, 8 years lower than Ghana and 21 years lower than Brazil. Nigeria also ranked 136 out of 168 most corrupt countries in Transparency International's 2015 report. This affects the flow of FDI to the country. Nigeria's rapid GDP growth over the past decade hasn't translated to strong human development or competitiveness. Nigeria can no longer only depend on oil, which not sells for as low as $26/barrel which accounts for 95% of the country's foreign exchange.

This article highlights how the GDP is not the only factor in measuring the development of a nation, but how corruption and business confidence can play a role. This is seen by the decreasing oil prices, which has affected the Nigerian economy greatly.

A thriving black market has cropped up after the NSW prisons smoking ban On the black market cigarettes can cost $300, up from $28 before the ban Prison sources claim that 'an inmate fight broke out over cigarette butts' The ban on smoking in NSW prisons has reportedly led to a thriving black market, where a packet of cigarettes can go for as much as $300, while matches and papers can fetch a staggering $90.

This article has to be about the negative externalities of consumption, as it involves smoking. It affects not only the ones smoking but the others as well. Banning it in a prison can help in bringing the MSC equal to MSB. This also wont affect the tobacco industry as there is still comsumption taking place outside the prison. Banning it has a negative step, which is the creation of the black market. Prisoners are even fighting for cigarrete butts. The government / the prison authority should take a step in taking the ban away and but also making it difficult to obtain cigarettes, to avoid such brawls.

I agree that the negative externality involves non-smokers in the prison getting affected. You suggest that the ban should be taken away, wouldn't this still lead to more people smoking and causing even more second hand smoke to affect the non-smokers? This wouldn't help the situation I believe it would make it worse instead.

This article speaks about the Supper Bowl and how it is inelastic. Because the quantity demanded for seats is inelastic, they decided to increase the price to gain more revenue. This is strange because this seems to be a luxury item more than a necessity, but I guess some see it as a necessity.

this article talks about how NfL owners price there tickets inelasticity so they put their tickets cheaply so they can fill up the stadium. Owners know that they will take a hit in ticket revenue but make up the difference with complimentary goods that are sold in the stadium.

It's interesting how the teams take advantage of elasticity. As Ricardo said, the owners expect to make a loss on the seats with lower prices, but also expect to make it up with the purchase of complimentary goods. Because of elasticity, the decrease in the price of seat leads to higher demand and the stadium is filled up. As a result, revenue for complimentary goods also increases, leading to more revenue overall.

In economy we always say food is always inelastic, diaries such as cheese, cheese, butter are considered necessity for people and the price should be inelastic with PED less than 1. As time is changing, the raise of price will cause less revenue, it's not as inelastic as it use to be. The government use to be the biggest clients and they have control over the elasticity of the product, which they aren't any more. There are also a lot more alternative to fluid milk as well. This is also relating to the FDA's view on butter, it use to be vilified and now it seem to be the best product available, people are buying butter, but as the price increase, they buy a little less. We see this change in restaurants as well, McDonald's are moving away from cheeseburger and pizza restaurant are putting less cheese on their product.

I think this shows how time also has an effect on elasticity. In the past dairy has been typically seen as an inelastic product but it is now viewed as an elastic product. There have also been growing amounts of substitutes to dairy products especially milk product substitutes.

This article looks into the reasons while dairy demand has become more elastic in recent years. In the past, demand for dairy products was fairly inelastic. However, that has changed. In the past, the US government purchased a large amount of dairy products which kept prices stable but that is no longer the case which has caused prices to destablize. Additionally, there are now many alternatives to fluid milk with more stable price. As a result, it has become the most elastic dairy product. Butter and cheese are less elastic. The article also mentions that restaurants and fast food restaurants drive the fluctuation in dairy demand.

The exposure to second hand smoke during childhood destroyes their arteries and can lead to heart and lung damage . This smoking in parents causes lung cancer and premature death fron conditions such as heart strikes and high blood pressure. It is recommended that these parents stop smoking in order to help make the future of their children better. This consumption of cigarettes causes a negative externality as the children are affected in the near future from second hand smoke. These children whose parents smoke are more likely to smoke as well which continues the cycle of negative externalities of the co sumption of cigarettes.

This is a perfect example of negative externality of consumption. By smoking in public places, the consumer is creating negative externalities, in the form of passive smoking, for non-smokers especially children. When individuals smoke cigarettes, they are compromising their own health as well as the health of those around them who inhale the smoke. I agree with the point that another external cost can be younger children being influenced to smoke following the habits of their smoking parents. This is why cigarettes are considered as demerit goods as they cause significant negative externalities , and these are the goods that the government would like to limit consumption. Individuals may not be aware of the external costs arising from the consumption of the good because of lack of information or myopic behaviour. For the article mentioned above , it is crucial for the state to take on a paternalistic role and curtail consumption

The rate of unemployment in the UK for the people of ages 35 to 49, who are considered as the older group of workers, was only 4.7%. Compared to them, the jobless rate of the people aging 18 to 24 years was around 18%. The rate of unemployment in these young people increased almost 30% between the first quarter of 2008 and the fourth quarter of 2011. According to ONS, "The burden of higher unemployment has therefore fallen most heavily on younger workers". The most significant cause of the significant rise in the rate of unemployment among all workers, especially targeting the youth age who are just out in the work force to find jobs, is the recent economic crisis.

This article focuses mainly on opportunity course. It's been established that opportunity cost is the cost of doing something rather than another. In this case the author focused on a student's decision to attend college and for how long. At least everyone has been through the phase where they looked at the price it costs to go to college but few go deep into things such as life, transport etc. There are others who decide to take a year off and travel; the opportunity cost in this is the education they could've been getting so they could stay on track and the money they wasted to travel which they could have used to further their studies or life needs. The author brought up a book by Laurence Kotlikoff in which he invented 4 kids and made them choose different life patterns. I felt this was smart because students can see how the choices they make now could impact their life later on. As expected the child who stayed in school to become a doctor made a lot of money, however, student loans and all other expenses leaves them with as much money as the next middle-poor man. Then again the other child who became a plumber and skipped college makes money but has no student debt. This is not to say that they are better off but it's just to clear the stereotype that the longer you stay in school the better off your life will be; there are many factors that play into it.

This article discusses the sugar market in the U.S. On average, U.S. consumers pay twice as much for refined sugar as the rest of the world. This is largely due to sugar policies in the United States. In America, the federal government offers loans to sugar cane and beet processors who are to pay sugar growers a minimum price set by the USDA. The idea is that processors will obtain a market price for their sugar that is sufficient to pay back the loans. However, the loans are "non-recourse," meaning that if the market price of sugar declines, processors can forfeit to the USDA the sugar they put up as collateral. In order to prevent sugar processors from offloading sugar onto the USDA and to protect processors from lower-cost foreign competition, the federal government has imposed a two tier system of tariff rate quotas. It also restricts the total amount of sugar that domestic processors can sell by setting market allotments which are designed to drive up the price by creating artificial scarcity.

The Russian recession has caused sales for luxury goods to drop. Many companies that sell luxury or tourism goods have seen the demand for their product significantly decrease since the recession. This is because these products have a negative income elasticity so as income decreases so does the demand for these products. The demand for tour groups and hotels has also decreased because of the recession. Since all of theses products have a negative elasticity once the income of the buyers in Russia decreases then so will the demand for them.

This article discusses the impact of the Russian recession on demand for luxury goods. The recession has decreased the income and spending power of many Russians which has resulted in a decrease in a demand for luxury goods (clothing, jewelry, etc.) and services (airfare, hotels, etc.). The demand for luxury goods is very elastic. This is because luxury goods are not necessities and consumers can survive without them. These goods often have a reasonable number of substitutes. They also require a relatively high proportion of income to be spend on them and are used over a long period of time. The Russian recession has impacted firms across the globe but especially in Europe where Russian consumers account for a large percentage of customers.

Photograph by Scott Olson/Getty Images When rain doesn't fall in Iowa, it's not just Des Moines that starts fretting. Food buyers from Addis Ababa to Beijing all are touched by the fate of the corn crop in the U.S., the world's breadbasket in an era when crop shortages mean riots.

This article is about how Iowa is experiencing a drought and its not only affecting them, but the rest of the world. Stock piles of corn dropped by 48 percent between march and june, and it has been the biggest drop since 1996. The farmers could only hope to preserve what little crops they have left. Another comment i would like to add is that this article relates to our topic because the farmers would have to increase the crops to $6.75 a bushel. Recently the price for have dropped so as the price decreases, so will the supply, and will result in higher demand.

This article shows what the problems could be if the households/consumers/workers demanded higher minimum wages. On research in this article says it will decrease employment and give less incentive to the firms to HIREpeople and give them higher wages. However, another studies show that firms might cut back on some benefits for the worker, they might improve the productivity of the product. Moreover, the workers might as well work harder. And much more. The point is that the workers will do whatever it takes to have a high income. Thus it is possible to say that higher minimum wages could improve the economy because then, the national income will rise. And then this will increase the overall GDP of the country, leading to a higher economic growth.

The price of coffee has been going up and will keep at it but this doesn't seem to affect demand as demand is still increasing. Now quality is not affected by price. These can be based on the fact that the product is addictive and not many substitutes will suffice. Some even think of it as a ritual every morning.

I agree that coffee is inelastic because it is typically contains caffeine which is an addictive drug. People are addicted to coffee and depend on it as part of their daily lives. They cannot function without it, or are at least unwilling to. Therefore, consumers will continue to purchase coffee despite rising prices. Coffee drinkers also enjoy the last of coffee and are not willing to switch to other caffeine filled drinks such as tea or soda because they are not close enough substitutes. In fact, coffee consumption has actually increased despite rising prices. Consumers will not change their tastes unless prices become drastically higher.

i agree with the point that the change in qunatity demanded is not very significant. This is due to the fact the coffee is a habit forming good and addictive to most coffee addicts. However it also depends on the proportion of income spent on the good. Coffee prices can range from being dirt cheap at hawker centres to expensive at cafes like Starbucks. Hence even if the consumer is not a coffee addict, and only a small proportion of income ( if it is 'insignificant' ) is spent on the good, then a change in price will not affect the spending behaviour ; demand is price inelasic

The article describes how the decrease in demand affects the macroeconomics, due to suppliers of coal and petroleum using the railroad to transport their goods. The decline in railroads has caused greater competition, raising the cost of production for these goods, as using the railroad service will be more expensive at times.

This article illustrates two economic terms, the business cycle and consumer confidence. The UK economy is currently going through a boom phase, suggesting inflation is rising. This may seem good now, but higher inflation causes less competitiveness for exports, which will lead to a recession phase. It's the business cycle. The article also describes how job opportunities went up, which is likely to cause consumers to consume more, because they are expected to get a raise or promotion soon. This adds to the boom even further. Knowledge of this makes it easier to make economic decisions and explaining why events take place like they do.

The article discusses the increase in the minimum wage and its effects on employment as the government struggles with the rise of inequality over the previous years. David Neumark an economist at university of california argues in his paper that a high minimum wage wage may not be effective in tacking poverty. Other impacts on the increase in minimum wage is higher productivity on the other hand labor is so cheap that there is less incentive to increase the wages. Higher minimum wages could boost the economy and if employers focused on high-skilled workers in the short term, that could boost productivity and the economy in the long term, eventually providing jobs for the low skilled.

Chipotle's supply of avocados have reduced and because of this the price of their food has increased. This involves a non-price determinant which is because it became harder to obtain a product its price increased which also caused the price of another product to increase.

I also choose this article because it was a good article about supply and i also like to eat at chipotles

P3.01 Favorite Article. Temitopes article is my favorite article because its about chipotle. This article covers pretty much all the aspects that we have learned so far. It shows demand, reply and elasticity all because of how chipotle increased the price because of the low supply of avocado.