Group items tagged

This article talks about Lenovo's vision of growing demand for their 7-inch tablets. It suggests combinations of substitutes and complement goods, which has to do with the value of XED. They see tablets as competitors for large-screen smartphones (like Samsung S3), but also as something that will not replace traditional computers. So, value of XED in combination tablets - smartphones is positive, meaning that these two goods are substitutes, whereas the value of XED in combination tablets - computers is negative, meaning that these two goods are complements. Lenovo also suggests that they are prepared for the steady supply of high-resolution touch screens for which they see a bright future as components of computers. So, it is also about non-determinant of supply - expectation for future prices.

This small article describes the export activities of the Netherlands recently. It gives an accurate impression of the situation, as there are defined values used, real life values. By that, the article provides an interesting insight to macroeconomic activities, from real life, between firms and consumer, all dealt with by the government.

This article talks about the drop in price for the Australian dollar. Glenn Stevens commented on this drop and admits that the volatility of Australia's currency will deter investors. Obviously, volatility means there is the potential for a quick rise in exchange rate as well as a quick fall, but investors want something more secure, something that is steadily increasing, not a moving target.

This article offers a glimpse of recent fluctuations in foreign exchange market. I will narrow my focus down to the USD. If the U.S. Federal Reserve decides to keep up the spending on Treasuries or mortgage-backed securities, this means that the supply of USD on foreign exchange market will be sustained or perhaps even increase. This means that should the demand for USD stay constant, its value will depreciate. However in the end, the expectations of investors concerning the future growth/future path of the exchange make up arguably one the most important share of a currency's movement.

Pound sterling / euro exchange rate has increased, meaning that pound sterling appreciates in value. That is due to a run of good economic data and Britain's industrial output in June rose much faster than forecast and hit its quickest pace in two years. I believe demand for sterling, which reflects the value of its exports of goods and services rose because of the peak tourist season in Britain (urgency to buy foreign currency) and increased industrial activity. However, as far as many economic analysts are concerned, sterling will continue to weaken in a long run...

In the article the US government accuses Germany of causing economical instability. The US government thinks that Germany relies too much on their exports and does not focus on domestic economy. Furthermore the german government keeps the value of the euro low in order to insure high exports.

The article talks about the change in exchange rate and their value.

There have been predictions of the Euro increasing by a .9% over the next year which are thought to potentially affect unemployment rates especially in Spain. Also, higher currency values are being linked to higher export prices from the European region. Even though export prices are higher, economists predict they will "keep growing despite the stronger currency"

Punto Fijo, November 22nd, 2012 (Venezuelanalysis.com) - The Venezuelan government has announced new controls on the prices of housing rents, while prices of medicines are also currently under review. Many basic goods in Venezuela are subject to price controls, including some food items and domestic goods, and the government has now added housing rents to the list of products subject to regulated pricing. In taking some pointers from "The Rent Is Too D*** High" party, Venezuela has decided to set a case to case price ceiling for the housing rental market. Most landlords will set the price based on construction costs, which tends to put tenants in a tight situation when looking for a somewhat temporary residence. Because of this, the government of Venezuela has forced landlords into setting prices only as high as what the Housing Ministry determines to be the true value product. Venezuela has also started doing this with medication, since medicine should be made available to all who are in need of it, although there has been backlash from pharmaceutical companies. They argument is that the artificial lowering of prices in the pharmaceutical industry will cause suppliers to produce less of the medicine than what the population needs.

Although new jobs are created, there is no improvement on the unemployment rate, which remains at 5.4%. However this is a sign of economic improvement in Australia. And the 71,500 are just a start, more jobs were planed for February (9000). In 2011 Economists have predicted a resource boom, due to the monetary policy by the governor Glenn Steves. The bank has tried to boost certain sectors in the economy, however he kept the interest rates at 3%. That might cut into the current boom and slow it down. The main concern is on the value of the Australian dollar.

Even though there had been a rise in total workforce, unemployment has not improved and remained at 5.4%. Nevertheless, there are optimistic signs of economic improvement for Australia.

The article talks about the economic growth in the UK. It says that the economic growth increased because of the Olympics. It is a huge events and a lot of tourists came to the UK. There was an increase in revenue of hotels and restaurants.

Who doesn't love the Olympic Games?! So this article discusses how the Olympic games helped the UK regain economic growth. "The UK economy emerged from recession in the three months from July to September, helped by the Olympic Games. The economy grew by 1.0%, according to official gross domestic product figures (GDP), which measure the value of everything produced in the country." Due to the Olympic Games the UK had a lot of tourists come in from all around the world, therefore, creating more profit for the hotels, restaurants and touristic attractions.

This article is about the current inflation rate in Great Britain and its unchanging status in the past four years. Jeremy Cook, chief economist at the World First foreign exchange company said, "Home-grown price pressures are also increasing with transport, food and utilities boosting upwards in the latter part of 2012; this will continue to erode wage value through 2013, hurting consumer confidence and limiting spending."

This article talks about the increase of oil prices due to the price of the dollar being down. This article supports the topic of this week because as the demand of oil increases so do the prices. As the demand for the consumption of a product increases, the price for the product either increases or decreases. Changes in the relative prices of goods (such as oil) occur because of technological change or shifts in supply or demand. Based on this article "The price of oil and gasoline are up because the Federal Reserve has driven the value of the dollar down." - Charles Kadlec

This article doesn't have as much economic terminology as I would have liked but it proves a very important point using a topic I really enjoy, chemistry. Helium is not thought to be a very useful nor uncommon element and while the former is completely untrue, the latter is just a bit misleading. It is the second most abundant element in the universe, the first being hydrogen, but it's not as easy for us to get. As most people know, helium is lighter than air, so every time we find helium we have to catch it before it escapes into the atmosphere. Once it makes it out of our grasp, whether via a balloon or from careless mining of natural gas reserves, it might as well be gone. In the late 20th century, the US government had a huge reserve of helium gas and so, to get rid of a lot of it, they artificially set the price so that it costed less than it really should have. Even though we now recognize the value that this noble gas has, the price still hasn't been increased properly and it is still being sold off by the tank full for birthday parties and other celebrations. Helium is used for a lot more than sounding like a chipmunk. Without it, technology such as rockets, lasers, and the Hadron Collider wouldn't work. What this all goes to show is that the scarcity of a product isn't just about how much of it exists, but how much of it we can get to.

This article examines how the Euro has been very strong compared to the dollar for the last 2 years.

This article is about the fluctuation of the bitcoin. A bitcoin is a distributed peer-to-peer digital currency that functions without the intermediation of any central authority, which was created in 2008 to prevent double spending. The bitcoins raised an enormous amount in the last four years. A man by the name of Kristofer Kroch invested about 27$ in 5000 bitcoins in 2009, that in today's rate measure up to 886000$.

The article compares some of Asias largest economies and how different currency values affect them.

Abbott confused on A$ - and that gift to the RBA Did Prime Minister Tony Abbott's confusion over economics and the strength of the Australian dollar lead him to mislead Parliament last week, and suggest the Reserve Bank had done a deal with the government to lower the value of the dollar?