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OTTAWA - The Harper government is set to propose a number of new measures to close the U.S.-Canada consumer price gap, including the possibility of extending the tariff relief offered on sports equipment in the last budget to consumer electronics and other products. Put pretty simply, it seems that global corporations are using different prices on sports equipment and what not between US and Canada. In order to combat this, the countries are lowering their tariffs in an attempt to allow businesses to pass the savings onto consumers. The article doesn't give much details on the situation, but this is definitely a good example of how the manipulation of protectionist import controls can be used to affect the market.

This article talks about how tariffs on power have been raised by up to 30% in Pakistan. It talks about how different consumers will be affected depending on the amount of electricity they use.

This article presents the increases in gas prices that are upsetting consumers all over the world. There is an "unconventional gas" boom going on ,which is affecting the market and supplies for gas in the States. The issues are global, though, and conserns politicians if this rise in price keeps up.

The article I chose for this week talks about how organic foods are increasing in quantity and the industry is increasing in profit as well. Many people have started consuming only 'organic foods' and this is causing distress for the industry because they need to be able to supply more. However, some consumers consider the idea of 'organic foods' as just healthier foods but they aren't receiving the extra health they're paying for.

This article truly scares you with all the facts about food. It is a pity how mass food production turns out to be 50% inefficiently allocated and at the same time huge consumer of water for growing the crops. If all food produced was adequately allocated, there would be probably enough food for all people and therefore it would be almost completely accessible for general public. At the same time also water could be consumed more effectively instead of wasting it for pointless excess in food production which turns out to be industrial waste. Water - meaning the drinking water was never a Common, however nowadays it all appears this situation is getting only worse and taking into account its fruitless use, some measures should be taken designed with sustainability in mind.

This article talks about how people in the UK tried to buy cheap meat, and instead got horse meat. The article is related to aggregate demand as it involves the whole economy of the country: people can't consume as much, therefore they are buy cheap meat online or importing it so that they won't spend as much money. However, the government is preoccupied as there is no control over the meat. This is not only happening in the UK, but also in other countries where the population is not consuming as much due to the lack of money and the economic crisis.

These days, with an economy recovering from a slight collapse and people looking to alternatives to gasoline and coal, a shortage of oil is not very good for the fossil fuels industry. Yesterday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced that oil prices would remain stable, even in these times of uncertainty. With all the negatives of oil (the pollution, the wars it has caused, the danger it can put workers at to obtain, etc.) demand has started to decrease. But, petrol suppliers can't just increase their prices like the supply demand curves might predict because they don't want to risk scaring the remaining consumers into thinking the price of oil will only increase as more of it is used up. This has left OPEC and all of it's members in a bit of a pickle.

the article is showing that the cheapest car in the market is sold for $8000 and nissan is now introducing a $3000 model. This is dangerous for the other car because it might take away many consumers. this article shows how the price of the car is lowered.

This article is a good example of how tax can be imposed for a reason. In this case the reason is to boost revenue of the government. Though, it is debated by the people in L.A, since this is a tax made for consumers to pay so that the market can thrive but on the same time provide the government with money in their time of crisis.

This article describes the new tax on various medical wares such as replacement hips and defibrillators. The new excise tax is within the US, and the prediction is that it will raise $20 billion by 2019. The tax will affect smaller companies the most, and as much as 10% of small companies earnings per share may be paid in tax.

This article talks of the excise tax placed on replacement hips, implantable defibrillators and other FDA-approved wares. This was originally done to help fund the health laws expansion of insurance coverage. However, this tax is starting to hurt companies producing these goods as they are having to introduce cost cutting plans. "Stryker Corp. said in a statement Thursday that the $130 to $150 million in will owe next year could consume one-third of of its research and development budget." The tax is becoming a burden on companies as they must give the money to the government instead of their research funds.

Consumer prices rose 2.8 percent from a year earlier, compared with 2.7 percent in January, the Office for National Statistics said in London today. The two major reasons for persistent increase in average price level are higher energy bills and a weaker pound. Housing, water, electricity and gas added 0.11 percentage point to annual inflation in February - the biggest upward impact. Investor confidence unexpectedly rose to a three-year high of 48.5 in March from 48.2 in February, which means higher aggregate demand and demand-pull inflation.

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 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 highlights cuts in government spending in the US, specifically on airports and airlines. We know that government spending is a major component of aggregate demand. If government spending goes down, it is likely we will see a shift left in the aggregate demand. This is the result of about 10% fewer workers at any given time in the air transportation industry around the country. The article specifically highlights that this includes air traffic controllers as the decrease in them most affects consumers.

The article talks about topic covered already in the title, with some interest to the growth of industry of southern euro-zone countries and exacerbation of German and French production. So obviously, here I can refer to PPF where resources (also human capital) are being used more efficiently; here is the movement inside existing frontier or perhaps even outward shift with improved quantities and qualities of goods (especially capital). Nevertheless, economists still fear the euro-zone might fall in recession again if there are two quarters of consecutive fall (if the economy contracted). The market clearing price of many durable goods can be determined only to some extent, due to the presence of outside disturbance (fiscal and banking crisis - therefore always introducing new policies and bail-out deals). Another thing associated with the previous sentence and the article is the price mechanism (interaction of demand and supply) which allocates resources. Under unstable circumstances which are currently taking place in euro-zone, incomes are plummeting (falling GDP per capita) except for some particular periods of time when the economy meets actual growth, meaning that there is less demand leading to an inverse effect for producers. Normally, producers wish to supply more at higher prices, especially if income of people soars so they buy more of that goods. Therefore, higher prices do not present an incentive for producers to produce more. All the producers want to increase their producer surplus; but the trend is clear - towards maximized community surplus, since producers depend on consumers' utility.

The article shows that that oil has a big influence on a lot of products. In this case it increased the price of sugar by 20%. This might seem a lot so you would expect the demand for sugar to decrease. However since sugar does not cost a lot, a 20% increase in the price will not make a big difference. An increase of a few cents of the consumers bill will also hardly be noticed. The price elasticity in this example is very low.

Here we have an uncanny case of a company that has little to no competition, yet its market share is actually dropping. Sony has been constantly ignoring the price elasticity of it products so much so that they refuse to recognize their fall from favor in the market war. "Our initial expectation is that sales should double at a minimum," Jack Tretton, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said in an interview [at the time]. "We've gotten our production issues behind us on the PlayStation 3, reaching a position to pass on the savings to consumers, and our attitude is the sooner the better." As a result Sony has kept its prices constant.

For the past century or so, cigarettes have been an inelastic product. Due to their addictive properties, changes in the price have had a minimal effect on market demand, allowing tobacco companies to rake in boat loads of cash. In the early 1900s, big tobacco hit its peak in sales with the ability to advertise in color and through whole new mediums (newspaper, radio, TV, etc.) It was at this time that the American public and many other nations, although I don't which, started to recognize the dangers of smoking and the government begin creating restrictions. Though cigarrettes now have prices that fluctuate like gas, can't have ads on radio or television, and can't be sold to minors, consumer demand has still remained for them because of how powerful the addictive effects of nicotine are on the human brain. However, now there is an alternative to conventional smoking which replaces deadly secondhand smoke with clean water vapor. E-cigarettes are a trend that is sure to build demand and will cigarettes and cigars as elastic as a rubber band.

This article is about increased foreign direct investment to China despite its weakening economic growth. Not only does China receive inflowing FDI, but it also invests outflowing FDI into other places such as Japan. The investment comes even as China's economy show signs of slowing from the stellar growth rates of years past as the government looks to shift the emphasis to structural reform rather than growth for its own sake. One pillar of the reform drive is to make the economy driven more by the service sector and consumers, ending its traditional reliance on investment and exports for growth. The obvious reason why foreign-based MNCs want to invest into China is because of increasing sales or decreasing their profits. The question is what kind of pull factors China has to attract such high levels of FDI. Stable economic environment, political environment, low labour costs are primal reasons.

When you're in a situation like Ukraine's, the last thing you want to worry about is stabilising your countries financial situation. Many western consumers have invested in Ukraine and, with the recent turmoil, some might worry that their investment will be worth nothing, soon. However, Ukraine's Finance Minister has stated that there is a plan to "restructure" the Ukrainian economy without defaulting on all the bonds sold to foreign investors. This might give those anxious investors a bit of comfort, but it's still hard to say whether the minister will be able to keep his word...