Group items tagged

It is an article about the trade bloc created between Byelorussia, Russia and Kazakhstan. This Customs Union in its three-member format of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan still appears tiny beside the European Union, however countries like Kyrgyzstan and Armenia have declared interest in joining this group due to the energetic privileges that Russia offers to the countries members. One of the strongest points of this Custom Union is its large population that creates a big consumer market. On the other side the countries members of this block will have to accept the high interest rates of the Russian government. This article has a very good conclusion that I Would like to write down: ''The market is global but there is no global regulation,'' Valovaya says. The response has been a rush to recruit nations into regional trade blocs. It is a rivalry recalling the Cold War, but these new trade groups are mostly creedless structures, able to espouse little if any distinguishing ideology.

This is quiet a good example of how countries defend themselves from imports. In this specific case the USSR has haulted imports from Lithuanian of dairy imports, turning up pressure on the EU. Its haulted the trade because it fears that the imported goods arent up to quality or standard, but its also a strategical move as nearly 85% of all eastern blocs dairy exports go to Russia which would affect Russia's own local dairy production. This hault in imports creates loses for the overseas firms and alows Russian local firms to recover and gain the upper hand. Although its portrayed as a safety measure in the article i think its more a strategical move towards upping the Russian dairy industry!

Central Bank of Russia will continue to cut interest rates to 8% at which central bank lends to commercial banks. This target is to be completed in early May. This action is done in the hope to boost Russia's economy after a slow down. In addition, inflation rates are beginning to decline. Lower interest rates will lower costs of saving and thus encourage people to invest or get a loan to consume goods such as houses. This will move aggregate demand outwards and as well ad economy's potential output. This, in turn, will encourage economic growth. As such, this method can be classified as a part of an expansionary monetary policy or reflationary policy.

I have chosen this article because I think the situation it reports is a bit ironic. Russia's Foreign Ministry is criticizing the human rights situation in Europe without presenting any facts, while in the human development ranking; they occupy the 55th position in the world, behind every EU country except for Romania (56th) and Bulgaria (57th). The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income indices used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. I disagree with the opinion expressed by the article because since the establishment of UE there has been made a huge step towards the increase of equality in the member countries. For example, the highest scores in gender equality are achieved by European countries like Finland or Iceland.

Earlier this week the U.S. Department of Energy announced that the average national price for regular gasoline in the U.S. was now $3.96 a gallon. Last week the Kremlin banned gasoline and diesel exports from Russia to alleviate domestic shortages sending gasoline prices in Germany to a record $9.10 a gallon. Although price increases, people are still going to buy it due to it's elasticity, which is so small. The reason is gasoline is definitely a necesity.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has decided to impose protectionist policies to protect domestic markets. This decision came as a retaliatory tactic against other members of the WTO who Putin claims to be making international trade "hidden and subtle." In fact, the Russian president used the EU as an example as he claims that the EU's decision to split the gas companies and gas distribution companies are an attack on Russia's domestic suppliers.

Here we see a very recent announcement made by President Putin which has many other members of the WTO concerned, although it is stated explicitly that all the policies they plan to implement will be in line with WTO regulations.