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Mariya L

Micro irrigation answer to depleting ground water level: Sharad Pawar - 0 views

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    This summer I've been in India, and it's one of the reasons why I found this article interesting. The humidity level in India is incredible high, you easily can feel that when you are outside of the room that has conditioner. But despite the amount of humidity, Indian nation has that huge problem with water. I didn't see Indians using water too much, that's why it seems weird to me that Indians can have scarce of water. Thus after that article I noted how often we hear about water scarcity. Last year I heard about the disturbance of ecosystem of one of the rivers (because of the producing electricity) here in Idaho. So I think it is topic that we hear everyday, but most of us hear, but don't listen. I hope this little article will draw your attention to the water, as it did to me, and you will begin to think and care about scarcity of not only water, but scarce of other things that are habitual for us, that we don't even think that they might be finite.
Matthew R

Twenty more "Niles" needed to feed growing population leaders - 0 views

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    As all of us know, our world's population is increasing at a rapid rate. They predict that in 2025, there will be 1 more billion people on earth than their are today. So on average, they are predicting that there will be an increase in population of about 80 million people a year. Our resources that we have right now are already scarce, so it will only get tougher. Reporters say the 3 nations that will be most in need of more water will be China, India, and USA due to population growth, increasing irrigation and economic growth. Reporters also say that the amount of extra water needed is equivalent to 20 Nile Rivers. Failure to find the needed extra water could result in great conflicts over water. Also, with climate change (global warming) this will decrease the amount of available freshwater. Furthermore, the water needs to be sanitized to avoid diseases and sickness being spread. The report said that this could cost up to an extra 11 billion dollars a year. I chose this article because it is clearly related to scarcity and is growing concern in our world that needs to be looked at. 2025 is not very far away, and we need to come up with ideas for producing extra, clean water.
Andrzej Z

A Government Imposed Disaster: Price Controls in the Wake of Sandy - 0 views

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    This article talk about the maximum price in New York and New Jersey after the sandy huracane. The government has set new laws in order to reduce the price for the neccessity products. However those laws are causing shortages in New York and New Jersey. Government-imposed price controls are making the disaster worse a week after Sandy hit shore. The producers can´t increase the prices for goods considered neccesarie for the consumers.The businesses aren´t allowed to raise their prices more than 10 percent within 30 days of a declared state of emergency. If the businesses increase above the maximum prices they will have to pay penalties. When there is a situation of scarcity (shortage) the people will try to buy the products in the black for a higher price. When high prices are prohibited from serving their function the result is a shortage where there are more buyers than sellers. Buyers still compete with other buyers to try to get the scarce gas, but because price competition is illegal their competition takes less beneficial forms.
Jina K

Apple shares close at new high on iPhone 5 pre-orders - 1 views

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    The increase demand for iPhone 5 causes the Apple shares to close at almost $700. The firm receives two million pre-orders. Most iPhones will be delivered to stores later this week, but some orders may be delayed. An estimate of up to 50-60 million iPhones could be sold by the end of the year. However, the soaring demand causes concerns for the firm, as they may not be enough products to meet the consumers' demands. This could potentially delay the delivery of the products. I chose this article, because I think it relates a lot to the idea of scarcity. Though it may not be the biggest concern that could affect people's lives tremendously (not as much of a concern as problems like shortage of food or water), but it tells us that mass resources can become scarce very easily as a result of high demand for it. This can easily connect to the fundamental concept of economics. That is supply and demand. As a result of high demand for the products, the quantity that can be supplied by the market may not satisfy the consumers' demand. This is also an example of human 'wants.' Most people don't need an iPhone, but because of their 'wants,' they want to get one for themselves. You can see that human wants are infinite and that resources are finite that will eventually become scarce. This could potentially add value to the iPhone 5 if the products become scarce. Bibliography "Economics Basics: Supply and Demand." Investopedia - Educating the World about Finance. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2012. .
ZhengYe J

Ford car sales fall 29% in Europe - 3 views

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    American car sales are declining, which can be at the cause of the falling economic situation in America. They need more people to develop the products and the quality of the car somehow decrease, which cause of the fall of demand. I think it's relate to scarcity because the existing oil on earth is about to run out, so the price of oil rise in recent years. Then more and more people would like to take public transportation instead of car. In a word, the decrease of demand is the main cause of the sales falling of the car. Moreover, I believe Ford should think about why the Europeans are not interested in Ford now? Ford do need to do something for keeping their products stand in the European market.
Madeleine S

The Drought of 2012: Misery in the Midwest - 0 views

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    This article is all about the scarcity of food in the mid west USA and consequently the overall effects that it is having on that part of the country.
Jean Eric

Tuna: The Hidden Cost of the World's Priciest Fish - 0 views

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    The tuna stocks around the world are being fish out an alarming rate, to fast for the tuna to reproduce and keep there numbers constant. This constant battle between the supply of the fish and the demand for them in Japan (75% of the tuna market) is devastating the tuna populations. The U.E. and other organzations have been trying to put quatos on the catcing of tuna but are being ignored by the fisheries and the tuna stocks are being continually fished. In a matter of years there will be no tuna to fish. As you can see this a problem of supply(where there aren't enought tuna) and demand(which is greater than the supply).
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    This article describes how the tuna stocks, around the world, are being fished out at an alarming rate. Too fast for them to recover naturally. Demand for tuna far exceeds the supply (what the sea can produce) without disturbing the natural order. So the WWF & ISSF have tried putting quotas but no one is obiding and the overall catch of tuna each year is increasing...
Andrzej Z

Copper Price Forecast: Where Is This Supply Deficit? - 0 views

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    In this article you can learn something about the copper, for example the market of copper was growing during the last years because the demand for copper was constantly growing but this year the situation has changed. The main reason is the depression of the market and the public deficit. Indeed, although exchange inventory is down by some 100,000 tons this year, much of this has simply shifted to higher inventories in China. HSBC estimates this year to show a 200,000-ton surplus, although this is down from an early estimate of 340,000, but is in stark contrast to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics which recently reported the January-to-August-2012 deficit as 299,000 tons. However the future situation of the copper seems to be good because the market of copper will grow across 2013.The bank believes the market is likely to remain in surplus through the middle of the decade, with a peak of some 600,000 tons reached by 2015.
Andrzej Z

The hidden green costs of progress - 0 views

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    This article talks about the importance of caring about the environment because this year there have been alarming weather activities possibly caused by climate change: Droughts, floods, the record melting of Arctic ice and the recent Superstorm Sandy. We can´t affirm that this happened because there is a change in the climate but we have to admit that this is one of the possibilities. If we don´t do nothing the situation will be getting worst. The water level is increasing more than we have predicted and many specialists admit that San Francisco and other cities near the coast might be under water in 20 years. Retrospect, we have neglected the full costs and hidden environmental price tags of economic progress. Only if we are aware of the externalities of our actions can we then build a more organic living environment and actively cut down emissions.
JaJa C

tragedy of the commons - 0 views

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    Nowadays, people just keep ruining the environment, that cause a damage for us in the future, if we won't make a rules and limits about this. For example, every people have the right to fish without any limits. If we keep doing that, the fish will decrease and it might become extinct. So the government should make rules for every action that will harm the environment as mush as they could to protect them.
Andrzej Z

When Supply Is Elastic, Gouge Away - 0 views

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    This article talk about the supply elasticity and try to answer the question: "Should scarce resources go to those who are willing and able to pay the most for them, or should they go to those who manage to get in line soonest?" It explain us that the mayor part of oil is going to the military use because the priority is to win the war, and civilians are making due with a fixed supply. With the hurricane the good where supply is inelastic is probably hotel rooms because they can build more hotels and rooms it is impossible. The hotels will increase the price because the demand for the hotel room is increasing, as a result there will be a movement along the demand curve. It try to explain that there should be a fixed price for the emergency products because with the huracane the transport is more difficult and the prices rises. That results in an overall more brittle system in which local supplies aren't very resilient to disruptions in transportation.
Andrzej Z

Our Tragedy of the Commons: Austerity That Doesn't Work - 2 views

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    This article talks about the tragedy of commons. The governments are ignoring that instead of reducing the costs and the money used in the public sector they could try to cause an economic growth. This would be better for everybody because the economic growth reduces the deficits better than spending cuts. If we are doing spending cuts in the future we will have to spend a lot of money to fix the common resources and facilities used by all, including our air, water, and public infrastructure. If the problem amount then we will have more difficulties to solve them in the future, we can't leave them for the future generations because we have created those problems and we must solve them.
JaJa C

Amnesty: Forced Home Evictions Are Rising In China - 0 views

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    I think their government, Local authorities - whatever. They shouldn't do that just because they want to make way for factories, business ventures, and for better economic. There are a lot better way to manage this problem.
Caitlyn S

To Lower College Costs, Obama Should Focus on Supply and Demand - Economic Intelligence... - 0 views

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    President Obama visited the University of Michigan and outlined a new plan aimed at limiting tuition increases at U.S. universities.A key reason for high rates of tuition increase, is simply that the supply of freshman slots hasn't kept up with demand and such shortages lead to price increases.Top universities should focus on increasing the number of students they admit and all who care about expanding opportunities should pressure boards and presidents to spend some of the money on opening up more spots in the classes.
JaJa C

Tackling diminishing returns in food production - 0 views

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    Because of the world's population is keep increasing, and absolutely everyone needs food. That means we have increased on demand, but we might don't have enough food. That led to increasing the price of food, and the result might increases the price of everything because when the price of food increased, everyone who bought foods would want to increase their own product.
Jean Eric

New food crisis beckons in Somalia - 0 views

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    As the war rages on, the drought worsens and with the prediction of late rainfall ,the only thing that the somalians can do is pray for some luck as the rest of the world tries to help there hopeless situation. Due to the war and the drought Somalians are forced to flee leaving there unripe and unharvested crops behind, to only raise the price of food and worsen the food crisis. The article states that the worst has past of the drought but that the region still remains in emergency level 4, on the IPC scale. The article also talks about how the rescue organizations need to set up a long term exercise instead of coming in and helping when the drought occurs but rather prevent the whole crisis during the drought.
Kyuhwan L

World Hunger: The Problem Left Behind - 0 views

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    As the third major international crop, the price of corn rising is affecting the globe. As droughts plague the agriculture of African countries, the price of corn is surging, reminding us again that world hunger is still prevalent in the world today. The title of the article was eye-catching and reading it through "economic lens" really made it interesting. Droughts in Africa is affecting the agriculture of corn and making crops scarcer. In addition, price of fertilizers is two to four times more expensive in Africa, detrimentally affecting the region, which uses the most fertilizers. The opportunity cost of purchasing fertilizers is enormous as the money spent on fertilizers can be used for providing services for workers, better equipment or improving on infrastructures. Furthermore, farming technology is still quite primitive compares to North American standards and as a result the production possibility curves are smaller than other agricultural regions. This article was really interesting because it relates so closely with what we have learned so far, and it reminded me that world hunger is still very much present in our world.
Tisha D

World Water Crisis Must Be Top UN priority - 0 views

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    Water crisis is a growing problem in our world today. The reducing water supply causes serious problems. It could affect health, production of food, energy etc. According to me it is a matter of grave importance and needs to be dealt with immediately. This issue must be a top UN priority.
Tisha D

Sharp oil price rise bad for everyone: Total CEO - 0 views

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    In this article the CEO of total says that the increase in oil prices is bad for the consumers all over the world. This increase in prices is because of an increased demand by the society today. However since oil cannot be produced quickly the production rate cannot keep up with the demand rate. Hence there is scarcity and more demand for oil. This increased demand is also the reason why oil prices are skyrocketing today,
Saskia vK

Food price increases. - 1 views

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    Due to an American drought in the summer of 2012, the government expects that the price of food increases by 4 to 5 percent in 2013 , including milk , beef , chicken and pork. Fortunately , Americans spend only 13 percent on their groceries. But economist fear a greater impact outside the USA , because America exports a lot of agricultural products.
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