...Current Economic State Paper Jackson Kimberly FP/120 February 26, 2013 Kmiec Stephen Current Economic State Paper Introduction: This current economic state paper will explain if the current economy is expanding or contracting and reasons for that. It will also discuss the current prime rate, current interest rates on credit cards, current unemployment rate, and the current Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The economic factors that had led to a fairly good third quarter were only temporary and there was proof that the economy was slowing down in the last months of 2012 due to the skepticism over the impending fiscal cliff. Also, Hurricane Sandy that hit in late October 2012 was to have somewhat of a negative impact on the economy. There were clues that the economy may have actually slightly contracted instead of expanding. “The United States economy reversed course in the final quarter of 2012 and contracted at a 0.1% rate and was the worst performance since the financial crisis in 2009.” (Mataconis, 2013) . Even with the overall contraction, the economy is not on the brink of a recession or an extended slump. Companies are still spending. The economy we have been living in since 2009 is going to be the new normal. The prime rate is the underlying index for most credit cards, home equity loans and lines of credit, auto loans, and personal loans. The current prime rate is 3.25%, federal discount rate is 0.75%, fed funds rate is 0.25%, and the 11th District cost of funds...
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...mean Economic Community of West African States whereas a trading bloc is a set of countries which engage in international trade together, and are usually related through a free trade agreement or other association.ECOWAS was established in May, 1975 as a regional institutional framework for the coordination and promotion of economic cooperation and sustainable development in West Africa. The challenges of economic develpoment in an underdeveloped and highly unstable environment such as west africa appear enormous and so leave one to ponder on the possibilty of success or otherwise in realizing such an idea. ESTABLISHMENT OF ECOWAS ECOWAS was established in 1975 to coordinate and promote trade,cooperation and sustainable development throughout West Africa.The signing of the ECOWAS treaty of Lagos was indeed a kind of radical response to the plague of poverty and underdevelopment bedeviling West Africa, and as a result, practically provided the much desired framework for the realization of rapid and sustainable socio-political and economic development throughout the sub-region, and has till date the following member states: Republic of Benin,Burkina Faso,Cape Verde,Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia,Ghana,Guinea,Guinea Bissau,Liberia,Mali,Niger,Nigeria,Senegal,Sierra Leone and the Republic of Togo. First, ECOWAS set out to form a free trade area by undertaking a progressive removal of all custom duties and other charges of similar effect, on imports and exports between member states, as well...
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...Shiane Ferretti APUSH Assignment#7.07 Assignment 07.07 Populists Crusade for Reform 1. Complete the reading for this lesson. 2. Conduct the necessary research and complete your FRQ. 3. Submit your FRQ for Assignment 07.07 Populists Crusade for Reform, in the Assessment area. -Analyze the impact of industrialization on farmers during the Gilded Age. How did the farmers react? The national grange(populist movement) The Gilded Age was a time for new thinking and new political views. Although this time in history had a positive outcome for most people, specifically the upper classes, it didn’t have as much of an effect nor impact when it came to the lower classes such as the farmers. Issues regarding the Gilded Age and the farmers are shown through the railroad company inequity, money supply and high tariffs, and the populist movement. During the Gilded Age, railway companies gave the best rates to their biggest customers which many small businessmen, for example farmers, felt was an act of discrimination. Companies also tried to fix or set prices as opposed to allowing the market to determine the rail rates. As a result, the Interstate Commerce Commission was the first government regulatory agency that was created in order to stop abusive railroad practices. Monopolies and trusts were also examined due to the fact that they had the potential to rule certain markets and charge an excessive amount of money. As a result, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was created...
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...Deploying the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) Computerize System to Enhance Tax Collection at the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) Proposal Topic: This paper will look at the manner in which tax is collected by the Government of Liberia (GOL) through the newly established Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and the impact on the revenue generating capacity of the and proposes possible solutions. Currently, the LRA is using Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) computerize system for its tax collection. This is in line with practices adopted by other countries in the sub-region which comprise countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ASYCUDA was launch in Liberia in July 2009 in order to modernize the tax collection and boast the GOL revenue capacity. However, ASYCUDA has only been launched in Monrovia, where the country has it major port – the Freeport of Monrovia. There has been no significant increase in revenue collection since the launch of the system. Problem: The business problem to so is how to make ASYCUDA available to all ports of entry, train the manpower to operate the computerize system and how to keep it operational in handling volume of transactions regularly. Other ports and custom posts in the country are still using the manual system for tax collection. The manual system provides poor customer service and inconvenience for goods clearance. It also exposes government revenue to theft. The deployment of the ASYCUDA computerize...
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...REPUBLIC OF GHANA THE BUDGET STATEMENT AND ECONOMIC POLICY of the GOVERNMENT OF GHANA for the 2015 FINANCIAL YEAR presented to PARLIAMENT on WEDNESDAY, 19TH NOVEMBER 2014 by SETH E. TERKPER Minister for Finance on the Authority of HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA Theme: “Transformational Agenda: Securing the Bright Medium Term Prospects of the Economy ’’ THE 2015 BUDGET STATEMENT AND ECONOMIC POLICY ~ ii ~ Theme: “Transformational Agenda: Securing the Bright Medium Term Prospects of the Economy ’’ For copies of the Statement, please contact the Public Relations Office of the Ministry: Ministry of Finance Public Relations Office New Building, Ground Floor, Room 001/003 P. O. Box MB 40 Accra – Ghana The 2015 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana is also available on the internet at: www.mofep.gov.gh ~ iii ~ Theme: “Transformational Agenda: Securing the Bright Medium Term Prospects of the Economy ’’ ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ABFA ACLP ADR AFCON AfDB AIDS AML AMSECs APR ATMA AVIC BACs BDS BIEPC BoG BOP bopd bps BR BRICS BSPs BVDs Annual Budget Funding Amount Ascertainment and Codification of Customary Law Project Alternative Dispute Resolution African Cup of Nations African Development Bank Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Anti-Money laundering Agricultural Mechanization Services Enterprise Centres Annual Progress Report Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area Accra Visitor Information Centre Business Advisory Centres...
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...Radio (NPR) Drudge Report Time Wall Street Journal Slate New York Post Newsweek Washington Times US News and World Report Heritage Foundation Politico PJTV (Pajamas TV) New Yorker American Thinker Mother Jones American Spectator ACLU Forbes Harpers Stanford Review CBS Rush Limbaugh New York Times FOX News NBC (especially MSNBC) The American Conservative Mostly Centrist with Occasional Slant Libertarian CNN ACLU CSPAN (just shows the event) Ludwig Von Mises Reuters Reason Magazine PBS CATO Institute Real Clear Politics (both perspectives) Ayn Rand Foundation John Stossel, Reporter Milton Friedman,Economics Respected Think Tanks Always check their mission statement for bias or perspective, but these are known for accuracy in research even if they do cardstack and/or research from a biased perspective. They are helpful in stacking your case with relevant facts. Conservative Heritage Foundation Citizens Against Government Waste Media Research Center TownHall.com (A branch of Heritage Foundation) Republican National Committee National Federation of Republican Women American Enterprise Institute Hoover Institution Family Research Council Manhattan Institute Hudson Institute Washington...
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...March 1995, Soglo's political vehicle, the Parti de la Renaissance du Benin, was the largest single party but lacked an overall majority. The success of a party formed by supporters of ex-president Kérékou, who had officially retired from active politics, allowed him to stand successfully at both the 1996 and 2001 presidential elections.[4] During the 2001 elections, however, alleged irregularities and dubious practices led to a boycott of the run-off poll by the main opposition candidates. The four top-ranking contenders following the first round presidential elections were Mathieu Kérékou (incumbent) 45.4%, Nicephore Soglo (former president) 27.1%, Adrien Houngbédji (National Assembly Speaker) 12.6%, and Bruno Amoussou (Minister of State) 8.6%. The second round balloting, originally scheduled for March 18, 2001, was postponed for days because both Soglo and Houngbedji...
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...Regional Integration for and Against (For)- The ECOWAS is The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen countries, founded in 1975. Its mission is to promote economic integration in development strategies of the countries ("Discover Ecowas", 2007). Some economic changes would include agriculture, natural resources, and telecommunications. Advantages are regional economic integration plays an important role in the economic process and property development in West Africa. The availability of job production will increase with better economic opportunities that could be limited without access to modern energy. Energy is an important part of the system that allows the poor to grow beyond, which will generate and increase their demand for modern energy services. Increasing foreign direct investment will increase competition among poverty stricken countries around the world. They would need to gain environmental, and social economical use of resources. Market growth will promote larger specialization and quicker industry through economies of scale. The development in domestic and foreign direct investment will increase competition of the region within the world economy. Speedy and in depth improvement through increased competition among the collaborating countries will enhance incentives for the readying of recent technologies and strategies of production aboard speedy innovation. Greater regional co-operation in infrastructure comes like energy...
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...June 759 people had been infected and 467 people had died from the disease, making this the worst ever Ebola outbreak. The numbers do not just keep climbing, they are accelerating. As of October 29th, 13,567 cases and 4,951 deaths had been reported worldwide, the vast majority of them in these same three countries. Many suspect these estimates are badly undercooked. Ebola is not just a medical emergency, but an economic one. Sick people cannot work; fear of sickness keeps others from coming to work. Transportation and travel is disrupted. An impact assessment by the World Bank, released on October 8th, estimated the short-term impact of the outbreak on the economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in terms of forgone GDP at $359m. Depending on whether the outbreak is contained quickly or slowly, the damage will continue into next year; under the Bank’s gloomier “High Ebola” scenario, the economic loss to Liberia in 2015 would be the equivalent of 12% of GDP. Liberia has suffered most in the epidemic, which has killed more than 3,800 people and delivered an economic shock to some of Africa's most vulnerable economies. Ebola cases in Liberia and Sierra Leone could rise to between 550,000 and 1.4 million by January if there are no additional interventions, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report warned. Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea -- the three countries facing the biggest health crisis -- are also facing huge bills to try and contain the virus. The three countries'...
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...I am proud to be a Nigerian; Nigeria is one of the largest countries in Africa, got independence October 1st, 1960 and became a republic 1963. After a couple of years, we saw the raise of the civilian war, then the military came and took over power the people of Nigeria felt abit suppressed but through all this means we survived, we stayed on top. The late 90’s gave birth to democracy in Nigeria but still we struggled to adjust once more, still took a firm stand and progress through these hard times. Nigeria, strong people, happy people you cannot deny that, even the Guinness book of record tagged us one of the happiest nation in the world. Throughout this time, a few people gave us a bad name saying we had the people who stole money and people who gave the impression of the world that we are bad people, angry people and scam artiste. It seems like things where not going to get better but with the appearance of a great man late president umar musa yar’adua things started to change, Nigeria started to get better, the youth were given the voice, the people began to speak out, our nation began to enjoy its riches, our agriculture stood out, our land is exceedingly fertile, with limitless depositions of mineral resources scattered all over the country. Name it; crude oil, gold, iron ore, limestone, salt, bitumen, coal, clay, tin, cotton? We have them all. Not to mention hundreds of produce able cash and food crops. Moreover, Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa, and 7th...
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...personal wealth. All ten of the principles of economics are directly related to the decision to purchase a house on some level. These economic principles will have an impact on the purchasing decision and the long term financial aspects of home ownership so it is wise to incorporate these ten principles into the decision making process to ensure a sound financial decision is the outcome. When considering the purchase of a house, the ten principles of economics that need to be addressed can be broken down into three stages of the decision making process. The first step is to examine how the decision is made by incorporating the first four principles of economics which include, the trade off that comes with every financial decision, the real cost of any item or service is what is given up to get the item or service, rational people think at the margin, and people respond to incentives. Once it is clear how the decision is made, the next three principles of economics address how people interact with economics and include factors such as, trade is beneficial to everyone, markets are a good way to organize economic activity, and the government can improve the markets with fiscal policy and all three will have an impact on the decision to purchase a home. The final leg of the decision making process includes taking into consideration the last three economic principles which speak to how the economy works as a whole and include economic principles such as, a country's...
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...the Great Depression compare to The Current Economic Recession affecting the US American history from 1877: How the Great Depression compare to The Current Economic Recession affecting the US. Introduction In 1929s, a global depression hit countries with market economies. Despite the fact that the Great Depression was moderately gentle in some nations, it had very severe effects on others, especially the America. In the United States, the great depression went down in history as one of the worst economic crisis, which left a deep-seated situation, leading to joblessness, starvation and homelessness for over a decade in the US. The Great Depression in America also led a great global depression, as typically each industrialized economy including Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, France, and others, was completely destructed. Various economists and the media have often linked the current economic crisis that heightened in 2008 to the great depression which occurred decades ago. Looking at the implications of the great depression and what is happening today, clearly there are several direct similarities between the two economic crises. Through a brief analysis of the two economic scenarios, this paper hence aims to show how they are related. What are the similarities with the current financial crisis? Some of the similarities between today’s economic situation and the Great Depression of 1920s include: High rates of unemployment- Economic forces are the main causes of unemployment...
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...production of food. The birth rate is low because people have more opportunities to choose if they want children; this is made possible by improvements in contraception or women gaining more independence and work opportunities. C. Trade Account The trade balance/ trade account is the amount a country receives for the export of goods and services minus the amount it pays for its imports of goods and services. Current Account The difference between a nation’s savings and its investment. The current account is an important indicator about an economy's health. It is defined as the sum of the balance of trade (goods and services exports less imports), net income from abroad and net current transfers. A positive current account balance indicates that the nation is a net lender to the rest of the world, while a negative current account balance indicates that it is a net borrower from the rest of the world. A current account surplus increases a nation’s net foreign assets by the amount of the surplus, and a current account deficit decreases it by that amount. The current account...
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...Select and complete one of the following assignments: Option 1: Economic Advisement Paper Imagine that your Learning Team is a group of economic advisors working for the U.S. president. You have been tasked with evaluating the current state of the U.S. economy and making recommendations on how to improve it. Part 1 Analysis and Recommendations: Describe the current state of the following economic factors and analyze how each affects aggregate supply and demand: • Unemployment • Expectations • Consumer income • Interest rates Develop a set of recommendations for the president regarding government spending and taxes based on the economic factors' current state. Part 2 Evaluation of Recommendations: Before you submit your recommendations to the president, decide as a team to evaluate the recommendations from different perspectives. Assign half of your team to evaluate the recommendations from a Keynesian perspective and the other half from the Classical perspective. Based on these evaluations, what adjustments will you make to your recommendations, if any? Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word report that summarizes the recommendations. Option 2: Economic Critique Imagine that your Learning Team is a group of international reporters. You have been tasked with describing and critiquing the current state of the U.S. economy. Describe the current state of the following economic factors: • Unemployment • Expectations • Consumer Income ...
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...Option 1: Economic Advisement Paper With a nominal GDP estimated at more than 15 trillion it is clearly the United States economy is one of the largest in the world. A person must have lived in a cave underground for the past several years not to know that the current state of the nation’s economy is in desperate need of improvement. There are different schools of thought about how the economy arrived at its current state. Conversely, there are different schools of thought on how to restore the economy. There are some who would advocate that going back to the same economic policies that created the currents conditions of the economy. Their philosophy is that if we stay the current course the economy would somehow miraculously recover itself over a period of an unknown amount of time. These same individuals believe that people are better off left to fend for themselves in this economy. On the other hand there are others that believe government intervention is the key to a faster economic recovery. In the following paragraph of this paper team C will discuss the current state of the United States economic recovery from the prospective of Unemployment, Consumer income, Interest rates, and Expectations respectively. This information will be summarized and recommendations made to the president regarding government spending and taxes based on the aforementioned economic factors. Aggregate supply and demand looks at the economy as a whole. Aggregate demand is the sum of...
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