...Current Issues Final Portfolio “One definition of an economist is somebody who sees something happen in practice and wonders if it will work in theory.” – Ronald Reagan. Is there any better way to sum up the past four months in Econ 404W: Current Issues? Day after day we performed experiments to see first hand how certain economic theories and phenomenon work in practice, and afterwards try to understand how the theories relate. Throughout the semester, we participated in 27 games/experiments that covered a wide range of economic theories and principles. Of all the different concepts that have been discussed, two have stood out time after time. These are backward induction and the free riding problem. The first experiment that used any sort of backward induction was Network Externalities. In this experiment my strategy was to think as a group of people would, rather than how I would personally, and act in the first round to maximize profits. Each decision, as simple as the two choices were, had one choice that I believed would appeal more to the rest of the class, regardless of what my personal preference was. One round, for example, had a choice between a blue and white paper and a red and white paper. As appealing as the red and white was to me, I knew that a class of Penn State students would clearly choose the blue and white as opposed to the aesthetically repulsive colors of Ohio State. Thinking of how others would act allowed me to get into the superior...
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...Analyzing Current Economic Issues Summary: Canada’s Exports Need to Be Reoriented to the New Global Economy, Says Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney (Source: Bank of Canada) This article focuses on the reasons behind the downturn of the Canadian economy. Mark Carney believes that the combination of overexposure to the U.S. market and underexposure to faster-growing emerging markets is almost entirely responsible for Canada’s further loss in world market share over the last several years. The article also talks about what actions Canada can take in order to bring our economy back up, and how we should invest in our greatest resource, which are our people Summary: Canada GDP: July 2012 Saw 0.2 Per Cent Jump, Decline in Mining, Oil and Gas (Source: HuffPost Business) During the month of July, 2012 Canada has seen a 0.2 percent decline in its mining, oil and gas extraction. When looking at the different types of sectors, the manufacturing sector performed well with a 6.9% increase along with wholesale trade increase by 0.2%. Although Canada’s output has increased by 1.9%, its weakness still lies in the export sector with a $2.9 billion trade deficit for the month July. Summary: Unemployment rate holds steady at 7.4% (Source: CBC NEWS) According to Statistics Canada, Canada’s unemployment rate remained at 7.4% in October. In addition, October’s unemployment in 7/12 provinces and territories has increased especially in P.E.I with the highest unemployment rate increase...
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...Current Economic Issues Facing Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is a developing country in the Arabian Gulf region that has been growing dramatically over the past two decades. Saudi Arabia's 2011 population has grown tremendously and is estimated to now be about 26.1 million, including about 5.6 million resident foreigners. Until the 1960s, most of the population was nomadic or semi-nomadic but now due to rapid economic and urban growth, more than 95% of the population is settled now. Out of that 26 million people in Saudi Arabia, is has been found that the annual per capita income is anywhere from $11,500 to 24,500. This sounds kind of ridiculous because the country is known to the world to be oil rich. At first glance, one would view economic statistical indicators and convey the fact Saudi Arabia is a developed nation. However, close analysis of political and social statistical indicators would suggest that their standard of living and individual freedoms are severely suppressed. Believe it or not, this 'developed' nation has abnormalities in its statistical indicators which are similar to those that characterize third world nations. As a person who was born into this culture and is originally of Saudi Arabian descent, I find these statistics hard to believe. During my time there I never witnessed despair or poverty. These indicators and information is why I chose to research this topic and see for myself what this once wealthy nation is in fact doing now. Economic Success...
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...Current and Future Economic Issues Impacting Healthcare Sector S. Ruff Dr. Merle Point-Johnson HAS 510 June 15, 2015 Abstract Not unpredictably, the increases in health care spending and the share of GDP dedicated to health care have raised up concerns about the negative influence of health care cost inflation on the U.S. economy. In an era of global economic markets, these concerns are reinforced by the status of the U.S. as a spending outlier among competing nations. The major concern is that rapid increases in health care spending can affect major economic indicators such per capita GDP, employment and inflation. The effects are likely to occur across all sectors of the economy, governments, businesses and households as all these interrelated sectors play an important role in the delivery, financing and consumption of health care in the US. Yet, the view that rapidly rising health care costs harms the U.S. economy is not without nonconformists, and some projecting economists opinion increases in health spending as having a neutral, or perhaps even a positive, economic effect. Pauly (2003) has contended that increasing health care expenditure naturally consequences in rapid growth in the health care and associated sectors, and in employment and incomes for workers in those sectors. Particularly, health care firms are largely U.S. owned. A related argument is that as total per capita GDP rises, consumers may choose...
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...Alfaisal University College of Business Master of Business Administration Professional Program MBA 513 Managerial Economics Course Syllabus Instructor: Dr Declan McCrohan © The College of Business, Alfaisal University, 2013. The materials contained in this document may only be used during the Alfaisal University MBA Program. Except as stipulated under national and international copyright laws, no part of this document may be copied, reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, or used for any commercial purpose without the written permission of the copyright owner. Contact Information and Class Times Instructor: | Dr Declan McCrohan | Address: | College of Business, Alfaisal University,PO Box 50927,Takhassusi StreetRiyadh 11533,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | | Email: | dmccrohan@alfaisal.edu | | Office: | +96612157717 | Consultation hours: | To be confirmed | Office: | College of Business, male section. | Class Times: | Cohort 1: Mon 9-12 Cohort 2: Sun 6-9pm Cohort 3: Mon 6-9pm | Venue: | Alfaisal University. Please check your personal academic timetables for the classroom location. | Course Instructor Dr Declan McCrohan graduated with a PhD in Applied Economics and a Masters degree in International Trade from Victoria University in Australia. His PhD research examined the impact of overseas students’ social networks on international trade flows. Dr McCrohan has extensive...
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...any other major newspaper or weekly publication and select a single article or articles that (1) either report on interesting economic news that can be analyzed by the concepts or models taught in this course or (2) discusses one or more economic issues related to the concepts or models taught in this course. It is OK to use an online economics news article. Write a three to four page essay analyzing the topic or critique the article from economic perspectives. Essay must be typed and double-spaced, (Times New Roman, font 12). The questions that you may address in this essay may include, but are not limited, to the following: * What is the main economic issue? * How is the economic issue related to the concepts or models that you have learned from this course? * What sorts of arguments/opinions have been discussed? * Do you agree or disagree with the analyses/opinions? Why? * What argument would you, as an economist, make? The following is a suggested list of topics. This list is not exhaustive. INDUSTRY STUDY. For a specific industry, choose a current issue such as deregulation, foreign competition, and the impact of new technologies, mergers/takeovers, changing methods of competition, labor problems, or financial changes. COMPANY STUDY. Study the recent growth or decline of a particular company or its current position. This topic might include such points as the market structure within which the company grew and now operates, the elasticity...
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...CAUSE OF ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNETHICAL BUSINESS THAT LED TO IT Final Paper James Smith Hodges University GEB/PAD 6376 Dr. Forrer Week Due: 14 Due: 08/14/2011 Submitted: 08/10/2011 INTRODUCTION (Part 1) Why has the unemployment rate been above 12 percent for the last several years? Why have so many prior successful businesses closed in the last four years? Why have so many major corporations and publicly traded companies filed for bankruptcy? Why did a house that used to cost $200,000.00 just sell for $40,000.00? Why are foreclosures at the highest rate in US history? Maybe the question to ask is what has caused all of this? There are so many questions to be answered when it comes to the economic conditions in the United States. How did it get into the current condition? What were the signs of slipping into the crisis (economic indicators)? Whose actions were responsible? Was the responsible party also guilty of unethical behavior (big issue) or was it accidental. How long will it take for the economy to get back to being productive? In the past, America has been a very productive, successful country. There have been other recessions and a depression that have affected the U.S. but for some reason this current crisis was started by a completely different chain of events. What was the chain of events that triggered this current catastrophe...
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...Question 1 Determine the economic earnings of MarineCorp Sdn Bhd, Green Port Sdn Bhd and Sungai Emas Port Sdn Bhd. Economic earnings is used to calculate the profit earned by the company in excess of investors’ expected returns. Positive economic earnings represent that the value was created for the company. Unlike, negative economic earnings represent that the company’s value was destroyed. The calculation for economic earnings is as follow; ECONOMIC EARNINGS = *NOPAT – (ᵝWACC X Average Invested Capital) or NOPAT – Capital Charge ECONOMIC EARNINGS = *NOPAT – (ᵝWACC X Average Invested Capital) or NOPAT – Capital Charge *Net Operating Profit after Tax ᵝ Weighted Average Cost of Capital | Green Port S/B (RM) | Sungai Emas Port S/B (RM) | MarineCorp S/B (RM) | NOPAT | 31,381,168 | 5,218,664 | 15,128,917 | Capital Charge | 45,969,400 | 187,801 | 854,306 | Economic Earnings | 31,381,168 – 45,969,400= (14,588,232) | 5,218,664 - 187,801= 5,030,563 | 15,128,917 – 854,306= 14,274,611 | Table 1 Table 1 showed that, Sungai Emas Port and MarineCorp had positive economic earnings which indicate that the value was created for the both companies. However, Green Port’s value was destroyed because of its negative economic earnings as shown in table 1. Question 2 Rank the companies in terms of their financial performance. All the companies are ranked based on three main areas in relation to their financial performance. The areas include...
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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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...employment opportunities, protection and conservation of wildlife, landscape, co-ordination between public/private partners, to maximise benefits, provide infrastructure, co-ordinate development, consumer protection; involvement of stakeholders eg developers, tourism industry, tourists and host community; public/private partnerships and advantages/disadvantages of; effective use of resources eg infrastructure; natural, cultural, heritage, human resources https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5649485182751853952#editor/target=post;postID=3748877749371906313 LO2 Understand different approaches to tourism planning and development Planning: environmental; economic; social; international; national; regional; local; strategic; short term; qualitative; quantitative; methods of measuring tourism impact eg Cambridge Economic Impact Model (STEAM), Environmental Impact Studies, Pro Poor Tourism; Responsible Tourism, interactive planning systems and processes Development: preservation, conservation, new build LO3 Understand the need for planning for sustainable tourism Sustainable tourism: definitions eg Brundtland Report (1987), Triple Bottom Line, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Principles for Sustainable Development (1995) Principles: planning considerations, benefits to the environment, the host community, the tourism industry, the visitor; factors of supply of facilities and resource weighed against demand; proposed developments eg infrastructure required; interdependence...
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...Bakery. This will be determined from a created SWOTT table provided below. Each discussed force and trend will include one primary strength, weakness, opportunity, threat, and trend included in the table. The paper will also analyze at least seven forces and trends and how they pertain to TruHealth. Last the paper will discuss technology and competitive analysis, how TruHealth’s adapts to change, supply chain operations, and any significant issues and/or opportunities for this company. SWOTT ANALYSIS TABLE Factors |Strength |Weakness |Opportunity |Threat |Trend |External Factors | |Legal and Regulatory | Open and effective |Limited knowledge on |Gaining extensive |Violations of regulations |Laws are become more |knowledge of current regulations and laws |strict and implemented |community leaders |food laws that could close or suspend business | |regulations |licenses |Economic |Exceptional growth|...
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... | | |Economics: The Financing of Health Care | Copyright © 2010, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2000 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course provides an overview of the economics of health care. The various payers are examined, including private, state, and federal entities. Issues such as the cost effectiveness of prevention, the management of patients and their diseases, as well as the cost of treatment settings are discussed. Third party reimbursement from various sources, ranging from for-profit insurance carriers to charitable donations, are reviewed. The health care system's use of grant funding and research dollars is described. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials...
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...Change | Socio-economic Challenges of South Africa and Policies That Could be Implemented | | John JH Scheffer 22770933 | | 14 April 2015 Class Participation Assignment for CCMM515 | Introduction Since the dawning of a new era in 1994 South Africa has faced many challenges. Naturally change brings a long a new frontier and as one would expect many rough terrains. South Africa has thus far been a colossal beast charging through the constant strife of these rough terrains despite the constant lashing of its riders ever since it received its independence, however many fear the last straw is about to be placed on this beasts back. Current affairs threaten the future economic viability of South Africa and although recent assertions have been made to ensure the economic growth, the governments have done little or nothing to achieve these goals. Whether because of sheer incompetence, narrow vision focused on the past or the lack of proper management is arguable however there is little to be achieved by discussing the shortcomings of the government. This essay focuses on a more challenging viewpoint where the current socio-economic challenges of South Africa will be discussed and the policies that could be implemented to resolve these issues. The propositions in this paper are proposals that would be suggested for implementation as policies to resolve socio-economic issues if I were president...
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...Final Analytical Application of Current Microeconomic events Introduction The article ‘Financial crisis in the living room’ written by Renan Bourdeau on the 8th of September 2013 featured in the Khaleej Times. It questions the ramifications ascribed to the fact that the populace’s salaries are not increasing in congruence with housing costs. The article cites that the recovery of the residential estate in Dubai has featured in the news for quite some time and the prices of houses have soared, and have been accompanied by high rental costs for properties. As a result of the drastic increase in the housing prices which is bound to extend until the year ends, utility costs have flared up in the region. The credit crisis ascribed to the region has resulted in an increase in the cost of purchasing household equipment, as well as conducting routine household maintenance by approximately 3.69 percent (Bourdeau, n.d). The emergent question is what impact this surge is bound to have on consumer lending, debt repayment and borrowing. During the beginning of the year, over a five-month period, consumers took loans worth more than Dh9 billion, a sum that correlates with the whole of 2012’s increase. Moreover, the UAE presently represents more than 60% of the consumer debt within the GCC. Its ratio of debt to income is greater than that of the US and most countries in Europe. This is an unsettling sign that indicates mounting household debt within the country. In addition, most residents...
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...The Current Macroeconomic Situation in the United States Name: Institution: Abstract The policy makers in every economy play an imperative role in regulating the macroeconomic activities with the intention of maintaining the economic stability. In essence, economic stability is vital for improving the social welfare of citizens, as well as the economic growth. The current United States economic outlook is not good. The average American is not doing well though there has been an improvement in market performance. The 2009 financial crisis continues to affect the United States economy. High unemployment level is the major economic issues that the country is still experiencing. The unemployment rate is still high although there has been a small improvement in job creation. As a result of unemployment, the consumer confidence as well as business sentiment continues suffering. At present, inflation is not a critical threat to the United States. The Gross Domestic Product is flat. In fact, the growth of real GDP has been excessively slow. The monetary and fiscal policies can help the policy makers in solving the present unemployment problem facing the country. In particular, the policymakers ought to consider implementing both expansionary monetary and fiscal policies since the current level of unemployment is essentially cyclical. With regards to the expansionary fiscal policy, the policy makers should implement it through taxation...
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