...Generic Prescription Drug Costs Prescription drugs have been causing problems in the United States for a very long time. Pharmaceutical companies are one of the largest profiting global industries. It was in 2009 when drug shortages increased with numbers reaching what many have termed crisis level which raised all prices of generic prescription drugs significantly (Fox, Sweet, & Jensen, 2014). This increase was and still is leaving patients with a life threatening decision; either go on paying for their prescriptions which they cannot afford or stop their treatment all together and risk their illness progressing and leading to possible death. Some have chosen to end their treatment altogether, while other patients have confessed to taking dangerous measures to ensure their refills last longer like cutting their pills in half or skipping doses. The United States drug manufacturers are raising prices endlessly without regulation. Instead of generic brand medication being affordable, they are creating their own monopolies and setting their prices just as competitively as name brands. Instead of buying and stocking manufacturers with raw materials from within the United States, they source raw materials from overseas creating delays and a huge shortage in raw materials has surfaced. Instead of keeping the FDA in the loop as to what is going on in the production process, manufacturers wait until the very last minute to report a problem which goes against all rules, regulations...
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...Effect on the U.S. Economy The United States economy as a whole has been rapidly dwindling down of late, from its all time high marks in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Many Americans believe that the cause for this large downswing in the economy is due to the fact of the cost that the United States is putting into the War in Iraq. The war has caused some economic inflation over the past couple of years however; there are other factors that tie into the economic problem of America. One key factor that many people are surely aware of is the high and outrageous gas and fuel prices across the country. Though many Americans are aware of the extremely high gas prices, they don’t fully understand how fuel prices have a monopoly effect on the country and how the U.S. economy is greatly affected because of this. (How Gas Prices Affect Our Economy) Over the past few years gas and fuel prices always seem to be in the news. At first, prices seemed to be high one week and low the next. Now, it just seems that the prices are extremely high and won’t go down. Many times you hear big time politicians say the reasoning for these high prices is due to shortages of oil. This is not the case, for there is no shortage at all. Gasoline reserves on hand are at the highest levels they have been since the early 1990s and the oil deposits under ground aren’t running out either. (There Is No Gas Shortage – BusinessWeek ) So why are politicians saying there is a shortage of there really isn’t? The answer...
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...Jacob Baker ECON 210 Microeconomics Economics Research Paper Abstract: This paper will look at the work market for truck drivers in the United States. The effects of a shortage and/or surplus of drivers and how the work market effects the country's economy, and the workers way of life will be broken down. This paper will look at how adding more jobs to this career also effects the supply and demand of goods, problems of finding qualified workers, and the chances of an individual getting a job with others competing for the same job. Trucking in the United States Introduction It is widely known that logistics is the life blood of anything major. The logistics and transportation industry in the United States itself equates for $1.33 trillion in 2012, and represented 8.5% of annual gross domestic product.(SelectUSA) From major military operations, to the factory floor; aircraft, trains and trucks are relied upon to bring food, medicine, and building supplies to the people that require them. But many of the logistical options out there have limitations. Airplanes cant land at your local grocery store, and building railroads to every store is incredibly costly and inefficient. Trucking and it's effects That is where the trucking industry comes into play. According to The American Trucking Associations reports, in 2012 alone, trucks moved 9.4 billion tons of freight or 68.5% of all freight tonnage transported domestically, and collected $642 billion...
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...Equilibration Process Paper Many beef lovers will feel the impact of high beef prices this year, as they prepare for the busy grilling season. The United States cattle ranchers reported 2014 to be the worst cattle shortage in more than 61 years. The shortage is due to the severe drought conditions stretching over much of the southwest United States. In addition to the drought conditions, the historically low temperatures also contributed to the shortage as the cattle were not able to gain weight. The lack of weight gain prevented the cattle from going to the meat processors. Even through the drought, some cattle ranchers experienced large amounts of snow pack, which made transporting herds to the processors impossible. McConnell, Brue and Flynn (2009) define the Law of Demand as, “A fundamental characteristic of demand is this: Other things equal, as price falls, the quantity demanded rises, and as price rises, the quantity demanded falls. In short, there is a negative or inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded. Economists call this inverse relationship the law of demand.” (p.47) Additionally, McConnell, Brue and Flynn (2009) define the Law of Supply as, “As price rises, the quantity supplied rises; as price falls, the quantity supplied falls. This relationship is called the law of supply.” (p.51) In relationship to the cattle shortage, the laws of supply and demand were evident. Once the prices began to significantly increase, the demand decreased, as consumers were not...
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...is under threat from several sources. The environmental consequences of growth are just one threat. China also faces chronic resource shortages – its industry does not want for coal but the Chinese people do struggle for things such as shortages of oil, food and clean water. The PRC also faces political tests as well, including Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang. Political tensions with the former could destabilize all of Asia if not the world. The tensions in the western part of China represent the social unrest that the Communist government’s march towards wealth has created. Even amongst Han, there is considerable disparity of wealth between regions and classes, and these disparities may very well threaten China’s future. This paper will analyze each of these critical issues in turn, and then synthesize the issues into an assessment for the future of China’s economic growth. All economies depend on resources for their growth. Output is determined by the availability of labor, energy and raw materials. The former has not experienced overall shortage, although there are concerns about the rural labor force in some areas. China is, however, facing critical shortages of both energy and raw materials, not to mention food and clean water. China is facing a shortage of mineral resources. The nation is expected to suffer a severe shortage of such resources in the next...
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...Introduction The saying health is wealth has different meanings. It could mean that healthy people have less medical expenses or that people treasure good health more than money. The goal of a healthy lifestyle is to have a long life and remain disease or cancer free. The United States of America is known as a developed nation and people would assume that it provides its citizens with equal and an adequate medical care. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “America spent more on health care per capita ($8,608) and more on health care as a percentage of its GDP (17.2%), than any other nation in 2011.” This means that the US puts a lot of emphasis on their healthcare compared to any other country in the world. But the reality is the Commonwealth Fund, a private American foundation, ranked the United States of America last in the quality of healthcare compared to the world in 2014. Also, America is ranked as one of the most expensive healthcare providers in the world. The US was compared to countries like Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. The rankings prove that the American healthcare system is indeed facing many issues. Some of the major issues are accessibility of healthcare to all, lack of consolidation within the industry, deficiency in technology, lack of data availability and lastly, over dependence on medications by healthcare professionals such as doctors. The issue highlighted in this...
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...Answers to the Problems and Applications 1. William Gregg owned a mill in South Carolina. In December 1862, he placed a notice in the Edgehill Advertiser announcing his willingness to exchange cloth for food and other items. Here is an extract: 1 yard of cloth for 1 pound of bacon 2 yards of cloth for 1 pound of butter 4 yards of cloth for 1 pound of wool 8 yards of cloth for 1 bushel of salt a. What is the relative price of butter in terms of wool? 1 pound of butter exchanged for 2 yards of cloth and 4 yards of cloth exchanged for 1 pound of wool. Hence 1 pound of butter exchanged for 2 yards of cloth and 2 yards of cloth exchanged for 1/2 pound of wool. So the relative price of butter in terms of wool was 1/2 pound of wool per pound of butter. b. If the money price of bacon was 20¢ a pound, what do you predict was the money price of butter? 1 pound of bacon exchanged for 1 yard of cloth and 2 yards of cloth exchanged for 1 pound of butter. Hence it took 2 pounds of bacon to exchange for 1 pound of butter. As a result, if the money price of a pound of bacon was 20¢ the money price of 1 pound of butter was 40¢. c. If the money price of bacon was 20¢ a pound and the money price of salt was $2.00 a bushel, do you think anyone would accept Mr. Gregg’s offer of cloth for salt? If the money price of bacon is 20¢ a pound, Mr. Gregg’s offer to exchange 1 pound of bacon for 1 yard of cloth means that anyone could obtain 1 yard of cloth for a money price of 20¢. Mr. Gregg’s...
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...California was a land where the American Dream came true for many. Before the gold rush, California was under the Mexican rule since 1821. California’s population mainly consisted of about 6,500 Californios, 700 Americans and 150,000 Native Americans. Most of the Californians lived on vast ranches granted to them by the Mexican government. New settlers, mainly Americans, started moving into California for land and trade. Mexican control over California weakened following the Bear Flag revolt by the settlers and the United States took control of the region. The United States waged war against Mexico for manifest destiny and a dispute over Texas in the Mexican–American War on May 19,1846. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between United States and Mexico ended the war officially on February 2,1848. California was handed over to United States. Neither the United States nor Mexico knew that gold had recently been discovered in California in 1848. The discovery of gold set off a major historical event in California, the California Gold Rush! James Marshall accidentally discovered gold while at work on January 24,1848 in Coloma, California. He was a carpenter building a sawmill on the banks of the American River at Coloma for John Sutter, a Swiss immigrant to California who founded the Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento. On January 24, 1848 James Marshall noticed tiny golden flakes sparkling in the American River and was astonished to find that it was gold! He reported this to John...
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...words, hydroponics is the process of growing plants in sand, gravel, vermiculite, perlite, or liquid with added nutrients to water. A concept of growing plants without playing in the soil scares some people. The thought that a setup this simple may be answer to the world’s food shortages, is astonishing. Teaching Hydroponics in our schools and encouraging it in our community is good for everyone. Murali Mugundhan is a huge endorser of Hydroponics because he sees first-hand how it is changing his world. Mugundhan states that “improper agricultural practice which altered the soil pH, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides which drastically reduced the soil flora and fertility which made a quench for the new alternative technique for obtaining the food and medicinal plants of better quality, yield and for growing fresh produce in non-arable areas of the world”(286). I agree with Mugundha, the current agriculture system in the United States is destroying the soil and we need a new alternative now. My goal is to convince the reader that America’s school system should teach hydroponics; hydroponics gardening is better than commercial agriculture as a way to supply the growing population of the world with more than enough food to sustain it, wisely use our water resources, and reduce waste....
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...Cause and Effect of Overpopulation Nowadays, population growth is one of the intractable problems in many countries. The United Nations estimated that birth rate per day is about two hundred thousand people, and this number increases to twelve million per year, and it can lead to many consequences such as starving and conflicts. Moreover, migration, advanced technology, and increased life expectations are the main reasons of overpopulation. Population growth rate is boosted by people’s moving to another country. First, tourists are the primary cause of overcrowding. China National Tourism Administration statistics show that by the end of 2015, China had about 133.8 million inbound tourists coming from other countries and cities. Furthermore, immigration has a substantial impact on overpopulation. It has existed throughout the history and people immigrate in search of better living standards, education, and economic opportunities; moreover, most people are forced to migrate. According to Migration Policy Institute, roughly 41.3 millions of people immigrated to the United States in 2013, and this number contains 13.1 percent of total United States population. In conclusion, non-native people’s movements are the main cause of overpopulation. There are also several reasons of the growth of population because of native citizens. First of all, advanced technologies provide decreasing the death rate. According to the World Health Organization statistics, maternal mortality dropped...
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...Contents Introduction -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 History of the Canadian Border until 1914------------------------------------------------3 The role of the US and Canada in the Great War-----------------------------------------5 World war and its outcome ------------------------------------------------------------------7 Impact of the war on the US –Canadian relations-----------------------------------------8 Modern day relations between US and Canada--------------------------------------------10 American –Canadian economic relations --------------------------------------------------11 Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12 First World War and Canada-US Relations Introduction The First World War or the Great War was a remarkable event in the history of the humanity. It influenced and shaped our modern world to an extent like none else, and the reflections of today’s development traces its route back to the decisions taken during and post-World War I. No one had any idea about the huge armies that would be involved, the amount of ammunition that will be expended, and how many people would die. However, the role of Canada in the war is noteworthy, considering the fact that the nation decided to stand by the Britain’s side during the war with the only aim of opposing aggression. It neither fought for anything for itself...
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...The Japanese Market has become vital to the U.S. Economy. Japan is the number one export market for the United States. In 1993, Japan accounted for 37.6 percent of the total growth in U.S. value-added exports. U.S. food products, in particular, are a huge market in Japan. American agricultural exports to Japan in 1993 were $8.7 billion. About one-third of Japanese agricultural imports come from the United States. However, there is sometimes a mixed reception in Japan regarding products from the United States. Japanese, on one hand, wish to do things "American" ever since the Second World War. But, on the other hand, U.S. products are perceived as less sophisticated than Japanese and European food products, in product formulation or packaging. Also, U.S. products are considered not as safe as domestics ones, due to the use of pesticides and chemical additives and the partiality of the Japanese consumer to purchase Japanese items. The reason for the large volume of exporting to Japan is due to United State's comparative advantages. Food products are very expensive to produce in Japan. Japan's current labor shortage, combined with import restrictions and domestic price stabilization programs, have driven up domestic production costs. The Japanese food consumption pattern consist of an openness to foreign products and a strong interest in things international. All types of international cuisine can be found in Japan. Many varieties of tropical and...
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...microeconomic week 1 individual assignment July 11, 2012 Dr. Kory Eden Economic volume 1 The cost of food, fuel, and oil is the three main necessities of life support around the world. Food is important to everyone’s needs for life well being and nurturing for life support and health. Fuel and oil is essential for operating the vehicles transporting food, and supplies in demand, traveling, and driving to and from work. Fuel is one of the main resources used to help make everything work as individuals rely on for driving or operating. However, everything is mobilized by transportation, using fuel of some kind weather its gasoline, oil, or diesel in many of cases. In addition, cars, trucks, and trains, airplanes, buses work shopping and traveling to get things done more efficiently. Selling prices of goods such as food, clothing, household products, are extremely higher in the US market then foreign countries markets overseas mainly. The selling of imported product such as food and gas have caused most US based companies to use the service price elastic because of shipping and handling cost. Some are purchasing products through the chain of business in order to reduce some of the high cost of shipping. In the 1990’s to 2000 was at a stagnating drought time with no rain and farmers...
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...Whole Foods memorandum to: business Policy subject: Whole Foods Case Analysis ------------------------------------------------- date: [ 9/2/2012 ] INTRODUCTION The following is a situational analysis of Whole Foods. I will be explaining the company’s background, current situation, SWOT analysis, key issues and alternatives and my recommendations for the company. CURRENT SITUATION In 1980, Whole Foods Market evolved from a local supermarket that sold natural and health foods in Austin, Texas, into the world’s largest chain of natural and organic foods supermarket. In 2009, the company has sales revenue of $8 billion and in 2010, had 289 stores in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Over the past 32 years, Whole Foods has become the leader in organic and natural foods throughout the United States, helping the people of the United States become more aware of their food habits.. John Mackey, co-founder and CEO, believed that marketing high quality natural and organic foods to more and more customers in more and more communities would help spread the word that our diets are very important to way we live, allowing people to see how they can enjoy a long, healthy and pleasurable life. Mackey states that he wants Whole Foods to become an international brand synonymous with carrying the highest quality natural and organic foods available and being the best food retailer in every community in which Whole Foods stores were located. He wants Whole Foods to set...
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...four main effects we will experience are food supply shortages, wide spreading diseases, weather extremes, and rising sea levels. Food supply will be affected because droughts and heat waves will harm the crops. Diseases will come through insects such a mosquitos that carry Malaria. An example given in the article is that of a small, dry area in Africa. They don’t have much rain so there water supply was not very reliable. They built a dam to trap the water in, but the water and moisture drew disease carrying mosquitos to the area. Extreme weather will result from increased rain and moisture in the air from the heat. The ice caps will also continue to melt causing the ocean levels to rise substantially. We will likely see more occurrences of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. These are the four main ways that climate change will affect us based on the article. Furthering this analysis, I am now going to relate the issue of climate change with human ecology, environmental justice, globalization, and global stratification. Human Ecology is the study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. In regards to climate change, a human and their environment can be negatively affected. As we well know, disasters can happen in the environment in which we live. This was clearly demonstrated in the recent typhoon that hit the Philippines, and numerous hurricanes that have hit the United States in past and recent years. More locally here...
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