...SYNOPSIS OF DEAR UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST INTRODUCTION The book offers witty, charming and at times caustic answers to our most pressing concerns all through the lens of economics. Does money buy happiness? Is the one really out there? Can cities be greener than farms? Can you really dress for success? When’s the best time to settle down? The book provides brilliant, hilarious, unexpected and wise answers to these and other questions. It lends an outrageous, compassionate and indispensable perspective on anything that may ail a book well worth the investment. The author delivers an informative book, accomplished through the fluid use of economic principle to dissect everyday problems, as seen from Tim Harford’s “Dear Economist” column in the Financial Times newspaper of London. He uses fictional type questions that effortlessly lend themselves to his dry English humor, and both the questions and the answers he provides are quite interesting. Harford commonly employs sophisticated economic principles alongside everyday rules, and makes us entertained by his instructive empirical evidence. SUMMARY In this book, one of the letters is from a man who can’t decide whether to propose to his girlfriend on the upcoming Valentine’s Day, or wait until next year. The Undercover Economist discusses and applies the principle of value creation to the situation. He advises that value creating moves should be applied sooner rather than later, because of the limitation of time. However,...
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...Poverty in the United States “Financial writer Tim Harford, author of the new book The Undercover Economist Strikes Back, says the poverty line for a single American in 2012 was $30.52 per day. But Harford, says it's also about how people view themselves and how they're viewed by other people.” In my opinion unless you have experienced living in poverty you can never truly understand it. Poverty is a much more complex than what people think it is. It is not only about whether you can afford the basic necessities to survive or support a particular standard of living. Poverty is a common topic always argued between the have and have not. I feel that those who have should not judge the people that does not. Referring back to what Tim Harford...
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...such as banking. I would eventually like to run a business of my own. The other subjects I am studying at A Level provide a good grounding in skills and knowledge for this course. The knowledge gained in geography has sharpened my analytical skills as I have learnt to gather and evaluate data. This will be very important for my research skills. Politics is valuable as it helps me look at issues from different angles, improved my essay writing and most importantly, keeps me on top with contemporary world issues and offers insight into how/why political choices are made by governments around the world. My interest in the subject goes beyond the classroom, as I have recently become an avid reader of the economist and financial times. I also read the famous ‘the undercover economist’ which raises questions such as why the gap between rich and poor countries is so great, the economic principles behind daily events such as high coffee prices and how firms succeed in making us spend all our money. I believe by the end of my 3 years doing this course I would be able to answer these questions myself! In addition I recently attended a conference by the Institute of Economic Affairs(IEA) which raised important contemporary issues such as the market...
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...Suggested Reading List This section wouldn’t be complete without a list of some great books to read. Reading about reading and answering test questions is fine, but the best way to improve your reading ability is to read.This list is compiled by category.Help yourself. Choose one from the list, pick it up at a local bookstore or library, open the cover, and enjoy. Autobiography/Memoir Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X Black Boy by Richard Wright The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank Having Our Say by Sarah L. and Elizabeth Delany The Heroic Slave by Frederick Douglass I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing by Maya Angelou Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi Coming of Age The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros A Separate Peace by John Knowles Detective/Thriller Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries The “A is for…” series by Sue Grafton The Client by John Grisham Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Shining by Stephen King Watcher by Dean R. Koontz Fantasy The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony Any Harry Potter book by J.K. Rowling Historical/Social Issues The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel The Color Purple by Alice Walker The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Lord of the Flies by William Golding ...
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...The word “industrialized nation” is used by many economists to describe a more economically development country. It allows a higher living standards, advance technology, and other advancements. The gap between rich and poor is bigger than in any other advanced country, but most people are not aware of this. After watching the video “Wealth Inequally in America,” I was not surprise but disgusted. What happen to the American dream; working hard and going to school can change your life. Are we living into a “bamboozle” want-to-be fantasy? It seems like reality does not exist anymore; everything is a make believe society. Reality is often not what we think it is, is the American dream a hoax? Is it still possible to start out poor in this country, work hard and become rich? Recently, I watch this show “Undercover Boss” just to sum it up wealth CEO pretending to be a laborers which at the end offering workers various funds. According to the video “CEO pay is 380 times average workers,” (Politizane, 2012). In the past 40 years,...
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...Hiromi Ochi ENG112 Professor Ashley Farmer Unit 2 Essay Sweatshops and the benefits of Fair Trade The great Abraham Lincoln once said, “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” In many countries worldwide, people are being exploited on a daily basis by factories around the world known as sweatshops. A sweatshop is a term used to describe a working environment, commonly factories manufacturing textile goods that are deemed dangerous due to poor working conditions. Workers who work at these sweatshops often endure sexual, physical and mental abuse, who work long unreasonable hours with no leave, lacking any health care benefits whatsoever for meager wage. These sweatshops often employ the usage of child labor and women, as they are easier to control. Today, my research essay will be on sweatshops and how the benefits of Fair trade and anti-sweatshop activism in the long run, can be beneficial. I will explore the poor and harsh working conditions of these workers, how working in a sweatshop can affect their health both mentally and physically, how child labor is being employed in these sweatshops and how women and children are mainly the ones being exploited in these sweatshops. More often than not, many Americans assume that these acts are not ongoing today, and are oblivious to the ways we as consumers, are actually supporting these organizations unknowingly. Authorities should further...
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...The Best Way of Communication Senhua Ma Level 6D Composition Mr. Ivey October 11, 2013 The Best Way of Communication Nowadays, much of the communication that takes place involves some sort of equipment, such as faxes, telephone calls, and e-mails. According to an investigation by The Associated Press (2010), communication equipment is becoming indispensable to people. In other words, people rely on it as never before. Is it proof that face-to-face communication is no longer important? Absolutely not! Face-to-face communication lets people directly know the actual personalities of people, and interact with each other without any barriers. Although as advanced technology develops, people have many new ways to keep connect with others, face-to-face communication is still the most important and effective method to communicate with others in education, business, and daily life. Education Online education is a teaching method, which uses a network media to allow students and teachers to carry out teaching and learning activities even thousands of miles away. First of all, it really breaks the constraints of time and space, because students and teachers do not have to go to school buildings. They can learn or teach anytime and anywhere. For example, Open University of Britain offers an online and distance education system called ODE, which has a worldwide reputation for education. This program, which has flexible teaching time, exclusively utilizes the online mode of teaching...
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...http://www.mysensex.comPESTLE « Pestle Summary: India | Main | Pestle summary: USA » 03/28/2009 Pestle Summary China Well, I guess this is where I get controversial, at least a bit. There are others who have predicted that China was in for a tough ride over the past few years, but they mostly got ignored, or were proven wrong by events. And, to a certain extent, if you cry doom long enough you'll always get proved right, given the laws of entropy. So this is a bit 'faux' controversy... This is the introductory note taking exercise for a Pestle analysis of China, drawn on conventional internet sources such as Wikipedia, the CIA World Factbook and Nationmaster. China is the most populous country in the world, with 1.34 billion people. It has the third largest GDP, with $4.84 trillion, behind Japan and the U.S. Like India, the currency and conditions make it useful to look at some statistics using Purchasing Power Parity, which bumps up China's GDP to $7.8 trillion, which would move it ahead of Japan. It also is the second in the world in annual military spending, although that needs a bit of context, as the world's number two spends about 15% of what the world number one (USA) spends. But with PPP, that looks like more money, and insofar as it is used to pay salaries, rather than buy Israeli rocket parts, PPP is valid in this context too. China is badly governed by the Communist Party, and in my five-year Pestle forecast I will be making the case that misgovernance will...
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...Morgan Register Professor Faithful English 112 28 November 2015 Learn More, Earn More Think back to your first job...what was your pay starting out? Entry levels jobs in the past certainly did not earn higher wages like those being fought for today. Fast food workers are raging for an increase in minimum wage-to perform jobs that don’t require a high school diploma, or college education...little to no academic requirements are needed to work at a fast food restaurant. Minimum wage in North Carolina is currently $7.25, whereas fast food workers would like to raise minimum wage to $15.00. A person with minimum skills should not receive higher than current minimum wage. Fight for $15 is a Workers Organizing Committee, a union of fast food workers raging ands striking for higher pay. This organization was founded in November of 2012. These workers believe that they are forced to live in poverty, because they earn a wage of $7.25. “We work for corporations that are making tremendous profits, but do not pay employees enough to support our families and cover basic needs.” (Fight for $15) These jobs are not meant to be careers for adults with families. These jobs are meant for teenagers that live at home and are in high school or college. Clearly, no one can raise a family off of $15,080 annual income, before taxes, if they worked 40 hours a week. But, a high school or college student can. One of the strikers says, “Low wage jobs are the fastest growing jobs in...
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...IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper Business Ethics Section-A Part One: Multiple Choices: 1. (a) Information Technology 2. (a) Equal distribution of all benefits & burdens on peoples 3. (c) Retributive Justice 4. (b) Free Markets 5. (d) Historical Materialism 6. (a) Pure Monopoly 7. (a) Highly concentrated Markets 8. (b) Chlorofluorocarbons 9. (b) Market Cost 10. (c) Both (a) and (b) Part Two: 1. Definition: Mineral depletion is the ratio of the value of the stock of mineral resources to the remaining reserve lifetime (capped at 25 years). It covers tin, gold, lead, zinc, iron, copper, nickel, silver, bauxite, and phosphate. At first glance, sustainability and mineral resource development appear to be in conflict. Mining depletes finite resources and in a strict sense, therefore, is inherently unsustainable. For instance, there is only a finite amount of copper in the earth’s crust, and each unit of copper extracted increases the fraction of the total copper resource base that is in use. Thus, it can be argued that if we continue to mine we will eventually exhaust the available supply of minerals. This perspective, however, ignores the dynamics of mineral supplies. In practice the non-renewable character of minerals may be less constraining than it might seem. Five factors make the benefits from mining much more sustainable than they initially appear to be. First, through the process of exploration and development...
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...[pic] Foxconn ----- current issue and future forecast Table of Content Executive summary 4 Introduction 5 Overview of the company 5 Economic 7 Current Issue 7 Responding the suicide case in China in economic aspect 7 Current economic issue in Foxconn 7 Future opportunities and risk in Asia region 8 Opportunities 8 Risk 9 Recommendation 10 Political 10 Current Issue 10 Suicide case on political aspect 11 The relationship with China and Taiwan 11 Future forecast 12 Opportunity 12 Risk 13 Recommendation 13 Social 14 Current Issue 14 Current social issues in Foxconn- Suicide Case 14 DISCUSSION ON LABOR, HUMAN RIGHTS AND OHS 15 Future Opportunity and Risk 18 Opportunity 18 Risk 18 Recommendation 18 Environment 19 Current issues 19 Future opportunities and Risks 19 Opportunity 19 Risks 23 Recommendations 24 Conclusion 25 Reference 26 Executive summary This report provides the current economic, political, social and environmental issues, future opportunities and risks, and recommendations for Foxconn. There were a series of suicide incidents happened in Foxconn around 2010 which puts the company under the spotlight. The huge net deficiency in 2010 is the biggest issue in economic part. The political issues involved the...
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...Social Problems and the Free Market: A Brief Look at Illegal Drugs and Its Market Nicola Jones Baker Kaplan University Professor T. Ayanou, PhD February 17, 2015 The present research report seeks to show the relationship between a “free market” economy and the acquisition and dispensing of illegal drugs. This report will begin with a general look at what constitutes a “free market” economy and how its aspects of supply and demand are the very cornerstones of its existence. After discussing the concepts of supply and demand, the author will then address how the tenants of supply and demand relate to individual freedoms and individual competitions. Following this section of the present report, the author will seek to discuss illegal drug markets. In the final and closing section of this research report, the author will argue that the social problems created by illegal drug addiction could be managed in a “free market” economy that views addiction as a treatable disease rather than a criminal offense. The fundamental underpinning of a free market system is the competition it generates among those who are vying for the consumers’ dollars. The goal of the free market is for person (A) to provide a good or service that is wanted by customer (B). Person (A) and customer (B) then negotiate a price for that particular good or service. If person (A)’s price is too high or the good or service is inadequate, customer (B) then has the right and freedom to go to person...
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...Hotel companies' contribution to improving the quality of life of local communities and the well-being of their employees Paulina Bohdanowicz1 and Piotr Zientara2 Correspondence: Paulina Bohdanowicz, E-mail: paulina_bohdanowicz@yahoo.com 1has a PhD in energy technology (Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden) and a PhD in social science (University of Gdansk, Poland). Bohdanowicz is currently working in the industry and guest lecturing at tourism and hospitality schools. 2has a PhD in economics (University of Gdańsk, Poland), MA in HRM (College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium), Diploma of Economics (Paris Chamber of Commerce, France), DEUF (Jean Moulin III University, Lyon, France). He is currently lecturer in HRM at Gdańsk Higher School of Administration and consultant for small and medium-sized enterprises. Received 10 December 2008; Revised 10 December 2008; Published online 9 March 2009. Top of page Abstract The aim of this paper is to discuss the question of how hotel companies contribute to improving the quality of life in host communities and the well-being of their employees. A number of research techniques were employed, which allowed to see what the hospitality sector has done to further the aforesaid end. The findings are placed into the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and it is argued that, in recent years, hotel companies have gone to great lengths to improve the quality of life in local communities and the well-being of their employees...
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...Rap COINTELPRO: Subverting the power of Hip-Hop By FinalCall.com News Updated Jul 24, 2005, 10:53 pm One-on-One with BlackElectorate.com's Cedric Muhammad |[pic] | Political commentator Cedric Muhammad published a series of Rap COINTELPRO articles on his website (BlackElectorate.com) beginning in 2000 initially dealing with the suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths of Tupac Shakur (2Pac) and Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.) With great insight, in later parts of the series, Brother Cedric broadened the topical range identifying and investigating the stratagem implemented by a growing number of police departments across the United States dealing specifically with increased surveillance – some would even say harassment – of Hip Hop artists and the peculiar treatment of crimes occurring within the Hip Hop community. Brother Cedric spoke with Final Call Online Correspondent Ashahed Muhammad about the relationship of those subjects to the global strategy of the infamous J. Edgar Hoover – whose plan was to stifle progressive activism within the Black community and to prevent the rise of a "Black Messiah." Ashahed Muhammad (AM): Thank you for taking time out of your schedule. I know you are busy writing, publishing, being a consultant and political advisor, etc. I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me today. Cedric Muhammad (CM): Thank you. And it’s of course the greatest honor to be interviewed...
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...Illegal Immigration in the United States Illegal immigration has been the subject of debate and of controversial views for a substantial amount of time. The aggravations toward undocumented aliens mainly reside on the financial burden and dangers they represent for the rest of the population. Illegal immigrants are generally defined as unauthorized residents that are foreign-born non-citizens and who are not legal residents. There are two ways an unlawful status can occur, the most common one happening when individuals are entering the United States without the appropriate paperwork, mandatory inspections, and background searches. In the second occurrence, individuals were first legally admitted for a certain period of time predetermined by authorities and this either as students, visitors, or temporary workers. Once the time frame expired, they omitted to leave the country as they were mandated by law, thus becoming illegal residents. According to The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) latest report, it is estimated that over ten million illegal immigrants were currently residing in America as of January 2010, from which about 60% originally lived in the country of Mexico. Furthermore, the official statistics revealed that the overall population of illegal immigrants in the United States has enlarged by almost 30% in the past decade alone; this means that more than two million unauthorized aliens came to this country since the year 2000 (1). From such alarming numbers...
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