...To what extent do organizations like the IMF, WTO, and World Bank challenge the nation state’s ability to shape domestic economic and social policy? The World Trade Organization welcomed with open arms Russia in 2012. This would open up trade possibilities for many countries in Asia, Europe and even the US. Some US companies, like Caterpillar, are already exporting a substantial amount to Russia. However, many in Congress do not want to grant Russia permanent normal trade status because of the way Russia has handled many political situations. As Andrew Kramer brought out in his NY Times article, “Congress has balked at the Obama administration’s request to grant Russia permanent normal trade relation status”. This could lead to retaliation by Russia against US companies by applying higher tariffs on their imported goods. According to Mr. Kramer’s article, the US company Caterpillar has sold 2 billion dollars worth of equipment to Russia in the last 5 years. However, President Obama’s administration, as well as his predecessors, has pushed to open up more trade with Russia. The WTO requires that all member nations have applied the same trade rules. Therefore, since the US is the largest financial contributor to the WTO, it would seem to be expected that it would play by the rules. So the WTO certainly has an effect on how the US constructs it trade policy with Russia. The pressure from inside the country, especially from those who think that Congress’ inaction could cost US...
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...Impacts Of Climate Change in the Caricom Countries What is Climate Change? According to ‘oxforddictionary.com’ Climate change is a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. Climate change is already beginning to transform life on Earth since around the globe, seasons are shifting, temperatures are climbing and sea levels are rising. Pertaining to climate change it has both natural and human causes and short and long climate forcer. Also it has dangerous effects such as higher temperatures, changing landscapes etc. In the Caribbean, the states in the region formed an organisation that is called Caricom where they joined together to work on various matters. The fifteen (15) Caricom countries are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Focusing on climate changes in the fifteen (15) Caricom countries in the Caribbean, it is considered to be one of the biggest threats to nature and humanity towards them because it can bring about negative and destructive effects caused by short lived and long lived climatic forces. Mostly likely in the Caricom countries, they face potential economic impacts of climate change with their agriculture...
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...Vulnerable Climate Variable climate and general climate change continues to impact all sectors of the economy, including human health and ecosystems. Dhaka, Bangladesh and Jakarta, Indonesia are two very different megacities but they also share some commonalties in their evolution and current issues with regard to vulnerability of their climates. Flooding, tropical cyclones, and low adaptive capacity threaten their existence. Dhaka is the most vulnerable city in Asia to climate change impacts due to the fact they are poorer and less developed. Jakarta is the second most vulnerable city to climate change impacts, even though it is a more developed country it faces some of the same issues as Dhaka. Changes in climate will have a huge impact on the economy of both countries, Jakarta would be effected more since Jakarta makes up a large part of Indonesia’s GDP. Dhaka and Jakarta are the capital and center of political, cultural and economic life of their countries. They are both the largest cities in their countries. The British East India Company ruled Dhaka, made infrastructure improvements such as housing, roads, and water supply to serve the city. Jakarta’s infrastructure improvements were a combination of efforts by both the Dutch and British. The infrastructure was to support a small population, and both cities have grown rapidly and infrastructure is severely lagging. Indonesia and Bangladesh are both democratic republics gaining their independence in 1945 and 1950...
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...can lead to Global warming, which would have catastrophic consequences for life on the planet. Analyses have shown that since 1800, the average temperature has increased by 0.7*C. The effect of retaining heat in the Earth's atmosphere is called the greenhouse effect and the gases that have the most significant effect of this place called greenhouse effect gases. Simply put, the gases created almost a kind of foil around the earth's atmosphere and thus produce warming of Earth's atmosphere, known as global warming. Global warming refers to the long-term changes in temperature, wind, precipitation, humidity, and other changes in the elements of the Earth's climate (Roebuck, 2003). Natural processes such as solar energy (heat her part), volcanic activity and variations in the Earth's orbit around the sun may be the causes of such fluctuations in the climate balance. However, the changes in climate parameters can affect the change in concentration of certain gases in the atmosphere and to modify the absorption of cosmic radiation reaching the Earth, and consequently leads to an increased warming of the atmosphere, the earth's crust and the global temperature increase must. The permanence of the conditions on Earth is crucial for the survival of human and other species and is achieved by, among other things, the stability of average temperature on Earth (Naomi, 2004). To global warming is due to emissions of so-called greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2)...
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...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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...Renewable Energy With a growing population around the world, the need for energy is grows as well. In modern society, we use electrical energy for multiple tasks such as operating vehicle, machines, for everyday uses. Every year the electrical energy needed requires mass amounts for such purposes. Which is created in power plants, for example, the Hoover Dam. Scientists continue to look for alternative sources to quench our thirst for more power. Renewable energy is a great example of what scientists are striving for to help quench the thirst. It is a natural resource that can also be naturally replenished. Renewable energy is the best solution for energy consumption, to ensure our survival. Renewable energy is the most reliable resource due to that it provides benefits globally and to human individuals. It helps maintain our energy infrastructure, well as provides long-term benefits. It helps combat global warming and other problems associated with fossil fuels. The environmental quality and preservation is the goal of the use of renewable energy. Renewable energy should be considered throughout the world because of the potential impact we may have on the environment. Renewable energy is the best solution because it provides long-term and environmental benefits. On a global scale renewable energy supplies a significant benefit to our planet such as, lowering energy costs, job creation, and preserving the environment. With energy costs continuously on the rise and more frequent...
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...management should perform an interim goodwill impairment test at the end of third quarter of fiscal year 2009; and that management should not carry forward the 09 goodwill impairment test for Fitness and Hockey in 2010. Galaxy is in a competitive industry in which growth and profitability are tied to market and consumer demand. During 2010, as discussed in a press release by the management, Galaxy faced strong competition from Chinese imports that are sold at a lower price. Reduced consumer spending resulted from a slowing economy also hurt Galaxy’s sales. These “unanticipated competition” coming from affordable Chinese imports, and “significant adverse changes in the business climate” represented by a weak economy and reduced consumer spending are circumstances under which the ASC 350-20-35-30 mandates a goodwill impairment test between annual tests3. Therefore, an impairment test shall be carried out as of Sep 30, 2010. Figure 1 I also tracked the changes in control premium to gauge the accuracy of the fair value estimates assuming the 2009 fair values were carried forward. Control premium is the portion of fair value in excess of market capitalization. Control premium represents the added value that comes from controlling the entire business as opposed to a number of investors holding the company’s shares individually. As illustrated in figure 1, if fair value of the units were truly what the previous auditor had estimated- $3,020 million, the estimated implied control...
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...The 11th hour Story of the film film is preceded by the introduction of the environmental problems that plagued the world today. This introduction is intended to give an overview to the viewers about the negative impacts caused by human activities that are less responsible for the stability of the environment in general. Then proceed with the analytical discussion about things that appear in and around the environmental issue, and ended with optimistic statements proposed to raise the confidence of the audience to carry out concrete actions for the earth. In parts of the we can see about 50 leading scientists, thinkers, leaders, oceanographer, author, etc, asking questions or presenting facts relating to the environmental issues facing the planet and the prospects for maintaining the stability of the Earth's environment the first hour documentary presents a frightening picture, especially the degradation of environmental conditions that hit the planet, telling many sins conducted on the environment (such as pollution, deforestation, excessive mining), indicate the reasons or factors behind the spread of environmental damage (such as corporate greed, the failure of public policy, the lack of leadership and ignorance), and the meaning and impact of all of the existence of mankind. In the final third of the documentary, after a series of bleak picture of the condition of the planet. Improved mood viewers try again with the appearance of a wide selection of solutions describing...
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...on the detrimental effects of fossil fuel consumption, some politicians and many others in the United States were still arguing otherwise. In Issue 8, Seth Schulman argued that this was due to the oil industry’s brilliant “disinformation campaign.” Modeled after the tobacco industry’s strategy to fool the public on the harmful effects of smoking, ExxonMobil employed tactics such as creating uncertainty, laundering information, hiring fake scientists to back their efforts, shifting the focus of the debate, and lobbying government officials to stir up doubts on global warming. With regards to the opposition, Ivan Osorio used those same tactics previously mentioned to refute the scientific fact. Instead of focusing on the actual climate changes due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases, Osorio shifted the focus to the people who believed in it. He used inflammatory words such as “jihad” and associated them with the scientists who...
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...management should perform an interim goodwill impairment test at the end of third quarter of fiscal year 2009; and that management should not carry forward the 09 goodwill impairment test for Fitness and Hockey in 2010. Galaxy is in a competitive industry in which growth and profitability are tied to market and consumer demand. During 2010, as discussed in a press release by the management, Galaxy faced strong competition from Chinese imports that are sold at a lower price. Reduced consumer spending resulted from a slowing economy also hurt Galaxy’s sales. These “unanticipated competition” coming from affordable Chinese imports, and “significant adverse changes in the business climate” represented by a weak economy and reduced consumer spending are circumstances under which the ASC 350-20-35-30 mandates a goodwill impairment test between annual tests3. Therefore, an impairment test shall be carried out as of Sep 30, 2010. Figure 1 I also tracked the changes in control premium to gauge the accuracy of the fair value estimates assuming the 2009 fair values were carried forward. Control premium is the portion of fair value in excess of market capitalization. Control premium represents the added value that comes from controlling the entire business as opposed to a number of investors holding the company’s shares...
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...I. The Brazilian Macro-Environment Investment Climate Analysis Brazil is quite interesting place for investment and many companies are entering this developing market. Its high GDP growth, large economy, developed infrastructure, liberalisation of public sector and many Foreign Direct Investments have turned this struggling country into developing nation that holds 2nd place (China is 1st) in amount of foreign capital invested into the economy. In last 5 years, Brazilian government has been quite stable and it seems that Brazil has a sound strategy when it comes to taking its economy into top performing ones. Government is introducing new, more liberal competition laws and it is introducing new forms of investments, such as PPP, or Private Public Property, where both the investor and government share the risks by holding equal stakes in the investments. But, let us not be blinded by the Brazilian marketing skills and their portraying of real investment climate. There is for sure a lot of space for improvement. We will perform a few analyses, which will give us precise insights into the environmental conditions for investing in Brazil, and through analysing this country; we shall decide what type of investment is the most suitable for Red & Green. PESTL Analysis Investment climate is the economical, institutional, policy, and regulatory environment in which firms operate. A PESTL analysis is an analysis of the external macro-environment that affects all firms....
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...Consequently, the trapping of the heat from the sun called the greenhouse effect hurts our atmosphere if overproduced. Earth's worldwide temperature is inevitably rising to an all time high every year. As a result, global warming becomes more and more ominous. This global warming has in fact been an issue ever since the industrial revolution era. Humans are mostly to blame...
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...prior year step 1 analysis of Big Time could be used based on the fact that assets and liabilities had not significantly changed, the most recent fair value determination had exceeded the carrying value amount by substantial margins, and that no events or circumstances would cause the fair value to go below the book value. The issues at hand are whether or not an interim impairment analysis should have been performed as opposed to carrying forward the prior year step 1 analysis. Management decided not to perform an interim test in 2010. An example to support this decision comes from Vulcan Materials which cited “write down can trigger a violation of bank covenants (as debt to equity rises after the equity is reduced). Further, it can hurt valuation ratios such as price to book value”. Further, a similar affect to the bank obligations would be management not wanting to...
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...drinking water and pollutes the air, and causes negative health affects to locals near fracking and workers.“If fracking gas merely displaces efforts to develop cleaner, non-carbon, energy sources...the doom and gloom of more rapid global climate change will be realized,” (Times, 2015). Drilling companies emphasize that fracking is profitable if done correctly, but even done correctly there are frequently leaks and accidents do happen. Fracking could be compared to nuclear power plants. Nuclear power plants provide clean, low cost energy, and provide many jobs. Although those benefits are all fine and good, there is also the chance that the powerplant will meltdown and release radiation into the surrounding area. The meltdown of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan in 2011 brought global attention to the consequences of nuclear power. Other countries considering using hydraulic fracking as a source of energy look at the results experienced by the United States to make the final decision, and many are leaning towards banning fracking, (BBC, 2015). "Shale gas is not the solution to the UK's energy challenges. We need a 21st century energy revolution based on efficiency and renewables, not more fossil fuels that will add to climate change." (BBC, 2015). Because of these findings, fracking should not be allowed to continue in Pennsylvania or anywhere...
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...conditions. Income inequality is the unequal distribution of income among individuals of an economy (Income Inequality, 2014). In other words, the difference between the wealthy individual’s income and middle-class to poverty-stricken individuals’ incomes continues to increase. Such disparity can have detrimental effects on the economy. Those individuals who have a low-income are less able to purchase goods. As income inequality between individuals increases, money moves from those who used it to purchase their basic needs to those who already had enough and more. This then causes a weakened aggregate demand for products because the middle-class and poor can no longer afford...
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