...The Bottom Billion The development of the poor countries has been a challenge during the past decades. The world consists of one billion rich people and five billion poor people. Most of five billion live in countries that are developing. However, there are one billion people that live in countries that are falling behind and even apart. These countries are facing a bigger problem that one can imagine. The world is becoming globalized. Countries are reducing import quotas and export fees facilitating trade with each other. Also, countries are starting to provide resources, materials and technology to each other allowing them to develop at amazing speed. On the other hand, the bottom billion countries are diverging from this economy, since they are stuck in one of the four traps. The four traps are the conflict trap, the natural resource trap, the trap of being landlocked and the trap of bad governance in a small country. These traps will not allow billion bottom countries to become globalized; however, it can be argued that some of these traps can facilitate the incorporation of a country to world’s economy. Currently, most of the bottom billion people live in African countries. The major problem with these countries is not that they are poor, but that they are not developing. In fact, most of the bottom billion countries are experiencing negative growth and the living standards are lowering each year. These countries are declining on average 0.5 percent per year. Furthermore...
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...Angola’s mislaid billions Introduction and history Angola is one of the larger African countries located in the southwestern part of the continent. The capital city is Luanda, and official language is Portuguese. According to United States Department of State website, “Despite its extensive oil and mineral reserves and arable land suitable for large-scale production of numerous crops, Angola has some of the world's lowest social development indicators” (Angola. Country Specific Information, 2012, para. #1). Due to these massive oil reserves, it seems that Angola should flourish and become one of the most developed African countries. Sadly, most of this country’s citizens seem to be living in extreme poverty. One can only try to guess why this would be the case. After being a colony of Portugal, Angola has gone through some rough times. Armed conflict did help with gaining the independence but right after the conflict was over, and independence achieved, civil war has taken over and slowed down any potential successes. “Development was severely restricted by a 27-year civil war that broke out upon independence in 1975 and destroyed most of the country's infrastructure. Since the war ended in 2002, the economy grew at a double-digit annual rate until the global financial crisis undercut oil revenue” (Angola. Country Specific Information, 2012, para. #1). This country has had a large potential due to its oil reserves. Because Angola exports most of its oil, it could benefit...
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...A billion shades of grey The article “A billion shades of grey” at “The Economist” deals with a demographic problem concerned in the whole world: high qualified personnel continues to work instead to go in retirement. Furthermore, well-educated staff increasingly works longer than the less-skilled worldwide. This fact also influences on the income of the personnel. The top-level personnel is working longer and receiving greater than the bottom-level personnel. The consequences also reflect on the society and individuals. The amount of the old people is staggering increased and they will live longer than before. The experience of the last century showed that people were spending more time in retirement than at work, what steers to “secular stagnation”. The situation in America is different: young low-qualified people throw up their jobs, whereas well-educated “baby-boomers” continue to work. Many European policies support the early retirement, but to obtain a sufficient retirement means to work longer. The technological progress also plays a big role, but some skills do not disappear with age and they are not necessary. In one’s part manual work becomes more difficult for older people and public pensions attract more than low wages. However, not every economical effect is profound. To avoid the disparity, governments should impose higher inheritance taxes for those old people, who accumulates wealth for their legatees. Furthermore, governments should reform...
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...is the truth of how old is the earth. There is scientific evidence of how old it is, some would say it’s Billions of years and some would say Thousands of years old. There is a lot of factors like rocks layers, plants, animals, sun, moon and many more facts that can predict how many years has the earth been around. But to find the truth if it’s a Billions of years or Thousands of years we would have to compare the two and even look into scientist discovering facts. Or do we go off the what God has created and the Bibles authors? When we read about how or what makes the earth Billions of years? There was a Geologic time scale that was invented in 1800’s. Within this invention, this scale was only to find the geologic ages, with out the information of periods or events. By this we believe the earth was formed about 4 billions years ago. This dates have been proven by analyzing samples of rocks , solar systems, and minerals. Scientist have collaborated and scientifically giving proves of objects, like how old it the oldest rock on earth or the oldest mineral and where did it come from. Material (Oldest earth rock), Age (4.0 billion years), and Methods (radiometric) our how the geologic scale combinations of specific source that tell the what scientist have documented and dated there sources. These are examples of why some assume the age of the earth is a billion years old. One big scientists believer was James Hutton studied rocks and fossils and believed the they...
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...Analysing the video, we conclude that both those who work in the foreign exchange market or are mere speculators have to be constantly monitoring the price of currencies. These currency quotes in the international foreign exchange market can fluctuate according to economic, social environment, among others, 24 hours a day. Therefore, there are times when the currency can fluctuate within a wide margin in a short time and, depending on the variation, there is the risk of losses. In addition, such losses may be greater than the client's capital guarded in the company. In the video we found that the dealers were treated differently in each country, while in America they received commissons and could be fired, in England they did not run that risk but didn’t received commissons This need to be always focused on the market, even when everything seems to be quiet, and to be constantly analyzing the news to understand the trends that the currency will suffer is quite exhausting, this is probably way these dealers are aged between 20 and 35 years old. These dealers always have to a be at 100% to understand really well the market. For example a purchase of 20 million pounds can mean that somebody is wanting to buy English goods, as may also mean that somebody is trying to speculate that the pound will rise. It is therefore a world with many tricks where dealers help each other to keep a disguise and not devalue the currency they want to sell and where besides a lot of skill, a little...
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...------------------------------------------------- Analysis and interpretation – The Nine Billion Names of God In 1953 Arthur C. Clarke wrote “The Nine Billion Names of God”. This is a science fictive short story where we meet a group of lamas who wants to write the nine billion names of God. Atypically, the lamas will not use the ‘normal’ alphabet; but their own alphabet where they have invented and written in their holy books. In over three centuries they have been typing these names down, and it would take another fifteen thousand years for them to complete the chore. Therefore, they purchase a special computer, Mark V, from a company, which can calculate and write all the letters down. Compared to the fifteen thousand years the computer will do the job in a hundred days. Later on we are following two engineers named George and Chuck. They have been hired to complete the project. However, one day Sam Jaffe tells Chuck the real purpose of this task. The real purpose is to find all the names and when that is been done, God’s intention with the mankind will be achieved and the universe will cease to exist. Of course, the scientists think that it is pure nonsense and they begin to plan their home travel at the same time, as the computer would be done printing out the names. They are afraid of the monks’ reactions when their task will fail, because of course it will fail. Unfortunately, on their way to the plane, they look up and suddenly without a fuss, the stars are going out...
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...Apple had an impressive $147 billion in cash at the end of last quarter. Carl Icahn owns a nearly $2 billion stake in Apple that he wants the company to issue a $150 billion buyback of its stock, believe the company to be extremely undervalued, Icahn, who considers Cook a good CEO, projects Apple’s stock can rise to more than $625 if it buys back shares. The catalyst would be a significant reduction in the share count, boosting EPS. Assuming moderate earnings growth, Icahn thinks the stock could return to its all-time high near $700. Icahn also wants Apple to borrow $150 billion at a 3 percent interest rate to fund the purchases and avoid paying more taxes, the person added. As Apple’s stock has slumped more than 20 percent in the past year on investor concerns about a dearth of new hit products, the iPad maker has become more vulnerable to calls for change from activists such as Icahn and hedge-fund manager David Einhorn. Apple is already implementing a substantial capital return program -- which includes approximately $60 billion in share repurchases between 2013 and 2015 -- but Icahn wants an even bigger and faster buyback. Their main argument is that if Apple significantly increases its stock buyback that will crowd out investment in research and development and other initiatives to boost innovation. This would in turn cause Apple to fall behind competitors, leading to a collapse in profitability. Does corporate raider Carl Icahns ideas pose a threat to Apple...
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...HALLIBURTON IS BUYING BAKER HUGHES FOR $34.6 BILLION 2 On Monday November 17, the Halliburton Corporation announced that they will be buying Baker Hughes for $34.6 billion dollars. The Halliburton Company is the world’s second largest oil field services and production company, specializing in delivering a wide variety of products and services ranging from exploration, development, and the production of oil and gas, to oil and gas companies the world over, with locations in 80 countries, and over 80,000 employees representing 140 different nationalities Kelley, 2014). Baker Hughes, interestingly enough was Halliburton’s number three ranked competitor. Halliburton’s SWOT analysis Strength * Considered one of the second largest oil-field services companies in the world * Global organization with locations in in over 80 countries * Has over 80,000 highly skilled employees * Products and services for maintaining the reservoir life cycle. * CSR initiatives and environmental programs have been undertaken aggressively * Strong brand name and brand equity Weakness * Government intervention on regulatory policies affect operational efficiencies * Lack of newly found oil reserves and escalating cost of operation Opportunity * Increasing fuel/oil prices * Increasing number of natural shell oil gas wells * An increasing number of oil wells * Developing countries growth infrastructure presents more opportunities for construction...
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...One billion transistors, One Uniprocessor, One Chip Alma C. Ryan GS1145 ITT Technical Institute One billion transistors, One Uniprocessor, One Chip I read an article from University of Michigan 1997 about one billion transistors, one processor, one chip. It has 5 authors- Patt Y., Patel S., Evers M., Friendly D., and Stark J.. At beginning the authors, lead me to believe they were hesitant of the existent of the one billion transistors, one uniprocessor in one chip. They have comments such as, "A billion transistors on single chips presents opportunities for new levels of computing capability". The other comment was, "The basis design problem is partitioning". However, later on, after giving their suggestions, the authors seemed to agree on the released of the said chip. This article was written in 1997. Few years before the said chip was put in the market. This article discussed both pros and cons of the upcoming one chip. One of the pros was , "the uniprocessor will be high performance". Another pros was, "that this chip will have large trace cache, and large number of reservation stations". Additionally" this chip will also have a sufficient resolution and forwarding logic" another pros that the authors mentioned. But the authors mentioned more cons than pros. Some of the cons discussed were: "one billion transistors falls far short of an infinite number, the highest performance computing system will not...
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...Legalizing marijuana means Billions of Tax Dollars and Federal Savings On average, Americans spends about US$5 billions on marijuana every year or equivalent to 1% of the GDP, it is almost the same amount that alcohol contributes to the country’s GDP (Daryal). The only problem is that the marijuana revenue mostly goes into the pocket of drug syndicates and mafias because they comprise the largest portion of distribution in marijuana market. On the other hand, the federal government admits that the war on drugs is very expensive and the cost is untimely due to the current budget-crunch and federal deficits. In average each U.S. state spends about US$1 billion just to enforce marijuana laws. The top spenders in marijuana law enforcement are New York with US$3 billion, Texas with US$2 billion and the rest of the states spends between US$45 million to US$1 billion annually. Asa Hutchinson, the former DEA director mentioned in a CNBC interview that the cost to fight marijuana is worth it and the people should not mind the cost, but instead look into the benefits it would bring to the country. However, it is quite difficult to see what the benefits really are, law enforcement says that criminalizing marijuana will reduce the number of accidents involving people under the influence of marijuana, reduce incidents of violence caused by intoxication of the drug, reduce the number of drug dependents and prevent the health risk that accompanies the use of marijuana. But these arguments...
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...May 4, 2013 Joe Rogers, GlobalREACH Capital Markets Blog Post Apple’s $17 billion bond issue dwarfs small business lending Why can't Small Businesses stock up on cheap cash, too? Last week Apple Computer borrowed $17 billion in one day from institutional investors via a very complex offering that demonstrated the depth and efficiency of the global capital market. Stan Schroeder reveals some insights in Mashable about how Apple, in one day, went from being debt-free to having obligations equal to 3.1% of the bank loans currently outstanding to all US small business owners combined, which amounted to $539.7 billion at the end of 2012. In fact, Apple's $17 billion in loan proceeds represents more than several large banks lent to their small business customers during all of last year. For example, Joshua Sophy reporting for SmallBizTrends last month confirms that the American Express Bank ($16.9B), US Bank ($13.8B), PNC ($9.9B) and Citibank ($9.1B) each lent less in 2012 to small business owners than Apple borrowed on Tuesday. And JP Morgan Chase, the largest US bank with almost $2 trillion in assets, only lent $19.8 billion to small businesses in 2012 or about 1% of their assets. So what made this Apple transaction so noteworthy and why can't Mom & Pop on Main Street get in on the cheap money party? In short it's because the global capital market works great with scale but has become very dysfunctional here at home for small and even medium-sized, middle market companies. And...
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...The Global Submarine Market 2015-2025 report provides readers with a detailed analysis of both historic and forecast global industry values, factors influencing demand, the challenges faced by industry participants, analysis of industry leading companies, and key news. Key Findings – The global Submarine market is expected to be worth US$22.9 billion in 2015, and is expected increase to US$36.6 billion by 2025, representing a CAGR of 4.78% during the forecast period. – The market is anticipated to be dominated by North America, followed by Asia- Pacific and Europe. The US is the largest spender, with a cumulative expenditure of US$112.2 billion over the next decade. – In terms of segments, SSN is expected to account for 39% of the global submarine market, followed by SSKs and SSBNs, occupying shares of 36% and 25% respectively. Synopsis This report offers detailed analysis of the global submarine market with market size forecasts covering the next ten years. This report will also analyze factors that influence demand for the global submarine market, key market trends, and challenges faced by industry participants. In particular, it provides an in-depth analysis of the following: – Global submarine market size and drivers: detailed analysis of the global submarine market during 2015-2025, including highlights of the demand drivers and growth stimulators for submarines. It also provides a snapshot of the spending and modernization patterns of different regions around...
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...2012) Therefore when the Persian Gulf War took place on the 2nd August 1990 – 28th February 1991 the EU got involved, however they did not get involved until 17th January 1991. The War was an armed conflict between Iraq and a coalition of 34 nations which were assembled by the United States; including Britain, France, Egypt and Saudi Arabia (Full list Appendix 1B). Iraqi troops began the invasion of Kuwait). During the period of the Gulf War the European Economic Community (EEC) was in power, the majority of the aims and objectives where based on how they could improve the economy. The cost of the gulf war was calculated by the United States Congress to be $61.1 billion, about $52 billion of that amount was paid by other countries; $36 billion by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf;n$16 billion by Germany and japan (NY Times). Shortly after the war was over Europe went into a recession whilst America went through recovery. Even Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, where going through a recession during that period (Time...
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...KAZIAN GLOBAL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT MARKS: 80 COURSE: GDM Sem-III SUBJECT: Marketing Management N.B: 1} Attempt all questions Name: Chellappan Pillai Radhakrishnan Mangalappallil Reference Number: KM-00312-30891 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Case 1 Marks-16 1997 saw the US$19 billion merger of Guinness and Grand Met to form Diageo, the world’s largest drinks company. Guinness was the group’s top- selling beverage after Smirnoff vodka, and the group’s third most profitable brand, with an estimated global value of US$ 1.2 billion. More than 10 million glasses of the world’s most popular stout were sold every day, predominantly in Guinness’ top markets: respectively, the UK, Ireland, Nigeria, the USA and Cameroon. However, the famous dark stout with the white, creamy head was causing some strategic concerns for Diageo. In 1999, for the first time in the 241-year history of Guinness, sales fell. In early 2002 Diageo CEO Paul Walsh announced to the group’s concerned shareholders that global volume growth of Guinness was down 4 per cent in the last six month of 2001 and, more alarmingly, sales were also down 4 per cent in its home markets, Ireland. How should Diageo address falling sales in the centuries- old brand shrouded in Irish mystique and tradition? The changing face of the Irish beer market The Irish were very fond of beer and even fonder of Guinness. With close to 200 liters per capita drunk each year- the...
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...European Scientific Journal May 2013 edition vol.9, No.13 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 MARKETING STRATEGIES OF BOTTLED WATER PRODUCING COMPANIES: THE CASE OF KOSOVO Ejup Fejza, Mr.Sc Alban Asllani, MSc. Universum College, Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo Abstract One of the main functions within a company is the marketing area and as it is of the utmost importance and relevance of having an already established and well functioning department of marketing within the company, which would implement proper, just-in-time and a step-ahead of competition marketing strategies. Such an established and wheel functioning marketing department could potentially result in the company getting a better positioning in the market, will increase the company’s market share and satisfy customer needs, wants and meet their demands. Thus, creation and implementation a successful marketing strategy in business is very crucial, especially when we deal with a business such as water production, still or sparkling. The purpose of the research is to analyze the implementation of marketing strategies by Kosovo producers of water and to provide clear recommendations for companies that do not use marketing strategies. During the research we have found that water producers do not even have an already established marketing department, have not employed any marketing personal, nor they have a qualified sales person representing the company. According to our research of the existing water producing...
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