...the Heights: the Battle of Ideas made by PBS, then conducts the analysis on the two competing economic ideas of Keyes vs. Hayek, and finally presents a detailed illustration of their impacts on the America’s economic policies since 1980. Introduction The PBS-made documentary ‘Commanding the Heights’ is to promote better understanding of globalization, economic development and world trade, featured with specific examples of different countries and interviews with related parties. Episode One "The Battle of Ideas," gives an overview of the battle between two major competing ideas about the world economy over the course of last century. On the one hand, the English economist Keynes believes in the ‘planned economy’ and advocates the government intervention to mitigate the risk during economic recession or depression; On the other hand, the Australian economist Hayek favors the free market mechanism and believes in minimum government intervention as market will eventually take care of itself and the prices system is at the heart of what makes a functioning economy work. The episode tracks the root of these ideas and explains how the world moved toward the government controlled economy during the 20th century in a chronological order summarized as below. The Russian Revolution in 1917 marked the beginning of communism economy, in which government is very important to allocate resources and goods. During the great depression of 1930, the Keynes’ theory began to dominate. According...
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...market and for some others, it causes complete downfall. Here we examine five very diverse papers written on five important players in any economy and analyze whether the writers are correct in their assessment of these factors. The five facets examined in these papers are Optimal Tax Policies, Foreign Exchange Rates, Global Energy Prices, Monetary Policies of Banks and The role of Productivity in Economic Growth. Various Facets of Global Economy In today’s world, economy is one of the most talked about point everywhere in the world. Every single politician, industrialist, worker and even students have their own take on what should be done in order to improve the great depression it seems we are in. Unemployment may have seem to have decreased in the United States, but it is still lagging behind many other major economies all around the world. It is important for every common man to understand the various factors that play a part in economic growth or downturn. The first factor is determining the optimal tax policy. Abuselidze (2013) analyzes how far an optimal tax policy goes towards strengthening the macroeconomic stabilization. His analysis provides a great insight into why forming a perfect tax code that pleases everyone is so difficult. Obama and McCain had so many...
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...With the recent government shutdown and the fiscal cliff debate over, many Americans are stepping back and asking “what is the current state of the economy?” Although the nation has been experiencing growth and a decrease in unemployment for the past three years, the national annual deficit of $1.1 trillion and the recent fiscal cliff debate along with the government shutdown reflect the nation’s struggle with furthering our economic growth and stability. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, GDP increased 1.1% in the first quarter of 2013 and 2.5% in the second quarter mainly due to an increase in business investments and goods exports and imports. What we can expect in the next few years is a slow and steady increase in the growth rate. However, many seem skeptical if the increase will be notable to say the least. Like GDP, unemployment has been on a steady decline for the past three years. The unemployment rate dropped from 7.8% in December 2012 to 7.3% in August 2013. This reports that there is an increase in job creations. However, what is more notable is that there is a higher increase in part-time jobs as opposed to full-time jobs, which leaves a bad taste for many because there is no certainty and sense of security. Household debt continues to decline in most categories like credit card debt. Yet consumers continue to remain cautious with a slowdown in consumer spending and spending for goods and services. If this trend continues...
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...familiar to you. * The examiner’s advice usually outlines bad, moderate and good answers to the question so pick out the ways in which you can achieve top band and incorporate this into your plan. June 2015 Examine the impact of government policies and laws on family life. [24 marks] From the mark scheme: Concepts and issues such as the following may appear: patriarchy; familism; surveillance; ideological control; gender regimes; marital breakdown; family structure; family diversity; welfare dependency; underclass; reserve army of labour Policies/laws on abortion; divorce; contraception; reproductive technology; marriage; adoption; pensions; benefits; taxes; education; childcare; child protection; sexuality; immigration may be discussed Analysis and evaluation may be developed, for instance by comparing the impact of different policies/laws or by discussing perspectives on social policy and the family (eg New Right, feminist, functionalist etc) From the examiner’s report: The most successful answers were able to identify relevant policies...
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...Supplemental Unit 5: Fiscal Policy and Budget Deficits Fiscal and monetary policies are the two major tools available to policy makers to alter total demand, output, and employment. This feature will focus on fiscal policy, what it is and its potential and limitations as a tool with which to promote economic stability and strong growth. What is Fiscal Policy? When the supply of money is economic constant, government expenditures must be financed by either taxes or borrowing. Fiscal policy involves the use of the government’s spending, taxing and borrowing policies. The government’s budget deficit is used to evaluate the direction of fiscal policy. When the government increases its spending and/or reduces taxes, this will shift the government budget toward a deficit. If the government runs a deficit, it will have to borrow funds to cover the excess of its spending relative to revenue. Larger budget deficits and increased borrowing are indicative of expansionary fiscal policy. In contrast, if the government reduces its spending and/or increases taxes, this would shift the budget toward a surplus. The budget surplus would reduce the government’s outstanding debt. Shifts toward budget surpluses and less borrowing are indicative of restrictive fiscal policy. It is important to note that a budget deficit is different from the national debt. A deficit occurs when government spending exceeds revenue over a year, quarter or month. A deficit will increase the size of the national...
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...Discuss 4: first the bill is introduced in congress, debate on it is held and if it gets majority, it is sent to senate. After it gets approval of senate, it is sent for president's approval and after president's approval, it becomes law. Checks and balances were created to keep any one branch of government or any person in government from having too much power. A. LEGISLATION IS INTRODUCED - Any member can introduce a piece of legislation HOUSE - Legislation is handed to the clerk of the House or placed in the hopper. SENATE - Members must gain recognition of the presiding officer to announce the introduction of a bill during the morning hour. If any senator objects, the introduction of the bill is postponed until the next day. The bill is assigned a number. (e.g. HR 1 or S 1) The bill is labeled with the sponsor's name. The bill is sent to the Government Printing Office (GPO) and copies are made. Senate bills can be jointlysponsored. Members cancosponsorthe piece of Legislation. B. COMMITTEE ACTION - The bill is referred to the appropriate committee by the Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate. Most often, the actual referral decision is made by the House or Senate parliamentarian. Bills may be referred to more than one committee and it may be split so that parts are sent to different committees. The Speaker of the House may set time limits on committees. Bills are placed on the calendar of the committee to which they have been assigned....
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...type of facility means that a patient does not have to be admitted to a hospital and will go home after the procedure is finished. There are many legal issues regarding these types of facilities, and as you will read, they have to do with physician ownership, out of network waivers, and Medicare cases. It takes a lot of effort to run a surgical center and to find out what kind of legal issues can be involved with this type of center. One of the main sources of legal debates that are prevalent in ambulatory surgery centers is when new owners are trying to “buy-out” an owner that is leaving the business. A lot of centers grapple with the understanding of their present contracts concerning buying and with the legal obligation of selling the center for retail value. When a surgery center needs to sell because of finances, the ability to find someone who will give a fair market price can be difficult. Watching and assessing which new owners that will enhance the productivity of the center. Another great debate that involves physician ownership is the newly revised coverage rules and regulations which is a necessity for the early notice of physician financial interests. These coverage conditions demand that ambulatory surgery centers contact their clients of a physician financial interest within the center in writing before the patient’s surgery. If the patient did not arrange for a primary appointment at the center before the day of the surgery, the center might not be able...
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...In recent years, students have been paying more to attend college and earning less upon graduation—trends that have led many observers to question whether a college education remains a good investment. However, an analysis of the economic returns to college since the 1970s demonstrates that the bene ts of both a bachelor’s degree and an associate’s degree still tend to outweigh the costs, with both degrees earning a return of about 15 percent over the past decade. e return has remained high in spite of rising tuition and falling earnings because the wages of those without a college degree have also been falling, keeping the college wage premium near an all-time high while reducing the opportunity cost of going to school. The sluggish labor market recovery from the Great Recession has refueled the debate about the value of a college degree. Although the unemployment rate of college-educated workers has remained well below average, there is mounting evidence that recent college graduates are struggling to nd good jobs.1 At the same time, college tuition has risen sharply, reaching record highs, and col- lege graduates are increasingly nding themselves saddled with debt from student loans used to nance their education. By the end of 2013, aggregate student loan debt in the United States exceeded $1 trillion, and more than 11 percent of student loan balances were either severely delinquent or already in default.2 With the costs of college rising and the bene ts in doubt, many...
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...the world. It sells to approximately 19,000 retail accounts in the US, and then in approximately 140 countries around the world. Just about all of its products are manufactured by independent contractors with footwear products in particular being manufactured in developing countries. Nike developed a strong working relationship with Japanese shoe manufacturers, but Nike moved on to other countries seeking after alternative, lower-cost producers. Today the company manufactures in China, Taiwan, Korea, Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Mexico as well as in the US and in Italy. Nike has around 700 contract factories, within which around 20% of the workers are creating Nike products. Conditions for these workers have been a source of heated debate, with allegations made by campaigns of poor conditions, with commonplace harassment and abuse. As its founder and Chief Executive Officer, Phil Knight lamented in a May 1998 speech to the National Press Club, “the Nike product has become synonymous with slave wages, forced overtime, and arbitrary abuse.”(HBS Case # 9-700-047) “Hitting the Wall: Nike and International Labor Practices,” HBS Case # 9-700-047 Problem Statement Is Nike doing just enough to clear bad publicity or are they really fixing their factory issues? How can Nike work toward fixing the issues they have been having with their overseas factories for good? Literature Review When Nike was founded in 1972, the company contracted with factories in Taiwan and...
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...boom-bust cycle) refers to economy-wide fluctuations in production, trade and economic activity in general over several months or years in an economy organized on free-enterprise principles. The business cycle is the upward and downward movements of levels of GDP (gross domestic product) and refers to the period of expansions and contractions in the level of economic activities (business fluctuations) around its long-term growth trend. These fluctuations occur around a long-term growth trend, and typically involve shifts over time between periods of relatively rapid economic growth (an expansion or boom), and periods of relative stagnation or decline (a contraction or recession).Business cycles are usually measured by considering the growth rate of real gross domestic product. Despite being termed cycles, these fluctuations in economic activity can prove unpredictable. History A BASIC ILLUSTRATION OF ECONOMY/BUSINESS CIRCLE. Theory The first systematic exposition of periodic economic crises, in opposition to the existing theory of economic equilibrium, was the 1819 Nouveaux Principes d'économie politique by Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi. Prior to that point classical economics had either denied the existence of business cycles, blamed them on external factors, notably war, or only studied the long term. Sismondi found vindication in the Panic of 1825, which was the first unarguably international economic crisis, occurring in peacetime. Sismondi and his contemporary Robert...
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...of Customers Relationships” by Fred Reichheld. The article presents a method to raise a company’s net-promoter score (NPS). The review will show that the NPS is a simplistic but valuable tool that has to be used with caution. Summary Reichheld (2006) starts his article by defining NPS and poses these five questions: “Why is the connection as strong as it is?”, “How does the quality of customer relationships affect the economics of a business?”, “Can the microeconomics of NPS itself ultimately be quantified and managed?”, and “How does a company raise its NPS — and on which customers should it focus its efforts”. In answering these questions, the author quantifies the value of the customer by giving value to word-of –mouth, retention rate, margins, annual spends, and cost efficiencies. In the second main section, Reichheld (2006) discusses how to Increase the NPS Strategically. The strategy promotes three priorities for increasing the NPS. The first priority is to invest in the company’s core customers (promoters). These customers are return customers which have a positive effect on the business (Reichheld, 2006). The second priority is addressing the customers that have a negative impact on the business (detractors). Although having a negative effect on the business, these customers are still profitable and the company can invest time in trying to satisfy them (Reichheld, 2006). The third priority is finding new promoters in the current customer base (Reichheld, 2006)...
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...nonpartisan research group, the Center for Studying Health System Change, $5 billion will only cover 200,000 people in a year. As a result, there would be a huge number of people having serious medical problems but the amount allocated for health care won’t cover them. Also, prompted officials of the 20 states would decline to establish their own financial pools which would put the burden of the task to Washington. In these states, the officials and the Republicans fear the intense pressure that they will have to face in case they are short of money. High risk pools will be established in some of the states by July1. The existing pools charge high rates which make them unaffordable to many; the new pools should have standard charges. Even then we won’t know how many uninsured won’t be able to afford those standard rates. Another analysis in this week concludes the states should be satisfied with new amendment and expansion of law. The Medicaid is a shared expense of state and federation, the federal government will take 95 percent of the expansion cost between 2014, when it is effective to 2019. The Medicaid enrollment is planned to increase by 15.9 million in that span that will consequently lower the uninsured low income by 11.2 million. The states of the West and the South where there are huge uninsured are...
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...Gun Control Research Gun control is an ongoing, heated debate in America. Various states have decided to take action against guns as a deterrent to crime. Nevertheless, are guns really the main factor in causing crimes, or are the criminals themselves to blame? There are two sides involved with the gun debate. The anti-gun campaign with supporters like Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Cease Fire, and Mothers Against Violence in America are pressuring the government to have stricter laws or ban guns all together. On the other side of the debate, the most prominently heard voice it that of the National Rifle Association or NRA. However, there are others such as Women Against Gun Control and Gun Owners of America. The pro-gun lobbyists are trying to convince the government that outlawing guns will not affect the criminals but leave the honest individual defenseless. Guns are a necessary form of self-protection because the majority of the gun control laws we have are ineffective, criminals are able to obtain guns no matter how many laws we have against it, and the new “smart” technology will only hurt us in the long run. Guns, when used and operated correctly, can be a very effective form of self-protection. “There is only one police officer on patrol for every 3,300 people” (Polsby and Brennen 3). This is probably one of many reasons that “about 83 percent of the population will be victims of violent crime at some point in their lives” (Polsby and Brennen 3). Statistics...
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...Homelessness in California Introduction Homelessness is a condition or a state where an individual or a family does not have a home to live in. Along with that, the person is deprived of the legal and the social dimensions making him emotionally weak and in the state of isolation. Since the year 1980s, there had been a great shock to the Americans due to the rising homelessness. This led to a burst in the studies and the rising stories related to the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of July 1987. In this act, there was an interference allowed of the federal government into this policy of homelessness, which had created many issues. For many years after that, this issue of homelessness remained on the top of the line in the political issues face by the Californian government. Basically the non-profit organizations focused on improving the life quality of the people in the city, especially those who did not have a place to spend their nights. It is a fact that there should be some very efficient approach to eliminate this homelessness problem, the Californian government has taken some steps and brought in a modest change in their policies to attack this homelessness problem very obviously. Their main change in the policy was to provide housing to the poor and the needy people (Hombs, Mary Ellen, and Mitch Snyder, 1982). Despite this action which the government took, there had been a consensus in the year 1980 which reflected the fact that the homelessness in US...
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...Rakay Wiley AP Human Geography Period 4 Ms.Wilborn 31 May 2016 Why are the people of Englewood becoming more violent as the years progress? Word Count: 1693 Wiley 2 Table of contents Page 1…………………………………………………………………..…... Cover page Page 2……………………………………………………………………….Table of Contents Page 3……………………………………………………………………….Plan of Investigation Page 4-5…………………………………………………………………….Summary of Evidence Page 6-7……………………………………………………………….…....Evaluation of Sources Page 7-8……………………………………………………………….…….Analysis Page 9………………………………………………………………………..Conclusion Page 10…………………………………………………………………….....Bibliography Wiley 3 Section A: Plan Of Investigation Over the past years, The Englewood area of Chicago has accelerated as far as its crime rate....
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