http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/02/news/economy/consumer_spending/index.htm?postversion=2007050215
Despite the fact that the
Relation to chapter 6 - Consumption, Saving
I think the
Despite the fact that the
Relation to chapter 6 - Consumption, Saving
I think the
Inflation out far from clear
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=6cb443f6-5e93-45e0-a7fc-bc63f0023296&k=44388
This news article talks about the potential inflation problem in the
Relation to chapter 5 – Inflation
Chapter 5 talked about the two types of inflation, Demand-pull inflation and Cost-push inflation. The current situation in
Despite the risk of inflation in the
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=89e9c614-cd62-4857-b6f5-5148ae611a43
This article talks about BC’s provincial plan to cut down on taxes. Over the next three years, the government promises BC citizens a $1.5 billion tax cut at the same time, they will also aid first-time house owners and the poor by making homes for affordable. They will also increase the number of homeless shelters for the homeless. Their plan is called Budget 2007 and its purpose is to have
Chapter 4 Relation- Consistency with Economics Objectives
The announcement of tax cut is huge for residents of
This is great news that BC government is going to cut taxes over the next three years, but like the article stated, the
This article discusses the current and potential problems of the US Medicare system. As we all know, the cost of today’s healthcare is rapidly increasing. Two major factors are contributing to this, first one being new technology and advancement in medical research and development and secondly the retirement of the baby boom generation. With such a high demand and price for healthcare, the private insurance companies in the states simply cannot pay for everyone’s medical needs. In an attempt to balance things out, insurance companies have created higher deductibles with restrictions. Unfortunately their strategy is not a long-term solution. Just when it seems like things cannot get any worse, the government tries to intervene by creating regulations which only created more problems. Heavy government regulations were applied through all the hospitals and inconvenient issues arose. For example, government has the final say whether hospitals are allowed to purchase new equipments. This article claims that the government regulations are over 130,000 pages. No one is going to go through all that, let alone follow it. So what kind of effects would this government regulation have on hospitals and the
Chapter 3- Government intervention, Natural Monopoly
This is an unfortunate case, where there is such a sudden high demand for medical services at the same time the prices are at an unrealistic level. This article strongly criticizes the government’s failed attempt to control or regulate the prices in the
In my opinion, one of the ways to fix this high demand and high price problem is to increase competition. With increased competition, there will be less shortage of healthcare service, therefore the market would be able to match the high demand. With more competition in the market, prices would likely drop, since competitors want to attract more customers. Also without government regulations, hospitals would be able to function more efficiently. Insurance companies would also be able to relax on their restrictions as well, and would probably be able to reduce their premium.
As the Dust Settles
http://liberalorder.typepad.com/the_liberal_order/economics/index.html
This articles talks about the how the Buffalo Sabres, an NHL franchise, is trying to attract more people to their games. The article mentions that they use a method that is called, “variable price ticket scheme.” This method categorizes 41 of the Sabres’ homes games into 4 different categories, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Value. Any games that are considered Gold would be games that generate the most interest. The example provided from the article, uses a home game against Toronto Maple Leaf. Ticket prices for this particular game would be higher compared to that of Silver, Bronze or Value because a larger amount of people are willing pay more to see this game. In contrast, games that are categorized as Value will have ticket price at an extremely low price but would still generate revenue due to increase in demand. For example, any home games against the Carolina Hurricanes would be considered value games because there is a lack of interest for the games. However with the reduced ticket price, the Sabres’ hope to sellout the games by attracting the poor fans or the non-hockey people to the Value games. If this method does succeed then majority of the
Chapter two talked about the inelasticity and elasticity for demand and this article give two good examples of them. The hockey market in
This article basically talked about how water is becoming scarcer due to human activities. From a finical stand point, this may be a good thing because as water become scarcer, the demand for it would increase as a result it. In fact, investment in water is far more popular than it is in the oil industries. The earlier investors get involved with the water industries, the better it is because of the demand for water in the next few decades would be booming. The United Nations predicts that when we reach the year 2050, about 48 countries would be in shortage of water, affecting a total of 2 billion people. This is a result of developed countries consuming massive amount of water. The articles suggest that $180 billion should be invested into water infrastructure a year in nations such as
Relations to Chapter 1 -Scarcity
There is no doubt that the scarcity of water is a growing concern world wide because there is such heavy reliance on it. I think in