How can inflation be reduced?
How Can Inflation Be Reduced? Inflation is a persistent rise in average price level over a year, it is measured through CPI (Consumer Price Index). CPI takes a basket of goods ,which are weighted due to expenditure in a household budget (so you spend more money on food then shoes therefore food has a higher weight). CPI then looks at how the prices have changed and dictates a rate in accordance to the statistics. Inflation usually carries negative connotations as it usually comes in conjunction with economic instability therefore many different methods have been devised in order to avert the problems of inflation and reduce it. An example of high inflation which was reduced is in Britain. In the 1970's inflation was phenomenal and peaked at over 20%, through successful monetary policy however this was mitigated. By raising interest rates it reduces the growth of aggregate demand it encourages saving (which would stifle consumer spending and investment) as well as reducing disposable income. Monetary policy is a proven technique used to reduce inflation. Favoured by the US and UK it looks at the modification of interest rates in order to control inflation (and reduce) this is know as tightening monetary policy. Monetary policy is the control of money supply by the central bank (so in Britain it is the Bank of England and in the US it's the Federal Reserve). Inflation can
Discuss the benefits of economic growth
Discuss the benefits of economic growth Economic growth is simply, in the short run, the rise in real GDP due to rise in aggregate demand: and in the long run an increase in productive capacity (the maximum output that the economy can produce), meaning that the Factors of Production are either more efficiently used or more are discovered or found. Governments tend to try and achieve economic growth as it has many advantages, one of which is higher employment levels, which incidentally should lead to a decrease in unemployment. If more people who are willing and able to work in a country have a job (and therefore earning an income) the GDP of that country will inevitably increase and so if this high employment rate is stable and sustainable, economic growth, in the long run, will occur. Hence, employment figures could be seen as proportional to the GDP of a country. The employed workers are a Factor of Production called the labour force. If there is unemployment, then our Factors of Production are not being used as efficiently as possible and so the point on the Production Possibility Frontier will not be on the frontier itself, indicating that economic growth is not occurring as the productive capacity will not be increasing. However, if low levels of unemployment are sustained consistently, then you are using at least one Factor of Production to its full extent and so the
Explain and illustrate the roles played by profit in allocating scarce resources within the economy over time.
(a) Explain and illustrate the roles played by profit in allocating scarce resources within the economy over time. [10m] Profit being a form of return from risk-taking and entrepreneurship, plays a significant role in allocating limited factors of production (land, capital, entrepreneur, labour) in the economy over time. It acts as a signaling mechanism in the free market system and funds capital investment so as to generate more returns in the future. Furthermore, it serve as an indicator to producers on what and how much to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce. This allows them to allocate scarce resources effectively and hence, maximize profits. Traditionally, the objective of every firm is to maximize their profit. This can be done by producing at the output level where marginal revenue=marginal cost (MR=MC). At this point, the additional revenue that a firm would earn by selling one more unit of good would be equivalent to the additional cost required to produce it. Hence, firms would allocate their resources to increase output till this point as reflected in the diagram A. As shown in Diagram A, producing at output level, Q1 would result in a profit earned reflected by the blue border box. However, the firm is not producing at the optimal output level of Q2 which generate the highest
Outline the argument for and against smoking ban
Outline the main argument for and against creating a smoking ban in public areas. Is it good overall - justify your view Smoking is a de-merit good. This means that it is over-provided in a free market economy. The price mechanism has allocated too many resources than is socially desirable. Smoking is over consumed, as shown in the diagram below: The MSC (marginal social cost) and the MPC (marginal private cost) are not the same. They diverge. This is because society experiences a different cost from the good being consumed than the individual. The demand side is the same hence why MSB = MPB. The individual is happy when MPB = MPC, (10 a day). Therefore they consume where the red and green lines meet. Here their MPC = MSB so they are happy. Society is happy when MSB = MSC. So they want people to consume where the pink lines meets the green line. MSB = MSC (5 a day). Below 5 a day both the MSC and MPC are below MPB and MSB. So both society and the individual wants to consume the good. Above 10 a day the MSC and the MPC are above the MSB and the MPB so neither the individual or society wants more than 10 cigarettes a day. However in between 5 and 10 cigarettes a day, the MSC is above the MSB so society does not want to have that many cigarettes. The MPB is still above the MPC so the individual does want to have 6 to 10 cigarettes but society does not want them to. It can
"Discuss the Effectiveness of Supply Side Policies in Improving UK Economic Performance"
Kanak Shah Economics AS/b David Conquest "Discuss the Effectiveness of Supply Side Policies in Improving UK Economic Performance" Supply side policies are those designed to increase an economy's long-term growth and so increase aggregate supple or production. In terms of a graphical analysis, if supply side policies work, the long run AS (aggregate supply) curve would shift to the right. A number of various policies have been implemented to increase aggregate demand (AD). The first is deregulation. This involves removing laws and regulations which restrict competition. With deregulation, more firms will compete in the industry and the total supply of the good or the service will increase. A good example to look at is airline deregulation. All Europe flight routes were regulated by governments. There was not very much competition. With the introduction of deregulation, any airline company can fly on any routes that they bid for e.g. EasyJet and Buzz (all low cost airlines). This increases passenger numbers and there is more aggregate supply in the industry. There are a couple of advantages of deregulation. Less regulation means that fewer regulators need to be employed by the government or local councils. Also less regulation should encourage more competition. However, many rules affecting business were to stop exploitation: is this acceptable nowadays? Another
Define and determine the types and trends of UK unemployment
"Define and determine the types and trends of UK unemployment" Unemployment is when individuals are jobless but are willing and able to work at the going wage rate. The official government figures only count those that are registered as being unemployed and are actively seeking work. Different Measures of Unemployment There are several different measures of unemployment: * ILO - Any person without a job, available to work, willing to work and sought work in the past four weeks * Labour Force Survey (LFS) - Available to work within the next two weeks, currently without work, but have sought work in the past four weeks * The Claimant Count - This measures the number of people who are eligible and claim the Job Seekers' Allowance, as such, this method generally records fewer unemployed (around 400,000) From these figures is it possible to calculate the Unemployment Rate: Number of unemployed/number of economically active x 100 Types of Unemployment There are many different types and causes for unemployment: * Real wage unemployment: This is thought to be the result of wages being above the market clearing level, leading to an excess supply of labour. It is thought that national minimum wages can cause wage unemployment because the employees feel that the work is not worth the minimum amount. * Demand deficient unemployment: This is usually associated during a period
Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of demand-side policies (fiscal and monetary policy)
Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of demand-side policies (fiscal and monetary policy) [18] Demand-side policies are a government's attempts to influence the level of growth of aggregate demand and hence the levels of employment, real GDP, inflation, growth and balance of payments position. A government will do this by using fiscal and monetary policies. Fiscal policies involve the use of government spending, taxation and borrowing to influence both the pattern of economic activity and also the level and growth of aggregate demand, output and employment. Monetary policies involve the use of interest rates to control the level and rate of growth of aggregate demand in the economy. Different types of demand-side policies can be used depending on the position of inflation in an economy. Reflationary demand-side policies seek to increase aggregate demand and raise the level of planned expenditure at or near the level of potential GDP. Deflationary demand-side policies decrease aggregate demand in the event of aggregate demand running ahead of aggregate supply and posing inflationary risks or leading to an unsustainable deficit on the balance of payments. An example of when reflationary demand-side policies would be used is when aggregate demand is too low, so for instance when taxes are high and interest rates are high. The policies that would be used in order to shift
Export Essay
Explain why the recent devaluation of the £ has not resulted in a significant improvement in the export performance of the UK. (25 Marks) Under normal circumstances a devaluation of the pound should make exports more price competitive and lead to greater export performance with greater quantities being sold. However this may not always be the case and might not always lead to a fall in the value of products imported. A fall in the exchange rate should lead to an improvement in the current accounts however following recent figures this is not true. Over the past few years given the 25% devaluation in sterling our export performance is not that impressive. Firstly, the demand from other countries to buy UK exports has not been too good due to the recent recession. Therefore aggregate demand (AD) decreased leading to a fall in UK exports. The UK has been running a persistent current account deficit for several years, but as the economy emerges from recession and domestic spending will return thus helping growth, import growth has still been stronger than exports. The rest of the world may also have a slow recovery in demand, especially in the European Union where household spending has not been up to scratch. Another reason it seems is that Britain's main trading partners have been stuck in low or no growth and are therefore unable to buy more goods and services. Here the
Discuss the extent to which an increase in exports will improve an economy's macroeconomic performance.
Good macroeconomic performance is normative in nature therefore hard to be validated. However for the purpose of this essay, good macroeconomic performance basically involves low unemployment, high and stable economic growth, stable and low inflation and an acceptable and positive current account of the balance of payments. An increase in exports will bring about and increase in aggregate demand in the short run. Aggregate demand is made up of consumer expenditure, government expenditure, investment and net export, export minus imports. Therefore an increase in exports will increase net export and subsequently increase aggregate demand. An increase in aggregate demand would mean an increase in economic growth, which shows good economic performance. Diagram below shows the increase n aggregate demand. Exports will also improve the county's balance of payments. Balance of payments is the net trade in goods, services, investment and transfers. An increase in exports will mean that overall balance of payments will not be in a deficit but in a surplus. An improving balance of payments will also mean that the county's industries and firms are competitive and therefore show that the firms are economically healthy and performing well. However there are problems arising from an increase in exports. In the short run, with a short run supply curve, although an increase in exports will
International Business Strategy - Case Study on Unilever
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Every multi-national corporation has a business strategy that enables it to get ahead of its competitors. Unilever, as one of the global leaders that offers consumer goods including brand name foods, personal-care items and household products and owns an extensive global operation network in almost every country, has also developed its unique set of business strategies. Unilever is strong in making head start in emerging economies and has been making significant contributions to the economic growth in these countries. Emerging economies are developing countries that in general have less compatible infrastructure, in particular, for economic activities to take place effectively and majority of their populations are living in conditions that are below international standards. At present, over 44% of Unilever's sales come from emerging economies and further growth in consumption is expected in near future. This is in fact more than enough to take Unilever somewhere better than being the second largest in the global consumer goods market; nonetheless, as competition intensified, Unilever started losing the hang of it. Since Mr. Patrick Cescau became Unilever's sole Chief Executive in 2005, series of operation reforms were initiated. The strategic evolution under Cescau's management brought Unilever out of its dreadful situation and is regarded as one of
