This report will focus on the issue of Mexico adopting the US dollar as its official currency.
Dollarization in Mexico Written by: Matthew Baron Eren Pamir Maksym Rubin This report will focus on the issue of Mexico adopting the US dollar as its official currency. We will examine the feasibility behind the surrender of the Mexican peso, the replacement of the country's physical currency with US dollars, and the effects that these actions will have on Mexico from an economic, political and social perspective. In examining these effects, we will determine whether the Mexican government should pursue official dollarization. I. Requirements and processes. Some economists have argued that countries wishing to replace their central banking systems through dollarization must first fulfill certain preconditions, such as a high level of dollar reserves, a solvent banking system, sound government finances, and flexible wages (Joint Economic Committee). However, if these conditions already exist within a country, chances are their monetary policy would already be effective, which would negate the need for dollarization (Id.). In Mexico's case, there would be no preconditions to fulfill in order for the country to consider becoming a candidate for dollarization. However, there are a few important steps that the Mexican government must address once the decision to dollarize has been made. One of the main issues in dollarization is the exchange of all the Mexican peso
Overheating economy in China
How successfully can fiscal policy be used to combat (a) recessions and (b) 'overheating' in the economy? Use examples and evidence to support your arguments. Business cycle is defined as the alternating periods of expansion and contraction in an economy's real output (Welch, 2004: 146). Rather than occur randomly, business cycle tends to be regular which goes through four phases: a recovery during which real GDP increases; a peak where maximum output occurs; a recession during which real GDP falls; and a trough where minimum output occurs (ibid.). There is undoubted those economic fluctuations have influential effects on societies. Fiscal policy, which is the governmental policy used to intervene in the macroeconomics by the overall level of government purchases and taxations, is one of the most important policies used to maintain the stabilisation of the economy (Case and Fair, 1999: 583). Recession and overheating can be seen as the main targets that the fiscal policy tends to deal with (Mankiw, 2005: 723). Critically, it seems to be successful to combat recessions and overheating by fiscal policies, but there are also several limitations. Recession is a period in which the economic growth rate is far below the normal, according to Frank and Bernanke (2004: 645). During a recession, people have fewer stimuli to consume and invest, and the unemployment rate tends to rise
Competitive markets, free from government intervention are the best means of allocating society(TM)s scarce resources amongst its members.
Competitive markets, free from government intervention are the best means of allocating society's scarce resources amongst its members. While economists theorise about markets free from government intervention, regulated markets, though generally less efficient, are also functionally viable. It is through the analysis of both types of markets, and their relative applications within society, that economists can critically evaluate their effect upon the allocation of society's resources amongst its members. A competitive market is an economic forum run by supply and demand, where "price is a result of voluntary transactions1". A market free from government intervention is known as a free market, and under 'perfect conditions' is theorised to be the most efficient. However, it is only through the introduction of regulation, that these markets can be seen as more equitable to members of society. While perfectly competitive markets, in the long run, achieve economic efficiency, in reality, government intervention provides a legal framework to enforce contracts, monopolies, and political, economic, and environmental conflicts. Perfect competition provides a framework to achieve the desired outcome of workable competition, through effective regulation. A market economy free from government intervention is theoretically preferred in many ways, however there are some aspects of its
Report on house prices
Assignment for 4ECQ402 Exploring Business Data A REPORT ON HOUSE PRICES CONTENTS Introduction 3 Overall distribution of house prices 4 Proportion of houses with garages I 5 Proportion of houses with garages II 6 Relationship between House price and Garage 7 Relationship of House price to Size 8 Relationship between House price and Distance 9 House prices in the UK for different regions 10-11 Appendix - Average dwelling prices_________________12 Introduction For this assignment I will be using the data set 'House Prices', which gives some results from a survey relating to house prices in 5 different small towns. I am going to explore this data file using Minitab, and write a report on my findings. The variables in the data set are: Price House price in £000 Bedrooms Number of bedrooms Size Size of property in square feet Distance Distance from nearest large town Town Which of the 5 towns the property is in Garage Whether property has garage (0 = no, 1 = yes) Baths Number of bathrooms (lavatory and washbasin = 0.5) Note: In the following report, the value of price is in £000. And relating to whether the house has a garage, '0' represents 'no' and '1' represents 'yes'. Look at the overall distribution of house prices in the survey. Descriptive Statistics: Price Variable N Mean Median
In manufacturing companies, the medium & long term is usually static comparing to short term (more dynamic).
(i) Introduction: In a manufacturing environment, in order to meet customers' needs to maintain our competitive advantage & market positioning, and also give an accurate and relatively certain forecast of our business, we use operations planning to calculate and schedule our medium & long term production activities(aggregate planning) and short term production activities, such as detailed work plan for individuals and /or collective production resources, for instance, in manufacturing environment, machines, labour ,departments(operations scheduling.) In manufacturing companies, the medium & long term is usually static comparing to short term (more dynamic). It is difficult to compensate short term mistakes, which may lose customers loyalties, lose market share. Internally speaking, it will make chaos in different departments and their plans will be re-scheduled. In order to avoid this, we need different information when giving operations planning for a batch production in the organisation. Cause production control can only act upon the information that it receives. (Muhlemann, 1992, production and operations planning), so more precise information we can get, more flexible and reliable we can schedule production. Information requirement: The required information is similar for scheduling in manufacturing Includes both in Demand and Availability * Standard processing or
This paper gives an overview of an investment advice that involves analyzing the basic nature of investment decisions and organizing the activities in the decision process.
. Executive Summary This paper gives an overview of an investment advice that involves analyzing the basic nature of investment decisions and organizing the activities in the decision process. This requires an understanding of the various investment vehicles, the way these investment vehicles are valued and the various strategies that can be used to select the investment vehicles that should be included in a portfolio in order to accomplish investment objectives. The decision-making process involves setting investment objectives of investors - the trade-off between expected return and risk, by determining the proportion of investor's investible wealth and knowing their risk preferences; traditionally, the performing of security analysis involves the examination of the types of investment risks, the measures of risk and return using the appropriate asset pricing models on a number of securities and portfolio construction that involves the construction of optimal portfolios by identifying the asset class in which to invest as well as determining the proportions of the investor's wealth to put in each asset and the investment strategies to minimize risk and maximize expected returns in the identified portfolios. The essay concludes with the practical implications of asset pricing theory and some concluding remarks on a good investment advice. 2 The Basis of Investment
Price Elasticity
Price Elasticity "Have U.S. Drivers Reached Filling Point of No Return?" by Justin Lahart "Airlines Try Business-Fare Cuts, Find They Don't Lose Revenue" by Scott McCartney While price is the strongest factor affecting demand, there are several factors that heavily influence the price elasticity of demand. Inelastic products are much less resistant to affects from price increases, allowing managers the flexibility to raise prices with little to no concern for losing sales. On the contrary, elastic products are highly vulnerable to and influenced by fluctuations in price. The elasticity of a product can change over time, affecting firms and industries that utilize that product. "Have U.S. Drivers Reached Filling Point of No Return?" by Justin Lahart and "Airlines Try Business-Fare Cuts, Find They Don't Lose Revenue" by Scott McCartney discuss the affects of changing elasticity in gasoline and airplane tickets, respectively. The articles highlight the number of substitute goods, the percentage of a consumer's budget spent on a product, and the time period that the product is under construction as strong influences on the price elasticity of gas and airplane ticket prices. The price of gasoline has begun to show a shift from heavily inelastic to more elastic in recent history. Our textbook, Economics for Managers, discusses the affects of the inelasticity of gasoline
Internal Labour Markets
Internal Labour Market INTRODUCTION The idea of an internal labour market was conceived by Kerr (1955), and perfected by Doeringer and Piore (1971). Recently, more and more contributions by various experts are coming to light. Nevertheless, there are no unambiguous answers to the questions about the causes that have led to the origin of this concept which are fundamental in the field of labour economics. Most of the studies underline the efficiency-based explanations. They mainly consider the theories on risk aversion, efficiency wages, deferred compensation, specific human capital, and transaction costs as the basic reasons that have led firms, workers, and sometimes even governments to "choose" the new form of internal labour market to increase the efficiency level. Yet, there are other important reasons that warrant attention. The essay will attempt to define exactly to what extent internal labour markets (ILMs) are the consequence of a deliberate strategic choice. In order to achieve this objective I will first explain the basic characteristics of an internal labour market, starting from general debates on market segmentation and reviewing the most significant theories. Consequently, I will briefly describe what is presently happening to these markets. Like so, I would like to emphasize my conviction that internal labour markets are of course, mainly, a consequence of
Polar Ices questions: Explain why Polar Ices needs to build up stocks in the early part of the year
Polar Ices Q. 2. [a] (i) Explain why Polar Ices needs to build up stocks in the early part of the year. (4 marks) Q. 2. [a] (ii) State and explain three likely effects of the company building up stocks. (6 marks) Q. 2. [b ] (i) Explain the meaning of the term "Just in Time production". (3 marks) Q. 2. [b] (ii) Discuss whether Polar Ices should switch to Just in Time production. (8 marks) Q. 2. [c] The managing director has thought about batch production of chocolate in the winter months. Would you advise him to do this? Justify your answer. (9 marks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . A. 2. [a] (i) The demand for Polar Ices' products are concentrated in the summer months and the firm currently only has the capacity to produce 140,000 units per month - which is insufficient to meet their period of peak demand, unless they build up stocks of finished products earlier in the year. These stocks can then be used during the summer months to supplement the monthly output from the plant. A. 2. [a] (ii) One effect would be that the holding of finished products as stock also allows Polar Ices to react to any sudden and unexpected increase in demand (e.g. as might happen if there were an unusually warm Spring). A second effect could be a detrimental effect on the firm's cash flow position. Holding stock is costly (for a number of reasons)
Activity Based Costing & The NHS
Activity Based Costing & The NHS Financial Analysis - (MN2007) Assignment 2 . Introduction As the Management Accountant of a local NHS hospital I am going to write a report for the senior management team at the hospital that analyses the issues raised in the view attributed to Gordon Brown. It is difficult to assume which allocation approach the hospitals have used, but I am going to describe the Traditional Costing approach and the Activity Based Costing approach, which I will describe in more detail. 2. The Definition of Activity Based Costing Activity Based Costing (ABC) is a 'costing method' (Fleming & McKinstry, 1998: 216), which recognises that costs are incurred by the activities, which take place within the organisation, and for each activity a cost driver may be identified. Those costs, which are incurred or driven by the same cost drivers, are grouped together into cost pools and the cost drivers are then used as a basis for changing the costs of each activity to the product. 2.1 Cost Pools A cost pool is a collection of costs, which maybe 'charged to products' (Bendry, Hussey & West, 2001: 465) by the use of a common cost driver. Examples of costs pools are the power, material handling, material receipt, and production planning, sales administration, get-up cost and buying. 2.2 Cost Drivers A cost driver is any activity or series of activities, which
