"It was a supply-side shock, not deflationary monetary and fiscal policies, which initiated depression in 1920 and contributed to the subsequent slump". Discuss.

"It was a supply-side shock, not deflationary monetary and fiscal policies, which initiated depression in 1920 and contributed to the subsequent slump". Discuss. Jaede Tan December 2004 During the immediate aftermath of the First World War, Britain experienced an economic boom, during which nominal wages, real G.D.P and industrial output all rose, whilst wholesale prices rocketed to three times their pre-war levels1. The boom effectively lasted just over a year, starting roughly six months after the war ended, and breaking in the second quarter of 1920. Howson estimates that by the end of 1919 both industrial output and real G.D.P had risen to their 1913 pre-war levels, whilst Pigou states that between April 1919 and April 1920, nominal income rose roughly 25-35%.2 Whilst the causes for the boom are generally and widely attributed to demand-side factors, such as increased consumer saving during the later years of WWI and hence a build up of effective consumer demand coming out of the war, the causes of the slump that quickly followed Britain's post-war boom have been more widely contested. Of the many schools of thought on the issue, the two that are most widely documented are the "supply-side shock" argument and the effects of monetary and fiscal policy. During the course of this essay I will examine the effects that both supply and demand side shocks had on the post-war

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"Keynesian policies are incompatible with price stability" "Monetarist's policies are incompatible with full employment". Discuss the validity of these two statements.

"Keynesian policies are incompatible with price stability" "Monetarist's policies are incompatible with full employment". Discuss the validity of these two statements Every school of thought is like a man who has talked to himself for a hundred years and is delighted with his own mind, however stupid it may be. (J.W. Goethe, 1817, Principles of Natural Science) Keynesian policies are incompatible with price stability. How? * Markets need help to clear o The economy can be at equilibrium at many different times, not just at full employment * When inflation increases, tighter monetary policy may be used to cool it off, which will weaken AD? Is this contrary to Keynesian belief? * Keynesian economics is a theory of total spending [AD] in the economy and its effects on output and employment o AD is influenced by public & private economic decisions, which are determined by political outcomes/economic objectives or consumer/producer expectations o Some Keynesians believe in debt neutrality, which contrarily purports that consumers use rational expectations and will assume low taxes as a long-run liability and save accordingly. * Believe AD has its greatest impact in the short run on output and employment, not on prices o Phillips curve * Demand side policies alone cannot succeed completely * There will always be unwanted inflation and unemployment o Inflation

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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Process control at Polaroid.

PROCESS CONTROL AT POLAROID (A) SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS Project Greenlight: Polaroid's R2 factory at Waltham, Massachusetts manufactures integral film. Project Greenlight, an initiative to make quality control process more effective, has been introduced at the R2 building of Polaroid during the first six months of 1985. The Project aims to reduce quality-monitoring costs while maintaining or even improving upon the present level of product quality. The conceptualizers of the Project, George Murray and Joe O Leary, hoped to devise a method to make quality control process more effective, beyond merely reducing the number of samples taken. Project Greenlight had three key elements. * Statistical process control principles would be adopted: processes in control and capable of producing within specifications would produce more consistent quality. * Production operators would be given the process control tools that the process-engineering technicians had been using and, in conjunction with sampling, would be expected to make disposition decisions themselves. * Quality control auditors would concentrate on training operators and operationalizing specifications on new products. Project Greenlight is an effort to shift the film production plant from a traditional Quality Control inspection mentality to a worker based process control mentality. Responsibility for quality

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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Show what would happen in a market if the government placed a tax on a normal good. Who would bear the burden the tax, and how would the burden reflect supply and demand conditions?

ECONOMICS COURSEWORK Q. Show what would happen in a market if the government placed a tax on a normal good. Who would bear the burden the tax, and how would the burden reflect supply and demand conditions? Explain why there is a tendency for taxes to have social costs, and why, even so, they may still be justifiable. Tax revenue is the biggest source of income for any government. Higher the tax revenue for the government, more funds available for it to spend on public and to regulate income in the country. Hence the implications and the consequences of tax are a major issue in microeconomics. Individuals and the businesses are the general source of tax revenues for the government in an economy. There are two types of taxation, which the government can use: Direct and Indirect Taxation. Direct tax is that tax which is levied on income, either of individuals as income-tax or on businesses such as corporation tax. On the other hand, Indirect tax is one in which the government levies the tax on goods and services such as VAT in UK. The implication of government levying the tax on a normal good is a case of an indirect tax. Normal good is a good for which, when income rises the demand for product also rises (positive income elasticity). In order to examine the burden of a tax placed by the government on a normal good, we have to look at several demand/supply situations. When a

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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The main points of difference between the UK mixed economy system and the economic conditions that existed in the former eastern bloc communist states.

The main points of difference between the UK mixed economy system and the economic conditions that existed in the former eastern bloc communist states. There can be many points of difference between the UK mixed economy and what existed previously. 'In the nineteenth century the UK government played only a small part in control of the economy. Today, the proper role of the government is open to debate. But most people can accept that it should at least try to influence economic activity'. In a small number of towns in the 1920s, more than half the potential working class were unemployed. A sustainable number of people thought that something should be done, and the only people to do this were the government. (The government had to sustain the level of employment). Furthermore, the'1970s was a period of rapid increase in prices'. The people thought that they had to raise their own incomes to cope with price rises. The general price increase is due to the working price system. 'Trading ideally needs to take place in settled conditions'. if people hesitate to trade , then fewer goods will be produced for sale. Therefore, if fewer products are manufactured the less people are employed in production. 'Price disturbances can therefore, cause the whole economy to stagnate'. When Margaret Thatcher was elected in 197 9 not only did the economy change but also the economic

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"...every trade, manufacture, adventure, or concern in the nature of a trade..."[1]

"...every trade, manufacture, adventure, or concern in the nature of a trade..."1 This is what ICTA 1988 defines trade as. By its very nature this is a vague description and its leaves it open for the courts and commissioners to decide on the merits of each case whether a certain income can taken to be a trade. The case law only heightens this and in my opinion is highly unsatisfactory and there should be more clarity on what constitutes a trade. Whilst I accept that there must be some lee-way given in respect to the individual facts of a case, the badges of trade and definition of a trade must be made clear for there to be any legal certainty a principle of utmost importance in large scale business transaction. Thankfully the courts and commissioners appear to be consistent in their judgments in their approach to the badges. In respect to the case of Marson v Marton it was held that there was no trade as it was outside the taxpayers typical transactions.(in this case a one off purchase and sale of land) I accept this as it follows the badges of trade to the letter and takes into account all aspects of the case. It's clear that the transaction was merely an investment and thus would not be taxable as a trade under ITTOIA (schedule D). Later cases present more of a problem. In regards to Ensign Tankers Ltd v Stokes, it was held by the commissioners that there was not a

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"A crucial element for the stability of the EMS is the perception on the part of the financial markets that the authorities are strongly committed to defending their exchange rates" Discuss.

"A crucial element for the stability of the EMS is the perception on the part of the financial markets that the authorities are strongly committed to defending their exchange rates". Discuss this statement with reference to the roles that speculators and German reunification had in the EMS crisis of 1992/93. How did the crisis influence the future path of monetary integration? A fixed exchange rate regime operated in Europe in the post war period until the early 1970s. The European Monetary System replaced Bretton Woods; it begun in 1979 and ended on 31 December 1998, with the launch of the Euro. The EMS was an example of an 'incomplete' monetary union, and it had two principal components - the Ecu, and the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). The ERM was a predecessor to the Euro, but the first direction towards a common currency in Europe was the 1957 Treaty of Rome. Although its aim was a common market - not a monetary union - the Treaty did aspire towards the liberalisation of capital flows (which is a feature of a complete monetary union). But the defining event was the Werner Report of 1970, delivered by the Luxembourg Prime Minister. This Report was the first attempt to talk about monetary union, and concluded that it could be a reality by 1980. Although this date was missed by almost 20 years, the Report had no rigid timetable. The 3 stages set out were I) the voluntary

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"Analyse the problems of seasonality in supply and demand and ability to devise strategies to cope with the problem."

BUSINESS STUDIES H/W 3 Q: "Analyse the problems of seasonality in supply and demand and ability to devise strategies to cope with the problem." Demand is the amount of a product that consumers are willing and able to purchase as any given price. Supply is the ability for firm to provide for these demands of goods for the people. Seasonality means the changes in the season i.e. summer and winter. Some goods are said to be seasonal in that the demand for those goods tend to go up in particular seasons such as the demand for warm clothes during winter and the demand for drinks during summer tend to be high only during these seasons. Demand and supply are linked together because an effect in demand will have a direct effect on the supply and an increase in supply will affect demand, the reason for this is the change it has on the market price. Not all goods are affected by seasonal change only good that are made for specific season are affected by seasons. As mentioned above the demand for Jackets and warm clothes by summer will be very little or none at all. The problem that this causes is that the supply also has to be reduced. So much that these days when the market is very hard to be competing in seasonal goods are completely taken of the production line up to the time when the demand of the good rises again. This has actually been a strategy to cope with the change in

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"arguaby the annual general report is a poor aid to economic decision making" Discuss.

ELEMI ATIGOLO-0325936 FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING Financial Accounting: First assignment, Kingston University "ARGUABY THE ANNUAL GENERAL REPORT IS A POOR AID TO ECONOMIC DECISION MAKING". DISCUSS. HOW USEFUL ARE ANNUAL GENERAL REPORTS FOR ECONOMIC DECISION MAKING. DO THEY POSE ANY WEIGHT WITH THE OVERALL DECISIONS OF A BUSINESS OR ORGANISATION? DISCUSS CONTENTS PAGES Abstract 3 Introduction 4 Discussion, Annual General Report as an aid to economic decisions 4 Conclusion 9 References 10 Bibiography 13 "ARGUABLY THE ANNUAL GENERAL REPORT IS A POOR AID TO ECONOMIC DECISION MAKING". DISCUSS. HOW USEFUL ARE ANNUAL GENERAL REPORTS FOR ECONOMIC DECISION MAKING. DO THEY POSE ANY WEIGHT WITH THE OVERALL DECISIONS OF A BUSINESS OR ORGANISATION? ABSTRACT The following essay focuses on the Annual General Reports, and their usefulness in helping to make economic decisions. Companies and businesses, use Annual General Reports to help communicate their financial affairs to interested parties. The statements in these reports often hold valuable information for many parties; but how useful are they as aids to economic decision making. Some have argued that they are essential, while others have maintained that they are of no real benefit. This essay discusses some of the issues surrounding the apparent usefulness of the Annual General Report to economic decision making.

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"Britain wasn't the world's fastest growing major economy, but it outpaced the rest of Europe," A. Kaletsky in The Times, 24th December 2002 - Is this sufficient justification for the UK to resist a switch to the Euro?

Question: "Britain wasn't the world's fastest growing major economy, but it outpaced the rest of Europe," A. Kaletsky in The Times, 24th December 2002. Is this sufficient justification for the UK to resist a switch to the Euro? Consider the impact of your answer on UK firms and the economy as a whole. Of the European Union's fifteen member states, three-Sweden, Denmark and the UK-have not adopted the euro. As with the UK firms and all important large-scale economic decisions there are many advantages and disadvantages to the UK of joining the Euro and therefore the important conclusion to come to is whether it is sufficient justification for the UK to resist a switch to the Euro. People argue that joining the Euro would reduce transaction costs for traders, with savings estimated at around £2 billion annually(www.staruk.org.uk). These savings come from not having to pay commission or maintain hedge funds to guard against currency instability. There is another argument is that although the exchange rate between sterling and the euro will fluctuate from day to day, it would be wrong to think of the euro as "just another foreign currency". As the currency of 12 European countries and 300 million people, many business, small as well as large, are now beginning to feel the impact of the euro on how they do business. The tourism industry could be particular affected after 1

  • Word count: 1456
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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