The Great Depression.
A simple way to explain the situation of the Great Depression is dismal. Entire families were uprooted from the solid foundations that they created several years before. This was a time of immeasurable economic instability, and as many of us have read, the depression started with the atrocious crash of the stock market in 1929. It is true that the crash was the fire starter for this grave situation, but our countries economy troubles started to crumble throughout the twenties. The whole situation caused many problems for society such as poverty, hunger, and many questions about our great countries economic foundation. The Great Depression was not only caused by the crash of the stock market, but by expensive tariffs on imported products, surpluses in production and farming, unequally distribution of funds, a laissez-faire attitude by the government, and a panic over the financial situation. The unequal distribution of wealth throughout America was the single largest cause of the depression of 1930's. From the beginning of the twenties, the total income of the U.S. jumped from $74 billion dollars in 1922, to an astonishing $89 billion dollars in 1929. On paper this jump looked good, but the gains were so unevenly distributed. Unbelievably, the bottom 40% of American's income was equal to that of the top 0.1% of American's income showing that the gap between the wealthy
Economic Policy-Making.
ECONOMIC POLICY-MAKING 'Public choice models of bureaucracy are theoretically flawed and empirically inaccurate, yet public choice "solutions" seem to work.' Discuss in the light of recent changes in the British public sector. "Not only does a bureaucracy...tend to under-government, in point of quality; it tends to over-government in point of quantity...A bureaucracy is sure to think that its duty is to augment official power, official business, or official members, rather than to leave free the energies of mankind..." (Walter Bagehot, The English Constitution (1867) page 197). "In the past, Governments have progressively increased the number of tasks that the Civil Service is asked to do without paying sufficient attention to the need for economy and efficiency...The present Government are committed both to a reduction in tasks and to better management." (Margaret Thatcher (statement in the House of Commons 13 May 1980), quoted in Dunsire and Hood, Cutback Management in Public Bureaucracies (1989) page 18). Walter Bagehot, writing as he did at a time when the public sector was considerably smaller than it is today, clearly shows in the above quote that lack of trust in the workings of bureaucracy is not a new phenomenon. Although the best-known work in the field of public choice theory is to be found in the writers of the 1960s and 70s, Niskanen
Is research and development the basis of long-term national competitive advantage? Compare the contribution which innovation systems have made to the leading economies.
) Is research and development the basis of long-term national competitive advantage? Compare the contribution which innovation systems have made to the leading economies. In order for a nation to be economically successful it must plan for the long term. This is how economic powers such the Western Europe, US and Japan have become so successful. The major reason behind national competitive advantage is Research and development. National competitive advantage is undeniably one of the most important goals, any government aims to achieve, and it is generally believed that it is through industrial leadership and competitive advantage that a nation is able to develop and succeed. As companies innovate, they increase their profits. In turn this helps the nation overall, when thousands of companies are doing the same. There is a need for 'recognition of the importance of innovation in an economy', (Mowery & Rosenberg, 1992). This essay will look at the reasons behind R&D and its implications for competitive advantage, on global economies. The way that innovative systems at both corporate and national levels have contributed to the development of major industries shall be discussed. The essay will also look into a number of industries where R&D takes place. The main focus will be on the U.S, U.K and Japanese economies. "Techno nationalism" is the concept where certain industries
Designing a Future Academic Library
Designing a Future Academic Library Binbin Liu 3th December 2007 . Introduction: scenario and background With approximately 389,000,000 results on Google about keyword 'university libraries', libraries absolutely play an important role in academic activities. They have developed into a robust academic system for providing books and services of knowledge. Few people can imagine that about thirty years ago, microform was considered to be on the cutting edge of technology (Farber, 1999) while now every library has a number of workstations which provide digital catalogue service. But, it still does not mean that the university libraries can survive the impact of development of high technologies, such as the Internet, database, multimedia, etc. Thus, academic libraries need more change. This change not only includes information technological revolution but also involves library future strategy. Currently, a serious challenge are university libraries facing. The development of information technology which produces high efficiency of using information makes a great impact on traditional academic libraries. No one wants to go to libraries when they get enough information about what they are looking for on the Internet, on mobile phones etc. Few visitors to libraries mean some are facing serious financial pressures to justify their existence. Some research argued that campus
Globalisation - discuss the growing trends towards the global community.
With the growing trends towards the global community, it is becoming more and more necessary for us to find the balance between the global and the local. It would seem that all you need to look at in order to see what the current trends and drives are in a society, is their advertising. Catch slogans like, 'Help your small business take its place in the global economy, use brand X', are all indicators that we are headed towards the 'globalisation of the globe'. Globalisation is not something that is fixed and secure. The questions, the definition and the operations in practise all have many questions surrounding them and they each have many dimensions. Questions such as, 'has uncertainty and diversity been growing?' 'Are we finding ourselves in a society that is more uncertain and diverse?' ' Is this bringing more risk to society?' There are many factors that have influenced us and many areas of life and society that uncertainty and diversity link to. Globalisation represents change and change is the one thing that will create uncertainty and diversity. However, many would ask if uncertainty and diversity has been increased. Have we really moved on from the 'Golden Age' to more uncertainty and diversity? Until recent years, even though we were all part of the collective of the planet earth, we were essentially locally driven. Things that happened on the other side of the
Globalization and the Geographies of Consumption: A Case Study of the Clothes and Footwear sector.
Globalization and the Geographies of Consumption: A Case Study of the Clothes and Footwear sector Introduction The consumption patterns in the clothing and footwear field within British households today is determined by everyone that consumes and utilises a product which in turn contributes to the state of the global economy. Today, more so than ever before, there is mass consumption in the world and, as an affluent country, Britain is contributing largely to the patterns that exist today. There is indeed an ever changing nature in the rates and types of consumption in Britain and the rest of the world. These changes in the relationship between production and consumption is a highly intriguing phenomenon, one which is constantly analysed in order to understand how and why these changes take place. It is possible to outline the contemporary geographies of production and consumption and, with particular reference to Britain, determine why this is occurring in relation to economic, cultural and political contexts. The product market of clothing and footwear is influenced by a variety of factors such as international regulation, tradition, identity and fashion and the existence of niche markets. The aim of this report is to outline these patterns by collecting various data and collating the results to maintain an outcome where it is possible to make a conclusion as to what those
The social and economic impacts of WTO policies on lesser-developed countries.
The social and economic impacts of WTO policies on lesser-developed countries. History and purpose of the WTO The WTO was formally established on 1st January 1995. Its predecessor is the GATT, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which was reached in 1948, to avoid the protectionism that prevailed following World War II. Before evolving into WTO, the GATT has been through eight rounds of negotiations since 1948. The seventh, the Tokyo Round, and the eighth, the Uruguay Round, are the most important ones. The Uruguay Round from 1986 to 1993 dealt with merchandise trade, service trade, intellectual property rights, and dispute settlement. Moreover, it made a resolution to establish the World Trade Organization, WTO. Up to now, the WTO has held four-round Ministerial Conferences listed in order-Singapore in 1996, Geneva in 1998, Seattle in 1999, and Doha in 2001.1 The main purpose of the WTO is to "help trade flow as freely as possible" and "to improve the welfare of the peoples of the member countries".2 The purpose is based on the most-favoured nation treatment, and aims at banishing the tariff barriers, to build up free trade among the members. This will give the state members a stable and predictable trade environment, which will promote foreign investments, create opportunities for further employment, and accelerate the growth and development of the national
International Business
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Case study Assignment Airbus versus Boeing: when is intervention Not Intervention? Task One: Globalization has given us access to new products, opened our eyes to new cultures, and helped us to share valuable information across borders, but sometimes the competition between companies from different countries can result in international legal disputes. One longstanding argument between the United States and the European Union (EU) is over government subsidies to aircraft manufacturers, specifically the American firm, Boeing, and the EU Company Airbus By looking at the case study Both the U.S. and the EU claim that the other government is subsidizing their domestic aircraft manufacturing industry. Subsidies are basically payments or other benefits given to a company by a government. Many subsidies are illegal according to the rules agreed to by the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) because they create an unfair competitive advantage In the case study The EU counters that Boeing has received a great deal of help from the United States. Arguing that U.S. subsidies to Boeing dwarf the launch aid given to Airbus, the EU points to Boeing military contracts, research and development grants, state (e.g., Washington, Missouri) incentive programs such as tax breaks for plant location, tax breaks given to Boeing divisions overseas, and a
Why do you think that technological change occurs in some societies, and at some periods, and not in others? What are the implications of uneven technological progress in the world economy for economics disparities?
Comparative Growth in Asia and Africa Mandeep Soor Why do you think that technological change occurs in some societies, and at some periods, and not in others? What are the implications of uneven technological progress in the world economy for economics disparities? Technological progress is the improvement of ways to produce goods and services. The industrial revolution brought about the first boom of technology and innovation, which took place in Britain and rapidly spread over much of Western Europe. It is clear that toady there extremely large disparities in the world economy. One key factor of structural economic change is the rate at which a country industrializes, and it's advancement in technology. There have been many changes in history where the economic growth has been closely related to changes in technology, with industry from agriculture and then a shift towards services in modern day. Three great mechanical inventions during the Elizabethan period, printing which advanced literature, gunpowder later used for warfare and the compass which was vital in navigation were invented most likely in China, but all were used in these functions in Europe. (Rosenberg, 1982 p245) These are all examples of successful technology transfer and adaptation, which was just as, if not more significant in the technological advancement of a society. A society's rate of
Compare and contrast NPV with IRR as a method of investment appraisal
Compare and contrast NPV with IRR as a method of investment appraisal Investment decisions are vitally important to a business because it involves making an outlay of something of economic value, usually cash, which the outlay precedes to benefits. If a wrong decision is made, the effects on the business could be significant and it might also mean closing down the activity and sell the premises at a significant loss. The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Net Present Value (NPV) are both methods used in practice by businesses to evaluate investment opportunities (long-term assets, i.e. machineries). The method of NPV uses the discounting cash flow which recognizes money coming in the firm in the future will be worth less value than the money equivalent they have today. Reasons could include: * Interest lost- Any investment opportunity must make you wealthier than the returns that are available from the next-best opportunity. For example, investment in a project, i.e. machineries must have better than those from investing in the bank. * Risk- A higher rate of return is expected from projects where the risk appears as being higher and thus how large the risk premium must be. * Inflation- A general increase in the prices of goods and services in a country, which needs to be compensated to the investors for the loss of interest and purchasing power if the investment is to
