Economics Review Essay Example for Free

Economics Review Essay 1. Describe some of the trade-offs faced by each of the following: 1. a family deciding whether to buy a new car 2. a member of Congress deciding how much to spend on national parks 3. a company president deciding whether to open a new factory 4. a professor deciding how much to prepare for class 5. a recent college graduate deciding whether to go to graduate school 2. You are trying to decide whether to take a vacation. Most of the costs of the vacation (airfare, hotel, and forgone wages) are measured in dollars, but the benefits of the vacation are psychological. How can you compare the benefits to the costs? 3. You were planning to spend Saturday working at your part-time job, but a friend asks you to go skiing. What is the true cost of going skiing? Now suppose you had been planning to spend the day studying at the library. What is the cost of going skiing in this case? Explain. 4. You win $100 in a basketball pool. You have a choice between spending the money now or putting it away for a year in a bank account that pays 5 percent interest. What is the opportunity cost of spending the $100 now? 5. The company that you manage has invested $5 million in developing a new product, but the development is not quite finished. At a recent meeting, your salespeople report that the introduction of competing products has reduced the expected sales of your new product to $3 million. If it would cost $1 million to finish development and make the product, should you go ahead and do so? What is the most that you should pay to complete development? 6. The Social Security system provides income for people over age 65. If a recipient of Social Security decides to work and earn some income, the amount he or she receives in Social Security benefits is typically reduce 6. How does the provision of Social Security affect peoples incentive to save while working? 7. How does the reduction in benefits associated with higher earnings affect peoples incentive to work past age 65? 7. A 1996 bill reforming the federal governments antipoverty programs limited many welfare recipients to only two years of benefits. 8. How does this change affect the incentives for working? 9. How might this change represent a trade-off between equality and efficiency? 8. Your roommate is a better cook than you are, but you can clean more quickly than your roommate can. If your roommate did all the cooking and you did all the cleaning, would your chores take you more or less time than if you divided each task evenly? Give a similar example of how specialization and trade can make two countries both better off. 9. Explain whether each of the following government activities is motivated by a concern about equality or a concern about efficiency. In the case of efficiency, discuss the type of market failure involve 10. regulating cable TV prices 11. providing some poor people with vouchers that can be used to buy food 12. prohibiting smoking in public places 13. breaking up Standard Oil (which once owned 90 percent of all oil refineries) into several smaller companies 14. imposing higher personal income tax rates on people with higher incomes 15. instituting laws against driving while intoxicated 10. Discuss each of the following statements from the standpoints of equality and efficiency. 16. Everyone in society should be guaranteed the best healthcare possible. 17. When workers are laid off, they should be able to collect unemployment benefits until they find a new job. 11. In what ways is your standard of living different from that of your parents or grandparents when they were your age? Why have these changes occurred? 12. Suppose Americans decide to save more of their incomes. If banks lend this extra saving to businesses, which use the funds to build new factories, how might this lead to faster growth in productivity? W ho do you suppose benefits from the higher productivity? Is society getting a free lunch? 13. In 2010, President Barack Obama and Congress enacted a healthcare reform bill in the United States. Two goals of the bill were to provide more Americans with health insurance (via subsidies for lower-income households financed by taxes on higher-income households) and to reduce the cost of healthcare (via various reforms in how healthcare is provided). 18. How do these goals relate to equality and efficiency? 19. How might healthcare reform increase productivity in the United States? 2 0. How might healthcare reform decrease productivity in the United States? 14. During the Revolutionary War, the American colonies could not raise enough tax revenue to fully fund the war effort; to make up this difference, the colonies decided to print more money. Printing money to cover expenditures is sometimes referred to as an inflation tax. Who do you think is being taxed when more money is printed? Why? 15. Imagine that you are a policymaker trying to decide whether to reduce the rate of inflation. To make an intelligent decision, what would you need to know about inflation, unemployment, and the trade-off between them? 16. A policymaker is deciding how to finance the construction of a new airport. He can either pay for it by increasing citizens taxes or by printing more money. What are some of the short-run and long-run consequences of each option? Chapter 2 1. Draw a circular-flow diagram. Identify the parts of the model that correspond to the flow of goods and services and the flow of dollars for each of the following activities. 1. Selena pays a storekeeper $1 for a quart of milk. 2. Stuart earns $4.50 per hour working at a fastfood restaurant. 3. Shanna spends $30 to get a haircut. 4. Sally earns $10,000 from her 10 percent ownership of Acme Industrial. 2. Imagine a society that produces military goods and consumer goods, which well call guns and butter. 5. Draw a production possibilities frontier for guns and butter. Using the concept of opportunity cost, explain why it most likely has a bowed-out shape. 6. Show a point that is impossible for the economy to achieve. Show a point that is feasible but inefficient. 7. Imagine that the society has two political parties, called the Hawks (who want a strong military) and the Doves (who want a smaller military). Show a point on your production possibilities frontier that the Hawks might choose and a point the Doves might choose. 8. Imagine that an aggressive neighboring country reduces the size of its military. As a result, both the Hawks and the Doves reduce their desired production of guns by the same amount. Which party would get the bigger peace dividend, measured by the increase in butter production? Explain. 3. The first principle of economics discussed in Chapter 1 is that people face trade-offs. Use a production possibilities frontier to illustrate societys trade-off between two goods—a clean environment and the quantity of industrial output. What do you suppose determines the shape and position of the frontier? Show what happens to the frontier if engineers develop a new way of producing electricity that emits fewer pollutants. 4. An economy consists of three workers: Larry, Moe, and Curly. Each works ten hours a day and can produce two services: mowing lawns and washing cars. In an hour, Larry can either mow one lawn or wash one car; Moe can either mow one lawn or wash two cars; and Curly can either mow two lawns or wash one car. 9. Calculate how much of each service is produced under the following circumstances, which we label A, B, C, and D: * †¢ All three spend all their time mowing lawns. (A) * †¢ All three spend all their time washing cars. (B) * †¢ All three spend half their time on each activity. (C) * †¢ Larry spends half his time on each activity, while Moe only washes cars and Curly only mows lawns. (D) 10. Graph the production possibilities frontier for this economy. Using your answers to part (a), identify points A, B, C, and D on your graph. 11. Explain why the production possibilities frontier has the shape it does. 12. Are any of the allocations calculated in part (a) inefficient? Explain. 5. Classify the following topics as relating to microeconomics or macroeconomics. 13. a familys decision about how much income to save 14. the effect of government regulations on auto emissions 15. the impact of higher national saving on economic growth 16. a firms decision about how many workers to hire 17. the relationship between the inflation rate and changes in the quantity of money 6. Classify each of the following statements as positive or normative. Explain. 18. Society faces a short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment. 19. A reduction in the rate of money growth will reduce the rate of inflation. 20. The Federal Reserve should reduce the rate of money growth. 21. Society ought to require welfare recipients to look for jobs. 22. Lower tax rates encourage more work and more saving. 7. If you were president, would you be more interested in your economic advisers positive views or their normative views? Why?

The Causes of Eating Disorders Essay -- Expository Cause Effect Essays

The Causes of Eating Disorders There is no single cause for eating disorders. A number of factors, including cultural and family pressures, chemical imbalances, and emotional and personality disorders collaborate to produce both anorexia and bulimia, although each disorder is determined by different combinations of these influences. Genetics may also play a small role. Between 40% to 96% of all eating-disordered patients experience depression and anxiety disorders; depression is also common in families of patients with eating disorders. Bulimic patients are more likely to report having emotional disorders and dysfunctional families than are anorexic-restrictor patients. It is not clear, however, whether emotional disorders are causes, results, or both, of eating disorders. Some experts claim that depression does not play a causal role, particularly in anorexia, because eating disorders are rarely cured when antidepressant medication alone is the treatment. The severity of the eating disorder is also not correlated with the severity of any existing depression. In addition, depression often improves after anorexic patients begin to gain weight. On the other hand, a number of studies have detected in some people with severe anorexia and bulimia abnormal levels of certain neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain), particularly serotonin, that are associated with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. These neurotransmitters remain unstable even in recovering patients. Studies are finding that low blood levels of the amino acid tryptophan, a component in food that is essential to the production of serotonin, can produce depression and may also contribute to bulimia. During the dieting stage between binge... ... bingeing and purging by slowing down, thereby increasing the risk of weight gain from even normal calorie intake. The process of vomiting and use of laxatives may stimulate the production of natural opioids -- narcotics in the brain that cause an addiction to the bulimic cycle. Biologic Causes for the Perpetuation of Anorexia Nervosa. Hunger often intensifies depression, which can further reduce self-esteem and confidence, increasing the need for renewed vigilance over weight control, thus perpetuating the cycle. On the other hand, some experts believe that certain anorectic people inherit an unusual amount of natural narcotics that are released in the brain under conditions of starvation and may promote an addiction to the starved state. Starvation can also give a false sense of fullness due to reduced stomach activity, making it increasingly easy not to eat.

Balanced Scorecard in Telecom

Performance measurement concerns all stake holders of business. Owners without executive powers are obviously most keen to know how their savings and investments are deployed. Employees, especially the ones with many alternate career options, would also like to know the state of health of their organizations, apart from the aspect of how superiors view their contributions. Suppliers worry about the future prospects of the business of a client because it has cascading effects on their own fortunes.Finally, regulators use corporate performance as feedback of macro-economic policies; customers also have tangential interests in the well-being of service providers and manufacturers on whom they depend. There is an increasing disconnect between statutory financial reporting and statements by executive teams about the states of enterprises for which they are responsible. There are many significant events in a corporation’s history which do not find places in profit and loss accounts or in balance sheets.Further, all statutory reporting is historical, whereas many modern lines of business such as telecommunications are in very fluid states. Everyone wants to know the future impacts of present developments, rather than what has already transpired in the past. There is an explosion of interest in non-financial information (Neef, and Cefola). Trends in customer loyalty and retention, development of more effective human resources, the capabilities of corporation to meet future competitive pressures, and the internal ‘engine-room’ operations are typical areas about which little is known through traditional financial reporting.While executives must be pleased at the lack of comprehensive business intelligence for competitors, the lack of directional information can lead to poor coordination and loss of control inside a corporation. All levels of hierarchy require guidance in terms of overall strategy, and how broad directions bear on individual jobs. The concept of a Balanced Scorecard is a popular and widely respected method of translating strategy in to specific implementationThis document constructs a hypothetical case of a telecom company, and attempts the application of the Balanced Scorecard methodology to translate the strategy of this company in to reality. The document concludes with an appraisal of the utility of the method. Business Distinctions of Telecom It is useful to consider the broad structure of the global telecom industry in order to construct a hypothetical case of some relevance.Telecom has shot in to the limelight of late after dramatic developments in technology and extensive consolidation of the industry structure as well. The industry shares a high profile with consumers and regulators alike. The telecom business is integral to modernization of society (Bonocore, 2001). High speed, wireless communication networks have transformed lives, bringing what was almost science fiction to the realm of reality. It is now possible to stay in touch with the world from the comfort of a home, and save on travel and commute times.Convergence between mobile or cellular telephones and computers is another major trend, and the revolution in the work-place of old is now in the process of unfolding at homes, with developments such as Internet telephones and music downloads from this medium as well. The industry is full of dramatic discontinuities; some of these are due to mergers and acquisitions, while the rest is because of disruptive changes in technology (Bonocore, 2001). The technological changes are likely to continue, with exponential jumps in processing speeds of micro-processors, while costs are headed distinctly south.The huge and rapid technological improvements keep creating excess capacities (Bonocore, 2001). The fixed infrastructure costs of telecom players are not sustainable, unless price reductions spur major jumps in demand. There is a fierce battle to capture new customers, to induce t hem to use their telephones as much as possible, and to hold on to them as well. Regulatory changes are breaking restrictions, as between local and long distance telephony (Bonocore, 2001). Large global players can also now break in to new domestic territories.The industry nature as outlined above makes non-financial parameters as important drivers of success (Neef, and Cefola). It is therefore eminently suited for the application of the Balanced Scorecard methodology (Tenhunen, Ukko, Markus, Oy, and Rantanen, 2002). Hypothetical Case Construction Telephone and Data Systems Inc. is a real company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Form 10-K, 1998). It is a diversified telecommunications operator in the United States, and participates in both the wireless and line telephone segments.A hypothetical case has been created in this document on the historical basis of the company’s 10-K statement for 1997, presented to the Securities and Exchanges Commission in 1998 (Form 10-K, 1998). This document details the company’s strategy exactly a decade ago. The Balanced Scorecard methodology can be applied to this historical but factual situation in a hypothetical way. The numbers and facts in the following paragraphs are not entirely factual, with some simplifications made for the purpose of clarity. Telephone Data Systems Inc.is a relatively small and niche player in the telecom industry. It does not operate at all outside of the United States, and serves customers in only 36 States of its home country. It has less than 10 million customers. The company depends on the United States Cellular Corporation for its wireless services, which includes broad band, and has a wholly owned subsidiary for this line of business. The company operates printing and distribution activities through Suttle Straus, Inc in which it has a controlling stake.TDS is focused on rural and suburban USA. It has about 11 thousand employees. Its basic approach is to combine organic gro wth with appropriate acquisitions. It operates each lines of business through a company which it either owns wholly or controls. The company has proprietary access to technology which reduces noise, provides seamless inter-connections, and which also offers cost advantages. Its network is capable of upgrades for value-added services. However, the company does also need to enter new technology areas.The company focuses on geographic clusters in order to control costs, but emphasizes full customer satisfaction in its chosen clusters. Overall, the broad strategy of Telephone Data Systems Inc. is to hold a leadership position in rural and suburban America, making necessary investments to support such a competitive advantage. An Overview of the Balanced Scorecard Concept It is useful at this junction to consider the general nature and principles of the Balanced Scorecard before the concept is applied to the hypothetical case constructed as above.The Balanced Scorecard is essentially a wa y of translating strategic concepts in to action (Keyes, 2005). It can also be used for holistic performance appraisal of an organization. The Balanced Scorecard seeks to integrate the contributions of all stake holders and levels of an organization for the joint implementation of strategic goals (Kaplan, 2002). It eliminates gaps between visionary thinking at the top of an organization and the daily actions of people up to the periphery. The Balanced Scorecard makes a large corporation nimble and responsive.The Balanced Scorecard was first introduced in the early 1990, and is now used by about half of all U. S. corporations (Neely, 2002). Measurement is crucial for building teams and common commitments (Kaplan, 2002). This is at the heart of the Balanced Scorecard system. These measures are a part of a cause and effect link spanning the entire organization; each measure is linked to an organizational outcome. The Balanced Scorecard is built along 4 axes: the financial perspectives drive customer values, while the internal perspectives focus on productivity, and value creation.The customer perspective gives body to differentiation, while the learning and growth perspective dwells on human resources, systems, business climate, and organization culture. Overall the Balanced Scorecard is a means of implementing strategy, and works primarily through simple and transparent measurement of financial and qualitative goals (Neely, 2002). Implementation Priorities and Sequencing This section relates to the hypothetical case constructed earlier in the document. Telephone Data Systems Inc.is ready with a strategy and would like to use the Balanced Scorecard to ensure measured and effective implementation. The process must start with widespread communication of the evolved strategy, because this has been prepared by a mere handful of the most senior and trusted executives in the company (Mai, and Akerson, 2003). Telephone Data Systems Inc. has more than 11 thousand employe es, and the Balanced Scorecard system requires that each of them understands what their company wishes to achieve and how (Kaplan, 2002).Some people are formally employees of owned or controlled, but independent entities: they must also be carried in the massive effort to implement the strategy quickly and well. Share holders, financiers, and technology associates are other stake holders with important roles in strategy execution, so they too must know the direction their company has chosen to take. Finally, competitors also need to be aware of the nuances of company strategy since the industry is in a phase of consolidation.Overall, the management should make special efforts to carry people with them by integration with the Human Resources Management strategy (Kearns, 2003) and by viewing the organization as a living being Communication with such a large and diversified audience is likely to suffer from both dilution as well as distortion (Segil, and Goldsmith, J, 2002). Further, t he subject matter is a top management prerogative, so any word from anyone other than the Chief Executive Officer, will not carry adequate weight or authority (Kaplan, 2002)This communication issue is also an opportunity for the company to showcase its strengths. The Chief Executive Officer, apart from physical one-on-one meetings with the most influential stake holders, decides to use email and video conferencing infrastructure to communicate interactively with each stake holder directly. The core message is that Telephone Data Systems Inc. will be the leader in telecommunications within rural and suburban America. The company will back this super-ordinate aim with all the financial and non-financial investments needed for its realization.The Chief Executive Officer and the core strategy team have decided to launch the Balanced Scorecard on a pilot basis before extending the methodology throughout the Group (Tenhunen, Ukko, Markus, Oy, and Rantanen, 2002). This will serve as a lear ning process and will help the company deal with the potential problems which such a process may entail. Telephone Data Systems Inc. is new to the Balanced Scorecard, and it is known that some phases of the process, such as tying personal remuneration with measured goal achievement may cause instabilities.

Essay on heart of darkness - 1844 Words

Various parallels can be drawn when comparing and contrasting Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness and Frank Coppolas quot;Apocalypse Nowquot;, while taking into consideration Heart of Darkness is a novella and quot;Apocalypse Nowquot; is a film. These differences and similarities can be seen in themes, characters, events and other small snippets of information including anything from quoted lines to strange actions of the main characters. Both pieces follow the same story line but they are presented in different contexts, allowing for many differences as well as the ability to see how Conrad is able to write a piece of literature that can be transposed to many different settings regardless the time period and still convey the same†¦show more content†¦In Apocalypse Now, Captain Willard utters the line quot;cut em in half with a machine gun and give em a Band-Aid. It was a lie. And the more I saw them, the more I hated lies.quot; The central theme in this line can be seen in bot h quot;Apocalypse Nowquot; and Heart of Darkness. Essentially, this line depicts the truth of colonialism and imperialism, stating that we have the `best intentions and are going to civilize savages, even if we have to kill them, just to gain a sense of control and power. Unlike Heart of Darkness, quot;Apocalypse Nowquot; shows the Americans viewpoint on communism, do to the setting and time period and pulls in some political viewpoints based on the era. The United States, is horrified at the socialist idea that power at the top falls, and one reformed class is created. The United States is afraid that since Vietnam was a communist country that they might have influence on other countries, thus creating a sense of inferiority. Yet another parallel can be drawn between the actions of the characters and elements of the setting. Though it is in slightly different contexts, there are similarities between the French ships shelling into the jungle and Willards crew aimlessly shooting in the jungle. In Heart of Darkness Marlows steamboat passes a French steamer thatShow MoreRelatedHeart of Darkness1958 Words   |  8 PagesSTUDY GUIDE Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness Each detail to which your attention is drawn by the Study Guide is part of the puzzle of Heart of Darkness. It is important to notice the details, to ponder them, to see how patterns repeat themselves, and to see how the pieces fit together. Marlows journey and your reading about the journey require constant alertness, discipline, patience, and a willingness to look for what is not immediately apparent. Section 1 A. The Thames Setting 1. 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To understand how Kurtz fell to this emotional corruptness, a readerRead MoreEssay on Heart of Darkness1208 Words   |  5 PagesJoseph Conrads The Heart of Darkness is a dark and haunting tale about the search for a substantial and mysteriously powerful man named Mr. Kurtz. Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, a sailor and also narrator of the novella. Throughout the work, Conrad uses an array of literary devices to suggest his style of writing. The title of the work itself, The Heart of Darkness, is an example of the use of metaphor. Darkness is a significant part of the books title conceptually. However, it isRead More Heart of Darkness Essay941 Words   |  4 PagesHeart of Darkness Darkness permeates every circumstance, scene, and character in Joseph Conrads novella, Heart of Darkness. Darkness symbolizes the moral confusion that Charlie Marlow encounters, as well as the moral reconciliation he has within himself while searching for Kurtz. 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Throughout the novel Conrad constantly utilizes the images of light and dark and uses them to mold a vision, which the reader is then able to use to decipher the literal and metaphorical meanings of the novel. As Conrad said, my task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word to make you hear, to