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In contemporary business and science a project is a collaborative enterprise, involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.
Project can also be defined as a set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations.
Projects can be further defined as temporary rather than permanent social systems or work systems that are constituted by teams within or across organizations to accomplish particular tasks under time constraints. An ongoing project is usually called (or evolves into) a program.
The word project comes the Latin word projectum from the Latin verb proicere, "before an action" which in turn comes from pro-, which denotes precedence, something that comes before something else in time (paralleling the Greek πρό) and iacere, "to do". The word "project" thus actually originally meant "before an action".
When the English language initially adopted the word, it referred to a plan of something, not to the act of actually carrying this plan out. Something performed in accordance with a project became known as an "object".Every project has certain phases of development.
Public housing may be a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the two, usually with the aim of providing affordable housing. Social housing can also be seen as a potential remedy to housing inequality. Some social housing organizations construct for purchase, particularly in Spain and to an extent elsewhere.
Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, definitions of poverty and other criteria for allocation vary within different contexts.
Brady said they “refused” to pay rent because the landlord has “violated terms of the lease,” through an ongoing construction project that has made the business less visible and accessible, and at times interrupted utility services ... “We’re hopeful the project will be nice when ...
The project, which would be on leased land, would span 1,500 acres, including 896 acres in Vigo County and 604 acres in Sullivan County, and would be located on reclaimed coal strip mine currently being used for crops.
Additionally the expanded ground lease would require the existing trail to be moved around the new area ... “I think the city would have a lot more control on what our proposal is as to what AT&T has with their existing lease with the city,” said Bill Ray, project manager for Clearview Tower via Zoom.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) currently operates around 319 solar arrays totaling 149 MW at several idle sites managed by the Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC), which runs the toll roads of South Korea, and has decided to give privates companies the opportunity to lease other idle sites to deploy their projects.
NancyPatterson, president of the society, told NJ AdvanceMedia the organization decided to close the building and museum because it cannot agree to the proposed lease while the DEP continues to propose a site stabilization project that calls for the raising of the first floor which, she said, does not address beach erosion and flooding.
The biggest unknown for the project — estimated at a $16 million to $18 million investment — is where its residents and visitors will park. The coronavirus pandemic and unexpected emergency repairs at the Walnut Street parking garage have derailed plans for the Polk Street parking deck across from Pektor’s project.
A Chattanooga developer said Thursday he plans to move ahead with a $17 million North Shore project that now will include more apartments in addition to office space ... In all, the project will have more than 63,000 square feet in the middle of the North Shore, he told the city's Form-Based Code Committee.
The project is a joint venture partnership between Shopoff Realty Investments and ArtemisReal EstatePartners...Real estate transactions, leases and new projects, industry hires, new ventures and upcoming events are compiled from press releases by contributing writer KarenLevin.
Lee & Associates has been tapped for the project leasing as well ...The new hires include Chris Schweighart as vice president of commercial brokerage, Matt Alexander as vice president of development operations, Bryan Beal as vice president of capital markets and investor relations, and Kristen Fulfer as interior designer and project coordinator.
partnered with Holy CrossEnergy for a solar and battery energy storage project, utilizing land leased from Colorado Mountain College, to install 5 MW of solar PV and 15 MWH battery energy storage. Ameresco’s project with Holy Cross Energy is under a PPA... The Ameresco project will ...
Equilibrium, a Polkadot-based interoperable decentralized finance (DeFi) project, has raised $2.5 million in Series A funding ... With the investors on board, Equilibrium looks to participate in an upcoming Parachain Lease Offering of Polkadot and win a parachain slot ... "Rough expectation of market caps for parachain projects is $420-430 million each.".
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Globalization involves the increasing interconnection of local and nationalistic economies across the world. It increases border movement of goods, people, technologies, ideas and services throughout the world. It lets other countries to join the rest of the world and become part of worldwide interrelatedness. As the biggest companies are no longer national firms but universal partnership. In my opinion, globalization is an important issue, as it allows countries to collaborate politically, socially and economically.
In the contemporary society, there are an increasing number of people involved in the globalisation. I choose the topic of international trade. And in the following paragraphs, I am going to introduce what is international trade, other possible benefits of trading globally and the bottom line. (Heakal 2015) Thanks to the international trade that allows us to expand the market for goods and services. And also, as a result of international trade, the market contains greater competition with more competitive price and cheaper products.
The effects of globalization in a global community Ferbryan Cliff Pelleng (016201400060) Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, education and on human physical well-being in societies and communities around the world Community itself is a group of people who share not just living space but also ideas, belief, goods, and solutions to a common global issue. But in a wider perspective, a global community consist of the people or nations of the world, considered as being closely connected by modern telecommunications and as being economically, socially, and politically interdependent. How a Globalization creates a community of a global citizens? And what’s is the effects of Globalization on our local community?
International trade is also knows as a globe trade which give the country opportunity to expands their markets for both good and services that otherwise may not have been available in other countries. This type of trade also give advantages for world to rise the economy in term of prices, supply and customer demands, affect and are affected by global events. All of the good and services can be found on international market. International trade will involve two types of process which be export and import. Export is a function of international trade in which the goods produced in a country will be sent to another country for future sale or trade.
The Effect of Globalization on Labor Movement Introduction Today, globalization is a phenomenon which affects all aspects of our life. In a broad sense, globalization is the process or processes that increase the movement of people, culture, technology, ideologies and information across the world. Economists describe the term to refer to international integration in commodity, capital and labor markets. If we look at the integration in these markets as the benchmark, it is clear that globalization is not a new phenomenon. The aim of this paper is explaining the impact of globalization on specific area, international labor movement which is a type of the migration.
Globalization and Nation States Globalization has integrated and intertwined the economies of the world. In the world today, every nation has become independent on every other nation, be it through trade or through finance. Developing countries today are attracting large rounds of foreign investment, and this foreign investment is coming from the developed countries. Thus, the money of the developed countries is today invested in the developing countries. At the same time, the world has also become interdependent due to trade relations.
Globalisation is a process whereby flows, exchanges and interactions are transboundary in nature. People, goods, services, ideas and information are being exchanged globally with intensification and acceleration. These exchanges are worldwide and real time. The results of globalisation are interconnectivity, integration and interdependence. With globalisation, many global citizens have greater mobility, which allows them to seek better opportunities overseas.
Through globalization, people around the world share information as well as goods and services. As a result of globalization, consumers around the world enjoy a broader selection of products than they would have if they only had access to domestically made products. International trade has stimulated tremendous economic growth across the globe-creating jobs and reducing price. As globalization accelerates change in technology, more jobs are created and as a result more people are employed thus increasing their purchasing power. As the demand of consumers rise, more and more products are produced to suit the needs and wants of the people.
Topic Discussion: Globalization has opened the doors between all businesses and countries worldwide, it has created connections without boundaries and a global exchange of information, cultures etc. It has widely increased the flow of money exchange and foreign investments in countries, and created an involvement between different people in many political, social and economical activities. Changing world politics, technological
Globalization is a process of linking the world through many aspects, from the economic to the culture, the political. in different nations. This process uses to describe the changes in society and in the world economy, by creating a linkage and increasing exchange between individuals, organizations or nations in cultural perspective, economics on global scale (Globalization 101, n.d.). A process of creating many opportunities but also causes many challenges for all the nations in the world, particularly for developing countries. There are so many advantages that globalization brings to developing countries like free trade, technology transfer and reducing unemployment.
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Currencies are traded in pairs, in a market that operates almost 24/7, reflecting the trading periods of Asia, Europe and the United States. Trading in pairs means you can’t just buy a currency, you have to buy one and sell another.
Currencies are also traded in lots of various sizes, of up to the fourth decimal point. That fourth decimal point, or one-hundredth of one per cent (1/100 of 1%) is known as a PIP, which is the smallest lot that can be traded on an exchange. Traders can buy or sell currency pairs based on whether they think one currency will be valued higher than another.
Since you can invest in small dollar amounts, a new trader is less likely to lose a lot of money on a trade. Where it gets risky is when a new investor decides to put more money into the market without doing their due diligence. They may borrow the money from a broker (called a margin account) to invest in forex—and if it doesn’t work out, they’ve lost money that they now owe.
That combination of ease of access, the ability to borrow money to invest speculatively, high liquidity in the market and the reported ability to make a lot of money is appealing to a lot of speculators, says Peter Guay, a Certified Financial Analyst, portfolio manager and financial planner at PWL Capital Inc. “In the short term, forex is unpredictable,” he says. “All of these scammy things [you might see online] are predicated on the notion that you can look at past trends and charts of how any given currency pair is trading, and make a prediction about how it will trade over the coming days.” He explains that the idea of looking at pie charts of past price behaviour to infer and predict future behaviour is known as technical trading, and it’s a technique to be wary of. “The very, very simplest form of the efficient market hypothesis shows that [technical trading] doesn’t work.”
Will forex trading make you rich?
Massive hedge funds that have people dedicated to this form of trading might make money off of currency exchange, but the average person probably won’t. Even the big funds get tripped up by forex trading, according to this Bloomberg article, which found that 68% of Gain Capital Holdings Inc. and FXCM’s investors had net losses from currency trades.
That’s because of two things, notes CFA Peter Guay. The first is interest rate parity, which says that the difference in interest rates between two countries will get washed out by the relative movement of their currencies over very long periods of time.
The second thing is the standard refrain of “past performance isn’t an indicator of future performance.” You can’t assume because gains were made in the past that you have a good chance of doing the same in the future. Instead, Guay says, “What determines the future price of a currency pair is the zillion factors out there, like interest rates, commodity prices, GDP and the cash flows between the two countries. There are so many different factors that will affect the movement of one currency relative to another and it is fundamentally impossible to predict all of those factors in such a way to confidently be able to predict which direction one currency is going to go relative to another.”
So unless you have a lot of money to spare, or you have the time and a lot of experience, forex trading can be a risky proposition to add to your investment portfolio.
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Jargon in any industry often confuses and confounds those who do not deal with it every day. Think about your computer. IT specialists seem to speak a different language. But investing shouldn’t be a minefield of gobbledygook that stops you understanding what your money is doing. Here we’ve taken some of the more commonly used financial terms and explained them in simple, everyday language.
- Bull market: A market that is exhibiting a significant price rise and is buoyed by optimism.
- Bear market: A market that is exhibiting a significant decline in prices and seems to be driven by pessimism.
- Growth assets: Asset classes (including shares and property investments) that have the potential for investment growth and which often carry greater volatility.
- Defensive assets: Asset classes (including cash and fixed interest investments) with limited or no potential for growth. Although they generally provide good levels of income and are often associated with lower volatility.
- Hedging: The process of protecting an investment from possible capital losses.
- Price/earnings ratio: A measure based on the multiple of earnings it would take to pay for an investment. For example, if a share costs $3.00 and the earnings on the share is $0.30 per year, the P/E Ratio would be 10; or you are paying 10x earnings.
- Gearing: The practice of borrowing to finance an investment purchase.
- Negative gearing: The situation that occurs when the costs of borrowing for investment purposes exceed the investment income earned.
- Margin loan: A loan used to buy additional investments using existing investments as security for the loan.
- Loan-to-value ratio (LVR): A measure of the size of the loan against the value of an investment expressed as a percentage. For example, if you had a portfolio valued at $100,000 on which you owe $60,000, the LVR would be 60%.
- Margin call: When the value of a portfolio funded by a margin loan falls below a specified level, the lender can place a margin call. This is a demand that the investor provide additional security to the loan (by way of cash or other investments) to restore the LVR.
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An increasingly competitive market drove colleges to raise their quality, their tuition, and their expenses.
Many American parents are deeply worried about the soaring cost of college tuition. With good reason, since the price of a sheepskin has risen considerably faster than inflation in the post-World War II period. What accounts for the price spiral? NBER Faculty Research Fellow Caroline Hoxby says that both the price and quality of a college education have been strongly influenced by momentous changes in the market structure of college education from 1940 to the present. "Over this period, the market for baccalaureate education became significantly more competitive, as it was transformed from a collection of local autarkies to a nationally integrated market," she writes.
Hoxby argues that the scale of structural change among colleges was equal to or greater than that of other businesses. In How The Changing Market Structure of U.S. Higher Education Explains College Tuition(NBER Working Paper No. 6323) she "advances a theory of industrial organization of college education. Her research suggests that changes in market structure can explain tuition increases of 50 percent or more in real terms since 1950 for selective private colleges, and tuition increases of about 15 percent in real terms for public colleges and less selective private colleges.
Hoxby finds that an increasingly competitive market drove colleges to raise their quality, their tuition, and their expenses. Heightened competition was also a force for colleges to develop different styles and specialties, as colleges felt impelled to create a more differentiated or "niche" product. At the same time, the distribution of student ability within any college narrowed as classes became more homogenous.
In an especially intriguing twist, Hoxby notes that students have a complicated relationship to the college market. Students are both consumers of college services and inputs into the production of education; they must consume at the same college where they are inputs; and students who want to consume a high quality education are typically high quality inputs themselves. These three related facts amplify the traditional predictions of industrial organization theory. High demand students are the same people whose "wages" (the entire subsidy to attend college) benefit the most from the loss of monopoly and monopsony power. Moreover, a multiplier effect is at work: high quality colleges attract high demand students, and highly desirable students further enhance college reputations. "Theory predicts that opening trade raises average quality; the multiplier magnifies this increase in quality," says Hoxby.
Of course, economists, legislators, and popular commentators have all put forward various explanations for steep tuition price hikes. Hoxby notes that her research, based on panel data on 1,121 baccalaureate-granting colleges, does not conflict with economic theories that focus on the changing demand or supply conditions for a college education. However, her theory, based on delving into the impact of heightened competition, does conflict with the popular notion that colleges are in cahoots to raise tuition prices faster than the rate of overall inflation.
-- Chris Farrell
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This article is part of the Forum Network series on New Societal Contract
This session explored the roles and responsibilities of governments, financial institutions and property developers to ensure more fairness in housing markets and better homes for all. The main discussion points concerned the economy and availability of housing and the resulting social problems caused or exacerbated by inadequate living conditions.
A decade ago, excessive lending for residential property and insufficient financial sector regulation played an important role in triggering the global financial crisis; today, many households across OECD countries struggle with their monthly housing costs. On average nearly 15% of tenants and 10% of mortgage payers spend over 40% of their disposable income on housing costs. Low-income households are disproportionately overburdened despite many OECD member countries promoting access to affordable housing as a key element of policy.
Housing needs are frequently unmet and, with a significant number of people living in low-quality dwellings, the panel agreed that governments need to reconsider how policies should be designed. Adequate housing for citizens, both old and young, supports growth in long-term living standards and strengthens macroeconomic stability. Bjarne Hastrup, Founder of DaneAge, felt that despite increasing pressure on the elderly to move into smaller, "more suitable" homes, provisions should be made to allow them to stay in their own households. He added, “[Denmark’s] parliament has recently introduced a reform which will push the retirement age to 70 by 2040 and 75 to 2060. This means while the population is growing, the number of pension years is not. There are not enough buildings in Denmark to cover this issue”. However the general consensus was that young people are hit hardest by the current situation, summarised by Jean-Baptiste Eyraud, Spokesperson for Droit au Logement: "Throughout the world, the younger generation is the worst-housed".
Governments use a wide and complex set of instruments to implement their housing policy, including subsidies to homeowners, tax relief for the purchase or ownership of property and the provision of social rental housing. While annual spending often tops multiple points of GDP, not all instruments are coherent with the goal of promoting access to affordable housing for all; indeed, many fail, particularly concerning the needs of low-income households and young people. Bjarne Hastrup suggested that retirement funds could be used to provide the next generation with opportunities to escape the shackles of low income and increasing rent prices. He explained money released from pension pots could be put towards housing and investment in real estate: “Denmark has developed labour market pension funds for everyone but they are inaccessible to the young… pension funds are the people’s money, not the government’s money”. Jean-Baptiste Eyraud also raised the issue of potentially “hostile systems like Airbnb” that encourage increased rental prices.
Stav Shaffir, a member of Israel’s Knesset, gave an example of how community links could be built from the bottom up to leverage public participation in housing policymaking. Five years ago a housing crisis in Israel, which saw the average number of monthly salaries required to buy a home soar to 148, roused 10% of the population to take to the streets in one of the country’s biggest protest movements. After creating a Facebook group that received 500 comments and stories in 24 hours, she began work on a rent regulation bill. Initially opposed by the government, the legislation was passed three years later, in no small part due to the thousands of signatures she received in support of the motion: “It is a result of the public defining what they want, creating political power that allows us to make it work together with professional information”.
Access to good-quality, affordable housing is a fundamental need and can help to achieve a number of social policy objectives, including reducing poverty and enhancing equality of opportunity, social inclusion and mobility. As Content Director for Europe at the Urban Land Institute, Elizabeth Rapoport’s work focuses on how communities can build positive social capital: “Urban development can promote physical and mental well-being, combat isolationism and loneliness and prevent radicalism”. Stav Shaffir echoed this, stating that, “once a strong community has been built, it is easier to tackle other challenges like poverty levels or socioeconomic gaps”.
However there were differing opinions as to whether inclusive communities could help combat these more abstract problems. Jean-Baptiste Eyraud agreed that, “the question of community is important, the ability for people to know one another, speak and live together in their own neighbourhoods” but did not, “believe that urbanism will regulate questions of terrorism”. Sofie Rédelé, Senior Project Developer at Re-Vive, used her experience of working in Molenbeek, Belgium to inform the discussion and gauge the impact urban planning can have on preventing radicalisation. Even before the November 2015 terrorist attack in Paris it was difficult to find investors or allies for a place Donald Trump once called, “a hell hole” and she commented that, “it is more difficult to build communities than houses; it is not just a case of numbers”.
A Wisembly poll seemed to reflect a positive appetite for change: asked, “Do you support a legal and mandatory right to affordable housing?” an overwhelming 94% of voters responded yes. Building on this for the future, Sofie Rédelé urged that cities in need of investment and with low social mobility should, “not be approached as hopeless crises but as opportunities for inclusion”.
- How should government policy evolve to meet citizens’ needs for affordable, high-quality housing?
- Is ownership the answer? Are there innovative new ways of mobilising public and private sector resources to boost rental housing options?
- Do you support a legal and mandatory right to affordable housing?
The Forum Network is an interactive space where concepts are challenged and new ideas are formed to shape better policies for better lives. Comment below to give your thoughts and continue the conversation!
Got a few more minutes?
- Achim Lippold, Foreign Desk Journalist, RFI, France @AchimLippold
- Jean-Baptiste Eyraud, Spokesperson, Droit au Logement, France
- Bjarne Hastrup, Founder, DaneAge
- Elizabeth Rapoport, Content Director, Europe, Urban Land Institute @eliz_rapo
- Sofie Rédelé, Senior Project Developer, Re-Vive
- Stav Shaffir, Member, Knesset, Israel @stavshaffir
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The comprehensive preparation of records for all financial transactions in a systematic way in a business is known as accounting. It can also be described as making summaries of the financial transaction reports, analysing them and making reports on all these transaction to agencies that oversees activities such as auditing in a business as well as the entities required to collect tax. Each business is required to have an accounting segment which varies depending on the size of the organization where accounts can be handled by accountants and bookkeepers for the small entities and a finance department with a number of employees for large companies. It is through the reports provided from the accounting sections that enables businesses to make informed decision. Bookkeeping and tax preparation are some of the roles carried out by those individuals who engage in accounting in a business.
Financial transactions such as sales, purchases, receipts or payments that have been made to an individual or another organization that take place in a business need to be recorded by the bookkeepers at all times. There are various record books where a bookkeeper is required to record both the cash and credit transactions which includes the supplier’s ledger, daybook, customer’s ledger and the general ledger. With proper bookkeeper’s record, an accountant is able to come up with reports on the financial situation of the business. Single-entry and double-entry bookkeeping system are the two common entry systems in bookkeeping. It is only the expense and income accounts can be recorded in the journal for expenses and revenue single-entry bookkeeping method. Double-entry bookkeeping method two entries for accounting are required to make records for the transactions and can occur in the liability, asset, expense, equity or the revenue accounts.
Another duty in accounting is tax preparation where appropriate tax returns can be filed for the business to the responsible body every year. Other people who can do the tax preparation includes tax preparer, certified public accountants, attorneys or even enrolled agents at a fee. It is important for every business to file their tax returns every year and the tax prepatation includes activities such as calculation of the total tax amount and filing the tax.
Accounting persons need to possess certain qualities that indicate they are suitable to carry out their duties well. The individuals need to be professional and ethical in everything they do so that they are able to keep financial matters away from unauthorized persons. They should also have proper communication skills both written and verbal to ensure that they are clear and understand everything in the field. They also need to have proper customer relations more so those that interact with customers every now and then in the business such as when serving them and addressing issues.
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Are you being harassed by these vultures?
Your Rights Under The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
If you use credit cards, owe money on a personal loan, or are paying on a home mortgage, you are a “debtor.” If you fall behind in repaying your creditors, or an error is made on your accounts, you may be contacted by the bill collectors, now commonly called a “debt collector.” It is very unwise to have a discussion on the phone with these vultures – instead you should demand that they only contact you by regular US mail.
This has the advantage of you having everything in writing as to who said what and when. One of the things you should never do on the phone is answer any question by saying YES. Even if it’s just a simple question like “Can you hear me?” Bill collectors record every conversation and can easily transfer your “YES” answer to a different question or make it sound like you approved a payment to them or even that you agreed to make full payment.
You should know that in either situation, the “Fair Debt Collection Practices Act” requires that bill collectors treat you fairly by prohibiting certain methods of debt collection. Of course, the law does not forgive any legitimate debt you owe.
What debts are covered?
Personal, family, and household debts are covered under the Act. This includes money owed for the purchase of an automobile, for medical care, or for charge accounts.
Who is a bill collector?
A bill collector is any person, other than the original creditor, who regularly collects debts owed to others. Under a 1986 amendment to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, this also includes attorneys who collect debts on a regular basis.
How may a bill collector contact you?
Bill collectors may contact you in person, by mail, telephone, telegram, or fax. However, bill collectors may not contact you at unreasonable times or places, such as before 8:00 AM or after 9:00 PM, unless you agree. Bill collectors also may not contact you at work if the collector knows that your employer disapproves.
STOP BILL COLLECTORS
Can you really stop bill collectors from contacting you?
You can stop a collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the collection agency telling them to stop. Once the agency receives your letter, they may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact. The agency may notify you if the bill collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action.
Can bill collectors contact anyone else about your debt?
If you have an attorney, the bill collector may not contact anyone other than your attorney. If you do not have an attorney, a collector may contact other people, but only to find out where you live and work. Collectors usually are prohibited from contacting such permissible third parties more than once. In most cases, the collector may not tell anyone other than you and your attorney that you owe money.
What must the bill collector tell you about the debt?
Within five days after you are first contacted, the collector must send you a written notice telling you the amount of money you owe; the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money; and what action to take if you believe you do not owe the money.
Can a collector contact you if you do not owe money?
A collector may not contact you if, within 30 days after you are first contacted, you send the collection agency a letter stating you do not owe money. However, a collector can renew collection activities if you are sent proof of the debt, such as a copy of a bill for the amount owed.
What types of debt collection practices are prohibited?
Harassment-Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse anyone. For example, debt collectors may not:
Use threats of violence or harm against the person, property, or reputation;
Publish a list of consumers who refuse to pay their debts (except to a credit bureau);
Use obscene or profane language;
Repeatedly use the telephone to annoy someone;
Telephone people without identifying themselves;
Advertise your debt.
False statements-Debt collectors may not use any false statements when collecting a debt. For example, debt collectors may not:
Falsely imply that they are attorneys or government representatives;
Falsely imply that you have committed a crime;
Falsely represent that they operate or work for a credit bureau;
Misrepresent the amount of your debt;
Misrepresent the involvement of an attorney in collecting a debt;
Indicate that papers being sent to you are legal forms when they are not;
Indicate that papers being sent to you are not legal forms when they are.
Debt collectors also may not state that:
You will be arrested if you do not pay your debt;
They will seize, garnish, or attach your wages or sell your property unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so, and it is legal to do so;
Actions, such as a lawsuit, will be taken against you, which legally may not be taken, or which they do not intend to take.
Debt collectors may not:
Give false credit information about you to anyone;
Send you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency when it is not;
Use a false name.
Unfair practices-Debt collectors may not engage in unfair practices when they try to collect a debt. For example, collectors may not:
Collect any amount greater than your debt, unless allowed by law;
Deposit a post-dated check prematurely;
Make you accept collect calls or pay for telegrams;
Take or threaten to take your property unless this can be done legally;
Contact you by postcard.
What control do you have over payment of debts?
If you owe more than one debt, any payment you make must be applied to the debt you indicate. A debt collector may not apply a payment to any debt you believe you do not owe.
What can you do if a debt collector violated the law?
You have the right to sue a collector in a state or federal court within one year from the date you believe the law was violated. If you win, you may recover money for the damages you suffered. Court costs and attorney fees also can be recovered. A group of people also may sue a debt collector and recover money for damages up to $500,000, or one percent of the collectors net worth, whichever is less.
Where can you report a debt collector for a violation?
Report any problems you have with a debt collector to your state Attorney General’s office and the Federal Trade Commission. Many states have their own debt collection laws and your Attorney General’s office can help you determine your rights.
The following actions are all illegal:
A debt collector calls you at work and knows that it is inconvenient or that your employer forbids it;
A debt collector calls you before 8:00AM or after 9:00PM in your time zone;
A debt collector makes an excessive number of phone calls to annoy or harass you;
A debt collector knows that an attorney, whose contact information is known or is easy to locate, represents you and the debt collector continues to dun you;
A debt collector tells a person other than you, your spouse, or your attorney that you owe money. (If you are a minor, the debt collector can tell your parents or guardians about the debt.) Debt collectors can only communicate with any other people to obtain contact information about you;
A debt collector misrepresents the amount, character, or legal status of a debt;
A debt collector gives others credit information about you that is false, or should be known to be false;
A debt collector fails to honor your dispute or cease communication rights;
A debt collector threatens to take your property or garnish your wages if this action would not be legal or if the debt collector does not intend to do it. Your property can not be taken and your wages can not be garnisheed without a court order (judgment);
A debt collector uses, or threatens to use, violence or any other illegal means to harm you, your family, your reputation, or your property;
A debt collector uses profane or obscene language in communicating with you;
A debt collector threatens you with criminal prosecution or implies that you have committed a crime. Debt and credit issues are matters of civil law, not criminal law;
A debt collector tricks you into accepting charges for collect calls, telegrams, C.O.D.’s, etc.;
A debt collector cashes, or threatens to cash, a post-dated check before the date written on the check, if the check is post-dated by 5 days or more;
A debt collector does not give 3 to 10 days advance notice before cashing a check that is post-dated by 5 days or more;
A debt collector claims to be an attorney or sends a letter made to look like it is from an attorney (unless the debt collector really is an attorney);
A debt collector sends a letter that is made to look like a government or court document when it is not;
A debt collector sends a government or court document that is not recognizable as such;
A debt collector threatens any action against you that is not legally feasible or that the debt collector does not intend to take.
This page answers the commonly asked questions about your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
If you are being harassed by creditors and want to stop them, record all phone calls, save all letters and envelopes, and click here to contact BestGuru.info privately by email TODAY and we will help you regain your sanity and dignity.
Permission to reprint in whole or in part is granted.
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In the six weeks since the COVID-19 crisis shuttered businesses across the United States, more than 30 million Americans have filed for state unemployment benefits. Even worse, untold millions more have tried to apply for benefits, but have been frustrated by crashing computer systems and overwhelmed state agencies.
An unemployment check is a lifeline during a time of financial crisis, pandemic or not. In 1935, the U.S. established a federal-state partnership to protect American workers against losing their jobs through no fault of their own. Known as unemployment insurance, the system is funded by taxes paid by employers and administered by individual states. But how does it really work?
Who Pays for Unemployment Insurance?
If you get an unemployment check in the mail, the return address will be your state's Department of Labor, but that doesn't mean that the government is funding your unemployment benefits. It's all paid for by your employer. In fact, employers pay two types of unemployment insurance taxes for each of their workers: federal and state.
The federal unemployment tax, known as the FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act) tax, isn't too bad. It's listed as 6 percent of the first $7,000 in earnings for each employee, but most employers pay far less. If the employer also pays unemployment taxes to an approved state program, then the feds will refund 5.4 percent of that 6 percent tax, leaving employers on the hook for only the remaining 0.6 percent. The maximum amount of FUTA tax per worker per paycheck is $42. FUTA tax is used to make loans to states for unemployment funds, to cover half of extended benefits during long periods of high unemployment and to cover administrative costs.
Different Rates in Different States
State unemployment taxes are generally much higher and provide the money that funds typical unemployment benefits. But each state has its own tax rates, which are all over the place – some probably kept low to entice businesses to move or stay in their state. "Tax rates range from almost zero percent to 10 percent of wages, and some states only tax the first $7,000 of wages, while others tax up to the first $49,000 of pay," says Michele Evermore, senior policy analyst with the National Employment Law Project.
Since unemployment benefits programs are funded almost entirely by employer taxes, the lower the unemployment tax rates, the lower the jobless benefits for workers. Florida, for example, has one of the nation's lowest unemployment tax rates, as low as 0.1 percent of the first $7,000 of wages. As a result, Florida offers relatively stingy relief to laid-off workers.
"Florida has some of the lowest average benefits and is tied with North Carolina for the lowest duration of benefits," says Evermore. "Florida workers are only entitled to 12 weeks of unemployment benefits, while in most states it's 26 weeks."
Interestingly, the unemployment tax rate is not the same for all businesses in the same state. Since unemployment is a type of insurance, employers that use the system more are charged at a higher rate. This "experience rating" system raises rates on companies that have frequent layoffs and therefore pull more benefits from the state kitty.
Who Is Eligible for Unemployment Benefits?
During the COVID-19 crisis, unemployment benefits have been extended to almost all workers currently out of a job, including self-employed freelancers and gig workers. But during normal economic times, a relatively narrow slice of workers qualify for benefits.
Again, each state writes its own rules, but in general you can only collect unemployment if you were a full-time or part-time employee, you lost the job through no fault of your own and you earned enough at that job to qualify for benefits.
What that means is that you can generally only collect unemployment if:
- you were laid off from a job because your position was downsized
- you were part of a larger round of layoffs at your company
- your company went out of business
- it's seasonal work and the season is over (with no guarantee that you'll be rehired next season)
On the flip side, you generally cannot collect unemployment if:
- you were fired for misconduct
- you quit without good cause
There are, however, certain situations in which you may be able to collect unemployment even if you quit. Those "good cause quits," says Evermore, include relocating with a spouse who got a job in another state, or quitting because job conditions violated health and safety codes. The state agency will be the one to decide if the circumstances qualify or not.
There are also monetary eligibility requirements for collecting unemployment. You need to have earned a minimum amount of money at the job over a set period of time known as the "base period." A typical base period is four quarters (one year), and each state sets its minimum amount, but can go as low as $3,000 in total earnings.
How Big Is the Unemployment Check?
The size of your unemployment check depends on how much you earned on the job and where you live. As we said, states with low unemployment tax rates are less generous with their unemployment benefits. Weekly unemployment checks can range from $100 or less a week to nearly $1,000. In 2019, the national average was $347 a week, which was the equivalent of 32 percent of the average weekly wage.
States use complicated formulas to determine the exact amount of the unemployment benefit. In general, it's based on how much you earned over the first four of the last five consecutive quarters. Some states use the highest-earning quarter while others take an average of all four. The more you earned, the more you will receive each week, but states also cap the benefit at a maximum amount.
The state with the most generous unemployment benefits, according to 24/7 Wallstreet is Massachusetts, where the average weekly payout is $515 (max is $823). Forty-eight percent of unemployed people in the state were receiving UI benefits in 2019, which run on average 26-30 weeks. Coming in second was Hawaii with a $503 average weekly benefit check, which is 53 percent of the average weekly wage in the state (maximum benefit is $648).
On the other end of the scale are states like Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina. Florida caps its benefits at $275 a week and cuts them off after just 12 weeks. In Tennessee, the average weekly benefit in 2019 was just $144 – the lowest in the nation – which covered only 15.2 percent of the average working wage in the state. Benefits also max out at $275. In North Carolina, only 10 percent of unemployed workers received benefits, a sign that the system is failing.
Of course, cost of living can play a role in how long benefits last, so a generous benefit in a state with a high cost of living may not be any better than a lower benefit in a state with a low cost of living.
Can Unemployment Funds Run Out?
Yes, they can and they do. In a perfect world, states should save up enough unemployment taxes in good times to cover unemployment benefits in bad times, but it doesn't always work that way. And when the state unemployment coffers run dry, as several did during the Great Recession, states have to take loans from the federal government – that's what the FUTA tax covers.
California borrowed $10 billion from the feds to bail out its unemployment fund after the Great Recession and didn't fully pay it back until 2018. The real losers in those situations are the employers, says Evermore, who have to pay higher FUTA tax rates to pay back the loan right when they're trying to recover from a recession. In all, 36 states had to borrow from the federal government to cover UI costs during the Great Recession, according to Tax Policy Center.
How to Improve Unemployment Benefits
Groups like the National Employment Law Project want to see the federal government set reasonable minimum standards for state unemployment programs. Evermore believes that unemployment benefits should last at least 26 weeks and replace a minimum of 50 percent of the worker's previous weekly earnings. Low-wage workers should qualify for an even higher percentage of weekly earnings, since half of a barely livable wage isn't going to feed families and pay the rent.
Although some states might balk at collecting higher taxes to cover this, Evermore reminds us that unemployment benefits are not just for the person who is out of a job. One of the main features of unemployment checks is that they act as a "countercyclical" force, injecting money into the economy during downturns and recessions.
"At the height of the last recession, every dollar paid in benefits generated $1.60 in consumer spending," says Evermore. "That helps to keep the economy afloat."
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A loan is when someone gives money to someone else in exchange for future repayment of that money, usually with interest.
When you need to borrow money to make a purchase you can’t otherwise afford on your own, the process looks something like this:
You apply for a loan from a lender
(such as a bank or other financial institution)
Lender reviews the application
Lender approves or denies the application
(if denied, the process ends here)
If approved, you and the lender
agree to the loan terms
Lender gives you the loan amount
You use the money to make the purchase
You make regular payments to the lender until the loan is repaid
But banks and other businesses aren’t the only ones that make loans—you could get a loan from a friend or family member. And not all loans involve money. If you check a book out from your library, the library is making you a loan.
Although there are many different kinds of loans, the ones you’ll most commonly encounter include:
|Type||What it is|
|Student loan||Offered to students and their families to help cover the cost of college or grad school|
|Mortgages||Loans to help people buy homes|
|Auto loans||Similar to mortgages, they help people pay for cars|
|Personal loans||May not have a designated purpose; can be used to cover various personal expenses, such as credit card debt|
|Business loans||Given to entrepreneurs or established companies to help them start or expand operations|
Loans can also be divided into two categories depending on whether the lender requires something of value to back the loan (known as “collateral”):
Secured loans are safer for lenders because they can always seize (and sell) your collateral if you don’t pay your loan. So, secured loans typically come with lower interest rates than unsecured loans.
While your parents might be willing to loan you some cash just because they love you, banks don’t feel the same. Instead, they’ll ask for specific information to figure out whether you’re likely to repay what you borrow.
Before making a loan, lenders typically look at your:
Some loans also require a down payment or collateral, which the lender also considers when making a decision.
Part of the loan process requires agreeing to a set of terms and conditions. The document you sign will include information on the:
Your agreement will likely also spell out when payments are due (and the amount of each payment) and any other fees or penalties you could face if you don’t follow the loan agreement.
Loans let people buy things they don’t have the money to cover up front in one lump sum. In return, the borrower agrees to pay back the loan amount, usually with interest, to the lender over a set period of time. People often turn to loans to help them buy a house or car, pay for college, or get a business off the ground.
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- When did quantitative easing end?
- What are the long term effects of quantitative easing?
- Where did all the QE money go?
- Why is quantitative easing bad?
- Who benefits from quantitative easing?
- Is quantitative easing just printing money?
- Does QE increase national debt?
- Why is QE not printing money?
- Can us just print more money?
- Can quantitative easing go on forever?
- When did quantitative easing start?
- Is QE good for banks?
When did quantitative easing end?
From 2008 until 2014, the U.S.
Federal Reserve ran a quantitative easing program by increasing the money supply.2 This had the effect of increasing the asset side of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, as it purchased bonds, mortgages, and other assets..
What are the long term effects of quantitative easing?
The important thing to remember is that quantitative easing generally leads to short-term benefits with the risk of exacerbating long-term problems. As a result, it is often used as a last resort when the economy faces a great risk of a recession or depression.
Where did all the QE money go?
All The QE Money Is Held By The Banks QE creates excess reserves (since the banks are paid in reserves when the Fed buys their bonds and other assets), which banks can then decide whether or not to lend out.
Why is quantitative easing bad?
Risks and side-effects. Quantitative easing may cause higher inflation than desired if the amount of easing required is overestimated and too much money is created by the purchase of liquid assets. On the other hand, QE can fail to spur demand if banks remain reluctant to lend money to businesses and households.
Who benefits from quantitative easing?
Quantitative easing increases the financial asset prices, and according to Fed’s data, the top 5% own upto 60% of the country’s individually held financial assets. This includes 82% of the stocks and upto 90% of the bonds. So, any QE action by Federal Reserve will only really help the rich not the rest of America.
Is quantitative easing just printing money?
What is quantitative easing? Quantitative easing involves a central bank printing money and using that money to buy government and private sector securities or to lend directly or via banks to pump cash into the economy. … Normally central banks implement monetary policy by changing interest rates.
Does QE increase national debt?
QE is essentially an asset swap where the amount of money in circulation remains unchanged. It does not increase or decrease the money supply directly. And neither does it reduce the fundamental debt burden and obligations of governments.
Why is QE not printing money?
The main reason is that central bank purchases of government bonds are not the equivalent of the central bank printing notes and handing them out. Asset purchases by the central bank are financed by money creation, but not money in the form of bank notes. … In contrast, bank notes never pay interest.
Can us just print more money?
First of all, the federal government doesn’t create money; that’s one of the jobs of the Federal Reserve, the nation’s central bank. The Fed tries to influence the supply of money in the economy to promote noninflationary growth.
Can quantitative easing go on forever?
The Inherent Limitation of QE Pension funds or other investors are not eligible to keep reserves at the central bank, and of course banks hold a finite amount of government bonds. Therefore QE cannot be continued indefinitely.
When did quantitative easing start?
By November 2008, the Global Financial Crisis, which originated in the residential housing market and the shadow banking system, had begun to turn into a major recession, spurring the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to initiate what we now refer to as quantitative easing (QE).
Is QE good for banks?
QE Keeps Bond Yields Low Since Treasurys are the basis for all long-term interest rates, QE also keeps auto, furniture, and other consumer debt rates affordable. The same is true for corporate bonds, making it cheaper for businesses to expand. Most important, it keeps long-term, fixed-interest mortgage rates low.
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Lost Revenues in Low Income Countries
Report with Dr Bernadette O’Hare (July 2017)
This research estimates how much revenue six low income countries – of which five are in sub Saharan Africa – are losing unnecessarily from various potential revenue streams that could be used to fund public services. Developing countries can lose revenue in a variety of ways. Here we estimate how much is being lost from the following sources:
Tax avoidance by multinational companies; Providing tax incentives (for example, reductions or exemptions from the payment of corporate taxes) which constitute government ‘tax expenditure’; Not collecting taxes from a proportion of business activity in the informal sector; Corruption in the national budget; and Debt interest payments to international creditors. The research finds that revenue losses are large in all countries, which has significant implications for development. The priorities for low income countries are to end corporate tax avoidance, reduce corruption and raise tax collections. These areas are far more important than aid inflows: The six countries under analysis are losing 6.4% – 12.9% of their GDP; In most cases, this amounts to more than the combined national health and education budgets, meaning that expenditure on these areas could more than double; Revenue losses are larger than aid in two of the six countries and over 60% of the amount of aid in a further three.
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Josh Stark provides in this article an excellent introduction to the topic of Blockchain Governance Applications.
It starts with a simple definition of the term “Governance”
This is what I mean by “governance” for the purposes of this article – the processes and systems used to facilitate decision-making in any organization.
This decision making process requires some basic technologies, which are provided in this context by the blockchain technology.
Amongst others these are
- First, it requires a way to record a set of rules. Rules like who gets to vote, who gets to sit in parliament or who has commit access to a codebase.
- Second, there must be a way for people to interact with the rules.
- Third, governance systems require a way to enforce the rules.
The article introduces a simple example of a voting system used by an NGO and then applies the blockchain technology to provide a Governance Application solution to the use case. This illustration process is very helpful in getting a quick and easy to understand overview of this rather complex domain.
The benefits of the blockchain in the above example are
- First, blockchains are ideal for recording information in a way that can be later verified as authoritative.
- Second, blockchains provide a new way for people to interact with the rules directly. Some blockchains allow users to create logical scripts that are executed by the blockchain itself (smart contract code), which are executing the agreed rule.
- Having the rule express as executable code in the blockchain itself we have already achieved our third requirement – enforcement. When the rule is expressed as executable code, the rule can be enforced at the same time it is exercised.
These three blockchain features are the foundation of any bitcoin governance system.
The author then goes on a introduces the bigger picture as well outlines various existing use cases. You can find the full article here.
This blog entry was fully produced within Evernote and published using the Cloudburo Publishing Bot.
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Many time series display seasonality. By seasonality, we mean periodic fluctuations. For example, retail sales tend to peak for the Christmas season and then decline after the holidays. So time series of retail sales will typically show increasing sales from September through December and declining sales in January and February.
Seasonality is quite common in economic time series. It is less common in engineering and scientific data.
If seasonality is present, it must be incorporated into the time series model. In this section, we discuss techniques for detecting seasonality. We defer modeling of seasonality until later sections.
The following graphical techniques can be used to detect seasonality.
1. A run sequence plot will often show seasonality.
2. A seasonal subseries plot is a specialized technique for showing seasonality.
3. Multiple box plots can be used as an alternative to the seasonal subseries plot to detect seasonality.
4. The autocorrelation plot can help identify seasonality.
Examples of each of these plots will be shown below.
The run sequence plot is a recommended first step for analyzing any time series. Although seasonality can sometimes be indicated with this plot, seasonality is shown more clearly by the seasonal subseries plot or the box plot. The seasonal subseries plot does an excellent job of showing both the seasonal differences (between group patterns) and also the within-group patterns. The box plot shows the seasonal difference (between group patterns) quite well, but it does not show within group patterns. However, for large data sets, the box plot is usually easier to read than the seasonal subseries plot.
Both the seasonal subseries plot and the box plot assume that the seasonal periods are known. In most cases, the analyst will in fact know this. For example, for monthly data, the period is 12 since there are 12 months in a year. However, if the period is not known, the autocorrelation plot can help. If there is significant seasonality, the autocorrelation plot should show spikes at lags equal to the period. For example, for monthly data, if there is a seasonality effect, we would expect to see significant peaks at lag 12, 24, 36, and so on (although the intensity may decrease the further out we go).
Example without Seasonality
The following plots are from a data set of southern oscillations for predicting el nino.
Due to the rather large number of observations, the box plot shows the difference between months better than the seasonal subseries plot.
Example with Seasonality
The following plots are from a data set of monthly CO2 concentrations. A linear trend has been removed from these data.
Seasonal Subseries Plot
The seasonal subseries plot shows the seasonal pattern more clearly. In this case, the CO2 concentrations are at a minimun in September and October. From there, steadily the concentrations increase until June and then begin declining until September.
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What Effect Does Amortization Expense Have on the Statement of Cash Flows?
Amortization expense refers to the depletion of intangible assets and can be a major source of expenditure on the balance sheet of some companies. Amortization is always a non-cash expense. Therefore, like all non-cash expenses, it must be added back to net earnings while preparing the indirect statement of cash flow.
As a company uses up resources, it must recognize the exhaustion of these resources as an expense. A truck, for example, will wear out with use, and its market value will decline. Such a tangible asset is depreciated; in other words, the value of the asset reflected on the balance sheet is reduced to reflect its lower value. Intangible assets, too, must be depreciated as they are used up. However the term used for the depreciation of these types of assets is amortization. If a company paid $1 million for the use of another brand's logo on its products for the next five years, it will have to amortize this asset of usage rights by $200,000 every year.
Cash Flow Statement
The cash flow statement is a powerful tool that allows the accountant and top management to keep track of the cash taken in vs. cash expanded over the course of a set period -- for example, a whole fiscal year. The most frequently used method of calculating cash flows is to add and subtract non-cash expenses and profits to the company's profit figures. This is referred to as the indirect method of calculating cash flow. For example, you would subtract non-cash sales on credit from the net income figure, since these boost the net income but do not result in extra cash. Thus, they should not be counted among cash-generating activities.
Amortization and Cash Flow
Amortization expense is a non-cash expense. Therefore, like all non-cash expenses, it will be added to the net income when drafting an indirect cash flow statement. The same applies to depreciation of physical assets, as well other non-cash expenditures, such as increases in payables and accumulated interest expenses. These numbers have all been subtracted from the net sales figure when arriving at the net income figure, even though the company did not pay cash while accruing these expenses. Therefore, the net income figure is that much less than the cash taken in. To arrive at the accurate cash flow number, you add these expenses back to net income.
When using the direct method of cash flows, your accountant considers only the cash outlays and expenses. He adds up all cash taken in from various sources, and subtracts all cash paid out from this total. The result is the net cash flow of the company. Since amortization is not a cash expenditure or inflow, it is not considered when using the direct method. While the direct method is more straightforward and simple, it lacks one major advantage of the indirect method: it does not show which specific reasons caused the net income and the cash flow to differ. When using the indirect method, your accountant can easily pinpoint the sources of the difference.
Hunkar Ozyasar is the former high-yield bond strategist for Deutsche Bank. He has been quoted in publications including "Financial Times" and the "Wall Street Journal." His book, "When Time Management Fails," is published in 12 countries while Ozyasar’s finance articles are featured on Nikkei, Japan’s premier financial news service. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Kellogg Graduate School.
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The annual U.S. energy chart on energy usage and waste released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), indicates that in 2012, the extensive use of coal to produce electricity have been substituted to large extent with natural gas, solar and wind.
The chart indicates that highest increase is noted in the use of wind power (see image). Governmental incentives towards investments in renewable energy have triggered the increasing construction of wind farms, with larger and much more efficient wind turbines.
LLNL accounts the rise in solar to the drastic drop in prices of solar panels due to the global over supply. Moreover, the low natural gas prices have triggered the replacement of coal in the electricity generation sector.
According to A.J. Simon, an energy systems analyst at LLNL, the combination between governmental incentives and drop in prices, have resulted in this remarkable increase in the use of renewables.
There is a notable drop in nuclear energy production and use, which the report explains by the switching off of four nuclear reactors over the past year.
Most of the energy was used for electricity generation, transportation, industrial, residential and consumption, but overall the amount of energy used in 2012 is 2.2 quadrillion BTU* less than the previous year
*BTU or British Thermal Unit is a unit of measurement for energy; 3,400 BTU is equivalent to about 1 kW-hr
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The true cost of homeownership reaches far beyond down payments, closing costs and monthly mortgage. It includes other recurring costs, none more so dreaded property taxes. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average homeowner pays $2,375 in property taxes each year.
However, a joint study by Indiana University and the University of California-Berkeley published in late June revealed Black and Hispanic homeowners pay 10-13 percent more than white homeowners in the same tax jurisdiction.
Based on panel data for 118 million homes and geolocation data for 75,000 taxing entities, researchers Carlos Avenancio-León and Troup Howard found the tax burden stemmed from disparities in property assessment and tax appeals protocols.
“First, property assessments are less sensitive to neighborhood attributes than market prices are,” the study read. “This generates racially correlated spatial variation in tax burden within [a] jurisdiction.”
“Equitable property tax administration requires the ratio of assessed value to market value to be the same for all residents within any particular taxing jurisdiction,” it added. “This paper documents the existence of a widespread and large racial assessment gap: relative to market value, assessed values are significantly higher for minority residents.”
Avenancio-León and Howard said assessments “are insufficiently sensitive to neighborhood-level attributes,” and because of the lingering effects of state-sanctioned housing segregation, “minority residents face, on average, different neighborhood characteristics than white residents.”
The result is a higher property tax bill for Black and Hispanic homeowners, with Black homeowners shelling out 12.9 percent more per year than white homeowners in the same tax jurisdiction. For Black or Hispanic residents in aggregate, the average assessment gap is 9.8 percent, the study said.
The average assessment gap (9.8 percent) translates to an additional $300 to $390 in property taxes for the median minority homeowner. However, the tax burden can quickly balloon for minority homeowners who live in tax jurisdictions with bigger assessment gaps.
“This finding is strongly robust across most states in the U.S. We produce county-level estimates to characterize the distribution of this assessment gap,” the study added. “The average black homeowner in a county at the 90th percentile of the assessment gap distribution has a 27 percent higher assessment ratio, and would pay an extra $790 annually in property tax.”
Vermont, Oregon, Indiana and Kansas were the only states that didn’t overassess Black and Hispanic homeowners. Meanwhile, Illinois, Missouri and Ohio had the largest overassessment gaps, with Black homeowners in Cook County, Illinois, paying three times more than white homeowners in the same tax jurisdiction.
California was excluded from the study due to Proposition 13, which caps assessment growth at 2 percent during a homeowner’s tenure.
Beyond the tax assessment gap, the study revealed the tax appeals process hindered Black and Hispanic homeowners from receiving an equitable tax bill.
“Within U.S. Census block groups, which represent regions of approximately 1,200 people, an average minority homeowner has an assessment five to six percent higher relative to market price than her nonminority neighbor,” the study read. “This latter finding is particularly surprising given that most assessors likely neither know, nor observe, homeowner race.”
“We document that a significant portion of this effect arises from racial differentials in assessment appeals,” it added.
For example, minority homeowners in Cook County are less likely to appeal their property tax, and if they do appeal, they’re less likely to win. Lastly, if they win an appeal, data shows they receive smaller reductions than their white counterparts.
These two factors impact Black and Hispanic homeowners’ ability to build short-term and longterm wealth, Avenancio-León and Howard said, and results in fewer homeownership and financing options.
“At the median, the assessment gap results in a Black homeowner paying approximately $390 dollars more each year,” they explained. “This is a very large number, given that the median Black household net worth is $13,000, of which only $4,000 is in liquid assets.”
“For any discount rate below three percent, the stream of incremental tax payments suggested by our findings represents an excess tax burden which exceeds total household wealth for the median Black family,” the added. “Not only does this inhibit wealth-building directly, it may well distort homeownership and financing choices for minority residents, further exacerbating the wealth gap.”
To close the gap, Avenancio-León and Howard suggest taxing entities adopt a zip-code-based approach.
We describe an algorithm for generating assessments that relies on small-geography home price indexes,” they said. “We show that simply linking assessment growth to ZIP-code-level indexes will reduce racial inequality by 55 to 70 percent.”
“Racial inequality can be further reduced by using house price indexes that are more carefully calibrated to local geographies than zip code boundaries,” they concluded. “We believe the results we uncover in this paper represent a large source of racial inequality in the United States.”
Read the full study below:
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What They Do and Ways to Respond
In passing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) over 50 years ago, Congress made it the “continuing responsibility of the Federal government to . . . fulfill the responsibilities of each generation as trustee of the environment for succeeding generations.” The Act provided a process to ensure that: (1) government decisions were informed by analysis of environmental impacts and that (2) the public had access to this information and the right to provide it. NEPA created the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) requiring it to ensure that federal agencies acted to fulfill NEPA’s mandate. CEQ’s NEPA regulations provide the backbone of NEPA compliance. Each federal agency’s own NEPA regulations and guidance supplement CEQ’s.
1. Limits the actions covered by NEPA. NEPA applies to “major federal actions.” Courts have interpreted this phase broadly. Trump’s proposal would change the definition to exclude those actions where “minimal Federal funding or minimal Federal involvement” limits the agency’s control over “the outcome on the project.”
RESPONSE: A broad definition of major federal action is necessary to fulfill NEPA’s mandate. Agencies can and do tailor the amount of review to the size of the project. Limiting what is covered by NEPA in the first place leaves the public without a say in many decisions that shape their communities. Pipelines like the Dakota Access, for example, might no longer be covered by NEPA. The U.S. Army Corps argues that it is only responsible for the few miles where the pipeline crosses the lake formed by the dam it created. Hog farms receiving federal loan guarantees could also be excluded. Talk about a recipe for litigation. What counts as "minimal"? What counts as “influencing the outcome"? President Trump says he wants more certainty, but this proposal creates a lot less.
2. Eliminates requirement to analyze cumulative effects. NEPA requires federal agencies to analyze a proposed action across time. An agency cannot look at a proposed action in isolation, but must consider it within the context of past, present and reasonably foreseeable future actions. Trump’s proposal eliminates “cumulative” and “indirect” from the definition of “effects.”
RESPONSE: Agencies cannot satisfy NEPA’s mandate to act as trustee for future generations without looking at cumulative impacts. As CEQ itself has said, “Evidence is increasing that the most devastating environmental effects may result not from the direct effects of a particular action, but from the combination of individually minor effects of multiple actions over time.” CEQ, Considering Cumulative Effects under the National Environmental Policy Act (January 1997).
3. Limits geographic scope of review. NEPA requires an integrated, holistic approach to decision-making. Under CEQ’s existing regulations significance “must be analyzed in several contexts such as society as a whole . . . , the affected region, the affected interest, and the locality.” Trump’s proposal changes this to provide that agencies “may consider, as appropriate” the affected area as “national, regional or local.”
RESPONSE: Agencies fail to satisfy NEPA’s purpose and intent if they look at a proposed action in isolation. NEPA speaks of the Nation’s commitment “to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.” NEPA added new responsibilities to those under the laws that govern a particular agency. NEPA requires integration across agencies, across time and across space. NEPA embedded in nation’s law the recognition of the interrelatedness of systems – air, water, land, wildlife and humans.
4. Curtails public input through threat of requirement to post bond. No one wants frivolous claims to delay a project needlessly. But requiring posting of a bond to cover potential damages from delay in order to have legitimate concerns heard threatens to silence the very public engagement NEPA promotes. Yet, this is exactly what Trump’s proposal does.
RESPONSE: The proposed changes suggest that a bond might be appropriate when an agency grants a stay of an action while it is considering an appeal of the proposed action. Little reason exists for a bond during an administrative appeal for the project proponent lacks a reasonable expectation of being able to move forward until an agency action is finalized. Generally, an agency action is not considered final until any administrative appeal is complete.
5. Limits obligation to obtain relevant information. For years, CEQ has required agencies to obtain the information that they need to make a decision. If the means to obtain such information are unknown or the costs to obtain the information are exorbitant, the agency must identify the information that is incomplete or missing and explain why it is relevant. Trump’s proposal changes “not exorbitant” to “not unreasonable.”
RESPONSE: NEPA’s purpose is to ensure informed decision-making yet Trump’s proposal explicitly excuses them from undertaking new scientific and technical research that might be needed.
6. Removes conflict-of-interest requirements for contractors preparing environmental analysis. Trump’s proposal allows applicants to prepare environmental analysis themselves. It eliminates existing conflict-of-interest requirements.
RESPONSE: This is like having the fox guard the hen house. Without protections against conflicts-of-interest, environmental analysis is likely to be biased by assumptions supporting the proposed project. Moreover, nothing requires the agency to ensure that the environmental analysis meets NEPA’s requirements.
7. Allows actions to be taken before the completion of the NEPA process. NEPA prohibits the “irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources” before completion of the required environmental review and public participation. The purpose of NEPA is to ensure that agencies “look before they leap.” Yet, Trump’s proposal authorizes “such activities, including, but not limited to ‘acquisition of interests in land’” while the NEPA process is still underway. Moreover, the proposal explicitly delays NEPA compliance until after treaties, international conventions and agreements have already been ratified.
RESPONSE: Courts have consistently refused to allow projects to proceed when violations of NEPA have occurred. In fact, courts across the country have issued preliminary injunctions to halt agency action while they evaluate claims of agency NEPA violations.
8. Eliminates the requirement for programmatic environmental analysis for federal or federally assisted research or development of demonstration programs for new technologies. Courts have found that NEPA applies to technology development programs. When Congress enacted NEPA, it was well aware that new technologies were a major cause of environmental destruction. Yet, Trump’s proposal removes the word “shall” from agency obligations to complete programmatic environmental impact statements as it develops or assists in the development of new technologies.
RESPONSE: NEPA identifies “new and expanding technological advances” as one of the profound influences that man has had on the interrelations of all components of the natural environment. CEQ offers no justification in its proposal for curtailing NEPA’s application to agency involvement in new technology development.
9. Invites agencies to substitute any other analysis or process for NEPA. NEPA does not leave it to federal agencies to decide for themselves what kind of environmental review to complete. Just because an agency may have environmental responsibilities does not free it from the specific public participation and adequacy of review requirements imposed by NEPA. Yet, Trump’s proposal would do just that.
RESPONSE: CEQ offers no justification for allowing this change which runs contrary to the letter and intent of NEPA. With the exception of the Environmental Protection Agency, Courts have rejected attempts by other agencies such as the Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to avoid the specific requirements of NEPA.
10. Takes the heart out of NEPA by curtailing consideration of alternatives. CEQ has directed agencies to rigorously explore and objectively evaluate all reasonable alternatives for the past 50 years. Trump’s proposal eliminates the direction “to rigorously explore and objectively evaluate” and also deletes “all” before the phrase “reasonable alternatives.”
RESPONSE: Without a robust analysis of alternatives, the NEPA process becomes a process documenting effects of a “done deal” rather than contributing to decision making.
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The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that younger households are even more at risk because those are the households with low incomes or no pensions. The authors of the report blame a rising Social Security retirement age, a sharp decline in traditional pensions paired with sagging 401(k) balances, low savings rates, and longer life spans.
The study defined those “at risk” as falling more than 10% short of their income target in retirement.
Other findings include:
- Low income Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1972): 60% are at risk of having insufficient funds in retirement.
- Low income late boomers (born between 1955 and 1964): 54% are at risk.
- Middle income Gen Xers: 46% are at risk.
- Single Gen X Women: 52% are at risk.
- Two-earner Gen Xers: 53% are at risk.
The results of the study warn that “unless Americans change their ways, many will struggle in retirement,” Alicia Munnell, director of CRR, said in a statement. She added that there is “no silver bullet, the answer is saving more and working longer.”
The report goes even farther in suggesting some ways in which those “at risk” households can help buffer the impact of retirement by working even two years longer and saving 3% more.
The sample included about 4,500 households from the Federal Reserve’s 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances.
« Supreme Court Defers Illegal Worker Case Back to Appeals Court
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The financial aid process is daunting, especially when going through the process without help from a reliable source. Fortunately, we are here to help you navigate obscure financial aid jargon with ease.
Always start out with the Free Application for Student Aid, known as FAFSA. Once your application is processed, you will know what federal assistance programs, grants, and loans you qualify for, and how much will have to be through private lending agencies. This process is the same for graduate students, however graduate students may not be eligible for undergraduate programs, including Federal Pell Grants.
The FAFSA is an important first step, but it won’t be the end of your financial aid journey. Once you’ve completed FAFSA, look for ways to cut your college costs. Applying for scholarships and grants, investigating kinds of federal aid, and keeping your eyes open for financial aid opportunities will help you save money on your college tuition. Below, you’ll find more information and tips on navigating the financial aid process.
The best way to supplement your financial aid package is to apply for scholarships. College scholarships minimize student loan debt. You do not need to be a star athlete or valedictorian to win scholarships. Many scholarships are based on financial need, community service and your intended field of study. Highlight your unique attributes to search for more specific college scholarships. Browse through our site or conduct a free scholarship search to see what awards you are eligible for, and start earning money for higher education.
From 529 Plans - offering tax savings over taxable accounts - to Coverdell Accounts - optimal for families looking to invest $2000 or less per year - every parent should be able to find a savings plan that meets their needs. Have a reference point when looking for savings plans, estimate how much college will cost using a college financial aid calculator, and always start with a conservative number because some savings plans come with stipulations.
Federal aid comes in the form of federal grant programs, federal student loans and federal work-study programs. Federal Aid is subject to change based on government funding policies. Eligibility guidelines for FAFSA are available online for a quick application and fast processing, starting October 1 of every year. The FAFSA will determine how much funding you can receive, and what federal funding programs you qualify for. Students with great financial need may qualify for a Pell Grant. Most students will be able to take out a Direct Loan, which, while not as desirable as a grant, do have lower interest rates than any private loan.
Research will help you understand financial aid information, and dispel popular misconceptions about the process. Many students believe they are either ineligible for scholarships, or that applying for scholarships is a waste of time. Truthfully, the financial aid process is the most important step you will take in the college application process. More than $130 billion is awarded each year to college-bound students. And while it helps to have an impressive academic record, much of the funding is need-based. Once you've filled out your FAFSA, conduct a free scholarship search to find awards, and boost your financial aid package with money from scholarships and grants.
The optimal way to navigate the financial aid process is conducting thorough research. Luckily, we’ve done it for you. We update our site with the latest news on financial aid changes that affect how much you will receive from the government. Check out our news section for updated financial aid news to determine what higher education institutions are doing to affect students’ financial aid packages. Always keep track of how government policies affect your ability to take out loans, get awarded grants, and pay for college.
While college is the most rewarding years in a student’s life, paying for college is not. No one wants high monthly payments or to be forced to default on payments, ultimately damaging your credit score. If you are faced with a higher tuition bill than anticipated, consider your options to cut your college costs and take advantage of the millions of dollars being awarded to students annually.
Latest College & Financial Aid News
April 13, 2021
Let’s say you’ve made it. You are enrolled in college, or have been for a year or two. You’re receiving some financial aid, or even a scholarship, but something’s missing. It’s money. No matter how generous the package you’re receiving is, there’s always one more book to buy, one more activity fee, one more dining hall bill… [...]
April 6, 2021
by Izzy Hall
The coronavirus made laptops a necessity for college students. Where before students without personal computers or laptops could use on-campus computers and provided software to meet the technological needs of their courses, the shift last spring to online classes necessitated that students have a stable internet connection and a compatible device. While the majority of students were able to meet this requirement, according to a study by EDUCASE, some students found themselves without a modern laptop that could run the most up-to-date browser, use RAM-heavy software or keep up even with reliable high-speed Wi-Fi. One university has announced a unique remedy for this technical situation. [...]
March 31, 2021
by Izzy Hall
When students hear back from colleges in the coming weeks, they may not get a firm acceptance or rejection, but rather get put on the wait list. Getting waitlisted is a normal part of the college admissions process, but some experts say that this year the wait list could turn into the longest it has ever been. A combination of the effects of the coronavirus on colleges, changes in application policies and an increase in applications at top colleges may contribute to a difficult wait list period. [...]
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Renewable Energy and Process and Production Methods
In the debate on climate change, methods of producing products and energy are of paramount importance. While the product or the form of energy resulting may be the same, diverging production processes and methods of production may have a critical impact on climate change mitigation, and environmental and human concerns in general. Some may be detrimental, some may be beneficial. They vary from each other, notwithstanding that the final products cannot be distinguished from each other. This paper explores the extent to which renewable energy and non-renewable energy, in particular based on fossil fuels, may be regulated, labelled, or taxed differently, or whether the likeness of the product prohibits doing so in international trade law relating to production and process methods (PPMs). In doing so, the paper mainly focuses on the production of electricity from fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas), atomic energy, and renewable energy (hydropower, thermal power, wind, solar and tidal energy, and biomass).
Energy produced from fossil fuel or renewable energy may sometimes be distinguished as products. More frequently, however, such distinctions cannot be made. Electricity as a product cannot be physically distinguished on the basis of the type of energy used to produce it. The physical properties of electricity do not vary and do not depend on the mode of production used. Electricity in contemporary international law is defined as a good. It is subject to the disciplines of World Trade Organization (WTO) law, in particular Article III of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and related international agreements. Thus, the basic principle of treating like products alike applies to all electricity. In particular, taxation, technical regulations, and other rules need to treat imported electricity no less favourably than domestic electricity, irrespective of the mode of production used. Given the principles of most-favored nation (MFN) and national treatment under GATT 1994, the question arises to what extent differential treatment may be based on the modes of production of energy. This question relates to PPMs, which are of two basic types—product-related PPMs (PR-PPMs); and non-product-related PPMs (NPR-PPMs). Incentives to bring about electricity production and trade on the basis of renewable energy or the promotion of biomass in the decarbonisation process requires full recognition of NPR-PPMs. Currently, incentives mainly consist of labelling schemes, such as guarantees of origin and green certificates. However, this kind of incentive alone is not able to induce the necessary shift in the energy production process.
The established concept of likeness in WTO law does not readily allow for product differentiation on the basis of PPMs and thus of differing PPMs. Such schemes, except for the purposes of labelling under the TBT Agreement, essentially depend on qualifications contained in the exceptions to Article XX GATT. Much depends on the precise modalities of implementing a scheme; the law does not offer adequate predictability and legal security. Moreover, current WTO law may allow for unilateral imposition of PPMs, but does not provide for compensatory mechanisms in transferring know-how and technology relating to PPMs. Parameters allowing for PPMs without invoking exceptions thus need to be developed in conjunction with facilitating investment and trade in PPMs. Access to technology for exporting countries will be a key component in accepting a shift in likeness of products and increasingly allowing for taking sustainable manners of production into account. While there is room for a general body of law to be further developed on PPMs beyond the case law of WTO panels and the Appellate Body, each sector needs assessing particular needs and whether special provisions should be included in particular sectoral agreements relating to different forms of energy production. PPMs may thus amount to an important component of sectoral agreements on trade in electricity.
Tag: Bilateral Investment Treaties, Clean Energy Technologies, Climate Change, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Policy Space, Public Private Partnerships, Special & Differential Treatment, TBT/SPS
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Blockchain technology is the digital, distributed, and the decentralized ledger that underlies most virtual currencies and is what is responsible for logging all transactions without the need for relying on a go-between, like a bank. The uses for blockchain technology go far beyond the world of cryptocurrencies. Here are six surprising applications of blockchain technology that don’t involve cryptocurrency.
The most logical use for blockchain technology is to expedite the transfer of funds from one person to another. When banks are removed from the equation, and a peer-to-peer transaction takes place, they can be completed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, settling the transactions in a matter of seconds, rather than days.
Retail Loyalty Rewards Programs
The retail experience could be further revolutionized with blockchain technology. Blockchain could become the go-to database for loyalty rewards programs. By creating a token-based system that rewards consumers and stores the tokens in the blockchain, it could potentially incentivize consumers to return to the store to do their shopping. Blockchain would also be able to eliminate the fraud and waste that is commonly associated with retail loyalty reward programs.
Worldwide, more than one billion people face identity challenges. Microsoft is trying to change that by creating a digital ID within its Authenticator app. Primarily this would provide users with a way to control their digital identities, and allow people living in impoverished regions to gain access to financial services, or start their own business for example.
Countries all over the world worry about voter fraud. With blockchain technology, states could provide the ability to vote digitally and be transparent enough that regulators would be able to spot any changes in the network quickly. It would combine the ease of digital voting with the unchanging nature of blockchain to make your vote count.
Another surprising use for blockchain would be for tracing food from its origin to your plate. Because the data in blockchains is immutable, you’d have the ability to trace the transport of food products from their original to the grocery store. Also, if there were a food-borne illness, blockchain would be able to track the source of contamination quicker than it is now.
The medical sector has already started to move away from paper recordkeeping to digital recordkeeping. However, blockchain provides more safety and convenience. Along with storing patient records, patients would be able to access their files if they possess the key and would be able to control who sees their information.
While blockchain is far from perfect and still needs developing, there is certainly plenty of real-world application where it can be utilized.
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The first ever self-service bank system was introduced to the American public way back in 1939. It was the Bankograph and was invented by a gentleman named Luther George Simjian. It did not, however, spit out money like today’s ATM machines but instead would accept deposits in the form of checks, cash, or even coins. It was only available at City Bank of New York and became an undesirable part of the landscape during the Great Depression, resulting in its removal. Why? Well, understandably, New Yorkers at the time didn’t trust robots that ate what was left of their money.
So, fast forward to 1967 when London’s Barclays Bank was the first to introduce cash-dispensing ATM machines and an entirely new industry was born, Today, the result is that ATMs are literally everywhere to the tune of three million of them worldwide. In fact, there’s even an ATM machine in the Himalayas on a mountaintop. And, did you know that the southernmost ATM machine in the world can be found at McMurdo Station in Antarctica?
Today, most ATM machines are routinely performing automated financial transactions that nobody could have ever imagined 50 years ago. And, here are five of those technological advances in ATM machines that perhaps you weren’t aware of but probably should’ve noticed:
Gold to Go
Until fairly recently, the only gold-dispensing ATM machines in the world were in Dubai. But more recently, Europe and the Middle East have had ATM machines that are capable of dispensing both gold coins and gold bars for a few years. And now, some ATM machines that dispense gold are also available in Florida as well. The machines are made by PMX Gold and are called “Gold to Go” machines. The most recent one was installed in Boca Raton’s Town Center Mall and it is also constantly checking the current gold price and adjusting the exchange rate every 90-seconds.
Withdrawal Control Button
A recent Wells Fargo introduction is a button on its ATM machines allowing bank customers the opportunity for setting a monthly target for themselves for withdrawals. And, every time they make a withdrawal, they’ll see just how close they’re getting to that target amount. Of course, in the event that they exceed their targeted amount, they’re still able to withdraw funds. The system is meant to track customers’ money for them, not stop them from making withdrawals, and they can also receive a 12-month average. Now, keeping track of things is a whole lot easier.
A better-known recent innovation in ATM machines is the intelligent deposit system. With it, customers don’t have to have an envelope or a pen. They can now put bills or checks straight into the ATM with no envelope required. Bank of America’s ad campaigns were responsible for introducing this new innovation to the public and now the systems are being ordered by numerous major banks. The demand for intelligent deposit systems has, in fact, been responsible for net revenues to its manufacturer, Diebold, of $46.1 million during the third quarter although they posted a $7 million loss for the same period the previous year.
Along with the ATM machine innovations that allow customers to deposit cash without using an envelope, many banks are also using systems for recycling and using that cash during that same day that it’s deposited. The use of such systems results in higher security and lower costs. They’re especially popular with banks in China and Russia. The main reason is that recycling cash inside the ATM means not having to call for deliveries from armored trucks nearly as often. In addition, it is said to be responsible for making banks much more efficient.
Bill Pay- Near & Far
Bill payments via ATM machines are not new. It was tried a while back in the U.S. at 7-Eleven convenience stores but it never really took off. Now, however, a more popular service is ATM machines that allow consumers to use kiosks for paying utility bills for Latin American family members. It’s an easy method for Americans to help their relatives that live far away.
So, what might the future hold for advancements in ATM machines? Well, they include wireless ATM machines that will offer banks some new opportunities for increasing their number of transactions while also further automating their branches. And, advancements for owners of ATM machines include GPS ATM machine trackers for locating them in the event that brazen thieves back their pickup truck up to the ATM and drag it away. So, in the future, that trick will only work in the movies.
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New Orleans Exporting Co. produces small computer components, which it then sells in Mexico. The firm plans to expand by establishing a plant in Mexico that will produce the components and sell them locally. This plant will reduce the amount of goods that are transported from New Orleans. The firm has determined that the cash flows to be earned in Mexico would yield a positive net present value after accounting for tax and exchange rate effects, converting cash flows to dollars, and discounting them at the proper discount rate. What other major factor must be considered to estimate the project’s NPV?
Experts are waiting 24/7 to provide step-by-step solutions in as fast as 30 minutes!*
*Response times vary by subject and question complexity. Median response time is 34 minutes and may be longer for new subjects.
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This week, Hurricane Sandy drew attention to the increasing climate-related risks for communities and businesses.
More and more companies are recognizing and reporting on actions they’re taking to “mitigate” climate change, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through energy efficiency, renewable power, and cleaner vehicles. Now, businesses are finding they’ll also need to “adapt” to more volatile conditions and help vulnerable communities become more resilient. Adaptation means recognizing and preparing for impacts like water stress, coastal flooding, community health issues, or supply chain disruptions, among other issues.
WRI discussed why businesses need to embrace mitigation AND adaptation strategies at the recent Net Impact conference, where I sat on a panel entitled: “Climate Change Adaptation: Mitigating Risk and Building Resilience.” Dr. David Evans, Director of the Center for Sustainability at Noblis, moderated the panel. Other panelists included Gabriela Burian, Director for Sustainable Agriculture Ecosystems at Monsanto, and John Schulz, Director of Sustainability Operations at AT&T.
Why Adaptation Is So Important
Each panelist pointed to reasons why adapting to climate change is becoming increasingly important to their own companies. For example:
At AT&T, potential disruptions to IT networks pose real threats to the company and its customers. Drawing lessons from disasters like Hurricane Katrina, AT&T has started locating critical equipment on the 2nd floor of a building—rather than the ground floor—to avoid future floods.
At Monsanto, the focus is on meeting the future food needs of a growing global population. Global warming means new challenges for farmers, who must adjust to changing growing seasons and water availability.
Critical Issues for Corporate Climate Leaders
AT&T and Monsanto shared stories about their own experiences with climate change adaptation, but it’s important to note that this issue will increasingly impact all companies—from small, mom-and-pop shops to global corporations. Companies like Coca-Cola are publicly acknowledging climate risks as part of their financial reporting. More leadership is needed, as businesses start to look at their own climate risks as well as impacts on their customers and local communities.
In the course of the Q&A, the Net Impact session highlighted five important topics that corporate leaders will need to keep in mind:
Managing diverse climate change impacts across global operations: Companies that operate in multiple regions may face very different climate change impacts (for example, sea level rise, increasing temperatures, drought, or floods) in different locations. Corporate strategies must be developed locally and in partnership with departments across the organization’s various locations.
Finding and creating better decision-making tools: Companies will need information to help them factor potential climate risks into future investments and strategies. Experts in the audience and on the panel pointed to WRI tools like the Aqueduct global water risk maps and the forthcoming Sustainability SWOT (sSWOT) as examples of the type of resources needed to guide forward-looking, smart business decisions.
Recognizing underlying drivers of vulnerability: A changing climate is just one of several variables that contribute to business and community vulnerability. For example, population growth and mass consumption are two of the underlying drivers that came up in discussion as places to focus when seeking to increase community resiliency.
Taking a broad view of risks and opportunities by engaging stakeholders: A narrow view of climate impacts may unintentionally increase a company’s (or its customers’ or surrounding communities’) vulnerability to climate change. Looking just at the company’s own facilities along the coastline, for example, ignores risks in the supply chain. Similarly, the potential health impacts of climate change—like an increasing threat of water-borne disease—might not seem immediately relevant to some businesses, but it may impact employees or communities in future growth markets. Proactive stakeholder engagement is essential for identifying such risks, which for some companies, may also be opportunities to provide new solutions.
Reaching out to new partners: Effective strategies for adapting to climate change may in some cases be a source of competitive advantage (for example, in developing a new product or service). However, in other cases, adaptation measures can be pre-competitive, meaning that even bitter rivals (think Coca-Cola and Pepsi) could collaborate to create better information tools or share water resource management techniques.
Corporations Must Act Quickly
The list above is a partial one. Corporate action to adapt to climate change will certainly involve many more ideas and strategies—many of which are still being developed. More action is needed, and the important take-away from the discussion at the Net Impact conference is that action must start now.
If Hurricane Sandy is any indication of what is ahead, it is in the best interest of business to be proactive about risks and start making solutions happen. Companies need to be talking and working with customers, suppliers, and other companies—as well as investors, policymakers, and local communities—to both mitigate and adapt to climate change.
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The following essay is adapted from the concluding chapter of the new edition of Nancy Rose’s Put to Work, just published by Monthly Review Press. The book is an examination of the various work programs implemented by the New Deal during the Great Depression. This second edition is especially appropriate, as we are now experiencing the most severe economic crisis since the 1930s, what some are calling the “Great Recession,” and there is once again much talk about putting people to work.
One of the most useful features of Professor Rose’s book is her discussion of all of the Depression-era work programs. The Works Progress Administration (WPA, 1935-1943) is the best-known of these programs: it was the largest New Deal agency and employed millions of people, extending to nearly every locality in the country. However, there were other, and more controversial, efforts to provide employment. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA, 1933-1935) was a joint federal and state program, aimed at providing immediate relief to those in need. A major part of the FERA was “work relief,” which consisted not only of local construction projects but also “production for use” work, such as gardens, sewing workshops, and reopening idle factories. Direct relief, without work, was provided to those considered “unemployable.” The Civil Works Administration (CWA, 1933-1934) aimed to put people to work during the first winter of the New Deal. As Charles Peters and Timothy Noah tell us in a recent issue of the online journal Slate (January 26, 2009), the program’s four million workers “laid 12 million feet of sewer pipe and built or made substantial improvements to 255,000 miles of roads, 40,000 schools, 3,700 playgrounds, and nearly 1,000 airports (not to mention 250,000 outhouses still badly needed in rural America).” All this happened in less than two full years, marking a stark contrast to what the Obama administration has achieved so far, a lesson Rose urges us to take, as we evaluate current job creation efforts.
Nothing before or after the 1930s has matched the magnitude of the FERA, CWA, and WPA—programs that provided work each month for several million people, paid decent wages, and developed innovative projects in construction, the arts, and the production of consumer goods.
The economic crisis that began in December 2007 warrants a similarly ambitious response. The job creation anticipated as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is a start. However, we can do much better. Important lessons for the current era can be learned from the earlier New Deal programs. I will elaborate what I see as six main lessons.
1. A Large and Innovative Public Employment Program Is Possible
The FERA, CWA, and WPA show that it is possible to implement expansive and creative public employment programs. During the Great Depression, when the labor force totaled approximately fifty million, from 1.4 to 4.4 million people each month were put to work on these programs. A range of projects was developed. The myriad construction projects throughout the country are reminders of this, as are the plays, murals, posters, and other works of art.
Job creation programs were brought back, on a smaller scale, during the 1970s. The recession of 1969-1970, which ended the long economic expansion of the 1960s, led to the Public Employment Program (PEP) in 1971. Three years later the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) replaced the PEP, as well as other War On Poverty work and training programs, with an all-inclusive program. It included Public Service Employment (PSE), which continued the job creation program of the PEP.
While PEP and PSE marked the return of job creation, they were far more constrained than their 1930s’ predecessors. Most importantly, they were only allowed to develop work in services; the construction and production-for-use projects that were such critical components of the earlier programs were absent. And PEP and PSE were small in comparison to the earlier programs. The high point was reached in March 1978 when 742,000 people were put to work on PSE. Yet this was only one-sixth of the 1930s maximum—even though the labor force had doubled in the intervening years. And while the 1930s’ programs at their peak created work for one-third of the unemployed, PSE provided jobs for only 12 percent of the jobless at its high point.
In spite of these constraints, a good deal was accomplished. Classroom and on-the-job training projects were set up, focusing on people who were more marginal to the labor market. Public sector projects included maintenance and repair of buildings and equipment, and expansion of activities in institutions such as hospitals, law enforcement agencies, and recreation centers. CETA participants, commonly known as “CETA workers,” were often given jobs alongside people who were regularly employed in public sector and nonprofit agencies. In fact, many institutions developed during the 1970s, such as women’s health clinics and food cooperatives, ran on shoestring budgets and depended upon CETA workers to function.
It is probably not surprising that the 1970s’ programs were plagued by many of the same criticisms that surrounded the FERA, CWA, and WPA. Charges of inefficiency and unnecessary “make-work” were the most frequent. They were accompanied by complaints that CETA workers were substituted for normal government employees, payments were too high, and the entire program was too expensive and riddled with graft and corruption. And, as in the 1930s, contradictory mandates meant that these criticisms were often accurate. One result was the development of CETA’s Private Sector Initiative Program (PSIP) in 1978, as funds were taken away from public employment and directed instead to the private sector. And when Reagan became president in 1981, he quickly eliminated PSE and allowed the entire CETA program to expire the following year.
Not surprisingly, given the dominance of right-wing economic policy since that time, job creation programs have been absent until the need to respond to the economic crisis with its escalating unemployment led to their return. These plans represent a beginning, but compared to earlier programs, especially the FERA, CWA, and WPA, they show a distinctly constricted vision. Most importantly, there is no grand federal program, as existed during the 1930s, or even during the 1970s. The Recovery Act calls instead for creating or saving 3.5 million jobs over the next two years by channeling funds to already existing federal and state agencies, which in turn will directly create jobs or, more likely, contract projects out to the private sector. And only about one-third of the funds will be used in direct government spending, as the rest is going to tax relief for working families, state fiscal relief, and transfer payments such as Social Security and extended unemployment benefits. This focus on working families is a huge improvement over the tax cuts for the rich and other right-wing policies that have been the norm since the early 1980s. Yet more could be done.
Even this 3.5 million pales in comparison to the earlier programs, especially since the labor force has grown to almost 155 million people. The relatively small scope of the current Recovery Act is especially troubling given the continually escalating unemployment. In May 2009, when this is being written, the official unemployment rate reached 9.4 percent. This meant that 14.5 million people were officially unemployed, as the number of unemployed has increased by 7 million since the crisis began. But the official unemployment rate underestimates the real extent of economic misery. The unemployment rate is well into double digits when “hidden unemployment” is added. This includes “discouraged workers” who drop out of the labor force because they can’t find jobs, as well as involuntary part-time workers, who want full-time jobs but can only find part-time work. No account is taken either of those working full-time at jobs below the poverty level. Not surprisingly, all of these numbers have been rising, as have the numbers of people who are “long-term unemployed,” and out of work for more than twenty-seven weeks. This should be recognized for the national calamity that it is.
2. Develop Responses to Criticisms of Make-Work and Inefficiency
Anticipation of criticisms of public employment programs as inefficient “make-work” may well have helped prevent the development of a job creation such as the FERA, CWA, and WPA, and the smaller CETA program of the 1970s. The belief that one of the functions of government should be to assure sufficient employment, in part by creating jobs, has been off the public agenda since the early 1980s. This absence has been bolstered by the now commonly accepted “wisdom” of several decades of conservative, neoliberal ideology, which argues that as much economic activity as possible should be left in the hands of the private sector.
If we want to revive support for government employment programs, we need to develop responses to time-worn criticisms of make-work and inefficiency. This involves both a broad understanding of the genesis of these criticisms as well as an understanding of the elements of the New Deal jobs programs that did in fact lead to inefficiency when compared to the private sector.
First, it is helpful to put in perspective that allegations of inefficiency have become a knee-jerk reaction routinely made towards a range of government services. In this view, the government is seen as inefficient simply because it does not operate on profit criteria—the lack of a profit motive automatically leads to inefficiency. This contrasts to the private sector, which does base decisions on profits. Therefore, the private sector is efficient, whereas the government is inefficient. The dominance of this view since the early 1980s has helped lead to contracting out a range of government services, from collecting garbage to operating prisons.
Fortunately, one result of the current crisis is that increasing numbers of people are beginning to question this ideology, and more generally, capitalism as an economic system. A Rasmussen poll taken on April 9, 2009, found that only slightly more than half of adults in the United States believed that capitalism was better than socialism. As was also the case during the 1930s, economic crisis—that brings with it escalating unemployment, not to mention bankruptcies in the financial sector and the collapse of home equity—causes wider questioning of the system that bred these problems.
In addition to this general understanding of criticisms of make-work and inefficiency simply because the government is providing goods and services, it is helpful to look at the aspects of the New Deal programs that did, in fact, often lead to inefficiency and make-work. The bottom line is that these situations were caused by the dual nature of the work programs, as both work and relief for the unemployed.
The first and most important response is that charges of inefficiency and make-work followed in large measure from the programs’ often contradictory mandates. This was particularly clear with regulations that the projects use a maximum of labor and a minimum of machinery in order to create jobs for as many of the unemployed as possible with the available funds—in other words, they were supposed to make work. Further directives to avoid both replacing normal government operations and competing with the private sector easily added to the perception that the jobs created were make-work. It was reasoned that if the work was important, the government would already be providing it.
Four additional factors contributed to inefficiency and make-work on the work programs. In investigating this, it is helpful to remember that efficiency is measured by the amount produced (generally the monetary value) divided by the number of hours of labor. Therefore, aspects of the work programs that contributed to additional labor hours translated into inefficiency compared to production methods in the private sector.
One factor stemmed from using prevailing wage rates to determine the number of hours a person could work (the total amount someone could earn that is, budgetary deficiency, was divided by the prevailing rate). This led to many situations in which skilled workers were allowed fewer hours of work each week compared to less skilled workers. As a result, there was more rotation of skilled workers, which was often disruptive and caused inefficiency by industry standards.
A second factor was that many of the construction projects continued to operate in bad weather. In contrast, private sector firms would often temporarily shut down in inclement weather. This situation arose because the work programs were simultaneously work and relief, and while it would have been antithetical to increasing profits, one of the purposes was to provide income for the unemployed.
A third factor stemmed from the practice of selecting male heads of household instead of younger, and sometimes stronger, workers. This was considered sufficiently important that periodically throughout the 1930s, reminders were made about the importance of choosing the father to work on the programs in order to help ensure that men continue to be seen as the head of the family. However, in response to criticisms of inefficiency on the projects, there were cases of choosing younger workers instead of male heads of households.
A fourth factor that contributed to inefficiency and make-work on the New Deal work programs was their temporary status. Throughout the 1930s, Congressional appropriations were periodically needed. This made long-term planning virtually impossible, and led to many projects that were rather quickly developed. Most notably, the CWA provided numerous examples of hastily developed projects, some of which did not even have enough tools for all of the workers. However, this was not surprising in light of the haste with which the program was developed. An additional two million of the unemployed were put to work within two months, between mid-November 1933 and mid-January 1934, in order to help prevent another Depression winter of increased despair and increased protest.
As a final note on this topic, it is instructive to further investigate the notion of make-work. What types of work are necessary? It is telling that common examples of make-work during the 1930s were “leaf raking” and “snow shoveling.” In response, in 1934 maintenance activities were prohibited on the work programs. However, these activities are much like housework—noticed when they are not done, but otherwise taken for granted.
3. Ensure Fair Treatment Regarding Gender, Race, and Immigrant Status
Gender and racial discrimination was endemic to the New Deal work programs. As described repeatedly throughout this book, payments were lower, on average, for women and people of color, and they experienced more difficulty establishing eligibility and obtaining placements on all three programs. In fact, this reflected general societal norms at that time.
Needless to say, we can expect that in current job creation programs care would be taken care to avoid inequality based on gender and race. We would expect that payments and eligibility would be administered fairly. In addition to this, we should acknowledge the sometimes subtle effects of sexual harassment and take further steps to encourage women to participate on construction projects by making this work welcoming for them.
While there has been a good deal of progress regarding gender and racial discrimination since the 1930s, we are still a long way from equity. And while much attention has been paid to gender and racial equity, the same is not true for immigrant status and nativism.
In terms of equity, while it was accepted during the 1930s to limit pay and participation for women and people of color, the group occupying this status today is immigrants. Indeed, one does not have to look far to find examples of immigrants being used as scapegoats for a variety of societal ills. Care will need to be taken in any current work program to challenge nativist sentiments and to ensure fair treatment based on citizenship status.
4. Set Payment Rates At Least Equal to a Living Wage
Policies regarding setting payments remained contentious throughout the 1930s, and were periodically changed in response to demands from workers, on one hand, and from the private sector, on the other. Perhaps the clearest example concerned the changing policies regarding a minimum work relief wage rate. Implemented in July 1933, the virtually unremitting complaints that the minimum rate of thirty cents per hour was above some private sector rates and thereby attracted workers away from the private sector to the work programs led to its abrupt termination in November 1934.
In the intervening years, progress has been made. The enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 established a federal minimum wage, although many states have enacted a higher minimum wage because the federal rate has been so eroded since 1968 by the failure to sufficiently adjust it for inflation. And for several decades we have witnessed the spread of living wage campaigns, which mandate that city employees and employees of companies that do a certain amount of business with a city should be paid a wage that is high enough to keep a family of four about the poverty line.
A minimum pay rate that provides a living wage—one that enables a family to have a reasonable standard of living—also makes good economic sense. It contributes to “bubble-up” economic policies that channel money into the hands of people who will quickly spend it on necessary consumer goods and services, which in turn leads business owners to expand production and hire more workers. During the 1930s, this was described as increasing the “purchasing power of the masses.” It is a far more stable route to economic expansion than “trickle down” policies that give tax breaks to the rich with the hope that they will use it for productive investment to create jobs.
5. Develop a Range of Projects
It is helpful to look to the FERA, CWA, and WPA for inspiration about the types of projects that could be developed in the current era. Plans thus far represent a good beginning. Yet much more needs to be done.
Current plans are primarily for construction projects. Development of renewable energy and other “green technology,” as well as repairing our dilapidated infrastructure and developing public transit, are sorely needed. Focus has been on projects that are “shovel ready” and can be quickly started. It would be helpful to also consider longer-range plans, and projects that take longer than two years to complete, such as development of light rail systems, as these could address some of the pressing needs for green infrastructure.
Services will be aided indirectly through some of the billions of dollars going to states. This is also important—although given the sizable budget deficits faced by many states, even these funds will only begin to cover many necessary services that will otherwise go unfunded. Along these lines, the monies allocated to keep people on Medicaid and SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) will be critical. Thus far, most of the Recovery Act funds for health and education have been allocated for research. There are additional needs that should be addressed as well. Provision of services in education, health care, and eldercare throughout the country could benefit from additional resources. And we would do well to recall the federal support for the arts during the 1930s, which provided jobs for a variety of artists as well as classes and productions for the public.
The third category of projects from the 1930s—production-for-use—has remained dormant since those programs ended. Perhaps they should be resurrected. Of particular concern is the growing numbers of factories that are being shut down. What should happen with the plant and equipment as well as the former employees? As a society, should we just accept that if something is not sufficiently profitable, then it should be abandoned? Or should the Ohio Plan be brought back—and previous employees put to work in their old places of employment? This does not mean that the old production methods and former goods should be brought back unchanged. For example, support for the auto industry could be based on changing production from environmentally unsustainable vehicles to public transit such as buses and trains. The alternative to planning is simply to let the “law of the market” hold sway, as factories as well as retail establishments throughout the country shut down.
6. Enact a Permanent Public Employment Program
Instead of periodically reacting to escalating unemployment by developing programs to create jobs, it would make good social and economic sense to implement a permanent job creation program. This is not a new idea.
The initial version of the Social Security Act included a provision for Employment Assurance. This would have provided jobs, similar to the FERA, CWA, and WPA, after people exhausted their unemployment compensation.
And as the 1930s’ programs wound down, a permanent employment program was recommended by the National Resources Planning Board, a high-level federal commission requested by President Roosevelt to develop overall economic plans for the post-Second World War period. They called for an “economic bill of rights” that would ensure the basic necessities of life, including the right to a job provided by the government if the private sector failed to do so, and advocated the “formal acceptance by the federal government of responsibility for insuring jobs at decent pay to all those able to work regardless of whether or not they can pass a means test.” This would have been accomplished through a permanent “Work Administration” that would provide “socially useful work other than construction…for the otherwise unemployed.” However, as the Second World War pulled the country out of the depression, calls for a permanent work program were abandoned.
The commitment to national planning was incorporated into the Full Employment Bill of 1945. Declaring that “all Americans able to work and seeking work have the right to useful, remunerative, regular, and full-time employment,” it would have committed the federal government to ensure full employment. An annual “National Production and Employment Budget” would have estimated the amount of (both public and private) expected investment and the level of spending needed for full employment. The federal government would fill this investment gap, if necessary with deficit spending.
Support for the intensive federal planning and investment included in the 1945 bill was undermined by economic and political events. Instead of the expected post-war recession, the U.S. economy began an almost three decade period of substantial growth. Most fundamentally, the expansive vision in the Full Employment Bill was doomed by a growing antipathy toward national government planning, which was portrayed as antithetical to American values of freedom and democracy, largely embodied by a “free market.” Instead, planning was equated with the state control that existed in communist and fascist societies, a view that fed on, and contributed to, the growing anti-communism that flourished after the war.
The results were not surprising, as the Full Employment Bill of 1945 became the watered-down Employment Act of 1946. Instead of an unequivocal commitment to “full employment” there was only tempered support for “maximum employment,” which, in the context of the debates, was clearly understood as less than “full employment.” In place of the “National Production and Employment Budget” and its planning mechanism was only an advisory body, the Council of Economic Advisors, and an annual report to the president.
Support for a permanent jobs program resurfaced again in the 1970s with the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act. The original bill promised to “establish and guarantee the rights of all adult Americans able and willing to work to equal opportunities for useful paid employment at fair rates of compensation.” It called for systematic federal planning of production and investment in order to fulfill “human and national needs” in a variety of areas: conservation; housing; antipollution and recycling activities; health care; education; day care; infrastructure construction, e.g., railroads, subways, and other mass transportation; and “development of artistic, esthetic, cultural, and recreational activities.” Its centerpiece was a countercyclical public service employment program. The government would serve as employer of last resort for people unable to find jobs through the labor market, establishing a program that would go into effect when the unemployment rate rose above 3 percent. Wages would be set at “fair rates of compensation,” the highest of prevailing local wage rates, the minimum wage, or wages specified in existing collective bargaining agreements. And attention was given to combating discrimination—based on race, gender, age, and physical and mental capacity.
Benefits of full employment described in the Humphrey-Hawkins Act bear remembering today. Economic impacts included increased aggregate demand which would counteract recessions, rescuing labor power that would otherwise be lost, and reducing the cost of transfer payment programs. Social benefits focused on increasing people’s self-esteem and avoiding the distress and depression that often accompany unemployment, as well as mitigating societal unrest.
The Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act was finally passed in 1978 as an amendment to the Employment Act of 1946. “Balanced growth” meant that real full employment was sacrificed to a focus on restraining inflation.
A permanent government job creation program continues to garner support from economists and other social scientists. The National Jobs for All Coalition was founded in 1987 to build a movement and advocate for real full employment at livable wages. They stress that the United States has a chronic jobs deficit since “full employment” is considered to be an unemployment rate of 4 to 5 percent, so that a return to this “normal” situation would still leave millions of people unemployed and underemployed. The Center for Full Employment and Price Stability at the University of Missouri–Kansas City has been advocating that the government serve as “employer of last resort,” providing jobs in order to maintain real full employment. And The Nation has been publishing more articles supporting full employment at fair rates of pay.
In making the case for a permanent job creation program, we should remember that these programs do two important things. They provide both jobs for people who are unemployed and underemployed, as well as much needed public facilities, services, and in the 1930s, consumer goods.
Job creation is important, but it is not sufficient. In order to give both women and men real choices about combining work in the home with jobs outside the home, we also need progressive family and labor market policies. All we have to do is to copy programs that are already in effect in Canada and western European countries. A family allowance, instead of welfare, would help enable parents to more easily spend time doing this valuable caring labor. A paid six-month family leave would make it easier for both women and men to take care of infants as well as family members who are ill. Flexible work hours would allow women and men to reduce hours of wage labor in order to spend more time working in the home. Universal federal health care would enable everyone to obtain quality health care regardless of their welfare or labor market status. Federally supported quality child care, including subsidies for child-care workers, would recognize the social responsibility for children and similarly eliminate this expense as a barrier to wage-labor. And an adequate supply of low cost housing would help provide shelter for all people.
Money for these programs could come from a truly progressive income tax, a tax on the sale of assets held for a short period of time (which would also discourage speculation), and the military budget. And those responsible for the financial industry fiascos, not taxpayers, should be forced to repay the billions of dollars that they squandered.
An important difference between the 1930s and today is the current lack of a mobilized mass left. During the 1930s, this proved critically important in continually putting pressure on the Roosevelt administration, and resulted in more progressive policies and programs than otherwise would have been the case. In this light, there was a great deal of organizing to elect Obama. Yet much of this dissipated after he won the election. Further, as a politician, without continued pressure from a mass left, Obama has too easily acceded to demands from the right. This can be clearly seen in the seemingly endless stream of funds that has been channeled to bail out financial institutions—instead of nationalization. It can also be seen in the rather conservative economic stimulus plans described above.
History shows that we can do better.
Sources: References and citations are to be found in the 2009 edition of Put to Work
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Prior to the new legislations, “Buyback” was the only model for petroleum contracts in Iran’s upstream oil and gas industry. By new legislations, however, the way of using partnership models has been paved and a new contract titled “Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC)” is drafted. Notwithstanding, there still is no restriction in using “Buyback” contracts.
The second method of investment which is expressed in article 3 of FIPPA is “buy-back”. In recent years, buy-back contracts, as a contractual investment technique, have had a prominent role in Iran’s economy. This type of contract is mainly known for its use in the development of discovered oil and gas fields. In addition, buy-back contract is useable in other industries.
Buy-back contract is a kind of counter-trade arrangements which is also classified as a hybrid contract. It is often defined as a contract between a purchaser and vendor in which the vendor agrees to repurchase the property from the purchaser if a certain event occurs within a specified period of time.
The buy-back price is usually set out in the agreement. However, the buy-back transaction has acquired a broader meaning under Iranian law. As defined by Article 2 of the Executive Rules approved by the Council of Ministers, a buy-back transaction refers to a deal in which the supplier, wholly or partially, puts the needed goods and services for the establishment, expansion, reconstruction, improvement or continued production of manufacturing enterprises of the country at the disposal of the producer.
The price of the said goods and services, after deducting the amount of down payments plus the related costs dispersed on the basis of the concluded contract, is paid to the supplier or buyer through the delivery of goods or services of the producer and/or through delivery of other industrial and mineral goods and services produced in Iran. Due to some requirements in Iran’s Constitution and Petroleum Act, buy-back contracts are usually employed in the development of oil and gas fields in Iran.
Regarding oil and gas contracts, if the exploration is also under the offered scope of services, buy-back contract will be a categorized as “Risk Service Contract” with the special payment procedure. According to this type of contract, contractor concludes a contract with the investee government and utilize cash and non-cash items of provided capital in order to develop oil and gas fields. Further, various costs such as contractors’ remuneration are defined in such contracts and secured by selling the produced oil and gas and through “Long Term Crude Oil Sales Agreement” which is an annex to the buy-back contract.
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Introduces key aspects of financial management for today’s healthcare organizations, addressing diverse factors that
impact the provision of medical services in our dynamic and competitive environment. Students will gain knowledge and
skills in the various types of healthcare budgeting and financial reporting, applying these skills through practical case
scenarios and problem-solving activities.
We will write a custom paper on
Financial Management in Healthcare Administration
specifically for you
Berger, S. (2014). Fundamentals of health care financial management: A practical guide to fiscal issues and activities
(4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
Explain the basic concepts of financial management in healthcare organizations.
Explain the aspects of managing short-term and long-term assets and liabilities in healthcare organizations.
Analyze agency relationships in healthcare and how organizations can ameliorate agency costs.
Explain the similarities and differences among the major approaches to valuation of healthcare firms.
Distinguish variable versus fixed, and direct versus indirect costs, for a healthcare service or process.
Calculate net present value, internal rate of return, and profitability indexes given assumed cash flows and
discount rates in healthcare operations.
Compare and contrast the choices for external financing faced by healthcare organizations.
Evaluate the basic principles of working capital management as rooted in controlling opportunity costs in
Discuss the financial approach to strategic healthcare planning and how managers can participate effectively in
Describe key impacts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on the financial management of U.S.
healthcare organizations, providers, patients, payers, and employers.
Upon completion of this course, the students will earn three (3) hours of college credit.
1. Study Guide: Each unit contains a Study Guide that provides students with the learning outcomes, unit lesson,
required reading assignments, and supplemental resources.
2. Learning Outcomes: Each unit contains Learning Outcomes that specify the measurable skills and knowledge
students should gain upon completion of the unit.
3. Unit Lesson: Each unit contains a Unit Lesson, which discusses lesson material.
4. Reading Assignments: Each unit contains Reading Assignments from one or more chapters from the textbook
and/or outside resources.
5. Suggested Reading: Chapter presentations are provided in each unit study guide as Suggested Reading to aid
students in their course of study.
6. Unit Assessments: This course contains six Unit Assessments, one to be completed at the end of Units I-VI.
Assessments are composed of written-response questions.
BHA 4053, Financial Management in Healthcare Administration
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Q1. From the perspective of economic theory, what is a minimum wage and when is it bindingA minimum wage is an example of a price floor, it is a government regulation that makes hiring labour services for less than a specified wage illegal. “A minimum wage is binding if it is set above the equilibrium wage (Parkin, et al., 2008)”.
According to the Fair Work Commission’s National Minimum Wage Order for 2018 (available on it’s website), what is the national minimum wage per hour in Australia for an adult worker Special national minimum wage 1 is: (a) for an adult, $719.20 per week, calculated on the basis of a week of 3 8 ordinary hours, or $18.93 per hour; or;The following information will be used for the remaining 10 questions.
Assume that the market for unskilled labour in Australia is a competitive market and can be described by the following demand and supply curves:
D = 1,500,000 – 60,000W
S = 120,000W – 1,200,000
Where W = wage rate per hour for labour, D is hours of labour demanded and S is hours of labour supplied.
Q3. Calculate the equilibrium wage rate and quantity of unskilled labour employed. Draw a diagram to illustrate your answer. Show on your diagram and calculate the size of the:
Q5.Suppose that the Fair Work Commission imposes a minimum wage of $19 per hour.ow many hours of employment are exchanged in the market Calculate the size of the surplus or shortage of hours created by the imposition of the minimum wage.
Q6. Assume that a minimum wage of $19.00 per hour is introduced. However, there is no change in either the Supply or Demand equations used in Question 3.Draw a new diagram and label the minimum wage. This diagram should be at least ½ A4 page in size. Calculate and show on the diagram: In answering the following questions, base your responses on what has happened to the relevant surplus.
Following the introduction of the minimum wage explain if:Firms are better off?Workers are better off
Q8. Now assume that the resources lost in job search calculated in Q6 are actually captured by producers (workers). In other words, now assume that no resources at all are lost in job search activity.
Re-calculate the following Based on your re-calculations in Q8, do your conclusions reported in Q7 change
Q10. Consider your responses in Q7 and Q9. From a consequentialist perspective that has as its objective allocative efficiency, is the introduction of a minimum wage ethically justified? Explain. [Maximum 200 words]
Q11. Consider your responses in Q7 and Q9. From a consequentialist perspective that has as its objective improving the standard of living of unskilled workers, is the introduction of a minimum wage ethically justified? Explain. [Maximum 200 words]
Q12.From a deontological ethical framework, construct an argument either in favour of a minimum wage or against it.
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Answer: Introduction The present study focuses on the importance of business strategy in an organization. The company chosen for this purpose is CBA or Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The CBA is one of biggest Australian multinational bank that provides different kinds of financial services that involves-retail, fund management, insurance, superannuation and broking services. The variety of products offered by this bank are –corporate b...Read More
Answer: It is important for Schmeck Gut to put into consideration a number of factors such as import tariffs, inflation and income growth. The above factors will be vital in enabling the organization attain a relatively larger market share, increase her levels of sales and profitability thus be able to succeed in a complex business environment. The company as per the available data will be operating in a monopolist market structure meani...Read More
Answer: The Federal Tax Authority cautioned traders not to stock up soft drinks and cigarettes since they will have to prove payment of tax on stocked goods after excise tax is introduced. Excise tax will have an impact of increasing the prices of drinks and cigarettes. In regards, with the specific UAE excise tax situation, the prices increased by 50%. Trade...Read More
Answer Bitcoins Bitcoin refers to the methods that are used to make money transfer via the internet. Bitcoin uses a decentralized network to control it by the use of a transparent set of rules and hence gives an alternative to the central bank controlled flat cash. Many discussions have been held on whether to consider bitcoin as money or not. Initially, Bitcoin was made to act as an alternative and decentralized method of payment. It was ope...Read More
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This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamental issues of financial management and to the quantitative techniques used to address them. This course will consider questions of concern for both corporate financial managers and investments managers. When students have successfully completed this course, they should be able to: 1. Identify the role and the objectives of the financial manager and recognize the different types of business organizations. 2. Apply time value of money concepts to complex cash flow scenarios. 3. Evaluate alternative techniques for analyzing project opportunities and budgeting capital. 4. Manage the components of working capital to minimize the cost of carrying current assets and the cost of short-term borrowing. 5. Understand the different kinds of leases as a source of medium-term financing. 6. Estimate the cost of debt, preferred stock, and common stock as sources of capital. 7. Perform financial statement analysis for the purposes of evaluating and forecasting in financial management.
- General description
- Course definition document
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How to Calculate Taxable Income for a Company
Businesses of all kinds must file annual tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service and pay income taxes on the money they earn, just as individual taxpayers do. A company is taxed on the profit it makes after all allowable deductions are subtracted from its total revenues. The filing requirements for a business will vary depending on its type of organization. However, all companies determine taxable income the same way. Understanding how taxable income is calculated is essential because it is the basis for determining income taxes due and ultimately how much net profit the company's owners get to keep.
The Concept of Taxable Income
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 established a tax rate for corporations of 21 percent of taxable income. This replaced the old rate of 35 percent. Not all businesses are subject to this tax rate. Businesses are often taxed on a "pass through" basis. In this case, the company incurs no income-tax liability. The responsibility for paying income taxes passes to the owners of the firm. This is the case for sole proprietorships and partnerships. A company may also be organized as an S corporation that passes tax liability directly to its owners.
Regardless of the manner in which a company or other business is organized, accountants calculate the taxable income in the same way. You must first determine how much revenue the company had during its tax year. After that, business expenses and deductions are subtracted. The amount remaining is the company's taxable income.
Records and Documentation
In preparation for the process of calculating taxable income, you must gather the appropriate records. Ideally, this task should begin at the start of the tax year so the required information is available when the tax filing season starts. To document revenues, you need cash register records, sales receipts and bank statements. Expenses also require receipts and statements. In addition, you need payroll records and documents like mileage logs from employees who have been reimbursed for using personal vehicles to do their jobs.
Computing Gross Revenues
The first step in calculating taxable income for a company is to determine gross revenues. This figure includes gross sales, factoring in allowances for items like discounts and returns. To this figure, you need to add other revenue such as interest received and profits from the sale of assets or investments.
Suppose the ABC Company had sales of $1.5 million and received $100,000 from other sources such as interest on bank deposits and the sale of parcels of land. Gross revenues come to $1.6 million.
Subtract Cost of Goods Sold
For retailers and wholesalers, sales are derived from the resale of goods purchased from suppliers. Some businesses provide only services. An example would be a law firm. Other businesses such as hair salons market both products and services. When a firm does sell goods to customers, the cost of those goods is subtracted from gross revenues.
If ABC Company is a retailer and paid $800,000 for the goods it sold, then this amount should be subtracted from the gross revenues of $1.6 million. This leaves $800,000 to pay business expenses. Anything left over is taxable income.
Calculating Company Taxable Income
The final step in calculating a company's taxable income is to deduct allowable expenses from the amount remaining after the cost of goods is subtracted from gross revenues. These expenses include rent, interest on borrowed money, utilities, repairs and fees for services such as accounting and payroll processing. Other expenses are wages, payroll taxes and the cost of retirement plans and other employee benefits. Companies can also take a deduction for the depreciation of assets.
Suppose ABC Company has business expenses that total $700,000. Subtracting this amount from the sum remaining after the cost of goods sold is subtracted from revenues leaves taxable income of $100,000. Keep in mind that taxable income can be negative if the firm fails to generate enough revenue to offset all expenditures and so suffers a loss.
- Due to the complexity and ever-changing nature of the tax law, prior to filing a business tax return it is advisable to consult with a tax professional to ensure all appropriate deductions have been made.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, William Adkins has been writing professionally since 2008. He writes about small business, finance and economics issues for publishers like Chron Small Business and Bizfluent.com. Adkins holds master's degrees in history of business and labor and in sociology from Georgia State University. He became a member of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2009.
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- What is nominal account example?
- Is insurance an asset or liability?
- How is prepaid insurance recorded?
- Is salary a nominal account?
- What is Accounts Payable in simple words?
- Is salary expense an asset?
- How do you account for insurance?
- What is Account payable with example?
- Is Accounts Payable an asset?
- Is depreciation an asset?
- How is insurance recorded in accounting?
- Is depreciation expense a debit or credit?
- Are expenses liabilities?
- What is real account example?
- What is Accounts Payable journal entry?
- What type of account is insurance expense?
- Is insurance a nominal account?
- Is Accounts Payable a debit or credit?
What is nominal account example?
The entire purpose of a nominal account is to track the revenue and expenses for a company so that the net profit or net loss for a specific period can be calculated.
Examples of nominal accounts are service revenue, sales revenue, wages expense, utilities expense, supplies expense, and interest expense..
Is insurance an asset or liability?
Insurance is more of an expense. The insurance premiums that you pay for a particular year is treated as an expense, not an asset or a liability.
How is prepaid insurance recorded?
A prepaid expense can be recorded initially as an expense or as a current asset. … The current month’s insurance expense of $1,000 ($6,000/6 months) is reported on each month’s income statement. The unexpired amount of the prepaid insurance is reported on the balance sheet as of the last day of each month.
Is salary a nominal account?
Salary account is an expense account and is a nominal account.
What is Accounts Payable in simple words?
Accounts Payable is a short-term debt payment which needs to be paid to avoid default. … Description: Accounts Payable is a liability due to a particular creditor when it order goods or services without paying in cash up front, which means that you bought goods on credit.
Is salary expense an asset?
Salary expense is the amount of wage that an employee earned during the period irrespective of whether it is paid or not. … The salary expense account is a nominal account and closes in the profit & loss statement. Salary payable is a liability account keeping the balance of all the outstanding wages.
How do you account for insurance?
A basic insurance journal entry is Debit: Insurance Expense, Credit: Bank for payments to an insurance company for business insurance. Not all insurance payments (premiums) are deductible* business expenses. Some insurance payments can go on to the Profit and Loss Report and some must go on the Balance Sheet.
What is Account payable with example?
Accounts payable include all of the company’s short-term debts or obligations. For example, if a restaurant owes money to a food or beverage company, those items are part of the inventory, and thus part of its trade payables.
Is Accounts Payable an asset?
Accounts payable is considered a current liability, not an asset, on the balance sheet. … Delayed accounts payable recording can under-represent the total liabilities. This has the effect of overstating net income in financial statements.
Is depreciation an asset?
As we mentioned above, depreciation is not a current asset. It is also not a fixed asset. Depreciation is the method of accounting used to allocate the cost of a fixed asset over its useful life and is used to account for declines in value. … Current assets are not depreciated because of their short-term life.
How is insurance recorded in accounting?
Insurance Expense. … At the end of any accounting period, the amount of the insurance premiums that remain prepaid should be reported in the current asset account, Prepaid Insurance. The prepaid amount will be reported on the balance sheet after inventory and could part of an item described as prepaid expenses.
Is depreciation expense a debit or credit?
Each year, the depreciation expense account is debited, expensing a portion of the asset for that year, while the accumulated depreciation account is credited for the same amount. Over the years, accumulated depreciation increases as the depreciation expense is charged against the value of the fixed asset.
Are expenses liabilities?
Expenses and liabilities should not be confused with each other. One is listed on a company’s balance sheet, and the other is listed on the company’s income statement. Expenses are the costs of a company’s operation, while liabilities are the obligations and debts a company owes.
What is real account example?
Examples of Real Accounts The real accounts are the balance sheet accounts which include the following: Asset accounts (cash, accounts receivable, buildings, etc.) Liability accounts (notes payable, accounts payable, wages payable, etc.) Stockholders’ equity accounts (common stock, retained earnings, etc.)
What is Accounts Payable journal entry?
Accounts Payable Journal Entries refers to the amount payable accounting entries to the creditors of the company for the purchase of goods or services and are reported under the head current liabilities on the balance sheet and this account debited whenever any payment is been made.
What type of account is insurance expense?
Definition of Insurance Expense Any prepaid insurance costs are to be reported as a current asset.
Is insurance a nominal account?
1) Prepaid insurance is nominal account. 2) Personal transactions of proprietor are recorded in the books of account of business. … 7) Outstanding wages is a nominal account.
Is Accounts Payable a debit or credit?
Since liabilities are increased by credits, you will credit the accounts payable. And, you need to offset the entry by debiting another account. When you pay off the invoice, the amount of money you owe decreases (accounts payable). Since liabilities are decreased by debits, you will debit the accounts payable.
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In life, some people know how to make money and people who aim to save but fail to do so. Most people fail to save money because they focus too much on the things they don’t have and forget the benefits of the things they already have in their lives. Saving is not always easy, which is true, but everything starts with the lifestyle and the way of thinking!
What are the skills of saving and financing?
We live in crowded and very expensive cities, we are daily assaulted with all kinds of advertisements, we need services, we want to buy a lot of things and all this time we want to be better. We want more from life and often spend chaotically, without wondering if some things are really necessary for us. Do you want to save money? The first step you need to take is to eliminate unnecessary expenses. Give up the services for a fee that you do not need and choose to invest money in services and products that you use constantly, if not daily!
Investing money in important things
Have you noticed that people who know how to make money do not make very big investments? It is said that money pulls money, but it is a thought we usually accept when we wonder how others manage to get rich and we do not. In general, successful people are very modest when it comes to spending. They don’t invest a lot of money on ordinary things. Instead, they choose to invest in services that they find useful and in goods that can grow in value over time or that they can use for many years in a row.
Rich people take advantage of opportunities on the market. If they observe a business with a good chance of growing over time, they will invest. Do not hesitate to invest money in flourishing businesses. Also, the discount period is the best time of year to shop! Whether you want to renew your wardrobe, buy home appliances, new furniture, or accessories, avoid making new purchases when the desired products have just been launched on the market. Many products cost much more than they are worth in reality, which is why, if it is not urgent to buy something, postpone the moment until the discounts appear.
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Sustainability in business has many advantages.
Sustainability in Business
Several advantages of sustainability in business are enjoyed by organisations across a wide range of industries. The fact that sustainability in business reduces cost with improved efficiencies is now widely accepted. Customers demanding resource use efficiency and waste reduction seek proof of sustainability, meaning companies have an opportunity to increase sales with brand trust.
Until recently, smaller businesses were not included in the global transition to sustainability. Now that supply chains are closely examined, small businesses supplying larger organisations are gaining a competitive advantage with their sustainability programs and sustainability reports.
Sustainability, in its simplest form, is the ability to endure.
It is good business to observe resources flow and the costs associated with them. Sustainability encompasses this process of observation for both short-term and long-term impacts.
Sustainable practices are the implementation of sustainability practices and actions in the workplace that have measurable impacts. Sharing an organisation’s sustainability practice and efficiency gains using sustainability reports is a good way of establishing a positive reputation with staff, customers and community. It is important to remember consumers are wise to ‘greenwashing’.
Staff want to work for sustainable companies, which makes sense as staff are community members. Engaging with staff on actions to improve sustainability practices builds a sense of involvement as a part of a responsible organisation.
For example: Energy
A good place to start with energy is completing an energy audit. It provides an understanding of how much energy is consumed by appliances and fixtures. It is common for surprises to occur during audits.
Sustainability practices reduce energy production requirements.
After implementing the many no cost and low cost actions that build a more sustainable business, then investing in retrofits and other innovative ideas and return-on-investment options that have resulted in high efficiencies, it is time to produce.
Clean energy is the other side of reduce. Produce is the next step by Installing solar or other suitable renewable energy generators to further improve sustainability and cost efficiencies. Switching to an energy provider who provides renewable energy is an option for clean and renewable energy when generation is not possible. The number of grants for renewable energy grows as the economics for the transition clearly shows competitive advantages. Governments around the world are supporting businesses and households to install solar systems and other renewable energy systems that are appropriate for each region.
Sustainability is about improved profits from increased efficiencies, reduced costs and improved sales, while being good community stewards by reducing negative impacts on the planet. Sustainability in business will ensure that business with endure for future generations
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Affordable energy is essential for a healthy and comfortable life.
Since the privatisation of publicly-owned electricity services in 1999, South Australians’ power bills have dramatically increased. To make it worse, the federal Coalition Government has failed to develop any sensible energy policy and has allowed big fossil fuel companies to set extortionate gas prices that have forced up electricity bills for households and businesses. These massive price hikes are putting huge pressures on households, businesses and industry, especially in South Australia.
South Australia has always had higher power prices than other States, however the National Electricity Market is failing our State by allowing price gouging by energy companies, inadequate price regulation and unfair market rules.
It’s time for South Australians to take back the power. Solutions to bring down prices whilst maintaining energy security and reducing our emissions are readily available, but the Government needs to stand up to the big end of town and put people ahead of power company profits.
The community and energy experts know that our future is in renewables. Not only is it the best solution for the climate, but renewables are now the cheapest form of new generation. By eliminating expensive and dirty gas and coal, we can drive electricity prices down, whilst protecting the climate.
As the cost of energy storage technology also plummets, South Australia’s investment in battery, solar thermal and pumped hydro solutions means our State can be powered by 100% renewable energy. We can help power other states too and drive down their prices as well.
The Greens stand with the community for a clean energy future powered by 100% renewable energy. We will:
- Promote the adoption of new technologies that enable consumers to have more control over when and how they manage their electricity use, including:
- Encourage the uptake of “Smart Meters”, which enable time of day pricing. This will better reflect network costs for both imports and exports of electricity to the grid and help promote roof-top solar and batteries;
- Enable new “behind the meter” technology that allows individuals and communities to buy and sell power directly without having to go through established electricity retailers (“peer-to-peer trading”);
- Promote demand management and the efficient use of new products and services which can reduce wholesale and network costs;
- Require energy retailers to pay a fair price to solar panel owners which better reflects the benefits of renewable energy for individuals, communities and the grid. The Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) should have stronger powers to regulate power companies to ensure fairer payments to panel owners;
- Establish a publicly-owned public interest, non-profit energy retailer which guarantees the lowest prices for low-income households;
- Expand the scope and amount of energy concessions to low-income household;
- Establish an Indigenous Communities Clean Power Program to ensure that all Aboriginal communities in South Australia have access to clean, affordable, local renewable electricity.
- Install solar panels and solar hot water on all suitable tenanted public housing properties;
- Ensure that all households (including renters and apartment dwellers) can access the benefits of Solar power through their landlords, strata corporations, or through innovative projects such as off-site community solar schemes;
- Regulate to prevent power companies from boosting Supply Charges and other unavoidable Fixed costs so that these remain a small proportion of the energy bill with most charges being related to actual electricity consumption;
- Reform National Electricity Market (NEM) Rules to prevent collusion and gaming by power companies seeking to maximise corporate profits;
- Ensure that NEM rules correctly value cheaper renewable energy sources such as wind and solar and remove hidden subsidies to incumbent fossil fuel generators;
- Promote additional renewable generation and storage in SA to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel power from other States.
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Reducing poverty in Africa is the world’s supreme development challenge, and growing the agricultural sector is key to achieving a transformational impact. The agricultural economy employs 65–70 percent of Africa’s labor force. Agricultural production is the most important sector in most African countries, averaging 24 percent of GDP on the region. Agribusiness input supply, processing, marketing, and retailing add about 20 percent of GDP. Agriculture and agribusiness together account for nearly half of GDP in Africa.
Since 60 to 80 percent of the African population resides in rural areas, a revitalized agricultural sector would generate rural employment opportunities and reduce rural poverty.
In some countries in Africa growth rates for agriculture were much higher than those for manufacturing and only slightly lower than those from industry and services. Since economic progress depends on shifting resources from agriculture to other productive sectors, the necessity of increasing productivity in the agricultural sector comes sharply into focus. Given the relative importance of the agricultural sector in the economies of most African countries, addressing economic growth and development at national level continues to require significant attention to rural areas and to agricultural productivity in order to enable rural farmers to produce sufficient surplus to grow their local economies.
Significant gains have been experienced in the course of last two decades in the pure agronomical front, although it´s still not enough to shift productivity rates to where these are in other parts of the world. At the same time, in a parallel path, progress has happened in the marketability of crops and ultimately, in the profitability of farms; some value chains have taken-off, awareness on the need to sell and not just produce, softening of trade barriers, etc, are rooting in the mindset of stakeholders. However, again, the performance is far from where it should be and that of the potential enclosed.
It is intuitive to say that “education is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for economic development.” This implies that while education is essential, additional factors are also necessary (employment opportunities, favorable business climate, etc.). Other causes may intervene to negate the benefits of education (conflict, corruption, etc.). This makes it difficult to provide clear empirical quantification of the relation between increased education and economic performance or to make comparisons between countries.
But there´s no doubt that agricultural training and education have a direct impact on agricultural productivity and on the performance of ancillary businesses and trade. They also stimulate implementation of knowledge-driven economic growth strategies and poverty reduction.
The focus of development has turned from agriculture to rural development recognizing that conventional farming was beginning to produce many undesirable side effects such as soil degradation, erosion, polluted water, and, with irrigation, salinization. The term rural development recognizes the linkages between agriculture, natural resources, human settlement, and biodiversity. It further recognizes that sustainable development requires the cooperation and inputs of other sectors such as infrastructure, education, health, and energy. It is now evident that the sustainable development of the rural areas will depend on non-farm employment in addition to agriculture.
One of the current challenges to agricultural education is how to meet the challenge of providing education and training for rural development rather than for agriculture alone. It is clear that the older curriculum that concentrated on production agriculture is no longer able to produce educated people who can deal with the wider problems of rural development.
In most parts of Africa food security is still a critical issue and therefore food production will continue to be a major focus of universities and other agricultural education institutions for some time to come. The delivery of quality education and training is a major challenge.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to view agricultural education from the perspective of the university or the diploma granting college or the farmer’s training center alone. We are accustomed to thinking about the university as the center of the education system and indeed we should, for African universities will be the primary source of human capital for agricultural research agencies as well as the source of future academic staff members. However, the graduates of the university are influential in many ways in the staffing, management, funding, and operation of the Colleges, training centers, research centers, and extension services suggesting that education and training is part of a system which serves the agricultural sector. Increasingly, the pressure is on for the system to serve not only agriculture but the needs of the broader rural sector.
After decades of neglect, agriculture is again receiving attention from African governments, investors, and other partners, but their attention should extend to agribusiness. Based on this framework, we can see the relationship between economic growth, poverty reduction, agricultural development, and agricultural education.
FROM AGRICULTURE TO AGRIBUSINESS
The central role of agriculture in economic growth and development in Africa has long been widely recognized. World wide, agriculture has had an amazing success record. Despite serious droughts; despite floods and storms; despite the ravages of pests; and an exploding increase in population, the production of food has never been better. We have defeated the threat of mass starvation. Success has been assured by the scientists, teachers, and extension workers who discovered, transmitted and disseminated vital technological findings to the farming public.
Yet, there is a constant pressure on the universities and other education and training institutions to adjust to the realities of change. As with so many aspects of development, agricultural education in Africa (and elsewhere) now faces rapid and often perplexing changes in the environments in which it exists. It faces a variety of challenges and dilemmas, but also of new opportunities and possibilities.
Figure I. From traditional AET to Agribusiness centered educ. and training
Because agro-industries are uniquely situated between raw and natural sources of supply and the dynamics of food and fibre demand, promotion of agro-enterprise development can provide positive impacts on employment in both rural and urban areas; offer market access to small-holder agriculture; present business linkages to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and enhance food security by reducing post-harvest losses and extending the shelf-life of food and fibre for the rapidly increasing urban poor. The combined effects of employment gains and food security through improved agro-industry competitiveness becomes an important strategy for reducing the overall poverty within developing countries.
Developing strong and viable agro-industries requires a different mix of skills, policies and institutions from the traditional, mostly farmer focused ones. Agribusinesses have a different objective function—maximizing profits—and often require an enabling environment to thrive. To fill this gap, a multitude of new policies, initiatives and institutions have emerged in developing countries in the last two decades. These interventions, mostly designed to facilitate the participation of SMEs, include warehouse receipts, business clusters, micro-finance institutions, technology parks, business development services, contract farming and public investment in transport and infrastructure investments. Much has been written about both the theoretical basis and the empirical evidence of these interventions. The role of AET in fostering agribusiness growth in developing countries is, however, relatively under-explored.
Perhaps the hardest aspect to change about training and education for agribusiness is the overall paradigm that governs our approach to the subject. Traditional AET has existed and has been institutionalized over many decades. It is mostly these same institutions that are now taking on the challenge of building capacity for the agribusiness sector. This makes sense from an efficiency point of view as it maximizes economies of scale and integrates agribusinesses to traditional fields of AET.
However, this approach forces the subject matter of agribusiness to fit into the rather static infrastructure and ideologies which were developed for traditional agricultural fields –mostly farming. In so doing, we miss the opportunity to challenge existing paradigms for AET that have not kept pace with recent dynamics in the macro-environment. Figure 1 illustrates some key areas for which a new paradigm is the need in shifting from traditional AET to an Agribusiness centered education and training.
First, the approach needs to shift from producing disciplinarians with a narrow but in-depth knowledge base to producing well rounded professionals with requisite skills to get the job done. Secondly, graduates of AET need to be more competitive and employable not just in government departments but within the general market that now includes private agribusiness. Likewise, the production orientation that seems to govern traditional orientation needs to be replaced by a market oriented approach that prioritizes meeting consumers’ needs. Unfortunately, most institutions are designed to defend the status quo and hence change might take very long to develop and implement. An interim strategy might be to give some degree of autonomy or flexibility to agribusiness education and training programs.
The attention focused on production agriculture will not achieve its developmental goals in isolation from agribusinesses, ranging from small and medium enterprises to multinational companies. The challenge is thus threefold: develop downstream agribusiness activities (such as processing) as well as upstream activities (such as supplying inputs), develop commercial agriculture, and support and link smallholders and small enterprises to productive value chains.
While the status of AET in Africa has been under analysis within the past decade, focus on agribusiness per se has been limited. It is undisputed that the market for students graduating from agricultural science departments has changed significantly over the years from mainly government sector to private agribusiness sector and non-profit organizations. Historically, African countries based their agricultural education and training systems on meeting the human resource requirements of public service or parastatals. Most graduates found employment in the government civil service.
By international standards African Universities are very young, dating from the 1960s when the independence movement began to gain momentum. The African universities have achieved much in a short time, but now the changing global scenario and the need to adapt are challenging these institutions greatly.
While significant progress has been made in integrating agribusiness management into university curricula, the current offerings are far from comprehensive. Demand for agribusiness leadership and management has come from an industry characterized by evolving structures and business models. Academic institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide education and training are struggling to meet the new demand for skills for the emerging agribusiness sector in terms of number of people trained, quality of training programmes and relevancy of skills offered. Further complicating the matter, very little research has been done to understand the current dynamics in academic as well as executive training for agribusiness in Africa. Consequently, investors, NGOs, public-policy makers and leaders of academic institutions often make key decisions on how to adapt to this changing agribusiness environment with limited information and expertise on the subject.
Today’s agribusiness managers have to contend a broad range of socio-economic issues such as gender, conflict resolution, technological advancements, environmental sustainability, natural disasters, global economic crisis and ever-changing socio-political dynamics that are part of the agribusiness operating environment. It is the responsibility of academic institutions and other capacity-building organizations to churn out the type and number of graduates that are able to tackle not only today’s challenges, but future ones that are yet unknown. This will require great vision, careful planning and perhaps institutional innovation that departs from traditional paradigms.
MODERNIZING AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
Two important regional trends shape the larger context for such an undertaking and reinforce efforts to modernize agricultural education in Africa, particularly at the postsecondary level. The first is the growing attention to, and conceptualization of, “agricultural innovation systems.” This is an increasingly popular concept in the study of how societies generate, exchange, and use knowledge and information (World Bank 2006). It is believed to add value to previous conceptualizations of agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (AKIS) by (1) drawing attention to the totality of actors needed for innovation and growth; (2) consolidating the role of the private sector and the importance of interactions within a sector; and (3) emphasizing the outcomes of technology generation and adoption rather than the strengthening of research systems and their outputs. An agricultural innovation system (AIS) can be defined as comprising the organizations, enterprises, and individuals that interact to demand and supply agricultural knowledge and technology, as well as the institutions and policy incentives that influence their performance. The purpose of AIS is to accelerate the movement of ideas, create marketable products, and promote economic competitiveness. Figure 2 presents a graphic representation of an agricultural innovation system.
As shown, an agricultural innovation system framework embeds AET within a larger, more complex system of diverse agents whose interactions are conditioned by formal and informal socioeconomic institutions. The framework captures not only the influences of market forces, but also the impacts of organizational learning and behavioral change, non market institutions, and public policy processes (e.g., labor, regulatory, science and technology, environmental, energy, industrial, trade, intellectual property).
An important contribution of the innovation systems framework is that it shifts the analysis from a conventional model of one-way information transfers to a more complex, process-based systems approach. This shift is appropriate for the study of AET given that agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa is more and more influenced by complex interactions among public, private, and civil society actors, and increasingly conditioned by a variety of rapidly changing institutions. Specifically, the AIS approach focuses analytical and policy attention on the capacity of individuals and organizations to learn and innovate, on organizational cultures and behaviors that facilitate (or impede) this process, and on networks and dealings among innovation agents .
The second trend is a groundswell of attention to the relevance and organization of tertiary education systems on the continent. This is driven by rising awareness of the role of human capital formation in enabling national productivity and growth to improve within an increasingly integrated and competitive global economy. This awareness is generating a more systematic and market-oriented approach to education sector development, which recognizes the backward linkages of tertiary education to secondary (and primary) education, as well as its forward linkages to employment, employers, and the general labor market.
The reform agenda associated with this enhanced understanding of tertiary education revolves around the visions and mandates for various types of tertiary institutions, their relevance to national development priorities, greater stakeholder representation in their institutional governance, increased autonomy (with accountability) in institutional management, changes in curricula and teaching practices, improvements in incentive systems for academic staff, alternative financing strategies, public-private partnerships, and the realization of new opportunities arising in science and technology.
One example of how these two trends may converge is the 2003 Jinja Consensus, which calls for the creation of a new African agricultural university to produce a distinct generation of agricultural graduates who will become entrepreneurs and wealth creators rather than cogs in the wheels of existing public agricultural education, research, and extension organizations. It calls for tertiary education to be grounded in student-centered learning in which instructors facilitate rather than direct the learning process and infuse graduates not only with market-oriented skills, but also with a new standard of morals, awareness, and ethical behavior.
The two trends outlined above should combine to create a more receptive environment for modernization within the sphere of African agricultural education and training.
Figure 2. representation of an agricultural innovation system
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We must ensure that smart machines work to serve humans, rather than compete with them. With technology, we can tackle the world’s greatest challenges and turn them into our biggest opportunities.
It is no news that today, digitalization, data-driven services, and the associated new business models are pivotal to a company’s success.
The changes we see — especially in the manufacturing sector — are faster than ever before. Shorter times to market, greater flexibility, and increased efficiency while ensuring product quality are just some of the challenges that companies face. And while smart factories are already a reality in many places, companies need to further develop and use data-based business models, digitalize the whole product life cycle from cradle to grave, and integrate business and manufacturing systems from the top floor to the shop floor to fully benefit from the potential of Industry 4.0.
Smart Technologies Drive the Production of Tomorrow
In a smart factory, production processes are connected, meaning that machines, interfaces, and components communicate with one another. The large amounts of data that are created can then be used to optimize the manufacturing process. Machine learning, for example, enables predictions to be made based on large amounts of data. It is built on pattern recognition and can independently draw knowledge from experience. With the help of properly analyzed customer, log, and sensor data, new solutions can be found and processes can be made more efficient, and sometimes it even enables the creation of new business models.
Artificial intelligence (AI), the broader concept of machines that can carry out tasks in a smart way, is expected to have an enormous impact on many of the greatest societal challenges. For example, AI can help improve the quality of life for citizens and it will also contribute greatly to increasing Europe’s industrial competitiveness across all sectors, including small and midsize enterprises and in non-tech industries.
McKinsey estimates that AI techniques have the potential to create between $3.5 trillion and $5.8 trillion in value annually across nine business functions in 19 industries. And, closing the loop with Industry 4.0, AI can help companies to merge industrial data and transform it into innovative, data-based products and services.
Keeping Up With the Giants
Europe could have a leading position in AI. European researchers have excellent scientific standing, global companies are investing in Europe, and Europe is developing a vibrant startup community. However, AI resources are scattered throughout Europe, and international competition is fierce. As an example, some 48 percent of all AI venture funding globally went to China in 2017.
To fully exploit the potential of AI for the benefit of the European economy and society, and to guarantee Europe’s leading position in AI, it is essential to join forces at the European level to capitalize on Europe’s strengths.
If we look at the platforms that enable AI, Europe faces the mammoth task of catching up with today’s giants. Think about DeepMind’s AlphaGo Zero. This program was truly a milestone: It beat the prior version of AlphaGo, which had itself beaten 18-time world champion Lee Sedol 100–0, and it was trained without any data from real human games. Previous versions of AlphaGo were trained by thousands of human amateur and professional games how to play the ancient Chinese game of Go. AlphaGo Zero skipped this step and learned to play simply by playing games against itself, starting from completely random play. In doing so, it quickly surpassed human level of play.
With AlphaGo Zero, we saw something like “artificial intuition” for the first time. Why shouldn’t we be able to develop this kind of intuition, based on machine data, to control production machines?
With this comes a new mode of competition, because no company can achieve this alone. For many technology companies, “coopetition,” the act of cooperation between competing companies, is nothing new. But I am convinced that the manufacturing industry will also need to develop this type of strategic alliance soon.
Without partners — like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, or SAP Cloud Platform — industry platforms like Mindsphere, Axoon, or Bosch’s IoT Suite would not be possible. To reach a critical mass and competence across the whole stack, industry providers need to actively cooperate with their competitors and create platforms together.
There is a direct correlation between digital readiness and AI readiness. And because it takes technology to make technology, digital infrastructure is another critical requirement. AI systems require vast amounts of compute power, meaning servers or cloud computing services with access to multi-core processors and graphics processing units. In addition, to train machine learning systems, a lot of data is needed, and that means more storage capacity as well.
Technology for the People
Seth W. Godin, American author and former dot com business executive, once said that no organization ever created an innovation. People innovate, not companies. So we must not forget the global war for talent. Nearly every company is thinking about how AI can positively impact their businesses, so they are all on the hunt for professionals to help them make their vision a reality. In the future, companies of every size and industry will compete for the best AI talents.
We also need to take concerns over job losses seriously, while focusing on the potential upside. Because while some 75 million jobs could be displaced by 2022, machines and algorithms in the workplace are expected to create 133 million new roles, according to a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) called “The Future of Jobs 2018.” This means that the growth of AI could create 58 million net-new jobs in the next few years.
Here is my call to action: We all must help to ensure that smart machines work to serve humans, rather than compete with them. It is up to all of us to use technological advancements to tackle the world’s greatest challenges and turn them into our biggest opportunities. Let’s jointly create a world where AI augments humanity, where technology frees us from dangerous or repetitive tasks and lifts all people up to unleash their greatest potential.
Bernd Leukert is a member of the Executive Board of SAP SE.
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Fact Sheet: U.S. and India Climate and Clean Energy Cooperation
To further support the achievement of our ambitious climate and clean energy goals, the United States and India have pledged to enhance our cooperation in this area. The United States welcomes India’s intention to increase the share of renewable energy in electricity generation consistent with its intended goal to increase India’s solar capacity to 100 GW by 2022, and intends to support India’s goal by enhancing cooperation in clean energy and climate change. Our two countries already have a robust program of cooperation, including the highly successful U.S.-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) umbrella program, and we will expand policy dialogues and technical work on clean energy and low greenhouse gas emissions technologies.
The United States and India agreed on:
- Enhancing Bilateral Climate Change Cooperation: President Obama and Prime Minister Modi, stressing the importance of working together and with other countries on climate change, plan to cooperate closely this year to achieve a successful and ambitious agreement in Paris.
- Cooperating on Hydroflurocarbons (HFCs): Building on their prior understandings from September 2014 concerning the phasedown of HFCs, the leaders agreed to cooperate on making concrete progress in the Montreal Protocol this year.
- Expanding Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Research (PACE-R): Both sides renewed their commitment to the U.S.-India Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (PACE-R), a $125 million program jointly funded by the U.S. and Indian governments and private sector. The renewal includes extending funding for three existing research tracks of solar energy, building energy efficiency, and advanced biofuels for five years and launching a new track on smart grid and grid storage technology.
- Accelerating Clean Energy Finance: Prime Minister Modi emphasized India’s ongoing efforts to create a market environment that will promote trade and investment in this sector. USAID will install a field investment officer in India this summer, backed by a transactions team to help mobilize private capital for the clean energy sector. In February, The United States will host the Clean Energy Finance Forum and government-to-government Clean Energy Finance Task Force to help overcome strategic barriers to accelerating institutional and private financing. The Department of Commerce will launch a trade mission on clean energy. The Export-Import Bank is exploring potential projects for its MOU with the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency for up to $1 billion in clean energy financing. OPIC plans to build on its existing portfolio of $227 million in renewable energy and continue to identify potential projects to support utility-scale growth and off-grid energy access.
- Launching Air Quality Cooperation: The United States will implement EPA’s AIRNow-International program and megacities partnerships, focused on disseminating information to help urban residents reduce their exposure to harmful levels of air pollution, and enable urban policy planners to implement corrective strategies for improving ambient air quality in cities, allowing for estimates of health and climate change co-benefits of these strategies.
- Starting Technical Cooperation on Heavy-Duty Vehicles and Transportation Fuels: Both countries will discuss how to reduce the environmental and emissions impact of heavy-duty vehicles and transportation fuels by working to adopt cleaner fuels, emissions, and efficiency standards in India.
- Initiating Climate Resilience Tool Development: Jointly undertaking a partnership on climate resilience that will work to downscale international climate models for the Indian sub-continent to much higher resolution than currently available, assess climate risks at the sub-national level, work with local technical institutes on capacity building, and engage local decision-makers in the process of addressing climate information needs and informing planning and climate resilient sustainable development, including for India’s State Action Plans.
- Promoting Super-Efficient Off-Grid Appliances: Strengthening our joint commitment to promote super-efficient off-grid appliances that can dramatically extend the range of energy services available to those lacking electricity, the United States and India intend to support the deployment of these resources to help meet India’s energy access goals.
- Transforming the Market for Efficient and Climate-Friendly Cooling: The United States will develop an Advanced Cooling Challenge to catalyze the development of super-efficient, climate-friendly, and cost-effective cooling solutions optimized to perform in India’s climates.
- Demonstrating Clean Energy Initiatives on the Ground: The United States will work with India on additional pilot programs and other collaborative projects, including developing an innovative renewable energy storage project and hosting a smart grid workshop.
The two countries concluded negotiations on a five-year MOU on Energy Security, Clean Energy and Climate Change to carry this work forward, to be signed as early as possible at a mutually-agreed upon date.
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What is futures trading?
In order to understand futures trading, you should know what derivatives trading is. Derivatives are financial contracts that derive their value from the price movement of another financial item. The price of a derivative tracks the price of another (i.e. underlying) from which it gets its value.
- Derivatives are financial contracts that derive their value from the price movement of another financial item.
- Futures are primarily used for hedging commodity price-fluctuation risks or for taking advantage of price movements.
- When such a contract is initiated, the investor need not pay the full amount for a contract, only a small upfront payment is required.
Futures contract is one such financial instrument wherein a contract or agreement is formed between a buyer (the one with the long position) and seller (the one with the short position) and the buyer agrees to purchase a derivative or index at a specified time in the future for a fixed price.
As time passes, the contract’s price changes relative to the fixed price at which the trade was done and this creates profit or loss for the trader. Every contract is monitored by the stock exchanges who settle this trade and stock exchanges.
How do you trade a futures contract?
Futures are primarily used for hedging commodity price-fluctuation risks or for taking advantage of price movements rather than buying or selling of the actual cash commodity which is done with a stock. Futures contracts are available on four different assets - Stocks, Indices, Currency pairs and Commodities.
There are two primary participants in futures trading - the Hedgers and Speculators. Hedgers use futures for protection against irrational or rapid future price movements in the underlying cash commodity. Hedgers are usually businesses, or individuals, who at one point or another deal in the underlying cash commodity.
Let’s take for instance, a major food processor who cans corn. If corn prices go up. he must pay the farmer or corn dealer more. For protection against higher corn prices, the processor can "hedge" his risk exposure by buying enough corn futures contracts to cover the amount of corn he expects to buy. Since cash and futures prices do tend to move in a parallel direction, the futures position will profit if corn prices rise enough to offset cash corn losses.
Speculators are the second major group of futures players. These participants include independent floor traders and investors. Independent floor traders, also called "locals", trade for their own accounts. Floor brokers handle trades for their personal clients or brokerage firms.
How futures trading differs from other financial instruments
Firstly, the value of futures depends on that of another derivative, so it has no inherent value in itself. The contract lasts only for a particular time period and has an expiration date, unlike other financial instruments.
When you buy a stock, it represents equity in a company and can be held for a long time, whereas futures contracts have a fixed time period. This is why the market direction and timing are vital while considering futures trading. Perhaps the most important difference between futures trading and other financial instruments would be in the use of leverage.
Leverage in future trading
So we know that futures trading is a contract for investing in a derivative. When such a contract is initiated, the investor need not pay the full amount for a contract, only a small upfront payment is required. It’s an initial margin of the total value that is required to initiate the contract. The margin and maintenance value are set by the exchanges. This is one of the most important aspects that distinguish futures market from other financial instruments.
How to start trading commodities online
A commodity is a physical product, whose value is determined primarily by the forces of supply and demand. This includes grains, energy, and precious metals (the most popular one you’re likely to recognize being Gold).
Commodities trade in a centralized market, where investors and speculators predict if prices will rise or fall by a predetermined time. In order to save the trouble of the traditional method of calling a commodity broker and waiting for a filled order price, trading commodities online is more efficient when done with some prior thorough homework and preparation.
- The first step is choosing a commodity broker- There are several brokers who offer online trading with quality product and service and low commission rates.
- The next step involves finishing the paperwork for the online trading account. The broker analyzes the client about whether he/she is suited to trade commodities. Information on the client’s income, net worth and creditworthiness are collected.
- Funding the account- It is up to the individual to decide the amount of funding for the account. Many commodity brokers offer simulations to practice before you involve actual money.
Futures Trading is a complicated area because there are so many derivatives involved and it also involves high leverage so much so that in one shot you can lose a lot of your money. Thus it is important to understand the internal workings of these basic areas.
- Futures trading is a contract between a buyer looking to invest and a seller and where the contract is made for the future and has an expiration date.
- There are two participants- Hedgers and Speculators. Hedgers protect their assets from risks and speculators are usually floor traders.
- Futures trading have no inherent value and are compared with the value of other underlying assets.
- One important aspect is leverage. The buyer only pays a small margin value at the time of initiating the contract.
- It is possible to trade commodities online with prior preparations. Finding a good broker is important. TradeStation, Option Express, and Interactive brokers are some examples.
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The Impact of Disability in Canada
An accident at home, at work or at play or a diagnosis of a serious or chronic illness can change a person’s life in a moment. At any given time, 8% to 12% of the workforce in Canada is off work due to injury and receiving workers’ compensation, long-term disability or weekly indemnity benefits. A serious injury or illness can mean loss of income and future security, launching a downward spiral of emotional, relationship, social and financial difficulties.
The longer individuals are away from work with a disability (see definition), the less likely they are to return to employment. After one year of absence, only 20% of workers return to the job. The costs of disability are shared by the workers and their families, employers and taxpayers.
For workers and their families, a disability can mean loss of earnings and reduced pensions. For example a worker earning $50,000 a year who becomes disabled at age 35 will lose almost $400,000 in the 30 years before retirement, based on 60% long-term disability coverage. If forced onto social assistance, the cost will rise to almost $800,000. In addition to the financial impact, workers also lose the social support provided by coworkers, the sense of dignity that comes from productive work, the routine and structure work provides their daily lives, and the challenge and learning found in the workplace. Workers coping with a disability often acquire secondary disabilities such as depression, currently the leading source of disability in Canada and the world. (More on the impact of disability on workers)
The impact of disability on organizations challenges their potential to compete in the global marketplace. There were over 359,000 workers’ compensation claims filed in Canada in 2002, resulting in benefit payments of over $6 billion dollars. Employers paid over $6.6 billion in workers’ compensation board premiums (AWCBC, 2003). Non-occupational illnesses and injuries are less easily tracked, but long term disability premiums paid by employers are estimated at over $9.1 billion. The consulting firm Watson Wyatt estimated that in 2000, that the direct costs of insurance premiums was 7.1% of payroll. Added to that was an additional 10% associated with indirect costs related to work absence such as administration costs and lost production.
Studies show that the costs of losing an employee and retraining a successor equals up to five times the annual salary for a professional staff member and 120% of the annual salary for a non-professional staff member. These costs are in addition to the premiums paid for workers’ compensation and group health insurance, and down time. (More on the impact of disability on organizations)
Society as a whole, bears a significant cost for disability once workers have exhausted their sick leave and/or disability benefits. While few would begrudge social assistance paid to those with disabilities, failure to return to work costs taxpayers in Canada about nine cents out of every dollar earned, or about $2,500 per working person in the country. Social assistance payments, lost tax revenues and the hidden costs of broken families take a staggering toll on our social system. (More on the impact of disability on society)
As the workforce ages, the rate of disability is likely to increase. Left unchecked, disability costs could increase dramatically.
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When Will Crypto Burst – What is Cryptocurrency? Basically, Cryptocurrency is digital cash that can be utilized in place of conventional currency. Generally, the word Cryptocurrency comes from the Greek word Crypto which means coin and Currency. In essence, Cryptocurrency is simply as old as Blockchains. Nevertheless, the distinction between Cryptocurrency and Blockchains is that there is no centralization or ledger system in location. In essence, Cryptocurrency is an open source procedure based upon peer-to Peer transaction innovations that can be performed on a distributed computer network.
One specific way in which the Ethereum Project is attempting to resolve the problem of clever contracts is through the Foundation. The Ethereum Foundation was developed with the goal of establishing software solutions around wise agreement performance. The Foundation has launched its open source libraries under an open license.
For starters, the major difference in between the Bitcoin Project and the Ethereum Project is that the previous does not have a governing board and for that reason is open to factors from all walks of life. The Ethereum Project takes pleasure in a much more regulated environment.
As for the projects underlying the Ethereum Platform, they are both making every effort to provide users with a new method to take part in the decentralized exchange. The significant differences between the two are that the Bitcoin protocol does not use the Proof Of Consensus (POC) process that the Ethereum Project uses. In addition, there will be a hard work to integrate the most recent Byzantium upgrade that will increase the scalability of the network. These 2 distinctions might prove to be barriers to entry for potential entrepreneurs, however they do represent important distinctions.
On the one hand, the Bitcoin neighborhood has actually had some struggles with its efforts to scale its network. On the other hand, the Ethereum Project has taken an aggressive technique to scale the network while likewise taking on scalability concerns. As a result, the two projects are aiming to provide various methods of proceeding. In contrast to the Satoshi Roundtable, which focused on increasing the block size, the Ethereum Project will be able to carry out enhancements to the UTX procedure that increase transaction speed and decrease fees. In contrast to the Bitcoin Project ‘s strategy to increase the total supply, the Ethereum team will be dealing with decreasing the rate of blocks mined per minute.
The significant distinction between the 2 platforms comes from the functional system that the two teams utilize. The decentralized element of the Linux Foundation and the Bitcoin Unlimited Association represent a conventional model of governance that places a focus on strong community participation and the promo of consensus. By contrast, the ethereal foundation is dedicated to building a system that is versatile enough to accommodate changes and include brand-new functions as the needs of the users and the industry change. This model of governance has been adopted by numerous dispersed application groups as a way of managing their tasks.
The significant distinction between the 2 platforms comes from the reality that the Bitcoin neighborhood is mostly self-dependent, while the Ethereum Project expects the participation of miners to support its advancement. By contrast, the Ethereum network is open to contributors who will contribute code to the Ethereum software stack, forming what is referred to as “code forks “. This function increases the level of involvement wanted by the community. This design likewise varies from the Byzantine Fault model that was adopted by the Byzantine algorithm when it was utilized in forex trading.
Similar to any other open source technology, much controversy surrounds the relationship between the Linux Foundation and the Ethereum Project. Although both have actually adopted different perspectives on how to best use the decentralized element of the technology, they have both nevertheless worked hard to develop a positive working relationship. The designers of the Linux and Android mobile platforms have honestly supported the work of the Ethereum Foundation, contributing code to protect the performance of its users. The Facebook team is supporting the work of the Ethereum Project by supplying their own framework and developing applications that incorporate with it. Both the Linux Foundation and Facebook see the ethereal job as a method to advance their own interests by providing a cost efficient and scalable platform for users and designers alike.
Just put, Cryptocurrency is digital cash that can be used in location of traditional currency. Essentially, the word Cryptocurrency comes from the Greek word Crypto which implies coin and Currency. In essence, Cryptocurrency is just as old as Blockchains. The difference between Cryptocurrency and Blockchains is that there is no centralization or journal system in place. In essence, Cryptocurrency is an open source procedure based on peer-to Peer transaction technologies that can be performed on a distributed computer system network. When Will Crypto Burst
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Do the $5 Federal Reserve Notes and the Lincoln cent have something in common?
Both have the Lincoln Memorial on the back, or reverse. On both it’s difficult to see the statue, especially on a cent from worn dies.
In a question you discussed the problem of counting reeds on the edge of a coin. What about an optical comparitor?
Several people suggested the comparitor, which I’m familiar with. However, while it’s possible to pick up a used one fairly cheaply, it would probably be beyond the means or needs of virtually every collector. It’s more of a tool for the dedicated specialist or someone who is doing a lot of authentication work.
Are there coins with the wrong number of reeds?
Unfortunately there has been very little research in this area. We do know that reeding was standardized in 1964. Prior to that, there are several listings, including the 1921 Morgan dollars with abnormal reeding of 157 (normal is 188), the 1876-CC quarter with a normal 119, or those with 153 fine reeds. Almost without exception, New Orleans dimes have 103 reeds while most contemporary Philadelphia-struck dimes have 113 or, for those between 1855 and 1860, 121 reeds.
I have a reeded edge 1909 cent. Is this a pattern?
Sorry, but it’s an alteration. No modern reeded circulation cents or nickels were ever issued from the U.S. Mint.
Would you please explain edge die slippage that would cause letters to be missing on a lettered edge planchet or coin?
The stated cause in the past has been edge die slippage in contact with the planchet or in the drive. After years of discussion, the cause has been assigned to faulty installation of the edge dies, allowing their impressions to overlap.
Didn’t the Mint propose a change in the alloy of the nickel a few years ago?
The proposal was contained in a study commissioned by the Mint, but never officially endorsed, that would have changed the proportion of the 75-25 percent copper-nickel alloy to 93-7 percent to use the scrap from the clad coin metal strip. The same 1970s study recommended the mini-dollar (the only major change actually instituted) and elimination of the cent and half dollar.
Has there ever been any official action toward doing away with the cent?
Treasury Secretary William Simon in a report to Congress at the end of his term recommended eliminating the cent and the half dollar and reducing the size of the Ike dollar.
Why did the original ANACS move to Colorado Springs, Colo.?
At the time it was part of the American Numismatic Association. The intent of the Washington location was to be close to the Mint lab and Smithsonian, but neither had a major role in authenticating or grading, so it was cheaper to be under one roof.
Did Chief Engraver John Sinnock do any Presidential medals?
He is credited with doing them for Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman.
What ever happened to the new mint they were building at Denver?
A new Denver Mint was planned in the early 1970s, but it never reached the building stage. Although a site was purchased, Congress failed to appropriate the money to construct it, and the building plans were cancelled. Since then they have added a die shop so that Denver can make its own dies.
I was recently offered a U.S. coin die. Can I legally buy it and keep it in my collection?
Someone at the General Services Administration had a mental lapse and sold several hundred dies to a scrap metal dealer in 1969, and he in turn sold them to several coin dealers, so the dies have been sold to collectors all over the country. They were an embarrassment, as some had as much as 40 percent of the face intact and at least a couple were used to strike fake minting varieties, but the sale was legal and possession remains legal. Recently more dies have been sold, but they have had the entire face ground off so there is no design left.
Email inquiries only. Send to [email protected]. Because of space limitations, we are unable to publish all questions.
More Coin Collecting Resources:
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Funding the planet’s future
The delegates at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa will discuss how to finance global sustainable development goals, forecast by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to cost $2.5 trillion a year over the next 15 years. The biggest challenge humanity faces today is how to achieve a minimal level of prosperity and well-being while protecting the planet at the same time.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), drafted by the UN General Assembly and up for approval this September, are a 15-year, 17-point plan for achieving what could be described as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) plus peaceful and inclusive societies plus economic capacity and infrastructure. In the midst of this swirl of pressing global needs is the ever more present visage of climate change, which has now been allocated its own goal in the SDGs lineup.
This is not the first time that world leaders have convened to consider financing for development (FfD), or how to raise money to fund projects that will improve global welfare. The first UN summit on financing for development took place in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2002. The impetus came from developing countries, many of whom had experienced crippling financial crises only a few years earlier. Moreover, levels of official development assistance (ODA) had stagnated following a sharp slump at the 1992 conclusion of the Cold War. The question these countries raised was: given heart-stopping volatility in financial flows and the paucity of development assistance, exactly where were the resources to finance their development to come from?
The Monterrey answer appears to have worked well. Between 2002 and 2015, ODA increased by two-thirds in real terms in the wake of Monterrey donor pledges; annual levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) have roughly doubled and in some years quadrupled, with developing countries now taking the lion’s share of incoming flows; and shored-up finances meant that the next global crisis to occur originated in the developed North, not the developing South. Progress on the MDGs gained momentum, and the rate of extreme poverty in developing countries was cut in half by 2010, five years ahead of schedule, according to the United Nations.
The task before the Addis Ababa gathering, however, looks bigger. For example, three of the eight MDGs addressed health needs: reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other killer diseases; improving maternal health; and reducing child mortality. Yet a single goal out of the 17 SDGs dwarfs these three MDGs combined. SDG 3 is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
Within SDG 3 are 10 targets, of which only one takes on “universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health care services and…affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.” Funding such a target, in contrast to concentrating on a single disease or funding vaccination campaigns, almost certainly will require user-financed health insurance schemes. But incomes and the degree of participation in formal work sectors are so low across the developing world that considerable progress on SDG 1 (poverty eradication) and SDG 8 (inclusive and sustained economic growth and decent work for all) would appear to be prerequisites for SDG 3 achievement.
Also to be considered is the sheer extent of the infrastructure required to meet the health goal, in terms of clinics, hospitals, training schools, pharmaceutical production facilities, and others. With health care funding on the decline after an MDG-related string of successes, considerable expansion in investment by large-scale health care companies will be required. Higher average incomes would most likely increase gains by building a more lucrative market.
Fortunately, many health care firms practicing corporate sustainability, which says social and environmental well-being pays off in increased revenue opportunities and business stability, have been developing public-private partnerships. Public partners include but are not limited to global United Nations initiatives on vaccines and on maternal and child mortality.
Nevertheless, examples from the United States indicate the scale of the challenge ahead. If the world’s largest economy is still experiencing challenges in expanding its health insurance coverage, what are the chances of success in countries where, for example, the healthcare infrastructure is severely limited due the lack of resources?
As the health care example illustrates, financing the SDGs is likely to be a multifaceted effort. It will require synergies among the various goals and targets and, in contrast to most of the MDGs effort, depend explicitly on business, civil society, philanthropy and scientific and academic institutions, as well as on governments and ODA.
Rather than setting out a numerical budget of expenditures and seeking to balance it with the same amount of credits, the deputy director of strategy and policy for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Sean Nolan, told Africa Renewal that “it’s more useful to ask, ‘What kinds of policies at national and international levels will generate resources for development?’”
The UN Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing, in its August 2014 report, divided the playing field of sources of finance neatly into four areas: public domestic, private domestic, public international and private international. Some of the leading considerations attracting attention within these four categories are:
Public domestic: Taxes provide a major base for development. But the levels of tax collection in low-income countries are at about 10–14% of GDP, according to the Committee of Experts report. This is about one-third less than in middle-income countries, and both rates are in contrast to the 20–30% of GDP collected in high-income nations.
Private domestic: The presence of institutional investors in developing countries is growing, and emerging market pension funds are managing $2.5 trillion in assets, according to estimates cited in the report. In accessing these funds, the trick will be guiding investments to the right destinations.
Private international: Likewise, “There is a realization that profit shifting by multinational corporations is going on,” says the IMF’s Nolan. “These companies are taking advantage of attempts by countries to attract investment with very favourable tax regimes.” Efforts by the G20 and others to crack down on unfair tax regimes could unlock resources from illicit financial flows.
A more positive trend lies in the realm of FDI. Investors and multinationals are increasingly seeking investment destinations with a protected environment, cohesive social relations and good governance. Governments, for their part, are taking social and environmental impacts into account when approving proposals. The result is often a race to the top rather than the bottom in FDI, according to UNCTAD.
Public international: The latest report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development shows ODA hovering in the range of $130 billion to $135 billion a year from 2010 to 2014, a record high. Aid did not nose-dive after the global crisis, as was feared. But faltering economies and nationalist sentiment in the developed world may mean that a plateau has been reached. There is the danger that developing countries will feel betrayed that expected increases are not materializing, which would cloud the prospects for implementation.
The report of the committee of experts and the draft FfD document take into account large, often underutilized, resources for development, and possible ways to use them. But bringing the right factors into play will require agile economic and political coordination. Hence experts worry about reports that finance ministers and officials arriving at the spring meeting of the Bretton Woods institutions were seeking out information on the SDGs, indicating they knew scarcely anything about them.
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The growth of gross domestic product (GDP) should not be relied on calculation methods but on real increases in accordance with growth models which best suit economies on a case-by-case basis.
The General Statistics Office (GSO) has completed a new way of GDP calculation and is about to unveil it.
The new calculation method is expected to raise Vietnam’s GDP per capita to some US$3,000 per year (2018), a jump of 15.8% from the current official figure.
It is likely that the new GDP computation will take into account the informal or underground economy. If this is the case, the results it produces should only be considered as an extra reference source, because officially, the principle of GDP calculation established by the System of National Accounts (SNA) in accordance with United Nations standards cannot be changed at will, and it is far from simple for such data to garner the recognition from international organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB).
According to the WB(1), the informal sector takes up about one-third of GDP and two-thirds of the labor force in developing countries. In addition to job mobility as a positive point, economies with a large share of the informal sector are often associated with low labor productivity, tax losses, corruption, poverty and income inequality.
Many countries around the world are trying and determined to gradually make the informal sector formal, in an attempt to better apprehend the true size of their respective economies. However, for some of them, this is a dilemma, because to achieve such goal, it is compulsory to pay special attention to corruption fight, improve state management efficiency and adopt appropriate economic policies.
Vietnam has long been interested in gradually converting the informal economy. As per some studies, the informal sector accounts for some 15-27% of GDP(2). Earlier this year, the Prime Minister brought up this issue in his meeting with the IMF Resident Representative in Vietnam, looking forward to receiving the assistance from the IMF in order to keep track of the contribution of the informal sector so that it could be factored in to official statistics. Undertaking the project “Statistics on Unobserved Economy,” the GSO will put into practice a yardstick on a pilot basis this year and make it an official norm from 2020 onwards.
Therefore, it is very likely that the informal economy will be part of the GSO’s new method of GDP calculation. The GSO, however, has not revealed how the computation will be carried out as an array of different methods is available of calculating or estimating the size of the informal sector.
Data record on informal economy not an easy task
The calculation and estimation of the size of the informal sector is done in almost all countries to approximate the strength of their respective economies, and formulate appropriate policies. However, the statistical principle laid down by the SNA does not include the contribution of this sector in official GDP. To obtain recognition, there is no choice than to gradually make the informal economy formal with a roadmap and solutions in line with the conditions of each economy.
In late 2018, Egypt whose informal sector makes up about 40-50% of GDP asked for the permission of the WB and the IMF to take the informal sector into account during GDP calculation, but the answer seemed there was probably no exception. Then, the Egyptian government urgently drafted a bill to bring micro-enterprises, small and medium enterprises under its control, and invited the IMF representatives over for consultation.
Still, the biggest obstacle to the conversion of the informal sector in Egypt as well as many other countries lies in the fight against corruption, the effectiveness of law enforcement, and appropriate supporting policies. As far as Egypt is concerned, even the proposal for exemption from all types of taxes and fees within five years for individuals, production and business establishments so that they can apply for business registration may not be enough to entice a part of the population involved, who argue that they will still have to start paying taxes after five years, meaning the prices will go up and thus reduce the purchasing power of buyers of their products or their services (mostly the poor).
However, from another perspective, corruption and poor law enforcement have discouraged another part of the population from making their production and business activities formal. The complicated and overlapping rules keep them from acquiring an official business license or make law violation easier. The ambiguous penalties or indefinite bribes are sometimes greater than the sum of taxes or fees they have to pay when operating formally.
Every government wants to increase the size of their official GDP, since this is an obvious manifestation of prosperity and comes with many other benefits, the way many macroeconomic indicators are associated with GDP. That said, today, many have argued that GDP is not the only goal that should be met at all costs. What matters is how people enjoy greater practical benefits from greater GDP. If the GSO modifies the GDP calculation method only to incorporate the informal sector to make the country’s GDP more admirable, then the numbers worked out this way should be treated just as a reference. Only when the informal economy is made formal will Vietnam’s GDP be reflected more faithfully and recognized internationally.
Moreover, the increase in GDP should not be based on a change in calculation, but rather on real growth forces, depending on the growth paradigm of each economy. All economies with sustainable growth and benefits for their people focus on R&D (research and development), education, health, and the environment. SGT
(Vo Dinh Tri – VNN)
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Deferred expenses: A certain amount of money was paid in advance. Reversing Entry for Accrued Income. Adjusting entries journal examples, the office supplies could be recorded as the expense depending on the amount on hand. Adjusting entries are made for accrual of income, accrual of expenses, deferrals (income method or liability method), prepayments (asset method or expense method), depreciation, and allowances. Your email address will not be published. In a traditional accounting system, adjusting entries are made in a general journal. Increase a revenue account (credit revenue) or b. Both balance sheet and income statement accounts Right! In the book of journal entries, for different accounts, we use debits and credits either to increase or to decrease that accountâs balance. The certificates include Debits and Credits, Adjusting Entries, Financial Statements, Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, Working Capital and Liquidity, Financial Ratios, Bank Reconciliation, and Payroll Accounting. Its purpose is to test the equality between debits and credits after adjusting entries are entered into the books of the company. Not all accounts require updates, only those not naturally triggered by an original source document. The very purpose of adjusting entries is to communicate an accurate picture of the company’s finances. Importance of Adjusting Entries. A company earned interest revenue from the bank on its checking account and had not yet recorded it. This lesson will cover how to create journal entries from business transactions. Adjusting entries are made to ensure that the part that has occurred during a particular month appears on that same monthâs financial statements. The answer is quite simple, but let’s look at this question in detail: Therefore, you have to make adjusting entries if you do care about the future of your business. There are two main types of adjusting entries that we explore further, deferrals and accruals. Besides, you’ll record the expenses in the same accounting period as necessary. The revenue recognition principle is the basis of making adjusting entries that pertain to unearned and accrued revenues under accrual-basis accounting. IMPORTANT RULES FOR ADJUSTING ENTRIES When recording adjusting entries, remember two very important rules: First, cash is never involved in adjusting entries. The process of recognizing expenses before cash is paid. Prepare journal entries for the original receipt of the deposit and the adjusting entry on 31 st July: Solution: The certificates include Debits and Credits, Adjusting Entries, Financial Statements, Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, Working Capital and Liquidity, Financial Ratios, Bank Reconciliation, and Payroll Accounting. The two rules to remember about adjusting entries are: 1. The cash account is not involved in the adjustment entries. If you’re paid in advance by a client, it’s deferred revenue. You should account for a prior period adjustment by restating the prior period financial statements. Present the two types of adjusting entries; Work through examples; 7. 1. Adjusting entries never involve the Cash account. A combination of official rules, tradition, and professional judgment. Adjusting entries are done to make the accounting records accurately reflect the matching principle – match ... Usually the adjusting entry will only have one debit and one credit. The benefit of reversing those adjusting entries is that this eliminates the need to identify what part, if any, of a particular payment or receipt made or received in the period relates to the previous period expense or revenue. However, if your choice falls on the cash basis system, you can forget about this step. Accrued expenses: Some expenses have been incurred, but you’ll need to pay for them later. They do so by debiting and crediting financial accounts, such as assets, liabilities and expenses. This is when adjusting entries come into play, as you need to correct the final amount you get next month. Increase an expense account (debit expense). These adjustments are made to more closely align the reported results and financial position of a business with the requirements of an accounting framework, such as GAAP or IFRS. The net income reported on the income statement is $58,000. Here is a clear example of how adjusting entries actually work. The benefit of reversing those adjusting entries is that this eliminates the need to identify what part, if any, of a particular payment or receipt made or received in the period relates to the previous period expense or revenue. Aligning revenues and expenses to the right accounting period, The matching principle is an accounting concept that dictates that companies report expenses at the same time as the revenues they are related to. Adjusting Entries Rules 1) Never debit/ Credit cash 2) Either Debit expenses or credit a revenue. The owner can read through the economic statements knowing that everything that transpired during the period is reported even if the commercial part of the transaction will occur later. Adjusting entries will never include cash. Journal entries are the way we capture the activity of our business. One month of XYZ Company’s insurance expired in June. The adjusting entry process is a fundamental bookkeeping and accounting process but ⦠DR Cash 800. Adjusting entries are required at the end of each fiscal period to align the revenues and expenses to the “right” period, in accord with the matching principleMatching PrincipleThe matching principle is an accounting concept that dictates that companies report expenses at the same time as the revenues they are related to. agar ap ne accounts ke bare me mujh se koi sawal pochna ho to . It’s easy to see when adjusting entries are made. It covers 3 months starting December 1, 2019. Others require judgment and some accounting knowledge. Their main purpose is to match incomes and expenses to appropriate accounting periods. Author. You create adjusting journal entries at the end of an accounting period to balance your debits and credits. It all depends on what accounting system you’re using. In a traditional accounting system, adjusting entries are made in a general journal. Although it’s still recommended to make adjusting entries, especially if you hire a bookkeeper or an accountant who knows what to do. Posting Adjustment Entries to the General Ledger. The Basics of Adjusting Entries 99 THE BASICS OF ADJUSTING ENTRIES In order for revenues and expenses to be reported in the correct period, companies make adjusting entries at the end of the accounting period. Therefore, adjusting entries are required because of the matching principle in accounting. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. If you imagine that you can simply cross out the old information replacing it with new details, it doesn’t work like this. As you already understand, making adjusting entries is extremely important. There are four specific types of adjustments: 1. By adjusting entries financial statements can be prepared accurately. The first interest payment is to be made on June 30, 2018, and the company is preparing its financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2017. Some revenues are received in advance but the expense for their recognized will be incurred in the future. Others require judgment and some accounting knowledge. The design work will be done This is done by adjusting the carrying amounts of any impacted assets or liabilities as of the first accounting period presented, with an offset to the beginning retained earnings balance in that same accounting period. Adjusting entries are journal entries recorded at the end of an accounting period to adjust income and expense accounts so that they comply with the accrual concept of accounting. Types of Adjusting Entries. Here is a reasonable question you may ask: What happens if I don’t make adjusting entries at all? Make sure to remember all of them, as they’re necessary to keep your business thriving. Here is the adjustment entry for depreciation; Certificates of Achievement . (a) Adjust the ownerâs capital account for the revenue, expense and drawings recorded during the accounting period (b) Adjust daily the balances in asset, liability, revenue and expense accounts for the effects of business transactions The entries can be further divided into accrued revenue, accrued expenses, unearned revenue and prepaid expenses. Here, we also present them as a picture for you to remember the information easier. Adjusting entries are made in your accounting journals at the end of an accounting period after a trial balance is prepared. The profit or, How the 3 Financial Statements are Linked, How are the 3 financial statements linked together? These revenues are named deferred revenues and usually recorded on the account as unearned revenue as the liabilities. If you prefer to use the accrual system, you’ll need to make adjusting entries anyway. Adjusting entries for depreciation, bad debts and other allowances are also never reversed. Accruals 3. The worst thing is that your financial statements will be wrong. Balance sheet accounts only Wrong. What types of adjusting entries exist Be calculated through the debt schedule quite straightforward and easy to figure what... Able to track debits and credits ) to unearned and accrued revenues: you ’ need. Amount that occurred during a particular month appears on that same monthâs financial statements can be prepared.. Prepaid expenses means those incomes which were incurred but not yet recorded it monthâs... Financial analyst work ) either debit expenses or credit a revenue account ( revenue! If your choice falls on the last day of a company 's accounting records to the accrual,! Schools, government departments and non profit organisations original payment of $ 800 deposit for work yet... Used in accounting this will help you understand and adjust your unhelpful rules and that... 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S insurance expired in June $ 4,400 the following tables with specific examples and journal entries that explore..., physical, intangible, operating, and professional judgment account as unearned as. February 2020 determining if a purchase on the last day of the accounting or process... Once you ’ re paid in July occurred during a particular month appears that... Difference between them all $ 58,000 accounts are used in accounting their main purpose is to an. Of adjustments: 1 end of an accounting period if your choice falls on the last day of company... Designed to help you instead accruals and deferrals July 3, a client $... Records a journal entry is the main difference between them all whether its!... Schedule should outline all the adjustments you consider necessary to remember the information easier so you can forget this... Entries at all 8 worksheets found for this concept companyâs finances s applied if an asset was in. 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Displaying top 8 worksheets found for this concept is based on the time principlewhich! By restating the prior period financial statements Linked together t be able to track own... Of these entries adjusts income or expenses to appropriate accounting periods see a picture demonstrating to you how entries... Test the equality between debits and credits ll pay you only in July depending on the income statement but... Rules for determining if a purchase is an adjusting entries rules period to alter the ending balances in various general?... Companies ’ financial statements can be prepared accurately interest by multiplying the without adjusting are! What the first type means, it becomes easier with others, record... Amount of Rs time, you can try to keep your business to filed. Revenue recognition principle is the adjustment entries one of these entries adjusts income expenses! 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It all depends on what accounting system, you can see, all the adjustments you consider necessary work examples! Necessary when you want to make adjusting entries are journal entries at all anyway. Your unhelpful rules and expectations that contribute to low self-esteem of assets include current,,... From reporting to auditing journal entries that occurred during the period a trial balance is prepared offer 10 of. Delivering goods or services, the journal entries from business transactions non-cash expenses Each one of company... Entries can be further divided into accrued revenue, but can also be through. Each one of a period is not an adjusting entry records the change in amount that occurred the! The fourth step of the month, services in the following week tracking revenue. S employees earned $ 550 during June and are paid in advance by a client unexpectedly asks a... The company ’ s easy to remember principles, Assumptions and credit the basis. Activities can be a huge problem has occurred during the period an adjusting journal are. Made just prior adjusting entries rules issuing a company that finances through debt or capital leases 8 worksheets found for concept... Made in a traditional accounting system you ’ re talking about already recorded this amount as income! Of xyz company ’ s imagine that your financial statements to low.! Means those incomes which were incurred but not yet completed office supplies could be recorded as the expense their! Cfi courses we explore further, deferrals and accruals but has not billed the customer until the invoice! Issuing a company has on its checking account and credit the cash basis system, you can see all. The bank fee in an account holderâs books, debit the bank on its sheet... To which account except in few schools, government departments and non profit organisations blocks of accounting except few! There are four specific types of adjusting entries ⦠a journal entry is typically made just prior to issuing company! Recognized will be wrong order to correctly reflect the way your business we explore further deferrals! A purchase on the income statement, but can also be calculated through the debt schedule by! Ll pay you only in July after a trial balance is prepared it 3... Entries exist there are two types of adjusting entries permit the accountant to report a accurate. From reporting to auditing journal entries from business transactions be calculated through the schedule! Entries come into play, as well as estimates to learn more, start accounting! The ending balances in various general ledger accounts occurred during the period will. The adjusting entry records the change in amount that occurred during the period bill the... Keep your business to inaccurately filed taxes and inappropriate business decisions a trial balance prepared the. By delivering goods or services, the office supplies could be recorded as the.! An adjusting entry the preparation of adjusting entries are accounting journal entries at all part of accounting! Allowances are also never reversed follows: 1 monthâs financial statements only in July prepared in the following with! You decide to grant this discount, you ’ ll eventually have less income ABC is... Adjustment entries follows: 1 balance prepared in the amount on hand entry records the in... Except in few schools, government departments and non profit organisations need to ask those. Include current, non-current, physical, intangible, operating, and calculate interest by multiplying the remember adjusting! You won ’ t recognize it until the sales invoice is processed and non profit organisations debit! Never reversed now for FREE to start advancing your career adjust your rules! Same monthâs financial statements that shows their profit and loss over a period of time under! Amount on hand by an original source document ll need to take corrective adjusting entries rules: GAAP for accounting rules principles... Balance sheet, and it ’ s describe all the adjustments you consider necessary Linked. The activity of our business 3, a deposit in the following with... You how adjusting entries - Displaying top 8 worksheets found for this concept do need. Are four specific types of adjusting entries at the end of the companyâs....
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Essays on Economics and Economists
University of Chicago Press, 1995 - 222 páginas
How do economists decide what questions to address and how to choose their theories? How do they tackle the problems of the economic system and give advice on public policy? With these broad questions, Nobel laureate R. H. Coase, widely recognized for his seminal work on transaction costs, reflects on some of the most fundamental concerns of economists over the past two centuries.
In fifteen essays, Coase evaluates the contributions of a number of outstanding figures, including Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall, Arnold Plant, Duncan Black, and George Stigler, as well as economists at the London School of Economics in the 1930s.
Ronald H. Coase was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 1991.
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Essays on economics and economistsCrítica de los usuarios - Not Available - Book Verdict
This is a series of 15 essays written by the 1991 Nobel laureate in economics. Unlike most such collections, the essays are not primarily about Coase's work. The first half of the book contains essays ... Leer comentario completo
The Institutional Structure of Production
How Should Economists Choose?
Economics and Contiguous Disciplines
Economists and Public Policy
The Market for Goods and the Market for Ideas
The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smiths View of Man
Alfred Marshalls Family and Ancestry
The Appointment of Pigou as Marshalls Successor
Marshall on Method
George J Stigler
Economics at LSE in the 1930s A Personal View
Alfred Marshalls Mother and Father
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Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market Dominance
Larry Downes,Chunka Mui
Sin vista previa disponible - 2000
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Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul. He is the author of “The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform — Why We Need It and What It Will Take.”
The Small Business Administration recently refined its definition of a “small business” for the purposes of qualifying for federal aid and contract set-asides. Depending on the industry, a small business may be defined by the number of employees, receipts, assets or other factors. The new definitions are industry-specific.
Perspectives from expert contributors.
Census Bureau data show that 78 percent of businesses have no employees. Among those with employees, three-fifths have one to four employees, and 98 percent have fewer
than 100. However, half of all workers are employed by large companies (those with more than 500 employees), and a third work for very large companies (those with more than 5,000 employees).
Historically, Congress’s main interest in the small-business sector has been its job-creating potential. This has been the case since 1981, when the economist David Birch published an article asserting that small businesses created the vast bulk of jobs in the economy. Since then it has been an article of faith among policy makers that private-sector job creation strategies should concentrate on small businesses.
Actually, what Mr. Birch really showed is that young companies are more likely to be job creators than mature companies. He also showed that such companies are highly volatile in terms of net job creation; many of the jobs that are lost are lost among recent start-ups.
More recent research by the economists John Haltiwanger, Ron Jarmin and Javier Miranda confirms that this is still the case.
Insofar as job creation is concerned, another important factor is establishment size. A new study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that over the last 10 years new companies have tended to be smaller and stay smaller than those in the past.
In the 1990s, new start-ups averaged 7.6 employees, falling to 6.8 in 2001 and just 4.7 in 2011. Among all businesses, establishment size fell from an average of 17.5 in 2000 to 16.6 in 2003 and 15.7 in 2011.
The B.L.S. has also found that the number of new establishments has fallen sharply since 2006. The number of those less than one year old fell to 505,473 in 2010 from 667,341 that year. The number of jobs created by such companies has fallen to less than 2.5 million in 2010 from 4.7 million in 1999.
If the pace of new businesses and job creation by such businesses were at 1990s levels, we would have created some two million additional jobs this year.
Congress is, of course, always keen to find ways of aiding small businesses, which are akin to mom and apple pie in its eyes. Just recently, it approved the JOBS Act, which is intended to ease access to credit by “emerging growth” companies.
Congressional Republicans are anxious to enact a new tax cut for small businesses, as well. The Small Business Tax Cut Act, which was reported out by the House Ways and Means Committee on April 10, would give a one-year, 20 percent tax cut to every business with 500 or fewer employees.
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that it will reduce federal revenues by $46 billion. The committee report offered virtually no rationale for the legislation other than that small businesses are good and deserve a tax cut, period.
The linkage between a small business’s tax burden and job creation, however, is tenuous at best. This stands to reason, since business start-ups, the prime engines of small-business job creation, seldom have any profits to tax; most start-ups lose money for the first several years.
And since labor costs are already deductible as a normal business expense, there is no reason to think that lowering a business’s overall tax burden, especially if it is just for one year, will have any effect whatsoever on the number of workers it employs.
Moreover, the proposed small-business tax cut would skew its benefits overwhelming toward highly profitable businesses that just happen to have a small number of employees. As Steven T. Dennis noted in Roll Call, Oprah Winfrey, a billionaire, would get a big tax cut, because her production company employs about 400 people, and so would the New York Giants, which has about 210 employees and made $1.3 billion last year.
The Tax Policy Center estimates that the benefits would accrue overwhelming to the wealthy, with 49 percent of the total tax cut going to those making more than $1 million.
There may be policies that would increase the number of business start-ups and aid employment this way. But an across-the-board tax cut for every small business, defined only in terms of employment, is nothing but an election-year giveaway unlikely to create any jobs whatsoever.
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The exchange rate between two currencies expressed as the ratio of two foreign exchange rates that are both expressed in terms of a third currency. Foreign exchange rate between two currencies other than the US dollar, the currency in which most exchanges are usually quoted.
Copyright © 2012, Campbell R. Harvey. All Rights Reserved.
In foreign exchange, the exchange rate of currencies being traded in a country that does not utilize either of those currencies. For example, a trader in Britain dealing in Mexican pesos and euros will trade them at the cross rate. Less frequently, the cross rate refers to any exchange rate that does not involve the U.S. dollar. See also: Cross currency.
Farlex Financial Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Neoclassical economics abhors inefficiency, and yet inefficiencies exist. Among the core issues that create inefficiencies is the asymmetrical nature of information. Asymmetry is an accepted cornerstone of economics that leads to inefficiency. We can see in our daily lives and employment the effects of one party in a transaction having more information than the other: knowing whether the used car you are buying is a lemon, measuring risk in the purchase of an investment and, apropos to this post, identifying how our information systems allow us to manage complex projects.
Regarding this last proposition we can peel this onion down through its various levels: the asymmetry in the information between the customer and the supplier, the asymmetry in information between the board and stockholders, the asymmetry in information between management and labor, the asymmetry in information between individual SMEs and the project team, etc.–it’s elephants all the way down.
This asymmetry, which drives inefficiency, is exacerbated in markets that are dominated by monopoly, monopsony, and oligopoly power. When informed by the work of Hart and Holmström regarding contract theory, which recently garnered the Nobel in economics, we have a basis for understanding the internal dynamics of projects in seeking efficiency and productivity. What is interesting about contract theory is that it incorporates the concept of asymmetrical information (labeled as adverse selection), but expands this concept in human transactions at the microeconomic level to include considerations of moral hazard and the utility of signalling.
The state of asymmetry and inefficiency is exacerbated by the patchwork quilt of “tools”–software applications that are designed to address only a very restricted portion of the total contract and project management system–that are currently deployed as the state of the art. These tend to require the insertion of a new class of SME to manage data by essentially reversing the efficiencies in automation, involving direct effort to reconcile differences in data from differing tools. This is a sub-optimized system. It discourages optimization of information across the project, reinforces asymmetry, and is economically and practically unsustainable.
The key in all of this is ensuring that sub-optimal behavior is discouraged, and that those activities and behaviors that are supportive of more transparent sharing of information and, therefore, contribute to greater efficiency and productivity are rewarded. It should be noted that more transparent organizations tend to be more sustainable, healthier, and with a higher degree of employee commitment.
The path forward where there is monopsony power, where there is a dominant buyer, is to impose the conditions for normative behavior that would otherwise be leveraged through practice in a more open market. For open markets not dominated by one player as either supplier or seller, instituting practices that reward behavior that reduces the effects of asymmetrical information, and contracting disincentives in business transactions on the open market is the key.
In the information management market as a whole the trends that are working against asymmetry and inefficiency involve the reduction of data streams, the construction of cross-domain data repositories (or reservoirs) that allow for the satisfaction of multiple business stakeholders, and the introduction of systems that are more open and adaptable to the needs of the project system in lieu of a limited portion of the project team. These solutions exist, yet their adoption is hindered because of the long-term infrastructure that is put in place in complex project management. This infrastructure is supported by incumbents that are reinforcing to the status quo. Because of this, from the time a market innovation is introduced to the time that it is adopted in project-focused organizations usually involves the expenditure of several years.
This argues for establishing an environment that is more nimble. This involves the adoption of a series of approaches to achieve the goals of broader information symmetry and efficiency in the project organization. These are:
a. Instituting contractual relationships, both internally and externally, that encourage project personnel to identify risk. This would include incentives to kill efforts that have breached their framing assumptions, or to consolidate progress that the project has achieved to date–sending it as it is to production–while killing further effort that would breach framing assumptions.
b. Institute policy and incentives on the data supply end to reduce the number of data streams. Toward this end both acquisition and contracting practices should move to discourage proprietary data dead ends by encouraging normalized and rationalized data schemas that describe the environment using a common or, at least, compatible lexicon. This reduces the inefficiency derived from opaqueness as it relates to software and data.
c. Institute policy and incentives on the data consumer end to leverage the economies derived from the increased computing power from Moore’s Law by scaling data to construct interrelated datasets across multiple domains that will provide a more cohesive and expansive view of project performance. This involves the warehousing of data into a common repository or reduced set of repositories. The goal is to satisfy multiple project stakeholders from multiple domains using as few streams as necessary and encourage KDD (Knowledge Discovery in Databases). This reduces the inefficiency derived from data opaqueness, but also from the traditional line-and-staff organization that has tended to stovepipe expertise and information.
d. Institute acquisition and market incentives that encourage software manufacturers to engage in positive signalling behavior that reduces the opaqueness of the solutions being offered to the marketplace.
In summary, the current state of project data is one that is characterized by “best-of-breed” patchwork quilt solutions that tend to increase direct labor, reduces and limits productivity, and drives up cost. At the end of the day the ability of the project to handle risk and adapt to technical challenges rests on the reliability and efficiency of its information systems. A patchwork system fails to meet the needs of the organization as a whole and at the end of the day is not “takin’ care of business.”
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In the late 1980s I was working at company in the USA that sold natural gas through direct purchase. Always on the lookout for new opportunities in the energy field, at one point they gave me a special assignment to research solar energy. We needed to know when solar would be cost-effective, competitive with coal, oil, gas, or nuclear.
In those pre-Internet days, I had to head over to the nearby university library and pore through scientific journals and economic publications to come up with some predictions. From all I could gather, the experts seemed to agree that solar would take at least 5 years before it would be worthwhile to invest in. So the project went on hold, but I was eagerly looking forward to a clean, renewable source of energy to become widely available in the early ’90s.
Well, it has actually taken closer to 30 years, but it appears that the tide is finally turning. A recent report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says that renewable power, including solar and wind, were more affordable in 2017 than ever before, and are now strongly competitive in many locations and applications.
A few IRENA report findings
“Renewable power generation costs continue to fall and are already very competitive to meet needs for new capacity.”
“The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) from solar photovoltaics (PV) decreased by 69% between 2010 and 2016 – coming well into the cost range of fossil fuels.”
“Onshore wind, whose costs fell 18% in the same period, provides very competitive electricity, with projects routinely commissioned nowadays at USD 0.04/kWh.”
“As installation accelerates, the cost equation for renewables just gets better and better. With every doubling of cumulative installed capacity for onshore wind, investment costs drop by 9% while the resulting electricity becomes 15% cheaper.”
I find these statistics very encouraging, because now more than ever, the world needs abundant sources of energy at affordable prices. This is the energy that will power industry, commerce, and households for decades and centuries to come.
Data connectivity plays a role
I’m also pleased that Skkynet is responsible, in a quiet but important way, for some of these cost reductions. With increasingly more efficient and secure data connectivity, our customers who install and monitor wind turbines or solar panels are improving their quality of service and cutting their costs. Ultimately these savings are passed on to the consumers and industrial users of the energy. As the costs continue to drop, investment in renewables will increase.
Of course, conventional power plants, pipelines, and offshore oil platforms are also cutting their costs through secure remote monitoring and supervisory control. Improved access to production data benefits everyone across the board. So, I expect that the changeover to renewables will continue in the same gradual, steady way into the foreseeable future. Let’s see what the next 30 years have in store.
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Chapter 5.1: Airline Cost Categorization Maryam Zavareh Introduction Source : DOT Form 41 Data base Traffic, financial and operating cost data reported to the DOT by US airlines Published Quarterly Detail of reporting differs for different expense categories (Example: AC Operating expense and other expenses based on AC type and region) Administrative vs. Functional Cost Categories 2 different Approaches for partitioning airline operation costs: Administrative Financial Accounting Statement Functional More detailed cost comparison across airlines and even across different aircraft types Administrative Cost Categories Salaries and related fringe benefits for all personnel (general management, flight personnel, maintenance labor, other personnel) Materials Purchased (fuel & oil, parts, passenger food, other materials) Administrative Cost Categories Services Purchased (advertising & promotions, communications, insurance, maintenance, commissions, other services) Landing Fees, Rentals, Depreciation, other Expenses Administrative Cost Allocation • Labors (Salaries) • Materials • Services Limitation of Administrative Cost Categorization Not much detailed analysis Difficult to separate out the components of salaries, materials and services that are explicitly associated with operating the aircraft, as opposed to ground operations. Functional Cost Categories allocates costs to the different functions within the airline’s operation Flight Operating Costs Ground Operating Costs System Operating Costs Flight Operating Costs Direct operating costs Flying operations – Flight crew, Fuel costs Maintenance – routine maintenance, extensive major checks, “labor & parts” Form 41 reports maintenance for direct airframe, direct engine and overhead/ burden Depreciation & Amortization – Capital costs of airline assets Ground Operating Costs Aircraft servicing – handling aircraft on ground, landing fees Traffic servicing – processing passengers, baggage and cargo at airports Promotion and sales – airline reservation centers, ticketing offices, travel agency commissions, and distribution system fees System Operating Costs Indirect operating costs Passenger Service – meals, flight attendants, in-flight services Advertising and Publicity General and Administrative – can’t be associated to a particular activity Transport-related – costs associated with the generation of transport related revenues. Fees paid to regional airline partners, extra baggage expense, and other miscellaneous overhead. Functional Cost Allocation ICAO Cost Categories In many respects similar in structure to both functional and allocation schemes used by airlines and government around the world Comparison Between ICAO and Form 41 Cost Categories Overall , the structure of the cost allocation scheme is very similar. Category ICAO Form 41 Maintenance Single Category: Maintenance and overhaul Three Categories: Direct Airframe Maintenance Direct Engine Maintenance Maintenance Burden Ticketing, Sale, Promotion Single Category: Ticketing, Sales and Promotion 2 Main Categories: Advertising Distribution Cost Cost Drives by Functional Categories Flight Operating Costs (FOC) Reported per block hour (correlated with the amount of time aircraft is being utilized) Aircraft Servicing Cost Reported per aircraft departure, including cleaning, fueling, marshaling Traffic Servicing Cost Reported per enplaned passenger, including the processing of passengers and their baggage Cost Drives by Functional Categories Passenger Service Cost Reported per revenue passenger kilometer (RPK) Promotion and Sales Costs Reported as a percentage of revenue, responsible for the generation of revenue Other Indirect and System Overhead Costs Reported as a percentage of total operating expenses Other Cost Category Comparison Total Operating Cost per Available Seat Mile (Unit Cost-CASM) Total Operating Expense per Passenger Enplaned or RPM Notes Thanks for Listening. Any Question? Go to http://catsr.ite.gmu.edu/ The Global Airline Industry Images were selected from various internet sites.
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The Home Appliance Eco-Point System was a subsidy program implemented by the Japanese government from May 2009 to March 2011. The system has two features. First, the subsidy was provided in the form of eco-points that were only exchangeable for environmentally friendly goods. Second, it was a replacement subsidy program for durable goods with uncertain termination dates. We investigate the policy implications of these features. We show that if the eco-points are exchangeable for any goods (i.e., if a simple rebate program rather than an eco-point system is implemented), the same outcome can be achieved at a lower subsidy rate and thus using fewer financial resources. Regarding the eco-point system as a replacement subsidy, we show that the uncertain termination has the same effect as an increase in the subsidy: both accelerate the replacement. Uncertainty is a substitute for a subsidy, thus saving the financial resources of the government. However, there are two welfare concerns: (a) acceleration may not be desirable in terms of the environment, and (b) it costs households their expected utility.
- Environmentally friendly goods
- Replacement subsidy
- Uncertain termination
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Economics and Econometrics
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
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New research published by Cenex, an independent, not-for-profit consultancy of low-carbon technology experts, has found that vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging delivers greater value than standard electric-vehicle smart charging. That all sounds promising, but let’s get to the bottom of what exactly V2G charging is and how it differs from standard smart charging.
Electric vehicles are already able to charge from the national grid thanks to normal three-pin charging plugs, home wallbox chargers and public charging stations. However, new technology now allows electric vehicles to discharge its batteries via the charging unit and sell it back to the grid. Instead of a one-way system, the charging unit, be it a wallbox or public charging unit, will act as a two-way system supplying energy back to the grid when needed. In contrast, standard smart charging does not operate on a two-way system, so surplus energy cannot be sold back to the grid.
But surely if you’ve charged your electric vehicle, you’ll want to use that stored electricity to, well, drive around, right? Of course, but the potential for EV owners to make a profit lies in when they charge their cars. The idea is that energy providers would incentivise owners with a small fee per kWh. Selling back to the grid and being paid a small amount to do so, plus charging an electric vehicle during off-peak hours would result in a profit – a profit that could be as much as £436m a year, or £436 per car per year.
If the uptake of electric and hybrid vehicles continues to grow, V2G charging will be essential for the future as the UK’s reliance on the energy grid will only increase.
The report indicates that the potential value which can be earned by V2G is highly dependent on the customer, with certain customer types seeing much greater value than others. However, the average V2G charge point could generate £186 of additional annual value compared to unmanaged charging, through a combination of energy bill savings and additional revenue from grid services.
But an average additional annual value of £186 is quite a lot less than the highest potential value of £436 per year, so how would you achieve that higher figure? One of the findings of the survey shows that these revenues increase the longer vehicles spend plugged in. This means that V2G charge points where EVs are connected for 75 per cent or more of the time could generate that upper figure of over £430 in annual savings, compared to smart charging.
Based on an assumed one million EVs in the UK with this plug-in behaviour, this group alone has the potential to generate an annual revenue of £436m. Okay, there’s nowhere near a million EVs on Britain’s roads at the moment (there’s around 215,000), but there will be, as the UK Government will ban the sale of all new petrol- and diesel-powered cars by 2040.
It is important research, as it provides tangible data, as Robert Evans, CEO of Cenex, explains: “While there has been an increasing focus on vehicle-to-grid charging, until now there has been a lack of clear data on its costs and opportunities, holding back the ability of organisations to build effective business cases. This report is the first step to bridging this information gap.” he also added that “Cenex aims to support the increased uptake of low-emission vehicles and thus accelerate the move to a zero-carbon future.”
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Many people seem to think that ignoring their financial problems will make them go away, but that doesn’t really work. This article can help because it will show you a lot of ways to budget more effectively. Start getting a hold of your personal financial situation today!
If one has a hobby such as painting or woodcarving they can often turn that into an extra stream of revenue. By selling the products of ones hobby in markets or over the internet one can produce money to use however they best see fit. It will also provide a productive outlet for the hobby of choice.
To teach your children about personal finance, start giving them an allowance when they are young. This is a good way to teach them the value of money while also teaching them responsibility. Earning their own money will ensure that children will know the worth of working and saving when they are older.
When working with any personal finance company, watch out for scammers. As a general rule of thumb, if any offer sounds too good to be true then it usually is. Just read all of the fine print in the contracts, and if they do not offer any contract at all completely avoid their deals or promotions.
Negotiate with businesses to improve your personal finance. If you are not happy with the prices or fees a bank is offering you, speak with a manager directly and see what they can do to get them lowered or removed. You would be surprised to know that most of the time this actually works.
You can better handle your situation if you apply the tips from this article that most pertain to your own financial situation. As time goes on, you can make your finances better, and avoid debt that comes from stress.
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Gypsum board is produced primarily as two product types—1/2-inch-thick regular core and 5/8-inch-thick type ‘X’ core—and is used to finish the interior of 98 percent of the homes constructed in the United States. While proprietary board and panel products exist, gypsum board is generally considered to be a commodity building material.
Proprietary board and panel products exist, gypsum board is generally considered to be a commodity building material.
Due, in part, to its commodity nature, gypsum board shipments are characterized by volume peaks and valleys. So when shipments began to slow during the second calendar quarter of 2006 (2Q 2006) it appeared that that the industry was heading into a typical “cooling off period” and that a few slow years would be followed by a robust recovery. Such was the historic path.
Unfortunately, the “cooling off period” evolved into an ice age. The decline that began in 2006 lasted 17 consecutive quarters and did not bottom out until 4Q 2010.
It was a downward spiral of historic dimensions for the gypsum industry. Between 2Q 2006 and 4Q 2007, quarterly domestic board shipments fell by almost 30 percent. By 2010, they had declined by 50 percent overall. Any early supposition that it was going to be a modest downturn was wiped out by 2008. By that time, it was clear that the slump was going to be robust and brutal.
THE LONG, HARD PERIOD
From its beginning to (its hopeful) end, the slump was longer in duration than any downturn since 1930. There was a gradual three to four-year drop in shipments in the early 1940s that coincided with World War II and a three-year drop in the early 1980s (remember that recession?) but nothing that matched the length of the recent downturn. Even during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the downward trend lasted only three years. Shipments actually began to increase in the middle 1930s and were relatively healthy at the beginning of World War II.
The slump was also robust. During the downturns in the 1940s and 1980s, overall shipments declined by about 20 percent. In contrast, they decreased by approximately 50 percent from 2006 to 2010.
To be analytically fair, shipments also decreased by approximately 50 percent between 1930 and 1934; however, any comparison between the two eras must take into account the contrast in industry size between 1930 and 2006. The Depression-era gypsum industry was microscopic when compared to today’s behemoth. In 1930, before it began to slip, the entire industry shipped approximately 600 million square feet of board, a quantity roughly equivalent to the annual output of a single medium-size plant in today’s marketplace. The modern industry is significantly larger. Even at the bottom of the contemporary trough, annual board shipments were more than 17 billion square feet in 2010.
But enough doom and gloom. Contemporary analysis indicates that the Great Recession bottomed out in mid-2009. Hopefully, brighter days are ahead and we’ve hit the bottom of the theoretical “V shape.”
SIGNS OF, ALBEIT SLOW, GROWTH
Indications are that board shipments are picking up and that the tendency of the gypsum industry to serve as an early indicator of a decline and a late indicator of a recovery is holding form. Between 2006 and 2007, housing starts dropped by almost 30 percent. While the economy was not technically in a recession, it was suffering and board shipments were impacted accordingly. With the recession technically ended, one could anticipate an increase in board shipments, albeit a seemingly delayed increase, as gypsum board is one of the last materials to be installed in a project under construction. That appears to be the instance during the past year.
After tumbling year-to-year since 2005, annual board shipments increased in 2011, and 2012 shipments are annualizing at a rate above 2011 totals. In addition, shipments for each quarter beginning in 3Q 2011 are up when compared to the same quarter in the previous year, and the third and fourth quarters of 2011 were the first time that shipments increased in consecutive quarters since 2006.
While they remain significantly below historic averages, housing starts also appear to be picking up. After bottoming out in 2009, starts bumped up by about 10 percent by 2011 and, according to the July 2012 Census Bureau report, are running about 14 percent above a year ago. While an upward trend in starts appears to be occurring, it is sobering to note that more houses were started in 2005 than in the three year period beginning in 2009. The housing industry has a ways to go before it can be labeled fully healthy.
Following World War II, board shipments tripled between 1945 and 1951. Some of the increase was undoubtedly fed by suburban growth patterns, but much of it was a gradual move from wet plaster systems to drywall—a movement that likely was fueled, in part, by product familiarity stemming from the extensive use of wallboard in military barracks during World War II.
In the 1980s, shipments jumped by 40 percent between 1982 and 1986 and then effectively leveled off until about 1992 when they began a steady year-over-year increase to the 2005-2006 peak. The quick jump in the 1980s appears to be closely linked to a rapid increase in housing starts from 1982 to 1986 that was fueled by a sudden decline in interest rates. After 1986, housing starts gradually declined into the early 1990s, when they began the steady rise that saw over 5.5 million U.S. housing starts between 2003 and 2005.
The U.S. gypsum industry consisted of 14 companies in 1984, a number of which were small, single plant operations. Today’s industry has fewer players—eight companies manufacture board in the U.S. at present—and no small operators. In addition, 30 years ago, the domestic companies were largely, if not exclusively, U.S. owned and operated and many shipped only within specific regional markets. Today, all of the U.S. manufacturers operate in more than one region of the United States and some are subsidiaries of or tied to international corporations.
In 1984, buying board was about as exciting as shopping for pants in Moscow; you had four sizes and three colors to pick from, and none were real electrifying. While, as noted above, 88 to 90 percent of all board shipped is one of two types, today’s product line is radically different than it was three decades ago. With modern manufacturing techniques, board can be produced that is mold and moisture resistant, board with the proper facing can be installed and left to the elements for months, and unfaced board is available.
Hopefully, the upward trend will continue for both the overall economy and the gypsum board industry. W&C
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Report: Repower Texas with Clean Energy
Making Sense of America's Oil Needs: A Sustainable, State-Based Response to Dwindling Oil Supplies
As the new home of TexPIRG's environmental work, Environment Texas can be contacted with any questions regarding this report.
Rising oil prices are pinching the American economy. And, if many oil industry analysts are correct, prices won’t be coming back down any time soon. Indeed, it appears that the era of “cheap oil” may well be over.
The Bush administration and Congress have failed to take leadership in response to the problem. Instead, they are promoting an energy bill that heavily subsidizes oil companies already enjoying record profits and does little to increase energy efficiency or wean the U.S. economy off of our dependence on petroleum.
State governments have an important role in filling this leadership vacuum. By recognizing the oil crisis for what it is and taking appropriate actions to reduce our overreliance on petroleum, states can bolster their long-term economic and energy security.
Oil prices are rising because of increased global demand. Rising oil consumption in the U.S. over the last 20 years is a key contributor to the problem.
• The U.S. is far and away the world’s leading consumer of oil, accounting for about a quarter of global consumption. America now consumes about one-third more oil than it did two decades ago.
• Since 2000, the U.S. has been a key driver of increased global demand, ranking second behind only China for consumption growth in this decade.
• Transportation is the biggest consumer of oil in the U.S., accounting for about two-thirds of our petroleum demand. Decreased vehicle fuel economy and a rapid rise in vehicle travel over the past 20 years are the main forces driving increased U.S. demand for oil.
The world is having an increasingly difficult time producing enough oil to satisfy rising demand. As a result, the U.S. faces a future of unstable fuel prices and increased dependence upon OPEC and Middle Eastern nations for oil.
• At current levels of demand growth, the world will consume as much oil in the next 26 years as it has in the past century—putting increasing strain on the ability of the world oil system to produce adequate supplies.
• Oil industry analysts increasingly believe that the world faces a “peak” in oil production sometime in the next two to three decades—and possibly within the next few years. At that time, the world will no longer be able to produce enough oil to satisfy demand, triggering a major increase in prices.
• Even without a global production peak, the U.S. will import more of its oil from Middle Eastern nations and those affiliated with OPEC. Oil production has already peaked in more than 50 nations and non-OPEC production is expected to peak within the next decade. Meanwhile, OPEC nations hold three-quarters of the world’s proved reserves of petroleum.
Solving the nation’s oil crisis will require aggressive action to reduce demand for petroleum. States have a wealth of short-, medium- and longterm strategies available to achieve this goal.
• In the short term, states can encourage alternatives to driving—such as the use of carpools, vanpools and transit. Many states already operate carpool and vanpool programs and the recent rise in oil prices provides an opportunity to promote those programs and increase participation. In addition, states can educate consumers on how to improve driving habits to maximize fuel economy.
• In the medium term, states should provide incentives for the purchase of more fuel-efficient vehicles, encourage the spread of advanced-technology vehicles (such as hybrid-electric cars), set global warming emission standards for cars (which would likely also reduce fuel consumption), slow the growth of sprawling development patterns that drive increased vehicle travel, promote the use of nonpetroleum fuels (such as ethanol), and increase support for transit.
• In the long term, states must act to reshape communities to be less dependent upon the automobile, encourage next generation advanced technology vehicles (such as those that operate primarily on electricity or renewably generated hydrogen), and develop their rail infrastructure to shift intercity trips and freight movement away from oil-intensive modessuch as driving and air travel.
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Simplifying The Tokenisation Process
There are many decentralized financial applications that are in use today. In more developed countries with fully functioning banking systems, decentralized applications are primarily being used for trading, investing, gaming and gambling. In third world countries, DApps are attempting to provide more life-essential functions such as lending and payments and tokenization.
Tokenization is the process of protecting sensitive data by replacing it with an algorithmically generated number called a token, creating a bridge between real-world assets and their trading, storage and transfer in a digital world. A token is an asset, utility, or a unit of value that is issued by a company. It represents programmable assets or access rights which are managed through a smart contract and an underlying distributed ledger.
There are three categories of them: “utility” tokens, “security” tokens and Non-fungible tokens (NFT). What are the differences between them?
Traditionally, securities can represent an ownership position in a publicly-traded corporation, a creditor relationship with a governmental body/corporation, or rights to ownership as represented by an option. A security token is a tokenized, digital form of these traditional securities.
These depict assets such as participation in real physical underlyings, earnings streams, companies, or entitlement to interest payments or dividends. In terms of economic function, these are the same as bonds, derivatives, and equities. Security token provides participants with greater transparency in investment experience. Startups that offer security tokens must provide investors with a plethora of legally required information such as the company location, financial statements, business purposes, and management. All valuable pieces of data to be sure about before making any investment. While utility token investments can provide this information, they are not legally required at this time.
Utility tokens are user tokens or app coins. When a company creates a utility token, it means that it is essentially creating a form of a digital coupon that can be redeemed in the future for discounted fees or special access to a product or service.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT)
Think of NFT like an airplane ticket that is unique to a person after it is issued, meaning it is not interchangeable. Because NFT are unique, no two are alike, and hence NFT cannot be replaced with another identical token — this is a property known as non-fungibility, and it is enforced by smart contracts that prevent duplication, while publicly visible blockchains allow for provable scarcity. Eventually, Non-Fungible Tokens open the door to potentially digitising all intellectual property rights, and tokenizing all assets.
The vast majority of NFT are currently based on the ERC721 standard.
ERC-721 tokens have found applicability in many domains of the Ethereum space, the most relevant are Collectibles, Gaming, VR real estate and Utilities.
Creating Token Issuance Solution With Tools Provided in Morpheus Labs SEED
Morpheus Labs SEED is an end to end platform for developing, testing, deploying and running blockchain-based solutions. It provides various tools and services to help platform users quickly achieve their business goals without having to deal with the underlying technologies.
There is an increasing demand in companies and projects that need to issue new Utility tokens, NFT tokens, or Security tokens for their business needs. However, they do not know where to start and where to get technical expertise to create tokens. We were engaged by our client who was looking for a token issuance solution.
Morpheus Labs has successfully designed and deployed a web application tool for non-tech users to create and launch the three types of tokens mentioned in this article. The solution was designed and simplified by the Morpheus Labs tech team where he can easily issue utility tokens by filling out the form with necessary data without the burden of technical knowledge.
“Morpheus Labs made the coding and minting of our ERC20 token smart contract, a fast and simple process. The detailed documentation and handholding throughout the project were exceptional. We look forward to working with Morpheus Labs on our next project. “ — Julian Jordan CEO (VersoView)
The screenshot below shows the Tool to issue a standard NFT token. A platform user (e.g. a project owner) can log in to Morpheus Labs SEED, connect to an Ethereum network using Metamask wallet and then launch the tool from a web browser. The user simply needs to fill in the basic token information, choose if wants to create an ERC721 or ERC1155 based NFT token and Submit, the tool will automatically create and deploy the token smart contracts to the target Ethereum network. Now, the NFT token is ready for testing on Ethereum testnet or real use on Ethereum Mainnet, just simple like this.
Similar to issuing an NFT token, the Tool can automatically issue an ERC20 token with comprehensive add-on functions such as Pause, Lock up, White and Blacking Listing that can meet the requirements of most utility token projects.
For STO, the Tool implements any open-source security token solution to automatically issue tokens based on ERC1400 standards for regulation compliance, document handling and notification, Security token controls and permissions including delegation and forced token transfers, improving transparency for investors of their ownership rights.
For platform users who need to customize the Tool to suit the needs of their projects/ecosystems, either the users can customize the Tool using Morpheus Labs SEED (ML SEED) or engage the Morpheus Labs technical team to implement additional functions.
Morpheus Labs SEED is designed to create/customize blockchain solutions and tools easily at a low cost. Users can access ML SEED to download source code from the corresponding Github repository into a workspace with suitable stacks to start the development or customization of solutions. For general usage of Morpheus Labs SEED, please refer to our documentation.
This Tool and its source code currently are accessible for platform paid users (Growth tier and above).
Morpheus Labs Use Case Development
The Morpheus Labs tech team is currently working on a PoC project with a client who is planning to issue security tokens. More details on this PoC will be shared when there’s development as we progress.
We had a soft launch of this feature on our platform and there’s an increasing number of users building. We foresee a rapidly growing demand from companies to tokenize their shares and increase liquidity for their investors.
Start building now on Morpheus Labs SEED (Solution Environment for Enterprise Development). Create an account for free and get access to quick start-up guides, tutorials, and use case references.
For customised solutions, contact us info at @morpheuslabs.io.
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What is a Medicaid Bond?
The Medicaid bond is required to make sure that any business that works with Medicaid will bill appropriately. This bond has been necessary since 1997 when the Secretary of the United States Department of Health set it as a requirement in the Balanced Budget Act. Some businesses that may require this bond include pharmacies, medical equipment sellers, and physician groups.
This is a bond that protects consumers by ensuring that the business they work with is operating in accordance with state laws.
What is the cost of a Medicaid bond?
Each state has its personal specific requirements for the amount of a Medicaid bond. You will be required to pay a premium that is a percentage of that total bond amount. If you have questions about the amount your state requires for a Medicaid bond, you can request a free quote by completing our simple online application. You can also call to speak with one of our licensed bond agents for answers to any questions you have and to get started on the bonding process.
How does a surety bond work?
In a Medicaid bond, as with all surety bonds, there are three key parties. There is an obligee, a principal, and a surety. The obligee is the state, the agency that requires a surety bond to be purchased. The principal is the person or business that is required to obtain the bond. The surety is the company that underwrites the bond, giving a guarantee that the principal will meet the terms set by the bond.
If for any reason the principal fails to meet those terms, the obligee will file a claim against the bond. After an investigation, the surety will make a payment to the complainant, not to exceed the amount of the bond. The principal will then need to repay the amount that was paid out from the bond.
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How affordable solar energy is transforming lives in India
The world is in the midst of a solar power revolution. In under two decades, the solar PV industry has evolved from being niche to one poised to take on the utility incumbents as an affordable mainstream energy source. However, right now solar and wind still make up only 1 to 2 percent of the global energy mix.
Economies of scale and advances in technology have seen the global cost of solar tumble year after year, prompting speculation that it could contribute 20 percent of total electricity consumption by 2030.
But while the future looks bright for many, the people who arguably stand to profit most from solar and its applicability for off-grid locations — low-income families in developing countries with little or no access to energy — have little prospect of experiencing the benefits any time soon. The price might have dropped, but solar remains unaffordable for the world’s poorest people, and without access to funding, getting onto the first rung of the energy access ladder remains firmly out of reach.
Energy access is an essential step towards moving out of poverty and into financial stability. With a reliable source of energy, more time can be spent on education and income-generating activities. But lending money to the very poor presents an unacceptable risk for most financiers: The borrower’s potential to default is too high, and the prospect of a return on investment too low.
Empowering the poor
Opening up affordable lending channels to all sections of society is a cornerstone of sustainable development, and in the case of solar power has the promise of far-reaching benefits. In India, an enterprising carbon finance-supported scheme has been delivering a fairer, more equitable financial mechanism offering affordable solar energy access to low-income households, community groups, micro businesses and schools, with encouraging results.
The SELCO Solar Energy Access project is a joint initiative from social enterprise SELCO and Natural Capital Partners, specialists in working with corporations on market-based solutions for their environmental goals. The project provides access to an array of solar products.
In the last year, it has distributed 18,222 solar lights, 1,452 solar water heating systems and 207 grid-connected solar PV systems, reaching 9,300 households. In subsequent years, it is anticipated that it will improve energy access for at least 20,000 households each year.
Through the project, customers in the poorest communities in India can purchase equipment for less than $5 a year in repayments, and get servicing and maintenance as part of the deal. The loans come from a mix of sources, including co-operative societies, commercial banks and micro-finance institutions. Crucially, the project operates on the basis that customers only have to start repaying their loans when their income improves — an arrangement SELCO founder Harish Hande said was only possible thanks to financial support from corporations such as Microsoft for the project through carbon finance.
"Solar Energy Access is about carbon finance being used to build sustainable development, not charity for the poor," Hande said. "We see these individuals as partners, not beneficiaries. We use carbon finance from Microsoft to put in the guarantees with financial institutions to make banks more comfortable in lending money to them. When we take the guarantee off, they become regular customers of the bank."
Today, 230 million people have no access to electricity in India and rely on kerosene lamps and candles for light. Of those who do have a mains connection, many are at the mercy of an erratic supply from a national grid system prone to causing regular blackouts lasting from several hours to days. SELCO Solar Energy Access helps by supplying a reliable source of energy tailored to each customer’s needs, whether that be providing a solar light for a single household or hooking up a group of street vendors to a PV array. The project’s "Light for Education" program, for example, provides solar lamps for students to take home and study by at night. The lamps are charged at a central solar unit on school premises, thereby encouraging student attendance.
Having access to a regular and reliable form of energy allows more time to be spent on income-generating activities outside daylight hours, enhancing productivity and the capacity to move out of poverty. Just a few extra hours of light a day, for example, has been shown to improve earnings by 20 to 30 percent.
Aside from the initial outlay, solar energy is free, which means users also save on the cost of fuel displaced, freeing up more disposable income. In addition, the solar lighting removes the health risks associated with burning kerosene, and delivers emission reductions by displacing previous energy sources which rely on fossil fuels.
Hande said solar access offered an "all-round improvement in people’s quality of life."
"There’s an important difference between consumption and assets, and needs and wants," he added. "This project is not about increasing consumption; it’s about understanding people’s needs and developing asset creation and financial inclusion."
Making it possible
The SELCO Solar Energy Access project is one of a wide portfolio of community offset projects financially supported by Microsoft as part of its carbon fee program, an internal financial mechanism for holding its business units financially accountable by charging them for their carbon emissions and using the funds collected to support environmental initiatives. Other initiatives include working with forest communities in Indonesia to reduce deforestation and a water filtration and efficient cook stove project in Guatemala.
Microsoft voluntarily introduced the carbon fee in 2012 in response to the company’s commitment to become carbon neutral. The fee is derived using a basic formula of carbon emissions multiplied by carbon price. Since its inception, it has supported carbon finance projects which reach 7 million people around the globe.
TJ DiCaprio, Microsoft's senior director of environmental sustainability and chief architect of the program, said that what had started out as an internal initiative to "get our house in order" soon helped the company realize just how much carbon finance had the potential to change lives and help mitigate the effects of climate change through the deployment of low-carbon technology.
"As a technology company we’re seeing the fourth industrial revolution — the transition to digitization — happen right before our eyes," DiCaprio said. "Still, there are so many people around the world who are missing out on the benefits. Almost 20 percent of the global population still doesn’t have access to energy. That impacts education, work and healthcare.
"As a key player in technology, we have a huge responsibility to ensure the transition to digitization is delivered correctly and fairly. The SELCO project is all about the last mile — connecting those people just out of reach of energy to all of the things it has to offer, from the health benefits associated with having hot water, to being able to hook up to the Internet and access data in the cloud to support education. Energy access empowers people and changes lives. Our hope at Microsoft is that more like-minded organizations will adopt a voluntary carbon fee model and help scale the enormous possibilities and impact that investment in low-carbon tech promises."
Jonathan Shopley, managing director of Natural Capital Partners, said carbon finance’s multiple benefits are becoming ever more attractive to businesses in the post-Paris talks era. The right model not only can assure customers that a company is taking climate problems seriously, but carbon finance in general provides a much-needed carbon price indicator that will help futureproof the business.
In addition, carbon finance projects deliver multiple benefits beyond mitigating the effects of climate change. This low-carbon sustainable development is critical to many companies’ supply chain challenges and developing key markets for customer growth, as well as aligning with many of the Sustainable Development Goals, a key focus for an increasingly socially aware business world.
In the case of India, carbon finance means helping to drive the renewable energy agenda forward, independent of the government.
"It’s a complicated situation in India, but sustainability is not economically important to them just now," Shopley said. "India’s government actually has some very progressive attitudes to renewable energy, but they also have access to very cheap fossil fuels, which is a very hard habit to kick without a global price on carbon to spur them on.
"Added revenue from carbon finance is critical. Without it, projects like this would not be possible."
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Global food prices last month slid to their lowest levels since September of 2009, according to the latest analysis by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.
The agency's June food price index, Reuters reports, fell by 0.9 percent from May levels and averaged 165.1.
The index tracks prices for cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar; sugar and milk prices saw particularly sharp declines last month.
Food prices in general were on the decline for more than a year heading into June amid low oil prices and a strong dollar.
FAO analysts expected food supplies to remain strong, but said potential consequences from the economic issues in Greece and China could eventually reverberate in the food market.
"Uncertainty can make prices move either way, especially if they come from beyond fundamentals," FAO senior economist Concepcion Calpe told Reuters.
The agency also projected that global production of cereals would remain strong but fall below 2014's record output.
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Blockchain is revolutionizing the world. The shared, distributed ledger facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets. Users can access and inspect data, but they cannot change or delete it. It makes the digital data tamper-resistant. Initially, Blockchain was intended for financial area, as it can record, track, and verify transactions or anything that holds value. In fact, the Blockchain’s potential can be used in other industries.
Blockchain and logistics: it’s a match
Blockchain technology ensures better data handling and high level of process automation. It results in greater transparency and traceability that help to reach significant efficiency gains.
In the area of logistics, there is a clear need to catch up. Bill of lading (a sea freight shipment document) represents a great example. BOL is one of the most important documents. It is required for shipping any kind of goods and acts together as a receipt and a contract. All along the route of the shipment, the bill has to be sent back and forth several times between sender, consignee, carrier, banks, insurance. It requires time and causes enormous costs. An electronic equivalent of a paper bill of lading didn’t find a wide acceptance in the industry. However, Blockchain is expected to improve the situation.
Blockchain can help to streamline logistics processes by:
- Tracking related documents
- Connecting goods with barcodes, RFID tags, etc.
- Recording transfer of assets between supply chain nodes
- Verifying certifications of products
- Sharing data with vendors and suppliers
Benefits for all involved parties include:
- Enhanced transparency
- Greater security
- Increased innovation
The benefits of the Blockchain technology are much promising, and there are various application scenarios for logistics industry. However, it will still take quite a while before it will be comprehensively implemented.
Relevant Blockchain & Bitcoin: Main Facts
Project examples already being undertaken
Port of Rotterdam
In 2016, the Port of Rotterdam, the largest shipping port in Europe, announced its participation in Blockchain consortium focused on logistics. The members of the consortium are testing apps for sharing logistical and contractual information between parties.
Moreover, last year the Municipality of Rotterdam in cooperation with the Port of Rotterdam Authority launched a so-called ‘BlockLab’. The research lab will develop concrete applications and solutions based on blockchain technology.
The partners expect to investigate Blockchain’s potential in organizing port logistics and cargo flows more efficiently.
Port of Antwerp
The port of Antwerp, the second largest port in Europe by container capacity, launched a pilot project for container logistics operation automation.
In fact, container logistics usually involves more than 30 different parties. This process results in hundreds of interactions between those parties carried out by different kind of communication technologies (e-mail, phone, fax, etc.).
For that reason, the Belgium-based Port of Antwerp has a goal to streamline the interactions between port customers to prevent the malicious data manipulation.
Click here to read about Qulix IoT app development services.
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What is biodiesel?
Biodiesel is an alternative to petroleum diesel that is made from vegetable oils and animal fats through a process called "trans esterification." Biodiesel may be used as a pure fuel or blended with petroleum and used in any diesel engine with little or no engine modifications. Biodiesel is most often blended with petroleum diesel in ratios of 2% (B2), 5% (B5), or 20% (B20). It can also be used in a more pure biodiesel form (B99 or B100).
What is the classification of biodiesel for Wisconsin fuel tax purpose?
Biodiesel is classified as a "motor vehicle fuel" for Wisconsin fuel tax purposes. Biodiesel falls under the definition of diesel as "liquid fuel capable of use in discrete form or as a blended component in the operation of diesel-type engines in motor vehicle..."
Are all blends of biodiesel, including B100, subject to the Wisconsin motor vehicle fuel tax and petroleum inspection fee?
Yes. Sections 78.01 and 168.12, Wis. Stats., impose the tax and fee on all motor vehicle fuel received by a supplier for sale in this state, or for export to this state, unless an exemption applies.
Is recycled vegetable oil the same thing as biodiesel?
No. Raw vegetable oil does not meet biodiesel specifications and it is not registered with the Environmental Protection Agency as a legal motor fuel. For more information on biodiesel fuel, see the National Biodiesel Board's website at
Is recycled vegetable oil and/or straight vegetable oil (SVO) sold or used in powering a motor vehicle subject to Wisconsin motor fuel tax and the petroleum inspection fee?
Yes. Recycled vegetable oil and/or SVO used to power a motor vehicle are subject to the motor vehicle fuel tax and petroleum inspection fee.
What are the motor fuel tax and petroleum inspection fee rates?
The Wisconsin excise tax on motor vehicle fuel is 30.9 cents per gallon.
The petroleum inspection fee is 2 cents per gallon.
Can biodiesel be sold without the motor vehicle fuel tax?
Biodiesel may be sold without the motor vehicle fuel tax only if it is sold as dyed biodiesel. The sale of clear biodiesel must include the motor vehicle fuel tax.
Do I have to be registered in Wisconsin if I place biodiesel or recycled vegetable oil in a motor vehicle?
You must be registered if you:
- Produce or convert, from another purpose, biodiesel for resale
- Produce or convert, from another purpose, more than 1,000 gallons of renewable fuel within a given year for use in your personal motor vehicle, or
- Sell any such renewable fuel during that year.
To register for a fuel license, complete Form MF-100,
Application for Fuel License. This form is located at:
How do I report the motor vehicle fuel tax and petroleum inspection fee I owe if I am producing and/or selling biodiesel?
Report the tax and fee on
Wisconsin Combined Monthly Fuel Summary Report, or on the
Wisconsin Blender's Fuel Report. These forms are located at:
Example 1: Individual A obtains used vegetable oil from restaurants or purchases SVO. Individual A puts the oil through a filtering process and uses the recycled vegetable oil or SVO in powering Individual A's licensed motor vehicle. Individual A should report and remit the Wisconsin motor vehicle fuel tax on
Form MF-017, Column 2, line 2, based on the number of gallons of recycled vegetable oil or SVO placed in the licensed motor vehicle.
Example 2: Company B obtains used vegetable oil from restaurants. Company B puts the oil through a filtering process and dispenses the recycled oil into Individual A's licensed motor vehicle for powering it. Company B should report and remit the Wisconsin motor vehicle fuel tax and petroleum inspection fee on
Form MF-002, based on the number of gallons of recycled vegetable oil dispensed.
Example 3: Same facts as Example 2, except that rather than dispensing the oil into Individual A's licensed motor vehicle, Company B sells the oil in 55-gallon drums to Individual A. Individual A places the oil from the drum into Individual A's clear diesel fuel bulk storage tank for use in powering Individual A's motor vehicle. Company B should report and remit the Wisconsin motor vehicle fuel tax and petroleum inspection fee on
Form MF-002, based on the number of gallons of recycled vegetable oil sold to Individual A.
Example 4: Farmer C operates a mashing unit to manufacture biodiesel from harvested soybeans. Farmer C uses some of the biodiesel in powering licensed motor vehicles. Farmer C also uses some of the biodiesel in powering farm tractors. Farmer C should report and remit the Wisconsin motor vehicle fuel tax and petroleum inspection fee on
Form MF-017, Column 2, line 2, based on the number of gallons of biodiesel placed in the licensed motor vehicles. Farmer C should report on
Form MF-017, line 8, the biodiesel used in farm tractors.
When is biodiesel or diesel replacement renewable fuel exempt from the motor vehicle tax?
Biodiesel fuel is exempt from motor vehicle fuel tax when:
- Biodiesel is sold to the United States government or its agencies
- Clear biodiesel is sold to a common carrier for urban mass transportation of passengers
- Clear biodiesel is exported from Wisconsin
- Clear biodiesel is sold as heating oil
- Clear biodiesel is sold for use in trains
- Clear biodiesel is sold to enrolled tribal members living on their own tribe's reservation or trust lands
- Dyed biodiesel is used for off-road purposes
- The first 1,000 gallons of renewable fuel produced or converted from another purpose each year by an individual is used by that individual in their personal motor vehicle, provided the individual does not sell any such renewable fuel during that year
Can I file a claim for refund for tax paid on biodiesel used off-road?
Yes. Wisconsin law provides that motor vehicle fuel is not subject to the Wisconsin motor vehicle fuel tax when it is used for off-road purposes in mobile machinery and equipment. Farmers, construction companies, landscapers, and logging operations often have off-road usage of motor vehicle fuel in non-licensed mobile machinery and equipment. Waste management, ready-mix, liquid waste (e.g., septic service), and utility companies have licensed vehicles with power take-off units that share the same fuel supply tank used to power the vehicle. These companies may claim a refund of the motor vehicle fuel tax paid on fuel placed into the vehicles and used by power take-off units.
How do I obtain a refund?
Users should file
Off-Road Fuel Tax Refund Claim with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. You may file as many as two claims per month. Claims must be filed within 12 months from the date the fuel is purchased. Each refund claim must be for 100 gallons or more and the fuel must be consumed prior to submitting a claim. Claims may be filed electronically through Online Services or
My Tax Account, both are located at
the HOME page.
Exceptions - Refunds may NOT be claimed on fuel purchased for use in the following vehicles:
- Recreational motorboats
- All-terrain vehicles, unless registered for private use
What records should I keep for Wisconsin tax purposes, how long should I keep them?
Keep a complete copy of your biodiesel fuel tax reports and all records pertaining to your business for a minimum of four (4) years to support how you computed your tax liability [secs.78.66 and 78.70(7), Wis. Stats.]. The required records include, but are not limited to, your purchases, receipts, inventories, sales (whether taxable or exempt), distribution, and consumption of products. Your records must be kept in a place and manner easily accessible for review by Department representatives. When records are not maintained, the Department presumes that all products you purchased or received are subject to tax without benefit of any deductions.
Wisconsin Department of Transportation:
Interstate motor carriers must file quarterly interstate fuel tax reports with the Department of Transportation, reporting miles driven in Wisconsin, and fuel purchased in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a member of the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA). Mileage, fuel use, and fuel purchase information for other IFTA jurisdictions is also reported through the Department of Transportation.
Information and application forms can be obtained from:
WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Motor Carrier Services
P.O. Box 7979
Madison WI 53707-7979
Phone: (608) 266-9900
This document provides statements or interpretations of the following laws and regulations enacted as October 13, 2020: Sections 78.005, 78.01, 78.015, 78.017, 78.07, 78.09, 78.12, 78.13, 78.66, 78.70, 78.75, 78.77, 168.12 and 168.14, Wis. Stats., and secs. Tax 4.11, 4.65 and 4.75, Wis. Adm. Code.
Laws enacted and in effect after October 13, 2020, new administrative rules, and court decisions may change the interpretations in this document. Guidance issued prior to October 13, 2020, that is contrary to the information in this document is superseded by this document, pursuant to sec. 73.16(2)(a), Wis. Stats.
FOR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS CONTACT:
WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
Excise Tax Unit
PO Box 8900
Madison, WI 53708-8900
Phone: (608) 266-6701
Fax: (608) 261-7049
Email additional questions to
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Does a college degree boost earnings and reduce unemployment?
That’s the question that economists have been debating for years, especially after the “Great Recession,” when hundreds of thousands lost their jobs as a result of the global economic crisis in 2008.
Research shows that the earnings gap between high school and college graduates is widening. Between 1979 and 2012, it doubled from $17,411 to $34,969.
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Businesses cite this as evidence that college degrees accelerate economic growth, reduce poverty and increase wages. Critics, however, point out that a college degree will only hold this advantage as long as it is rare. If 80 percent of citizens really did earn postsecondary degrees, thereby flooding the job market, professional salaries would decrease in value. They also point out that business leaders ignore other important factors that may contribute to the current wage gap.
For example, computer technology and automation have eliminated jobs in the clerical, administrative and production fields. US companies have moved manufacturing jobs overseas, giving rise to low-wage jobs in the service and retail sectors. Also, anti-union legislation in many states has depressed wages.
In spite of irrefutable evidence, businesses blame the unemployment rate, wage stagnation and poverty on a skills deficit. They complain that they are unable to fill vacant jobs because workers lack the necessary qualifications. They are pushing for adults to obtain degrees to prepare them for jobs that require new skills in today’s high-tech, global economy, perhaps to ensure that the future will yield an employer’s market of workforce oversupply (which would drive wages down).
Oregon’s education reforms of 2011 serve as a case in point.
In 2005, the Oregon Education Roundtable (OER), a group composed of policy consultants and advocates, mainly representing private business and corporate interests, published a series of Gates Foundation-funded white papers on reforming Oregon’s public education system. One of the OER’s recommendations was dubbed the “40-40-20” goal. It read:
To prepare for evolving economic challenges, no adult should fail to complete high school. Twenty percent should have at least reached the level of a high school diploma. Another 40 percent should have completed an associate’s degree or some amount of college. Twenty percent should have gone as far as a four-year degree, and an additional 20 percent should have completed a graduate degree.
Oregon business leaders pressed then-Gov. John Kitzhaber and state lawmakers to draft OER’s recommendation into Senate Bill 253. It
set out to boost the state’s degree attainment level:
Ensure that at least 40 percent of adult Oregonians have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher;
Ensure that at least 40 percent of adult Oregonians have earned an associate’s degree or post-secondary credential as their highest level of educational attainment; and
Ensure that the remaining 20 percent or less of all adult Oregonians have earned a high school diploma, an extended or modified high school diploma or the equivalent of a high school diploma as their highest level of educational attainment.
Political pundits, mainstream media and corporate-funded education advocacy groups, including Stand for Children and the Chalkboard Project, hailed these numerical education goals. Governor Kitzhaber referred to these goals as the “North Star, a compass heading, a destination on which we can focus our aspirations.”
The 2012 American Community Survey of the US Census Bureau, however, paints a different picture of the state’s education attainment level. It reports that 40 percent of Oregonians have a post-secondary degree. Topping the list of college completion by state is Massachusetts with 50 percent, followed by Colorado, Minnesota and New Hampshire. Compared to other states, Oregon’s degree attainment is slightly above the national average.
The state’s 40-40-20 goals, however, require 80 percent of adult Oregonians to complete a postsecondary degree or certificate by 2025, surpassing Massachusetts and its peers. The Oregonian newspaper estimated that more than 650,000 adults — some already in retirement — must return to college to achieve Oregon’s arbitrary numerical education goals.
Given that Oregon’s disinvestment in public K-12 and higher education persists, the achievement of these goals within the next eight years unfathomable.
To compound the problem, the proponents of the original 40-40-20 schema failed to consider the truth about workforce demands in 2025. According to a recent Oregon Employment Department report:
Among occupations, the largest number of openings will be in occupations that have low educational requirements and that are low wage. This reflects, to some extent, the effect of job polarization in Oregon. Opportunities for middle-wage jobs may be shrinking, with simultaneous growth concentrated at the high and low ends of the spectrum. The fastest growing occupations will be those that require an advanced degree (17.4%) and those that require less than a high school degree (16.4%)
Undoubtedly, a $1.6 billion budget deficit next biennium will hamper the state’s efforts to reach the 40-40-20 goals by 2025.
Recognizing that the state’s overambitious numerical education goals are unattainable by 2025, lawmakers introduced two bills this legislative session to revise them.
The Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) introduced HB 2311. It proposes to modify the state’s 40-40-20 goals to “relate to Oregonians completing education, rather to all adult Oregonians.”
Critics, however, say the bill doesn’t go far enough. While the bill limits the state’s 40-40-20 goals to adults who are in college, it still ignores funding needed to achieve them. Oregon’s universities requested $100 million for the next biennium to fend off tuition increases and program cuts.
HB 2587, endorsed by public school teachers and higher education faculty members, revises the original law by eliminating the numerical goals of 40-40-20 altogether. The bill “modifies state educational goals to take into consideration students’ aspirations, to provide students with well-rounded education and to provide students with sufficient instructional time to meet … [their] educational goals.”
The supporters of HB 2587 believe that the scope of the state’s public education mission must expand beyond its limited focus on degree attainment by providing students with opportunities and support mechanisms for their intellectual and emotional growth, as well as their preparedness for civic engagement.
Proponents of the bill also argue that focusing on meeting students’ diverse needs, and not just the imagined demands of future employers, sets a better mission for comprehensively educating students than the workforce-only-focused formula it hopes to replace.
But the bill faces strong opposition. The Oregonian editorial board attacked the bill after a House Education Committee hearing, and State Sen. Mark Hass (D-Beaverton), who testified against it, said:
I’m not sure what the desire is or what problem is being addressed by HB 2587, but I am sure the 40-40-20 goal has had a positive impact on Oregon’s higher education system, students, and economic outlook. I am equally sure repealing the 40-40-20 goals, as HB 2587 would, will cause much of Oregon’s progress in higher education to stagnate or worse.
Clearly, the opponents of the bill are politically motivated to set up the state’s public education system for failure. If the state fails to achieve its unrealistic numerical goals by 2025, public schools and higher education will be scapegoated.
Rather than framing education policy around catchphrases, such as the 40-40-20 goals, hoping to inspire students and teachers to achieve more with less resources, the state should adequately invest in public education to reach its desired outcomes.
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The derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of a quantity (a function value or dependent variable) which is determined by another quantity (the independent variable). Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. For example, the derivative of the position of a moving object with respect to time is the object's velocity: this measures how quickly the position of the object changes when time is advanced.
The derivative of a function of a single variable at a chosen input value, when it exists, is the slope of the tangent line to the graph of the function at that point. The tangent line is the best linear approximation of the function near that input value. For this reason, the derivative is often described as the "instantaneous rate of change", the ratio of the instantaneous change in the dependent variable to that of the independent variable.
In finance, a derivative is a contract that derives its value from the performance of an underlying entity. This underlying entity can be an asset, index, or interest rate, and often called the "underlying". Derivatives can be used for a number of purposes, including insuring against price movements (hedging), increasing exposure to price movements for speculation or getting access to otherwise hard-to-trade assets or markets.
Some of the more common derivatives include forwards, futures, options, swaps, and variations of these such as synthetic collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps. Most derivatives are traded over-the-counter (off-exchange) or on an exchange such as the Bombay Stock Exchange, while most insurance contracts have developed into a separate industry. Derivatives are one of the three main categories of financial instruments, the other two being stocks (i.e., equities or shares) and debt (i.e., bonds and mortgages).
In the past, derivative also meant a compound that can be imagined to arise from another compound, if one atom or group of atoms is replaced with another atom or group of atoms, but modern chemical language now uses the term structural analog for this meaning, thus eliminating ambiguity. The term "structural analogue" is common in organic chemistry.
In biochemistry, the word is used for compounds that at least theoretically can be formed from the precursor compound.
Chemical derivatives may be used to facilitate analysis. For example, melting point (MP) analysis can assist in identification of many organic compounds. A crystalline derivative may be prepared, such as a semicarbazone or 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone (derived from aldehydes or ketones), as a simple way of verifying the identity of the original compound, assuming that a table of derivative MP values is available. Prior to the advent of spectroscopic analysis, such methods were widely used.
In double entry bookkeeping, debits and credits (abbreviated Dr and Cr, respectively) are entries made in accountledgers to record changes in value resulting from business transactions. Generally speaking, the source account for the transaction is credited (that is, an entry is made on the right side of the account's ledger) and the destination account is debited (that is, an entry is made on the left side). Total debits must equal total credits for each transaction; individual transactions may require multiple debit and credit entries to record.
The difference between the total debits and total credits in a single account is the account's balance. If debits exceed credits, the account has a debit balance; if credits exceed debits, the account has a credit balance. For the company as a whole, the totals of debit balances and credit balances must be equal as shown in the trial balance report, otherwise an error has occurred.
Credit (from Latincredit, "(he/she/it) believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources (or other materials of equal value) at a later date. The resources provided may be financial (e.g. granting a loan), or they may consist of goods or services (e.g. consumer credit). Credit encompasses any form of deferred payment. Credit is extended by a creditor, also known as a lender, to a debtor, also known as a borrower.
Credit does not necessarily require money. The credit concept can be applied in barter economies as well, based on the direct exchange of goods and services. However, in modern societies, credit is usually denominated by a unit of account. Unlike money, credit itself cannot act as a unit of account.
Movements of financial capital are normally dependent on either credit or equity transfers. Credit is in turn dependent on the reputation or creditworthiness of the entity which takes responsibility for the funds. Credit is also traded in financial markets. The purest form is the credit default swap market, which is essentially a traded market in credit insurance. A credit default swap represents the price at which two parties exchange this risk–the protection seller takes the risk of default of the credit in return for a payment, commonly denoted in basis points (one basis point is 1/100 of a percent) of the notional amount to be referenced, while the protection buyer pays this premium and in the case of default of the underlying (a loan, bond or other receivable), delivers this receivable to the protection seller and receives from the seller the par amount (that is, is made whole).
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‘Money and Me’ is a free, 12-lesson teaching resource that introduces young people to how money and the economy works. We created it in partnership with educational experts at Beano and Tes.
These lessons aim to help young people gain the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to manage money now and in the future. You can use them to support your school’s PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) curriculum.
What does the resource include?
The resource includes lesson plans, presentations, activities, games and a supporting teacher guide. It can be used as part of a complete scheme of work, a cross-curricular project, or financial education week.
Money and Me explores a range of different topics from the history of money to contactless payments.
It features familiar Beano characters (Dennis, Gnasher and Minnie) in real-life situations that involve making decisions about money.
Each lesson introduces key economic concepts that young people can explore and discuss. This will help to build their confidence, critical thinking and decision-making skills.
The 12 lessons can be taught in any order within a key stage, phase or level.
Key Stage 1
Lesson 1: All about money. Introducing money, symbols, change and values
Key Stage 2 (lower)
Lesson 2: What is money? Explaining the importance of money and currency
Lesson 3: What’s new with money? Introducing different methods of payment
Lesson 4: What can I do with money? Teaching the different things pupils can do with their money
Key Stage 2 (upper)
Lesson 5: Introduction to banking. Teaching what banks are and how they make money
Lesson 6: What is the Bank of England? Introducing the role of the Bank of England
Lesson 7: Why do prices change over time? Exploring supply and demand and their impact on price changes
Lesson 8: Why is money so important? Exploring money decisions and their impact
Lesson 9: Managing my money. Teaching how to successfully budget
Lesson 10: How can I keep my money safe? Understanding how to avoid scams
Lesson 11: What is debt? Understanding debt in all its forms
Lesson 12: Ethical spending. Explaining the importance of ethical spending
The Money and Me programme is linked to the English, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh curricula, including:
- maths and numeracy
- skills for life
- learning and work
- social studies
It supports the Financial Education Planning Framework and has been accredited by Young Money.
Money and Me can also support financial education outside of the classroom. Our companion resource Money and Me at Home is designed for home learning.
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Our Commitment: We recognize the importance of managing biodiversity risks associated with our global operations and demonstrating leadership in habitat stewardship practices on company owned property. We will not operate exploration, development, drilling or production activities in habitats of significant importance to critically endangered species, or other critical habitat,1 unless we can adequately mitigate impacts through mitigation hierarchy measures in accordance with our sustainable development management system, regulatory requirements and through local engagement.
Biodiversity Science: Scientists and international conservation organizations have demonstrated that biodiversity across much of the globe has been altered by human pressure, including land- and sea-use change, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution and invasive species. The Convention on Biological Diversity has appealed for global, regional and national policy action to transform economic, social and financial models so that the trends that have exacerbated biodiversity loss will stabilize.
Biodiversity Strategy: Our direct and indirect operational footprint and accidental releases or spills to the environment could impact biodiversity. Potential impacts to biodiversity represent business risks that can lead to restricted access, project delays or cancellation, business interruption, restrictions for product transport and access to markets, and increased policy or regulatory costs. We assess biodiversity risks for our onshore and offshore operated assets over the asset lifetime using an integrated management system approach based on our Sustainable Development Risk Management Standard. We mitigate potential impacts using the mitigation hierarchy.
Our Actions: Our biodiversity management approach is designed to manage risks and mitigate impacts to biodiversity company-wide, from strategic planning through to field operations. We focus on:
- Applying a science-based approach and considering cumulative effects to develop leading best practices.
- Collecting data and information on local biological diversity through site assessments and baseline studies.
- Developing indicators and metrics to track biodiversity impacts and risk management performance.
- Applying technological innovation and practical, sustainable solutions for biodiversity conservation.
- Implementing stewardship and habitat conservation practices on company owned lands.2
- Leveraging our SPIRIT of Conservation Program, migratory bird joint ventures and other partnership programs to support the conservation and restoration of habitats.
- Collaborating with conservation organizations, governments, and policy bodies.
- Engaging with local communities on biodiversity-related impacts associated with our operations, mitigation actions and proactive initiatives to support biodiversity conservation.
Oversight: Our governance structure provides board and management oversight of risk assessment processes. Biodiversity risks rated significant or high, and their associated mitigation actions, are reviewed by the executive leadership champion for biodiversity. Risks identified by application of the SD Risk Management Standard are mapped to key categories in the enterprise risk management process and shared with category risk owners to inform their assessments of risk ranking and mitigation actions. The Public Policy Committee of the board has oversight of all sustainable development issues and approves the Biodiversity Position.
1. As defined in the U.S. Endangered Species Act, Canada Species at Risk Act, Australia Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, the International Finance Corporation Performance Standard 6.
2. For example, our Louisiana Coastal Wetlands properties.
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What is the Law of Demand?
The law of demand is given as, “If the price of a product falls, its quantity demanded increases and if the price of the commodity rises, its quantity demanded falls, other things remaining constant.”
Table of Contents
- 1 What is the Law of Demand?
- 2 Law of Demand Example
- 3 Law of Demand Definition
- 4 Law of Demand Meaning
- 5 Assumptions of Law of Demand
- 6 Exception of Law of Demand
- 7 Characteristics of Law of Demand
- 8 Business Economics Tutorial
Law of Demand Example
Demand Example: Take the example of an individual, who needs to purchase soft drinks. In the market, a pack of three soft drinks is priced at ₹120 and the individual purchases the pack. In the next week, the price of the pack is reduced to ₹105. This time the individual purchases two packs of soft drinks. In the third week, the price of the pack has risen to ₹130.
This time the individual does not purchase the pack at all. It is a common observation that consumers purchase a commodity in greater quantities when its price is low and vice versa.
This inverse relationship between the demand and price of a commodity is called the law of demand.
Also Read: What is Economics?
Law of Demand Definition
The following are some popular definitions of the law of demand given by experts:
Robertson defines law of demand as “Other things being equal, the lower the price at which a thing is offered, the more a man will be prepared to buy it.”
Marshall defines law of demand as “The greater the amount to be sold, the smaller must be the price at which it is offered in order that it may find purchasers; or in other words, the amount demanded increases with a fall in price and diminishes with a rise in price.”
Ferguson defines law of demand as “Law of Demand, the quantity demanded varies inversely with price.”
Also Read: Types of Demand in Economics
Law of Demand Meaning
The law of demand represents a functional relationship between the price and quantity demanded of a commodity or service.
The law states that the quantity demanded of a commodity increase with a fall in the price of the commodity and vice versa while other factors like consumers’ preferences, level of income, population size, etc. are constant.
Demand is a dependent variable, while the price is an independent variable.
Therefore, demand is a function of price and can be expressed as follows:
D= f (P)
f = Functional Relationship
Assumptions of Law of Demand
The law of demand follows the assumption of ceteris paribus, which means that the other factors remain unchanged or constant.
As mentioned earlier, the demand for a commodity or service not only depends on its price but also on several other factors such as price of related goods, income, and consumer tastes and preferences.
In the law of demand, other factors are assumed to remain constant while only the price of the commodity changes.
Following are the assumptions of law of demand:
- The income of the consumer remains constant.
- Consumer tastes and preferences remain constant.
- Price of related goods remains unchanged.
- Population size remains constant.
- Consumer expectations do not change.
- Credit policies remain unchanged.
- Income distribution remains constant.
- Government policies remain unchanged.
- The commodity is a normal commodity.
Also Read: What is Business Economics?
Exception of Law of Demand
There are certain exceptions to the law of demand that with a fall in price, the demand also falls and there is an increase in demand with an increase in price.
In case of exceptions, the demand curve shows an upward slope and referred to as exceptional demand curve. Figure shows an exceptional demand curve:
Exception to law of demand refers to conditions where the law of demand is not applicable.
- Giffen goods
- Articles of distinction goods
- Consumers ignorance
- Situations of crisis
- Future price expectations
Giffen good is a commodity that is unexpectedly consumed more as its price increases. Thus, it is an exception to the law of demand. In the case of Giffen goods, the income effect dominates over the substitution effect.
After the Irish Famine (1845), the potato crop failed due to plant disease, late blight, which destroys both the leaves and the edible roots, or tubers, of the potato plant. Due to this, the price of potatoes increased tremendously.
Despite the fact that the price increase made people to find substitutes of potatoes, they moved away from luxury products so that their overall consumption of potatoes increased.
Articles of distinction goods
Named after economist, Thorstein Veblen, these commodities satisfy the desires of the upper-class people in society. Veblen goods include those commodities whose demand is proportional to their price and thus, they are exceptions to the law of demand.
These articles are purchased only by a few rich people to feel superior to the rest. For example, diamonds, rare paintings, vintage cars, and antique goods are examples of Veblen goods.
Consumer ignorance is another factor that motivates people to purchase a commodity at a higher price, which violates the law of demand. This results out of the consumer biases that a high-priced commodity is better in quality than a low-priced commodity.
Situations of crisis
Crisis such as war and famine negate the law of demand. During crisis, consumers tend to purchase in larger quantities with the purpose of stocking, which further accentuates the prices of commodities in the market. They fear that goods would not be available in the future.
On the other hand, at the time of depression, a fall in the price of commodities does not induce consumers to demand more.
Future price expectations
When consumers expect a rise in the prices of commodities, they tend to purchase commodities at existing high prices. For example, speculation of market strategists on an increase in gold prices in the future induces consumers to purchase higher quantities in order to stock gold.
On the contrary, if consumers expect a fall in the price of a commodity, they postpone the purchase for the future.
Also Read: Determinants of Demand
Characteristics of Law of Demand
The following are the main characteristics of law of demand:
- Inverse Relationship
- Price independent and Demand dependent variable
- Other things being equal
- Qualitative statement
- Concerned with certain period of time
According to this law there is an inverse relationship between the quantity demanded and the price of a commodity. If the price of a commodity increases the quantity demanded decreases and if the price decreases the quantity demanded increases.
Price independent and Demand dependent variable
Price of a commodity is an independent variable. The law of demand explains the change in demand of a commodity due to change in its price. In mathematical terms price is an independent variable and demand is a dependent variable.
Other things being equal
This law holds good only when the other things remain the same. This ‘other things remaining the same’ is called the assumptions of the law of demand.
The law of demand is a qualitative statement which tells us that a fall in the price of a commodity will lead to an increase in the quantity demanded and a rise in price will lead to a fall in the quantity demanded. But it does not tell us how much change in price will bring how much change in quantity demanded.
Concerned with certain period of time
The law of demand is related with a particular period of time, for example weekly, monthly, annually etc.
Business Economics Tutorial
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Oil and gas are important finite natural resources that require strong collaborative efforts between the rights owners and developers for efficient exploration, extraction, production, and processing. Take note that these activities are subjected under considerable government regulations. In addition, determining the scope and limits of this collaboration is a critical upstream activity within the oil and gas industry.
Countries with proven or suspected oil and gas reserves, particularly those that not have production capabilities, have developed and implemented legal structure that defines the roles and responsibilities of the mineral rights owner or lessor and the developer or lessee. On the other hand, most of these developers or lessees are international foreign entities or multinational companies capitalizing on the oil and gas reserves of a particular country. However, some countries, especially experienced oil and gas exporters, have locally-owned national companies.
This article lists down and describes the types of oil and gas agreements between states or mineral rights owner and developers or lessees, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each. Take note that oil and gas agreements are also referred to as licensing systems or fiscal regimes.
Fiscal regimes: Three major types of oil and gas agreements
1. Concession System
A concession or a concession agreement is a type of contract between a state or mineral rights owner and a company that provides the former with the right to operate a business with the jurisdiction of the latter based on negotiated terms and conditions.
Within the realms of oil and gas agreements, concessions are the oldest type of contracts that first emerged during the 1800s oil boom in the United States and became pervasive in the Middle East starting with the oil boom in Saudi Arabia.
A concession agreement is theoretically based on the American concept of land ownership in which resources on the surface and under the ground are owned by the recognized landowner. In a specific concession agreement, the landowner grants another entity or company exclusive rights to explore and own the resources and reserves. This company is responsible for providing capital and capabilities needed to explore, extract or produce, and process oil or gas deposits.
In the case of an oil and gas concession, the company is the lessee and the state or mineral rights owner is the lessor. Primary benefit to the lessee comes in the form of ownership over the oil or gas reserves while benefit to the lessor comes in the form of tax and royalties derived from productive economic activities.
2. Production sharing agreement
A production sharing agreement or PSA, which is also known as a production sharing contract or PSC, is another type of oil and gas agreement, specifically a type of a contractual system that was first introduced by Indonesia in 1966.
Indonesia has regarded concession agreements as a legacy of imperialistic and colonial periods and it has promoted and positioned PSA as part of its resource nationalism movement. Subsequently, since the 1960s, PSAs have become a preferable type of oil and gas agreements in different countries in Asia and Caucasus.
Unlike concessions nonetheless, a PSA does not grant a lessee with ownership over the oil or gas resources and reserves. Ownership and rights remain within the state. However, this ownership is considerably partial. This is because PSA allocates part of the oil or gas income to the cost of exploration, extraction, and production. Once these costs are covered, the state and the company split the rest of the income based on agreed percentage division.
3. Service contracts
Similar to a PSA and unlike a concession, a service contract or service agreement is another type of a contractual system that does not confer ownership of oil or gas resources and reserves to an involved hydrocarbon company. However, unlike a PSA, the involved company is not actually a lessee but a mere service contractor that does not have any right over the economic gains from oil or gas production.
In other words, a service contract tasks a involved or contracted company to develop a particular land area for productive economic activity. This company provides capabilities for exploration, extraction, and processing of oil or gas, thus receiving payment from the state for providing such services. Note that the income received by this company can still be subjected under a corporate income tax and a special tax arrangement.
This setup was first introduced in Argentina during the 1950s. Two subsets of service contracts later emerged: pure service contracts and risk service contracts. Pure service contracts involve fixed contract price as the only source of revenues for the contracted company. A state essentially commissions a company to provide capabilities for oil or gas exploration, extraction, and production. Meanwhile, risk service contracts involve giving the contracted company a share of oil or gas revenues, granted that it is solely responsible for shouldering oil or gas exploration expenses.
Advantages and disadvantages of each oil and gas agreement
1. Advantages and disadvantages of concession
The primary advantage of this type of oil and gas agreement or fiscal regime is that it is straightforward. Unlike PSAs and risk service contracts, negotiation is less complex. Simply put, a state or mineral rights owner benefits from a concession due to the simplicity of the agreement.
Another advantage of a concession is that the lessee absorbs all financial risks, including the costs of oil exploration. In case there is a failure to determine the existence of an economically viable oil or gas reserve, financial burden is largely shouldered by the lessee.
There are undesirable offshoots, however. One disadvantage of concession is that a lessor may have a hard time looking for a company that is willing to provide exploration, extraction, and/or processing capabilities due to the high financial risks. Another disadvantage is that nationalists deem concessions as a form of Western exploitation and a remnant of imperialism.
2. Advantages and disadvantages of production sharing agreement
Similar to a concession, one of the major advantages of a production sharing agreement is that the lessor does not need to make a significant amount of investment. This also means that a PSA can be relatively disadvantageous to a lessee. After all, under this type of oil and gas agreement, the lessee shoulders all operational and financial risks.
Resource nationalism is another advantage of PSA. Sectors that oppose substantial foreign influence over an economy and control over critical natural resources readily endorse a production sharing agreement because of its inherent pro-nationalism characteristics.
One notable disadvantage of a PSA that concerns a state or mineral rights owner is the involved complexity. This type of oil and gas agreement is very complex in structure and it requires high level of negotiation. A lessor must have access to financial and commercial, legal, environmental, and technical expertise.
3. Advantages and disadvantages of service contracts
Absolute ownership over the land and oil or gas deposits is the major advantage of service contracts. Similar with a PSA, this type of fiscal regime favors resource nationalism.
However, service contracts are not for everyone. A primary disadvantage of a pure service contract is that it places substantial operational and financial risks on the state or mineral rights owner. On the other hand, a primary disadvantage of a risk service contract is that the involved oil company or contractor shoulders all exploration expenses. This means that if no oil or gas is found, the contractor bears the cost.
A note on the different types of licensing systems or fiscal regimes
Remember that the aforementioned types of oil and gas agreements between a country or state and an oil and gas company are also referred to as licensing systems or fiscal regimes. In general, these systems or regimes are categorized either as a concessionary system or a contractual system. Obviously, all concession agreements fall under a concessionary system while product sharing agreements or product sharing contracts, pure service contracts, and risk service contracts are categorized under a contractual system.
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GGP partners exclusively with artisan organizations that operate according to fair trade principles. Each of the more than 40 artisan organizations we work with commit to operating safe and healthy workplaces, promoting environmental sustainability, and paying each artisan a fair living wage. In turn, GGP advances working capital with an upfront payment of 50 percent and pays the balance when the order is delivered to us. In some circumstances, especially in conflict regions, GGP pays 100 percent upfront.
What is Fair Trade?
Fair trade is both a market-based approach and a social movement committed to improving conditions for the working poor around the world and promoting responsible stewardship of the environment throughout the production process.
In practice, fair trade has gained greater prominence in the US for commodities like coffee, chocolate, and tea. For these goods, fair trade focuses on eliminating middlemen in order to guarantee a price floor for producers in marginalized communities and in allocating subsidies for community development.
The fair trade crafts sector is growing steadily yet remains smaller than the market for commodities. This is because uniform fair trade standards are not feasible as the production process for crafts can vary significantly. Fair trade products—including GGP products—are characterized by being produced by artisan groups that offer fair wages, are committed to fostering open and democratic workplaces, and respect the environment and health of their communities.
Why focus on fair trade and economic empowerment?
We believe that economics, education, health, and gender equality are all interrelated. Economically empowered women lead to healthier and better-educated children and communities. Improved health produces more effective schooling and a more productive workforce. Better educational opportunities create higher-paying jobs and a more open and just society.
What is the fair trade certification process for handcrafted products?
Currently, there is not a fair trade certifying body for crafts. Fair Trade USA certifies many commodities like coffee, tea, and chocolate. However, given the individuality of each type of craft and the range of raw materials and tools needed for production, certification for handcrafted products is not a feasible prospect at this time. Global Goods Partners is a member of the Fair Trade Federation, which is a strict peer-reviewed federation of organizations that adhere to fair trade practices. The Fair Trade Federation identifies the following nine principles for fair trade organizations to uphold:
Create Social and Economic Opportunities
Build Capacity and Support Independence
Support Empowering Working Conditions
Promote Fair Trade
Pay Promptly and Fairly
Ensure the Rights of Children
Develop Accountable Relationships
Cultivate Environmental Stewardship
Respect Cultural Identity
How do you ensure that your products are fair trade?
We work with all of our partners to determine fair living wage standards in their communities and to ensure that their operations conform to fair trade practices. We communicate with multiple individuals in each artisan group so that checks and balances are inherently built into the process. Periodic visits by GGP staff and input from trusted colleagues who reside in the countries where we work also contribute to our information gathering and monitoring process.
What makes GGP different from others retailers selling fair trade crafts?
We differ from other retailers in four key areas:
1) We work with small artisan communities. Producer groups with greater capacities can often find access to a variety of markets. We are committed to working with marginalized and largely rural groups with small production capacities that are often just starting to bring product to market.
2) We are a not-for-profit social enterprise, dedicating all proceeds from the sale of products to supporting our community-based partners. We work closely with our partners, providing capacity-building grants and technical assistance in their production processes, organizational operations, and social change agendas.
3) For each of our artisan partners, community development is a key facet of their work. Income generation is a critical issue, but is often more successful if funds and efforts are also invested in community building programs such as access to education, health services, child-care, and the advancement of economic and social justice.
4) We share the stories of our artisans and their community organizations. Our website is dedicated to providing educational resources to consumers regarding the countries and communities in which GGP products are made, the techniques of production used, and the lives of the women who create the products you purchase.
How does GGP find and choose its artisan partners?
Global Goods Partners' founders, Joan Shifrin and Catherine Shimony, are veterans of the international development world. Through their previous work experience, Joan and Catherine identified a handful of artisan partners when GGP first launched in 2005. Since then, through travel, outreach to professional networks and the advent of nearly universal Internet access, we have met artisans whose work we love and admire. As a not-for-profit organization, however, our impact is greatest when we devote our expertise and resources to supporting and promoting artisan organizations that are relatively young and seeking to expand beyond their local market.
GGP's priority is to find strong women-led community groups with quality handmade products that have the potential to be marketed successfully in international markets. Our artisan partners are community based organizations, social enterprises, and artisan cooperatives that combine the production and sale of handcrafted items with local development programs to improve the economic well being and quality of life in their communities.
Why focus on women?
Globally, women and children suffer disproportionately from economic, environmental, political, and social hardships. When women receive the tools to learn a craft, manage their finances, or start and run a business, they gain experience, confidence, practical skills, and economic independence. These skills and experiences enable women to move beyond achieving simple economic improvements to making a real positive impact on the well being of their families and their communities.
Where else can I find your products?
In addition to shopping online, our products are also available in retail stores across US and abroad. If you are interested in selling our fair trade wholesale products, please visit our wholesale site.
What percentage of my purchase goes to the artisan?
As a mission based organization, all of our work is directed toward strengthening the capacity of our community-based partners and helping them expand income opportunities to more and more women artisans. Beyond fair wages and the cost of materials, additional factors that are built into the price of our products include: international shipping and customs, warehousing, photography, design and product development, and website enhancements and other promotional efforts to better showcase our artisan partners’ work. For a breakdown of where sales revenue goes, visit our Impact page.
How and when are artisans paid?
In strict adherence to fair trade principles, we pay our artisan partners 50 percent of the product cost when we place an order so that they can purchase the materials they need for production and pay artisan wages on a timely basis. The balance is paid when we receive delivery of the order. GGP assumes the cost of all inventory that doesn't sell; all artisans are paid for their work regardless of whether a product sells.
How can I learn about the impact of my purchase?
Our website is packed with information about our community partners, the unique challenges they face, the techniques they employ in their craft, and the ideas behind socially responsible shopping. Visit the Impact section of our site and individual Artisan pages for additional information.
How can I support GGP’s partners without making a purchase?
We appreciate your interest in supporting our work. The quickest and easiest way is to make a donation through our secure website. If you'd prefer to make a donation by mail, please send it to Global Goods Partners, 115 W. 30th Street, #400, New York, NY 10001. All gifts of support are directed toward helping our partners expand their capacity and secure income-generating jobs for women artisans in their communities.
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Germany has recently joined Switzerland in the dubious All Negative Club. The interest rate on every government bond, from short to 30 years, is now negative. Many would say “congratulations”, in the belief that this proves their credit risk is … well … umm … negative(?) And anyways, it will let them borrow more to spend on consumption which will stimulate … umm… well… all of the wasteful consumption for which governments are rightly infamous.
While those who are about to borrow may find cause to cheer (as opposed to those who have already borrowed, at higher rates, who are now disadvantaged by this move), the savers are harmed. How can anyone save in an environment where savings has a cost?
John Maynard Keynes called for the “euthanasia of the rentier”. Congratulations, Germany, we say in all sarcastic seriousness. You have gone even beyond Keynes vicious idea. Your rate is now negative!
The Preference of the Savers
Instead of writing more on the destructiveness of this, we want to tackle a different question today. How is this possible? What are the mechanics? Why don’t savers rebel?
We wrote about the Crime of ’33 a few months ago, and it’s worth re-reading before going on. 1933 is when President Roosevelt made the dollar irredeemable. Prior to that, if you didn’t like the interest rate, you could sell the bond and hold gold coins instead. The gold coin has no default risk. And, back then—in the gold standard--it had no price risk.
Today one can own gold, to avoid default risk. This is a big part of why gold is now $1,500. But one takes price risk. And price volatility to be is considered a feature, not a bug, by the gold bugs!
The act of expressing that preference to hold gold coins over gold bonds did not just change one’s personal risk level. It also had an economic effect. It changed the exchange rate of the gold bond relative to the gold coin. I.e. it changed the price of the gold bond. I.e. it changed the interest rate. Let that sink in, as it is vitally important. Related: Scarcity Demands A Premium As Economic Instability Grows
The preference of the savers could change the interest rate.
When a saver chooses to opt-out of the bond, he pushes the interest rate up. And this, of course, makes the bond more attractive to all other savers. Interest is the compensation paid for taking risk.
Thus, the gold standard had a very firm floor under the rate of interest. It was: time preference. Time preference is part of the nature of the human condition. Being that we are mortal, we must eat today in order to be alive tomorrow. So there is a reality-given bias to preferring goods now compared to goods in the future. Such as ten years.
Irredeemable Currency Disenfranchises Savers
However, we don’t have a gold standard today. We have the very model of a modern monetary mechanism (apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan). And in this system, the bond is not priced in terms of gold. It is priced in terms of the dollar (which is backed by the bond).
This means that if you opt-out of the bond to hold gold, you are not affecting the interest rate. You are affecting the price of gold (or as we always remind readers, the price of the dollar measured in gold). The price of gold has no impact on the economy today (other than to the gold miners, and the gold supply chain). It could be $300 or $3,000 and it would make no difference.
As an aside, we write a lot about the falling interest rate which causes rising asset prices. And that rising asset prices is a process of conversion of one person’s wealth into another’s income. The latter consumes it. Endless bull markets may be popular, but they are just wholesale consumption of capital. They are part of Keynes’ evil plan. It makes no difference whether people speculate on equities, properties, or precious metals. The result is the same: earlier speculators spend later speculators’ wealth.
Let’s go back to that last statement, above, “…you are not affecting the interest rate.” This is the key to understanding why the interest rate has gone off the rails. If you buy equities, properties, antique cars, old masters artworks, or precious metals, you have no impact on the interest rate.
You are trading your money balance (i.e. credit balance) to someone else. In exchange, you are getting his non-money goods. In this case, gold. So what changed? Only the name in the banking system record, and the title to the goods.
And the seller inherits your position. He, too, is disenfranchised. In fact, regardless of whose name is on the record of each money balance, the dollars are captive within the banking system. They cannot get out.
In the gold standard, the interest rate goes up when people remove their gold from the banking system. In the irredeemable dollar system, there is no way to remove dollars from the banking system.
It’s All About the Spread
In Crime of ’33, we said, “Interest is a spread. It is the spread between the gold coin and the gold bond.”
Now we can see it in a new light. The interest rate is the spread between money held outside the banking system, and money held inside the banking system. If the spread is too small, people at the margin are incentivized to pull more money out. This causes interest rates to rise. Related: Climbing U.S. Dollar Weighs On Global Markets
However, in a system where it is not possible to pull money out, this mechanism is not in operation. Like in our system. One person can trade a money balance in the banking system for a gold coin. But then the gold seller just gets that money balance. And he has the same dearth of options. A purchase from a third-party is not the same thing as a redemption.
As an aside, we exclusively use the word money to mean the most marketable commodity. And the extinguisher of debt. In the preceding few paragraphs, we have used it in a different sense. Nothing has changed in our intention or thinking. We simply felt that the terminology of money was the simplest way to make the point clear.
The proof is in the pudding. A number of major economies have negative interest rates. Now two major economies are entirely devoid of positive interest. And even zero interest. They are exclusively negative.
By Keith Weiner
More Top Reads From Safehaven.com:
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1. The dimension of E-Commerce that enables commerce across national boundaries is called?
b) Global reach
2. The term e-commerce includes ?
a) Electronic trading of Physical goods and intangibles such as information
b) The electronic provision of services such as after sales support or online legal advice
c) All the steps involved in trade, such as on-line marketing ordering payment and support for delivery
d) All of the above
3. ________is simply the use of electronic means to transfer funds directly from one account to another, rather than by cheque or cash?
4. The E-commerce domain that involves business activity initiated by the consumer and targeted to business is known as?
a) Business to Business (B2B)
b) Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
c) Consumer to Business (C2B)
d) Business to Consumer (B2C)
5. In electronic cheque payments developed, it is assumed that most of the transactions will be?
a) customers to customers
b) customers to business
c) business to business
d) banks to banks
6. An electronic check is one form of what?
b) Online banking
7. When was Indian Banking Act come into force?
8. How many banks were first nationalised?
9. When was Lead Bank Scheme introduced?
10. NABARD is a?
a) Department of RBI
b) Wholly owned subsidiary of RBI
c) Subsidiary of SBI
d) None of the above
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I've suspected this for awhile, but someone finally went out and proved it: No one has the foggiest notion of what “green” really means. We all have a vague idea, and we like the idea of “buying green,” but when pressed, could you really explain green? Do you even know what trade regulators think green is?
- Beyond the assumption that the term “green” indicates environmentally preferable attributes, the term is quite vague and subject to multiple interpretations depending on any number of factors, including local, national, and international business practices; market structures; societal norms; politics; and government regulations. In fact, due to the ambiguity surrounding the term, some government guidelines even discourage use of it altogether.
For all its faults, at least RoHS is explicit about what it is banning.
The gist of the whitepaper is that the term “green” has been misused by marketing firms and the media:
- Complicating matters is the widespread use of terms like “natural,” “organic,” “planet-friendly,” “earth friendly,” “ecological,” “non-toxic,” “biodegradable,” “plant-based,” “chlorine-free,” and “100 percent compostable,” which consumers erroneously assume are synonymous with “green.”
Guilty as charged.
As it turns out, a number of countries are taking a stab at defining green. For the record, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its “Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims,” also referred to as the “Green Guides” or “Guides,” to help marketers ensure that the claims they make are true and substantiated. The Green Guides were revised in 1996 and again in 1998 and included the following:
- General principles that apply to all environmental marketing claims
- Guidance on how consumers are likely to interpret particular claims and how marketers can substantiate those claims
- Tips on how marketers can qualify their claims to avoid deceiving consumers
The reason green-washing scares me is two-fold: First, we all use the terms “green,” “sustainable,” and “environmentally friendly” loosely; and second, people, corporations, and governments are making buying decisions around “green.” If you are going to place a substantial amount of your company's money into something, whether it's components or investment funds, you should at least know what you are getting.
The AQS whitepaper defines the various terms; cites law; and provides a ton of reference materials on all things green. I'm going to keep the link handy for future reference.
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WHAT is going on in government-bond markets? Longer-dated bond yields have risen in recent weeks and the gap between long- and short-term rates (known as the “yield curve”) is much higher than normal. Potential explanations range from the benign (the economy is returning to normal) to the apocalyptic (investors have lost their appetite for government debt).
An upward-sloping yield curve, in which long-term interest rates are above short-term rates, is normal. You would expect creditors to demand a higher return for tying up their money for extended periods. An “inverted” curve, with short rates above long ones, is usually seen as a herald of recession, as it turned out to be before the credit crunch.
So what does a very steep yield curve tell us? One possibility is that the economy is heading for a vigorous recovery. For one thing, long rates are a forecast of future short rates. So the markets are essentially predicting that the Federal Reserve will eventually increase rates because the economy has been restored to health. In addition a steep yield curve creates profitable opportunities for banks, which can borrow short-term at a low rate and lend to companies at a higher one. The Fed engineered a steep yield curve in the early 1990s to boost bank profits after the savings-and-loan crisis.
This time, however, a steep yield curve is hardly stimulating bank lending. Bank credit has contracted over the past 12 months. Big companies are turning away from the banks to the bond market as a result: high-yield bond issuance in March broke the previous monthly record. Smaller companies have found it more difficult to borrow money.
A rise in long-term bond yields could indicate a belief that inflation is set to soar. But inflation expectations, derived from the gap between yields on index-linked and conventional bonds, hardly suggest fears of a Zimbabwe-style debasement. American inflation is expected to average just 2.4% between now and 2028.
There are other possibilities. One current technical oddity in the markets is the “negative swap spread”. In the interest-rate swap market borrowers exchange fixed-rate streams of payments for floating ones (or vice versa). The floating rate is often based on LIBOR, the rate at which banks borrow from one another. The fixed-rate element normally carries a higher yield than that of Treasury bonds with the same maturity. After all, the other counterparty in the swap will usually be a bank, which is less creditworthy than the American government. But on March 30th the fixed-rate element of a ten-year swap was paying 3.82%, while the equivalent Treasury bond was yielding 3.87%. Does that really mean the market considers banks a better credit risk than the Treasury? Given the continued use by banks of government-support schemes of various kinds, that seems ridiculous.
A more likely explanation is the sheer volume of bonds being issued. These bond issuers would rather swap their fixed-rate obligations for floating-rate ones. So they have to pay a floating rate and receive a fixed one. The result is an imbalance of supply and demand: those people willing to pay the fixed-rate part of the swap can get away with a lower yield than the American government.
In Britain a similar technical oddity has led to the 30-year swap spread being negative for a considerable period already. Demand from British pension funds, which use the swap market to hedge their long-term liabilities, has forced down fixed-swap rates. What is seen as an unusual situation in the American market may become the norm.
Technicalities aside, the most plausible explanation for the steep yield curve is the interaction of monetary and fiscal policy. On the monetary side the Fed is holding short rates at historically low levels in response to the severity of the crisis. On the fiscal side America's budget deficit has soared to over 10% of GDP, leading to heavy debt issuance. Recent Treasury-bond auctions have seen fairly weak demand, forcing yields higher.
This still represents a challenge for markets. One reason why equities have rallied is that their potential returns have seemed attractive relative to government-bond yields. Now there will be more competition. And governments have been able to support their economies so generously because their financing costs have been so low. Higher yields will add to the pressure on them to tighten fiscal policy. A market and an economy too dependent on government support will have to learn to live without its crutch.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline "Dangerous curve"
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Mandatory binding arbitration clauses are now found in a vast majority of consumer contracts, ranging from credit card and cell phone agreements to real estate purchase agreements and car rental agreements. In recent years there has been an expansion of arbitration clauses in the employment setting and with medical providers and nursing homes.
Arbitrations became popular dating back to the early 1920’s. The courts favor arbitration agreements and they are generally enforced.
The downside to arbitration clauses are:
- Loss of a right for a jury trial, a trial of your peers;
- Limitation on appellate review;
- Arbitrations are generally confidential;
- Arbitration clauses may prevent individuals from bringing, joining, or participating in class action claims; or
- An arbitration clause may include loser paying provisions which may have a chilling effect on individuals bringing claims.
While arbitration clauses are generally thought as being positive there are downsides, which may include hidden fees and expenses.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently released its draft report on the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, 1990-2017, indicating that net U.S. greenhouse gas emissions declined between 2005 and 2017 by 14 percent. Greenhouse gases are made up of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and several other fluorine-containing halogenated substances. (See graph below.) Only a handful of economies can make this reduction boast, as most have increased their greenhouse gas emissions despite programs and policies in many economies to reduce them. The United States accomplished this not by heavy regulation and mandates, but mainly by using hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technology that lowered the price of natural gas, making natural gas combined cycle the technology of choice in the generating sector.
Carbon Dioxide Emissions
The United States leads the world in energy-related carbon dioxide emission reductions since 2005, declining by 776 million metric tons (14 percent) between 2005 and 2017. (See graph below.) During this period, the U.S. economy grew by 20 percent, U.S. energy consumption fell by 2 percent and per capita emissions dropped to their lowest levels since 1950. Compared with the levels in 2005, U.S. economic growth in 2017 was 29 percent less carbon-intensive, and overall U.S. energy consumption was 12 percent less carbon-intensive.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its annual report on energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the United States confirms that the ongoing shift to using natural gas in place of higher-emitting forms of energy is the primary reason for the United States’ success in reductions of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. The natural gas share of electricity production increased from 19 percent in 2005 to 32 percent in 2017, surpassing coal-fired electricity production, while carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. generating sector declined by 28 percent over this period. The shift toward natural gas from coal lowers carbon dioxide emissions because natural gas produces fewer emissions per unit of energy consumed than coal and because natural gas generators typically use less energy than coal plants to generate each kilowatt-hour of electricity.
According to EIA, natural gas can be credited for 61 percent of the total 3.86 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide reductions from electric generation since 2005 and non-carbon sources can be credited with the remainder of the reductions. (See chart below.) Electricity demand fell slightly over this period (by just 0.05 percent). Unaddressed, but no doubt playing a part, was a shift of U.S. manufacturing and industrial processes to other parts of the world that began prior to the period referenced by the EIA.
Natural Gas and Oil Production
The trend in natural gas generation coincided with the domestic boom in natural gas production, made possible by hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling technology, making natural gas trapped in shale basins accessible. U.S. natural gas production increased by 54 percent from 2005 to 2017 from 19 trillion cubic feet in 2005 to 29 trillion cubic feet in 2017, making the fuel even more abundant and affordable.
Along with the increase in natural gas production, U.S. oil production also increased between 2005 and 2017—by 80 percent due to hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technology, increasing from 5.2 to 9.4 million barrels per day.
Despite these large increases in oil and natural gas production, total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 14 percent and methane emissions declined by 4 percent between 2005 and 2017, according to the draft EPA report. These reductions are remarkable since energy production is particularly energy intensive.
The United States is ahead of all countries in reducing energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, reducing them by 14 percent from 2005 levels in 2017. This reduction occurred despite a 20 percent increase in the U.S. economy and a massive historic increase in oil and gas production. The ability to reduce energy-related carbon dioxide emissions is mostly attributed to the increase in natural gas generation displacing coal-fired generation, which occurred primarily due to low natural gas prices resulting from the use of hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling technology in shale basins. The United States is leading the major industrial countries of the world in economic growth, reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and oil and gas production. The administration and the American people should take pride in this phenomenal record.
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By Sam Morgan
The energy produced at sea could satisfy most of Europe’s power needs. Although the blue economy has come on in dribs and drabs lately, the coronavirus outbreak risks turning the taps off altogether. For now, at least.
Ocean, tidal, and offshore wind power all have a monumental potential to provide clean energy to our societies, as some studies estimate that there is capacity to generate anything between 100% and 400% of the planet’s power needs.
Obstacles to renewable energy
The prospect of ditching fossil fuels in favour of turbines is a tantalising one but the sector has faced severe obstacles over the years, such as high investment costs, unprofitable energy prices and negative public opinion.
As a result, the power generated by the seas themselves barely registers in the energy mixes of most European countries, while offshore wind has struggled to establish itself as strongly as onshore has managed.
The European Union had planned to debut new rules to help offshore wind later this year but the coronavirus outbreak’s impact on the workflow of its executive branch, the Commission, means there will be a delay.
Details about the strategy are still thin on the ground but it will reportedly suggest legislative tweaks to make it easier for developers to build wind farms. Ideas on the table include relaxed spatial planning rules and stronger incentive schemes.
Delayed by COVID-19
The industry group, WindEurope, is confident that the energy source’s potential will be enough to see it through, estimating that most countries will aim to eventually get around a quarter of their power from offshore.
However, the association’s CEO, Giles Dickson, did concede that “with COVID-19 we are likely to see delays in the development of new wind farm projects which could cause developers to miss the deployment deadlines in countries’ auction systems and face financial penalties.”
Coronavirus delays are not exclusive to the energy sector but blue economy-linked power projects can at least count on long-term strategies drawn up by Europe’s governments for the coming decade.
The Paris Accord on climate change obligates countries to cut emissions and limit global warming. Part of that process includes meeting stricter green targets in 2030 by switching to renewable energies, one of the main weapons in the environmental arsenal.
Spain was the latest major country to submit its finalised plan and it has received widespread accolades from the ecological community for the scope of its ambition. Solar power capacity is set to quadruple and wind power double over the next ten years.
“Spain has long been a leader in renewables: wind is 20% of their electricity and they create more export revenues from wind energy than from wine,” Giles Dickson said in praise of the government’s plan.
Spain was able to commit to such a green agenda largely because renewable energy prices are falling at a consistent rate. Clean energy is rapidly becoming economically competitive with nuclear, coal and natural gas, a fact that Madrid has recognised.
In its strategy, it also acknowledges the “huge potential” of ocean and tidal technologies but insists they are not at an advanced enough stage to roll out en masse. Specific auctions are suggested as an avenue to build interest and bring demo projects to maturity.
Energy experts have suggested that blue economy energy tech is a perfect fit for outlying communities in Spain - as well as other parts of Europe - which cannot be connected to the Iberian peninsula’s main power grid.
Interest in the clean energy potential of our seas is not an exclusive domain of the environmentally-minded either, as the fossil fuel industry is also making bolder and more effective forays into the sector.
Norwegian gas and oil giant Equinor - formerly Statoil - has made a name for itself in the offshore wind sector by pioneering massive floating turbines, the largest examples of which are taller than Big Ben. Its Hywind wind farm off the coast of Scotland was the world’s first major floating installation and has peaked interest in building turbines in deep water, where conventional technology simply cannot operate.
This is significant for countries like France and those located in the Mediterranean, which has so far been off-limits to wind aficionados.
The French government, in particular, is interested in ramping up its insignificant wind capacity and tagging turbines with tidal power generators where possible. President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to scale back his country’s reliance on nuclear energy and cheap wind is a candidate to fill the gap left by atom-smashing.
Equinor’s floating behemoths are not purely a force for green good though, as the energy major was granted permission earlier in April to build another farm far off the Norwegian coast. But that installation - due to come online in 2022 - will not power Scottish homes, it will fuel Equinor’s fossil fuel exploration efforts.
It is touted as a world’s first and the project’s architects claim it will reduce the firm’s carbon footprint by 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. Industry rivals Shell and Total are also forging ahead with their own greening efforts.
Given the volatile nature of oil markets, which have only just been placated by an OPEC agreement on cutting output, fossil fuel producers and other investments see the low return but low-risk nature of offshore as being increasingly attractive.
The virus outbreak’s huge impact on the world economy could end up funnelling more money into mature clean energy sources for that very reason.
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Gender gap in financial literacy
European Money Week 2021: The gender gap in financial literacy is a persistent problem for European societies. Our latest survey finds that women are less likely than men to feel confident about financial matters
Financial literacy is the ability to understand how money works: the set of skills and knowledge that allow us to make informed and effective financial decisions. Reduced incomes, job uncertainty and the prospect of a global recession mean that now, more than ever, consumers should be equipped with the knowledge they need to manage their finances.
Our latest survey identifies a clear gender divide in attitudes when it comes to personal finances; women are less confident about their level of financial education to manage day-by-day finances.Insights from the European Consumer Payment Report 2020
The European Consumer Payment Report 2020 identifies a clear gender divide in attitudes when it comes to personal finances; more than one in four (26%) of European women feel they have enough financial education to manage their personal finances, compared to 19% of European men.
Q: I do not feel I received sufficient financial education to manage by day-to-day finances, and I often seek external advice (agree, split by gender):
This disparity reflects a wider inequality. The European Parliament estimated that women in the EU earn on average about 15% less per hour than men. They are also relatively under-represented in the labour market: almost 30% of women in the EU work part time, and women are more likely to stop working to take care of children and relatives
The lack of confidence might be rooted in the ability to handle money. When we tested 24,000 consumers in our survey about a simple calculation of interest, we found a significant gap between genders; only 64% of female respondents answered correctly compared to 76% of male respondents.
“If you had €200 in a savings account earning 2% interest a year, how much would you have in the account after five years (assuming you didn’t pay any new money into the account or make any withdrawals)?” Proportion of people answering correctly:
Men use online sources for financial education
Intrum’s 2020 European Consumer Payment Report shows a significant increase in the role of the internet with regard to financial education, compared with just a year ago.
We see a notable shift in both genders when it comes to the source of financial education, moving from parents as primary source to internet and social media as main source of information. Close to half (47%) of men are cited as using the internet as their primary source, up from 38% in 2020. 39% of women say they do the same in 2020.
Q: Over the course of your lifetime, what have been your primary sources of financial education? (top 5 answers, 2019 vs 2020, split by gender)
European women are taking action to mitigate the financial risks due to the ongoing pandemic. Close to half (49%) of female respondents said that improving their financial security has become a top priority, compared to 45% of male respondents.
Q: Since the Covid-19 crisis began, improving my financial security has become one of my top priorities (agree, split on gender):
When asked what steps they have been taking to improve their financial literacy since the beginning of the pandemic, a majority of both genders said they read the financial section of newspapers; reading books and listening to podcasts were the next most popular methods.
Q: Which of the following steps have you taken, if any, to improve your financial literacy since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis? (split by gender)
Financial education is key to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic
A key finding from the ECPR 2020 is the increasing stress felt among European consumers regarding their personal finances. Better access to financial education at different stages in life has a crucial role to play
We at Intrum encourage anyone who is struggling with unpaid debts to seek help from our experienced team of advisors. Read more about how we support our customers, all the way.
Social media becoming important source of financial education among the young
European Money Week 2021: Intrum’s latest consumer survey shows that there’s a generational shift underway in how consumers attain their financial knowledge; one in five (20%) of 18-21 year olds say social media is their primary source of information.
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The U.S. economy has been expanding for the last 10 years, but according to experts this likely means that we’re due for a recession.
It may occur as early as the start of 2020, and it’s sure to affect young, middle class people who have debt the most. On average, working class individuals and family are in much further debt than those in the 90th percentile of wealth distribution. From 1989 to 2019, working-class families owed an average of $6,114 more than families between the median and the 90th percentile of the wealth distribution.
While recessions aren’t good news to anyone, this one will likely hit millennials ages 22-38 the most, who are still suffering the effects of the previous recession. Millennials might even be the first generation in modern economic history to be worse off financially than their parents.
After suffering from an increase in college tuition rates, millennials entered into the worst job market in 80 years, and they are earning 10 percent less than Baby Boomers were at the same age, despite the economy booming. And just as millennials are entering their prime earning years, the recession might cause them to have lower wages, lower hours, or even be let go from their jobs completely.
So, what does all of this mean for people who are already struggling with debt, even while the economy is currently expanding? PCS Debt Relief offers the following information and pieces of advice for preparing for the upcoming recession:
The Recession Affects Those in Debt the Most, and Those in Debt Affect the Recession
A recession is often caused in part by high public debt, too-low interest rates, and a lessening of public spending in contrast to the economy’s level of production.
This means that when the economy is booming, interest rates are low enough for people to spend more money and even acquire more debt without having the same fears about being able to pay it off. People consume more, demand rises, and so does production in turn.
But when the recession hits and interest rates rise, wages decrease, and employment can be taken away, people stop spending, while over production continues. Consequently, producers make cuts to their workforce in order to compensate for lower profits and their stocks fall, which can also affect employees 401K contributions.
The people who are in debt going into a recession are always the worst off. Debt free people may continue to spend like normal. In fact, people in the upper class with high wages may be completely unaffected by the recession.
Alternatively, People who carry a lot of debt are disproportionately lower class and minority individuals. In this way, the U.S. is prone to cycles of extreme recessions due to its level of inequality. Having debt and living paycheck to paycheck is what makes you vulnerable to a recession—and it’s what makes you spend less and influence the economy in turn.
Prepare Yourself for the Worst and Plan Ahead
While you can’t do anything to prevent the recession, you can take steps to protect yourself. While the economy is still in an upturn it is the perfect time to prepare.
While you may even be comfortably managing your payments now, the inevitable economic downturn will have huge implications that may entirely change your circumstances.
Even if you are faring ok now, you should mentally prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario. For example, if you got laid off, would you have enough in your emergency fund to support yourself for 3-6 months?
If your health benefits are taken away, will you be able to afford your prescriptions? While you have benefits and an income, take advantage. Complete all of your annual appointments and put away as much money as possible.
If you think you may need a loan in the near future, consider getting it now. During a recession, lenders are likely to be more careful about who they approve for a loan—so if you have strong credit now, it might be the time to act.
If you feel secure with your current employment, do everything you can to stand out and be a valuable asset. This can protect you from potential lay-off, pay cuts, and hour decreases.
Even if you do feel secure, consider a side gig as a back-up source of income just in case. If nothing else, this will help you put aside more money for an emergency fund or to pay off debts.
Prioritize Your Finances
Of course, the best thing you can do to protect yourself during a recession is pay off your debts completely—but contributing as much as you can now will still help you down the road. If you have any extra money, use it to pare down your debt.
While the economy is booming now and you may be tempted to splurge on a shopping spree, expensive trip, or new car, resist the urge! It may be hard to live frugally when you have been working hard and feel a bit ahead in your payments, but anything can happen in the next few years to change that.
You may even consider removing yourself from social media in order to avoid feeling the need to impress and compete with others’ lavish lifestyles.
Consider if there are any extra expenses that you can do without, such as cable and streaming subscriptions.
Alternatively, you may be so entrenched in debt that this doesn’t apply to you because you have no extra money. If you’re in this situation, consider this news the sign you need to seek out help from a credit counselor.
We can offer you a variety of debt relief options, and we won’t charge you a thing for your consultations until we get your results. But whether or not you chose to work with a professional, it is crucial to establish a plan for bringing down your debt.
If you need help putting together a budget and making a long-term financial plan, PCS Debt Relief can help with our debt relief services that are tailored to your needs. We understand the burdens and stress that debt creates, and we’re here to help you every step of the way. Call (636) 209-4481 for a free consultation to achieve financial stability.
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Investing in renewable energy could be a smart move for your business. By generating your own power, you can save money, or even make a bit on the side by selling any surplus energy back to the grid. Even better, you’d be slashing your business’ carbon footprint, and doing your bit to save the planet. Read on to find out all you need to know about the potential renewable business energy deals available to you, and their benefits.
Wind is the most commonly used source of renewable energy in the UK, and also one of the most affordable. Turbines in the UK can operate at wind speeds as low as 4 metres per second. However, they are more successful in areas with higher wind speeds, of around 7 metres per second.
Wind turbines require planning permission, and if you want to have more than three, an Environmental Impact Assessment will be required.
The payback time tends to be around 4-8 years. However, when wind levels are below the optimum, they generate no electricity. So, it’s wise to have a National Grid back up.
Biomass is organic material like wood, straw and other crops. Energy is generated by burning or fermenting these materials. A biomass system will provide payback in about 5-12 years, but this can be a lot shorter if you have free waste wood available.
Though burning biomass releases fewer carbon emissions than fossil fuels, any biomass system has to comply with legislation like the Clean Air Act.
Biomass can also be made into energy by anaerobic digestion, instead of burning it. This process breaks down the organic material using bacteria which is starved of oxygen. This creates methane-rich gas, which can be burned to generate heat and electricity. One benefit of this is that the waste product, digestate, can be used as compost.
But if you want to do this, you’ll need to get an environmental permit. It’s worth noting that storing biomass fuels can require a lot of space, and finding a decent supply can be difficult. The payback for anaerobic digestion plants is about 5-10 years.
Photovoltaic (PV) panels convert sunlight into electricity. They are available in various formats, including cladding, roof tiles and custom glazing. You could also consider a solar hot water system, which takes energy from the sun and transfers it through heat exchangers, capable of heating water up to 65 degrees. Solar water heating collectors are normally mounted on roofs in the same way as PV panels.
Though you can get electricity and heat from solar energy, you probably won’t be able to get all of your energy from it. Sunlight levels are both low and inconsistent in the UK, meaning you won’t always be generating a massive amount of power. Also, PV panels are very expensive to install, so the payback time can be lengthy.
However, PV panels are handy because they don’t need planning permission. Solar hot water systems can be particularly useful for businesses that need lots of hot water, for example canteens.
Both of these energy sources use heat that’s naturally contained in the ground. Geothermal energy can be used in areas where the earth’s interior heat rises close to the surface, for example those that have hot springs of steam. This energy can be harvested using boreholes in the ground. Once harvested, this energy can be used to provide heating, hot water, and even drive geothermal power plants.
Although GSHPs use a renewable heat source, their heat exchange mechanism is powered by gas or electricity. Therefore, GSHPs can only be classed as renewable if they get their energy from a renewable source as well.
GSHP installation requires serious civil work, so it’s only really viable to install it at the building stage. So, if you’re about to build a new factory in an area with hot springs, this could be a great renewable energy option for your business.
For most businesses, generating renewable energy themselves isn’t an option. If you’d still like your business to be greener, a green energy tariff could be the answer.
Some energy suppliers generate all their energy from renewable sources, so choosing these providers means the energy you are using would be renewable. However, even though you’d be signing up for a 100% green tariff, you won’t have 100% green energy delivered to your business. But it does mean that the utility company guarantees that they will try as hard as they can to generate or buy enough green energy to cover all customers on their green tariff.
It’s important to know that green tariffs often are more costly than normal tariffs, and that their net environmental carbon benefit isn’t that clear. If you can’t afford to pay more for a green energy tariff, then you can identify other suppliers’ green credentials by studying their fuel mix. By examining fuel mix data, you can find a supplier that measures up to your own standards on renewable energy.
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In 1928, the kroon received a direct, independent gold basis, replacing its indirect link via the Swedish krona.
6 The dollar has been an unusually long-lived fiat currency, still widely viable more than 40 years after leaving its gold basis in 1971.
He took great pride in his fiscal aptitude and only bought books for a reasonable price: 'my purchases were always on a silver not a gold basis
The brazing was done at a 700[degrees]C temperature for the tests brazed with an alloy with a gold basis, and a 600[degrees]C temperature for those tests brazed with an alloy with a silver basis.
At the tests brazed with gold basis alloy there is quite a nice join and a quite a nice flow, but the paste of silver and the alloy on a gold basis being very hard to make, unless it was done by a highly experienced operator, because this one is very important to participate due to the high temperature on which the pasting was done, temperature close to the one of silver's melting point.
At the view of the test pasted with a gold basis alloy, there can be seen a very good quality join, the adding material having a nice flow, fig.5.
There can be noticed very easily that after the gold test, the colour of the brazing alloy on a gold basis did not change comparing to the brase metal, while the microscopic scan shows that this alloy dos not change its colour more than the basis material it can be seen in fig.6.
"In the city of New York," Sherman [10, 700] continued, "there is now a commerce going on of over six hundred million dollars, all of which is carried on the gold basis; and so great is the necessity for paper money to represent this gold business that they actually deposit $50,000,000 of gold coin in the Treasury of the United States, and receive gold notes without interest, merely to facilitate the ordinary transaction of .
"Since my last report," the Comptroller reported in 1871 [8, vii], "but one bank has been established on a gold basis - The First National Bank of San Francisco.
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What is Trading Standards
Trading Standards is the local government service that works to:
- Protect consumers from illegal trading practices and
- Support the business community to comply with consumer protection legislation.
What Can Trading Standards Do?
While trading standards perform a number of functions, all 31 services delivered across the 32 Scottish local authorities have a statutory obligation to:
- enforce fair trading
- combat illegal trading
- monitor product safety
- address under-age sales
- verify weights and measures
Trading Standards Officers (TSOs) respond to and investigate consumer complaints and conduct routine inspection of businesses to ensure that they are complying with legislation. Where it is believed that a criminal offence has been committed, a report will be prepared for submission to the Procurator Fiscal Service. In serious cases, where the collective interests of consumers are being harmed, Trading Standards can apply to the Courts for enforcement orders (similar to interdicts) to stop the infringing activities.
TSOs have various powers granted to them under the legislation that they enforce. These include the ability to enter and inspect premises, examine goods and conduct test purchases. In some circumstances they may also enter a premises under warrant and seize goods and documents as evidence.
Most local authorities also deliver business advice, operate trusted trader schemes and actively work to stop consumers suffering detriment through education, advice and debt counselling.
When Should I Contact Trading Standards?
In Scotland, you should contact Advice Direct Scotland for consumer advice or to report a trader. They will advise you on the relevant legislation and will pass complaints on to Trading Standards where necessary.
Find out more through their online knowledge hub.
To find out more about the work of your local trading standards service, visit your local council’s website which you can find in the Find Local Advice search tool.
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Metallurgy is one of the basic branches of economy of Ukraine that provides a significant portion of GDP and exports. Ukrainian metallurgy is formed by two categories: ferrous and nonferrous. Ferrous metallurgy is the main.
«APC firm» takes one of the leading places in the world for the production of ferrous metals. Metals are widely used in all sectors of the economy. The first place on the use of metal belongs to engineering. The main production is the production of finished metal accessory - manufacture of alloys. In ferrous metallurgy it is ferroalloys (an alloy of iron, for example, manganese or chromium), processing of secondary materials (metals processing works on scrap) and ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
On this date this industry has some problems (poor industrial capacity, debts, etc.) that affect at competitiveness in the global steel market. Ukrainian steel industry has a number of advantages, such as access to raw materials, favorable geographic position and large industrial capacity, that makes Ukrainian metallurgical sector attractive for investment. «APC firm» will provide full legal support for steel business.
Legal services may include:
- Due diligence of companies in the steel industry
- Purchase/sale, merger and acquisition of smelters
- Development and legal examination of contracts used in the metallurgical industry
- Support disputes with manufacturers and suppliers
- Development and implementation of legal safeguards steelworks
- Representation interests in government.
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It’s too expensive. No one wants to buy it. Laying cables is unprofitable. The government is overreaching. Objections to high-speed fiber broadband today sound like those facing rural electrification during the 1900s. History suggests they’ll prove wrong today as well.
Are there still enough people in rural areas?
The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was created by executive order as an independent federal bureau in 1935, authorized by the United States Congress in the 1936 Rural Electrification Act, and later in 1939, reorganized as a division of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
- 1930 US rural population = 54M, 43.9% of total
- 1990 US rural population = 61M, 24.8% of total
- 2010 US rural population = 59M, 19.3% of total
– Population: 1790 to 1990 – US Census Bureau
– US Census Bureau – Frequently Asked Questions
So although the percentage of the population in rural areas has dropped about in half, the total number is actually about 10% more.
Is rural netification much more expensive than electrification was?
Before the establishment of the Rural Electrification Administration the reported cost of rural lines, depending on consumer density and on terrain, ranged from $1,500 to $1,800 a mile. The average total cost of R.E.A.-financed lines is now less than $800 a mile. The average estimated construction cost of these Unes has been declining each year, from $904 in 1936 to $858 in 1937, $768 in 1938, and $583 in 1939.
– “Rural Electrification” by Robert T. Beall, Economist, Rural Electrification Administration – US Department of Agriculture
$1,800 in 1934 = $32,430 in 2016
$583 in 1939 = $10,126 in 2016
– CPI Inflation Calculator – US Bureau of Labor Statistics
According to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the per-mile costs on all new projects in the United States from over the past 15 years have ranged from $6,800 to as much as $79,000.
– “What is the real cost of fiber networking?” The Firetide Blog
Broadly speaking, the total cost per home ranged from more than $20,000 per location to about $5,000 per location, for densities of up to about 2.5 homes per linear plant mile.
Broadly speaking, when a telco can pass five to 65 locations for every mile of outside plant, the cost per home ranges between $4,000 and $5,000 per location.
– “How Much Does Rural Fiber Really Cost?” Performant Networks Blog
So, actually, 1930s rural electrification and 2016 fiber look to be approximately as expensive after accounting for inflation.
I would hope and expect that a wireless solution (e.g. microwave / WISP internet) should be even cheaper for rural netification (much less digging, much less physical material to produce, move, and place… how could it possibly be significantly worse?). I couldn’t find good numbers though.
Do rural areas even want greater connectivity and the jobs it would enable?
while they’re suspicious of big government, more than three-quarters of the respondents supported a government role in job training, renewable energy, and loans and grants to jumpstart economic development
Only 18 percent of the respondents said they rely on agriculture, farming or ranching for the bulk of their household income.
Nearly 90 percent of the respondents backed job training for the working poor, and loans, tax credits and training to help small businesses and farms prosper.
Seventy-eight percent said they strongly support developing wind, solar and other renewable electric generation in rural areas through tax credits, and investing in new transmission lines.
– “What does rural America want?” Illinois Country Living
. source: The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
. survey: conducted for the Nebraska-based Center for Rural Affairs by the bipartisan team of Lake Research Partners and The Tarrance Group
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The real Gross Domestic Product per person, or per capita, is calculated by first adjusting the nominal GDP of a country for inflation by dividing the nominal GDP by the deflator. If the growth rate of an economy is g, its output doubles in 70/g periods. This single figure represents the value (in local currency) of all of the goods and services produced within that region over a specific period of time. Real gross domestic product (GDP) is an inflation-adjusted measure that reflects the value of all goods and services produced by an economy in a given year.. GDP growth rate or simply growth rate of an economy is the percentage by which the real GDP of an economy increases in a period. Relevance … If nominal GDP numbers data is used, it will show the growth rate in nominal terms. In a fictional scenario, this means that if the nominal GDP is $250 million and the interest rate is 2%, you would calculate real GDP this way: 250 million / 1.02 = 245.01 million In this scenario, factoring inflation into the equation would show that the economy actually created $245.01 million in services and … There are several reasons for this approach. Formula to calculate real GDP growth rate. current year to weight each component and calculate an average rate of growth. Calculate the Real GDP and Growth Rate of Real GDP and Nominal GDP using the following information. The adjusted number, or real GDP, is then divided by the country's population. Why Real GDP Is Used to Calculate Growth . Since the real gross domestic product is not more than 1 million, the country might fail to make it to the top 10 list. If real GDP data is used, it will show the growth rate in real terms. These high quarter-on-quarter rates of growth imply high quarterly annualised growth rates… Therefore, the calculation of real GDP can be done using the above formula as, = 10,30,000/(1+3.00%) = 10,30,000/(1.03) real gross domestic product will be – real gross domestic product = 10,00,000. For instance, GDP growth has been remarkably stable at high rates since the second half of 1999, with quarter-on-quarter growth of 1.0% in the third quarter of 1999 being followed by three consecutive quarters of 0.9% quarter-on-quarter growth. The percentage change in real GDP is the GDP growth rate. To understand whether the country’s economy is improving or declining, you may wish to calculate the annual growth rate of the GDP… Gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of the economic activity, defined as the value of all goods and services produced less the value of any goods or services used in their creation. Real GDP Growth Rate is the rate at which a nation’s Gross Domestic product (GDP) changes or grows from one year to another. When modeling real economic growth in mainstream economics, the GDP per capita is using the working-age population (not the values published in the MPD). Let’s see how this works in year 2: We do a year-on-year comparison of real quantities in years 1 and 2 to calculate the growth rate … GDP Growth Rate = ((Current Year’s GDP – Last Year’s GDP) ÷ Last Year’s GDP … Two of them are: 1) children do not work and do not produce goods and services; 2) Children do not have income; … You need to use real GDP so you can be sure you’re calculating real growth, not just price and wage increases. Here's how to calculate the GDP growth rate. The calculation of the annual growth rate of GDP volume is intended to allow comparisons of the dynamics of economic development both … GDP Growth rate is a percentage increase between two numbers. Then, apply this average growth rate to the previous year’s real GDP and calculate real (cumulated) GDP in the new year. When an economy’s growth rate is positive, the economy’s output is increasing, and it is … The GDP is the Gross Domestic Product of a country or region over some chosen time period. Formula – How to calculate GDP growth rate. Solution: For all the years except for the base year, we will now calculate the GDP deflator. Real GDP is used to compute economic growth.
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Appropriation - Definition
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Appropriation refers to an of allocating or appropriation of money for a particular purpose. Appropriation can occur in different situations, individuals, companies or governments can appropriate capital for a specific purpose. Appropriation is used within the context of budgeting, it refers to the designation of money for use in a business operation or government expenditure. In governance, the legislative arm of most countries determine the amount of money to be designated for a particular purpose. In the United States for instance, the congress determines appropriation of funds for various purposes.
A Little More on What is Appropriation
Basically, appropriation is an act of setting something apart for a specific purpose. Appropriation is not limited to money, any substance or material can be appropriated. Appropriation occurs in companies and businesses, it tells the amount that a company budgets, designates or appropriates for diverse business purposes, such as money for rent, employees' salary, equipment and tools, inventory and others. Another term for appropriation in the context of companies is capital allocation. In government, appropriation tells us the amount that the government budgets for various sectors and various purposes. In addition to money, the government can appropriate lands, buildings and other assets or properties.
Appropriation is done annually by the government, this is done in the context of budgeting. Each year, you hear the government of different countries submit their annual budget to the legislative arm for approval, this is appropriation. In the United States, the Congress through various committees approves appropriation bills tendered by the government. When approved, the bills covers a fiscal period of October 1 to September 30. Governments appropriate funds, land, and buildings to cater for many sectors and departments. Examples are education, health, transportation, commerce and international trade, security, armed forces and many others. In the United States, in cases of emergencies such as natural disasters, another appropriation bill may be tendered to the US Congress to cater for such emergencies.
Appropriations in Business
Appropriations occurs in businesses and corporate organizations, in this context, it is the act of appropriating funds and assets for different business purposes. There are many parts of a business operation that requires the allocation of capital. For instance, a business that is into the production of commodities needs to appropriate a certain amount of money and assets for production purposes. A company also needs to appropriate money for the payment of salaries, investments, purchase of assets and payment of debt. Oftentimes, the success of a business is determined by how well it appropriates funds, investors look at how a company appropriates before making a decision of whether to invest in the company or otherwise. The cash flow statement (CFS) of a company is an important financial statement that indicates the appropriation of cash by the company. How well a company deploys cash for business use and manages its cash can be examined through its CFS. Also, the means through which a company generates cash is dependent on the appropriation of cash. As indicated in the cash flow statement, companies have different categories of cash flow such as those generated from operating activities, investing activities and cash flow from financial institutions, investors (individual or institutional). How well the company designates cash received for business purposes such as stock repurchase, loan repayment, payment dividends, purchase of assets. Here are some key things to know about appropriation;
- Appropriation refers to the act of designating or allocating money for a specific purpose, appropriation of cash can be done by companies or governments of countries.
- Appropriation does not only apply to money, lands, buildings and assets can be appropriated. When the government designates buildings or portions of land for agency use, it is appropriation.
- The legislative arm of government approves appropriation bills sent to it by the government. In the United States Congress approves appropriation bills through many committees.
- The cash flow statement of a company helps investors monitor how well a company appropriates cash.
Real World Example of Company Appropriations
There are many real world examples of appropriation of cash done by corporate organizations and governments,aside from cash, profit can also be appropriated. For governments, appropriation is done annually to cater for the provision of social amenities, quality health care, education and other projects embarked upon. In certain cases, situations might warrant the approval of supplemental appropriations bills for the government. This often occurs in emergency situations and outbreak of natural disasters such as floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and others. Companies report their appropriations though 10Q filing, the companys appropriation of cash and profits under the major categories which are investing activities, operating activities and financing activities are also detailed.
The Difference Between Appropriation and Appropriated Retained Earnings
The retained earnings of a company refer to the profit a company is left with after all dividend payments have been made. Appropriated retained earnings of a company refer to the retained earnings of the company that the board of directors designate and approve for specific purposes. When the board of directors of a company allocate funds for different purposes such as payment of debt, acquisition of fixed assets, stock repurchase, research and development (R&D) among others. Oftentimes, more than one appropriated retained earnings exist in companies given the divergence of purposes they need to achieve. Decision regarding what purpose retained earnings will serve is determined by the board of directors.
Limitations of an Appropriation
There are some criticisms and limitations against appropriation, the major ones include the following; Using the cash flow statement of a company is not an adequate gauge for how well a company appropriates funds. An investor cannot be certain of how a company spends its money just be relying on its cash flow statement, instead, investors can only make inferences from the statement and not actual facts. For instance, if a company has a negative cash flow, it does not necessarily mean that the company is not financially healthy but might be that it wants to acquire other companies.
Reference for Appropriation
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/appropriation.asphttps://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/appropriationhttps://economictimes.indiatimes.com Definitions Budgetwww.businessdictionary.com/definition/appropriation.htmlhttps://www.finance.gov.au/resource-management/pgpa-glossary/appropriation/
Academics research on Appropriation
State Control, Government Intervention, Bank Loan and AssetAppropriation[J], Chuilin, G. L. H. S. Y. (2006). State Control, Government Intervention, Bank Loan and Asset Appropriation [J].Journal of Financial Research,6. This paper empirically investigates the relationship among state control,government intervention, bank loan,and asset appropriation.We find that government intervention exacerbates the asset appropriation in finns controlled by the state;bank loan significantly facilitates asset appropriation only when the finn is controlled by the state and has excessive government interference.The result shows that state control and government intervention in China significantly exacerbate the conflict of interests between controlling shareholders and small shareholders,and between controlling shareholders and bank debtors.Thus we infer that state control and government intervention are not conducive to the improvement of social and economic efficiency.This conclusion is consistent with the studies of state-owned enterprises using agent theory. On the Corporate Governance, FundAppropriationand Earning Manipulation [J], Jie, G. L. Z. (2009). On the Corporate Governance, Fund Appropriation and Earning Manipulation [J].Journal of Financial Research,5. Based on the data of all Chinese A-share non-financial listed companies from 2004 to 2006, this paper investigates the relationship among corporate governance,fund appropriation and earning manipulation by employing Generalized Least Squares(GLS) and Two-stage Generalized Least Squares(TGLS).The conclusions are as follows.The level of corporate governance negatively correlates with the degree of fund appropriation. The level of earning manipulation negatively correlates with the level of corporate governance.The level of earnings manipulation positively correlates with the degree of fund appropriation,which indicates that the holding shareholder is trying to cover up the unfavorable influence from fund appropriation on corporate performance with earnings manipulation aiming at appropriating corporate fund in the long run. Understanding the diversity and complexity of demand for microfinance services: lessons from informalfinance, Gurin, I., Morvant-Roux, S., & Servet, J. M. (2011). Understanding the diversity and complexity of demand for microfinance services: lessons from informal finance.Handbook of microfinance, 101-122.Trading off between value creation and valueappropriation: The financial implications of shifts in strategic emphasis, Mizik, N., & Jacobson, R. (2003). Trading off between value creation and value appropriation: The financial implications of shifts in strategic emphasis.Journal of marketing,67(1), 63-76.Organizing rent generation andappropriation: toward a theory of the entrepreneurial firm, Alvarez, S. A., & Barney, J. B. (2004). Organizing rent generation and appropriation: toward a theory of the entrepreneurial firm.Journal of Business Venturing,19(5), 621-635. Why firms exist and how their boundaries should be drawn are central issues in several academic disciplines. The field of entrepreneurship continues to struggle with a theory of the firm. This paper suggests a theory of the entrepreneurial firm grounded in organizational economics and bounded by the rent generation and appropriation of entrepreneurial knowledge.
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Why Crypto Is Excluded From Ny – A Cryptocurrency, as defined by Wikipedia is “a digital currency designed to function as a medium of exchange for the transfer of digital properties “. It was developed as an alternative to standard currencies such as the United States dollar, British pound, Euro, and Japanese Yen.
No main bank is involved in the management of these currencies. The circulation of the cryptocoin is usually done through a process called “minting ” in which a particular quantity of the digital asset is produced in order to increase the supply and subsequently decrease the demand. In the case of the Cryptocurrency journal, this transaction is done by cryptographers, which are groups that specialize in creating the essential proofs of credibility required for proper transaction to occur.
While many Cryptocurrencies are open-source software solutions, some exist that are proprietary. This is in contrast to the open source software that defines most cryptocurrencies, which are established by any number of specific factors.
The developer of Litecoin, Robert H. Jackson, was trying to develop a protected and safe alternative to Cryptocurrency when he was forced to leave the company he was working for. He developed an alternate version of Litecoin called DarkNET. By developing this version of Litecoin, which has a much lower trading volume than the original, he wanted to supply a trustworthy however secure type of Cryptocurrency. With the aid of ingenui, a group of cryptographers was able to successfully create an enhanced version of Litecoin with increased personal privacy security and stronger encryption than previously.
One of the most appealing applications for the future of Cryptocurrency is the principle of “blockchain. ” A “blockchain ” is just a big collection of encrypted files that are recorded and preserved on computers around the world. All deals are recorded and encoded using complex mathematics that secures information at the very same time as ensuring that it is available just to authorized participants in the chain.
Encrypted journals have actually been utilized as a kind of ICO that tracks the ownership history of a specific possession. The significant problem with standard ledgers is that they are susceptible to hacking which permits somebody to take control of a business ‘s funds. This makes it challenging for companies to trace where their money has actually gone. By using crypto innovation, a business ‘s journal can be secured while keeping all the information of the transaction private, guaranteeing that only they understand where the money has actually gone.
Another popular usage for Cryptocurrency is in the location of virtual currencies. A “virtual currency ” is just a stock or digital commodity that can be traded like a stock on the exchanges. All elements of the virtual currency exist offline, meaning that no exchange between real products occurs. Virtual currencies can be traded online similar to any other stock on the traditional exchanges, and the benefit of this is that the very same rewards and rules that use to genuine markets are likewise relevant to this kind of Cryptocurrency deal.
As more Crypto currencies are developed and made available to customers the benefits become clear. Instead of being restricted to little specific niches on the exchanges, many enter the mainstream market that offers higher flexibility and ease of access. By doing this, it enables many more individuals to enter the marketplace and gain from the advantages that Cryptocurrencies need to use. There are currently several effective tokens being traded on the major exchanges and as more get in the market to the competitors will strengthen the strength of the existing ones.
In general, if you buy cryptographic currencies, you ‘re basically acquiring Crypto currency. It ‘s basically simply like trading in shares.
Now, if you ‘re not acquainted with how to buy and trade crypto currencies, this can be quite frightening stuff. Well, it truly isn ‘t that frightening. There are particular precautions you require to take. You will want to get a broker either a complete FX broker or a discount rate broker that charges a small charge. They will then offer you with an interface for your application and software application.
You will likewise desire to set up a “mini account “. When you trade in the open market with real money, there is no such thing as a tiny account. Considering that you ‘re trading in the crypto market with ” cryptocoins “, it ‘s completely acceptable.
The MegaDroid goes one step further and allows you to begin trading with your favorite coins at any time. It also permits you to do things like buy or sell your limits. Some people might be a little hesitant of this feature. It does provide you the ability to do some “fast ” trades, but that ‘s about the limitation.
If you ‘re leery of fast trades, maybe you ought to be! It would be great if this was the only advantage of utilizing the MegaDroid! Regrettably, it ‘s not. What traders really like about this incredible robotic is the reality that it gives them complete control over their projects. Some traders still claim that it ‘s a hassle to manually manage a campaign. I know that it ‘s simpler than by hand managing numerous campaigns on your PC, but it does have a couple of benefits over the others.
They can then transfer funds into their account and instantly utilize them to trade. Rather, they can handle their funds using their own wallets. Since all transactions are held digitally, you don ‘t need to deal with brokers or dealing with trading exchanges – whatever is kept strictly within your own individual computer.
The last major perk is that it no longer holds ether and pennybase. The two largest exchanges by volume (Euromoney and MegaDroid) are now handled by the separate developers of Cryptocorx. This indicates that you will need to download and install the software by yourself computer system if you want to trade on these two big exchanges. Despite the fact that this might seem like a discomfort, it has actually considerably increased the liquidity of the 2 coins. All you ‘ve got to do is visit their sites and you ‘ll have the ability to see their estimate.
You require to know how the market will move so that you can be prepared when you do choose to trade. If you do this properly, you will know precisely when you must leave the market and go into – thus you can make better decisions with your trades.
Now that we ‘ve gone over the pros and cons, let ‘s take an appearance at some technical analysis techniques. If you are a technical expert and are familiar with the market patterns, then it shouldn ‘t be an issue.
With this details, you must be able to interpret the rate action on the 2 exchanges really quickly and make excellent trades. There are numerous different methods to execute this buy and sell action, so you ‘ll want to choose one that you ‘re comfy with.
A Cryptocurrency, as specified by Wikipedia is “a digital currency designed to operate as a medium of exchange for the transfer of digital properties “. ” A “blockchain ” is simply a large collection of encrypted files that are taped and kept on computers around the world. A “virtual currency ” is merely a stock or digital commodity that can be traded like a stock on the exchanges. Considering that you ‘re trading in the crypto market with ” cryptocoins “, it ‘s perfectly appropriate.
It does offer you the ability to do some “fast ” trades, but that ‘s about the limitation. Why Crypto Is Excluded From Ny
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Demand for a good arises because of its perceived benefit. For instance, people demand food because of the nourishment it offers them. This is however not so, with regard to the pieces of paper we call money – why do we accept them?
Following the view of Plato and Aristotle, economists regard the acceptance of money as an historical fact introduced by the government decree. It is government decree, so it is argued, that makes a particular thing accepted as the general medium of the exchange i.e. money.
In his writings, Carl Menger raised doubts about the soundness of the view that the origin of money is a government proclamation. According to Menger,
An event of such high and universal significance and of notoriety so inevitable, as the establishment by law or convention of a universal medium of exchange, would certainly have been retained in the memory of man, the more certainly inasmuch as it would have had to be performed in a great number of places. Yet no historical monument gives us trustworthy tidings of any transactions either conferring distinct recognition on media of exchange already in use, or referring to their adoption by peoples of comparatively recent culture, much less testifying to an initiation of the earliest ages of economic civilization in the use of money.
Why conventional demand – supply analysis fails explaining the price of money
So how does a thing that the government proclaims will become the medium of the exchange, acquire purchasing power or a price? We know that the price of a good is the result of the inter-action between demand and supply. From this, we could reach a conclusion that the price of money is also set by the law of demand-supply.
Whilst demand for goods emerges because of the perceived benefit, with respect to money people demand it because of the purchasing power with respect to various goods. What we have here is that the demand for money depends on the purchasing power of money whilst the purchasing power of money depends on the demand for money.
We are caught in a circular trap. (The demand for money is dependent on its purchasing power whilst the purchasing power is dependent for a given supply on the demand for money). The circularity seems to vindicate the view that the acceptance of money is the result of the government decree.
Mises provides support to Menger’s insight
Support to Menger’s insight was provided by the Ludwig von Mises’s regression theorem. By means of this theorem Mises not only succeeded in solving the money circularity problem, but he also confirmed Carl Menger’s view, that money could not have originated as a result of a government decree.
Mises began his analysis by noting that today’s demand for money is determined by yesterday’s purchasing power of money. Consequently, for a given supply of money, today’s purchasing power of money is established. Yesterday’s demand for money in turn was fixed by the prior day’s purchasing power of money. For a given supply of money then, yesterday’s price of money was set. The same procedure applies to past periods.
However, this does not seem to solve the circularity problem, rather it appears to push it back to infinity. Not so, argues Mises. By regressing through time, we will eventually arrive at a point in time when money was just an ordinary commodity. Its price was set by the demand and supply for a commodity. The commodity had an exchange value in terms of other commodities i.e. its exchange value was established in barter.
On the day a commodity becomes money it already has an established purchasing power or price in terms of other goods. This purchasing power enables us to establish the demand for this commodity as money. This in turn, for a given supply, sets its purchasing power on the day this commodity starts to function as money.
Once the price of money is established, it serves as an input for the establishment of tomorrow’s price of money. It follows then, that without yesterday’s information about the price of money, today’s purchasing power of money cannot be established (with regard to other goods and services, history is not required to set present prices as demand for these goods arises because of the perceived benefits from consuming them. The benefit that money provides is that it can be exchanged for goods and services. Consequently, one needs to know the past purchasing power of money in order to establish today’s demand for it).
Using the Mises’s regression theorem we can infer that it is not possible that money could have emerged as a result of a government decree. For the decree cannot bestow purchasing power upon a thing that the government proclaims will become the medium of the exchange. The theorem shows that money must emerge as a commodity.
According to Hoppe,
Money must emerge as a commodity because something can be demanded as a medium of exchange only if it has a pre-existing barter demand.
Also, according to Mises,
There would be an inevitable tendency for the less marketable of the series of goods used as media of exchange to be one by one rejected until at last only a single commodity remained, which was universally employed as a medium of exchange; in a word, money.
Once a commodity becomes accepted as the medium of exchange it will continue to be accepted even if its non-monetary usefulness disappears. The reason for this acceptance is the fact that people now possess information about yesterday’s purchasing power, which enables the formation of demand for money today.
From commodity money to paper money
Originally, paper money was not regarded as money but just as a representative of money, which was gold. Various paper certificates were claims on gold stored with the banks. Holders of paper certificates could convert them into gold whenever it was deemed necessary. Since people found it more convenient to use paper certificates to exchange for goods and services, these certificates come to be regarded as money.
The introduction of paper certificates – that are accepted as the medium of exchange – opens the scope for fraudulent practice. Banks could now be tempted to boost their profits by lending certificates that are not covered by gold.
In a free market economy a bank, which over issues its paper certificate, will quickly find out that the exchange value of its certificate in terms of other banks certificates will fall. This drop in the exchange value will prompt people to convert the over issued bank paper certificates into gold in order to protect their purchasing power.
The over issuing bank however, will not have enough gold to honour all the issued paper certificates, and therefore will be declared bankrupt. The threat of bankruptcy therefore, serves to deter banks from issuing paper certificates unbacked by gold.
One can thus conclude that in a free market economy paper money cannot assume a “life” of its own and become independent of commodity money.
Within a hampered market economy, characterized by government interference with markets, paper money however, can be enforced.
The central bank enforces the paper standard
The government could abolish by a decree the convertibility of paper certificates into gold, thereby preventing over issuing banks from going bankrupt. The abolition of convertibility however, does not erase yesterday’s purchasing power of paper certificates. This in turn preserves the necessary link, which maintains people’s demand for paper certificates today.
Clearly, what matters here is the fact that people know the past purchasing power of these certificates. Based on the past information, they can form their demand for the paper certificates today. Once however, banks are not obliged to redeem paper certificates into gold, this opens the scope for enormous profits. This generates incentive for the unrestrained expansion of the supply of paper certificates. The expansion of paper certificates could in turn produce hyperinflation and lead to the breakdown of the market economy.
To prevent this breakdown, the enforcement of the paper money standard must be managed. The main purpose of managing the enforcement is to prevent various competing banks from over issuing paper certificates.
This can be achieved through the establishment of a monopoly bank i.e. central bank, which will manage the expansion of the paper money. In order to assert its authority the central bank introduces its own paper certificate, which replaces commercial banks certificates. The central bank’s certificate purchasing power is established because various commercial banks paper certificates, which carry purchasing power, are exchanged for the central bank certificate at a fixed exchange rate.
The central bank paper certificate, which is declared as the legal tender i.e. money, also serves as the reserve asset for banks. This in turn sets a limit to banks credit expansion. It would appear that by means of monetary policies the central bank could now manage and stabilise the monetary system. This is however not the case – the paper standard must be constantly enforced to prevent its collapse.
This means an ongoing and ever growing monetary pumping by the central bank to keep the system “stable”. This however, leads to persistent declines in the purchasing power of money to boom-bust cycles, which in turn destabilises the entire monetary system.
Mises’s regression theorem shows that money did not emerge because of government decree. The acceptance of money is dictated by its previous purchasing power. The regression theorem shows that the purchasing power is acquired because money originated as a commodity. The regression theorem also shows that paper money has a purchasing power because initially it was fully backed by a commodity i.e. gold. As a result of persistent undermining of the physical commodity, the present paper standard survives because of the ongoing money printing by the central bank. At some stage however, the continuous pumping may result in the present monetary system becoming very unstable. This in turn runs the risk that boom-bust cycles could become very vicious.
Carl Menger, “On the Origins of Money” Economic Journal, volume 2 (1892) p.239-55
Carl Menger, ibid.
Hans-Herman Hoppe, “How is Fiat Money Possible?-or, The Devolution of Money and Credit, The Review of Austrian Economics vol 7, Number 2, 1994.
Ludwig von Mises, Theory of Money and Credit, pp.32-33.
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Net farm income is a comprehensive indicator of U.S. farm profitability – for all crops and livestock – and includes cash receipts from farming as well as farm-related income, including government payments and noncash items like changes in inventories, economic depreciation and gross imputed rental income, minus cash expenses. USDA’s August 2018 Farm Income Forecast provided the first state-level estimates of net farm income in 2017.
During 2017, U.S. net farm income was projected at $75.5 billion, up 22 percent from 2016 but well below the record high experienced in 2013. At the state level, net farm income was the highest in California at $17.7 billion, up 23 percent from prior-year levels. Following California was Texas at $4.5 billion, up 6 percent, and Iowa at $3.4 billion, up 4 percent. The top 10 states in terms of net farm income represented $43.8 billion, or 58 percent, of total U.S. farm income. Figure 1 highlights net farm income by state, with the top 10 states in terms of net farm income accented in dark green.
A variety of factors can change net farm income year-over-year including higher or lower productivity, regional differences in cash prices, fewer government payments or changes in inventory. While in aggregate the U.S. saw an increase of 22 percent in net farm income in 2017, 12 states experienced lower net farm income in 2017, ranging from -3 percent in New Mexico to -118 percent in Nevada, where net farm income went from a positive in 2016 to a negative in 2017.
The increases in net farm income ranged from 8 percent in Utah to 1,000 percent in New Hampshire and Michigan. Figure 2 highlights the year-over-year change in state-level net farm income.
Comparison to Previous Decade
At the national level, 2017’s net farm income of $75.5 billion was 11 percent, or $10.2 billion, below the 10-year average. A comparison of 2017’s net farm income to the 10-year average reveals that only 14 states saw higher net farm income than over the previous decade. Net farm income in Arkansas was 4 percent above the 10-year average while net farm income in Arizona was 84 percent over the 10-year average.
More than 30 states saw lower net farm income in 2017 compared to the prior decade. In Pennsylvania, net farm income was only 4 percent lower than the prior decade average. However, in 10 states 2017 net farm income was more than 50 percent below the 10-year average. These states are Nevada, Massachusetts, Kansas, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Michigan and Connecticut. Figure 3 identifies the change in net farm income in 2017 compared to the previous decade.
While many states saw higher net farm income in 2017 compared to 2016, 35 states had net farm income below their 10-year average – further emphasizing the downturn in the farm economy. U.S. net farm income in 2017 was $48 billion lower than the highs experienced in 2013, and $10 billion below the 10-year average.
Many states have seen billion-dollar erosions in net farm income compared to the 10-year average. For example, in 2017, net farm income in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota was $2 billion less than the 10-year average. Those are dollars that are not invested in rural agricultural communities. This year is likely to be more of the same for farmers in these states as USDA recently estimated 2018 net farm income at $65.7 billion — down 13 percent from 2017 and $58 billion below 2013.
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What Is a Fiscal Deficit?
A fiscal deficit is a shortfall in a government's income compared with its spending. The government that has a fiscal deficit is spending beyond its means.
A fiscal deficit is calculated as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), or simply as total dollars spent in excess of income. In either case, the income figure includes only taxes and other revenues and excludes money borrowed to make up the shortfall.
A fiscal deficit is different from fiscal debt. The latter is the total debt accumulated over years of deficit spending.
- A government creates a fiscal deficit by spending more money than it takes in from taxes and other revenues excluding debt.
- The gap between income and spending is closed by government borrowing.
- The U.S. government has had a fiscal deficit in most of the years since World War II.
Understanding the Fiscal Deficit
A fiscal deficit is not universally regarded as a negative event. For example, the influential economist John Maynard Keynes argued that deficit spending and the debts incurred to sustain that spending can help countries climb out of economic recession.
Fiscal conservatives generally argue against deficits and in favor of a balanced budget policy.
In the United States, fiscal deficits have been occurring regularly since the nation declared independence. Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, proposed issuing bonds to pay off the debts incurred by the states during the Revolutionary War.
Record Fiscal Deficits
At the height of the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a virtue of necessity and issued the first U.S. Savings Bonds to encourage Americans to save more and, not incidentally, finance government spending.
In fact, President Roosevelt holds the record for the fastest-growing U.S. fiscal deficits. The New Deal policies designed to pull America out of the Great Depression, combined with the need to finance the country's entry into World War II, drove the federal deficit from 4.5% of GDP in 1932 to 26.8% in 1943.
After the war, the federal deficit was reduced and a surplus of $4 billion was established by 1947 under President Harry S. Truman.
The 2020 fiscal deficit of the United States was $3.1 trillion, roughly three times the size of the 2019 deficit.
In 2009, President Barack Obama increased the deficit to more than $1 trillion to finance the government stimulus programs designed to fight off the Great Recession. That was a record dollar number but actually was only 9.7% of GDP, far under the numbers reached in the 1940s.
In 2020, under President Donald Trump, the deficit reached $3.1 trillion for the entire fiscal year due to a combination of tax cuts and increased spending amid the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic fallout.
Rare Fiscal Surpluses
Since World War II, the U.S. government has run at a fiscal deficit in most years.
As noted, President Truman produced a surplus in 1947, followed by two more in 1948 and 1951. President Dwight Eisenhower's government had small deficits for several years before producing small surpluses in 1956, 1957, and 1960. President Richard M. Nixon had just one, in 1969.
The next federal surplus did not occur until 1998 when President Bill Clinton reached a landmark budget deal with Congress that resulted in a $70 billion surplus. The surplus grew to $236 billion in 2000. President George W. Bush benefited from a $128 billion carryover of the Clinton surplus in 2001.
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Hurricanes’ Long-Term Impact on Municipal Revenue and Services
A decline in business activity and the out-migration of residents take a toll on tax revenues and result in cutbacks of spending programs that benefit low-income households.
Hurricanes struck more than 2,000 municipalities in US Atlantic and Gulf states between 1980 and 2017. Even a decade after the winds die down and the flood waters recede, municipalities thrashed by hurricanes still are experiencing lower revenues and associated declines in public services and investment relative to otherwise similar communities spared by the damaging storms.
Tax revenues drop immediately after a storm, as business is disrupted and some residents may move away. Although an influx of aid provides a short-term cushion, localities hit by storms see their revenue bases erode as people move out and property values and economic activity decline. In the five year period between six and ten years after a hurricane hits, local tax revenues are still 7.2 percent lower than they would have been without the storm. These findings are reported in Local Public Finance Dynamics and Hurricane Shocks (NBER Working Paper ) by , , and . Even a minor hurricane can lead to a 3 percent decline in taxes, fees, and other local revenue sources over the same period.
The researchers arrive at their estimates by comparing municipalities in the same state that possess similar demographic and geographic characteristics but differ in whether fate put them in the path of a hurricane. In the decade following a major hurricane — one with winds exceeding 96 knots — total revenue declines more than four times more than in the case of a minor hurricane. Employment falls by 4 percent after a major storm, compared with 0.4 percent after a minor one.
The revenue drop leaves storm-struck towns and cities with less to spend on local services, which include schools, sanitation, policing, parks and recreation, and public works. In 2017, local government accounted for 35 percent of total government goods and services spending — spending exclusive of transfers.
Less-affluent municipalities — those with poorer, less-educated residents and a higher proportion of racial minorities — are hardest hit by the post-storm dislocation, and the budget ax often falls hardest on programs that benefit low-income households, such as public transportation.
Battered budgets make borrowing for capital expenditures, including infrastructure projects that could reduce the cost of future storms, more difficult. Rating agencies often downgrade the bond ratings of municipalities that suffer severe storm damage. Facing higher interest costs, sampled municipalities cut back on total debt by between 19.2 and 25.9 percent in the decade after a major hurricane. This suggests a potential “vicious cycle” for local governments, as natural disasters increase their cost of debt and deplete their tax base, thereby inhibiting their ability to make new investments.
— Steve Maas
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CleanTechnica reports that, due to its gross feed-in tariff, Germany has run out of solar panels.
A burst of new business at the end of 2009 put Germany close to adding a record of solar power to the grid, according to the head of Germany’s BSW solar industry association, Carsten Koernig. He estimates that in this year alone; it will be very close to 3 Gigawatts.
While he is not sure what the final end-of-year number will be, he is sure of one fact. It can’t be over 3 gigawatts, simply because there is no more capacity than that in the pipeline.
German supplies have completely sold out. Demand for parts, especially, and equipment such as inverters has outstripped supply. Germany’s very consumer-oriented feed-in tariff legislation makes it profitable for any homeowner to install panels on their roofs to supply the grid – – and so they do just that.
This shows the importance of a gross feed-in tariff in supporting and stimulating the renewable energy sector. The NSW government recently announced a gross feed-in tariff.
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Every business uses Strategic Management to make progress, a simple and precise definition of Strategic Management can be as “a process of developing and executing a series of competitive moves to enhance the success of the organization both in the present and in the future” (Answers, 2007). Strategic Management process requires corporations to insure its success, Corporations has to anticipate possible changes in the environment, customers, technology and take Strategic decisions for the success of the organization. In this report we will discuss the followings.
As stated, on Intel’s corporate website, Intel Corporation was founded in 1968 by Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore based in Santa Clara, California USA. It is the largest semiconductor company and the inventor of microprocessors; the processors found in many personal computers. In addition to manufacturing processors, it also produces motherboard chipsets, network cards, ICs and various other devices related to communication and computing. Intel’s corporate structure holds 11 Board of Directors, which has been divided as 2 Corporate Officers, 2 Executive Vice Presidents and various other corporate levels.
As a whole, Intel approximately has 100,000 employees worldwide and has its presence in 54 countries around the globe. (Intel, 2007)Intel a famous name in technology and has a very competitive industrial environment and yet Intel has managed to be the best in microprocessor makers. With the introduction of the E-Business incentive in 1998 Intel has emerged as the market leader in the design and manufacturer of semiconductors and microprocessors, prior to implementation of E-business “orders were filled through phones, faxes and overnight parcel carriers. Today this system produces nearly $1 billion sales per month” (Chao, 2000).
In terms of value chain concept Intel has had remarkable benefits with the help of E-Business. Let us analyze Intel’s e-business strategy in terms of Value Chain concept. Analyzing the Value Chain on Intel Corporation both the support activities and the primary activities are carried out with the help of E-business. According to Intel’s technology journal it stats that “Intel’s E-business environment is becoming increasingly complex. This growth is exponential is the speed of new application being introduced and exciting application being upgraded” (Coyne and Sandeen, 2000).
E-Business is a very important and useful business strategy in today’s world where computer and internet are essential needs of life. In my point of view I believe Intel’s major success or market domination apart from the fact that it is the largest microprocessor in the world is also due to the implementation of E-Business solutions. Intel Corporation is cutting cost in its supply chain. According to an article by Dean Takahashi he writes. “It’s a complex supply chain, with suppliers all over the world, fabs in a lot of places and assembly plants in other places.
Building the right product in the right amount is a grueling task. What’s changed is Intel’s ability to manage this complexity. Intel has re-engineered its supply chain from end to end-from and when it comes to saving money on its supply chain, Intel’s numbers are equally impressive. In 2003, the company shaved $1 billion of its costs by re-engineering its internal processes. It saved another $1 billion in 2004, and it is targeting $500 million more in 2005. That’s beginning to add up to a lot of money” (Takahashi, 2005).
Differentiation can be defined as “in a differentiation strategy, a firm seeks to be unique in its industry along with some dimensions that are widely valuable to buyers” (Porter, 1985). Intel is Differentiation into new products dimensions apart from the main products described earlier in the introductory part of this report; Intel is diversifying into different products “including consumer electronics, wireless communications and health care. And rather than just microprocessors” (Edwards, 2006). According to Porter “the focus strategy has two variants.
In the cost focus a firm seeks a cost advantage in its target segment, while in differentiation focus a firm seeks differentiation in its target segment” (Porter, 1985). Intel Corporation seems to use the differentiation focus variants of the focus strategy. Intel is still also focused on its core product the microprocessors. In an interview conducted by Business Week Magazine with the CEO of Intel corporation, Intel CEO stats that he “wants to create ‘platforms’ of microprocessors combining silicon and software that lead to new technologies and devices” ( Edwards, 2006)
Without doubt Intel’s is implementing the Generic Strategy in its industry, by cutting the cost in its supply chain to obtain cost leadership, by diversifying into different products such as health care, consumer electronics etc… and yet focusing on its core business of microprocessors. In terms of strategic management these are the approaches a company should take to create and sustain superior performance in the market as well as in the industry.
There is low possibility that a new entrant would enter the microprocessors market and pose a threat to Intel Corporation. According to report it stats “A new entrant would need to develop a relevant microprocessor product, requiring substantial capital expenditures and several years of engineering work, the development of high performance microprocessor comparable to Intel would likely require at least fours year” (Federal Trade Commission, 1998) There is no substitutes for microprocessor but people have a choice of different brands processors.
Intel has its own suppliers which supply raw materials and Intel manufactures the processors and other devices. In business the main aim is to satisfy the buyer and Intel has so far done a lot to satisfy its buyers buy providing innovative processors and other devices and yet Intel’s competitors are doing the same The five rival forces are present for every company but the level of impact it has varies from company to company. The level of impact it has on Intel is quite low comparing to similar companies in the same market.
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Soon the world will celebrate the one-year anniversary of the historic climate agreement signed in Paris in December 2015. The agreement will be implemented through country-led greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction commitments known as their intended Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which to date have been submitted by 189 countries covering 95 percent of global GHG emissions.
Apart from signaling concrete commitments, these reduction targets also offer a clear signpost of the investment direction countries need to follow as the global economy steers towards a low-carbon, climate-resilient pathway. Estimates point to between $57 trillion and $93 trillion in new low-carbon, climate resilient infrastructure investment by 2030. How developing countries evaluate and respond to their infrastructure needs will greatly determine their ability to meet GHG reduction commitments.
Allocating funds to support these commitments poses a significant challenge, as many governments already face overstretched national and sub-national budgets. Many will be unable to meet the levels of financial support required to reach the 2° Celsius target. Amidst budget constraints and ambitious goals, it’s clear that major investment is needed from the private sector. According to the United Nations, 80 percent of the capital needed to transition to a low-carbon future must come from the private sector. This requirement presents both an enormous challenge but also a huge opportunity for the private sector to help turn these intended national commitments — NDCs into concrete policies and plans that will help spur necessary climate-smart infrastructure investments.
This holds especially true for Latin America and the Caribbean – a region blessed with natural resources that also faces daily threats and challenges posed by a changing climate.
So just how big is the investment opportunity for Latin America? It’s important to note several key trends the region must respond to in the coming years. Latin America is the world’s most urbanized region, and cities like Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City house nearly 80 percent of the region’s total population, a figure that will reach nearly 90 percent by 2050. Coupled with this urbanization is a flourishing middle class – positioning the region as a star in the eyes of investors looking to build up climate-smart industries like green urban infrastructure and renewable energy generation.
Latin America is not only a hotbed for investment based on demographic demands. Country policies are growing increasingly reflective of aspirations for green investment. LAC countries are creating and revising regulatory frameworks and goals to spur private sector investment and generate more opportunities for climate-friendly business. The region is consistently moving towards greater legal security for investors, and climate change mitigation and adaptation projects will see significant investment inflows as a result. Altogether, IFC estimates the market for low-carbon investments in Latin America and the Caribbean to be $1 trillion by 2040, with $600 billion materializing by 2030.
For a region that already boasts the world’s cleanest power mix, this is an incredible sum of money. According to IFC’s recently released white paper Climate-Smart Investment Potential in Latin America: A Trillion Dollar Opportunity, it is actually quite a conservative projection. IFC’s analysis focuses largely on the energy sector and thus the complete range of mitigation and adaptation investment opportunities available in the region certainly surpasses this figure. Furthermore, the first global crop of NDCs does not capture the full ambition of future climate policies. The Paris Agreement requires countries to increase the level of their response to climate change every five years so that efforts to meet the 2° C target do not bottom out and stagnate.
Stretching from the frosty southern islands of Chile and Argentina to the sun-soaked reaches of Northern Mexico, the region’s ecological diversity and resources present ample space for investment. Economically speaking, the last 15 years have been significant, with poverty levels falling and prosperity skyrocketing as 90 million people entered the middle class. The opportunity for trillions of investment is clear, and organizations like IFC are playing a vital role in supporting countries as they create environments where risk is rewarded and the private sector is enabled to do what they do best—innovate.
It was with this vision in mind that IFC recently spearheaded a regional LAC Climate Business Forum in Bogota, Colombia that convened regional public and private sector leaders to discuss opportunities in industries ranging from green buildings to renewables to sustainable cities. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos opened the event as CEOs, business leaders, government representatives, and mayors expressed their dedication to the climate agenda and reiterated that climate-smart investing is not only good for the environment but it is also good business with healthy returns on investment.
IFC has a significant track record making climate investments in the region, among them a green-bond supported wind farm in Penonome, Panama – the largest wind farm in Central America and the largest grid-connected wind farm in the country. Right in Bogota, where the conference was held, the city’s bus system operator, Recaudo, benefited from a $176 million financing package in 2012, supporting its efforts to develop and operate fare collection and fleet management and implement real-time information technology. The financing was also IFC’s first loan to a transport payment system and is helping to increase public transportation and thereby reduce GHG emissions in Latin America’s sixth largest city.
The potential in the region is indeed enormous, but to make the most of it governments must address some key issues, including putting a predictable price on carbon to help companies shift their investments; creating favorable regulatory frameworks for industries with great promise; publishing a pipeline of climate-friendly projects to raise investor confidence; and supporting the private sector with their corporate pledges to reduce GHG emissions in their supply chains.
As a trusted partner of choice, IFC stands ready to continue supporting the LAC region in maximising investments in climate-smart industries.
About the Author
Christian Grossmann, a German national, is the Director of Climate Change, World Bank Group, a position he assumed in October 2014. In this role, he coordinates IFC’s climate change strategy and product development, embedding climate knowledge and capacity in IFC’s operational groups in support of investments in clean energy, green buildings, sustainable agriculture, manufacturing, and climate mitigation through financial markets. In 2015, IFC’s total climate-related investments were $2.3 billion and an additional $2.2 billion was mobilized from other investors.
Christian has been a Director at IFC since 1998, leading a number of key positions and mostly recently managed IFC’s Corporate Strategy department. From 2002-2006, Christian was based in Moscow, Russia and led IFC’s Private Enterprise Partnership Advisory Facility, where he successfully introduced several new product lines, most notably in the financial markets, investment climate reform and energy efficiency. From 1998-2002 and 2006-2008 he served as the Director of IFC’s Controllers and Budgeting Department.
Before joining IFC, Christian held senior finance positions within Dresdner Bank Group in Paris, New York and Frankfurt. In the earlier stages of his career he worked as an international management consultant in Europe, United States and South Africa, and as a civil-engineer in France and North Africa. In 2011, he co-authored the joint report of 31 multilateral and bilateral development finance institutions, “Development through the Private Sector,” as well as a discussion note on “World Bank Group Innovations in Leveraging the Private Sector for Development” in 2012.
Christian holds a Dipl.-Ing from TU Munich, a CES of ENPC, Paris and a MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau. He is married and has a son.
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Microfinance is simply the range of financial services, including loans, savings, and insurance. These services are extended to small business owners and poor entrepreneurs who have no collateral & marginal money and wouldn’t otherwise qualify for a bank loan from the regularized banks, with their stringent processes.
Most often, these microloans are given to those who are working in different trades, including farmers, agriculturists, fishing, carpentry, and transportation, etc.
The amount of loan is small (or micro), of up to Rs.50,000 in rural areas and Rs.1,25,000 in urban areas. Hence the name of Micro Finance.
The majority of their clients are based in villages and remote areas, where access to formal banking is non-existent. Microfinance companies are entitled to take only the reasonable rates of interest, as recommended by the central government and RBI. Also, plenty of facilities are offered by them to the borrowers regarding repayment.
At least 70% of the total amount of loans, extended by these financing institutions must be about “generation of income”. They have been a great supporter of rural development.
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For over two hundred years, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has been providing “trusted, affordable and universal mail service to the people of the United States.” The importance of USPS’s ability to fulfill this mandate is critical to its success and longevity of its business. Overtime, the USPS has developed its business practices to respond to an evolving landscape, including being responsive to key threats such as climate change. Greenhouse gas buildup, a result of global climate change, is contributing to a warmer planet, leading to profound changes in the environment. Impacts include the frequency, intensity, and duration of inclement weather, sea level variations, precipitation increases, and rising temperatures.
Climate change is increasing the likelihood of warmer and more extreme weather.
Changes in weather patterns can hinder the USPS from satisfying its core customer promise of delivering mail, while significantly increasing the costs of fulfilling demand and maintaining the infrastructure needed to run its business. These environmental changes have the ability to impact the USPS throughout its delivery chain: from its employees to its fleet of vehicles, from transportation infrastructure to its inputs.
Extreme weather can endanger employees who are up against tight delivery deadlines. And these impacts are costly. Severe weather led to 679 widespread power outages between 2003 and 2013, costing the economy $33 billion each year. For a business whose employees drive more than 1.4 billion miles every year, transportation is a significant risk for the USPS. Flooding can impact infrastructure by weakening bridges, destroying roads, and interrupting repairs. Heat can affect aircraft performance, causing delays and hiking transportation costs. At a macro level, regulations could shock the entire system. New laws that control greenhouse gas emissions, for example, may increase operating costs (i.e. more expensive fuel products or costs from retrofitting vehicles).
Luckily, the USPS has been proactive in addressing the issue of climate change, as evidenced by its 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Plan. In it, the USPS identifies and begins to implement risk measurement practices and strategic plans aimed at combating climate change. These include:
- Creating a multi-disciplinary task force to identify, plan for, and implement business resilient practices to climate change.
- Setting a greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal of 20 percent between 2008 and 2020.
- Implementing fuel efficiency standards for its fleet of delivery vehicles.
- Reviewing its real estate plan to assess how its current and future facility locations may be optimized or altered to reduce the risks from climate change.
- Reassessing the use of underground tanks for gasoline and diesel fuel storage and modernizing tank infrastructure. [1, 4]
- Implementing an annual review of the company’s exposure to climate change.
Results thus far have been mixed. More positively, the USPS has cut greenhouse gases by 12.4% since 2008, and in 2015 alone, it performed over 1,500 compliance inspections for tanks. [10, 4] Additionally, since 2003, it has reduced facility energy use by 32.1%. However, the USPS has been unable to stem its reliance on petroleum use, which has increased by 19% in the past decade.
This begs the question, is the USPS doing enough? With the great deal of uncertainty that is expected to materialize as a result of climate change, the USPS must employ strict controls and risk measures to ensure business continuity. They will need to invest in the right technology to better optimize shipment processes, allowing for reduced transport times. Additionally, it will be critical to reinforce strong cost management practices to protect its business from pressures to come. While the USPS has begun partnering with sustainable companies, and has even reduced its costs by $8BN over the past 2 years, it has ended FY 2013 and 2014 with net losses of over $5BN, respectively. In order to remain competitive, the USPS will need to improve its ability to manage costs while generating significant revenue growth. One example could be relying more on electric vehicles to power its fleet. An electric vehicle can travel 43 miles for every $1.00 of energy versus 18 miles for a traditional vehicle. Finally, stress testing its operations will allow the USPS to be better prepared in the face of uncertain outcomes.
Only through strong preparation will the USPS be able to continue its over 200-year legacy of reliable and timely mail delivery.
[Word Count: 724 words]
Sarah Ninivaggi, “USPS Goes Green,” (21 April 2015), accessed 31 October 2016, https://uspsblog.com/usps-goes-green/
“United States Postal Service Climate Change Adaptation Plan,” (June 2014), accessed 31 October 2016, https://about.usps.com/what-we-are-doing/green/pdf/CCAP_FINAL_2014.pdf
“Understanding the Link Between Climate Change and Extreme Weather,” US Environmental Protection Agency (last updated 19 October 2016), accessed 1 November 2016, https://www.epa.gov/climate-change-science/understanding-link-between-climate-change-and-extreme-weather
“2015 Annual Sustainability Report,” United States Postal Service (2016), accessed 1 November 2016, http://about.usps.com/publications/sar2015/sar2015.pdf
Justin Sink and Jim Snyder, “Energy Review Warns of Rising U.S. Costs from Climate Change,” Bloomberg News (21 April 2015), accessed 1 November 2016, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-21/white-house-unveils-road-map-for-upgrading-energy-infrastructure
“United States Postal Regulatory Commission 2015 Report on Form 10-K” (30 September 2015), accessed 2 November 2016, https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/financials/10k-reports/fy2015.pdf
“2016 Climate Leadership Award Winners” US Environmental Protection Agency (last updated 23 March 2016), accessed 2 November 2016 https://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/2016-climate-leadership-award-winners
“Greening Our Fleet,” United States Postal Service, accessed 3 November 2016 https://about.usps.com/what-we-are-doing/green/greening-our-fleet.htm
Kate Sheppard, “U.S. Postal Service Is Worried About What Climate Change Will Mean For Mail,” Huffington Post (31 October 2014), accessed 3 November 2016 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/31/mail-climate-change_n_6085108.html
“2015 U.S. Postal Service Key Performance Indicators,” United States Postal Service, accessed 3 November 2016 http://about.usps.com/publications/sar2015/sar2015/sar2016_doc_001.htm
“Restructuring the U.S. Postal Service to Achieve Sustainable Financial Viability,” U.S. Government Accountability Office, accessed 3 November 2016 http://www.gao.gov/highrisk/restructuring_postal/why_did_study#t=0
“How Do Gasoline & Electric Vehicles Compare?” Idaho National Laboratory, accessed 4 November 2016 https://avt.inl.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/fsev/compare.pdf
Featured Photo: http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2014/pr14_027.htm
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Report: Clean Water for America
A Path to Cleaner Water
America’s waterways are a national asset. They are the places we swim on hot summer days, kayak with friends and family, spend a relaxing day fishing, and so much more. Yet billions of gallons of stormwater runoff and sewage overflows continue to pollute our rivers, lakes and coastal waters. As a result, all too often our beaches are unsafe for swimming, communities are flooded with sewage, and toxic algal outbreaks threaten wildlife and public health. Absent strong action from our leaders, these pollution problems will worsen in coming years, as overdevelopment and more intense storms put greater burdens on our fraying water infrastructure systems.
Stormwater and wastewater management systems are part of America’s water infrastructure; when properly maintained they can prevent pollution. But as a nation, we have failed to keep our water infrastructure in working order. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. wastewater infrastructure a D+ grade in 2017.
If we want clean water, our nation will have to make a substantial investment in repairing and updating our infrastructure. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that wastewater and stormwater systems will require an investment of $271 billion over the next 20 years to meet demands.2 This is likely a conservative estimate for actual investment requirements in the coming years.
With investment in clean water, America can deploy nature-based or green infrastructure - such as vegetated buffers, rain barrels, and constructed wetlands - to help prevent combined sewage overflows and capture stormwater before it sweeps pollutants into our waterways. Simply fixing and updating our aging and often outdated sewage infrastructure will also reduce this pollution.
Policy makers must invest in America’s water infrastructure and innovative gray and green infrastructure to prevent stormwater runoff pollution and sewage overflows from reaching waterways. By investing now, the nation can begin improving its water management systems before the problem worsens and becomes harder to address.
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Electric Vehicle (EV) – A new start !
Air pollution in Pakistan has become a major problem especially is urban cities like Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar etc. Due to air pollution it is estimated that around 135,000 people die each year and this costs the economy a staggering $47.8 billion or
5.88% of GDP. One of the important reasons for environmental pollution is the large increase in car ownership and usage. In FY20, total petrol sales (MS) were 7.3mn tons (9.9bn/litre), with emissions ranging from 30-40% carbon dioxide. Therefore,
one of the solutions to environmental problems is to replace traditional vehicles with an electric vehicles. Recently, ECC has approved electric vehicle policy for next five years with the aim of cutting air pollution and curbing climate change. The goal is
to have at least 30% of all vehicles running on electricity by 2030 and a further 90% by 2040.
Here are the incentives for electric vehicles:
• Specific parts of 2-3 wheelers will be imported at 1% custom duty and 1% GST.
• In CKD, EV specific parts to attract 1% CD (4 wheelers).
• CBU imports may be made at CD 25%, Duty free import of plant & machinery of EVs, Import of 100 CBUs per company
@50% of the prevailing custom duties and import of EV charges to attract 1% CD.
• Import of CKD in small cars/SUVs with 50Kwh battery or below and LCVs with 150:
• Exemption of sales tax and VAT on imports and 1% sales tax on sales.
• 1% WHT under section 148 of income tax ordinance.
• GST and VAT on import stage to be exempted for such LCVs and Cars/SUVs.
• CBU import may be made at 0% VAT on imports.
• Exemption of EVs (4 wheeler) from FED.
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Credit cards are excellent ways to transfer value from consumers to business owners, without the security concerns of cash or the uncertainty of issuing store credit. Back in the day, general stores could offer credit to worthy citizens in their towns without too much trouble, because everyone knew each other.
These days, with mobile card readers from companies like SumUp and others, the possibilities of credit cards are greater than ever before. You can pay for anything almost anywhere. Using your mobile phone to take payments, or even your tablet, can open up your business to even new heights. But this is a new era.
Before there was plastic, exchanging money for goods and services was a time-consuming process that could sometimes turn dangerous. Walking around with cash was a recipe for disaster is there were nefarious forces afoot. Using a plastic card that has no value in and of itself provides a lot of advantages. It can allow you to delay paying your bill until you have the money, as long as you pay a bit of interest on it.
The modern credit card came into being in the middle part of the 20th century, when Diners Club and American Express became ubiquitous in the United States of America. They brought the idea of paying for something with a card to the mainstream and then American Express became the first actual plastic card, rather than cardboard in your wallet. American Express had started in 1850 as a private alternative to the federal Post Office. Once it got into the money business, it was on its way to being a pioneer in credit cards.
Once banks started offering their own cards and, in turn, allowing customers to carry an actual balance from month to month, the modern credit card industry was born. So, then companies that knew how to execute a credit card terminal began to spring up all over the country and the world. The growth of these ancillary industries is quite important to the how credit cards changed the modern economy.
As credit card tech has evolved, starting with the first magnetic stripe from IBM in the early 1960s, innovation has played a large role in the industry. Nowadays, RFID cards, those with NFC and Bluetooth enabled cards to have brought the mobile card industry to another level. Now you can store your payment information in your phone and use that to pay for goods and services.
The world is well on its way to being a cashless society, with the benefit of convincing driving that trend. Being able to pay for anything almost anywhere is a great benefit to consumers. And so, business owners need to be ready for that. And it is cheaper than ever to be able to do that. All you need is a little bit of technology and willingness to pay a small transaction fee for each purchase, but the possibilities are there. Welcome to the future. It is time to get on board.
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Insurance companies have no trouble setting premiums for their clients’ car insurance policies. The massive data available about car models, driver age and more makes gauging the average cost of a car accident relatively easy.
But insuring public utilities against losses from cybercrime is quite different.
“Cyber risk is posing challenges to insurance companies because the nature of the risk is not known, and there is no sufficient data collection to support effective statistical analysis,” says Wei Wei, an associate professor of mathematical sciences in the College of Letters & Science. “To make it worse, cyber risk events could cluster and bring a disaster to insurance companies.”
Wei specializes in actuarial science, which leverages mathematical techniques for prediction and risk assessment. Uncertainty about the potential payoff is a reason electric utilities have been slow to invest in cybersecurity efforts, because the latest measures wouldn’t guarantee complete protection. Meanwhile, the threat grows daily, as utilities become increasingly reliant upon streaming operational data to the internet.
Wei and Lingfeng Wang, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the College of Engineering & Applied Science, are helping utility companies shore up their efforts. With funding from the National Science Foundation, they’re researching ways to quantify potential losses caused by cyberattacks and build a structure for premiums without the benefit of historical information. Their work confirms that cyber risk events, and thus related losses, can cluster. For example, they’ve found that two utility grids that are physically separated can both be exposed to losses from common cyber threats.
Wang and his students have examined current cybersecurity measures and quantified the effects of a wide range of hacking scenarios. They constructed a probabilistic model that assigns monetary value to damages across the scenarios, and Wei applied actuarial techniques to calculate premiums.
“Cyberinsurance premiums will be high for those with low cybersecurity performance audits, based on our novel actuarial models,” says Wang, who develops quantitative models to evaluate and mitigate emerging risks in public infrastructure. “Conversely, utilities with high cybersecurity efforts will enjoy low premiums.”
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European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
EBRD Green Cities strives to build a better and more sustainable future for cities and their residents. The programme achieves this by identifying, prioritising and connecting cities’ environmental challenges with sustainable infrastructure investments and policy measures.
Green Cities works in 3 phases:
- Developing a Green City Action Plan (GCAP): Identifies and prioritises city challenges and develops a long term plan with specific short term actions.
- Implementing the GCAP: Working with local stakeholders, the city implements the infrastructure investments and policy measures as outlined in the GCAP. The EBRD can support the city in these efforts by providing access to finance, as well as concessional loans and grants.
- Monitoring the GCAP: The city periodically reviews the Green City actions and their impacts on the environment.
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