Economics

I am aware of the fact that Dan Browns The Da Vinci Code has several negative reviews and criticisms from conservatives, especially from the Catholic Church. However, despite this fact and all the issues that have sprung from this volume, I still believe Brown made an excellent job in this piece of literature.

I decided to read The Da Vinci Code even before people began talking about it. At first, I thought it was just some plain revelation of the artist, Da Vincis styles, genres and personal life. I knew the book would be very puzzling and interesting however, what I did not expect was for it to be so provocative and spiritually challenging, in the sense that it displaced great questions to my spiritual beliefs. I was not able to finish reading the book in one sitting however, between breaks, ever pieces revelation that come out from it really made me think whether or not the beliefs I have hold the truth. It posted several question in my mind about Christs individuality and his human side. I believe these are the main reasons why people became so agitated and distraught after reading it. Seldom do authors manifest bravery when it comes to questioning one of the greatest and largest belief humankind ever had. And seldom do authors really debunk beliefs and teachings from the Catholic Church. This book is what made Brown stood among all the authors of his generation. Brown took the chance and exploited his own imagination, cunning, wit and above all else, his courage to challenge one of the most consecrated beliefs of the world.

The book was especially marked by the challenge it posts upon the readers spiritual strength. Because of all the revelations it says about Christs human side   which are all fictitious as what the author claims   it is understandable that people easily get swayed and tend to question whether or not all those revelations are true, considering all the proofs and seemingly coincidental events and phenomena that contribute to strengthening the authors claims. Aside from several seemingly factual proofs, Browns arguments and claims also appeared very believable because of how it coincided with several historic events and phenomena, which easily made people think that Brown might really have credible basis for his claims. Because of this, this work has also provoke lots of negative and even violent reactions from conservatives and strict Catholics. Seldom does the world encounter such a strong reaction from readers, especially from the Catholic Community. This is also one aspect which made this work by Dan Brown something which stands out from all the other works of fiction. The author himself continuously claims that every event and situation in his work are pure works of fiction, except for Da Vincis masterpieces that were also featured in the book. However, although the author kept insisting this, doubt and questions kept springing from peoples minds, since Browns writing ability was also on a top notch quality. Every word appeared very strong and implicative which easily made people believe that the author knows and understands every claim and argument he is making.

Personally, I liked this book a lot and it has honestly made me inspired. I liked it because it made me think. I knew in myself that my spiritual beliefs are strong however, because of Browns writing and imaginative prowess, this book got me thinking at some points. Aside from this, this book also inspired me in the sense that, I realized how advantageous it is for a person to really have a strong faith on his or her spirituality. From the beginning, I knew everything in this book is pure work of fiction. But in at some point I also considered the possibility that these revelations might have some considerable root from the authors personal experience or knowledge. These are the main reasons why I basically liked this work. Also, these are the main bases that made me consider Dan Brown a genius and one of the worlds most brave, cunning and intelligent writers.

Iceland Scholarship Essay

Iceland The Worlds Smallest Currency Area and Its Implications in the Current Financial Crisis

Iceland today is suffering from a prolonged financial crisis due to the collapse of Icelandic currency and banking system, as an after shock of the global recession that began in 2008. Iceland financial problems have far ranging repercussions no only to it fragile economy but also to those developed countries, like the U.S. and UK that invested heavily in the country, . Its three internationally beleaguered Icelandic banks , Glitnir, Landsbanki and Kaupthing , have been on rcceivesrhip and their financial assets have been frozen. According to Asgeir Jonnson, Head of Research and chief economist at Kaupthing Bank , Iceland, last September 20, 2009,  the biggest private bank of Iceland collapsed because of financial bubble burst.

What has led to the collapse of the economy of Iceland Iceland as a country has today the smallest currency rate when pegged against the U.S. dollar.  The value of one krona (Iceland currency) to US dollar as of January 27, 2010, is 0.00824 USD.  This means that for every 100 krona, Iceland only gets 0.82 USD, a fact that is lamentable. Obviously this is very alarming and has serious repercussions to the Icelandic economy, and to the world. If this continues, Iceland might suffer a massive national bankruptcy. Indeed, because of the smallest currency rate of Iceland, this has greatly affected international trade and those countries that have investments in Iceland. The fact that Iceland is the worlds smallest currency area had affected the country prior to and during the current financial crisis. Going into an in-depth study of the factors that led to the downfall of the Icelandic economy is worthy of scholarly research since it can provide concrete and doable actions for Icelandic policy makers and the courses of action to alleviate the impact of this financial debacle.

According to Rao (2006), more recent studies, based on large cross section, that include many small and developing countries, have found strong evidence of an effect of exchange rate variability on trade. It is therefore apparent that in order to find solutions to the financial problems buffeting Icelands economy, a flexible an efficient coordination of monetary and fiscal policy should be put in place and if possible, to seek more foreign funding, like from the IMF and it Nordic neighbor countries. It is also recommended that Iceland should adopt the Euro Area. By seeking entry to Euro area, it will be able to gain full access to the reliable discount window of ECB, eliminate the exchange rate risk and open access to the large euro capital market. As early as July, 2009, it was already apparent that joining a full membership with the European Union, w ill provide a global foreign currency because the Euro Area becomes the foreign currency lender of last resort. Iceland has to decide now to save its economy.

Hence, a research on how these potential solutions can be effectively implemented is urgently called for in order to save the Icelandic economy from further financial collapse.

I agree with your view on the fact that developing countries cannot entirely decouple themselves from developed economies. It is however in my opinion necessary that the developing economies should have measures in place which can help cushion them or reduce the impact of financial crisis in the developed countries. This can be done through implementation of countercyclical policies which are meant to prevent financial contagion which can cripple domestic financial institutions in developing countries in case of a financial crisis because of the high level of interconnection to the international financial sector. It is important to note that these are only counteracting measures which are to be put in place in case of a financial crisis.

By proposing financing through monetary policy, it does not necessarily mean that a government has to print more money but there are some instruments such as reserve requirement, open market operations like sale of bonds, treasury bills and other securities and manipulation of interest rates for desired effects among others. Lowering of interest rates as a monetary stimulus for instance encourages borrowing hence investments in various sectors.

With regard to protectionist measures, the World Bank states that since the financial crisis began over 66 restrictive trade measures have been implemented and 47 are by members of the G20. This is in total contradiction of the Smooth-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. The protectionist measures are however minor and I were thinking in the line of developing countries focusing subsidies on domestic banks and financial institutions rather than on foreign bank subsidiaries. These are temporary measures which I believe can reduce the impact of financial crises.

Finally with regard to an insurance scheme, with the IMF and World Bank having difficulties in the containment of financial crisis, I am proposing that in future a devolved fund should be created where developing countries can be able to access funds for development. Such a scheme will be used only for extreme cases of financial crisis. All of these measures are only to be implemented in such an event and are not permanent measures.

This paper analyzes the paper Is competition really bad news for cooperatives Some empirical evidence for Italian producers cooperatives written by Ornella Wanda Maietta and Vania Sena (2008). The authors analyze the nature of the relationship between market power and technical efficiency for producers cooperatives. This analysis becomes very important in the context of the changing environment in which cooperatives are operating now, where product market competition is getting stiffer day by day. The authors try to assess how this competition is affecting the technical efficiency of the producers cooperatives and whether this new market condition provides with them the incentives to improve their own performances, as it happens with conventional firms or on the contrary, pushes them out of the market.

The authors have addressed two main issues in the paper first, to test empirically the extent to which there is a positive relationship between increasing competition in the product market and technical efficiency and second, to estimate whether the size of the market share for both co-ops and conventional firms is influenced by their level of technical efficiency.

Before now little has been known about how competition affects producers cooperatives. However for conventional firms, a number of empirical studies have been done. These studies identify two mechanisms through which efficiency is improved in conventional firms first, competition from low cost entrant driving out the high cost incumbents and second, by incentive for management to improve efficiency.

Methodology  Dataset
The paper is both theoretical and empirical in nature. The theoretical arguments are tested by the empirical evidence for Italian producers cooperatives. Theoretically, the authors argue that, cooperatives should not behave differently in response to increased competition as applied with a conventional firm because an erosion in co-ops competitive position will ultimately lead to the reduced profits to be shared among the cooperative members. However, it is possible to argue that if a co-op becomes highly efficient then it can lower its costs and ultimately gain dominant position in the market.

For empirical analysis the authors tested two hypotheses. The central hypothesis is that the state of competition in the product market should give cooperative members the incentives to improve the efficiency of operations. Obviously, this is possible as long as there is some initial inefficiency in the co-ops productive process that can be reduced as competition gets stiffer. In this type of organization, inefficiency can arise both in (a) the decision-making process and (b) the relationship between the workers and the co-op. In both cases the co-op will produce less than the optimal level of output. So, how can increasing product market competition reduce inefficiency in a producers co-op The competitive pressure may help to realign the individual members incentives to those of the cooperative.

A second hypothesis is that whether higher technical efficiency induces producers cooperatives to have a larger market share. Indeed, if a cooperative cuts the inefficiencies in its productive process, then it is capable to produce at a lower production cost and so gain a dominant position in the market. In other words, the relationship between a cooperatives market power and technical efficiency may be reverse.
These hypotheses are tested on a sample of Italian conventional and cooperative firms for the Wine Production and Processing sector over the time 19962001. The data-set has been extracted from AIDA, database collecting all the annual balance sheets of those Italian companies whose operating revenues are larger than 1 million Euros. So the database represents the universe of firms above this threshold. In addition to the information contained in the annual reports, the database reports information on companies location, their legal status and additional financial data. The initial data-set has been cleaned so to eliminate all the observations containing both missing and negative values, with final number of observations over the five years being 413. According to their legal status, 63 firms (corresponding to 250 observations over the whole time period) are cooperatives, while 40 firms (corresponding to 163 observations) are conventional firms. The wine industry has been selected for a number of reasons first, the firms output mix is limited compared to that of firms belonging to other sectors as they produce only wine. In addition, the number of cooperatives in the Italian wine industry has always been rather substantial and this implies that their market share has always been quite comparable to that of the conventional firms.

To estimate technical efficiency, the authors adopt the so-called frontier approach to the measurement of technical efficiency where (in) efficiency is computed as the distance from an estimated optimal benchmark, that defines the optimal amount of output that can be produced in a sector given the available technology (the so-called production frontier). The closer a firm is to the frontier, the more efficient it is. Second, by using dynamic panel techniques, the authors estimate whether the size of the market share for both co-ops and conventional firms is influenced by their level of technical efficiency in the attempt to evaluate the extent to which gains in technical efficiency allow a cooperative to increase its market share.

Conclusions
The authors have concluded that co-ops are systematically more efficient than conventional firms (may be because conventional firms are more capital intensive), co-ops and conventional firms use technologies with different capital-labor ratios, co-ops experience an improvement of technical efficiency following an increase in the market competition (with an increase of 1 of product market competition would increase co-ops technical efficiency by 0.4) and that level of efficiency does not impact the market share gained by conventional and co-ops firms. These results are obtained by using Maximum Likelihood Estimates which are different from zero at 5 level.

The authors argue that co-ops are well equipped to cope with increasing product market competition and one of the possible reasons for this may be their institutional structure which allows them to have some built in mechanisms that give them some slack that can be used to deal successfully with increasing market pressure. In other words increasing competition acts as a disciplining force for the co-ops membership indeed, market pressure implies a reduction on the share of profits co-ops members are entitled to and this may work as an incentive to cut inefficiencies (P.231).

Regarding the neutral impact of efficiency on the market size the authors say that this result may be due to many factors on the one hand, it is possible that the demand for wine is rather inelastic as in this specific market it is reasonable to assume that consumers develop loyalty to specific brands and therefore their demand is rather insensitive to variations in prices (P.231). Another possible explanation is that gains in technical efficiency can affect the market share only after some time. To check the second argument they used some lagged data of technical efficiency which did not produce any significant difference in the market share.

Critical Assessment
Data Assessment The data used for the analysis is taken from the Italian conventional and cooperative firms for the Wine Production and Processing sector over the time 19962001. The reason of taking Italian firms for the analysis is that its the home of one of the largest group of co-operatives with number of studies done over these firms so the results could be compared. However, this may bring some regional biasness in the results. The authors have tested the impact of regional variations within the Italy and found it to be insignificant but analysis over a larger region could produce more comprehensive conclusions.

The data taken are only for a specific type of cooperative firms (producers cooperatives) in one sector (the wine sector). Therefore further research is needed to test whether this positive relationship between increasing product market competition and co-ops technical efficiency still holds in other sectors and for other types of co-ops.

Assumption Plausibility One of the assumptions that authors made during the theoretical assessment of the topic is that, workers decide on the amount of effort they want to provide based on the wage they will get after the production has taken place and therefore, the workers will choose the level of effort that maximizes their own expected pay-off from the relationship with the cooperative, instead of the overall surplus and hence, the supplied effort is sub-optimal and the cooperative will appear inefficient while similar might not be the case with the conventional firms. The assumption can be flawed because even in a conventional firm a worker might shirk the work and choose the level of efforts to maximize hisher own pay-offs. The worker in a conventional firm might just try achieving the targets which would benefit himher only, even if there is a possibility to improve the bottom-line.

Contribution by the Paper The paper makes an important contribution to the assessment of the impact of increasing competition in product market on cooperatives. The topic of the analysis has been very popular in the context of conventional firms however, minimal contribution has been made in the context of cooperatives. The arguments made by the authors support the view that like any other type of firm, co-ops can devise strategies that can help them to compete successfully in what have become now global product markets and one of these is to reduce the internal inefficiency where it is possible.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Paper The paper is highly structured, with detailed background to the basic question addressed and then following up with the comprehensive assessment of the empirical results and succinct conclusions. However, one of the major drawbacks of the paper is that it did not include more literature reviews of the papers done on co-ops efficiency. One of the possible reasons for this may be the lack of previous studies done over co-ops. The other drawback exists in dataset as explained above in data assessment section.

Alternative Approach to the Issue The question asked in the paper could have been approached in a different way too, such as Does a cooperatives unusual ownership and governance structure give it any advantage over its commercial rivals in an increasing competitive environment As in the paper the authors admits that the organizational structure of cooperatives play a significant role in its efficiency so the extent of this role could have also been checked by analyzing the above question. In a broader perspective rather than revolving around conventional or cooperatives the new approach can focus on the fundamental characteristic, organizational democracy, which generates incentives and motivation among workers inside the organization.

I      Executive Summary of the Project

Introduction
Cigarette smoking and other tobacco use impose a growing public health and economic burden globally (Chaloupka et al, 2001) The authors remark that approximately 4 million persons will be killed annually by tobacco use, and by 20030, the estimates, based on current trends, that this number will increase to 10 million.

Tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death in the world, and it is projected to kill one billion people in the 21st century. To help combat this increasing global epidemic Michael R. Bloomberg launched a global initiative to reduce tobacco use in low- and middle-income countries in January 2007 The Initiative was extended with a new 250 million commitment in 2008 ( Bllomberg Foundation, 2 010). Grants are available for NGOs that ill take the inittiative to advocate for the reduction of tobacco consupmtion globally.The Bllomberg grant money will be for reearch and advocacy for tobacco control.

Tobacco Economics  A Costa Ricas Burden
Article 20 of the draft of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control calls fro nations to  establish progressively a national system for the epidemiological surveillance of tobacco consumption and related social, economic, and health indicators. (WHO,2003) It recognize that there I an economic burden of tobacco use for societies.

Tobacco economics is an important aspect of tobacco control not only because of the economic burden the consequences of tobacco use place on society, but also because of the role tobacco plays in markets around the world as a commodity that is produced, distributed and consumed. The goals of the economics component are to  Provide valid, rigorous information for advocacy.  Provide clarity on specific scientific points.  To work to actively influence policies affecting the tobacco cultivation, the fabrication of cigarettes and other tobacco products, advertising of tobacco products, sales of tobacco products, and taxation.  To collaborate actively with institutions and individuals  and create a network of individuals dedicated to research and advocacy for national tobacco control in Costa Rica using economic tools and rationales. Grossman et al  (1999) remark that  . . the situation in Latin American countries, such as Costa Rica, where smoking-related morbidity is only now becoming apparent because of high prevalence of tobacco use, smoking prevalence is increasing (p315).The author further point out that Costa Rica is in  a very good position to adopt public health measures to control the smoking epidemic. (Grossman, et al, 1999). In 2001, the smoking prevalence in Costa Rica for  male adults, 20-49 year old was 29, and female adult was at 9.7, and increasing at alarming rate.

Hence, the need to engage in an research and advocacy initiative on tobacco economic and the burden being borne by Costa Rica for it people.

II    Description of the Organization

The organization seeking funding for this project is newly established in Costa Rica and is a non-governmental organization (NGO) which has taken as its mission to improve public health in Costa Rica by partnering with larger institution around the world .It also will advocate for changes in laws and policies regarding tobacco control. It is a small and lean organization composed of the Director, one medical practitioner, and one economist , and a clerical assistant. The other staffing requirements for the project will be hired only for the project, i.e. research assistants, and transcribers. The NGO began operation this January, 2010, and this Costa Rica project will be its first, should this proposal be approved. Since the NGO is still new, it does not have yet any organizational history to speak of

III. Problem Statement

The proposed  project will attempt  to evaluate the economic burden of tobacco in Costa Rica owing to poor tobacco control being experienced in the country. There are economic costs arising from this lack of tobacco control. There is an need to engage in advocacy purposes in order to have a basis for advocating for changes in laws and policies regarding tobacco control

Objectives

Specifically, the project aims toEstablish a global network of scholars, academic departments, the public sector, non-governmental organizations, governmental organizations and individuals concerned on tobacco smoking to do research and advocacy
Support public sector effort to pass and enforce key laws and implement effective policies on tobacco control, in Costa Rica
Engage in advocacy for tobacco control and come up with promotional and information campaigns  highlighting on the burden of tobacco use


V Proposed Activities

These are the proposed activities to fulfill the objectives of the project

 1.   To review pertinent printed literature and legislations passed at the national level.
To interview key informants.
   
An exhaustive review of literature is needed to be able to determine how different sectors in Costa Rica view tobacco smoking. Moreover, this specify activity is aimed at clearly identifying how such views affect their attitude toward smoking or toward other people who smoke and, at a more larger scale, how they view legislations of the national government on tobacco smoking. This is to gauge the peoples pulse and then to come up with preliminary hypotheses on how to approach the objectives of this proposed project. Academic libraries, government files and documents, non-governmental offices documents, as well as internet sources will be looked into.
   
Key informants will also be identified, this early, to help us form better hypotheses at this stage. Key informants would include government officials, health workers, local people, and lead people of organizations working towards the improvement of legislation on tobacco smoking.

To conduct focus-group discussions.

After a summative report is written of all the information and data gathered from the review of literature and key-informant interviews, a staff meeting will be conducted on how to go about the focus group discussion. The kind and nature of these discussions, actually, depend on the kind and nature of data and information gathered in the initial activity.  Nevertheless, specific sectors would be identified to participate in these focus group discussions. An outline of what specific questions to be asked during these discussions also will be decided upon during the staff meeting.
   
The conduct of these discussions would be started by asking permission from concerned governmental officials who, by the way, are expected to be of tremendous assistance to the project. Because of their power to make ordinances and push for legislation up to the national level, their help and support are very critical. Working to get their support should be laid this early.

To network with health organizations in other parts of the globe.

At this time, hypotheses and working framework of the project would have surfaced. It is necessary, therefore, to actively initiate networking with scholars, academic and research institutions, non-governmental organizations and individuals. The kind of communication to be had with these individuals and organizations is guided by the hypotheses and working framework, so that the information to be taken out of networking is one that is supportive of these projects objectives. An initial insight on how to expand and develop the project further could be taken out, also, from this activity.
To identify an expert who could be a partner to the project.

With project developments in the previous activity it is high-time for the project now to identify a foreign expert  from a US  institution who is very much into public health, communication and public campaign. This expert is expected to work in Costa Rica for some months to assess the outputs of the project, so far, and then to suggest ways on how to continue.

To conduct concept-focus and issue-specific discussion groups with the assistance of a foreign expert.

Another set of focus group discussions is needed at this time in order to put into operation the suggestions and proposed working activities of the invited expert. Focus group discussions could only be one but the invited foreign expert could suggest more creative and innovative ways on how to pursue the projects objectives, that it is necessary to be quite open about it at the moment.
To present findings to communities to be identified for validation.

The previous activity would bear out the answers to the objectives. The project now possesses clear ways on how to go about the projects objectives, specifically campaign activities that is sensitive to the peoples culture and tailored-fit in the local context of Costa Rica. However, the projects assessment and evaluation of the information and data that it has gathered so far is not enough. A validation from the community is needed to confirm the project staffs hypotheses and working frameworksmodels. The community validation is critical in bringing the project to another level of development. The community validation could be attended by various sectors representing Costa Ricas population.

The writing of final report.
The writing of the final report is achieved only after the community has validated the data and findings of the project. While writing requires only the project staff to work into it, frequent communication with the invited foreign expert and with the individuals and organizations that it has created a network with is needed. At this stage of the project, possible ways on how to campaign for the projects outputs can be taken from these networks. More importantly, there is a possibility for these networks to come up with simultaneous campaign in their own respective countries, thereby, adding impact to the projects goal.
Submission of final report to funding agency.

The report to be submitted to the funding agency is now a synthesis of all the efforts of the project staff and its network around the globe.

VI Expected results and evaluation
Based on the objectives of the proposed project, the following results are expected

A global network of scholars, academic departments, the public sector, non-governmental organizations, governmental organizations and individuals concerned on tobacco smoking will be established. The creation of this global network is significant in coming up with campaigns using several media, that are creative and innovative, to get the public to listen to the widespread negative effects of tobacco smoking and the risk shared by everyone out of health, environmental, social, cultural and political issues arising from it.

A compilation of data and information on the negative impacts of tobacco smoking, local and national that is, is generated. This document would be very essential in coming up with activities, later on, how to actively inform the public on the impact of tobacco smoking.

The staff of the project, physicians by profession, established competency in communication development and community development. They could be very good resource speakers later on following the work and experience they had on the project. Their role is critical in making public aware on the negative effects of tobacco smoking.

Basically, the final report to be submitted by the project could evaluate the success of the project. However, another dimension could be added to evaluation and, that is, if the project has written a clear communication campaign plan on how to realize the essential aims of the proposed project.

4. The output  of this project ill be compiled and publish either as a monograph or a full-blown book to enable a wider readership and to help in the intensification of informational campaign to make the public aware of the economic and health burden of tobacco use in their personal life and the country in general.

VII Budget

Item
Unit CostTotal CostFare

  Foreign Airfare
  Local Fare45,000

30,000
15,000Per diemAllowance

   Local staff
   Invited expert

30day x 10 mos. X 5 pax
200day x 3 mos. X 1 pax63,000

45,000
18,000Staff Honorarium

Invited expert
Local physicians
Assistants
Transcribers


3000 x 4 mos. X 1 pax
2000 x 12 mos. X 3 pax
800 x 12 mos. X 2 pax
 500 x 3 mos. 104,200

12,000
72,000
19,200
 1,000Supplies  Materials
    papers
    batteries
    printing of photos        5,500Rental

   Office space
   Computer  printer8,000

6,000
2,000Meetings
     Focus group discussions
     Regular staff meeting6,000Printing
     Regular monthly reports
     Data production
     Brochures and flyers3,000Communication
     Telephone
     Fax
     Internet access 2,500
Total237,200
5 Administrative Cost
11,860
Grand Total
249,060

Abstract
In the light of the ongoing financial morass that is affecting the United States and most of the countries across the globe, the event that an individual has been terminated, laid off or lost his employment due to the companies folding is not an uncommon scenario. With the global crisis seen to be far from over, many Americans will probably be out of work for a considerable amount of time. But a number of Americans have taken this opportunity to establish their own businesses or be self employed. How is this data interpreted as good or bad news in the light of the global credit crisis will be the topic of the paper.    

Odd Jobs a summary
News that there are Americans finally out of the unemployment market and finding means to support themselves is indeed welcome news to recession weary Americans. But the point in the article is that thought there are Americans finally finding work, is the amount of jobs being generated enough  In the recent Employment Situation Summary, it was shown that the American economy, one of the largest in the world, added only 1,000 payroll employment opportunities in December. What was declared was that the unemployment levels fell a paltry .2 percentage points from the figures a month back, from 5.9 percent falling to 5.7 in November (Daniel Gross, 2004). Is the formulas for determining unemployment the same

Methods of determining unemployment
In the report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the figures for unemployment is gathered by the use of two formulas. In the Establishment poll, the method collects data in a direct mode from the 400,000 companies, and then estimates the number of Americans on the payrolls of the companies. In the other method, the Household poll, which is based on the data given by 60,000 homes, this formula will show the number of working Americans, the difference of the two formulas creating the statistics on the rate of unemployment. The Household poll would show the actual number of Americans that are employed, working as a result of being self-employed or have become entrepreneurs as a result of being laid off, something that the Establishment, or payroll,  survey would not show since the latter would not show the number of entrepreneurs or self employed Americans (Gross, 2004).

The Need for an Alternative Formula
The statistics used in the number of those who are working, information on the employed and the unemployed are arrived at using the same principles used in determining the national figures from the Current Population Survey (New York State Department of Labor 2010). The statistics shown in the Household survey do not reflect the numbers in the non farm numbers that are based on the information from the monthly Current Employment statistics poll (New York, 2010).  In the use of the Household poll data, the equation also gives out other information, inclusive of the alternative measures of labor underutilization (Gross, 2004), crafted to examine the labor market from another viewpoint (Carola Cowan, 2009). It has been discovered that not all angles can be seen with the use of one particular statistics hence the Bureau of Labor Statistics has come up with six measures of underutilization, to be known as U-1 to U-6 (Cowan, 2009). The definitions for each category is seen in the table below

In the measurement of the total of employed and unemployed, the variations during the year display not only the prevailing weather patterns that repeat every year, but the trends in hiring and lay-offs that attend events such as the winter holidays or summer. To address the variations, seasonal adjustments are used to reconcile the differences the changes in employment on a per month basis , inclusive of the seasonal patterns and the dynamic economic conditions (United States Department of Labor-Bureau of Labor Statistics). In the definition of the International Labor Organization, or ILO, the following graph can be used as the definition and the means of calculating the unemployed

Market Structures
The four basic market structures we have studied are perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly and monopolistic competition properties are summarized in the table. The basic market structure that is under discussion in the current scenario is monopoly in a situation where Microsoft is allegedly breaking the anti-monopoly laws i.e. moving from a perfect competition situation to a monopoly where it has complete control over the internet software industry. As could be seen from the table there is no entry barriers in Perfect competition while there are entry barriers in monopoly. Microsoft was alleged of creating barriers in the industry by adding Internet Explorer to the Windows software pack. But looking at it in a different light it is just creating more competition and variety in the market. As everyone has perfect knowledge the competitors can also bundle their internet software with other operating systems. Thus if innovation decreases competition Microsoft was for sure doing it.

Consumer Behavior
Consumer behavior is the study of how consumers behave while buying. In the current scenario the consumer had full opportunity to download the competitor companys software from the internet. Internet Explorer did not stop those downloads. Consumer behavior depends on the service that is being provided to them. If consumer believed that the service that was being provided was not up to the mark they can switch as the competitor software was free to download on the internet.

Production Costs
Production cost theory states that the price of a certain product depends on the resources that were used to make it. In Microsofts case they were charged of giving the Internet Explorer free with Windows while money went in its development as explained by the definition of production costs therefore not selling Internet Explorer at the price it is being produced and decreasing competition in the market. But, in this situation all the competitive companies such as opera had there software online for free this was also equivalent to what Microsoft was doing. Hence, Microsoft could not alone be blamed for this.

International Trade
International Trade is the exchange of goods and services in between countries. It is similar to trade that takes inside the country only difference is that it is sometimes costly and time consuming. In the current scenario of Microsoft it did not violate any international trade laws by providing Internet explorer with windows because internet had narrowed the trade barriers to such a situation that most of the software was readily downloadable from the internet and as discussed before everyone has equal opportunity to download anything. Thus, Microsoft can not be blamed of exporting software that decreased the competitiveness of the overall world market.

The value of a commodity and how it is defined today has a long history of debate among brilliant minds. Early economists were often sought answers on what determines the price of goods and what the best measure of welfare is. Various theories of value were developed focusing on the cost associated in producing the commodity while others saw the utility derived from the consumption as the measure of value. This paper is an attempt to revisit the history of evolution of economic thought on what governs value according to Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, the Neoclassical School and John Maynard Keynes.

Adam Smith
Adam Smith maintained three theories on how value or the relative prices of goods are determined (Blaug, 19855). He spoke of value in terms of the amount of labour required to produce a commodity in his labour command theory of value (labour-commanded). He explains that The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it. Further, he provides a distinction between use-value and exchange-value of a commodity (Niehans, 1990). The use-value of a commodity is its utility which has little or no value in exchange. On the other hand, the exchange-value of a commodity, its price, with which this commodity exchanges for another commodity and which has no value in use. As explained by Smith

The value of any commodity, to the person who possesses it, and who means not to use or consume it himself, but to exchange it for other commodities, is equal to the quantity of labour which it enables him to purchase or command. Labour, therefore, is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities (Smith, Book 1, chapter V).

However, this concept of value of Smith is somewhat ambiguous, leading to what later be known as water-diamond paradox (Ekelund  Hebert, 1997). His example was a glass of water which has value in use but no value in exchange versus diamonds with no value in use but of great importance in exchange. His focus was on total utility of water which is greater than that of diamonds. It was not established then that the marginal utility is of the essence in consumption which eventually decreases as more and more of that commodity is consumed (Myint, 1946). The price or the value of a commodity depends not on its total utility but on its marginal utility. He was not able to neither solve the water-diamond paradox nor establish a relationship between use-value and exchange value.

Smiths second theory, labour cost theory of value (labour- embodied), provides that the exchange value or the price of a commodity in an economy which precedes both the accumulation of stock and the appropriation of land, the amount of labour is the only sound measure for acquiring different objects (Smith, Book 1, Chapter VI). Given this, the whole produce of the labourer belongs to himher and the amount of labour required in acquiring or producing any commodity is the only factor to consider in purchasing, commanding and exchanging it for.

Finally, Smiths cost of production theory or relative prices factor in the payments of wages, rents and profits.  According to him, labour is not the only thing to consider in putting a price in a commodity but also land and capital once most land in the country has become privatized. In his own words

The real value of all the different component parts of price, it must be observed, is measured by the quantity of labour which they can, each of them, purchase or command. Labour measures the value not only of that part of price which resolves itself into labour, but of that which resolves itself into rent, and of that which resolves itself into profit (Smith, Book 1, Chapter VI).

Karl Marx would later on call this as Smiths adding up theory of value (Myint, 1946).

David Ricardo
David Ricardo developed his theory of value mainly as a response to the controversial Corn Law (Niehans, 1990). Protectionist and many writers, chiefly Malthus, used Adam Smiths cost of production theory of value to argue that raising tariffs on the importation of grain would be beneficial to England. However, Ricardo advocated free international trade and tariff bans for English economic development. He wanted to prove that Adam Smith was wrong and that tariffs would reduce the rate of profits, implying slower rate of capital accumulation and growth. Further, he wanted to show the negative economic impact of the Corn Laws on the distribution of income and that the prevailing economic theory had nothing to say about income distribution.

Ricardo developed the Economic Value Theory by changing the focus from attempting to explain the forces that determine the relative prices of the good to the economic factors that causing the relative prices to change over time (Schumpeter, 1954). For him, only labour embodied theory of value or LTV made sense, i.e. the argument that the relative natural prices of commodities are determined by the amount of labour expended in production.  Prices, per se, do not correspond with value but to the relative amount of labour required in their production. He criticized Smiths labour commanded and adding up theories of value which embodied wages and thus income distribution. Ricardo maintained that value was independent of distribution.
Unlike Smith who could not merry the use value and the exchange value of commodity, Ricardo stated that the use value is necessary for the exchange value to exist (Ekelund  Hebert, 1997). In modern terminology, this means that a demand must exist to command a price. However, demandutility does not measure price but the scarcity and the amount of labour required to produce them. For scarce commodities, Ricardo maintained that his LTV would not be applicable and their value is wholly independent of the quantity of labour originally necessary to produce them, and varies with the varying wealth and inclinations of those who are desirous to possess them (Schumpeter, 1954).

Karl Marx
Karl Marx was profoundly influenced by Ricardos ideas and theories (Blaug, 1985). His Labor Theory of Value was in fact originated from Ricardo. But in contrast, his focus on the nature of value was intended to scratch beneath the surface of modern capitalist system of production and exchange. The fact that these are social institutions means that they have social consequences. Capitalism, founded on a principle of private ownership, has the owners of the means of production (factories, raw materials) dependant on wage labor to create profits. Marxs point is that the production of commodities is a social process, dependent on exploitation and giving rise to antagonistic relationships among classes, an idea that is not addressed at all in modern economics.

Marx provided a clear distinction between use value and exchange value but maintained that these two were vitally related (Schumpeter, 1954). The former means the usefulnessutilitysatisfaction which the possessor derived from utilization of the commodity. This is a subjective value, relative to use value of other things consumed. By exchange value, Marx means the power of the thing to command all other things in exchange for it.  Given that Marx was analyzing value in the context of a capitalist economy characterized by specialization and complex exchange system, he saw the evidence of not only the use value but exchange value of mass produced things.

Marx redefined Ricardos theory of value by stating that the value of a commodity was the social labor that was put in its production and such value could be measured by the quantity of the labor contained in it (Blaug, 1985). According to him, a commodity has value because it is a product of social labor. The greatness of its value, or its relative value, depends on how much social substance contained in it or the relative mass of labor necessary for its production. The relative values of commodities are, therefore, determined by the respective quantities or amounts of labor, worked up, realized, fixed in them. In this sense every commodity is a symbol of human toil.

Neoclassical School of Thought
The works of the above-mentioned economists belonged to the classical economics of the 18th and 19th century, who mainly focused on value theory and distribution theory (Niehans, 1990). The value of a product was thought to depend on the costs involved in producing that product and the explanation of costs was simultaneously an explanation of distribution. However, some economists begun diverting from these emphasis and started looking at the perceived value of a good to the consumer. They proposed a theory that the value of a product was to be explained with differences in utility. Economists began to explore the way that elements such as supply and demand affected price, and neo-classical economics gradually came into being.

The Neoclassical Economics was pioneered by William Stanley Jevons, Leon Walras and Carl Menger, promulgating the marginal utility revolution (Blaug, 1985). Specifically, Walras was more interested in the interaction of markets than in explaining the individual psyche through a self-gratifying psychology. Like Menger, his conception of utility was that of usefulness in general. Jevons saw his economics as an application and development of  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiJeremy_Bentham o Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Benthams utilitarianism and never had a fully developed  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiGeneral_equilibrium o General equilibrium general equilibrium theory. On the other hand, Menger emphasized disequilibrium and the discrete, explaining diminishing marginal utility in terms of subjective prioritization of possible uses. He had a philosophical objection to the use of mathematics in economics, while the other two modeled their theories after 19th century mechanics.

Other worth noting Neoclassical economists were Francis Ysidro Edgeworth and Wilfrido Pareto who embraced the idea of Walras that utility was the equivalent of energy in the equations of mid-nineteenth century physics along with his conclusion that economics had become a rigorously scientific discipline (Schumpeter, 1954).

John Maynard Keynes
More recent developments in Neoclassical economics were attributed mainly to John Maynard Keynes. He reacted to Walras view of economic actors as knowledgeable individuals in economic variables and existing in a wholly abstract realm where time in all of its real or actual dimensions does not exist (Ekelund  Hebert, 1997). Claiming that such was bias of Walras given his ideas borrowed from mathematical formalism of the mid-nineteenth century theory in physics. For Keynes, economic actors were motivated by animal spirits and irrational desires and inhabits an economic reality in which knowledge is always proximate and future outcomes are essentially indeterminate.

Despite this criticism, Keynes adapted Walras theory which described the whole capitalist system as a never ending cycle of production, circulation and consumption (Niehans, 1990). Looking at the big picture, for Keynes, the value of the produced (i.e. sum of costs of production and profit) was equal to the total of all income. As such, if an amount equal to the total income in society were spent on goods and services, then the value of production would be realized in sales. Money flowed from businesses to the general public in form of wages, salaries, rents, interests, and profits, then it would flow back to business as the general public bought goods and services with their earnings. If this happened (i.e. total income  total value of production) profits would then remain high, flow would be circular, and equilibrium would be maintained.

The theory of value encompasses a range of approaches to understanding how, why, and to what degree humans should value things. The classical economists believed that value is derived from the amount of labour (Ricardo) or from the sum of wage, profit and rent (Smith). Ultimately, their focus was on cost of production and on distribution of the produced. The neoclassical economists, on the other hand, neoclassical economists emphasized that value is from peoples utilitysatisfaction from consuming goods and services. Keynesian economics argued that value of a commodity was equal to the total income.

It is normal that there are times when it is peak time and there are some other times when it is off peak. Due to this shift, there are usually some changes that take place in industries which are affected. Taking for instance the electricity industry, it happens that electricity is a very crucial commodity in our day to day life. It is used in domestic and also in industrial productions. There are times when electricity is in high demand and since it follows the normal demand and supply curve, it there are chances when this happens there will be peak-load pricing. Peak load pricing simply means that people are given electricity in different times of the day. (Kolstad, 1999)

This has an advantage in that all the people are served with electricity for some time within the day. The schedule is designed in a way that most of the people are served with electricity at the time they need it most.  However, there is also a disadvantage in that while there is a shift in the supply of electricity, a lot of resources are wasted because of the absence of power in the region for some time. This makes people to turn to other forms of energy for their survival if they can. However, there are others such as big industries which cannot soft to other forms of energies and to them, peak load pricing results to a total loss. (Kolstad, 1999)

A framework in which a deposit-refund system can work efficiently is the case where a system is designed which would collect all the used cans. To motivate people to forward their cans, there should be some money that should be given to all those people who give out their cans. Alternatively, people should be charged for the containers so that they can return the containers to get refund. In addition, all goods should be packed in containers that need to be returned. A good example is the case with some containers that are used to pack refreshments. Some of these refreshments are packed in bottles which are returned after use. If this is the case that happens in all the liquids that are packed, then, the deposit-refund system would be said to work more efficiently. (Kolstad, 1999)

1. Terms of references
The aim of entering to any contract by a company is to make profits. However Our company responsibility doesnt end there but also in ensures that our company produces some high-quality services to our customers.  This report looks at the different clauses in the contract as well as the maximum quantity to carried from each loading port base on the ships design, cost per tone of Cargo, time charter equivalent and the number of shipment required to deliver the goods. Aside from financial analysis, there are also criterias that do not make use of the numerical assessment because there are other components in the success of a delivery that has nothing to do with the numbers of any kind at all.

2. Methodology
Transport plays a crucial role in the development of any economy. This is because of the need to move capital goods, raw materials and labor from one place to the other in the course of wealth distribution.  The data used in this case has been provided and excel spread sheet played an important role in calculating the necessary figures.

This report only tries to provide an outline on how we should estimate value of the contract and techniques used in estimating this value. In this report I will only depend on data provided, may increase the cost of the report to a great extent. For this reason the first important step is to find out the sources of number of tones to deliver and the number of shipment required.

3. FINDINGS

3.1 Maximum quantity of Iron From the excel appendix the maximum quantity of iron that can be carried from each port is 44,839 tones (excel appendix).

Managers also use Maximum quantity analysis to guide other decisions, many of them strategic decisions. Consider a decision about which features to add to an existing Ship. Maximum quantity analysis helps managers make this decision by estimating the expected Maximum quantity that can be carried at any given time with ships at their hands. Maximum quantity analysis also helps managers decide how much to advertise, whether to expand into new markets, and how to price the product.
Strategic decisions invariably entail risk. Maximum quantity analysis evaluates how operating income will be affected if the original predicted data are not achieved. Evaluating risk affects other strategic decisions a company might make.

3.2 Cost per tone of cargo the cost per 33.68. This figure has been calculated in excel after considering total tonnage, fuel costs and other relevant costs. This method of costing influences charges to the customer. The lower the Cost per tone of cargo relative to the price customers pays for it, the deal do we get. We should understand Cost per tone of cargo as it will help us  prices that make the services attractive to customers while maximizing our operating incomes. In computing the Cost per tone of cargo for a pricing decision we must consider all relevant costs in all value. Although Cost per tone of cargo certain amount of indirect costs but these cannot be directly attributed to the unit from which it had originated. So the company devises a formula of allocating this cost to each unit based on units revenue producing capability. There is no set criterion to allocate indirect cost to different units and it varies from business to business. This allocation of indirect costs is discretionary and could create distortion in evaluating the performance of a manager. So in order to help manager accountable for results they are evaluated on the basis of operation under their direct control.

3.3 Time charter equivalent is 13,644

3.4 Number of shipment required is 21 from port Isdemir and 18 shipments from port Ponta da Madeira. This will signify the number of trips that will be made during the contract from both ports.

3.5 Charter contractual obligation will include
To accept and carry goods of any person on payment of the reasonable charges for hire, provided there is room in the ship. But he is not bound to transport such goods as he does not profess to carry or those exposing him to extraordinary risk.

To carry goods in his customary manner without unnecessary delay or deviation. If the goods face unavoidable deterioration in the course of transit, he can act as an agent of necessity in disposing of them at the available market price. But he can make this sale of necessity only where it is not possible to obtain proper instructions from the owner of the goods. The same rule applies to common carrier by sea.
To deliver the goods on the completion of the transit to the consignee within a reasonable time. Where he causes unnecessary delay, he may be liable to pay damages unless the delay is inevitable due to some unforeseen circumstances.

To deliver the goods to the right person at the right place. If a carrier delivers goods to the wrong person, he
will be liable in case he departed from the ordinary course of business practices.

We are insurer of goods accepted by us for onward journey and is liable to make good all loss or damage whether caused by his negligence or not. The rule, however, is subjected to the following exceptions
He is not liable  if the loss or damage is due to an act of God
He is not liable for loss which arises from inherent defects in the goods carried.

He is not liable for loss caused directly through negligence of the consignor e.g. through defective or improper packing.  The carriers duties or liabilities can be varied, limited or extinguished by introducing exempt clauses to this effect in the agreement.

Contracts of affreightment take two forms (1) charter-parties and (2) bill of lading. Therefore the people who assisted will be assisting the owner of the ship (Lorange, 2005).

A charter party is a contract whereby a ship owner agrees to place his ship or part of it at the disposal of the charter for the conveyance of goods for the duration of one or more voyages or for a definite period of time in consideration of a sum called the freight.

Charter-party by way of demise or lease in this type of contract, the charter becomes the temporary owner of the ship and becomes responsible to third parties for the acts of master and crew. While in a charter-party contract the master and the crew remain the servants of the ship owner, and the charter does not incur any liability of their acts.

Forms of charter-party
The forms of charter parties vary according to the custom of trades, but the main stipulations usually included in are the following
The name and the description of the ship owner, and the charterer and the facts of their agreement.
The position of the ship at the date of signing of the charter-party that she will be in a particular port by the stated time. The breach of this condition entitles the charterer to repudiate the contract and to claim damages.

The measurement of the ship as indicated by its registered tonnage. This is indicated by the cubic measurement of the ship and has no reference to actual weight( Lorange, 2005).

Bill of landing
A bill of landing is an important document from a legal point of view and has the following three characteristics

It is a receipt given by the carrier for the goods specified therein.
It is a document by their ship owner or on his behalf which states that certain goods have been shipped on a particular ship. It also sets out the terms on which goods have been delivered to and received by the ship.
It is a document of title to the goods themselves and the lawful holder of it can transfer the property in the goods by delivery and endorsement. This similarity between the bill of lading and a negotiable instrument leads the students to treat it as a negotiable instrument, which is not a correct conclusion because the transferee of a bill of lading takes it subject to title of the transferor. Thus, if the transferors have obtained the bill of lading through fraud or theft, the successive transferees do not obtain good title.

SHIP OWNERS LIEN
As a carrier, the ship owner has a right of lien on the goods carried for the freight and other charges. The right of exercising lien is available as long as the goods are on the ship or in the control of the master of the ship. There is no lien where the freight has been paid in advance or when freight has been agreed to be paid on or after delivery.

4. Conclusion
 Contacts of affreightment determine the consideration that will be paid specific performance. This is the most critical part of any sea transport since it will be responsible for revenue generation for the company. The companys services are distinct and differentiated from other competitors also implying that the customers do not have many varieties to choose from (Lorange, 2005).

5. Recommendation
5.1. At beginning company accept the contract it will increase profitability to our company
5.2. If the company takes up the contract we should consider the cost of each tone of Cargo.
5.3. The price set price for the contract at the moment will depend sole on the performance in the market.
5.4 The price should be above the cost of production to make a profit.

Companies are facing different decision-making scenarios everyday. They may be faced with dilemmas which may come in the form of the need for manpower diminution, acquisition of new machines or facilities or the demand for a more aggressive marketing campaign. In order to address any concern, it is essential for the top management to employ systematic, well-thought of and appropriate actions. One tool that is highly recommended to employ specifically for decision-making scenarios is the Cost-Benefit Analysis.

Cost-Benefit analysis (CBA or BCA) is a technique used to assess the viability of implementing a certain project or proposal quantitatively. The history of cost-benefit analysis may be traced in an 1848 article by Dupuit which featured the application of this tool in a proposed federal waterway infrastructure which was found successful and was subsequently applied in other infrastructure projects. This tool provides quantitative results of each of the investment options being considered, which in turn will allow the analyst to rank each of those options from the most beneficial to the least. It entails computation of a Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) by dividing the quantified expected benefits of each of the investment options by the expected costs or expenses for each of the options.

This decision-making tool is widely used by the government to assess the feasibility in terms of cost-effectiveness of implementing different alternatives. The initial aim of this tool was to compare the expected output of each of the alternatives as compared to the current scenario, or the status quo. Over the years, experts in the use of this tool had discovered and devised methods to expand the use of this tool and apply in various scenarios. Furthermore, the theory behind this tool had been developed. It no longer limits its variables with the outright and expected costs and benefits. It evolved its theory to consider other variables such as inflation rates and cost of money.

In using this tool, it is important that the foundation or the principle behind the tool is properly established, that is, an accurate list of assumptions must be established. This means that the expected costs such as purchase price, training expenses, interruption costs and the benefits relative to it which includes but are not limited to revenue, sales and increased efficiency are properly computed for or quantified. The accuracy of the said assumptions minimizes the risk of erroneous decision-making.

The cost-benefit analysis is a useful tool in making decisions about major capital projects because of the following benefits it can provide to decision-makers

Cost-Benefit Analysis is an unbiased method to decide which investment option to pursue.
Since this tool is highly quantitative, the results are accurate and are impartial. Furthermore, since this is backed-up by quantitative data, there is no need for extreme scrutiny in defending the selected investment option to pursue. The tools end result is a numerical value which can be interpretation or explained outright.

Cost-benefit analysis immediately eliminates infeasible options.
In any decision-making scenario, it is important to brainstorm all possible options which can be considered in order to address a certain concern. It is also important that all possible angles of the problem be studied and be devised with a possible solution. The cost-benefit analysis serves as a mesh that screens viable options from those that are not.

In computing for the Benefit Cost ratio, all investment options with ratio less than one (1) are immediately removed from the list as these are foreseen as unprofitable venture options. All the options with Benefit Cost Ratio greater than one (1) are furthermore scrutinized.

The cost-benefit analysis allows comparison and ranking of the different investment options quickly and accurately.

From the short-listed options, the options are arranged based on increasing Benefit Cost ratio. The investment option with the highest Benefit Cost ratio is expected to be the most profitable and viable option.

The cost-benefit method does not only apply to the evaluation of capital projects.

The cost-benefit analysis was initially used in infrastructure projects. The concept emerged and was applied in acquisition issues such as purchase or a new machine or addition of a new production line. This tool is versatile as it can also be applied in various evaluation scenarios, not related to investment projects. Management may also apply this tool in decision-making scenarios which involve retrenchment concerns, business expansions, and implementation of a new process.

This can also be applied in any business scale, may it be on a small-scale business or a large-scale business.

The cost-benefit method provided basis for post-analysis.

Cost-benefit analysis does not stop once the decision-makers had chosen their investment option. Upon implementation of such, the cost-benefit can also serve as a tool to review or look back and assess the performance of the chosen option. From it, a decision-maker may understand which of the variables vary, which of the benefits and costs are highly sensitive to dependent variables.

Furthermore, the cost-benefit tool may also be used when studying and expansion of a certain investment.

The cost-benefit analysis is easy to apply and understand.

This tool is highly theoretical in nature. Furthermore, the results are self-explanatory.

I firmly believe that the cost-benefit method is an extremely useful tool to use when making decisions on capital projects. It provides confidence in the results because it requires accurate date and is highly quantitative in nature. Furthermore, it is quick and easy to use and more importantly, easy to understand.

Several companies, as well as government institutions, had used and had enjoyed the results of the cost-benefit analysis. Take the case of Blackwell Publishing Limited, one of the worlds leading society publishers. It had partnered with at least six hundred (600) academic and professional societies and has production facilities in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Japan. As it envisions itself to expand its production and distribution in the East, it used Cost-Benefit Analysis to examine the feasibility of such, as well as, the area where it can build its facility. It chose three different Oriental countries  China, Malaysia and Singapore. These countries were short-listed from the other Eastern countries as these are where they can not only penetrate more suppliers and customers but also operate at the least cost. After careful study, the company decided to establish a new production and distribution facility in Singapore. This is because the area offers an optimistic opportunity for a new venture because of its strategic location.

While Cost-Benefit Analysis is a highly beneficial tool used by the management in decision-making, it is but advised that management does not fully rely on the results of the said decision-making tool. It is also suggested that other decision-making methods such as the net present value analysis (NPV) or the breakeven analysis and other similar tools be used to sensibly picture out the implementation of a certain option. The cost-benefit analysis only looks at the viability in terms of the benefit to be extracted from the implementation of a certain option. Other management tools will illustrate not only the performance but also the cash flow needed for the implementation of such.

A monetary transmission mechanism is said to be a way which can lead to the transmission of real and monetary shocks of a countrys economy to another through monetary channels involving interest rates. These mechanisms can have a negative or positive effect on Nigerias economy which produces crude oil.

Mechanisms Affecting Monetary Policy
Monetary value can affect the level of investment in a country. Monetary policy works by creating influence on the economys demand and a low influence on supply. This policy determines the money value of goods and services. Central bank has the power to determine a specific interest rate in the financial market as it is the only bank that supplies base money. The central bank in England operates the same as all other banks in other countries although the details in the banks structure may differ depending on the country. The central bank plays the role of choosing the prices it will lend to institutions in the private sector. Banks in UK use the official rate. Nigerias central bank is said to operate the same as Englands and it also uses the official rate. Interest rates are said to be of two types, short term and long-term. Change in short term interest rates can be transmitted to other financial market rates and other rates which are considered to be short term like interbank deposits. When Nigerias official rate changes, it makes the other banks in the country to adjust their lending rates by an equal amount to the policy changes. This has an impact on the interest rates that the countrys banks charge their customers for loans and overdrafts. The same rise of rates causes rates on mortgages to go up or down. This same effect is also transmitted to people who have banked their savings.

Long term interest rates are also affected by monetary policy whereby a rise in official rate can lead to low expectations in future interest rates. All these effects lead to banks in the country offering little funds to their customers causing the country to be unable to invest in its oil plants. The rise of interest rates affects firms and people in the country in several ways. For example, the rise in rates reduces companies profits and leads to a decrease in the capital that firms require for new investments and this will make it difficult for the country to start new projects. The rise in interest rates will also affect the financial cost the country needs to hold its inventories as this cost is financed through bank loans. The high interest cost will also make it hard for oil plants to hire employees they will instead have to employ new methods like reducing employment opportunities and maybe hours worked. Low interest rates are an advantage to firms as they enable firms to hire more employees, be able to finance projects in new plants and buy equipment cheaply. High interest costs also affect the countrys citizen thus forcing them to reduce on their spending.

Monetary policy also affects the exchange rate. Exchange rate is said to be the relation between the price of domestic and foreign money and it depends on monetary conditions from domestic prices and foreign prices. A rise in the official rate makes the domestic currency to appreciate in foreign exchange markets and a fall in the official rate makes the domestic currency to depreciate. The fall in the exchange rate is due to Nigerias interest rates being higher compared to interest rates on foreign currency assets. This makes the Nigerian currency to be more attractive to investors from foreign countries. Increase in the exchange rate causes the countrys population to change from using goods produced in their own country to buying goods from foreign countries. This results in the countrys oil plant to have little demand for its products leading to poor sales or profits or the country being unable to invest in new plants. (Smal, 2001).

The country can also experience shock from the bank lending channel when the central bank limits the amount of funds it releases to fund the country. Bank lending channels operates when there is improper information between the bank and the suppliers of the capital needed. Due to this improper information, banks are unable to compensate the decrease of deposits which comes as a result of the tightening of the monetary policy with other sources of money. This leads to a low supply of capital thus making the country unable to invest in its oil plant. This lack of investment causes a low supply of oil in the country or causes plants to close down. The oil companies are forced to make their prices high creating inconveniences to the citizens thus the citizens are forced to look for other sources of energy.

Asset price mechanism can be another source of problem to the government as it affects the countrys prices on bonds and shares in the countrys stock exchange. Changes in the official rate will affect the market value of securities like bonds and equities. When it comes to bonds, their prices are said to be inversely related to the long term interest rate. A rise in long-term interest rates makes the prices of bonds to go down and a low interest rate makes the prices of bonds to rise. If all other things are held constant (expectation on inflation), higher interest rates are said to lower the prices of equities. Higher rates will also have an impact on the people in the country because they lower the value of assets and this leads to low wealth among people in the country. This causes people to reduce their spending so as to cater for the price increase. The high rates will also increase the cost of purchasing houses and make the housing sector to have low demand. The oil companies in the country will not be able to invest because they have to pay more so as to get housing for their businesses. People in the country will become poor due to high costs in housing and they will also reduce on borrowing. (Kuttner, 2002)

A balance sheet is used to balance the financial information of the country. This includes credits and asset values. It is important as it determines the countrys economic growth. If a country has a well balanced sheet then it will have a good economic growth as it shows its interest rate to be low. Central bank maintains a balance sheet of all the money it has given out. This sheet is used to monitor the amount the bank has given to the country. (Kuttner, 2002)

When the countrys policy on interest rates changes, it can cause influence in the expectations and confidence people have on the growth of the economy. These changes mostly affect people who are in the finance market and other sectors of the economy. This includes changes in expected future labour income, cases of unemployement, sales and profits. An increase in rate could be interpreted as a sign of growth in the economy. This will make the expectations people have about the growth of the economy high and positive. People will also have more confidence. This will enable more oil firms to invest. An increase in rate can also be interpreted as a signal that the countrys economy needs slow growth so as to hit the inflation target. This interpretation will make people have low expectation about the future growth of the economy and low confidence. This will make the firms to have little investments or no investments at all hence losses to the company. The countrys population will also have to reduce their spending power due to a low supply of oil products.  (Kuttner, 2002)

Financial Crisis Effect
The financial crisis of the year 2007 and 2008 has been transmitted into the energy sector through a number of transmission mechanisms. This includes high prices on goods, problems in financing investments and flow of remittance. The crisis is as a result of lack of enough regulations in the banks and other financing bodies. This crisis has faced both developed and underdeveloped countries.

This crisis has caused a reduction in the amount of goods exporters and manufactures are allowed to export or manufacture hence a big disadvantage to oil exporting countries. The crisis has also caused energy prices to go down which is a disadvantage to countries producing oil because they have low sales which make them to have limited investments. The countries importing oil have an advantage as they have increased their demand due to low prices. It has also affected the exchange rate of developing countries as currency positions in many countries have been reversed. The crisis has also caused investors in developing countries to withdraw their efforts making the underdeveloped countries to have limited capital for their investments. This has led to many firms closing down or experiencing low production.

Wind Energy
Renewable energy sources have been viewed as the alternative sources of energy by countries that dont have enough investments in crude oil. This is because they are cheap compared to the cost of oil in a country facing limited supply and the country can finance them on their own without asking for help from external sources. This has made these energy sources not prone to monetary policy impact crude oil. Energy sources like wind have an advantage in that they try to reduce global warming which is as a result of producing or releasing carbon dioxide into the air. Mining places release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the air thus causing global warming which affects a countrys environment. Countries should look for other sources of energy apart from crude oil and electricity. Sources like wind affects the surrounding community due to the noises produced. Being an international company does not guarantee one to invalidate the monetary policy for the company. This is because all companies are considered equal by the central bank when it comes to financial policy and the companies are said to have fixed and tight rates on the exchange of money. The monetary policy does not allow any country to have dominant leadership in money transfer. This is to reduce the effect of financial crisis that can be brought about by one country being the leader. Monetary policy allows all countries to have an equal chance of making decisions concerning policing and all policies are implemented fairly to ensure all developed and undeveloped countries have money for development. The financial crisis experienced in 200708 was partly because of some countries dominating the market and causing inconveniences as the countries provided financial aid to developing countries.

Conclusion
So for Nigerias investments to be successful, it should have its monetary policy well regulated as this can affect the countrys economy negatively or positively. A good monetary policy will enable the country to have enough supply to meet the citizens demand. The interest rate being the biggest channel through which monetary policy influences a countrys economy and other rates it should be kept low so that the country can have high investment and employment.

The factors affecting the U.S. economy is examined to explain why the GDP growth was not as it was expected. There were both external and internal factors that affected the slowdown in the U.S. economy. The massive bail out of the American government for its failed financial institutions resulted in tremendous debt obligations to foreign governments. These debt levels are unprecedented and they are reaching a critical point where it might not be palatable for foreign entities already to support the debt consumption of the American economy. The consumer behavior of the American country itself is also another major loophole that needs to change immediately. The large trade deficit the country is experiencing is due to the excessive spending and consumption of American citizens even beyond their capacity to pay for. They are transferring their wealth to other nations with their excessive buying attitude. The American businesses also need to regain their competitiveness which they have lost to their counterparts. This is especially true for the auto and other manufacturing industries based including the software industry. They are under attack either from China or Indias competitive business organization.

Macro Economic Factors affecting the U.S.
One of the reasons why the dollar is weakening is primarily due to the excessive amounts of debts that the U.S. government has started. Although they did this with the good intention to save major financial institutions from collapse, the consequences of doing so has resulted in this situation. The GDP level is exceeded by the debt that the American economy has asked from various foreign debtors. Although the decision was indeed important to save millions from hunger and unemployment, the decay of one of the worlds most respected currency is now literally starting to lose favor in the eyes of many. This is evidenced by the movements of smart investor into buying gold, commodities and stocks with multinational operations. All of these are in preparation for the devaluation that is expected to come.

Another factor that pushes the American economy further down the slope is the spending habits of the average American citizen. The trade deficit of the country has already created more than it can produce in income as a nation. The debt pile from other nations is getting bigger and bigger than ever. The only way to reverse this unwelcome situation is to reverse the behavior of the American consumer themselves. People have to be more frugal on their spending habits.

The American public should spend their time more on working and creating businesses and products that will generate more revenue for their country, (Clifford 2009). The trade deficit stemmed from the behavior of American public that they can afford to keep on buying cheap goods from the rest of the world as their credit is very good and everyone is more than willing to lend them the money needed for it.

Another considerable factor in the decrease of the American economys productivity is the very fact that their costs associated with operating a business are very high. It is no secret that everybody is outsourcing these days to lower labor costs countries. American based multinational companies can benefit from these outsourced operations but they cant possibly outsource all of their operations totally. The best example for this is China. The reason why they have dominated the manufacturing sector in almost all products is because of the fact that they can produce equally or superior products at a fraction of the cost. The resulting unemployment and irrelevance of the American work force stems both from lack of training in new technologies as well as the high costs of salary, (Izzo 2010). There is no way that American businesses can compete effectively with their Asian counterparts is the labor force is already expensive and redundant.

This study is an analysis of competition laws in the US economy.  The United States economy is primarily a market economy in which the prices of services and goods are determined by the forces of demand and supply in a freely regulating price system. As such, enterprises are free to innovate and produce products that give them a competitive advantage in the market. However, the production and innovation by specific enterprises should not inhibit the ability of competitors to access the market through abusive practices such as predatory pricing, price gouging, tying etc. In order to establish a platform for ensuring fair play and fair competition by businesses, the US government has established the competition law, normally referred to as the antitrust law that seeks to further healthy business operations by protecting small businesses from extinction by other businesses due to practice of unfair business practices such as the formation of cartels or any involvement by businesses in transactions that may threaten a healthy competitive business environment.

The aim of this analysis is to scrutinize the anti trust law, especially with regard to United States vs. Microsoft in the Microsoft antitrust trial in which a set of civil actions were consolidated and filed against the company in May, 1998. The suit was filed in pursuance of Sherman Antitrust Act.  To aid in the analysis, current micro and macro economics trends will be analyzed, market structures, consumer behavior, production costs, and international trade will be examined and the role of the US government in a laissez faire market economy will be analyzed. In addition, the impact of technological trends on businesses will be addressed. Based on the analysis, a comprehensive argument will be presented to support (government or Microsoft) position in the trial which was one of the biggest investigations of antitrust behavior since the turn of the century.

The first potential scenario for costs in the auto industry is for them to benefit from the freedom given by steering away from oil based fuel engines. The move by GM to develop plug-in type of vehicles will be very important in determining the sensitivity of America and the rest of the world into the fluctuations of oil supply. We are all affected by the constant surges in oil prices as their demand and supply is literally the basis why the industrial world keeps on going.

Environmental politics and related concerns regarding carbon emissions have heightened sensitivity to gas mileage standards and environmental protection worldwide (Wikipedia, 2010).

This is understandable as there was a lot of pressure from both society and the political arena to shift from the petroleum based engines.

The second scenario would be the increased attractiveness of the American auto products since the dollar would be devalued. The U.S. has run a massive current account deficit, borrowing money from abroad in order to maintain adequate levels of investment at home will result in the weakening of the dollar one way or the other (Harrison, 2008). The end prices will be cheaper in the eyes of foreign buyers but it would mean tougher times for the American citizen. All auto companies would probably shift the majority of the production plants abroad as they already are with very minimal presence in their home country. Only sales and marketing would probably remain in the American territory to drastically reduce the overhead costs for employees.

There is a chance however that the dollar might depreciate terribly to the point where there is no more advantage if the auto companies are going to base their operations abroad. Even though, our countrys economic position in the world is weakening as pointed out a motley fool article by hanson, (Hanson, 2006) there is really no way to tell whether the chances of a permanently dollar will sink deep enough to the level of third world countries. The technology as well as operational efficiency should be the main concern of American based auto companies to compete well in the world market and even in their local territory.

The best thing that Big Drive dealership should do is to start phasing out the inefficient vehicle models already. They should do everything to eliminate these in their inventory and take in more fuel efficient cars in response to the rising gas prices and changing consumer tastes. The intake of new models however should be very minimal as there are a lot of technologies still in the making that will enter the market as soon as they reach full development. There are a dozen possible fuels that vehicles can have depending on the decision of their manufacturer.

The automobile industry simply can no longer rely on oil to supply 98 percent of the worlds automotive energy requirements (Blanco, 2009) shows that the auto industry will have to shift radically to something else. The Big Drive dealership should prepare for this inevitable change.

A common skill required would obviously be in dealing with batteries. Even if the type of fuel would change, another skill that would come in handy in servicing cars would be the electrical knowledge of the circuitry involved with the fuel either liquid type or hydrogen and stored fuel cells. These are the areas that the auto dealership needs to prepare and watch out for. The current situation on a macro level guarantees that there will be several and unpredictable upheavals in the auto industry. The technological paradigm shift will cause these massive changes that have not been seen since the time that automobiles were invented.

The real side of the economy (often termed as real economy) is the physical side of the economy dealing with the goods, services and resources.  It is concerned with using the resources to produce goods and services which are used to meet the demands of the public and government. In real economy we study how the factors of production (i.e. Labor, Capital and Technology) are being used which directly affects the output of an economy (Peterson, Lewis,  Jain, 2007). It measures the aggregate supply of goods and services produced by the economy. Real side of the economy is majorly governed by the industries such as auto manufacturing, steel, shipbuilding, textiles, electronics and logistics.

Real side of the economy depends on how efficiently labor and capital are used to produce the goods and services. This efficiency is the measure of the level of technology used by the economy in producing the goods and services. The real economy is also affected by the changes in size and quality of capital stock through investment and labor force available for production.

While analyzing the real side of the economy our primary focus is on the real interest rates, real wages and
real output of the economy.

Nominal Side of the Economy
The nominal side of the economy deals with the total demand of the final goods and services produced in an economy. The demand of the goods and services is driven by the money at hand. The primary demand creator for the goods and services are households who spend their disposable incomes at hand. This side of the economy plays important role determining the price level for the goods and services.
In analyzing the nominal side of the economy our focus is on the nominal factor prices such as wages and price levels which adjust to ensure market equilibrium and are determined by the supply factors and demand for factors (determined by the price level and the technology)

Effects of Financial Crisis on Real and Nominal Sides of the Economy

Financial Crisis
A financial crisis is a crisis that originates in the financial markets of the economy. These financial markets are stock market, commodity market and other money markets. The first negative effect of the financial crisis is bore by the players in financial markets i.e. commercial banks, other financial intermediaries such as depository institutions, housing finance companies, lease financiers and other non-banking financing institutions (Dornbush, Fischer,  Startz, 2007).

Link of Financial Markets with Real and Nominal side of Economy
In a free economy these financial intermediaries play an important role in for the demand side and the supply side of the output of the economy. For demand side they provide loans to individuals for personal consumptions (such as car loans, housing loans etc.) and for the supply side they provide loans to corporate houses which invest the money in buying capital and building new projects which helps in further boosting up the output of the economy.

This fine connection of the financial intermediaries makes it inevitable that any financial crisis affects both real economy and the nominal side of the economy. In a financial crisis the liquidity is dried up and banks and other financial intermediaries run for their available liquidity options to survive themselves in the market (sometime with the help of government) consequently resulting in to lesser money lent for personal consumption and new projects. The lesser money lent to the households results in lesser demands for goods and services in the economy. The lesser the demand, lesser the production of factors, eventually, leading to the lower profits (often losses) of the industries. This affects the job market too, in which unemployment level rises suddenly due to jobs cuts by the industries to minimize their costs as an effort to minimize their overall losses.

This shows that industries bear the brunt of the financial from two sides first they have lesser access to the finances due to dried liquidity in the financial markets and second, the demand of their factors also comes down. In these situations government steps up and takes measures to increase the aggregate demand by available fiscal policies. These policy measures can be either tax cuts or increased government spending in infrastructural projects. Usually a developing economy has more scope for government spending through spending in infrastructural investment however, for a developed economy like U.S. the tax cut and other excise rate cuts are the only feasible options available. The government also tries to use monetary policies to uplift the liquidity position by interest cuts.

Current Financial Crisis
The current financial crisis is an example of how financial crisis can lead up to the crisis real side of the economy. This crisis started in the financial markets of the U.S. which led to the bankruptcy of leading financial institution and then eventually spreading its aftereffects in to the real economy and affecting automobile sector, textiles and other industries severely. This crisis has resulted in the waning consumer and business confidence. The global unemployment in the formal sector has risen to 6.5 in 2009, which is a total of 210 million people out of work, and 77 million in workers in developing countries to be pushed into poverty.

The governments from across the world have taken steps to prevent this crisis into becoming a long lasting labor market crisis. Many economic recovery packages are targeted at the real economy to stimulate demand, such as cutting taxes and boosting government spending, targeting infrastructure development, spending on education and health etc.