Vocabulary !!
Retail Price Index (RPI)- An inflationary indicator that measures the changes in the cost of a fixed basket of retail goods.
loan- An arrangement in which a lender gives money or property to a borrower, and the borrower agrees toreturn the property or repay the money, usually along with intrest, at some future points in time. Usually, there is a predetermined time for repaying a loan, and generally the lender has to bear the risk that the borrower may not repay a loan (though modern capital markets have developed many ways of managing this risk).
Interest- The return earned on an investment.
http://www.investorwords.com/2531/interest.html
http://www.investorwords.com/2858/loan.html
http://www.investorwords.com/4331/RPI.html
Since the latest rise in inflation, graduates and students will have to face the increases on the student loans in England. Nearly three hundred million students will be affected by this rise in inflation because they will not be able to afford to go to college especially since they know they will have a great amount of debt to pay as they graduate and have been educated. The Student Loans Company has reset the intrest rate which will be in effect on September 1,2010 as the level of RPI has risen in March 2010. The intrest rate has risen up to 4.4%. Depending on when the loan was taken out it can be different from person to person. For example if the loan was taken out befor ethe year 1998, then the intrest is set at the RPI in March. This means the people with these loans are now paying minus 0.4% interest after RPI. As a result of the RPI turning negative for the first time in fifty years in March 2009, but they should expect to start paying interest in September 2010. The changes have not yet been confirmed because the government needs to set the rates formally. The student loans system went into crisis last year, since the students facing delays in getting their advances. This was after the Student Loans Company took over the processing of all England's student applications for grants and loans for the academic year 2009-10 from local authorities. I predict that in order to restore our economy, the US would not increase the intrest rate on student loans. I think that would be completely foolish to do since people will still have no money to pay off four consectutive years of schooling debt. That is part of the problem that we have had from people taking out loans that they could not afford. I think that a college education should be super expensive becasue now is a time where unskilled workers are unable to find jobs to survive and to keep our economy stimulated. Where as if we had a lot of people will skills or an education then we would be able to maintain our complicated economy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8634820.stm
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
"Government borrowing less than forecast"
vocabulary :)
VAT- Value Added Tax. A consumption tax which is levied at each stage of production based on the value added to the product at that stage.
chancellor- The British cabinet minister responsible for finance
public sector-The part of the economy concerned with providing basic government services.
http://www.investorwords.com/5230/VAT.html
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
http://www.investorwords.com/3947/public_sector.html
In February, the UK government borrowed £12.4bn which was less than economists had expected, they expected the UK's borrowing in the current financial year to amount up to £178bn. As of now it only reached £131.9bn which is significantly fewer than the earlier forecast. The Office for National Statistics said that the overall effect of the latest changes to historical data for the year had cut overall borrowing for 2009 and 2010 by £2.9bn. Despite the changes and the better-than-expected figure for the month of February, government borrowing is at a record's high for the current year. The reason for this is because of the reduced tax receipts since their economy is growing slowly. Economists had worried that the borrowing figure would be much worse and damaging to the economy since the VAT has risen in the beginning months of this year. The unemployment rate has started to decrease and as a result the government is paying less in beneifts. Jonathan Loynes at Capital Economics has said that the figures has giving Chancellor Darling to stay ahead of the game and be prepared for Wednesdays budget. Economist,Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight suggests that, "Mr.Darling could significantly undershoot the £178bn public sector borrowing requirement that he forecast for 2009/2010 in last December's pre-Budget report." The UK's debt is similar to others however, they increased their borrowing during the downturn of the economy at a much faster rate than its competitors. The Chancellor promises to ultimately divide in half the budget deficit within the next four years he thinks it is to risky to do it all now and it will harm any hopes they have to get themselves from a recession. The Conservatives feel that this is should be done more quickly. The European Union thinks that halving the deficit is not enough. EU rules say government deficits must be below 3% of GDP, but the UK's deficit is expected to hit 12.6% of GDP this year. the UK debt levels have also led to concerns in recent months that the UK could lose its AAA credit rating that is reserved for the very safest borrowers. But earlier this week, Moody's agency said the UK's top rating was secure. I predict that after futher considerations of the budget and timing will be closely paid attention too and decisions will be made quickly to act now instead of pacing it over four years. I think they will gain confidence since they already over estimated that the first time and it is indeed better than they expected.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8574018.stm
VAT- Value Added Tax. A consumption tax which is levied at each stage of production based on the value added to the product at that stage.
chancellor- The British cabinet minister responsible for finance
public sector-The part of the economy concerned with providing basic government services.
http://www.investorwords.com/5230/VAT.html
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
http://www.investorwords.com/3947/public_sector.html
In February, the UK government borrowed £12.4bn which was less than economists had expected, they expected the UK's borrowing in the current financial year to amount up to £178bn. As of now it only reached £131.9bn which is significantly fewer than the earlier forecast. The Office for National Statistics said that the overall effect of the latest changes to historical data for the year had cut overall borrowing for 2009 and 2010 by £2.9bn. Despite the changes and the better-than-expected figure for the month of February, government borrowing is at a record's high for the current year. The reason for this is because of the reduced tax receipts since their economy is growing slowly. Economists had worried that the borrowing figure would be much worse and damaging to the economy since the VAT has risen in the beginning months of this year. The unemployment rate has started to decrease and as a result the government is paying less in beneifts. Jonathan Loynes at Capital Economics has said that the figures has giving Chancellor Darling to stay ahead of the game and be prepared for Wednesdays budget. Economist,Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight suggests that, "Mr.Darling could significantly undershoot the £178bn public sector borrowing requirement that he forecast for 2009/2010 in last December's pre-Budget report." The UK's debt is similar to others however, they increased their borrowing during the downturn of the economy at a much faster rate than its competitors. The Chancellor promises to ultimately divide in half the budget deficit within the next four years he thinks it is to risky to do it all now and it will harm any hopes they have to get themselves from a recession. The Conservatives feel that this is should be done more quickly. The European Union thinks that halving the deficit is not enough. EU rules say government deficits must be below 3% of GDP, but the UK's deficit is expected to hit 12.6% of GDP this year. the UK debt levels have also led to concerns in recent months that the UK could lose its AAA credit rating that is reserved for the very safest borrowers. But earlier this week, Moody's agency said the UK's top rating was secure. I predict that after futher considerations of the budget and timing will be closely paid attention too and decisions will be made quickly to act now instead of pacing it over four years. I think they will gain confidence since they already over estimated that the first time and it is indeed better than they expected.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8574018.stm
Sunday, March 14, 2010
"Social Enterprise Helps Malawi's Poor"
Vocabulary !!
"sima"-a maize flour mixed with water
social enterprise-socially-oriented venture (nonprofit/for-profit or hybrid) created to solve a social problem or market failure through entrepreneurial private sector approaches that increase effectiveness and sustainability while ultimately creating social benefit or change.
www.4lenses.org/Definitions
anti-retroviral drugs- medication that prevents the virus from reproducing
www.ekd.de/english/1714-ekdtext91_7.html
Patners in Health (PIH) are a social enterprise, they currently help countries to sustain an economy with little suffering such as: Malawi, Haiti, Peru, Russia, USA, Rwanda, and Lesotho to provide a social benifit or change. They began working with Malawi in early 2007, being that it is one of the poorest and most densely populated countries in Africa. They targeted Malawi as a country desperately needing a rural health project to address the devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic in the region. With statistics of about 14 percent of Malawi's adult population affected with HIV and hundreds of thousands of children being orphaned by the disease. They often do not have an education, a job, or two few rooms for the amout of children they have. This major crisis is not one that their government was even able to cope with. PIH not only help with healthcare because they believe that in order for a person to be healthy they need education, food, work, and homes. Because the employment rates are low, they give grants to people who want to start small buisnesses similar to KIVA (microfinancing) but it is a grant and they will not have to pay the money back. They gave an example of fifteen women, HIV positive but on anti-retroviral, and they started a restaurant (PEACE) not only to gain a profit but also to gain a sense of hope and pride. These women have been successful, making the food to keep others healthy and having a profit for almost $200.00 per day which is good for Malawi. Right now, the cheap and most convient food to go to is sima, but PIH has declared this to have no nutritional value. They encourage people to grow and eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. This is difficult because water is a scarce commodity(they do not have a proper well) and it is also needed to grow veggies!! The money invested into Malawri comes from a partnership between the Malawi government and PIH. Within the next five years, the two new built hospitals will become the responsilibility of the Malawian government. I think that with the proper programs initially set up for them, Malawi will improve. I am a little worried, however, for the years to come as resources become more and more scarce. Also, if the government will be able to handle the finances of the hospitals since the HIV/Aids rate is high. I wonder can they stand alone especially since this is obviously new for them. I do appreciate the effort that PIH do to help not only from a temporary aspect but from the permante aspect.
"sima"-a maize flour mixed with water
social enterprise-socially-oriented venture (nonprofit/for-profit or hybrid) created to solve a social problem or market failure through entrepreneurial private sector approaches that increase effectiveness and sustainability while ultimately creating social benefit or change.
www.4lenses.org/Definitions
anti-retroviral drugs- medication that prevents the virus from reproducing
www.ekd.de/english/1714-ekdtext91_7.html
Patners in Health (PIH) are a social enterprise, they currently help countries to sustain an economy with little suffering such as: Malawi, Haiti, Peru, Russia, USA, Rwanda, and Lesotho to provide a social benifit or change. They began working with Malawi in early 2007, being that it is one of the poorest and most densely populated countries in Africa. They targeted Malawi as a country desperately needing a rural health project to address the devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic in the region. With statistics of about 14 percent of Malawi's adult population affected with HIV and hundreds of thousands of children being orphaned by the disease. They often do not have an education, a job, or two few rooms for the amout of children they have. This major crisis is not one that their government was even able to cope with. PIH not only help with healthcare because they believe that in order for a person to be healthy they need education, food, work, and homes. Because the employment rates are low, they give grants to people who want to start small buisnesses similar to KIVA (microfinancing) but it is a grant and they will not have to pay the money back. They gave an example of fifteen women, HIV positive but on anti-retroviral, and they started a restaurant (PEACE) not only to gain a profit but also to gain a sense of hope and pride. These women have been successful, making the food to keep others healthy and having a profit for almost $200.00 per day which is good for Malawi. Right now, the cheap and most convient food to go to is sima, but PIH has declared this to have no nutritional value. They encourage people to grow and eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. This is difficult because water is a scarce commodity(they do not have a proper well) and it is also needed to grow veggies!! The money invested into Malawri comes from a partnership between the Malawi government and PIH. Within the next five years, the two new built hospitals will become the responsilibility of the Malawian government. I think that with the proper programs initially set up for them, Malawi will improve. I am a little worried, however, for the years to come as resources become more and more scarce. Also, if the government will be able to handle the finances of the hospitals since the HIV/Aids rate is high. I wonder can they stand alone especially since this is obviously new for them. I do appreciate the effort that PIH do to help not only from a temporary aspect but from the permante aspect.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
"Iceland rejects plan to repay Icesave debts"
Vocabulary !!
referendum- a legislative act is referred for final approval to a popular vote by the electorate
reimburse - pay back for some expense incurred
compensation- something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury)
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Icesave is owned by Landsbanki, Iceland's second largest bank, which has been swept up in the financial chaos that has engulfed the tiny Arctic country. It collapsed on October 7, 2008 and had to be run by the Icelandic Financial Services Authority. The British (UK) and Dutch (Netherlands) governments then promised to insure savers' deposits by loaning money and a deal was established for Iceland to pay the money back. This collapse affected more than 320,000 people. They loaned the Icelandic bank 3.8bn euros which is equivalent to 5.1908 billion U.S. dollars. Before this action the Iceland Parliament had approved this plan. Chancellor Alistair Darling has said that the UK would indeed get its money back, but it may be a while before they do. He says that it may be many, many years for Iceland to reimburse them. There was recently a poll give to the Icelanders on whether or not they should repay the money and 93% of them voted no! Less than just 2% supported the plan, while the others votes were invalid. Many citizens were upset because they feel that although this plan helped them and their finances, that it was not their fault in the beginning that the Icesave Bank collapsed. They feel that the bank should be responsible for repaying the aid all because a few greedy people. Some simply want to repay their debts but do not want to go bankrupt doing so. It was suggested that they focus on finishing up the deal/ negotiations with the British and Dutch governments. Before the vote, the Iceland government felt they could avoid the rowdy vote (protest) by creating a new agreement. But it did not work, citizens were still upset. Another reason why Icelanders are hesitant to repay the UK is because they have some built up anger and an ongoing grudge from previous times. During the cod wars, Britain had used their battleships against them, even after the Icelandic people had sacrificed the lives of their seamen during World War II. The Reykjavik (Iceland) government approved the repayment plan last December but it was blocked by President Grimsson in January, which led to the referendum being called. I think that despite what the people want they will be responsible for paying them back. I do not think they will be forced too, but Icesave may increase prices and to help the overall economy the government may increase taxes. What do you think should happen? How would you feel if you banked with Icesave and would have to reimburse the UK for your bank's decisions?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8553979.stm
referendum- a legislative act is referred for final approval to a popular vote by the electorate
reimburse - pay back for some expense incurred
compensation- something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury)
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Icesave is owned by Landsbanki, Iceland's second largest bank, which has been swept up in the financial chaos that has engulfed the tiny Arctic country. It collapsed on October 7, 2008 and had to be run by the Icelandic Financial Services Authority. The British (UK) and Dutch (Netherlands) governments then promised to insure savers' deposits by loaning money and a deal was established for Iceland to pay the money back. This collapse affected more than 320,000 people. They loaned the Icelandic bank 3.8bn euros which is equivalent to 5.1908 billion U.S. dollars. Before this action the Iceland Parliament had approved this plan. Chancellor Alistair Darling has said that the UK would indeed get its money back, but it may be a while before they do. He says that it may be many, many years for Iceland to reimburse them. There was recently a poll give to the Icelanders on whether or not they should repay the money and 93% of them voted no! Less than just 2% supported the plan, while the others votes were invalid. Many citizens were upset because they feel that although this plan helped them and their finances, that it was not their fault in the beginning that the Icesave Bank collapsed. They feel that the bank should be responsible for repaying the aid all because a few greedy people. Some simply want to repay their debts but do not want to go bankrupt doing so. It was suggested that they focus on finishing up the deal/ negotiations with the British and Dutch governments. Before the vote, the Iceland government felt they could avoid the rowdy vote (protest) by creating a new agreement. But it did not work, citizens were still upset. Another reason why Icelanders are hesitant to repay the UK is because they have some built up anger and an ongoing grudge from previous times. During the cod wars, Britain had used their battleships against them, even after the Icelandic people had sacrificed the lives of their seamen during World War II. The Reykjavik (Iceland) government approved the repayment plan last December but it was blocked by President Grimsson in January, which led to the referendum being called. I think that despite what the people want they will be responsible for paying them back. I do not think they will be forced too, but Icesave may increase prices and to help the overall economy the government may increase taxes. What do you think should happen? How would you feel if you banked with Icesave and would have to reimburse the UK for your bank's decisions?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8553979.stm
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
"Judging Stimulus by Job Data Reveals Success"
Voabulary !!!
ZIP code scandal- the fact that a government Web site mistakenly reported money being spent in nonexistenet ZIP codes
tax revenue-government income due to taxation
tax credit- generally much more valuable than a deduction. It reduces the actual amount of tax that must be paid. A deduction, on the other hand, only reduces the taxable income. Therefore, the tax deduction is subject to the variation in the progressive tax rate. It does not depend on the tax rate and so it is of equal value to a taxpayer regardless of his income level.
http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com/articleupdates/definition-tax-credit
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
A little over a year ago, Congress passed a stimulus bill that started to spend money within few weeks, it helped the economy rapidly, and it had a huge impact on jobs employing almost two million people. Economic research firms such as IHS Global Insight or Macroeconomics Advisors estimate the stimulus bill has added 1.6-1.8 million jobs. This bill does have a lot of criticism: complaints that the money could have been spent more rapidly, the ZIP code scandal, still having an unemployment rate near 10%, and American families still struggling. Liberals don't like the bill because they feel it should have been biggerto fully address all issues and Republicans do'nt like it because it is a Democratic program. The bill has been a little slow getting to the visable parts of the program (spending roads/highways, and buildings) while distributing aid to states, unemployment benefits (my cousin receives these benefits) and tax provisions have been much more successful which are not obvious to the public eye. Some are against the stimulus bill saying that the economy would be no worse without it. Two arguments in favor of the stimulus bill are that the stimulus was used quite frequently and considering the history of financial criseswe are in shape. In early months of 2009, state and government spending decreased along with tax revenue. In spring, tax revenue continued to decline but spending increased! The stimulus kept teachers, healthcare workers, police officers, and firefighters employed. The damage of the recession was intended to be much worse than it is. Republicans, Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson and others had predicted in 2008, that the recession would evolve into a depression. Also our jobless rate is expected to decline consistently by the end of this year. According to Global Insight's economist, Nariman Behravesh the stimulus package deserves a lot of credit. The Senate is now debating about a smaller stimulus bill known as the "job bill" but this is potentially not a good idea since they may not end up with state aid. At this point the economic impact of the Senate bill is looking very small, and this would cause more tension among the American people. The Obama Administartion are discussing a follow-up stimulus bill which would start with: aid (of course), an addition on extended unemployment benefits, which also tend to be spent, and tax credits carefully drafted to get buisnesses to hire and households to spend money. I predict that our economy will improve, but I also think that before making big decisions they should consider the lifestyles of those whom are still struggling and are not among the 2 million who have got jobs. There are still people living very scarcely who were not before. I believe if we go fourth with the follow-up stimulus bill that it will restore confidence and allow our economy to run more smoothly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/economy/17leonhardt.html
ZIP code scandal- the fact that a government Web site mistakenly reported money being spent in nonexistenet ZIP codes
tax revenue-government income due to taxation
tax credit- generally much more valuable than a deduction. It reduces the actual amount of tax that must be paid. A deduction, on the other hand, only reduces the taxable income. Therefore, the tax deduction is subject to the variation in the progressive tax rate. It does not depend on the tax rate and so it is of equal value to a taxpayer regardless of his income level.
http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com/articleupdates/definition-tax-credit
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
A little over a year ago, Congress passed a stimulus bill that started to spend money within few weeks, it helped the economy rapidly, and it had a huge impact on jobs employing almost two million people. Economic research firms such as IHS Global Insight or Macroeconomics Advisors estimate the stimulus bill has added 1.6-1.8 million jobs. This bill does have a lot of criticism: complaints that the money could have been spent more rapidly, the ZIP code scandal, still having an unemployment rate near 10%, and American families still struggling. Liberals don't like the bill because they feel it should have been biggerto fully address all issues and Republicans do'nt like it because it is a Democratic program. The bill has been a little slow getting to the visable parts of the program (spending roads/highways, and buildings) while distributing aid to states, unemployment benefits (my cousin receives these benefits) and tax provisions have been much more successful which are not obvious to the public eye. Some are against the stimulus bill saying that the economy would be no worse without it. Two arguments in favor of the stimulus bill are that the stimulus was used quite frequently and considering the history of financial criseswe are in shape. In early months of 2009, state and government spending decreased along with tax revenue. In spring, tax revenue continued to decline but spending increased! The stimulus kept teachers, healthcare workers, police officers, and firefighters employed. The damage of the recession was intended to be much worse than it is. Republicans, Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson and others had predicted in 2008, that the recession would evolve into a depression. Also our jobless rate is expected to decline consistently by the end of this year. According to Global Insight's economist, Nariman Behravesh the stimulus package deserves a lot of credit. The Senate is now debating about a smaller stimulus bill known as the "job bill" but this is potentially not a good idea since they may not end up with state aid. At this point the economic impact of the Senate bill is looking very small, and this would cause more tension among the American people. The Obama Administartion are discussing a follow-up stimulus bill which would start with: aid (of course), an addition on extended unemployment benefits, which also tend to be spent, and tax credits carefully drafted to get buisnesses to hire and households to spend money. I predict that our economy will improve, but I also think that before making big decisions they should consider the lifestyles of those whom are still struggling and are not among the 2 million who have got jobs. There are still people living very scarcely who were not before. I believe if we go fourth with the follow-up stimulus bill that it will restore confidence and allow our economy to run more smoothly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/economy/17leonhardt.html
Sunday, February 21, 2010
“Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs”
Vocabulary !!
public assistance- a benefit or benefits from a state or federal program.
unemployment- The state of having no job; joblessness; The phenomenon of joblessness in an economy; The level of joblessness in an economy, often measured as a percentage of the workforce; A type of joblessness due to a particular economic mechanism; An instance or period of joblessness.
expansion- Growth, as in an economic recovery.
https://secure.childsupport.dhs.state.mn.us/whomc/Action/Links/GlossaryMews?printable=true
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
http://www.investorwords.com/1838/expansion.html
More and more middle class Americans are loosing their jobs, and has put them in the category of being "the new poor." This might be shocking to some, since they have thought that the economy was progressing but in actuality people are still loosing jobs. These people now have to rely solely on government assistance for the first times in their lives. Roughly 2.7 million jobless people will lose their unemployment check before the end of April 2010 unless Congress approves the Obama administration’s proposal to extend the payments. People have been affected by this drastically having to choose food and housing over prescribed medications needed to sustain her health, or going to food banks for all groceries. Over 6.3 million Americans have been unemployed for at least six months or longer, this has been the largest number since 1948. Traditionally, there are three sectors that have led the way out of recession: automobiles, home building and banking. Auto companies have been shrinking because strapped households don't have as much buying power. Home building is limited by fears about a glut of foreclosed properties and they are not confident enough. Banking is expanding, but this seems largely a function of government support that is being withdrawn. On average, only two-thirds of unemployed people received state-provided unemployment checks last year, according to the Labor Department. The rest either exhausted their benefits, fell short of requirements or did not apply. Also, these checks are are not enough to supply their every need! It is hard for people to survive comfortably with these wages. These people, are trying too. They apply everywhere and are not being picky and they are still not able to find jobs. I think that if the Obama' Admininstration approves the extension it will help a lot of people get by for another six months. I know this only will solve the present issue but if they create more jobs for people than I think it would solve more problems. Perhaps they could work with the large corporation and stop importing goods. A lot of major corporations are only worried about profits but if they somehow gain a heart than maybe our economy would be more stable.
public assistance- a benefit or benefits from a state or federal program.
unemployment- The state of having no job; joblessness; The phenomenon of joblessness in an economy; The level of joblessness in an economy, often measured as a percentage of the workforce; A type of joblessness due to a particular economic mechanism; An instance or period of joblessness.
expansion- Growth, as in an economic recovery.
https://secure.childsupport.dhs.state.mn.us/whomc/Action/Links/GlossaryMews?printable=true
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
http://www.investorwords.com/1838/expansion.html
More and more middle class Americans are loosing their jobs, and has put them in the category of being "the new poor." This might be shocking to some, since they have thought that the economy was progressing but in actuality people are still loosing jobs. These people now have to rely solely on government assistance for the first times in their lives. Roughly 2.7 million jobless people will lose their unemployment check before the end of April 2010 unless Congress approves the Obama administration’s proposal to extend the payments. People have been affected by this drastically having to choose food and housing over prescribed medications needed to sustain her health, or going to food banks for all groceries. Over 6.3 million Americans have been unemployed for at least six months or longer, this has been the largest number since 1948. Traditionally, there are three sectors that have led the way out of recession: automobiles, home building and banking. Auto companies have been shrinking because strapped households don't have as much buying power. Home building is limited by fears about a glut of foreclosed properties and they are not confident enough. Banking is expanding, but this seems largely a function of government support that is being withdrawn. On average, only two-thirds of unemployed people received state-provided unemployment checks last year, according to the Labor Department. The rest either exhausted their benefits, fell short of requirements or did not apply. Also, these checks are are not enough to supply their every need! It is hard for people to survive comfortably with these wages. These people, are trying too. They apply everywhere and are not being picky and they are still not able to find jobs. I think that if the Obama' Admininstration approves the extension it will help a lot of people get by for another six months. I know this only will solve the present issue but if they create more jobs for people than I think it would solve more problems. Perhaps they could work with the large corporation and stop importing goods. A lot of major corporations are only worried about profits but if they somehow gain a heart than maybe our economy would be more stable.
Monday, February 15, 2010
"EU ready to help Greece on debts"
vocabulary!!
Eurozone- The collective group of countries which use the Euro as their common currency. The Eurozone came into being in 1999, and originally consisted of 11 countries. As of 2009, 16 countries were part of the Eurozone. The Eurozone does not include every country in the European Union, and does not include every country who is using the Euro (to become part of the Eurozone, the country must use the Euro as its sole legal currency). As a currency union, monetary, and rules are created and maintained by the European Central Bank.
Regional aid- Money given by a government, the EU etc to particular areas to help their economic development.
blueprint- A model or prototype.
To lay a plan for.
http://www.investorwords.com/5555/Eurozone.html
http://lexicon.ft.com/term.asp?t=regional-aid
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/blueprint
In my last blog, I talked about how Greece's economy was tumbling down and they would probaly have to receive aide from the EU. Greece is part the the eurozone and its deficit is at 12.7 % more than four times higher than what the eurozone allows. The EU leaders have said that they are prepared or ready to actto help fix Greece's finances and to ensure financial stability in the eurozone but still have not made a specific promise as to how they were going to help. Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council stressed the fact that Greec had not asked or begged for any help, he wanted to make sure that people knew that the EU offered. Greece has support of their government and their committment to do whatever is necessary to help save their economy. The summit statement also encourages Greece to reduce the budget deficit by 4% in the year 2010. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor said that once again the support Greece but they must remember that there are certain rules that must be adhered to. Details of any EU help for Greece may not come about until Monday, February 15,2010. ( This is when the finance minister swill meet together to deliberate.) Mr. Van Rompuy will have to face a big task since he wants the summit to focus primarily on a new strategy for jobs and economic growth with a blueprint for the next ten years. This would replace the Libson Strategy which was launched in March 2000. It was aimmed at making the European Union the most competative economy in the world and acheiving full employment by the year 2010. It rested on three pillars including economic, social, and enviormental pillars. The purpose of this blueprint is to make a long-term recovery and growth and it would be entitle Europe 2020. The EU rules prevent the eurozone from helping to bail out Greece, but the debt crisis that they have had has made it a necessary action. There is still of course doubt of where the aid would come from to help Greece. The taxpayers? Whowould come up with it? To help Greece get back on track, there has been a Greek Austerity Plan :
1) Cut budgetbelow EU ceiling of 3% of GDP by 2012
2) Freeze public sectors & no $$ bonuses
3) Raise average retirement age
4) Raise taxes on fuel, tobacco, alcohol, & property
5) replace 1 in 5 people leaving civil service
This has angered Greek trade unions, but it is estimated to help their economy. I predict that once the eurozone meets they will come up with a means of where to come up with the money most likely from the tax payers of their countries to help support. I still think that Greece will take the regional aid since they truly do need it and probaly without it will suffer and probaly might not be included in anymore innovating plans of the eurozone since they do want to be ultimately one the best economies in the world !!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8508688.stm
Eurozone- The collective group of countries which use the Euro as their common currency. The Eurozone came into being in 1999, and originally consisted of 11 countries. As of 2009, 16 countries were part of the Eurozone. The Eurozone does not include every country in the European Union, and does not include every country who is using the Euro (to become part of the Eurozone, the country must use the Euro as its sole legal currency). As a currency union, monetary, and rules are created and maintained by the European Central Bank.
Regional aid- Money given by a government, the EU etc to particular areas to help their economic development.
blueprint- A model or prototype.
To lay a plan for.
http://www.investorwords.com/5555/Eurozone.html
http://lexicon.ft.com/term.asp?t=regional-aid
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/blueprint
In my last blog, I talked about how Greece's economy was tumbling down and they would probaly have to receive aide from the EU. Greece is part the the eurozone and its deficit is at 12.7 % more than four times higher than what the eurozone allows. The EU leaders have said that they are prepared or ready to actto help fix Greece's finances and to ensure financial stability in the eurozone but still have not made a specific promise as to how they were going to help. Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council stressed the fact that Greec had not asked or begged for any help, he wanted to make sure that people knew that the EU offered. Greece has support of their government and their committment to do whatever is necessary to help save their economy. The summit statement also encourages Greece to reduce the budget deficit by 4% in the year 2010. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor said that once again the support Greece but they must remember that there are certain rules that must be adhered to. Details of any EU help for Greece may not come about until Monday, February 15,2010. ( This is when the finance minister swill meet together to deliberate.) Mr. Van Rompuy will have to face a big task since he wants the summit to focus primarily on a new strategy for jobs and economic growth with a blueprint for the next ten years. This would replace the Libson Strategy which was launched in March 2000. It was aimmed at making the European Union the most competative economy in the world and acheiving full employment by the year 2010. It rested on three pillars including economic, social, and enviormental pillars. The purpose of this blueprint is to make a long-term recovery and growth and it would be entitle Europe 2020. The EU rules prevent the eurozone from helping to bail out Greece, but the debt crisis that they have had has made it a necessary action. There is still of course doubt of where the aid would come from to help Greece. The taxpayers? Whowould come up with it? To help Greece get back on track, there has been a Greek Austerity Plan :
1) Cut budgetbelow EU ceiling of 3% of GDP by 2012
2) Freeze public sectors & no $$ bonuses
3) Raise average retirement age
4) Raise taxes on fuel, tobacco, alcohol, & property
5) replace 1 in 5 people leaving civil service
This has angered Greek trade unions, but it is estimated to help their economy. I predict that once the eurozone meets they will come up with a means of where to come up with the money most likely from the tax payers of their countries to help support. I still think that Greece will take the regional aid since they truly do need it and probaly without it will suffer and probaly might not be included in anymore innovating plans of the eurozone since they do want to be ultimately one the best economies in the world !!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8508688.stm
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)