Thoughts for the last day of 2013

 "Each time a man stands for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."               - Robert F. Kennedy

"In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of."                - Confucius

Thought for the Day

"Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't." - Pete Seeger

Thought for the Day

 "You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you. You are right because your data and reasoning are right."                                              - Benjamin Graham

A Special Greeting for all members of my Blog

Eeeks

What happens to your computers, cellphones and other electrical appliances after you throw them away?

The UN has warned that 'e-waste', or electrical and electronic waste, could rise by nearly 33% by 2017, exacerbating environmental issues.

Think about this.... a break up of a collusive oligopoly

Since the 1960s, OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) has dominated global oil markets, controlling production, exports and prices. The shale boom however, particularly in North America, could shift some power away from the cartel, to small, nimble companies.

Reminder to members of the Andrean Economics association

Just a reminder to all those attempting the Quiz, 20th is the last day for submission of answers. :)

Quote for the Day

"Capital will always go where it's welcome and stay where it's well treated. Capital is not just money. It's also talent and ideas. They, too, will go where they're welcome and stay where they are well treated."
                                                        - Walter Wriston (1919-2005)
Walter Bigelow Wriston was a banker and former chairman and CEO of Citicorp. As chief executive of Citibank / Citicorp from 1967 to 1984, Wriston was widely regarded as the single most influential commercial banker of his time.

Did you know

Today, Egypt’s agricultural sector constitutes 15% of the national GDP and 30% of the labour force. An untapped segment is in medicinal and aromatic plants, which are not only suitable for the nation’s landscape and climate, but promises huge benefits for both consumers and producers.
By comparison India's agricultural sector accounts for a little below 20% of the GDP but has more than 50% of the labour force. Could we learn something ?
      

Quote of the Day

"In economics, things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could." 
- Rudiger Dornbusch (1942 - 2002)

Quote for the Day

"To see economic policy as a problem of choice between rival ideologies is the greatest error of our time."
                                                                                                                                                                                                                - John Kenneth Galbraith

Thought for the Day

"Don't worry about what anybody else is going to do… The best way to predict the future is to invent it. " — Alan Kay in 1971,
inventor of Smalltalk which was the inspiration and technical basis for the MacIntosh and subsequent windowing based systems (NextStep, Microsoft Windows 3.1/95/98/NT, X-Windows, Motif, etc...)

Quote for the day

“There is nothing so disastrous as a rational investment policy in an irrational world."

 - John Maynard Keynes

QOTW

Here's the first QOTW for December 2013

Select the correct alternative for each question and mail the answers back to me at profKMody@gmail.com by 20 December 2013.

1. A large increase in the number of fast food restaurants is most likely to result in:
a. lower prices and higher quality
b. lower prices and lower quality
c. higher prices and higher quality.

2. A person who starts a business to produce a new product in the market place is known as:
a. a manager
b. a bureaucrat
c. an entrepreneur

3. An increase in interest rates charged by banks  from 5% to 8% would most likely encourage:
a. businesses to invest
b. people to purchase housing
c. people to save money

4. For most people, the largest portion of their personal income comes from:
a. wages and salaries from their obs
b. interest from stocks and bonds they own
c. rent paid to them from property they own

5. If the real gross domestic product of the country has increased, but the production of goods has remained the same, then the production of services has :
a. increased
b. decreased
c. remained the same. 

Rush your answers..................profKMody@gmail.com

IT IS THE START OF THE NEW SEMESTER!

QOTW BUMPER ROUND ANSWERS1

1. WHO SAID?
A. Global warming pollution, indeed all pollution, is now described by economists as an “externality.” This absurd label means, in essence: we don’t to keep track of this stuff so let’s pretend it doesn’t exist.

• Al Gore 

B. My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.

• Barack Obama 

C. Money, being a variable commodity, the rise of money-wages will be frequently occasioned by a fall in the value of money. 

• David Ricardo 

D. Economics has never been a science - and it is even less now than a few years ago.

• Paul Samuelson 

E. It is the highest impertinence and presumption, therefore, in kings and ministers to pretend to watch over the economy of private people, and to restrain their expense. They are themselves, always, and without any exception, the greatest spendthrifts in the society.

• Adam Smith 

2. SELECT THE APPROPRIATE ALTERNATIVE
A. Who blocked the streets of Mexico in 1000s to prevent a vote on the proposal to take away control over hiring and firing away from the union?
i. Miners
ii. Teachers
iii. Telephone workers

B. The government of which country recently approved $28 billion worth of infrastructure schemes to try to fire up the cooling economy?
i. Chinese
ii.Indian
iii. Japanese

C. If a country is on the gold standard then:
i. Banks cannot lend money
ii. Gold is used as money
iii. It's currency is convertible into gold.

D. An economist will define the exchange rate between two currencies as the:
i. Amount of one currency that must be paid in order to obtain one unit of another currency
ii. Price at which the sales and purchases of  foreign goods take place
iii. Ratio of import prices t export prices for a particular country

E. The term tariff used in international trade refers to:
i. A government imposed tax to discourage imports
ii. The price of goods when they leave the producing country
iii.A limit on the quantity of a good that can be imported into a country.

3. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:
A. Microsoft has begun hunting for a new chief executive, after whose unexpected decision to step down within twelve months?
Ans: Steve Ballmer

B. The prospect of a Western military strike on Syria has pushed up the prices of what commodity to a 3 month high?
Ans: Gold

C. Which international stock exchange launched an inquiry into the elctronic glitch that caused it to cease trading for three hours on 22 August 2013?
Ans: NASDAQ

D. Which former Soviet Union country invited a Russian business man to visit and then arrested him, over the breakdown of a potash cartel? Russia retaliated with a cut in il deliveries.
Ans: Belarus

E. Name the two PSUs, which were granted the Maharatna status by the Union Government of India in February 2013. 
Ans: BHEL and GAIL

QOTW BUMPER ROUND 1

1. WHO SAID?
A. Global warming pollution, indeed all pollution, is now described by economists as an “externality.” This absurd label means, in essence: we don’t to keep track of this stuff so let’s pretend it doesn’t exist.

B. My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.

C. Money, being a variable commodity, the rise of money-wages will be frequently occasioned by a fall in the value of money. 

D. Economics has never been a science - and it is even less now than a few years ago.

E. It is the highest impertinence and presumption, therefore, in kings and ministers to pretend to watch over the economy of private people, and to restrain their expense. They are themselves, always, and without any exception, the greatest spendthrifts in the society.

2. SELECT THE APPROPRIATE ALTERNATIVE
A. Who blocked the streets of Mexico in 1000s to prevent a vote on the proposal to take away control over hiring and firing away from the union?
i. Miners
ii. Teachers
iii. Telephone workers

B. The government of which country recently approved $28 billion worth of infrastructure schemes to try to fire up the cooling economy?
i. Chinese
ii.Indian
iii. Japanese

C. If a country is on the gold standard then:
i. Banks cannot lend money
ii. Gold is used as money
iii. It's currency is convertible into gold.

D. An economist will define the exchange rate between two currencies as the:
i. Amount of one currency that must be paid in order to obtain one unit of another currency
ii. Price at which the sales and purchases of  foreign goods take place
iii. Ratio of import prices t export prices for a particular country

E. The term tariff used in international trade refers to:
i. A government imposed tax to discourage imports
ii. The price of goods when they leave the producing country
iii.A limit on the quantity of a good that can be imported into a country.

3. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:
A. Microsoft has begun hunting for a new chief executive, after whose unexpected decision to step down within twelve months?

B. The prospect of a Western military strike on Syria has pushed up the prices of what commodity to a 3 month high?

C. Which international stock exchange launched an inquiry into the elctronic glitch that caused it to cease trading for three hours on 22 August 2013?

D. Which former Soviet Union country invited a Russian business man to visit and then arrested him, over the breakdown of a potash cartel? Russia retaliated with a cut in il deliveries.

E. Name the two PSUs, which were granted the Maharatna status by the Union Government of India in February 2013. 

WELCOME

HERE'S EXTENDING A WARM WELCOME TO THE NEW MEMBERS OF MY BLOG

ALSO A WELCOME BACK TO THE EXISTING MEMBERS

WE BEGIN WITH A BUMPER QUIZ THIS WEEK

ATTEMPT ALL THE QUESTIONS AND EMAIL THE ANSWERS TO ME BY MONDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 2013

The Independence Day of India commemorates the anniversary of India’s free statehood. It is a day of celebration, a day to pay tribute to the martyrs because of whose struggle and sacrifice we are breathing an air of freedom. “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom,” said Jawaharlal Nehru on 14 August 1947. This year, India will celebrate its 67th Independence Day.

BREAKING NEWS

Raghuram Rajan to be next RBI Governor 

Raghuram Rajan

After advising the finance ministry on macro economic issues for less than a year in North Block, Raghuram Govind Rajan will now move to Mint Road as the Reserve Bank of India Governor from September 5.
His appointment, announced today by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, came at a time when the RBI faces "impossible trinity " trilemma, in the words of incumbent D Subbrao. The trinity is caused by global factors that have unleashed the rupee woes.
The former IMF chief economist, has a three-year time to convert these challenges into opportunities as the rupee is making new records in terms of its fall against the dollar. On the other hand, liquidity choking measures of RBI has not arrested the fall, but these may come in the way of boosting sagging economic growth that touched a decade low of five% in 2012-13.
Rajan, will be the second youngest RBI governor after Manmohan Singh, said. The renowned economist would be 50 years and seven months when he becomes RBI governor, while Singh was eleven days short of 50 years when he got the coveted job in 1982.

QOTW -2

(1) WHAT IS A PUBLIC GOOD?
(2) WHAT IS A MERIT GOOD?
(3) THE RATE OF LONG TERM ECONOMIC GROWTH DETERMINES CHANGES IN OUR LIVING STANDARDS FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT. TRUE OR FALSE?

MEMBERS OF THE BLOG PLEASE SEND IN YOUR ANSWERS BY EMAIL TO profKMody@gmail.com by Friday 27 July 2013, 5 p.m.
Names of the first three all correct answer providers will be displayed the next time around.
ALL THE BEST

Answers to QOTW 1- 2013-14
1. ADIDAS
2. SWEETS
3. DOLCE AND GABBANA
4. HUAWEI
5. REVAMPED OPERATING SYSTEM
THERE WAS ONLY ONE ALL CORRECT ANSWER:
CONGRATULATIONS TO MANALI FROM FYBCom

WELCOME QUIZ - QOTW-1

HERE'S WELCOMING ALL THE NEW MEMBERS OF THE BLOG eco4all :)

FOR THE INAUGURAL QUIZ WE HAVE 5 QUESTIONS
MEMBERS OF THE BLOG PLEASE SEND IN YOUR ANSWERS BY EMAIL TO profKMody@gmail.com by Friday 20 July 2013, 5 p.m.
Names of the first three all correct answer providers will be displayed the next time around.
ALL THE BEST

1. Which global sports brand is on Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray's shirt?

2. Tennis player Maria Sharapova has launched a new business. What product is she selling?

3. Which two fashion designers were recently sentenced to jail for tax evasion?

4. Who has launched the ASCEND P6 smartphone?

5. What innovation has been announced by APPLE?

New Page

Have introduced a new page.......
IN THE NEWS
TAKE A LOOK....RESPOND :)

WELCOME

WELCOME TO THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR 2013-14

HERE'S WISHING ALL ANDREANS A VERY HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL YEAR IN COLLEGE

HAPPY VACATION ANDREANS

QOTW WILL BE BACK IN JUNE

Answers to Final QOTW for 2012-13

1. OPEC

     C) is a cartel of producing countries, with most, but not all members in the Middle East.

2. Residential electricity is typically sold in markets governed by

     C) regulated monopolists.

3. When people are influenced by a tax or regulation to do something they might not otherwise do then economists call this

     A) an incentive.

   

 4. The fact that production cannot exceed what is possible given available resources indicates that there is

     A) scarcity.

All correct answers submitted by;

Zenaida and Alisha of F.Y.B.Com. 

Final QOTW for 2012-13- QOTW 18

MULTIPLE CHOICE: SELECT THE CORRECT ALTERNATIVE:

1. OPEC

    A) is a cartel of oil consuming nations.

    B) is a cartel of producing countries that are all in the Middle East.

    C) is a cartel of producing countries, with most, but not all members in the Middle East.

    D) is the largest oil company in the world.

2. Residential electricity is typically sold in markets governed by

    A) regulated perfect competitors.

    B) unregulated perfect competitors.

    C) regulated monopolists.

    D) unregulated monopolists.

3. When people are influenced by a tax or regulation to do something they might not otherwise do then economists call this

     A) an incentive.

     B) an arbitrary observation.

     C) an unintended consequence.

     D) a lost opportunity.

 4. The fact that production cannot exceed what is possible given available resources indicates that there is

       A) scarcity.

       B) the fallacy of composition at play.

       C) the fallacy that correlation and causation are the same at play.

       D) the fallacy of the round at play.

Send your answers into profKMody@gmail.com by Thursday 28 February 2013.

QOTW

QOTW is takinga break for one week. We will be back after the tests are over.
all the best to all FY and SY students. :)

Tomorrow is Republic Day. Here are some interesting facts.

26th January 1950 is one of the most important days in Indian history as it was on this day the constitution of India came into force and India became a truly sovereign state. In this day India became a totally republican unit. The country finally realized the dream of Mahatma Gandhi and the numerous freedom fighters who, fought for and sacrificed their lives for the Independence of their country. So, the 26th of January was decreed a national holiday and has been recognized and celebrated as the Republic Day of India, ever since.
Today, the Republic Day is celebrated with much enthusiasm all over the country and especially in the capital, New Delhi where the celebrations start with the Presidential to the nation. The beginning of the occasion is always a solemn reminder of the sacrifice of the martyrs who died for the country in the freedom movement and the succeeding wars for the defense of sovereignty of their country. Then, the President comes forward to award the medals of bravery to the people from the armed forces for their exceptional courage in the field and also the civilians, who have distinguished themselves by their different acts of valour in different situations.
To mark the importance of this occasion, every year a grand parade is held in the capital, from the Rajghat, along the Vijaypath. The different regiments of the army, the Navy and the Air force march past in all their finery and official decorations even the horses of the cavalry are attractively caparisoned to suit the occasion. The crème of N.C.C cadets, selected from all over the country consider it an honour to participate in this event, as do the school children from various schools in the capital. They spend many days preparing for the event and no expense is spared to see that every detail is taken care of, from their practice for the drills, the essential props and their uniforms.

The parade is followed by a pageant of spectacular displays from the different states of the country. These moving exhibits depict scenes of activities of people in those states and the music and songs of that particular state accompany each display. Each display brings out the diversity and richness of the culture of India and the whole show lends a festive air to the occasion. The parade and the ensuing pageantry is telecast by the National Television and is watched by millions of viewers in every corner of the country.

The patriotic fervor of the people on this day brings the whole country together even in her essential diversity.
Every part of the country is represented in occasion, which makes the Republic Day the most popular of all the national holidays of India.

QOTW 17 Answers

1. A government decides to intervene in an agricultural commodity market in order to stabilize the incomes of the producers. it does this by:
B. Buying stock when output is high and selling stock when output is low

2. What are public goods? What is the free rider problem associated with public goods?
A product that one individual can consume without reducing its availability to another individual and from which no one is excluded. Economists refer to public goods as "non-rivalrous" and "non-excludable". National defense, sewer systems, public parks and basic television and radio broadcasts could all be considered public goods.

The free-rider problem says that a rational person will not contribute to the provision of a public good because he does not need to contribute in order to benefit.

For example, if X doesn’t pay his taxes, he still benefits from the government's provision of national defense by free riding on the tax payments of his fellow citizens

3. Common resources such as the oceans and the skies are similar to public goods becasue they are both:
B. Non-excludable and non-rival in consumption


Correct Answers were given by:
Zenaida, Saniya, Sanita of F.Y.B.Com.
Stella, Olivia, of S.Y.B.Com.

QOTW17

1. A government decides to intervene in an agricultural commodity market in order to stabilize the incomes of the producers. it does this by:
A. Buying stock when output is low and selling stock when output is high
B. Buying stock when output is high and selling stock when output is low
C. Selling stock when output is low and buying stock when output is high
D. Selling stock when output is high and selling stock when output is low.

2. What are public goods? What is the free rider problem associated with public goods?

3. Common resources such as the oceans and the skies are similar to public goods because they are both:
A. Excludable and rival in consumption
B. Non-excludable and non-rival in consumption
C. Non-excludable in consumption
D. Non-rival in consumption

Send in your answers by Monday 21 January 2013 to profKMody@gmail.com

QOTW 16 ANSWER

Which of the following countries is forecast to grow at the fastest rate in 2013?

a. Iraq

 According to The Economist's house price affordability index, which is the world's most undervalued – or cheapest - housing market?

a. Japan

The graduates of which of the following American universities in 2012 had the highest median salary?

c. South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

ALL CORRECT ANSWERS WERE GIVEN BY:

Zenaida, Alisha, Sanita, Saniya of F.Y.B.Com.

Olivia, Stella of S.Y.B.Com.

Good to see many more regulars!! :)

QOTW 16

1. Which of the following countries is forecast to grow at the fastest rate in 2013?

a. Iraq
b. Rwanda
c. Iran

2. According to The Economist's house price affordability index, which is the world's most undervalued – or cheapest - housing market?

a. Japan
b. Germany
c. France

3. The graduates of which of the following American universities in 2012 had the highest median salary?

a. Harvard University
b. Milwaukee School of Engineering
c. South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

Send in your answers to profKMody@gmail.com by Monday 14 January 2013.