- Try to link your comments and the article with the topics we have have covered in class
- Blog your comments on recent economic stories or events from the news media
- Try to link your comments and the article with the topics we have have covered in class
22 Comments
12/7/2013 01:03:58 am
Wonga have decided to increase their annual interest rate from 4,214 per cent to a massive 5,833 per cent. APR is the interest that companies like Wonga that provide or give credit to people have to show to give an indication of the cost to borrowers if they are borrowed over a one year period. Wonga is saying that because they have increased the APR (Annual Percentage Rate) that their customers are paying less. Annual Percentage Rate is how much your borrowing will cost over the period of a year. Also, Wonga have said that by increasing the amount of APR from 4,214% to 5,833% it has meant that borrowers pay less for pay day loans. The reason why Wonga have increased their annual percentage rate is because the average loan period has fallen as borrowers used to borrow for a 30 day period now the average borrower borrows for 15 days and the reason for that is that Wonga one per cent simple interest per day the loan is taken for and plus a £5.50 cash transmission fee. Do you think that Wonga should have increased their annual percentage rate by 1,619%?
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Great post Emma!
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15/7/2013 03:37:37 am
There can be severe consequences of unemployment not just to the individual but to the economy too. Such consequences that affect the individual can be a loss of income, this is the main result of unemployment and the unemployed individual will experience a decline in their living standards. This leads to hardly no disposable income and debt accumulation. The second consequence is a chain reaction, the unemployed have less disposable income and therefore they will spend less in shops so shops will be selling less, leading to lower profits and a decline in income for the business. This could potentially lead the shop to close or relocate, which would affect other people in the area. Another consequence is a "Fiscal cost" which basically means the government loses out because the unemployed do not pay income tax and some other taxes but the government will have to pay the individual benefits and pay for their services (NHS), this means the government has to raise the taxes for everyone else and have to sacrifice money that was meant for public spending. The final consequence is "Social costs" which is social deprivation. For example, unemployment is linked with crime, divorce, lower health standards and a lower life expectancy Regions that suffer from persistently high long-term unemployment see falling real incomes and a widening of inequality of income and wealth. The recent figures on poverty in the UK are testimony to the social damage that high unemployment can have. Persistently high unemployment will create problems for the economy as a whole and the unemployed individuals and some costs are difficult to measure. The government is doing all it can to prevent unemployment and to try and get less than 5% of the willing to work population employed. What do you think the biggest consequence of unemployment is?
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A superbly detailed post Lewis - well done!
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jack mctiernan
15/7/2013 05:55:27 pm
people will spend more if interest rates are lower as there will be no point in saving money. They will be able to afford more expensive items on credit as there will be less to pay back in interest. If taxes are lower consumers will have more disposable income and will therefore spend more money on goods. spending in the uk will increase if the exchange rate is lower this will attract investment from abroad as it will be cheaper to spend money in the uk. to encourage spending the government could reduce prices on products that are normally to expensive to buy this could be things like luxury cars and property. if the government made it easier to get a mortgage or loan then people would spend more.
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Interesting post Jack!
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Iram Shafiq
16/7/2013 03:29:18 am
To work it means to actively get involved in something for a certain purpose. The reason why people work is because of two main reasons these include; Pay (Many people will work full-time and the money received for this work will allow them to purchase goods, such as cars and clothes and services also they can pay for any other family members who don’t work.) Job satisfaction
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Great post Iram!
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16/7/2013 06:04:45 am
There are many pros and cons with rewards at work or employee recognition schemes because in one way they can boost a business’s productivity which results in more rewards for the workers on the other hand there are cons because it could lead to favouritism in the work place or certain employees not being recognised. This means that some businesses who have favourites in the business will find that certain workers productivity will escalate rapidly, where as others will plummet because they aren’t getting recognised enough. People will ask should we scrap work rewards or will all companies have the same rewards. This could cause major friction with companies because some companies and businesses don’t have reward schemes because they don’t have enough disposable income to do so. If every company of a certain size or above has to implement reward schemes then certain companies will have to let a lot of their staff go or close because they don’t have the income to give them their rewards. On the other hand certain companies will benefit from this because employees will be motivated by this which would make their efficiency rise which would increase the companies’ money flow creating more rewards and more goals for the employees. This means that even though some people don’t get rewards it is benefitting them because if they had rewards it could affect their job for the good or the bad.
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Mr Tarn
16/7/2013 06:30:39 pm
Great post Dominic and a useful link too!
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16/7/2013 06:46:30 am
A company has had to do a slight change over plans to use animal products in their chocolate to avoid a public backlash. Shoppers have become increasingly health-conscious and environmentally aware. Vegetarians complained about the use of animal products in their chocolate. Consumers started a protest and urged members to complain to the company their MP or local newspaper. Within a week, the firm had received more than 6,000 calls and e-mails and 40 MPs had signed a petition. Master foods quickly agreed to revert to the old recipe and they declared that consumers are the boss. Protestors even dumped GM soya beans outside Downing Street. One of the biggest consumer movements in recent years was over genetically modified ingredients. Companies started to change their policies because consumers where not happy and started to write letters causing businesses to fear they would start losing customers. Companies now think that consumers are the ones in charge because if people are going to get unhappy about something then they are going to start complaining and protesting which disrepute’s the companies/businesses name. Companies are increasingly having to watch their step.
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Mr Tarn
16/7/2013 06:17:11 pm
I'm impressed - well done!
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16/7/2013 07:43:37 am
International Trade is a very important factor to helping to UK Government meet there main objectives. International trade allows businesses to exchange and market worldwide with people from foreign countries, usually within the EU. Once a business has gone international it is vitally important that the business still earns a profit or it will go bankrupt. International trade is vital to the UK because we import a lot of foreign goods and we export less (causing a deficit, however if we export more than we import we will have a surplus), some businesses go bankrupt due to people 'Boycotting' products that are at an international scale, due to ethical reasons. Some products are what we class as our everyday items, however if we didn't import goods/services we wouldn't have these luxuries. For example Brazil and India are the two biggest banana producing countries in the world, but India hardly has a significant share in the International trade, accounting for just 0.02 per cent of the total of 90.7 million tonnes, this has caused problems for the banana farmers in India, showing how important international trade it.
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Mr Tarn
16/7/2013 06:32:29 pm
Insightful post Chloe!
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16/7/2013 05:33:47 pm
Saving means any money which has been kept aside (either at home or in a savings account) for some sort of purpose. As we are in recession, changes in interest rates can have an affect on how much or how little people save. So for example, if the interest rate was to go up more people would want to save because you will receive more money back, than you originally put in. However if the interest rates were to go down then this would have a negative affect on people,as less people would want to save and those people who are saving may choose to take there money out and spend it elsewhere. This is because you will be receiving very less or no money back at all.AER (Annual Equivalent Rate) shows the percentage of compound interest that would be paid on your savings once a year if you didn't withdraw or add anything. There are many different places where people can choose to save these include; High Street Banks and building societies, Internet-only banks, national savings and Investments, and Post Office card account.
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Very good post Zahra!
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Matthew Bigland
16/7/2013 05:42:16 pm
The impact of the global economy on work: one of the main impacts are that UK firms move to foreign countries like China, which is bad for the UK as this means that more unskilled and semi skilled jobs are being exported to other countries. The reason why UK firms move offshore is because; it reduces labour costs and corporation tax; workers in less developed countries work longer hours; the firm might now be nearer new customers so that will keep them happy, but probably upset the ones they left behind; it will satisfy the possibly bigger customer market that the firm is moving two; focus on core business; joint ventures; the firm might be moving to the same county that a firm that it wants to or is working with, restructuring; the business might be trying to start fresh in a new country, increasing revenue; the company might be making a larger profit in the country it has moved to than the country it was in before, cheap labour; countries like China and India don't have a national minimum wage so they can work longer hours for less in worst conditions. I hope that helped Mr Tarn.
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Worth the wait!
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My article is written by Ben Stein who is a respected economist known to many as a movie and television personality, but he has worked in personal and corporate finance more than anywhere else. His article is entitled 'How to manage your money so you don't go broke' and is written based on his experiences and how he manages his money.
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Mr Tarn
17/7/2013 05:22:58 pm
A much improved post Holly!
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Hello Mr. Tarn,
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There has been a recent fall in the price of petrol per litre. Now, unleaded prices are down 0.9p from 130.5ppl to 129.6ppl. There has also been a decrease in diesel prices, falling 1.2p from 138.2ppl to 137.0ppl. According to the recent budget, fuel duty prices will not rise in September 2014 bringing great advantages to many different people.
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