Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Economy

Budgeting Fundamentals for Business Success

What is a Budget?

A budget is a spending plan that helps determine in advance if you will have enough money to achieve your goals. It involves simply balancing expenses with income. Always start with sales budget preparation.

Key Budgeting Concepts

Limiting Factor

A limiting factor is a key factor that creates a bottleneck, hindering your objectives.

Budget Periods

• Periodic Budget: A budget for a specific period (e.g., January-December).
• Continual Budget: Revised every month, requiring more effort and cost depending on the business.

Five Main Benefits of Budgeting

Budgeting offers several crucial benefits for organizations:

• Promotes forward-thinking and identifies short-term problems.
• Motivates managers to better

Neoliberal Industrial Policy: From Vertical to Horizontal Measures and Structural Reforms

The Rise of Neoliberalism (1970s Onward)

In the wake of a shrinking working class, industrial policy underwent a significant shift from the 1980s onward, beginning in the late 1970s with Margaret Thatcher in the UK and Ronald Reagan in the US. This shift was characterized by a move away from vertical policies towards horizontal measures and structural reforms, such as labor market and services reform.

By 1982, the debt crisis forced Latin American countries to open their economies and embrace neoliberal policies, marking the end of the Third World project. Export-oriented industrialization was promoted, and foreign transnational corporations (TNCs) gained... Continue reading "The Shift from Vertical to Horizontal Industrial Policy: A Historical Perspective" »

Imputation of Structure Costs

L'imputation Rationelle Method

One of the main disadvantages of full-cost systems is that the unit cost of the product depends not only on the productivity and cost of the applied resources but also on the activity level of the productive centers. The Imputation Rationelle method avoids the influence of this variance (between actual and normal activity level) in unit costs when using a full-cost system. The method modifies the department fixed costs to be assigned to products following these steps:

1. Activity rate calculation for each department and period of analysis (t): the actual activity level (Ar) divided by the normal activity level (An).
2. Actual fixed/structure cost for the period (F) is multiplied by the rate

Resources and Influence of Interest Groups

Interest groups leverage various resources to exert influence over Congress:

• Finance: Money empowers interest groups to run campaigns, make monetary contributions, purchase television advertisements, and employ a large staff. A larger staff translates to more opportunities for promotion, lobbying, and campaign contributions.
• Expertise: Congress respects and pays attention to interest groups perceived as experts in their respective fields. This perceived expertise can enhance their credibility and influence, allowing them to directly impact policy decisions.
• Size: Larger groups wield greater influence due to their ability to mobilize votes and resources effectively. Their size facilitates fundraising and

Customer Relationships Are Key to Your Marketing Strategy

If I could show you how to increase your sales by 50% without increasing your marketing budget, would you be interested?

There are many reasons a customer or client may leave you, but the ones you will hear most often are:

• They felt your pricing was too high or unfair.
• They had an unresolved complaint.
• They took a competitor's offer.
• They left because they felt you didn't care.

When faced with the above facts, why is it businesses spend 80% of their marketing dollars going after new customers?

Before you spend your time and money going after new customers and clients you do not currently have a relationship with, consider the following statistics:

• Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers.

Quiz 7

1. The boundaries of Traffic Analysis zones (TAZs) reflect natural or man-made obstacles (e.g. rivers, freeways) where all TAZ trip-generating activities are represented by the zonal centroids.

The three internal communication patterns are vertical, horizontal, and network. In vertical communication, messages travel upward or downward along the chain of command. In horizontal communication, messages are exchanged between or among people who need to share data or coordinate effort. In network communication, messages flow freely among those who have a common bond that extends beyond their specific role or unit within the organization.

Antitrust Policy

Government regulation of businesses to ensure competition and prevent monopolies (control of a market by one company).

Capitalism

An economic system in which individuals and corporations own the principal means of production, through which they seek to reap profits.

Collective Bargaining

The right of workers to have labor union representatives negotiate with management to determine working conditions.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

A government statistic that measures the change in the cost of buying a fixed basket of goods and services.

Federal Reserve System

Created by Congress in 1913 to regulate the lending practices of banks and thus the money supply.

Fiscal Policy

The government's decisions to tax, spend, and borrow, as reflected in... Continue reading "Glossary of Economic and Political Terms" »

Understanding Brain Drain: Causes and Impacts

Brain drain refers to the emigration of highly trained or educated workers, especially scientists and engineers, from their home countries to more developed nations. This continuous loss of high-level talent poses significant challenges for developing countries.

Key Drivers of Skilled Emigration

The decision for educated and skilled individuals to emigrate is influenced by a combination of factors, stemming from both their home countries and individual motivations.

Country-Level Factors

• Living Conditions

  Poor living conditions in home countries often trigger emigration. Many developing nations lack sufficient facilities to support their populations. For example, inadequate sanitation systems can be a