Term 2 Progress Test 2 Revision Sheet

Study all notes from the documentary.

Term 2 Progress Test 1 Revision Sheet

Study all notes related to the Santa’s Workshop: Inside China’s Slave Labour Toy Factories documentary. For the exam you will answer a case study that is related to the documentary.

September 11's Economic Legacy

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/sep2006/db20060911_905042.htm

The New York City economy is expected to lose an estimated 108,500 jobs

within the first month following the September 11 attack on the World Trade

Center as a direct result of the attack. This is approximately 2.4 % of total local

employment (including full-time, part-time and self-employment). This

employment estimate encompasses direct, indirect and induced effects to

estimate the total economic impact.

The three industries with the greatest job impacts are securities, retail trade

and restaurants. Securities was the most heavily impacted in the immediate

vicinity of the Trade Center. Numerous restaurants were destroyed or forced

to close and others cut staff due to the spillover effects on tourism and

business travel. Retail trade (excluding restaurants) has also suffered as a

result of the direct effect of the attack and its aftermath on consumer spending.

The total lost output to the New York City economy from the World Trade

Center attack is estimated at $16.9 billion. The total lost value-added in the

local economy is estimated at $11.7 billion, or 3.1% of the total value-added in

the city economy in the year 2000.

The total labor compensation associated with the 108,500 lost jobs is $6.7

billion. Labor compensation includes total payroll costs (wages and salaries,

fringe benefits, and payroll taxes). This amount represents 2.7% of the

estimated total employee compensation in New York City in 2000.

This report presents estimates of the total economic and employment effect of the

September 11 event and its aftermath. These estimates are based on the best

available information regarding the direct impacts, supplemented by FPI's economic

analyses. The employment and output estimates are considered to be those that

would occur in the first month following the event. The anticipated direct employment

effects were used to estimate total economic and employment effects using the

IMPLAN input-output model for New York (see page 5). This job loss estimate

represents jobs lost to the New York City economy, not necessarily increased

unemployment of that magnitude. Some jobs relocated outside of the city.

Economics Project

                Wall Street gains as bank shares advance

At Wednesday in the United States a healthy bon sale Portugal helped ease concern over the latest sovereign which resulted in the stocks to rise. Portugal sold 1.25 billion Euros which caused European shares rallying, which were led by banks to beef up the European Union’s Rescue.

The two big stories in the market are currently about the European debt crisis and future strength in U.S banks, according to Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp in Chicago. The Euro gained 0.7 percent against the dollar.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) climbed 2.2 percent to $44.54 to lead the KBW bank index (.BKX), up 1.5 percent. JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said the bank could pay an annual dividend of 75 cents to a dollar once the Federal Reserve gives its approval, pending the completion of stress tests.

JPMorgan starts to bring some news, which brings clarity into that issue which reminds the market that ultimately these companies are good dividend payers, further restoring confidence. Also fueling gains among financials were positive comments on the sector from Wells Fargo, which raised the U.S. bank sector to an "overweight" rating, citing a decline in credit costs and positive loan growth.

reference: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110112/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks;_ylt=AhJ76WkqnbdxQE0jEQUHlg.yBhIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJpZDE2OWFnBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwMTEyL3VzX21hcmtldHNfc3RvY2tzBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNiYW5rc3RvbGVhZHc-

Jobless Rate Hits 7.2%, a 16-Year High

U.S lost about 524,00 jobs in december, this created fear among the employers. The unemployment rate rose 50% as compared to last year. This increase in unemployment rate started in october. Such increase in just 3 months happened for the first time after 1980. Companies are struggling to keep up their sales and have lost access to loans.

“The simplest way for a company to hoard cash is to drain their inventories and fire their workers,” said Robert J. Barbera, chief economist at the Investment Technology Group, a research and trading firm, “and everywhere you look, that is what is happening.”

Total jobs lost in recession totals upto 2.59 million and more are expected in coming months. During the month of December thousands of people struggled to get full time jobs, however all they could manage to get was part time jobs. This must be kept in mind that this is just the start of recession and no deterioration in unemployment rate could be seen in near future. If part time workers are added then the rate will rise from 12.6 to 13.5 in November.

“What happened to jobs in the fourth quarter tells us unmistakably that this recession is going to be a long one and a deep one,” Mr. Barbera said. “The toughest six months,” he added, “will be the just-completed fourth quarter and the first quarter of this year.”

Employers in every industry cut payrolls.Some economists predict that the recession will last till july to the least, which will be the longest recession since 1930's. In general most economists say it will last upto 6 month and things might worsen in the following months. No proper solution has been given by anyone including President Obama.

LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/business/economy/10jobs.html

EU Weighs Boosting Bailout Fund

BERLIN—European Union governments are discussing proposals to increase the €440 billion ($569.98 billion) bailout fund for indebted euro-zone countries, a recognition that the fund might prove too small if the region’s debt crisis spreads to Spain, according to European officials. One proposal being considered by EU governments is to increase the EFSF’s effective lending capacity to its advertized €440 billion size, which would require a substantial increase in guarantees from financially strong countries such as Germany and France. European governments are far from reaching a consensus, with Germany particularly wary of proposals that would require it to commit more money while reducing the pressure on indebted countries to reform.

Bank of America is the next target for WikiLeaks

Bank of America is the target of the next "MegaLeak" from WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks apparently has tens of thousands of documents from a big US bank that would be released earlier this year. Despite Assange's refusal to name the bank, the consensus has long held that Bank of America is the target. Although Assange described the documents as depicting an "ecosystem of corruption" it is always possible that the documents will not reveal much that we do not already know. It's not as if many people believe that Bank of America is a shining example of ethical purity. If WikiLeaks do release this information to the public this could have a negative effect on the shareholder of BAC, because the stock market is currently on a rise with BAC increasing from $10.90 a share to about $14.70 over the past month and it is also said that it will keep on increasing throughout this year and even exceed the 52-wk high (19.86).