No 164: First Four Student Stories

SO HERE are the first of the summaries written by my A2 students about recent economic stories. Good work everyone!

EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND THE EURO by Queena Wong

Countries in Europe like Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland are still in recession. Confidence in these countries decreased as the cost of insuring government debts rose sharply. The cost of insuring indicates the high risks of government repayments. This has led to the Euro falling to a 10-week low.


(See

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/nov/30/eurozone-rocked-by-debt-crisis )

   

IS HAPPINESS ALL ABOUT MONEY? by Yana Geshko


In the article ideas about human well-being and income are discussed. Should government put people's happiness above people's prosperity as the aim that drives their policy- making decisions? Though peoples' answers don't show that money is everything, they usually make a decision relying on the possibility to save or earn money. 


(See : http://www.economist.com/node/17578888 )

CAMERON'S HAPPINESS INDEX by Iris

David Cameron has asked the Office of National Statistics to measure the country's "general well-being" in terms of what is known as the index of happiness. The government is intending to use this statistical information when it comes to policy making.However,this rather creative new strategy is not favoured by the majority of people who is concerned about the feasibility of this,because it is not only difficult to define "happiness",but is also time-consuming to collect data from a large and representative sample.

 http://www.economist.com/economics/by-invitation/questions/should_governments_pursue_happiness_rather_economic_growth

 CADBURY AGREES TO KRAFT'S TAKEOVER BID by Rachel Yoo

Cadbury will benefit from the supply chain of a larger company.

For example, its addition to the Kraft will allow the combined company to have an even a broader reach around the world.
Also, there is a big chance to generate cost savings.

However as Cadbury, the 186-year-old British company, was acquired by an American company there were public protests, asking to “Keep Cadbury British”.

 http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/What-Happens-When-Kraft-And-Cadbury-Merge-KFT-CBY-WEN-MCD-TGT0127.aspx?partner=tickerspy