GDP Per Capita: $4,500 Population Growth Rate: 1.213% (102th Worldwide) Unemployment Rate: 40% (2006 est.) GDP by Sector: Agriculture 8.6% Industry 42% Service 49.4% (2009 est.) Swaziland has a relatively high GDP per capita considering that is in the bottom 60 nations of the world. It has normal population growth rate. The most concerning thing [...]
Archive for the ‘Economics in the News’ Category
Problem based learning was an interesting experience. It was a good change of pace. It was also beneficial because it was a hands on experience, and we had the opportunity to apply economic concepts we learned in the lectures to the real world. Furthermore, we were able to tackle a problem that even the top [...]
Pranav Mistry is probably one of the most innovative minds in the past 100 years. He took old outdated scrap parts and put together a device so futuristic, no one would have thought it to be possible presently at such a low cost. However, this product is grossly under consumed. Yes, it may have just [...]
I was reading an article recently about the war in Iraq and it occurred to me that the war, and all wars for that matter, are financial black holes. The amount of money the governments allocates to fund their military activities can easily be used to build multiple hospitals, schools, and homeless shelters. It is [...]
Apple released their revolutionary music device, the iPod, in 2001. Many companies tried to come up with products to beat the iPod, but all failed. The genius of Apple’s business plan was to create vertical monopoly in this market. They provided the songs online. They made the process of buying new songs so simple it [...]
BBC says that Lehman Brothers collapsed because they basically had no money. They kept investing in the sub-prime mortgage market. These people could not pay back the loans. Because the company had exposed 54 billion to this market and did not get anything back, they went bankrupt. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7615974.stm Another source agrees with BBC. Despite [...]
