Minimum Price for Alcohol

Why it can Prevent Excessive Consumption The government’s intention to set the minimum price for alcohol products is based on the concept of price floors. Under this concept, the minimum selling price is set above the equilibrium prices (Frank, Bernanke Kaufman 2007, p. 71). For example, equilibrium price for Grant’s whisky was 11 pounds before the proposal. However, it will rise to 11.42 after implementing the proposal.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Minimum Price for Alcohol specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The increase in equilibrium price leads to a reduction in quantity demand. This is illustrated in figure 1 below. P 1 and Q1 represent the initial equilibrium price and quantity respectively. However, the equilibrium price will rise to P 2 after implementing the government’s proposal. When the price increases to P 2, the quantity demand will reduce from Q 1 to Q 2. This is because consumers will find alcohol products more expensive than they were initially (Frank, Bernanke Kaufman 2007, p. 73). This implies that raising the minimum price above the market equilibrium will reduce the consumption of alcohol. Figure 1: price floor P: price Q: quantity E: equilibriumAdvertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More S: supply curve D: demand curv Why the Proposal will not succeed in this Case Influencing the consumption of alcohol through price control depends on the price elasticity of its demand (Frank, Bernanke Kaufman 2007, p. 94). The demand for alcoholic drinks such as beer tends to be relatively inelastic due to the following reasons. First, the prices of alcoholic drinks in UK are very low due to the promotions run by supermarkets. For example, the price of a bottle of wine is as little as 2.03 pounds. This means that the price represents only a small perce ntage of consumer’s income. Thus the demand for alcohol will be inelastic since the consumers will not be sensitive to price changes (Frank, Bernanke Kaufman 2007, p. 95). Second, alcohol is a necessity to those who are addicted to it. Thus unless its price is significantly increased, consumers will still purchase it. Finally, loyalty to particular brands of alcohol will encourage consumers to maintain their level of consumption even if the prices are raised (Frank, Bernanke Kaufman 2007, p. 97). These trends indicate that the price of alcohol must be increased significantly in order to reduce its consumption. Thus the government’s proposal will fail because its new price proposals are not significantly high. It is for this reason that earlier proposals fixed the minimum price at 50p instead of 38p as proposed by the government.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Minimum Price for Alcohol specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/pag e Learn More Importance of the Concept of Scarcity and Opportunity Cost Scarcity implies that that the available resources can not satisfy all the needs of a country or a business (Pindyck Robinfeld 2009, p. 22). Scarce resources are only spent on projects associated with the highest levels of benefits. Thus scarcity leads to trade-offs when allocating resources. Trade-offs in this case means that some projects must be forgone due to lack of adequate resources. Such trade-offs are associated with opportunity costs which represent â€Å"the next best alternative† (Pindyck Robinfeld 2009, p. 23). Scarcity helps governments to realize the fact that they have limited resources. Opportunity cost on the other hand helps governments to asses the costs and benefits associated with their decisions in regard to resources allocation (Pindyck Robinfeld 2009, p. 23). Thus the main importance of the concept of scarcity and opportunity cost is that they help governments to make informed decisions on the use of their resources. This helps in maximizing the benefits resulting from efficient resource allocation. This can be illustrated by the alcohol market in UK. Scarcity in this case is represented by the fact that the government does not have enough resources to prevent the side-effects of alcohol consumption such as increased crime rate. The government must deicide on whether to promote consumption of alcohol in order to increase its GDP or reduce alcohol availability in order to protect the health of the citizens. This represents the trade-off that the government must make. Since the government has decided to reduce alcohol availability, the opportunity cost is represented by the revenue lost due to reduction in alcohol consumption. Thus the two concepts have helped the government to determine the level of alcohol production that is both beneficial to the producers and the citizens. Taxation of Alcohol, Cigarette and Petrol The above goods are taxe d for two reasons. First, they are taxed in order to generate revenue for supporting government operations (Pindyck Robinfeld 2009, p. 54). For example, the revenues are used to provide services such as education. Second, they are taxed to prevent market failure. Market failure occurs when the free market can not allocate resources efficiently (Pindyck Robinfeld 2009, p. 55). The above goods lead to market failure since their consumption is associated with negative externalities. A negative externality is â€Å"a cost not transmitted through prices, incurred by a party who did not agree to the activity causing the cost† (Pindyck Robinfeld 2009, p. 56). Air pollution is one of the negative externalities associated with the consumption of petrol and cigarette.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Increase in crime rate and road accidents are the negative externalities associated with alcohol consumption. Prevention of market failure through taxation is illustrated by figure 2 below. When the market equilibrium is at point E, the marginal cost associated with the private sector is less than that associated with public sector. This means that increasing the production of the good will be less beneficial. Thus in order to achieve the ideal equilibrium, pint D, the price must be raised to P 2. This is achieved through taxation in order to increase the price of the product. Figure 2: negative externality P: price Q: quantity E: actual equilibrium D: ideal equilibrium Reducing the Incidence for Alcohol Consumption Education Consumption of alcohol can be reduced if the public is educated on the effects of its consumption. As the citizens realize the side-effects of alcohol such as health risks, increased crime rate and road accidents, they will reduce alcohol consumption (Pindyck Robinfeld 2009, p. 66). This can be illustrated by figure 3 below. D 1 represents the demand for alcohol before introducing the education programs. At this level, the equilibrium price and quantity are P 1 and Q 1 respectively. After the education program, the demand curve will shift to D 2. Thus the quantity demanded at the same price, P 1, will reduce from Q 1 to Q 3. Following the reduction in demand, alcohol producers are likely to reduce the prices in order to encourage consumption. Consequently, the new equilibrium price and quantity will be P 2 and Q 2. The overall effect of education is that the quantity demanded will reduce from Q 1 to Q 2. Figure 3: demand-supply model P: price Q: quantity D: demand curve Taxation Taxation increases the price of alcohol. According to the law of demand, an increase in price translates into a reduction in the quantity demanded (Pindyck Robinfeld 2009, p. 67). Thus imposing taxes on alcohol will make it more expensive hence discouraging it s consumption. This can be illustrated by figure 4 below. Before imposing the tax, the equilibrium price and quantity will be P1 and Q 1 respectively. After imposing the tax, the price paid by buyers will increase to P2 while that received by sellers will reduce to P 3. Thus the quantity demanded will reduce from Q 1 to Q 2. Following the reduction in demand, the producers of alcohol will reduce the supply level. Thus the overall effect of taxation will be a reduction in the quantity demanded due to an increase in the price of alcohol. Figure 4: incidence of taxation P: price Q: quantity The Energy Market in UK In 2007, the government of UK introduced price control in the energy market (National-grid 2007). This involved lowering the prices of both electricity and gas. To achieve this objective, the government subsidized the production of both gas and electricity (National-grid 2007). The main goal of the price control was to lower the prices of gas and electricity so that many cit izens can afford to use them. Besides, the use of electricity and gas causes less air pollution. Thus the government intended to promote the use of the above sources of energy in order to conserve the environment (National-grid 2007). The success of this strategy can be illustrated by figure 5 below. Before introducing the subsidy, the equilibrium price was P 1 while the equilibrium quantity was Q 1. However, the price paid by the buyers reduced to P 2 after the introduction of the subsidy. The price received by the sellers increased to P 2+ Z, where Z represents the amount of subsidy per unit. Since P 2+ Z is higher than the initial equilibrium price, the sellers increased the quantity supplied from Q 1 to Q 2. The overall effect of the subsidy was a reduction in the price of electricity and gas as well as an increase in their demand. Figure 5: subsidy P: price Q: quantity S: supply Z: subsidy References Frank, R, Bernanke, B Kaufman, R 2007, Principles of economics, McGraw-Hill, New York. National-grid 2007, The use gas and electricity distribution price control, https://www.nationalgrid.com/. Pindyck, R Robinfeld, D 2009, Microeconomics, Pearson, New York. This assessment on Minimum Price for Alcohol was written and submitted by user Aria N. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Midnight Cowboy analysis essays

Midnight Cowboy analysis essays The film Midnight Cowboy has many symbols and representations and the interpretations of them. The symbols and representations in the film are obvious and also unseen. Some of the obvious symbols have concrete interpretations and some symbols have many thoughts on what it represents or means. The name of the film, itself, is a symbol or has a deeper meaning. Midnight Cowboy, a midnight cowboy is a cowboy at that comes out at night and in New York cowboys of the night are hustlers, which is a symbol the wannabe life of the lead character. Through these symbols this film, Midnight Cowboy, is a good movie. Joe Buck, an aspiring male prostitute from Texas, heads to Manhattan where he hopes to find plenty of wealthy women willing to pay for the services of a handsome man. When he arrives, the naive country boy befriends Ratso Rizzo, a tubercular homeless con artist who dreams of moving to Florida. As they go about trying to get the money Ratso needs, the two men confront the seediness, corruption, and cruelty that flourish in the big city. The first of many obvious symbols is the bus. The bus symbolizes the escape, the getaway, or the new beginning. This is presented when Joe Buck leaves Texas on a bus to get to New York. Joe went to New York to be a hustler. The dictionary meaning of hustler is one who jostles or shoves roughly. This is the opposite of Joe; Joe as a child jostled with loneliness and not having any real parental figures. This hustler term could be representative of the rape scene. Joe and his girlfriend, Crazy Anne, were raped by some of the towns boys. Joe was jostled and is shoved roughly in the situation in his life. Another symbol is the flashbacks. Joe wanted to leave his past behind him but it kept popping up in the flashbacks. The flashbacks symbolizes just because you leave your situations you cant forget your past. The individual flashbacks a...

Processed Foods Are Unhaelthy to Our Health Research Paper

Processed Foods Are Unhaelthy to Our Health - Research Paper Example Other food processing methods give the food its taste and convenient. Although home cooking is a way of processing foods, the term processed food is used to refer to the food modification in the industrial setting (Johanson, 2008). Food processing is a vital part of life in the industrialized countries. Many families in the United States feed on the processed foods. Even the families that cook their own food at some point they purchase the processed food (Johanson, 2008). For instance, a family that wants to eat pepperoni pizza for dinner could buy a cooked pizza from a store or a restaurant. They can get a frozen pizza to prepare at the comfort of their house. The family can also decide to make pizza for themselves. They can obtain the premade pizza crusts and dough, premade sauce, pre-sliced pepperoni, and pre-grated cheese at a grocery store. Similarly, the family could also make the pizza from the scratch. To prepare the crust, the family can purchase pre-milled flour and commerc ially packaged yeast. To make the sauce the family can buy dried spices and canned tomato sauce. All in all, the family will have to use processed foods. Common types of processed foods have existed for a long time in United States. In the seventeenth century and eighteen centuries, many people purchased processed foods such as spices, alcoholic beverages, flour, tea, sugar, and coffee in the seventeenth century and eighteen centuries. Canning was widely used with advent of new technology after to industrial revolution in United States. Today food industries use more advanced methods of food processing such as irradiation, pasteurization, vacuum packaging, and use of chemicals (Johanson, 2008). United States is one the nation in that produces and exports processed foods and beverages. The two contribute significantly to the U.S agricultural exports. The agricultural export figures indicate that the processed foods and beverages recorded an increase from 30.6 percent in the year 1996 to 38.2 percent in 2000 (U.S International Trade Commission, 2002). Some examples of processed foods include meat products, dairy products, and grain based foods. Some of the artificial ingredients used in manufacturing of foods comprise of flavors, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, and artificial sweeteners (Johanson, 2008). These processed foods possess a health risk to the consumers. The health concerns of processed food are not only in the United States but also in global spheres. Health Risk of Processed Foods Proper good diet is essential for maintenance health bodies. Conversely, poor diets lead to weakening of the defense systems of the body. The processed foods present an innumerable health risks to foods consumers. The negative effects of processed food can be immediate or they can take a long time. The processed foods are rich sources of toxins. The immediate effects of the processed foods include headaches, alteration in mental concentration and behavior. Processed food s can elicit an immune response. Severe cases of this response bring about some allergic reactions. The long term effects of processed food lead to heart complications. The extreme cases of heart diseases results to death. The processing of foods incorporates some harmful components in the processed foods. The processed foods contain a lot of fats (Insel, et al. (2004). When these fats enter into human body they cause many complications. Most

Artist research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Artist - Research Paper Example Laurie Ann’s immigration to Spain could be considered as one of the most highlighted chapter in her life. Her views to natural things became uniquely appealing. For example, she had found the beauty of the decayed walls of the demolished building in Spain (Blogspot, 2010). With this, she imitated the styles of the â€Å"imprinted† walls, and she started to collect the relics, and the remains of the demolished site to create a new genre of art through â€Å"urban decay† painting. One of her paintings related to this style is the â€Å"Return Home† (see Figure 1) piece created in the year 2009. The painting has dominant colors of white, light brown, black lines and gray zigzag lines, which could make someone feel an ancient wind in an old-fashioned house. Moreover, the longhand letters in the house walls represent a mysterious love that one starves to evoke and feel. In the long run, Laurie created her three other main paintings: â€Å"The High Tower† (2009), â€Å"The Castle† (2009), and â€Å"the Patina† (2010). The figure 2 painting shows an ordinary house drawn on a wall. There is an opened door in the right side of the painting which creates a three-dimensional illusion of being inside a room. In addition, the house on the left side of the painting has a triangle rooftop and a long rectangular body with stairway connected to a church found in the upper-right corner. There is a black shadow heart above the rooftop of the church that may represent the bitter feeling of an angry child who is outside the church. The child could have wanted to play, to pray and explore the world without many restrictions. In the Figure 3 shown above, â€Å"The Castle† (2009) painting represents a picture of an abandoned building with a horizontal space and an opened window in the right side. One can dance in the boundless wind of the horizontal space, and to imagine the house like a kingdom of his own. One can step-up freely in the two stairs of the building without

Ethical Issues Essay Example for Free

Ethical Issues Essay Different people have different understandings of what constitutes ethical behavior. There are laws that help define what is legal and what is not, but the differences between moral ethics are not always clear. These types of moral ethics often lead to ethical dilemmas. According to Trevino Nelson (2007), â€Å"it might surprise many people to learn that there were few laws protecting consumers before the 1960s. At the turn of the last century, consumers didn’t even have the right to sue a manufacturer for defective equipment. † (p. 17) No matter what type of business is run, there are ethical and moral dilemmas attached and in some cases, legal issues arise from unethical-based decisions. Berry`s Bug Blasters is no exception to the rule. Berry`s Bug Blasters is a local company that terminates any type of pest including, armadillos, rodents, and bees. The friendly workers at Berry`s work with their clients to design a customized pest control plan. Berry`s mission statement states that they will use the safest methods for your family, home, and environment. One of the top ethical issues among pest control companies surrounds the controversy of the types of chemicals that are used while executing the termination of pests. Most of the pest control companies are known to use toxic, synthetic, and chemically-based pesticides. These types of pesticides have been known to be the most effective in the extermination of pests. However, they are not safe for people or the environment. The most common chemical used in pest control is Diazinon. Diazinon is used for household pests inside the home, or outside on the lawn. It kills a variety of insects and is classified as an acute and chronic health hazard. Diazinon is very toxic to wildlife and can be fatal if ingested. Recently, EcoSMART pest control was created. The scientists wanted to find a pesticide that will not harm a family. The scientists had a challenge on their hands. They had to discover natural ingredients that: â€Å"effectively kill pests, could be used around the home, family, and pets, and leave no toxic residue or run-off† (Meehan, 2010). The scientists found a way of creating the organic pesticide by using â€Å"essential oils that trees and plants use in nature as insect defense. They found all-natural plant oils which target the octopamine receptors in insects† (Meehan, 2010). The management of Berry`s Bug Blasters faced the ethical decision each time that they make a service call. Should they use chemicals that they know are not good for the environment and could potentially cause an individual a lot of health issues, or should they research and use a much safer chemical that may not be as effective as other pesticides. Other benefits of choosing Berry`s Bug Blasters is they are offering a monthly special to all customers for the first month and offer monthly extermination plans. There are ways to make sure that decisions that are made within a business are ethical. A business-person may ask him or herself how they would feel if his or her actions were publicized throughout the community. If the individual would not mind his or her family, friends, and community learning about the actions, then the decision is most likely ethical. However, if the individual did feel bad about others known the actions, the decision is probably unethical and should be reconsidered. The employees and management of Berry`s Bug Blasters will do whatever is in their power to protect a family as well as the environment. Although new ‘green’ pesticides may not seem as effective as older ones, more laws are coming out that prevent pest control companies in using anything toxic in order to protect the community. Berry`s Bug Blasters will face this ethical dilemma constantly as clients insist on using a chemical that will rid the pests once and for all without a doubt rather than take a risk with something not as strong.

Alternative Sources of Energy Essay -- Energy Research Papers, 2015

As the population continues to increase day after day, so does the demand for oil and other natural resources. Eventually we will get to a point where we will need to find different ways of efficiently producing energy at a low cost. Twenty to thirty years ago it was hard to imagine what sources of energy (other than obvious possibilities like solar panels and windmills) that could efficiently supply the world. The advancement of technology today is opening new doors in the energy field that are likely to change the way we think about energy. With so many different sources of energy that are prevalent around the world, the challenge is found in harvesting and securing the energy at its source, and doing so in an efficient manner. I decided to do some research about possible future sources of energy, and my search turned up some interesting results. One of the most basic yet potentially worthwhile investments was found on an alternative energy website. This particular article talks about the use of flying wind farms. These flying wind farms are essentially "airborne turbines spinning at high altitudes sending power down via nano-tube cable tethers to generate power." Basically there would be two turbine's attached via the nano-tube cables that would fly high in the sky like kites. The strong wind from the high altitude would allow the turbines to capture and transmit the energy down the cables. The idea was being explored by NASA who said that the t...

Conclusion and recommendation Essay

Based on the results of the focus group discussion and the interview, Web 2. 0 applications being utilized for educational purposes are seen to have a very good potential in being integrated into educational processes for teaching and learning. Reflective of the first objective, it has been seen that there is a positive outlook with regards to Web 2. 0 applications from students and how the communicate. In addition, it is seen that educational processes would from time to time inculcate particular. Web 2. 0 applications and replacing conventional educational tools with newer and more technologically adept Web 2.0 applications in order for educators to be more effective in communicating with students. With respect to the sixth objective of this study, educators are keen to note that Web 2. 0 applications have the potential for being used as a tool for educational purposes. Educators on one hand furthered this conclusion because of their openness to the concept of including Web 2. 0 applications in their curriculum, utilizing its capabilities in effectively transferring knowledge to their students and more importantly communicating with them. In answering objectives two and three, educators themselves indicated that they are able to already utilize Web 2. 0 applications for providing administrative information to their students and they have indicated that Web 2. 0 applications being used as educational tools already exists and is being utilized by other educators. They are able to go with the flow of innovation as students are getting more and more adept with the use of such internet tools that they are able to identify with this and use this to the teacher’s advantage. The educators have identified that Web 2. 0 applications such as Blogs, Wikis, and other social networking tools have the potential to be used as teaching tools. Being able to use such a tool would not only make their teaching efforts easier but more importantly more effective in bringing information to their students. Coming from the aim of the study particularly to identify how Web 2. 0 technologies can be applied to Higher education, it is apparent that due to the inputs coming from both the student body and educators and because of extant literature there is an apparent improvement in the use of Information Technology in higher education. With the current use of Web 2. 0 technologies such as that of Flickr, Wikis and Myspace by both students and educators in communicating and teaching learning, Web 2. 0 technologies in the future will most certainly be integrated into higher education. This is due to the cultural changes that are observed within educators and students as how they perceive Web 2. 0 technologies and their effect on higher education. This is already evident as students currently utilize such Web 2. 0 applications in communicating with their peers for educational purposes. The next phase would be to utilize such tools more effectively and efficiently by the educators themselves in communicating with their students. On the other hand, because of such an increase in utilization, it would be constructive for this area of educational research if there are additional in-depth studies pertaining to Web 2. 0 technologies and how they affect higher education. In order to further explain and expound on this body of knowledge, it is recommended that a considerable number of focus groups be added into the study. This would yield a more accurate and diverse collation of answers. This would then be used in acquiring more information and validating the results of this study. In addition to the methodology, there should be an inclusion of several interviews to be conducted on other areas particularly other educational classes and universities so as to identify the relationship of geography with Web learning. In addition to this, it would be useful to identify if there is a relationship between racial background and web learning, is there a trait that controls the preferences of various races utilize web 2. 0 applications and if there is a relationship with race. Lastly, In addition to what was mentioned above, it would prove crucial if there is further study with regards to other countries and how they are able to utilize Web 2. 0 applications in their pursuit for better education. This would be able to provide the research with a better comparison particular to the effects of countries with respect to Web 2. 0 applications and Web learning.