The first major cause was stagnating oil prices (easily surpassing the $ 100 a barrel), driven by geopolitical uncertainties, the collapse of stock markets and subsequent diversion of speculative investment market and the expected oil production cuts by the OPEC. Second, was Continued escalation of prices of staple
That balance slowly adjusted over the next 20 years due to reduced production. The price of gas peaked at the end of that cycle in 2008 at $12.69 /mmBtu (millions of British Thermal Units) based on the Henry Hub Natural Gas Front Month Futures (a standard for finding the pricing point of natural gas). However, because of the economic crisis and the emerging shale gas market, the price lowered to $6.50 between 2008 and 2010. The quickly expanding market increased supply so much that it hit a low price of $1.82/mmBtu in 2010. It has averaged $3.50/mmBtu in recent years due to new fracking technologies and government subsidies (McElroy, Lu, 2013).
John majors government came into office after the downfall of Margret Thatcher, which ultimately created divisions within the party. Not only did the party suffer from the internal conflict but also faced the problems of the recession after the ‘Lawson boom’. In order to stabilise the economy he joined the ERM getting a good deal but ultimately resulting in ‘black Wednesday’ causing Major to raise interest rates to 15%. This was political suicide and he soon lost the support of the press we had once relied so much on to get re-elected in 1992. The housing market also plummeted leading to negative equity, which the majority of the working class could not afford resulting in the repossession of their houses combined with the drastic increase in unemployment Britain was in a mess.
2. Question : (TCO 6) In the 1980s, Caterpillar was negatively affected by a strong dollar and lost significant market share to Japanese competitor Komatsu. The situation prompted Caterpillar to revise its global strategy and by the 2000s, the company was in a much better position to deal with volatile currency values. More recently, a strong dollar has actually helped boost Caterpillar’s bottom line. In the 1980s, a stronger dollar hurt Caterpillar’s competitive position, but in 2008 a stronger dollar did not seem to have the same effect.
The economy is considered to be very unstable at the current time, and it is the duty of the United States government to do everything in their power to once again stabilize the once booming economy for the sake of the entire country and its citizens. Current Unemployment Rate Currently unemployment rates in the United Sates are a less than desirable 7.9%. Although, this number has decreased by 2.1% from its peak in recent years, it is still believed that there is a long way to go. Prior to the recession unemployment rates fluctuated between 4% and 6% (www.bls.gov, 2012). This increase in the unemployment rate is having considerable impacts on the economy.
As the government backed up big wage rises consumer prices rose and because since there was a global food shortage it pushed up food prices. Soon after world oil prices doubled and following that inflations rose worldwide and this caused both Australia and the west to plummet into a
Despite caution of the dangers of speculation, many believed that the market could sustain high price levels. Before the crash, economist Irving Fisher famously proclaimed, ‘’Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.’’ The optimism and financial gains of the great bull market where shattered on ‘’Black Thursday’’, October 24, 1929, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) collapsed. Stock prices plummeted on that day, and continued to fall at an unprecedented rate for a full month. The 1929, crash came during a period of declining real estate values in the United States (which came up a round 1925) near the beginning of a chain of events that led to the Great Depression, a period of economic decline in the industrialized nations. After a six year run the world saw an Industrial Average increase in value fivefold, prices peaked at 381.17 on September 3, 1929.
How Hurricane Katrina effect gas prices Outrageous gasoline prices is something that all American face at the pump in today economy. Many American wonder what is the cause of the high rates at the pump. There are many factors involved in the answer to the question on what causes gasoline prices to increase suddenly. In 2005, Labor Day Weekend gas prices rose dramatically after hurricane Katrina hit the southern coast of the United States. The devastation of hurricane Katrina damaged many of the United States oil refineries, causing a decrease in crude oil supply, which caused a decrease in gasoline supply.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION BY: JASMINE SARVAS HISTORY 20 ESSAY January 14, 2011 THE GREAT DEPRESSION The Great Depression came about because of three main causes, in my opinion these three causes were not properly dealt with which could lead to the United States falling into another depression similar to the one in the 1930s. The first obvious cause was the deflation and inflation within the economy in the United States. The cause that immediately followed was the demand for product. This led to the last cause which was unemployment because of the nation being over loaded with product and lack of money. Most people think that the Great Depression started with the stock market crashing and it changed the way United States worked.
Recently, the market is on an uptake with its improving stocks & bonds. The light in a year-plus-long tunnel is bringing both hope and realization. The market improvement is also shedding a truth on a troubling facet of the economy, the 401(K). The realization Stephen Gandel, of “Time Magazine”, has highlighted in his article “Why It’s Time to Retire the 401(k)” focuses on the sad truth that 401(K) is not effective and thus can not be relied on. 401(K) has become ineffective because of the corruption of big business, the misunderstanding of and as a result a mishandling of the 401(K) accounts, and its correlating dependency on the market’s success.