Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)

Ludwig von Mises was born on Sept 29, 1881, in the city of Lemberg (now Lvov) in Galicia, where his father, a Viennese construction engineer working for the Austrian railroads, was then stationed. Mises was one of the most notable economists and social philosophers of the twentieth century. He believed that in­dividual human beings act purposively to achieve desired goals.Even though his economic analysis itself was irrelevant to values held by economists, Mises concluded that the only reasonable economic policy for the human race was a policy of unrestricted free markets and the free act for the right of private property, with government strictly limited to the defense of people and property within its territorial area.

Mises was able to demonstrate that the expansion of free markets, the division of labor, and private capital investment is the only possible path for the good of the human race. He also stated that socialism would be disastrous for a modern economy because the absence of private ownership of land and capital goods prevents any sort of rational pricing, or estimate of costs. Lastly he showed that government intervention, which is already affecting the market, would prove harmful leading ultimately to socialism.

Unfortunately Mises died in New York City on October 10, 1973 at the age of 92.

The Effects of Unemployment on the Economy

If the umemployment rate increases, the economy can be greatly affected. The government and the nation suffer. In many countries the government has to pay the unemployed some benefits. The greater the number of the unemployed or the longer they are without work the more money the government has to give out.Therefore, the nation not only has to deal with the lost income and decreased production but also with additional cost.

Another negative effect on the economy would be the change in spending money. The spending power of an unemployed person and their family decreases drastically and they would rather save than spend their money, which in turn affects the economy greatly.

Increased taxes and the insecurity about their own work may affect the spending power of the working people as well. They too may start to spend less than before which negatively affects the economy and also society.

This negative affect on the economy can lead to a dangerous cycle called the recession. With the increase rates of unemployment other economy factors are significantly affected, such as: the income per person, health costs, quality of health-care, standard of leaving and poverty. Unemployment could cause a downward spiral of money not being spent or recieved and result in a critical place for the economy.

Competition: Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola

The two major competive soft drink companies are Pepsi and Coca-Cola. The competition to attract more consumers to buy their products instead of the competition's resulted in a Cola War in the 1980s and is continuing to this present day. Over the last several years, Coca Cola has significantly outperformed PepsiCo. In fact since 2005, Coke’s stock price has gained 35%, while Pepsi only came up with a marginal 3% gain. However, in the current year, it is believed that the success is now turning in favor of Pepsi. Coca Cola’s market cap is currently 33% higher than Pepsi’s. The success in the higher stock prices were the result of several aspects. One of these aspects included good advertising to encourage consumers to buy Pepsi over Coca-Cola. Pepsi ads often focused on celebrities choosing Pepsi over Coke, supporting Pepsi's positioning as "The Choice of a New Generation." In 1975, Pepsi began showing people doing blind taste tests called Pepsi Challenge in which they preferred one product over the other. Coca-Cola thought the Pepsi Challenge ad was ridiculous because there is no way someone can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi and therefore compared it in an ad with two chimpanzees deciding which tennis ball was furrier. Thereafter, Coca-Cola regained its leadership in the market. The back and forth battle will continue between these two companies because of the need to be on top in the market.

Supply and Demand of Freshwater in Canada

The sustainability of freshwater supplies is a growing concern worldwide.In order to keep the usage of fresh water at a fair amount, the status of water availability in Canada must be tracked. Water availability refers to the volume of water in our rivers compared with the amount of water we are using. These results are found by calculating the ratio of water demand to water availability on an annual basis. Surface water supply changes based on the weather conditions like temperature, precipitation and humidity. This results in variations in the ratio of water demand to water availability from year to year.

The demand-supply ratio of water in the different provinces of Canada will differ not only based on climate conditions but also due to levels of human activity, industrial and municipal water use, and environmental land patterns. The ratios are divided into 4 categories:

High (more than 40% of available water is used): severe water stress.

Medium (between 20% and 40% of available water is used): both water supply and water demand need to be managed; conflicts among competing uses will need to be resolved.

Moderate (between 10% and 20% of available water is used): water availability becomes a constraint on development; significant investment is needed to provide for adequate water supply.

Low (less than 10% of available water is used): low water stress.

Canada's total annual renewable freshwater supply is about 3,470 cubic kilometres. Unfortunately, renewable water resources have declined in Canada from 1971 to 2004. The water yield in Southern Canada, the area in which 98% of the population lives, fell by an average of 3.5 cubic kilometres a year.

The Opportunity Cost in India: The Chandrayaan

In 2008, the Indian Space Research Organization designed a lunar orbiter which they named the Chandrayaan-1 which was designed to explore the moon. This would improve and develop India's technology and was a major boost in India's Space Program. In order for the experiment to take place, the scientists spent $80 million to launch the vehicle into the lunar orbit. This decision cost the country lots of money and created a lost in other improvements the country could of made to help the poor and suffering. India is a very poor country in some parts and could have used that money to develop better living conditions and obtain food for the unfortunate. The opportunity cost of either increasing scientific knowledge and technology in India or using the money to decrease poverty and suffering was an issue. The Indian Space Organization decided that their experiment was a better use for the money and Chandrayaan orbiter was launched. Although their was a loss of money that could have been used to improve other parts of the country, the Chandrayaan orbiter was successful. Scientists discovered that there was water present on the moon and also caves, thanks to Indian technology. They were very proud to place the Flag of India on the moon and make their mark in scientific discovery. I think many of the Indian scientists would agree that the $80 million was well spent, but many people would have disagreed and believed it should have been used to help the good of the country.