Hi 08A10

Looking forward to reading more interesting econs articles from all of you!

Jia You!!
Mrs Evelyn Ong

wa, no post for half a month. And the posts like just stopped after I posted. =(

YO!! A10!!!

Hi everyone!

I'm looking forward to the active contribution from everyone in the class. Do google or keep a lookout for Economics related issues or news. Alternatively, you can post fun Economics games, comics, etc, etc out there. So much of them!

As you apply the economics knowledge that you have learnt to the stuff you find, I'm sure that your concepts will be strengthened further. Also, you will be sharpening one another's economics by sharing them on this blog.

I will be visiting this blog often. Contributors will be awarded class participation marks at the end of this term. In addition, if I see good posts, I will sound them out for participation into Wanted!!! So, you will be killing two birds with one stone.

Have fun learning and applying economics. =)

Cheers,
Mr Tan
P/S: Please indicate your (real) name at the end of your posts so I know who to give credit to. =)

Okay just to start the ball rolling, let's have some news from the IMF!

IMF warns rising food prices raising risk of war
Posted: 13 April 2008 0906 hrs

	Dominique Strauss-Kahn (Random photo of old guy.)
	Related News (Check these out!) • G7 gives banks 100 days to start revealing losses • IMF sees challenging year for Asia-Pacific, inflation a concern • OECD warns that sub-prime crisis is not over • IMF says US mortgage crisis could cost global economy US$945b • Analysts see Singapore's long-term faith in UBS unshaken Related Videos IMF calls for 'strong' coordinated action to combat financial crisis

WASHINGTON - Rising food prices could have terrible consequences for the world, including the risk of war, the IMF said Saturday, calling for action to keep inflation in check.

"Food prices, if they go on like they are doing today ... the consequences will be terrible," International Monetary Fund managing director Dominque Strauss-Kahn said.

"Hundreds of thousands of people will be starving ... (leading) to disruption of the economic environment," Strauss-Kahn told a news conference at the close of the IMF spring meeting here.

Development gains made in the past five or 10 years could be "totally destroyed," he said, warning that social unrest could even lead to war.

"As we know, learning from the past, those kind of questions sometimes end in war," he said. If the world wanted to avoid "these terrible consequences," then rising prices had to be tackled.

Skyrocketing prices on rice, wheat, corn and other staple foods like milk particularly hurt developing nations, where the bulk of income is spent on the bare necessities for survival.

Higher energy prices, too, are driving up the cost of food, as well as stoking broader inflation.

In recent months, rising food costs have lead to social unrest in several countries such as Haiti and Egypt. Thirty-seven countries currently face food crises, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Escalating inflation is complicating the already complex challenges of a global financial crisis battering the world economy, Strauss-Kahn said.

The 185-nation IMF called for a strong front to put the reeling world economy back on track.

"The global crisis has to be addressed with a global view and by strengthening the role of multilateral institutions," Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, chair of the the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the IMF's top policy-making body, told reporters in a briefing.

In a statement, the IMF said that "policymakers should continue to respond to the challenge of dealing with the financial crisis and supporting activity, while making sure that inflation is kept under control."

The IMF stressed that "the challenges facing the world economy are of a global nature, requiring strong action and close cooperation among the membership."

Unlike the last IMF meeting in October, where internal reforms were high on the agenda, this time the multilateral institution faces a full-blown, and still unfolding, financial shock that began in August amid rising defaults on US high-risk sub-prime home loans.

Tasked with maintaining global financial stability, the IMF, whose own finances are strained, insists its expertise and global range make it a key player in resolving what Strauss-Kahn earlier called the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The IMF last week warned the global economy is slowing so rapidly it could slide effectively into recession this year and next.

IMF policymakers also welcomed moves by central banks to provide liquidity support to ease strains in the credit markets.

The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and others have pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the money markets that seized up in the spreading sub-prime contagion.

The IMF also applauded Financial Stability Forum policy recommendations adopted Friday by the Group of Seven industrialized countries in the hope of improving transparency and resiliency in the financial markets within 100 days.

Regarding internal reforms, the IMF said it hoped governors would soon approve key voting and financial measures approved by the executive board.

It said it looked forward to approval of a reform of voting rights, long demanded by developing countries, by April 28, and a new income model that includes the sale of 403 tonnes of gold to raise cash, by May 5. - AFP/ir

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Things to consider researching:

> Central banks and liquidity support - how this will impact the market and how it will benefit the economy in curbing inflation?

> Selling of gold - where will the gold come from? How will this benefit the situation? Where will the cash go to?

> How does inflation occur? Relation to SS and DD theories? Price Elasticity?

- Amanda

Hey 08AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA1o!

Just set up this thing. May dear Mr Tan visit us soon and bestow upon this establishment his bestest wishes for our future in the glorious subject.

Start posting!