Question 1: Describe the Rehn-Meidner economic model, its development and discuss its applicability in the contemporary economic landscape.
Answer 1: The Rehn-Meidner model was developed by the Swedish trade union confederation (Landsorganisitionen i Sverige) economists Gösta Rehn and Rudolf Meidner and presented during a LO congress in 1951. It is based on an active labor market policy, a solidarity wage policy and a restrictive macroeconomic policy which combined should lead to a full employment, fair wages, price stability and a high economic growth (Erixon, 2010: 677). Even though Sweden’s economic was in a good shape in comparison to other European states due its neutral status during the Second World War, the theory of Maynard Keynes
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In a European context, Sweden works more towards a liberal framework. Moreover, there is no unambiguous blueprint of the Rehn-Meidner Model in case of a depression which makes a judgement harder and less reliable. A high unemployment rate is not necessarily a sign of the turn-away from the Rehn-Meidner Model. Even under a social democratic government the economic policy was dominated by a mixture of Keynesian, Rehn-Meidner and ‘neo-monetarism’ (Erixon, 2010: 704). Other factors are the globalization, higher profit margins, higher profit shares and price stability that indicate a turn-away from the Rehn-Meidner Model. Because of the flexible exchange rates the fiscal policy became subordinate (Erixon, 2010: …show more content…
In the recent years Sweden participates in any mission alongside NATO states on a NATO mission. It began with the mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995 and continued with the ISAF mission in Afghanistan starting in 2003 and Libya in 2011 (NATO, 2015). Because of its EU-membership Sweden now shares the responsibility for the safety of the EU countries as it signed the solidarity clause and so losing military autonomy (Eur-lex.europa.eu, 2015). In the hindsight of the current problematic situation in Europe it is possible Sweden has to react in order of solidarity and alliance. Often Sweden’s foreign policy is described as non-alignment as they are not a member of the NATO or other treaties but as seen before its EU-membership can be seen as an alliance. Even though the self-image of Sweden is still dominated by the history of neutrality a public debate of a NATO membership rose in the 2000s and had strong supporters. Because of its recent history of cooperation Sweden could quickly integrate into the NATO as they have a small army with a high quality. As of right now Sweden participate at their mission but has no decision power about
The economy of Brazil is in the top ten largest economies along with the United States. It is the biggest in Latin America. Actually it is the seventh largest in the world. Brazil has used its newly found economic mechanism to syndicate its outcome in South America and show more of a role in the Global Businesses. The Obama Administration’s National Security Strategy recognizes Brazil as a developing center of effect, and greets the management of the country’s joint and global issues. The United States and Brazil associations mostly have been good in the recent years. But Brazil has other strengthening relations with neighboring countries and expanding ties with nontraditional partners in the South that’s developing.
Answer four (4) questions. Maximum of 400 words for each question. These are questions which require short answers to a series of issues relating to economic principles and concepts.
There are three primary forces directly responsible for current European defense. U.S. military forces assigned under United States European Command (EUCOM), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and European Union (EU) defense forces. A stable Europe is vital to U.S. interest and has been for well over 100 years. After World War II, NATO was formed to provide a forum for discussion on security and provide agreement for a collective defense of members. The EU continues to expand it role beyond economic benefits and include defense forces primarily for crisis management operations. This combination of forces increases compacity but effectiveness is reduced due to redundancies and lack of interoperability.
It is a political and military alliance designed to promote stability of the North Atlantic area and safeguard the freedoms of its peoples, based on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. Moreover, since the Second World War, the idea of counter-balance against American dominance has been a major
1. Describe two examples of important things that financial planning skills can help you do, and explain why these things are important to you personally. (4-6 sentences. 2.0 points)
2. The key economic concept that serves as the basis for the study of economics is:
From an economic perspective Blau and Abramowitz (2010) “The growth and increasing dominance of the market economy consititutue one of the most remarkable changes …. The changes that it brought about the changes that triggered the need for new forms of social welfare” (p.88). Based on the nation’s debt rising and the amount of people who were living in poverty there was a need for change. Government decided that making changes to AFDC would be the place to start. PRWOA was established to address the issues of poverty and end Welfare dependency through the TANF program. The nation’s economy causes for a significant change in how funds are being dispersed and whether or not there are programs available to help the people who are in need.
However, Sweden and the United States are also significant trading partners, with the U.S. spending less and losing more jobs. As demand fell so did Sweden’s export contribution to its GDP, thus spiraling Sweden into a recession. Key interest rates began to fall in Sweden same as in the United States due to the global financial meltdown. “As the demand for loans diminish, interest rates tend to decline as well” (Schiller, 2010).
This assignment has a maximum total of 100 marks and is worth 10% of your total grade for this course. You should complete it after completing your course work for Units 1 through 5. Answer each question clearly and concisely.
NATO encourages Russia to resume co-operation on the broad range of issues foreseen in the Founding Act and to engage actively in the EAPC and the Partnership for Peace. NATO also emphasizes that the further development of their co-operation depends on Russia's respect for international norms and obligations.
Dollar, and Wolff, (1988, p.551) states that Finland and Sweden are EU member states with advanced and high performing economies. Their military forces were not subordinated to the Warsaw Pact and they have accumulated considerable experience in overseeing peacekeeping military action. Their regional security involvement is relatively stable when compared with the Balkans and South Caucasus. This will make them not to see joining NATO as an urgent strategy.
Despite the economic problems, Denmark has a sound unemployment rate that has held steady at 6.1% of as 2011. The small size of the country and the relatively slow growth rate of its population have allowed Denmark to maintain this relatively healthy unemployment rate relative to other European countries. The World Bank classifies Denmark as a high income country and a member of OECD (World Bank, 2012). The country had been growing between 2 and 3% annually during the 2000s prior to the recession. During these years, the unemployment rate was lower, in the 4-5% and just over 3% in 2008 prior to the bursting of the housing bubble and the onset of the economic downturn. As a result, Denmark's current situation reflects challenges associated with reaching full employment in the economy, but its excellent starting point means that the country is relatively
For example, when a good is scarce, the prices goes up, so consumers try to avoid buying and therefore conserving the resource. Then, the suppliers want to find more of the source as to get a better profit. The reasons behind their actions are selfish, yet they benefit all of society. Smith identified that the pursuit of profit and the power of self-interest would increase motivation and result in more advances in technology. His model of capitalism was on the basis of freedom and selfishness as a motivator for society. It was also on the basis that the economy would go through recessions and expansions but fix itself. Recessions are periods in the economy in which unemployment goes up, while profits and spending goes down; a slowdown of the economy. An expansion is essentially the exact opposite. The classical model of economics states that the economy will continue to go through these fluctuations over time and will fix itself with no help, thus not needing a government to give influence.
The German economy is the largest in Europe and worldwide Germany has the fifth largest economy (“World fact book”, n.d.). It is clear that the German economy holds a key position in the world marketplace. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth is an important consideration for foreign investment as it speaks to the overall health of an economy. GDP growth can be attributed to spending and investments both on and from imports and exports (“What is GDP”, 2005). In 2014 the reported GDP growth rate in Germany was 1.4%, up .9 % from the prior year (“World fact book” n.d.). The Eurozone was deeply affected by a recession stemming from the US and made worse by poor economic conditions in Greece and Spain, among other countries in
The establishment of the European Union (EU) solidified a united political, economic, and defensive front creating a Supranational Organization (Lucas, 1999, no page). With the assistance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United States, the EU has developed a comprehensive security strategy responsible for leading the coalition’s objectives for mutual solidarity, global stabilization, and defense. To address security threats both regionally and globally set forth by the European Security Strategy (ESS), considerations were developed which encompass both cultural domains of geography and development.