IB economics commentary (Section 5 - Development Economics) Essay

IB economics commentary (Section 5 - Development Economics) - Essay Example Protectionism is the practice of protecting domestic goods and service industries from foreign competition with tariff and non-tariff barriers (Answers). This economic commentary discusses the article ’Buy American’ feud exposes European double standards. During tough economic times it seems that countries become more conscious of the needs of its local industries. The European Union recently brought back its subsidies program to protect the nation’s dairy industry. A subsidy is a form of financial aid given to a business or industry by the government (Varian). It is considered the opposite of a tax. In Europe other more subtle measures are occurring that are not good for free trade. Some European nations such as Greece are forcing developing nations which are beneficiaries of their aid programs to purchase goods and services from them (Polack). Despite the help Greece is providing the agreements hurt the economic growth of developing nations by limiting their options and increasing their costs of doing business. The Greek contracts being tied to financial aid increases the costs of goods and services by 20%. This implies that actually value of the financial aid is deflated due to the loss of purchasing power as a consequence of inflated contract prices. Two of the factors that are causing the prices of these contracts to go are consultant fees and expensive materials. According to ActionAid the average costs of consultants working in developing nations is $1000 per day (Polack). Bilateral agreements are a common international occurrence that can have both positive and negative impacts on the nations involved in the treaties. A bilateral trade agreement is pact in which two countries in which the countries agree to lift most tariffs, quotas, and other trade barriers. The good thing about these agreements is that it promotes free trades which increases business activity between the nations.

NASCAR Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

NASCAR Diversity - Essay Example For more than a decade now, the company still lacks the proper policies and strategies that can adequately enhance diversity. According to Kusz (81) NASCAL has been using a â€Å"Southern Strategy† in its undertakings. According to Canas and Sondak (134) â€Å"NASCAL was born in a time when racial segregation and discrimination was being experienced in every part of the American culture.† This means that the problem of racial discrimination in NASCAL was likely to be experienced in the organization from day one. The organization was initially founded by the southerners in a very racial diverse region. However, this did not help solve the diversity problem since in a seventy year history of NASCAL; only one African American driver ever gained victory in a racing event. Wendell Scott was that driver. Even though Scott had won several other races he was declared to have won just once in his entire career. This is because some of the track owners â€Å"did not want a black man kissing the track queen in victory Lane† (Canas and Sondak 134). Diversity problem in NASCAL therefore is a problem right from the founding of the company. The management of the company, sponsors as well as the aud ience formed the basis of discrimination of the African American drivers as well as the women drivers. Scott as the first African American driver â€Å"was booed by fans when his car broke down in his first race for NASCAL† (Canas and Sondak 134). It is from such incidences that the sponsors would not want anything to do with the African American drivers since they are despised by the fans. The company would therefore be forced not to involve the African American drivers in major leagues. Today, there are still very few African American drivers in NASCAL with â€Å"only five blacks to have started a handful of races since 1986† (Canas and Sondak 134). This has been attributed by different scholars of the world to the insufficient funding following the fact that the NASCAL team