Essay! J08, page 166

(a) Explain what is meant by a current account deficit.

Current account deficit is the imbalance in nation's balance of payments current account when a country's government or firms import more goods and services than they export out. It is when a lot of money is flowing out of the country, the spending is made more on foreign goods and services rather than selling to the foreigners. current account deficit is meant when a country relies on foreigners for the capital to invest and spend.

The deficit in net income in which country exports dividends on stock or wages paid to the foreign workers in the country. If all the payments made to foreign workers are higher than the wages and dividends made by workers then, deficit will increase. the demand for local goods will increase if deficit is caused by an increase in the demand for imported goods. This will result in a fall in national income and an increase in unemployment. Thus, deficit in current account occurs.

Countries with current account deficit are normally countries that spends largely. The country's business cannot expand unless they borrow from outsiders, foreigners. However, this can only work if the country looks wealthy and if it looks like they are able and willing to pay back the loans. The borrower and the lender are said to be in a win-win situation. This is because the lender also exports goods and services to the borrowers. This way, lender can manufacture more goods and provide more jobs to more of its people.

In short-run, the current account deficit is said to be advantageous. Foreigners are willing to pump in capital and boost a country's economic growth. However, in long-run, foreigners will start doubting in their investments and may have low business confidence if the country's demand is still low. If the demand is getting lower, the national currency will gradually lose its value then, the value of asset in the foreign investors will decrease too. This will cause the demand for country's asset to be less. Thus, causing investors to stop investing.

The current account deficit cause as depreciation of exchange rate. When import is more than export, there will be less demand for country's currency. Therefore, the exchange rate will lower down. Lower exchange rate causes an exchange for less foreign goods than before with same currency. However, the depreciation rate by the current account deficit is said will improve a current account if the combined elasticity of the demand of exports and imports add up is more than 1. Demand have to be very inelastic and unresponsive to the price change then only it is advantageous.

In conclusion, current account deficit means the outflow of money of the country is more than the inflow of money of the country. Current account deficit can also be said as the imbalance in nation's balance of payment current account. Government and firms should import less goods and boost exports to improve their current account.

Econs Essay

J10 23 (b) page 29.

DISCUSS WHY THE MIXED ECONOMY IS THE MOST COMMON ECONOMIC SYSTEM.

Mixed economy is an economic system where the factors of production ((FOP)) is partly owned by private individuals and partly owned by government. In other words, mixed economy is an economic system in which both the state and private sector direct the economy, reflecting characteristics of both market economies and planned economies A country's FOP that is entirely owned by private individuals is known as free market economy. A country's FOP that is entirely owned by government is known as planned economy, also known as command economy.

The economic structure of a nation is very important for the progress of the country. In mixed economy, The presence of private enterprise ensures that there is fair competition in the market, and also the quality of products and services are not compromised. Not only that, the market price are well standardized. This is because the government with its regulatory bodies ensure that the market price do not go beyond its actual price and is also reasonable for the citizens to purchase it.

Furthermore, in a mixed economy, the resources are utilized efficiently as both government and private enterprises are utilizing them. Therefore, the national resources are optimally utilized. Besides, in mixed economy, the people are given more power. This is because the general people have more say when it comes to the quality and the prices of products and services. 

Mixed economy does not allow monopolies. It bars a few sectors, a mixed economy does not allow any monopoly as both government and private enterprises enter every sector for business.

Resolutions

in this whole A Levels course, I hope I will:

1- spend more time on my studies, at least 3-4 hours a day of studies ((all subjects))

> seems impossible for a person like me but I shall try in order to score good grades.

2- have to cut down on meeting my bestfriends :'( and also cut down on TV! but football matches are no-no. I will still watch them. 

3- no clubbing, smoking, drinking.

Day Five

Every setback is a learning opportunity.

as I wrote in my "Day Two" post, I will do a blog post on Reflection, as asked by Ms. Chian. I will do this short, informative and brief so it's easy to be read. but, yet again, as Ms. Chian said, this is for me to read back later on and it should be from the bottom of my heart, yup because why would I wanna lie to myself haha.

this REFLECTIONS that I will be talking about is strictly relating to my Econs class.

• I would say I am doing pretty good/well in Econs right now, although it's only the first lesson. I know nothing about Econs as I didn't take that subject during high school.
• this evaluation is based on how well I am answering/responding to Ms. Chian's questions in class. my answers may not be right all the time but, at least I try and be outspoken in class :)

• in Econs, I think am best at understanding & selecting + copying the useful and right notes for my own reading.
• hmm I am better at these aspects is because I would say that I take the initiative to go through Ms. Chian's notes & downloading them from Dropbox into my phone & making short notes before class the following day, just to be prepared.
• well, looking back at high school, I used to get praises for having complete, informative notes for most of the subjects, so I would say that from there, I know I am best at copying useful notes and understanding them.

• to do better in Econs, I would need to improve my reading and researching skills. I tend to be a little lazy when it comes to reading articles regarding business and I do realise that!
• I could do better but, what is stopping me from doing so? my laziness and my non-stop procrastination. it's so frustrating because I know I am procrastinating yet, I still continue doing so. but  I am glad that I do know when it's time to be serious :)
• to improve, I definitely need to keep in mind that I have entered college already and A Levels is a short course and that there is no time for me to fool around and procrastinate. I have gotta always remember my goal and how much my parents have paid for me to study here. the first steps to improve are to sacrifice my leisure time ((lepak with friends, watch TV, surf the net etc.)), spend more time reading on useful articles/notes and also always have enough time to rest. I am giving myself a timescale for improvement, I have to show and prove to myself that I have improved by next week ((2nd week of college)) as first semester exam is just a few months away. TIME FLIES.

• I have learnt quite a bit, more than I expected since starting Econs. not only about Econs but also about general things, I have gained quite a lot of general knowledge as teacher provide us a lot with general knowledge :) I believe I have improved my asking skills. I realised I have threw away my shyness and begin to ask questions in class, but sometimes I am afraid to ask as I am scared I will annoy my classmates and lecturers.. :-/
• I can't measure what I have learnt because well, knowledge can't be measured. but I can tell you that ever since class started, knowledge have been overflowing into my brain, my brain has been absorbing quite efficiently, I supposed! it takes time to get used to Econs as it's a brand new subject for me but, I guess with all the useful notes given by Ms. Chian, I have already gotten used to it within 2 days and I have learnt + understood a lot. right now, my level of confidence is still low, to be honest. I have to stand on my own feet now, without having any close friends ((yet)). so I am still afraid, actually. but I guess this all take time. but I think my level of understanding is pretty high, maybe because it's not that tough yet but, I will be sure to ask whenever I do not understand something. level of enjoyment? oh I am starting to enjoy this whole new subject as it's pretty interesting having a fun lecturer. but, reading articles on business section is...pretty boring hahah! but I will have to do so in order to score :)

Day Two

Day two in college and it is.. getting better I would say. today we went to class according to our timetables to get to know our lecturers and to understand our subjects. first was Econs. my classmate, Yan Er and I got lost hahahah finally after asking a lecturer, we found where our class is. our class teacher, Ms. Chian is our Econs teacher as well, so Yan Er is the class rep. while I am the assistant class rep. next class was Sociology, our teacher was absent so Mr. Murali took charge of the class and he really enlightened us about the subjects that we took, whether it is suitable or not. well, wow it really got me thinking. honestly, I do miss the pure science subjects that I took in high school. I know it's a huge difference compared to the A Levels standard but, I do miss Biology :( 5 years ago, I actually have pictured myself doing lab works with my college-mates. but haha oh well, I am determined to be a lawyer so I gotta be focused and determined and of course disciplined! I was told that top UK universities do not really like students that take Law as a subject during A Levels as they want their students to start fresh but sigh, I don't like to take English Literature or Accounts or Business. so I have decided to just stick back in PL 1. 2 of our classmates already have decided to leave and change their options. right now, there's only 12 girls in class. lol. oh and remember I said we have one boy in our class only, turns out, he went into the wrong class yesterday OMG *FACEPALM. lol. to be honest, I miss having guy classmates. to be honest, I miss high school so much. Ms. Chian told us to do a blog about 'Reflection'. I will do it on Friday night, my freest time. anyway, our class are combined with pre-business class people, it's a class of around 30 I guess. I don't know if it's just me but everyone is just unusually quiet!! so not used to this atmosphere hahah. had break with my favourite bunch again as usual :-D we had Law after that! man, that teacher, Mrs. Ong is just hilarious and she's like so motherly! hahaha, we had to fill up a form about how we are like and our hobbies and things like that, I think I just mostly crapped a lot about me loving football hahaha. oh well. I am pumped up to study, but pumped up about meeting new people? not yet, I would say. I think I have changed a lot, I used to be the friendly, cheerful and cheeky one in school but, in college now? I have just been outspoken in terms of answering questions in class, instead of interacting with new people. damn, I have gotta change for the better, and be myself.

NOTE TO SELF: BE YOURSELF AND DON'T CHANGE JUST TO 'FIT IN'. in other words, please don't be a bitch hahahaha.