Microeconomics Taxation and Economic Efficiency

Question: Discuss about the case study Microeconomics for Taxation and Economic Efficiency. Answer: Introduction: The banana industry in Australia is one of the key economic pillars that support more than a thousand families. A 46 percent drop in the cost of the bananas led to the fall in the overall prices of the fruits. This is mainly due to the increasing supplies that resulted from the cyclone that took place in Queensland in the year 2015. However, in the past, Queensland had witnessed an increase in the prices of the fruits by 24 percent. As a result, the CPI that is the consumer price index was even as compared to a rise of 0.6 percent in the September quarter. As a result, the Federal Government is advising the shoppers to purchase the Australian-grown food on Australia Day (Cook et al. 2015). The Cyclone Yasi almost damaged the majority of the banana plantation in the northern Queensland. However, the prices of the bananas are set to become standard after seven months of the Cyclone Yasi. After the cyclone, the prices of the bananas increased to $15 per kilogram during the scarcity. The prices mainly increased during the short-run. The increase in the prices of the bananas is primarily due to the decrease in the supply. Figure: The Demand and Supply (Source: Created by the Author) The demand and supply are the two most important factors that act as the backbone of the market economy. The demand refers to the amount of the products that are demanded by the customers. The supply, on the other hand, refers to the amount of the products that the market can offer. The above diagram shows that the point of equilibrium is E0. It intersects with both the points D0 and S0. Due to the cyclone Yasi, the supply of the banana plants have been destroyed tremendously. As a result, the supply curve shifted from S0 to S1. This, in turn, has decreased the quantity of the bananas that declined from Q0 to Q1. As a result, the new equilibrium takes place at point E1, where the prices also increase from P0 to P1 (Lyssenko and Education 2015). The price of the bananas will increase if the bananas are imported from other parts of the world. The market structure of a banana is perfectly competitive as it is sold everywhere in the world. As per the law of supply, the supply has a positive relationship between the price and the quantity supplied. Hence, the increase in the price leads to the increase in the quantity supplied and the decrease in the prices leads to the fall in the quantity supplied (Baumol and Blinder 2015). However, the prices of the bananas are expected to fall in the coming weeks mainly due to the oversupply of bananas. The prices are thus pushed to a relatively lower level due to the perfect growing condition. The above graph showed that the cyclone has led to the increase in the prices of bananas. However, the lack of cyclone has resulted in the oversupply of bananas by reducing the price (ABC Rural 2016). Figure: The Oversupply (Source: Created by the Author) The oversupply of the bananas in Australia will set the price too high at P1. As a result, the quantity supplied will be Qs and the quantity demanded will be Qd. The oversupply of the bananas will, in turn, lead to the reduction in the prices of the fruits. The oversupply will take place, as the quantity supplied is less than the quantity demanded. As a result, the consumers are requested more bananas in order to overcome the current surplus. The consumers are requested as they have the ability to alter the quantity that they demand. If the consumers increase the demand for bananas, it will help eliminate the oversupply (Frank 2014). In the case of oversupply, the profit-maximizing firm will decrease the price due to the availability of too much inventory. In order to eliminate the oversupply, the banana industry in Australia needs to lower the quantity supplied from Qs to Q. Figure: The Indifference Curve (Source: Created by the Author) The above diagram shows the indifference curve is a locus of a combination of both banana and the other fruits. The oversupply and the increase in the price of bananas are affecting the price of other fruits. As a result, the farmers are getting affected due to the drop in the price of fruits to as low as $1 per kilogram. The consumers are indifferent between both the fruits. As a result, the consumers are not getting the same level of satisfaction from the bundle. As a result, if the consumer starts the consumption of bananas they need to give up certain units of the other fruits. This will help them to maintain the same level of satisfaction (Bailey et al. 2013). The banana industry in Australia faces an elastic demand. This is mainly because a small change in the price of the bananas will lead to a substantial change in the quantity demanded. If the price of bananas increases, in that case, the consumers will start purchasing the other fruits (Friesz and Meimand 2014). Figure: The Price Elasticity (Source: Created by the Author) According to the above diagram, the consumers will stop demanding above the price Pe. At the price Pe, the demand of the market will equal the quantity provided. The farmers selling bananas in the competitive marketplace can best illustrate the perfectly elastic demand. As a result, the sellers will not be able to sell the bananas more than the ongoing price. As far as economic efficiency is concerned, the focus is given on the allocative, productive and the technical efficiency (Auerbach and James 2015). Figure: The Production efficiency curve (Source: Created by the Author) As far as productive efficiency is concerned, the economy needs to sacrifice the production of banana in order to increase the supply of other fruits. The point on the graph shows the productive efficiency. The productive efficiency can be increased by making the use of the managerial procedure. It is very important to understand the current position of the banana industry that will help to improve the economic efficiency. The farmers in Australia, as well as the supply chain partners, are continuously seeking to improve the productive efficiency. This will help to improve the performance of the business (Fare et al. 2013). Figure: The Average Total Cost (Source: Created by the Author) The ways by which the economic efficiency can be achieved in the banana industry is by improving the productivity across the value chain. Since the banana industry is a competitive market, in the long run, the productive efficiency will occur at the base of the average total cost curve. This will help to increase the cost of production of bananas as the farmers can sell the bananas at a price that will be more than the cost of production. The asymmetric information can be referred to as the failure of the information in the economy. It is mainly the specialization as well as a division of knowledge in the society as applied to the economic trade. In this case, the consumers should not have the information about the effect on the banana production. The sellers can provide the consumers with many alternatives that will help to increase the demand for the bananas and eliminate the oversupply. The sellers could offer Filipino bananas with that of the Aussie bananas at a cost that will be comparatively lower than the fact if the Filipino bananas were sold individually. The microeconomics is also linked to psychologies that explain the behavior of the individuals. According to the behavioral economics, the demand curve is negatively sloped. In other words, an inevitable increase in the price of a product will lead to the decrease of the demand for the product. The Behavioral economics refers to the psychological behaviors of the individuals. The behavioral economics of the consumers will help them to decide whether to demand more or less of bananas. Since banana is a private good, in that case, an increase in the price will decrease the demand. As a result, the consumers will prefer to purchase more of the other fruits (O'Donoghue 2015). However, if the seller starts providing bananas at a lower price, in that case, the consumers will start buying more bananas and less of other fruits. The market decision is mainly based on the behavior of the consumers. As per the reports, the suppliers will be able to meet the demand of the consumers as soon as the peak season is achieved in the month of November. Conclusion The banana industry in Australia faces an elastic demand. This is mainly because a small change in the price of the bananas will lead to a substantial change in the quantity demanded. the increase in the price leads to the increase in the quantity supplied and the decrease in the prices leads to the fall in the quantity supplied. References "Banana Glut Hits Growers' Hip Pocket". 2016. ABC Rural. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-31/banana-prices-slump-amid-glut/7461480. Auerbach, Alan J., and R. James. "Hines Jr.(2002).Taxation and Economic Efficiency."Handbook of Public Economics3 (2015). Bailey, David H., Marcos Lpez de Prado, and Eva Del Pozo. "The strategy approval decision: A Sharpe ratio indifference curve approach."Algorithmic Finance2, no. 1 (2013): 99-109. Baumol, William J., and Alan S. Blinder.Microeconomics: Principles and policy. Cengage Learning, 2015. Cook, David C., Andrew S. Taylor, Rachel A. Meldrum, and Andr Drenth. "Potential economic impact of Panama disease (tropical race 4) on the Australian banana industry."Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection122, no. 5-6 (2015): 229-237. Fre, Rolf, Shawna Grosskopf, and CA Knox Lovell.The measurement of efficiency of production. Vol. 6. Springer Science Business Media, 2013. Frank, Robert.Microeconomics and behavior. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 201 Friesz, Terry L., and Amir Meimand. "A differential variational inequality formulation of dynamic network user equilibrium with elastic demand."Transportmetrica A: Transport Science10, no. 7 (2014): 661-668. Lindsay, S. "Farm practices to manage the impact of severe tropical cyclone damage on banana production-a case study from tropical Australia." InXXIX International Horticultural Congress on Horticulture: Sustaining Lives, Livelihoods and Landscapes (IHC2014): IX 1114, pp. 275-284. 2014. Lyssenko, Nikita, and Distance Education. "Excess Demand and Supply." (2015). O'Donoghue, Ted. "Teaching a Behavioral Economics Elective: Highlighting the Science of Economics."American Economic Review105, no. 5 (2015): 391-95.

Human Computer Interaction and Ticketing System

Question: Discuss about the Human Computer Interaction and Ticketing System. Answer: Introduction Light Rail Transit is the localized Automated Guideway Transit Syetms those act as the feeder services towards the heavy rail mass rapid transit that together with the Light Rail Transit forms the core of the rail transport services of Singapore (Al-Mosaind, Dueker and Strathman 2012). LRT utilizes the similar ticketing system as MRT or the Mass Rapid Transit. However, this ticketing system has faced few issues due to which it could not be able to provide an efficient service to the daily passengers (Schumacher 2015). Therefore, this project proposal is aimed to be implemented in this context to evaluate the new ticketing system for the Light Rail Transit. Thus, this proposal focuses of the process of identification of both of the strengths as well as weaknesses of the conventional ticketing system of the Light Rail Transit. Based on those strengths and weaknesses, this proposal is also aimed to evaluate the existing system by utilizing the evaluation techniques. On the other hand, t his proposal is also aimed for analyzing the result or the outcome from the process of evaluation that would be performed. Problem Statement This research would be conducted to evaluate the contemporary LRT Ticketing System. The reason of performing this particular research is to provide the vision regarding the issues in regards to the conventional Ticketing system of the Light Rail Transit. Therefore, this research is aimed to provide an effective resolution in order to overcome the cons of the ticketing system of the Light Rail Transit. Objectives There are few significant objectives of this particular research based on which, the entire research would be conducted on the Light Rail Network Transit Ticketing System. These are as follows: To recognize as well as specify the weaknesses as well as strengths of the system from the actual users. To assess as well as evaluate the system by utilizing the effective techniques of evaluation To analyze the result from the process of evaluation Ticketing System of Light Rail Network In case of the Ticketing system of the Light Rail Network, stations are segmented mainly two areas such as unpaid and paid (Cao and Schoner 2014). It permits the rail operators for collecting the fares by restricting the entrance just with the help of the fare gates (Dziauddin, Alvanides and Powe 2013). It is also known as the access control gates. These kinds of gates are linked with the computer network that can update as well as read the electronic tickets. On the other hand, these are also capable of storing data (Seo, Golub and Kuby 2014). Apart from that, this kind of ticketing system can also store the details or the information like the destination as well as the initial stations and the duration of every trip (Boarnetet al., 2013). The general machines of ticketing sell the tickets for the single trips for allowing the customers for buying the extra value for the stored value tickets. In case of this Light Rail Transit, the ticketing system utilizes the EZ-Link Smart Card wh ich is contactless as well as a standard single trip ticket (Cao 2013). In other words, this particular system utilizes the NETS FlashPay and EZ-Link contactless smart cards depending on the Symphony for e-Payment System for the public transit (Dziauddin, Powe and Alvanides 2015). This kind of ticketing in Light Rail Transit can permit for up to 4 issuers of card in the market (Brownet al., 2015). Strengths and Weaknesses of the LRT ticketing system As a result of the conducted research, the major strength as well as the significant weaknesses have been found (Linet al., 2016). As per the strength of this particular ticketing system of the Light Rail Transit, it permits the rail operators for collecting the fares by restricting the entrance just with the help of the fare gates. These kinds of ticketing system are able to store data (Jaroszynski and Brown 2014). On the other hand, this particular ticketing system of the Light Rail Transit also has a major weakness (Seo, Golub and Kuby 2014). The problem is that the Automated Fare Collection System software cannot be able to run successfully and effectively (Dziauddin, Powe and Alvanides 2015). It has the problem with its level of efficiency. Due to such weakness, there had been an issue with the ticket of the Light Rail Transit after P100 stored value ticket didnt work (Boarnetet al., 2013). Effectiveness of New Ticketing System Implementation The Light Rail Transit has faced a severe problem in their ticketing system. The Automated Fare Collection System software was failed to properly work in the ticketing system (Cao 2013). There as per the result of this research, it can be stated that the Light Rail Transit should take an immediate step in order to overcome such shortcoming of the ticketing system. In order to do so, Light Rail Transit has taken a decision regarding the implementation of the unified ticketing system (Dziauddin, Powe and Alvanides 2015). This new ticketing system of the Light Rail Transit can be utilized with the Light Rail Transit Line 2 wherein the people can their tickets as well as these tickets can easily be tapped over the machine. Apart from that, there is no need for inserting (Al-Mosaind, Dueker and Strathman 2012). The unified ticketing system is the contactless system or it is simply a Tap and Go system (Jaroszynski and Brown 2014). Therefore, there is less insertion necessary, while the sim ple tapping process is not likely like breakdown like the old system through which the card is inserted (Schumacher 2015). New Project Scope Proposed As per the scope of this particular new ticketing system of Light Rail Transit, it can be stated that new Ticketing system that is going to be implemented can resolve the problem of the conventional ticketing system of the Light Rail Transit (Brownet al., 2015). Thus, the major advantage with the Unified Ticketing system is that this particular system is able to solve the issues encountered in the Automated Fare Collection System software (Jaroszynski and Brown 2014). The new ticketing systemof Light Rail Transit can provide the scope that the unified ticketing system can be utilized with the Light Rail Transit Line 2 wherein the people can their tickets as well as these tickets can easily be tapped over the machine (Al-Mosaind,, Dueker and Strathman 2012). On the other hand, in this new ticketing system, there is no need for inserting the tickets. Apart from that, there would also be the reloadable cards those are of the amounts about P20. In addition, the unified ticketing system i s the contactless system or it is simply a Tap and Go system (Dziauddin, Alvanides and Powe 2013). Thus, there is the less scope of requiring insertion, while the simple tapping process is not likely like breakdown such as the old system through which the card is inserted. User Profiling User profiling is the process to identify the data regarding the domain of user interest. In the current scenario of this particular research, it can easily be stated that the user profiling of the new ticketing of the Light Rail Transit can have the two significant as well as essential aspects (Schumacher 2015). On of those aspects is the efficiently knowing about the customers (Brownet al., 2015). On the other hand, another aspect is based on the recommending items of the interest of the customer. Thus, major customers of this particular newly implemented ticketing system of the light rail transit are the normal people in Singapore (Jaroszynski and Brown 2014). On the other side, as per the other aspect of the user profiling that is the recommending items of the interest of the customer, it can be stated that the customers of light rail transit wants a flexible ticketing system, which can provide them an efficient service while they are in hurry (Cao and Schoner 2014). The customer has faced few problems encountered as a result of the issues in the Automated Fare Collection System software (Lin et al., 2016). Thus, by concerning the problems faced by the customers, the unified ticketing system is going to be implemented in Light Rail Transit in order to overcome the problems with the conventional ticketing system. Conclusion After the entire discussion made in this project proposal, it can easily be stated that this project can become successful analyzing the impact as well as effectiveness of the new ticketing system of the Light Rail Transit. This proposal has successfully provided the vision regarding the opportunities of the new ticketing system of the Light Rail Transit over its conventional ticke`ting system. Most important part of it is that, the entire analysis of the effectiveness of this new ticketing system of LRT has been done by doing proper user profiling so that the user concern can be considered during the decision making to proceed with the entire project. References Al-Mosaind, M.A., Dueker, K.J. and Strathman, J.G., 2012.Light-rail transit stations and property values: a hedonic price approach(No. 1400). Boarnet, M.G., Hong, A., Lee, J., Wang, X., Wang, W., Houston, D. and Spears, S., 2013. The Exposition Light Rail Line Study: A Before-and-After Study of the Impact of New Light Rail Transit Service.Research monograph at available https://trid. trb. org/view. aspx. Brown, B.B., Werner, C.M., Tribby, C.P., Miller, H.J. and Smith, K.R., 2015. Transit use, physical activity, and body mass index changes: objective measures associated with complete street light-rail construction.American journal of public health,105(7), pp.1468-1474. Cao, J., 2013. The association between light rail transit and satisfactions with travel and life: evidence from Twin Cities.Transportation,40(5), pp.921-933. Cao, X.J. and Schoner, J., 2014. The influence of light rail transit on transit use: An exploration of station area residents along the Hiawatha line in Minneapolis.Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice,59, pp.134-143. Dziauddin, M.F., Alvanides, S. and Powe, N., 2013. Estimating the effects of light rail transit (LRT) system on the property values in the Klang Valley, Malaysia: A hedonic house price approach.Jurnal Teknologi,61(1). Dziauddin, M.F., Powe, N. and Alvanides, S., 2015. Estimating the effects of light rail transit (LRT) system on residential property values using geographically weighted regression (GWR).Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy,8(1), pp.1-25. Jaroszynski, M. and Brown, J., 2014. Do Light Rail Transit Planning Decisions Affect Metropolitan Transit Performance? Examination of Eight US Metropolitan Areas with Light Rail Transit Backbones.Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, (2419), pp.50-62. Lin, X., Dersch, M.S., Edwards, J.R. and Ruppert Jr, C., 2016. Load Quantification for Light Rail, Heavy Rail, and Commuter Rail Transit Infrastructure. InProceedings: Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting. Schumacher, R., 2015. LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT. InProceedings of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Forum. Seo, K., Golub, A. and Kuby, M., 2014. Combined impacts of highways and light rail transit on residential property values: A spatial hedonic price model for Phoenix, Arizona.Journal of Transport Geography,41, pp.53-62.

The All American Girls Professional Baseball League Essays

The All American Girls Professional Baseball League The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Before we told our daughters that they could be anyone, or anything they wanted to be, we told them that they could only be what was acceptable for women to be, and that they could only do things that were considered ladylike. It was at this time, when the nation was frenzied with the business of war, that the women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League decided that they could do and be whatever it was that they chose. These women broke free of the limitations that their family and society had set for them, and publicly broke into what had been an exclusively male sport up until that time. To understand the significance of the league (which will further be referred to as the AAGPBL) you must first have an understanding of the role of women in society at this time. Post World War II, women had a very slight role in anything not concerning domestic issues. Public figures and decision-makers were male, and very few women were involved in anything having to with business or politics. Women were expected to be ladylike and well mannered at all times. Because of these factors it was rare to find a woman involved in any type of sport, especially those dominated by males. The start of the war era came on the heels of a decade when women had seemingly taken a step backward in social and economic progress. The depression of the 1930s had devastated the American economy. Women, especially married women, had bore the largest share of the burden. To help male workers get back on the job, national leaders called for married women in two-income families to give up their jobs. Several states had passed laws barring women from holding state jobs. World War II brought drastic changes to the American womans life. The sudden rush to go to war had left the nation with a shortage of manpower. In response to this the government launched an ambitious campaign to convince women to join the war effort. Suddenly women were being called from their kitchens to work in the factories, being told that it was their patriotic duty. The famous Rosie the Riveter image arose from this movement. Rosie became a new image for women, being portrayed as strong, tough, and attractive. It was from this very image that the idea for the league was born. The league was the brainchild of Philip K. Wrigley, president of the Wrigley chewing gum company, and owner of the Chicago Cubs National League baseball team. Wrigley was concerned with the future of baseball. The major leagues had already lost more than half of their players to the military. The minor leagues were even harder hit. By the start of the 1943 season, more than 3,000 minor leaguers had joined the service or the war effort. Only nine of the nations 26 minor leagues had enough men left to play. Aside from this reason, there was concern over the continuation of baseball by several public figures, including President Roosevelt. It was thought that because of the long hours and demanding work of the war effort that it was important for the American people to have a way to blow off steam. In the fall of 1942, Wrigley assigned a three-man team from the Cubs organization to look into developing a professional baseball league for women. His theory was that if Rosie the Riveter could keep wartime factories going, maybe Rosie the Right Fielder could do the same for baseball. After receiving positive feedback for the idea of a womens baseball league, Wrigley dispatched thirty of his baseball scouts to search the U.S. and Canada for top women ball players. When looking for players, scouts were instructed to look not only at ability and talent, but also for women with high moral standing, and femininity. Initial tryouts were held in a dozen major cities. In May 1943 some 280 of them were invited to Wrigley Field in Chicago for the final selection process. In Chicago officials looked on as players were put through a series of tests and in the end 64 women were chosen to be