Articles written by Josef A

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About me - Josef A

I am a German citizen and currently located in Lund, Sweden where I am studying for my PhD in financial economics.

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Business > Business Issues Should Wal-Mart get involved in banking?: 1 of 9

The answer depends widely on the perspective you take. Taking on a corporate view the answer tends to be yes, Wal-Mart should get involved in banking. They would not be the first ones. Industrial giants such as General Electric and most car producers exploited their mere size and frequent client contacts to generate profits ...
Personal Finance > Stock Market Time to invest in oil companies?: 2 of 11

It might be premature to go back into oil. Fighting has resumed in Nigeria, the largest African oil producer. Traditionally, problems in politically fragile oil-producing countries have helped lift oil prices and supported stock market prices of oil companies that have not been operating directly in the crisis region. Even i...
Business > Finance & Insurance How currency rates are determined: 1 of 4

In general, there are two types of exchange rate regimes: A fixed or pegged exchange rate and a flexible or floating exchange rate. A fixed exchange rate establishes a stable exchange rate towards another currency, usually one of the major currencies such as the Dollar or Euro. This naturally implies that the exchange rate s...
Politics, News & Issues > US Economy Is raising the minimum wage a good idea?: 7 of 19

To answer this question it is important to clearly distinguish between socio-political arguments and the optimal choice according to economic rationality. It is not surprising that the idea of raising the minimum wage finds a lot of political support. Most people regard a compensation that allows individuals to maintain a me...
Politics, News & Issues > Government & Policies Is cutting spending the best way for states to solve budget deficits?: 3 of 8

The answer is plain and simple: Yes, it is the best way to cut spending. It can be shown that constraining fiscal expenditures is less harmful for the whole economy and every individual. To emphasize something at the beginning, the state is a useful institution also in economics and there are plenty of reasons why taxes have...
Business > Business Issues Tax rebates as economic stimulus: Will it work?: 5 of 12

There is a lot of economics in this question. You could encounter the concept of Arthur Laffer who would tell you that you that the state can even increase its revenues by tax rebates, if they have been too high before. Whether we are in a situation where that works remains an open question. More straightforward is the idea ...
Business > Business Issues Is Wal-Mart bad for America?: 8 of 17

It is rather inappropriate to label a company as bad. In particular, if the company does what millions appreciate: providing affordable every day necessities. Approximately one third of Americans visit Wal Mart's stores regularly. Many of the shoppers have little other choice than going for the deep discount products, others...
Personal Finance > Investing (Other) Which is the better investment: BMW or bachelor's degree?: 4 of 8

For 80% of the population the answer is quite clear. Let's be realistic and go for the college degree. Our initial reaction shows that our perception of education has become so positive that it stands above all other values. However, as stupid as it sounds at the beginning there are plenty of situations you can find yourself...
Politics, News & Issues > US Economy How to prevent a future credit crisis: 1 of 1

Mainstream economics mostly claims the existence of equilibria that are regularly disturbed by external shocks and therefore the economy is in disequilibrium at certain points in time. To give an example: a sudden tax increase brings the economy in disequilibrium and it takes a while until it reaches the new equilibrium. Sin...
Society & Lifestyle > African & Middle Eastern Culture Bhutan and gross national happiness: 1 of 1

The tiny country of Bhutan situated in the Himalayas somewhere in between India and China abolished the measurement of Gross National Product (GNP) and implemented the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) instead. How fantastic that is. Does that mean scientists trying to evaluate the economy are useless? Not quite - th...