Professional Letter Writing

Proficient Letter Writing At the point when you become familiar with the nuts and bolts of expert letter composing, you will before long notification that you have an ability that numerous agents don't have. Proficient letter composing is similarly as significant into today’s society as it was when rules for this standard of composing were set. This article traces a few hints that will assist you with writing successful and proficient letters to your customers, different business, and your partners. Starting a Professional Letter Proficient letter composing starts with an appropriate welcome to your expected peruser. It is essential to address an individual effectively when composing a letter. How you start your letter makes way for how your peruser will acknowledge the letter. For example, on the off chance that you start a letter with â€Å"Hey there,† the individual perusing the letter won't be eager to peruse the remainder of the letter since they feel neglected. Then again, in the event that you start your letter with, â€Å"Dear Mrs. Smith,† the peruser will realize that you have recognized them by and by. Here are models for opening an expert letter: Dear Ms. Smith: If you don't have the foggiest idea whether the peruser is hitched or not Dear Mrs. Smith: If you are certain the woman peruser is hitched Dear Mr. Smith: For any male whether wedded or not Dear Dr. Smith: If the peruser hold this degree, regardless of whether they are male or female To Whom It May Concern: If you don't have the foggiest idea whether the letter will be perused by a male or female The Body of the Letter The body of your letter is critical on the grounds that this is the place you pass on your contemplations. Proficient letter composing requests that you utilize syntactically right sentences and that your spelling is perfect. Make certain to utilize the spell check work on your promise processor before sending off a letter to somebody. Your considerations must be composed and stream easily in your letter. On the off chance that a letter is difficult for the peruser to comprehend, they may disregard the letter or just hurl it aside for some other time. On the off chance that conceivable, each point or new conversation in your letter should start another section. Shutting a Professional Letter Proficient letter composing starts with a fitting start, and, in this way, must end with a suitable shutting. There are numerous alternatives for how you decide to end your letter, yet the primary concern to recollect is the correct method to work out an end. Investigate these models: Earnestly yours, Best respects, Yours genuinely, All the best, Do you notice any likenesses in these four models? The primary word is promoted, while the subsequent word isn't. This is the right method to end a letter. Try not to underwrite the two words. An end explanation should feel good to you, or float along with your letter. In proficient letter composing, the term â€Å"Sincerely yours,† and â€Å"Best regards,† are progressively fit when you don't by and by the individual that you composed. The other two models would offer great shutting expressions for a companion or associate. Proficient letter composing becomes simpler the more you work on utilizing it, and it should turn into a propensity, on the off chance that you are not kidding about how you present yourself to other people.

Origins of the Korean War free essay sample

This paper advances the contention that the USSR urged the Korean War to profit itself strategically. This paper looks at the hypothesis that the Korean clash was deliberately begun by Joseph Stalin so as to drive the United States and China separated and to bring Mao Zedong and Communist China under Soviet impact. The creator additionally talks about how the wars roots were essentially residential, yet worldwide superpowers gave faster intends to acceleration. From the paper: On December 16, 1949, Mao Zedong showed up in Moscow to start conversations with Joseph Stalin. Mao would have liked to secure from the Soviets boats and airplane to use in his arranged attack of Taiwan. Mao additionally needed to renegotiate the bargain recently consented to by Stalin and the Kuomintang government. Stalin, nonetheless, stonewalled Mao, declining to give up the entrance to Manchuria that the arrangement conceded him. On December 19, understanding that Stalin was perusing his messages, Mao cabled Zhou Enlai in Beijing, advising him that the Chinese Communists ought to before long endeavor to open relations with the United States. We will compose a custom paper test on Roots of the Korean War or on the other hand any comparable subject explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page

Validity Of The Capm And Alternative Theories Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

A major sector in finance is the optimization of portfolio. The target is to maximize the excepted return and minimize the risk. In 1952 Harry Markowitz with his theory about portfolio selection made two observations. The first one was that the combinations of two risky assets provide non-cumulative standard deviations since the two assets are positive correlated. Secondly, when a portfolio of risky assets is built, the standard deviation risk of the portfolio is less than the sum of the standard deviations of its contents. Tobin (1958) suggested a methodology to recognize the appropriate portfolios among the efficient ones. Economists William Sharpe (1964) and John Lintner (1965) simplified this first model by measuring the systematic risk which is related with the general market and it is often called market risk. The result was the development of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) which became the groundwork of portfolio measurement. CAPM is applied to help investors, managers and owners to solve decision problems of modern financial management. CAPM is used as a measurement of risk and return and shows the relationship between these two factors. The CAPM relates expected returns of an a sset with the risk factor. Moreover it estimates the asset returns and try to modify the risk. In efficient markets the expected returns are correlated by a linear function of their characteristic degrees with market risk. The CAPM says that the expected risk on each asset is relative to its beta. Beta measures the role of a stock to the risk of the market portfolio. The Capital Asset Pricing Model can be defined as: R = rf + B ( rm rf ) where: R = the expected return on asset rf = a risk free rate B = a risk measure of asset rm = the expected market return The CAPM is developed under quite strong assumptions and that means it is hold only in specific situations. The major assumptions of the CAPM are: Investors have homogeneous beliefs There is no limitation on borrowing and lending There are no transactions costs and taxes Mean-Variance is optimal Any investment is equilibrium Investors behave competitively Capital market Line (CML) and Security Market Line (SML) are two deep-rooted models that are useful for derivation of CAPM. Capital Market Line (CML) and efficient frontier The CML shows the expected return for a given level of risk in a combined portfolio. CML measures the risk by à Ã†â€™. CML is hold for efficient portfolios and is applicable by investors with combined and final portfolio which is efficiently diversified. The efficient frontier says that a set of po rtfolio has the maximum return with a given risk or the minimum risk with a given return. The objective is to move up and left so that investors have low risk and high return. Return Risk Security Market Line (SML) The SML is a linear function between market risk and expected return. SML is applicable to portfolio analysis to experiment whether the securities are comparatively priced or not. The SML expresses the return an investor can expect in terms of a free-risk rate and the relative risk of a portfolio. In the SML risk is measured by Icirc; ² and every asset, security or portfolio is positioned on it. Assets over the SML are underpriced relative to CAPM and assets under the SML are overpriced. Empirical tests Tests of the CAPM are quite difficult to perform. The CAPM and its alterations have been generally tested in the literature but many problems have risen, mainly in the variables bias. Recent papers with the use of highly complicated techniques managed t o increase the efficiency of the tests by working with more classified data. Studies on individual security returns by Lintner (1965) and Douglas (1969) werenacirc;â‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t so hopeful. Fama and McBeth (1973) investigated the relationship between the average returns and beta using data in a durable period. Roll (1977) made two observations by testing the CAPM. The first one is that the market portfolio is mean-variance efficient when beta and expected return is linear correlated. The second is that if you do not know exactly the market portfolio is ineffective to judge the validity of CAPM. A lot of studies (Banz, 1981; Basu, 1983; Chan et al., 1991; Rosenberg et al., 1985) showed that not only the market beta affects the expected return but also other variables like the size, macroeconomics variables, p/e ratio and book to market value ratio have an important impact on security returns. Fama and French (1992) testing the validity of CAPM found that to reduce errors in beta me asurement is powerful to take into account also non-market risk factors such as differences between return and low/high book to market stocks or portfolio of small/large stocks. Kothari et al,( 1995); instead of monthly returns data used twelve-monthly to approximate beta and found a considerable relationship between cross-sectional returns and beta. A study on US-stocks during 1926-1990 made by Pettengill et al, (1995) described a systematic correlation on beta and return for the whole period when market varies up and down. Downs and Ingram (2000) found that the average of returns are positive correlated with beta, negative with total risk and far from firm-size. Galagedera and Silvapulle (2003) reported strong empirical evidence to show the bond between returns and systematic co-moments in markets. Another approach in 2005 by Galagedera and Faff who developed a three-beta (low-neutral-high) asset pricing model to observe if the relation beta-return varies on up and down market env ironment was encouraging. Validity of the CAPM and the alternative theory of APT After many empirical tests through the years on the CAPM by literature it is commonly accepted by financial world and it is used to approximate the cost of capital. It is a safe method to measure the expected return with risk and show strong correlation between them. That does not guarantee that the CAPM is infallible but certainly is a practical model until now. However alternative theories came out and a well known is Stephen Rossacirc;â‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s (1976) Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT). Like the CAPM, Arbitrage Pricing Theory deals with expected return and risk but also assumes macroeconomic factors and applies to well-diversified portfolios where unique risk does not exist. The main idea is the measurement of systematic risk with more than one ways. Market and efficient portfolios are not the objective of APT in contrast with the Capital Asset Pricing Model. Both models have advantages and d isadvantages but there are undeniable useful tools for financial aims. Implications of CAPM to investors and financial managers The CAPM shed light on many fields of security analysis and portfolio management. Progress on the analysis of stock exchange-market exists from early practical applications of CAPM. Many studies involved with the course of risk redaction by diversification and the measurement of systematic risk by beta factor. Beta is in a great interest for investors and financial managers as help them to choose the best portfolio by representing the expected returns and shows the level of risk. Beta associates security return with market return so when the market goes up investments behave with the same way and that forces investors for better decisions. The CAPM gave a framework to estimate the performance of investments. Moreover beta-equity can be useful for a company without debt to point the systematic risk of assets. The debt of a company increases the risk of shareholders and therefore the rate of return that is required. An additional risk exists from financial influence and that drives to a higher beta. The CAPM consequently specifies the foundation that a firms-adjusted risk cost of capital must be measured to find out its going concern. . Conclusion This study uses theoretically earlier information about the CAPM and presents empirical facts to support the validity of this model. A summary of the principals of the CAPM are analyzed such as the assumptions under the CAPM, the Security Market Line (SML) and the Capital Market Line (CML). The CAPM provides a practical method to handle both return and risk. Market risk is measured by beta factor and is actually related to the investment decision. It is a substantial variable for portfolio management. Using CAPM is important not only for investors but also for financial managers for choosing the efficient projects. Benefits exist also for individuals and the economy as the CAPM built the foundations of finance theory. In addition the alternative theory of Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) is also useful and significant but more theories have to be developed. However more empirical tests and examinations should be done in the future regarding the assumptions of the CAPM a nd the suitable measure of risk to object the best performance.

The Ionic Reactionalization - 786 Words

Name: Kamaal Thomas |Date: January 4, 2011 | |Graded Assignment Lab Report Answer the questions below. When you have finished, submit this assignment to your teacher by the due date for full credit. (8 points) |Score | | | 1. For Part 2: Single-Displacement Reactions: For each of the four single-displacement reactions, describe what happened in each well. If a chemical reaction occurred, write a balanced equation for it. Then using the A, B symbols, write a general equation for a single-displacement reaction. Here are the chemical formulas of the reactants for each reaction: †¢ zinc – Zn copper sulfate – CuSO4 In well 1A there was a chemical reaction which turned†¦show more content†¦Then using the A, B symbols, write a general equation for a double-displacement reaction. Here are the chemical formulas of the reactants for each reaction: †¢ sodium chloride – NaCl copper sulfate – CuSO4 In well 1A there was no chemical reaction between the sodium chloride and copper sulfate. We know this because there was no color change, precipitate formation, or gas production in this mixture. AX + BY → AY + BX NO REACTION †¢ sodium hydroxide – NaOH copper sulfate – CuSO4 In well 2A there was a chemical reaction between the sodium hydroxide and copper sulfate. There was a blue precipitate formation which proves there was a chemical reaction. AX + BY → AY + BX NaOH + CuSO4 → NaSO4 + CuOH †¢ sodium phosphate (trisodium phosphate) – Na3(PO4) copper sulfate – CuSO4 In well 3A there was a chemical reaction between the sodium phosphate and copper sulfate. There was a light blue precipitate formation which proves there was a chemical reaction. AX + BY → AY + BX Na3(PO4) + CuSO4 → Na3SO4 + CuPO4 †¢ sodium chloride – NaCl silver nitrate – AgNO3 In well 4A there was a chemical reaction between the sodium chloride and silver nitrate. There was a white precipitate formation which proves there was a chemical reaction. AX + BY → AY + BX NaCl + AgNO3 → NaNO3 +

Revenge By William Shakespeare s Hamlet, And Sophocles ...

Introduction Revenge has always been an exciting theme to incorporate into any literary work. This revenge adds conflict, action, and contrast to any story. There have been hundreds of thousands of stories and tales which cause readers to experience similar feeling to that of the main characters. With revenge, the reader may side with the main character whether or not the main character is morally right or wrong. By human nature, people around the globe have always been trying their hardest to come out on top in arguments or fights (Price 2009). As humans, they want to win. This is how a story about revenge is so well loved and experienced by many as it relates well with human nature and how a person would react to these situations. It is a natural feeling every single person feels at some point in their lives. Two well-known tales call this vengeful mode of literary artwork their own as they both portray characters who strive for revenge. These stories are Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Sophoc les’ Antigone. Shakespeare, a very famous playwright created his play with the intention of showing the audience how revenge returns to haunt the vengeful. He also showed how seeking revenge is not the ideal way of dealing with a situation. Sophocles created his play to show how justice can be better and more worthy than just seeking revenge. But he also how to be careful for seeking justice can turn into seeking revenge and a full circle back to the demise of the vengeful as well. There

E.L. Doctorow free essay sample

# 8217 ; s The Waterworks Essay, Research Paper CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD E.L. Doctorow # 8217 ; s The Waterworks mixes a eccentric horror narrative with the sights and sounds of 19th-century Manhattan BY PAUL GRAY A beautiful widow left destitute by the will of her plutocrat hubby. The furtive disinterment of a cadaver while fog whirls in the phosphorescent visible radiation of early morning. A hoarded wealth thorax crammed with hard currency. Innocent kids falling victim to a huffy scientist in chase of the secret of ageless life. A brilliant, tormented immature hero who says things like, # 8220 ; Either I am huffy and should be committed, or the coevalss of Pembertons are doomed. # 8221 ; Now for something genuinely eldritch. These Gothic, melodramatic flourishes appear non in the first chapter of the latest Stephen King novel but instead in E.L. Doctorow # 8217 ; s The Waterworks ( Random House ; 253 pages ; $ 23 ) . This is non wholly unexpected. The writer of such aglow page Turners as Ragtime, World # 8217 ; s Fair and Billy Bathgate has made it a wont to surprise his readers with each new book. We will write a custom essay sample on E.L. Doctorow or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His cardinal concerns # 8211 ; the ineluctable sway of historical forces, the insidious effects of the powerful upon the powerless # 8211 ; have remained changeless, but he has chosen a assortment of fictional voices and techniques to convey them to life. Even longtime readers, though, are likely to happen The Waterworks Doctorow # 8217 ; s strangest and most debatable innovation so far. The scene is New York City in 1871, although the narrative of what happened there and so is told at an indeterminate subsequently day of the month by a adult male named McIlvaine, who notes, at one point in his narration, # 8220 ; I have to warn you, in all equity, I # 8217 ; m describing what are now the visions of an old man. # 8221 ; A figure of similar cautions are interspersed throughout the narrative, and taken together they add another degree of enigma to the point he makes over and over once more: he has been a informant to horror and lived to state the narrative. Which, possibly, begins as follows. As the metropolis editor of the New York Telegram in April 1871, McIlvaine employs a figure of freelance authors, including his most gifted, Martin Pemberton, the disinherited boy of of the late Augustus Pemberton, a millionaire whose decease and funeral had made the documents the old September. None of the column remarks or public eulogiums mentioned the true beginnings of the old adult male # 8217 ; s luck, although McIlvaine the correspondent knows what they were: Pemberton had run illegal slave ships out of New York seaport, with the collusion of Boss Tweed # 8217 ; s ring, and had besides productively supplied Union military personnels during the Civil War with substandard goods # 8211 ; â€Å"boots that fell apart, covers that dissolved in rain, collapsible shelters that torus at the cringles, and unvarying fabric that bled dye.† Now, Martin Pemberton tells McIlvaine and several others, he has seen his male parent alive, on the streets of Manhattan. The editor at first assumes that the disillusioned immature adult male is talking in metaphor, that he means his male parent # 8217 ; s evil lives on in the predatory metropolis all around them. After Martin drops out of sight, McIlvaine begins to look into and comes to believe the vision could hold been true, that a white Municipal Transport stagecoach might really hold carried old Pemberton and other presumed-deceased rich work forces through the teeming, unmindful streets of Manhattan. McIlvaine imagines Martin # 8217 ; s feeling of the riders: # 8220 ; Their caputs nodded in unison as the vehicle stopped and started and stopped once more in the wedged traffic. # 8221 ; To happen out whether and why the metropolis he loves and thinks he knows includes the life dead, McIlvaine seeks the aid of Edmund Donne, a rare honest captain in the municipal constabulary, which has become, under Tweed, # 8220 ; an organisation of licensed thieves. # 8221 ; The trail these two follow # 8211 ; with powerful forces cabaling against them # 8211 ; leads sinuously through roll uping indignations: unexplained slayings, a cryptic orphanhood, losing 1000000s in heritages and a waterworks North of the metropolis where really unusual things are traveling on. This pursuit is intriguing, although wildly implausible, but McIlvaine makes the worst of a good thing by take a firm standing that what he reports has deductions far beyond its specifics: # 8220 ; I would non hold extended myself now, at my advanced age, if this were merely the uneven newspaper narrative I had for you # 8230 ; of deviant household behaviour. I ask you to believe # 8211 ; I will turn out # 8211 ; that my free-lance, eventually, was merely a newsman conveying the intelligence, like the courier in Elizabethan dramas # 8230 ; # 8221 ; His narrative, the storyteller says several times, is # 8220 ; far more than # 8221 ; the enigma of the Pemberton household. This claim is asserted but neer convincingly shown. The shocking, Poe-like narrative at the centre of the novel does non accomplish the symbolic significance that Doctorow wishes it to hold. It is merely excessively eccentric to stand for # 8211 ; or notice on # 8211 ; anything outside itself, peculiarly the full City of New York and what McIlvaine calls its # 8220 ; churning psyche, writhing and turning over on itself, organizing and re-forming # 8230 ; # 8221 ; The Waterworks is at its best when Doctorow stops McIlvaine # 8217 ; s puffing and whiffing about societal significance and lets him acquire on with the concern of stating an entertaining and sometimes genuinely persistent narrative. 342

The Economy of France between 1980 and 2012

Introduction France is one of the largest and most advanced economies in the world. The country achieved its success through diversification of its economy and prudent management of the public sector finances.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Economy of France between 1980 and 2012 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Unlike other developed countries, agriculture contributes significantly to economic development in France. The output from the agricultural sector comes from livestock and cash crops. The leading industries in the country include chemicals, automobiles, electronics, machinery, and textiles. The main minerals produced in the country include iron, bauxite, and coal. Nearly 75% of the country’s electricity is generated though nuclear energy. The government has since reduced its participation in the economy by privatizing most of its firms. This paper focuses on the economy of France by analyzing five of its key macroeconomic variables. Additionally, policy recommendations will be suggested to help the country to revitalize its economy. The analysis will focus on the period between 1980 and 2012. Background France is among the leading producers of automobiles, aircrafts, cosmetics, and luxury goods. It also has highly advanced insurance, telecoms, power generation, and tourism industries. The country’s labor force has the largest number of graduates, especially, in science disciples per one thousand workers in the Euro-zone. Following the end of the Second World War, the country experienced a rapid economic growth due to its massive investment in agriculture. During this period, nearly 40% of the population was employed in the agricultural sector. The country’s GDP expanded at an average rate of 4.1% between 1945 and 1975. Rapid economic growth was maintained through several four-year development plans.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These plans had economic development targets that were set by the government, but were mainly achieved by the private sector. From 1945 to 1986, the government focused on implementing policies of nationalization, as well as, intensive intervention in the economy. From 1981, Mitterrand’s regime focused on nationalizing major firms in key industries such as insurance, banking, and pharmaceuticals. Following the failure of the nationalization strategy, the country embarked on large-scale privatization of its firms in the 1990s. Nonetheless, the government still holds a large proportion of shares in the countries major companies such as France Telecom and Renault. In the 1990s, the country’s economy maintained moderate growth through investments in modern technologies such as the internet and the expansion of infrastructure. The formation of the European Union and the Euro-zone contributed to the country’s economic growth by providing a ready market for its exports. However, the economic crisis in Europe and the global economic downturn, which began in 2007, led to severe reduction in the country’s growth rate. In 2009, the country’s â€Å"real GDP contracted by 2.6%, whereas unemployment rate increased from 7.4% to 10%†. Additionally, the country’s budget deficit as a percentage of GDP increased from 3.4% in 2008 to 7.5% in 2009. Public debt also increased from 68% to 89% of the GDP in the same period.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Economy of France between 1980 and 2012 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Despite the efforts made by the government in the last five years, the country has not been able to achieve a growth rate above 2% or to reduce its unemployment rate below 10% (IMF, 2013). Overview of the Main Macroeconomic Variables France’s real in terest rate, unemployment rate, GDP, current account balance, and inflation rate have greatly evolved in the last thirty years. Unemployment rate refers to the â€Å"percentage of the total labor force that is unemployed, but willing to work and actively seeking employment†. Figure 1 illustrates the fluctuation of unemployment in France in the last thirty years. According to figure 1, the country’s unemployment rate rose steadily from 8.07% in 1982 to 10.5% in 1988. This increase is mainly attributed to the socialist policies that were implemented by the government, which resulted into poor performance of state-owned firms. This led to a significant loss of jobs. On average, the country’s unemployment rate in the 1980s was 9.56%. Following the implementation of an expansionary fiscal policy that led to a 4.67% GDP growth in 1988, the unemployment rate reduced to 8.98% in 1990 (IMF, 2013). However, this recovery was short lived since the unemployment rate rose to 11.68% in 1994. From 1994 to 1999, the country’s average unemployment rate was 11.21%. The country maintained a less than 10% unemployment rate from 2000 to 2008. However, the 2008/2009 global economic downturn led to an increase in unemployment rate above 10%. Figure 2 indicates that the country’s inflation rate has been falling from 1982 to 2012. The inflation rate decreased from 11.98% in 1982 to 0.67% in 1998 (IMF, 2013). One of the factors that accounted for the reduction in inflation was the oil glut of the 1980s.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The increase in oil supply in early 1980s led to a reduction in the price of crude oil. Consequently, the cost of production reduced, which in turn led to low inflation. However, inflation rose to 1.92% in 2012 mainly due to the Euro-zone crisis. Despite the low inflation rate, France’s aggregate consumption and demand did not rise substantially in order to boost rapid economic growth. In this regard, the steady decline in inflation in the last decade reflects the poor growth in the country’s GDP. This is because inflation often increases when the economy is experiencing rapid economic growth, especially, when the government implements an expansionary fiscal policy. Figure 1: Unemployment Rate Verses GDP growth The country’s real interest rate has also been falling steadily in the last twenty years as shown in figure 3. Concisely, the interest rate was reduced from 2.4% in 1993 to 0.12% in 2012 (World Bank, 2013). A significant reduction in interest rate was on e of the strategies of the French government to spur economic growth by reducing the cost of financial capital. In particular, reducing the real interest rate was meant to increase the availability of affordable credit to businesses and individuals. Consequently, private economic agents were expected to increase their expenditure, thereby promoting GDP growth. Figure 2: Inflation Rate Verses GDP Growth Figure 3: Real Interest Rate Verses GDP Growth Figure 4 indicates that France’s current account balance has been very volatile in the last thirty years. The country had a deficit between 1982 and 1990. However, it recovered steadily after 1992, thereby reaching a surplus of 3.15% of GDP by 1999 (IMF, 2013). From 2000, the current account has been declining steadily, thereby reaching a deficit of -1.75% of GDP in 2012. This deficit reflects the inability of France’s products to maintain their competitiveness in the international market. In particular, high cost of produ ction increased the prices of France’s exports. The resulting reduction in the country’s exports partly contributed to the increase in its current account deficit. Since 1982, the country’s highest GDP growth was 4.67% in 1988, whereas the lowest growth was -3.15 in 2009. Table 1in the appendix presents the data used to generate figure 1 to 4. Figure 4: Current Account Balance Verses GDP Growth Macroeconomic Analysis France experienced a high unemployment rate (above 10%) between 1985 and 1988; 1993 and 1999; and 2011 and 2012. The high unemployment rate during these periods is mainly attributed to the conditions in the country’s labor market. France has one of the highest income taxes in the world. The country’s personal income tax rate is more than 40%. France’s personal income tax rate is higher than the rate in most developed countries, especially, members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). For instance , the United States of America charges 5%, whereas the United Kingdom charges 11%. The high personal income tax rate has contributed significantly to the reduction of the competitiveness of French companies. This is because French employees have to demand for high wages in order to compensate for the high taxes that they pay to the government. This increases the operating costs of most firms, especially, in labor-intensive industries. In order to maintain their competiveness, most French firms in the manufacturing sector relocated their production plants to countries such as China and India, which have cheap labor. This strategy has led to exportation of jobs as companies reduce their workers in order to lower operating costs. For instance, Peugeot, one of the leading automobiles manufacturers in the country, dismissed 8,000 workers in 2012 in order to reduce its labor costs. From 2000, the government focused on implementing several reforms in order to boost employment in the privat e sector. The reforms included a reduction of personal income taxes for employees earning the minimum wage, as well as, allowing tax breaks for firms that employ young people or trainees. These reforms partly contributed to the slight reduction of unemployment between 2000 and 2003. Nonetheless, these reforms did not achieve much since unemployment rate began to increase from 2004. This is because French firms still found it profitable to produce in countries with cheap labor. Consequently, they focused on creating jobs in overseas markets rather than in their domestic market. Protection of employee rights is another problem that leads to high unemployment rate in France. The labor unions in France have a lot of influence in the labor market. They always participated in the negotiation of salaries and working conditions in most industries. Consequently, French workers benefit from job security and guaranteed salary levels. Providing these benefits has been a great challenge to small businesses due to their limited financial resources. Consequently, they are reluctant to create new jobs for fear of the penalties associated with dismissing workers or paying low wages. Low qualification is the major cause of unemployment among the youth. Due to the high competition in the job market, most employers prefer to hire experienced workers rather than fresh graduates from collages. Fresh graduates (youth) are expensive to employers since they have to be trained before they adapt to the work environment. Finally, the high employment rate in 2012 is attributed to dismal economic growth that began in 2007. Figure 1 shows that unemployment has been increasing as GDP growth reduces from 2007. The low economic growth has led to reduced profits, thereby limiting the ability of firms to create new jobs or to sustain existing ones. According to figure 2, France’s inflation rate was highest in 1982. This is partly attributed to the 1978-1979 oil shock that led to a sharp i ncrease in prices of goods. The increase in oil prices in late 1970s led to an increase in the cost of production, thereby causing a general rise in the prices of goods. As the economy recovered from the oil shock, inflation began to reduce, reaching a low of 2.5% in 1986. Following the expansion of GDP by 4.67% in 1988, the inflation rate rose to 3.5% in 1989 (IMF, 2013). An increase in economic growth is normally accompanied by increased expenditure in the private and the public sector, thereby increasing inflationary pressure. Since 1990, France has maintained an inflation rate below 3%. This low rate of inflation is mainly attributed to slow economic growth and slack in the economy. According to figure 2, inflation tends to be falling when GDP growth is reducing. The logic behind this trend is that slow economic growth lead to low GDP per capita. The resulting reduction in purchasing power leads to a fall in the demand for goods and services. Consequently, firms reduce their pri ces in order to remain competitive. This reduction in prices leads to low inflation rate. In 2009, the GDP contracted by -3.1%, thereby causing a near deflation situation (0.09% inflation rate). The reduction in real interest rate in the last three decades was caused by intense regulation of the banking sector. Concisely, banking-sector regulations did not permit the increase of nominal interest rates to compensate for the loss of currency value due to inflation. Consequently, real interest rates reduced as inflation increased. Even though the government liberalized the banking sector in late 1990s, the real interest rates did not rise. This is because France’s central bank lowered its lending rate in order to spur economic growth. Current account balance refers to a country’s net import of goods and services, as well as, net transfer payment and earnings from sources such as rent. In the last three decades, France’s current account has been in deficit except fo r the period between 1992 and 2004. The deficit that occurred before 1992 was due to the high labor costs that led to outsourcing by most French companies. Concisely, most companies relocated their production plants to overseas economies with cheap labor. Additionally, some companies outsourced their back office operations to foreign countries. This led to increased imports, thereby causing the current account deficit. The deficit that occurred after 2004 is mainly attributed to France’s participation in the Euro-zone. In particular, the deficit has been caused by the monetary union in the Euro-zone. The use of a common currency means that France’s exchange rate in the Euro-zone is fixed. Consequently, its currency cannot depreciate relative to other Euro-zone countries such as Germany in order to boost exports and reduce imports. Figure 4 indicates that France’s current account has been worsening when its GDP is falling and vice versa. This implies that the red uction in productivity as indicated by a reduction in GDP limits the country’s ability to export. Arising GDP, on the other hand, implies increased productivity that increase the country’s ability to export, thereby improving the current account balance. According to figure 5, France has been able to achieve a rapid growth in its per capita GDP since 1800. Consequently, it has been able to catch-up with other developed countries such Spain and Sweden (Gap-Minder, 2013). Nonetheless, figure 1to 4 shows that the country has not been able to maintain a rapid growth of its GDP in the last three decades. From 1982 to 2008, France’s average GDP growth was approximately 2%. Other advanced economies such as the USA grew by 3% over the same period. After 2008, France has not been able to achieve any growth above 1.6% (IMF, 2013). The factors that account for the poor performance include the following. To begin with, the economic model that spurred rapid growth after the Second World War lost its effectiveness from the 1970s to 1990s. This is because the country has been experiencing a sharp decline in returns on capital, labor productivity gains, and investments since 1970s. Low productivity among the working class has also contributed to the country’s poor economic growth. The number of hours dedicated to work per full-time employee has reduced considerable in the last three decades. France’s investment efficiency has reduced substantially in the last four decades. Investment efficiency refers to the â€Å"variation in GDP in relation to net fixed capital formation†. The combined effect of low productivity gains and reduced investment efficiency led to a reduction in firm profits, thereby limiting growth. Consequently, firms focused on cost reduction and maintaining profitability rather than expanding their markets. The reduction in profits limited the firms’ ability to make new investments, thereby slowing job creation . The resulting increase in unemployment rate led to a reduction of wages. Consequently, aggregate demand fell, thereby discouraging economic growth in the 1980s. In the 1990s, the government introduced labor market reforms such as fixed-term contracts. These reforms enabled most firms to return to profitability. However, they did not succeed in enhancing domestic demand in order to promote economic growth. Even though investment rebound in late 1990s, France did not define a new economic model to sustain a rapid growth. Due to unfavorable labor market conditions and low profits, most French companies embarked on foreign direct investments in the 1990s. This strategy did not only lead to capital flight from the country, but also worsened its current account deficit and unemployment rate. Figure 5: Gap-Minder France is yet to recover from the shocks of the Euro-zone crisis and the 2008/2009 economic downturn, which have reduced its economic growth in the last five years. Figure 6 sh ows the trend in the growth of France’s GDP in the last five years. According to the figure, France’s GDP began to decline just before the global financial crisis in mid 2007. The country’s aggregate demand declined during the crisis, thereby reducing its GDP growth from 2.289% in 2007 to -0.083 in 2008. The GDP growth further reduced to -3.146% in 2009. This reduction is attributed to the fact that by 2009, the financial crisis had negatively affected consumption in most European countries, which are the main export destinations for France’s products. Consequently, France experienced economic decline due to a reduction in its exports. The country’s business cycle shifted from recession to recovery phase in 2010. Additionally, its GDP growth remained stable at a rate of approximately 1.6% between 2010 and 2011. However, this gain was lost as the effect of the Euro-zone crisis spread across Europe. In particular, the Euro-zone crisis led to low inve stor confidence, capital flight, low demand and consumption in the region. These shocks led to a decline in France’s economic growth from 1.693% in 2011 to 0.122% in 2012. Figure 6: France’s Economic Growth in the Last Five Years Policy Recommendations The following suggestions can help France to return to rapid economic growth. To begin with, unemployment can be reduced through labor market reforms. These include wage compression that involves lowering the minimum wage rate and implementing a negative income tax. A lower minimum wage will encourage local firms to create new jobs, whereas a negative income tax will compensate employees for the income lost through the reduction of the minimum wage. The payroll tax should also be reduced in order to encourage local firms to create jobs by investing in France rather than relocating to other countries. The current account deficit can be corrected by increasing net exports outside the Euro-zone. This is because the depreci ation of the Euro against other currencies will make France’s exports more competitive. The current account will improve as exports increase and imports reduce. The government can avoid deflation by loosening its monetary policy. The resulting increase in money supply will encourage investment and consumption, thereby preventing deflation. However, loosening monetary policy should be moderate in order to avoid high inflation. Finally, France should improve its economic growth by reforming its tax system. Concisely, it should raise taxes for the high-income earners and lower taxes for the low-income earners. This will ensure that the government has adequate tax revenue without discouraging expenditure among the low-income earners. Reducing the budget deficit to 3% of the GDP will negate the need for austerity measures in future, thereby encouraging growth through public and private expenditure. Conclusion The aim of this paper was to analyze the French economy. In particular, it focused on the evolution of the economy’s GDP, unemployment rate, inflation rate, current account balance, and real interest rate in the last three decades. Results show that GDP growth has remained dismal in the last thirty years. The factors that account for the slow growth include high labor costs, lack of an effective growth model, and low investment efficiency. The current account has been deteriorating. Similarly, high unemployment has been a persistent problem. Nonetheless, the real interest rate and inflation have been declining. In light of these revelations, the government should take immediate measures to improve the economy. Appendix Table 1: Data for figure 1 to 4 yeas GDP Inflation Unemployment CA Bal Interest rate 1982 2.418 11.978 8.069 -2.099 1983 1.227 9.46 8.421 -0.853 1984 1.499 7.674 9.771 -0.145 1985 1.614 5.831 10.23 -0.064 1986 2.252 2.539 10.363 0.31 1987 2.387 3.289 10.5 -0.484 1988 4.671 2.701 10.006 -0.465 1989 4.184 3. 498 9.396 -0.46 1990 2.625 3.38 8.975 -0.791 1991 1.034 3.217 9.467 -0.495 1992 1.478 2.366 9.85 0.279 1993 -0.665 2.106 11.117 0.708 7.02 1994 2.248 1.661 11.683 0.596 6.69 1995 2.044 1.778 11.15 0.466 6.80 1996 1.067 2.084 11.583 1.231 5.23 1997 2.189 1.283 11.542 2.657 5.38 1998 3.377 0.667 11.067 2.621 5.46 1999 3.287 0.533 10.458 3.147 6.17 2000 3.686 1.716 9.083 1.452 5.05 2001 1.834 1.606 8.392 1.756 4.86 2002 0.928 1.885 8.908 1.247 4.29 2003 0.901 2.141 8.892 0.723 4.51 2004 2.54 2.143 9.258 0.541 4.84 2005 1.826 1.751 9.283 -0.485 4.50 2006 2.468 1.669 9.242 -0.576 4.55 2007 2.289 1.49 8.375 -1.003 3.70 2008 -0.083 2.817 7.817 -1.744 4.6 2009 -3.146 0.099 9.5 -1.333 4.70 2010 1.664 1.493 9.729 -1.558 3.12 2011 1.693 2.141 9.633 -1.95 3.32 2012 0.122 1.924 10.138 -1.734 2.54 References Boyes, W., Melvin, M. (2010). Macroeconomics. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Couleaud, A., Delamarre, F. (2010). France’s national ec onomic wealth declined in 2009 for the second year in a row. Paris, France: Banque de France. Gap-Minder. (2013). The wealth of nations. Web. IMF. (2013). Economic data. Web. Kabundi, A., Simone, F. (2011). France in the global economy: A stractural approximation dynamic factor model anlysis. Empirical Economics, 41(2), 311-342. Miotti, L., Sachwald, F. (2004). Growth in France from 1950-2030: The innovation challange. Paris, France: IFRI. World Bank. (2013). World development indicators. Web. This essay on The Economy of France between 1980 and 2012 was written and submitted by user Carolina Glover to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.