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Kuruczleki va 2012
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Motto: United in diversity Number of member states: 27 Political centres: Brussels, Luxembourg, Strasbourg Number of official languages: 23 Legal currency: euro Area: 4.324.782 km2
Kuruczleki va 2012
Globalization
1. Definition
It is really difficult to give a single definition for this very complex phenomenon, because these definitions would be different from economic, political, cultural or scientific point of view. For us, of course the economic aspect is the most important. Globalization is a worldwide process that involves the free movement or the increased mobility of goods, services, capital, labour, information and technology at a global scale. It means that our world is becoming more and more uniform, that wherever you go, you can find - mostly in the big cities - the same shops, supermarkets with the same products and services. For example: whether it is located in the USA or in Japan, India or in Africa, you will get the same quality McDonalds hamburger, because the inner regulations of this fast-food restaurant chain are standardized.
2. History
Globalization is not a new phenomenon. Globalization is argued to stretch back as far as the 15th century, though some also argue it began in the 19th century. Several experts say the globalization has a long history. They think that a form of globalization has been in existence since the rise of trade links between Sumer and the Indus Valley Civilization in the third millennium B.C. The history of globalization can be divided into 3 parts: 1. An early form of globalized economics and culture, known as archaic/ pre-modern phase of globalization, existed during the Hellenistic Age. This was the time, when commercialized urban centres were focused around the axis of Greek culture, with such cities as Alexandria, Athens. But we can also see the early form of globalization in the trade links between the Roman Empire, the Parthian Empire, and the Han Dynasty. This is the well-known Silk Road, which started in western China. The Islamic Golden Age was also an important early stage of globalization, when Jewish and Muslim traders and explorers established a sustained economy across the Old World resulting in a globalization of crops (like sugar and cotton), trade, knowledge and technology. 2. The next phase, known as proto-globalization, was characterized by the rise of maritime European empires, in the 16th and 17th centuries, first the Portuguese and Spanish Empires, and later the Dutch and British ones. In the 17th century, globalization became also a private business phenomenon when chartered companies like British East India Company (founded in 1600), often described as the first multinational corporation, were established. This was also the Age of Discovery, bringing a broad change in globalization, being the first time when Eurasia and Africa exchanged its cultural, material and biologic knowledge with the New World. 3. In the 19th century globalization approached its modern form, when industrialization allowed cheap production of household items. Globalization in this period was decisively shaped by the imperialism. The conquest of new parts of the globe (India, sub-Saharan Africa) made vast populations of these regions become ready consumers of European exports, and also yielded valuable natural resources such as rubber, diamonds and coal and also helped fuel trade. The modern globalization slowed down at the beginning of the 20th century, due to World War I, but resurfaced after the II. This recovery was partly the result of planning by politicians to break down borders hampering trade. Globalization was also driven by the global expansion of multinational corporations based in the United States and Europe, and worldwide exchange of new developments in science, technology and products. Development and growth of international transport and telecommunication played a decisive role in modern globalization. In the 1990s, the growth of low cost communication networks allowed work done using a computer to be moved to low wage locations for many job types. In late 2000s, much of the 3
Kuruczleki va 2012 industrialized world entered into a deep recession. Some analysts say the world is going through a period of deglobalization after years of increasing economic integration. China has recently become the world's largest exporter surpassing Germany.
3. Elements
A lot of different trends and movements are considered to be the elements of globalization: - Internationalisation: international companies are expanding their activities to more and more countries so they are losing their national identity. In a cultural aspect, it means, that people become more flexible, they accept another common culture or language and lose their original habits, traditions, values. For example, we are Hungarian, but being a member of European Union, all Hungarian people are European citizens too. - Expansion of American culture: we can say modern globalization started from the USA, so its base is American culture, philosophy of life and English language. As this process is developing and spreading, American lifestyle is becoming the common, for other countries this is the modern and wanted way of living and thinking. It has a lot of effects on these cultures; especially it destroys their national values and habits, which is not favourable. - Standardization: it reaches especially the field of economy, and international trade. Their regulation, laws, conditions, processes are standardized/ unified, to make business affairs easier. There are international standards in the field of production too, which make products comparable and substitute or complementary of each other. - Global interdependence: means, that the actors of economy - especially those who participate in the world trade create strong multifunctional relationships between each other. Everybody depends on the others, but there will be some leader actors, who are the determining factors of these complex relationships. It can be dangerous if one important participant falls, the others will follow it. - Promotion of free trade: this means that countries try to eliminate trade barriers, laws and regulations, which made international trade difficult. Trade barriers can be tariff barriers /duty/ or nontariff barriers, these affect the price and/or the quantity of export or import goods
Kuruczleki va 2012 countries More partnership is created between many nations regardless of border restriction With advance in technology data flow is easy with the use of satellites, internet, telephones Standard is set for copyright laws, agreements on world trade Developed countries ensure that their standard of living will rise without causing harm to their environment Globalization has its dark sides. Drug cartels, prostitution rings, international terrorism, etc. can now operate globally. winners. The economic aspects of one country can affect other nations.
6. Globalisation Index
Now I would like to mention this index, which is established yearly. This index measures the frequency and gross of resource movement between countries. It represents how a country is
Kuruczleki va 2012 globalized. The result is not an absolute number, but a ranking number; with it you can make an order of the counties. There are 3 dimension used for creating this index: - economic - social - political In 2000 Hungary was the 18th, in 2008 the 8th. So from the middle globalized position we jumped to a more globalized position.
8. Anti-globalisation movement
People, who are opposed to globalisation, often express their point of view in a prominent way: in street protests, mass demonstrations, which often end in violence with the police. There are very different kinds of protesters, such as greens, feminists, fighters for civil rights, anarchists. They usually speak up for the protection of ecological systems, biodiversity, local cultures, respect of human rights etc. These kinds of movements have not achieved lot, but they are important because they raise awareness of global issues and draw our attention to current problems. Critics argue that globalization results in:
Poorer countries suffering disadvantages: While it is true that globalization encourages free trade among countries, there are also negative consequences because some countries try to 6
Kuruczleki va 2012 save their national markets. The main export of poorer countries is usually agricultural goods. Larger countries often subsidise their farmers, which lowers the market price for the poor farmer's crops compared to what it would be under free trade. The exploitation of foreign impoverished workers: The deterioration of protections for weaker nations by stronger industrialized powers has resulted in the exploitation of the people in those nations to become cheap labor. Due to the lack of protections, companies from powerful industrialized nations are able to offer workers enough salary to entice them to endure extremely long hours and unsafe working conditions, though economists question if consenting workers in a competitive employers' market can be decried as "exploited". It is true that the workers are free to leave their jobs, but in many poorer countries, this would mean starvation for the worker, and possible even his/her family if their previous jobs were unavailable. The shift to outsourcing: Globalization has allowed corporations to move manufacturing and service jobs from high cost locations to locations with the lowest wages and worker benefits. This results in loss of jobs in the high cost locations while creating great economic opportunities in poorer countries. Weak labor unions: The surplus in cheap labor coupled with an ever growing number of companies in transition has caused a weakening of labor unions in the United States. Unions lose their effectiveness when their membership begins to decline. As a result unions hold less power over corporations that are able to easily replace workers, often for lower wages, and have the option to not offer unionized jobs anymore. An increase in exploitation of child labor: for example, a country that experiencing increases in labor demand because of globalization and an increase the demand for goods produced by children, will experience greater a demand for child labor. This can be "hazardous" or "exploitive", e.g., quarrying, salvage, cash cropping but also includes the trafficking of children, children in bondage or forced labor, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities.
Although it has a lot of negative effects, we cannot avoid globalization, it is inevitable. Several economic researches have shown that countries, who dont participate in this worldwide process, are the poorest. While in poor, but participant countries they found that the economical development is steady and their national income is growing. Globalization helped millions of poor people in India and in China to increase their income. As we cant stop globalisation, we must take all of its advantages. For the future, wed better utilize new technologies and other means to reduce poverty, decrease disparities in life chances and wealth.
Kuruczleki va 2012
Kuruczleki va 2012
Planned economy
Planned economy is an economic system in which the state directs the economy. In these countries the central government controls the industry. Its most extensive form is referred to as a command economy, centrally planned economy, or command and control economy. The government controls all major sectors of economy and they make all the decisions. Contrary to market economy the state plans what should be produced and direct lower-level enterprises to produce those goods in accordance with national and social objectives. A planned economy may consist of state-owned enterprises, private enterprises directed by the state, or a combination of both. In the 20th century, most planned economies called themselves socialist. Also, the greatest support for planned production comes from socialist authors. These reasons resulted that planned economy is often directly associated with socialism. However, they dont overlap each other completely. Socialists define economic planning as being based on worker-self management and it is contrary to the command economy of the Soviet Union, which is a extensive form of planned economy as I already mentioned at the beginning. Furthermore, planned economies are not unique to communist states, which are based on Marxist-Leninist communist ideology. All in all, countries which used this system became less improved than capitalist countries, but planned economy undoubtedly has advantages. They dont suffer, in theory, from business cycles, for example they didnt suffer form the Great Depression between 1929 and 1933. During this period they believed that capitalism is rotting but their system is prosperous. After Word War II Eastern-Central Europe came under the influence of the Soviet Union, so these countries also used planned economy. Since its a special case, the central plans (usually for a 3- or 5year period) were made in the Soviet Union. Hungary was also among these countries until 1989. Its first period called Rkosi era lasted until 1956. During this era people starved and we also had serious damage due to Word War II. After the revolution Kdr Jnos became the first person of the country until 1988. That was the so-called Kdr era, which brought better life conditions, but a huge amount of debt, which was the consequence of the good living standards. Unfortunately, all of these countries had little money, so a better standard of living was not achievable without a great amount of loans. Most of these eastern-central European countries changed from planned economy to market economy due to the weakening Soviet Union, which caused new problems, such as unemployment and the declining heavy industry (especially in Hungary, which was the country of iron and steel), but nowadays most of them are on the way of development and many of them are a member of the European Union. In 1991, the weakening Soviet Union came apart, so there are just a very few countries where the system exists. These are for example Cuba, North Korea and China. Cuba and North Korea use a more dictatorial and extremist way of planned economy. Furthermore, North Korea is a very dangerous country because of its military force. China is a special country, because it has special economic zones, for example Shanghai, where market economy is allowed. This decision helps a lot to China to become one of the most dominant countries in the world.
Kuruczleki va 2012
What is welfare?
Welfare refers to a broad subject which may hold certain implications about the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity". In most developed countries, welfare is largely provided by the government, in addition to charities, informal social groups, religious groups, and inter-governmental organizations. In the end, this term replaces "charity" as it was known for thousands of years, being the act of providing for those who temporarily or permanently could not provide for themselves. Welfare can take a variety of forms, such as monetary payments, subsidies and vouchers, health services, or housing. Welfare can be provided by governments, non-governmental organizations, or a combination of the two. Welfare programs may be funded directly by governments, or in social insurance models, by the members of the welfare scheme. Welfare systems differ from country to country, but welfare is commonly provided to individuals who are unemployed, those with illness or disability, the elderly, those with dependent children, and veterans.
- social welfare, falling under the responsibility of Ministry of Health and Social Affairs - education, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Research - labour market, under the responsibility of Ministry of Employment. Some of the benefits provided: - publicly-funded health care services, - elderly care - unemployment benefit etc.
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But what actually means unemployment and which are its main types?
This phenomenon refers to people who do not have a job, are available for work and also are actively looking for it. However, housewives, househusbands, students and those who retire early do not count as unemployed. There are different types of unemployment, such as structural, voluntary, seasonal, cyclical, frictional and hidden. Structural unemployment occurs when the skills of available workers do not match the vacant jobs. If people dont want to work, for example, because they do not find well-paid jobs we can speak about voluntary unemployment. An example of a voluntarily unemployed person is one who rejects a position while looking for one with better pay or benefits. Seasonal unemployment arises when people who work in, for example, industries where they are not needed all year round, are unemployed. Cyclical unemployment occurs during a recession when the overall demand for labour declines. We define frictional (or search) unemployment when people leave their jobs to look for another one. Most frictional unemployment (unemployment when one is between jobs) is considered voluntary because one is looking for work rather than taking any job one finds. Hidden unemployment is known to exist but it isnt included in official statistics.
Causes
Recession and the gap in the demand and supply are the causes of the joblessness. An unemployment situation occurs as long as the demand-supply gap persists. Another reason for it can be the financial crisis and economic depression just like the growing population.
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Kuruczleki va 2012 Great Britain: The situation in the island doesnt seem to be less difficult than in the USA. According to the latest British statistics, the unemployment rate is on the increase. At the present moment 2.5 million people are out of work in the GB (from the 60 million inhabitants). This piece of information indicates what acute crisis the British economy suffers from. Hungary: Obviously, in Hungary this phenomenon is also present (10.6 %). Lots of employers dismiss their employees, because the more people are employed in a workplace the more taxes should be paid for the government. This is the main reason for massive layoffs.
Groups in danger
Unfortunately, there are certain groups within the workforce which are at a greater risk of losing their jobs, for example: people in their 40s and 50s employers tend to prefer young people, because they are more energetic and they learn easier young people who are undereducated or overqualified people with disabilities or health problems
Work mobility
Basically, there are two types of work mobility: Geographical: People are willing and able to move between regions or areas in order to take a new job. They often have to move home. (People are unemployed because they are not prepared to move areas (e.g. leave their home) in order to take up work.) Occupational: People are willing and able to move between types of jobs or occupations e.g. an unemployed coal miner becomes a salesman. (People are unemployed because they are unwilling to work in a job which is different to what they had previously.)
As usual, there are upsides and downsides for both: Upside Geographical better income, fit to their profession/education, career opportunity, higher standard of living (especially immigrants) better income, career opportunity, job Downside cost of moving, house prices in other area, friends in the current area, childrens education lack of confidence, education, training; cant be bothered
Occupational
In conclusion, the reasons why it is good to work abroad: experiencing different cultures enhancing employability taking time out 12
Kuruczleki va 2012 If you want to go to foreign countries to work as a Hungarian: First of all, the government suggests making inquiries about the regulations of work at the competent countrys embassy. In the EU theoretically you can go anywhere you want to To the USA you need a visa
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Taxation
I. The definition of tax: The tax is a compulsory contribution to the state expenditures. The order of the taxation is based on the law (taxation is an allegiance (=obligatory for every citizen) in Hungarian law). The state doesnt give any service in return for taxes (theres no recompensation). Taxes are usually paid in money, rarely as an in-kind (e.g. the tithe in the Middle Ages was an in kind tax). Revenues from tax are the most important revenues in the state budget: the state finances the public administration, the education, the pension system, national defense, motorways, etc. The taxes have three important objectives: 1. maintaining the balance of the finances (state expenditures and revenues) 2. affect harmful habits in the market (for example taxes on alcoholic drinks and cigarettes) 3. redistribution of earnings (the state takes a part of the citizens earnings away and divide them) II. Groupings: We can group the taxes many ways: There are direct and indirect taxes. The direct taxes are paid directly to the State (e.g.: personal income tax, corporate tax, etc.). The indirect taxes charge the consumers of a product or service but they pay the tax firstly to the seller or provider when buying the product or service (e.g.:VAT). We can distinguish regular and extraordinary taxes. The regular taxes are paid regularly so these are good sources for the State budget (for example the personal income tax). The extraordinary taxes are paid ocassionally. If we consider the object of the taxation (the thing on which the tax is levied) there are taxes on: income, consumption, inheritage, wealth. On the base of the fact that who has the right to levy the taxes, there are central and local taxes. Central taxes are levied by the State (e.g.: VAT, income tax, corporate tax), local taxes are levied by the local governments (e.g.: tax on building plot, tax on economic activities, tax on tourism) Central Taxes Local Taxes 1.Corporate income tax 1.Building tax 2.VAT 2.Land tax 3.Personal income tax 3.Communal tax 4.Local business tax If we consider the relation between the tax base and the tax rate, there are three types: proportionate tax means that tax rate does not change if the tax base increases or decreases. In the case of progressive taxes, the tax rate increases if the tax base increases. The third one is degressive tax: tax rate decreases in case the tax base increases. Kinds of taxes: Corporate tax (CIT)refers to a taxes levied by various jurisdictions on the capital or profits of companies or associations and often includes capital gains of a company.-
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Enviromental tax: This includes natural resources consumption tax, greenhouse gas tax (Carbon tax), "sulfuric tax", and others. The stated purpose is to reduce the environmental impact by repricing. Excise taxes are based on the quantity, not the value, of product purchased. (like fuel). We have to pay that taxi f we buy ABC porducts (A:alcohol, B:benzine, C:cigarette). Income tax is a tax levied on the financial income of people, corporations, or other legal entities. (for example: PIT- personal income tax) Inheritance tax, estate tax, and death tax or duty are the names given to various taxes which arise on the death of an individual. Property tax is a tax put on property by reason of its ownership Social Security Tax: Some countries with social securit systems, which provide income to retired workers, fund those systems with specific dedicated taxes. Tariffs: An import or export tariff (also called customs duty or impost) is a charge for the movement of goods through a political border. Toll is a tax or fee charged to travel via a road, bridge, tunnel, canal, waterway or other transportation facilities. Value added tax (VAT), also known as 'Goods and Services Tax' (G.S.T), Single Business Tax, or Turnover Tax in some countries, applies the equivalent of a sales tax to every operation that creates value. It is a form of consumption tax. From the perspective of the buyer, it is a tax ont he purchase price. Wealth(net worth) tax: Some countries' governments will require declaration of the tax payers' balance sheet (assets and liabilities), and from that exact a tax onnet worth (assets minus liabilities), as a percentage of the net worth, or a percentage of the net worth exceeding a certain level.
III. Terms of taxation: Subject of tax paying: the person or corporate body who has to pay the tax. Object of tax: the thing, activity or right which imply the tax paying. Taxable income / tax base: the amount of money which is subject to tax Tax rate: the proportion of the tax given in a certain sum or percentage Tax exemption: when sy dont have to pay a tax Tax haven: countries or teritories where the tax rates are low or dont exist. Tax havens: Monaco, Kuwait, Andorra, Caiman Islands, etc. 4 Rs:(4 main purpose) Revenue Redistribution(wealthy poor) Repricing (tobacco discourage smoking) Representation ( Taxation accountability, direct is better than indirect) IV. The judgement of taxes in society, the role of taxation in society: The society doesnt really accept the recent taxation system in Hungary, the people dont really like to pay taxes and they always complain about paying too much tax and the public services arent satisfactory enough for such amount of money (sanitary system). Those who have salary are discontent because they think that they keep the unemployed and those who live from benefits. So the taxation has quite a bad judgement in Hungary. Tax evasion is a regular phenomenon, because people always look for opportunities to get around the law. But taxation is necessary because it is the base of different public services and taxation can reduce the inequalities in the society (in case of progressive taxes).
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The Hungarian System is a self-assessment system: Taxpayers are required to register, determine their tax obligation, make advance payments, file tax returns on their own behalf, make corrections to the tax returns as needed, keep records and supply information as required by law. Authorities randomly examine tax returns to enforce the self-assessment system. Corporations are subject to continuous assessment throughout the year. V. Flat rates: Most of the Central-Eastern Europian countries inroduced the flat tax rates in the last few years. It means that there only one tax rate in the personal income tax (19%) and everyone has to pay this percentage of their income, so there are no d. The rates of the income tax, the corporate tax and the VAT are the same (so 19%). The opinions are very controversial: western countries criticise it because it doesnt make difference between the poor and the rich because the 19% is a bigger proportion in the earning of a poorer person than in the earning of a rich person so its inequal in this respect. But in the Central-European countries where the tax evasion and black economy are quite regular, they could prevent cheating by a simple taxation system like this. VI. Advantages of high tax rates the Swedish welfare state: It also can be argued if higher or lower tax rates are better? A typical example for high tsax rates is Sweden:the tax rates are higher there than in Hungary, but its accepted in the society because the country has a high-quality social system - they spend a big proportion of the state revenues on social objects. VII. Tax policies: As taxes are essential elements of the State budget, the Ministry of Finance and the Government decide on taxes. The fiscal policy of the Government can be expansive or restrictive. The first means that the State decrease the taxes and it is typical action in times of flourishing in the economy. The second means that the State increases taxes and it is usual in times of recession.
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Environmental protection
Main points:
1. 2. 3. 4. Introduction Short list of the most important problems threatening the environment Their description How to solve/ reduce them?
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants. There are several kinds of pollution existing: air-, water-, light-, thermal-, visual- and noise pollution, littering, soil- and radioactive contamination.
Air pollution: comes from both natural and manmade sources. Though globally man made pollutants from combustion, construction, mining, agriculture and warfare are increasingly significant in the air pollution equation. Common gaseous pollutants include carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and nitrogen oxides produced by industry and motor vehicles. Water pollution: occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds. Water pollution affects plants and organisms living in these bodies of water. In almost all cases the effect is damaging not only to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities. Soil contamination: is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. This type of contamination typically arises from the rupture of underground storage tanks, application of pesticides, percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, oil and fuel dumping, leaching of wastes from landfills or direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil. Radioactive contamination: is also called radiological contamination, is radioactive substances on surfaces, or within solids, liquids or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirable, or the process giving rise to their presence in such places. Littering: is a serious environmental issue in many countries. Litter can exist in the environment for long periods of time (frequently decades) before degrading and be transported large distances into the world's oceans.
These pollutions led to serious environmental problems and disasters, such as the greenhouse effect, the global warming, the ozone depletion, huge oil spills and litter islands in oceans or the extinction of animals, and they also have effect on the human organism, causing healthcare problems. They are not just caused by pollution but also by other human activities like deforestation, overpopulation, overuse of resources and human thoughtlessness.
Greenhouse effect: is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. It means that the heat from the surface of the Earth cant leave the atmosphere because of a layer of gases, causing climate change. Global warming: is the result of the greenhouse effect. It all means that the average temperature of th Earth is rising continually. This problem became more serious in the last three decades, because considering the last 100 years temperature change, about two thirds of the increase occurred over just the last three decades. Oil and litter in oceans: the oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of animals, mostly birds, causing kidney damage, altered liver function, and digestive tract irritation. This 17
Kuruczleki va 2012 rapidly lead to death. Rubbish in the ocean also strongly affects the sea animals and birds as well, because they might think its food and eat it, or just get sized under a huge junk of rubbish et cetera...
But we can take steps in order to make the environment better. Environmental protection is influenced by three interwoven factors: environmental legislation, ethics and education. Each of these factors plays its part in influencing national level environmental decisions and personal level environmental values and behaviours. For environmental protection to become a reality it will be important for societies to develop each of these areas that together will inform and drive environmental decisions. Although environmental protection is not simply the role of government agencies they are however generally seen as being of prime importance in establishing and maintaining basic standards that protect both the environment and the people interacting with it. Environmental protection steps taken
1. United Nations Conference on Human Environment, Stockholm, 1972 113 nations were participating, Hungary was not. Its main importance is that this was the first global meeting in connection with the environmental protection. Governing principles were defined as well as concrete tasks. The conference made suggestion to establish United Nations Environment Programme. The human rights to a healthy environment was declared. Developed and developing countries realized that these are their common problems. Brundtland Commission, 1984 The achievements of the conference in Stockholm resulted in the foundation of the Brundtland Commission in 1984. Political experts, scientists and representatives of green organizations worked out the definition of sustainable development which then became a key term in environmental protection. They released their results in a report called Our Common Future or the Brundtland Report published in 1987. 2. The Rio Conference, 1992 (the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, also referred to as the Rio Summit, Earth Summit) The most important achievements on the conference were: the Convention on Biological Diversity was opened for signature (CBD) an agreement on the Climate Change Convention was reached, which led to the Kyoto Protocol (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC)) These two documents were legally binding agreements. A famous document of the Rio Summit was the so-called Agenda 21 which was an action plan document in connection with sustainable development and which contained comprehensive recommendations about steps to be taken. The Kyoto Protocol, 1997 The developed countries committed themselves to reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions to a determined rate. These pledged rates are different in each countrys case and are compared to the year 1990. Hungarys commitment was 6%, Europes one was 8%. Although the protocol is legally binding, several significant emitters didnt ratify it, e.g.: China, the United States. The USAs excuse was that nowadays the developing countries are even more responsible for the huge quantity of carbon emission. 3. The Johannesburg Summit, 2002 This conference was a review of the past 10 years since the Rio Summit. The main problem is that though the necessity of environmental protection, the concept of sustainable development have become generally accepted, only a few concrete steps were taken. One major outcome of the 18
Kuruczleki va 2012 conference was the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) which was an action plan in name but declared few concrete rules. Some of these are: - chemicals should be produced harmless to the environment - protection of the species endangered - restore the depleted fisheries Climate summit in Copenhagen, 2009 The reason to the 2009 climate conference in Copenhagen was the forthcoming expiry of the Kyoto Protocol (it expires in 2012). The participants wanted to agree on something that carries on the concept of the Kyoto agreement. All in all, the summit was a failure as no legally binding agreement was born. Climate conference in Cancn, Mexico, 2010 Since the Copenhagen climate summit didnt manage to reach any concrete agreement, the climate change conference continued in Mexico next year. Now the participants got one step closer to their intention: they decided that the maximum value of global warming has to be 2C. They also decided on backing the poor countries in fighting against climate change. As regard to obligatory treaties, no legally binding agreement was accepted. They continue the consultation in Durban, South Africa in the end of 2011 (28 Nov 9 Dec).
Solar Energy The sun is the primary energy source. Our earth gets 50 kWh energy per second. In the sun the hydrate become helium at extremely high temperature. It is a long-term solution for the worlds energy need, because it is permanent and it is everywhere in the world. Collecting and keeping solar energy is made by solar collectors. These are equipments which keep the energy inside, form into heat energy and give them to heat transfers. In 2003, more than 700 megawatt hours(mWh) were made widespread. The first power plant was crated in Barstow, California in 1988. Hydropower The hydropower is one of the most important alternative energy sources. Water power is the oldest energy source, derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Power plants make rivers, lakes and seas mechanical energy into electricity. They bloat, collect the water and drop them onto the turbines, and then generators make electricity. The 19
Kuruczleki va 2012 main places, where they can exist are high mountains, like in the Scandinavian Peninsula or in the Apls. Geothermal energy The geothermal energy is from the natural moving of the earth sheet rocks. This type of energy is unlimited like the solar energy, but it is not permanent, but discontinuous. It is cheap to produce, and isnt harmful for the nature. The process is to pump the water out of the ground and then clear the water before using it. This method is good for the heating of the houses and flats. In Hungary, the crust of the earth is thinner, so the geothermal capability is favourable. Biomass The biomass is a biological mass of organic matter. This means unitilized plants, crops, the wastage of vegetable and animals. The significance of the biomass is that people can make fossil fuels from them. They are renewable energy sources, so they are going to be the same in a year. The need of the renewable energy sources including the biomass, is important for Hungary, not just because of the substainable development, but the international pressure. We have to concentrate on this because of the environmental protection and the energetics. In Hungary the land is really good to produce biomass. We can get ethanol and a kind of material like diesel oil.
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FORMS OF BUSINESSES
Legal forms of businesses in Hungary
In Hungary, if we want to differentiate the types of businesses, firstly we can mention state-owned enterprises (e. g. Posta, MV). In this form the state entitles an organization, which controls the company from the states money in a way formulated by the law and which disposes of the responsibility. There are just a few of them in our country nowadays (till the change of regime in 1989 there were a lot of them, because of the socialist control, but after that the majority of them were ceased or altered). Secondly there are enterprises, which are not under the control of the state. These are the most common forms lately. There are some determining factors of them: What kind of activity do we want to pursue? Who does issue the capital? Who and in what extent does take the risks and responsibilities? Who is entitled in the decision-making (one person or more)? Who and in what extent does benefit from the achievements? Is the business a profit-orientated or a non-profit one? According to these factors, we can talk about sole proprietorships and joint enterprises: I. Sole proprietorship (~egyni vllalkozs): Its the easiest way to found an enterprise. Private enterprises have a wide range of usage, because every pursuit of production and service done by a person, who matches the specifications, is regarded as sole proprietorship. Some of the specifications: Certificate of good conduct needed No owing of taxes, customs or social security No other membership of other enterprises of unlimited responsibility (sole proprietorship needs unlimited responsibility, which means the owner is responsible with the whole fortune of his/hers) II. Joint enterprises (~trsas vllalkozsok) a. Partnership (~betti trsasg, Bt.): Type of economic association, which has at least one person, who has unlimited responsibility (internal member~beltag) if theres more than one of them, everybody has the same responsibility, while at least one person (external member~kltag) is just in charge of providing the contribution determined in the contract. If the external member is also mentioned in the companys name, he/she also has an unlimited responsibility. b. General partnership (~kzkereseti trsasg, Kkt.): Type of economic association, in which the members contract for the same economic pursuit, and they have unlimited responsibility. It's similar to the previously mentioned partnership, but it mostly features the family and small enterprises. None of the members can be member of other enterprises of unlimited responsibility. c. Limited liability company, Ltd. (~korltolt felel ssg trsasg, Kft.): Type of economic association, in which all the members are in charge of providing the contribution determined in the contract. But the manager is responsible with the whole fortune of his/hers in case of he/her damages the members on purpose. The minimum capital for the foundation is 500.000 HUF. d. Company limited by shares (~rszvnytrsasg, Rt.): Type of economic association, which is a capital-merging one and which can be established in a private or in a public form. The shareholders have no responsibility, so the share company has to dispose of a big amount of principal (the sum of the whole amount of the value
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Kuruczleki va 2012 of the shares). In case of the private limited company its 5 million HUF, and of the public limited company its 20 million HUF. i. Private limited company (~zrtkr en m kd rt., Zrt.): The range of the shareholders is limited while founding and running the company. The shares cannot be sold in public (e. g. in the stock market), they just can be bought from the owners. ii. Public limited company (~nyilvnosan m kd rt., Nyrt.): Their shares are issued in public (in gross or in pieces), under the regulation of securityselling. e. Community interest Ltd. (~kzhaszn trsasg, Kht.): Cannot be founded since 2007, they could only continue their functioning under some regulations (or they were ceased); among others: Altering the contract they can function as a non-profit Ltd. Transforming into other type of non-profit organization (NPO) i. Non-profit organisations (NPOs): In this form, the accumulated excess is not distributed among the shareholders and the owners (similar to community interest Ltd.), but its used for the achievement of certain aims, for public utilities (e. g. charity organisations, trade unions). The members get nothing from the income, and cannot sell their shares. They can produce profit, but it can only be spent on the maintenance and the expansion of the enterprise. f. Joint venture (~kzs vllalkozs): Type of economic association, which only responsible with its fortune for its engagements. If this asset cannot cover the owing, the members are responsible as bailers. Joint ventures cannot be founded since 2006, but the already existing ones can function under the same regulation as before.
Franchise system
A franchise is a form of cooperation based on a contractual relation between companies and individuals. It is a right granted to an individual to market a company's goods or services within a certain territory or location. The franchisee purchases a franchise from the franchisor. A franchisee is an individual who purchases the rights to use a companys trademarked name and business model. The franchisor owns the overall rights and trademarks of the company. The franchisee must follow certain rules and guidelines already established by the franchisor. In most cases the franchisee must pay a franchise fee up front, called royalty fee. Then, based on the agreement, the franchisee has to pay a one-time franchise fee in order to use the companys trademarked name, business model and services. Generally 22
Kuruczleki va 2012 the contract prescribes for francisees several commitments such as buying the companys products and using the same range of products. Or for example in terms of fast food restaurants, those restaurants that belong to the same chain of restaurants must not have different prices and can not compete with one another.
The types of officers: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or President: The CEO has ultimate responsibility for the corporation's activities and the power to enact any policy he or she wants within reason. The CEO reports to the corporation's board of directors. Typically the most highly paid member of the organisation. Chief Operating Officer (COO): Charged with managing the corporation's day-to-day affairs, the COO usually reports directly to the CEO.
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Kuruczleki va 2012 Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Treasurer: The CFO is responsible for almost all of the corporation's financial matters. Secretary: The corporation's secretary is in charge of maintaining and keeping corporation's records, documents, and minutes from shareholder meetings. Shareholders: A corporation's shareholders have an ownership interest in the company, by having money invested in the corporation. A share is an apportioned ownership interest in the corporation.
b, Hostile takeovers:
A hostile takeover allows a suitor to take over a target company whose management is unwilling to agree to a merger or takeover. A takeover is considered "hostile" if the target company's board rejects the offer, but the bidder continues to pursue it. A hostile takeover can be conducted in several ways. A tender offer can be made by making a public offer at a fixed price above the current market price. Tender offers in the US are regulated by the Williams Act. The involved companies can also engage in a proxy fight, in which the point is to persuade enough shareholders, usually a simple majority, to replace the management with a new one which will approve the takeover. Another method is to quietly purchase enough stock on the open market, to affect a change in management. In all of these ways, management resists the acquisition but it is carried out anyway. The main consequence of a bid being considered hostile is practical rather than legal. If the board of the target cooperates, the bidder can conduct extensive insight into the affairs of the target company, whereas a hostile bidder will only have more limited, publicly-available information about the target company available, rendering the bidder vulnerable to hidden risks regarding the target company's finances. An additional problem is that takeovers often require loans by banks, but banks are often less willing to loan to a hostile bidder because of the relative lack of information about the target available to them. 24
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c, Reverse takeovers:
A reverse takeover is a type of takeover where a private company acquires a public company. This is usually done at the instigation of the larger, private company, the purpose being for the private company to effectively float itself while reducing some of the expenses and time wastings. An individual or organization-sometimes known as corporate raider - can purchase a large fraction of the company's stock and in doing so get enough votes to replace the board of directors and the CEO. With a new superior management team, the stock is a much more attractive investment, which would likely result in a price rise and a profit for the corporate raider and the other shareholders. d, Backflip takeovers: A backflip takeover is any sort of takeover in which the acquiring company turns itself into a subsidiary of the purchased company. This type of takeover rarely occurs.
2. Funding:
Often a company acquiring another pays a specified amount for it. This money can be raised in a number of ways. Although the company may have sufficient funds available in its account, payment entirely from the acquiring company's cash is unusual. More often, its borrowed from a bank, or raised by an issue of bonds. Acquisitions financed through debt are known as leveraged buyouts, and the debt will often be moved down onto the balance sheet of the acquired company. The acquired company then has to pay back the debt. Loan note alternatives:Cash offers for public companies often include a "loan note alternative" that allows shareholders to take a part or all of their consideration in loan notes rather than cash. This is done primarily to make the offer more attractive in terms of taxation. A conversion of shares into cash is counted as a disposal that triggers a payment of capital gains tax. All share deals: A takeover, particularly a reverse takeover, may be financed by an all share deal. The bidder does not pay money, but instead issues new shares in itself to the shareholders of the company being acquired. In a reverse takeover the shareholders of the company being acquired end up with a majority of the shares in, and so control of, the company making the bid. The company has managerial rights.
3. Strategies:
The most basic reason for an acquisition is the chance of making profit. Other takeovers are strategic in that they are thought to have secondary effects beyond the simple effect of the profitability of the target company being added to the acquiring company's profitability. For example, an acquiring company may decide to purchase a company that is profitable and has good distribution capabilities in new areas which the acquiring company can use for its own products as well. A target company might be attractive because it allows the acquiring company to enter a new market without having to take on the risk, time and expense of starting a new division. An acquiring company could decide to take over a competitor not only because the competitor is profitable, but in order to eliminate competition in its field and make it easier, in the long term, to raise prices. Also a takeover could fulfill the belief that the combined company can be more profitable than the two companies would be separately due to a reduction of redundant functions. Takeovers may also benefit from principal-agent problems associated with top executive compensation. For example, it is fairly easy for a top executive to reduce the price of his/her company's stock - due to information asymmetry. The executive can accelerate accounting of expected expenses, delay accounting of expected revenue, engage in off balance sheet transactions to make the company's profitability appear temporarily poorer, or simply promote and report severely conservative (e.g. pessimistic) estimates of future earnings. Such seemingly adverse earnings news will be likely to (at least temporarily) reduce share price. (This is again due to information asymmetries since it is more common for top executives to do everything they can to window dress their company's earnings forecasts). There are typically very few legal risks to being 'too conservative' in one's accounting and earnings estimates. 25
Kuruczleki va 2012 A reduced share price makes a company an easier takeover target. When the company gets bought out (or taken private) - at a dramatically lower price - the takeover artist gains a windfall from the former top executive's actions to surreptitiously reduce share price. This can represent tens of billions of dollars (questionably) transferred from previous shareholders to the takeover artist. The former top executive is then rewarded with a golden handshake for presiding over the fire sale that can sometimes be in the hundreds of millions of dollars for one or two years of work. (This is nevertheless an excellent bargain for the takeover artist, who will tend to benefit from developing a reputation of being very generous to parting top executives). This is just one example of some of the principalagent /perverse incentive issues involved with takeovers. Similar issues occur when a publicly held asset or non-profit organization undergoes privatization. Top executives often reap tremendous monetary benefits when a government owned or non-profit entity is sold to private hands. Just as in the example above, they can facilitate this process by making the entity appear to be in financial crisis - this reduces the sale price (to the profit of the purchaser), and makes non-profits and governments more likely to sell. It can also contribute to a public perception that private entities are more efficiently run, reinforcing the political will to sell off public assets.
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Commercial banks
A commercial bank ( or business bank ) is a type of financial institution. A financial institution is an institution that provides financial services for its clients or members like transactional accounts, savings etc. As for the services, a transactional account is a deposit account in a bank or in an other financial instituion, for the purpose of securely and quickly providing access to funds. Savings means the money that you want to deposit into a bank. A commercial bank also accepts time deposit which is a money deposit that cannot be withdrawn for a certain term or period of time.
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Stock exchange
Things to trade with
There are 2 main types of exchanges, which feature the things we want to sell or buy. First of all there is the commodity exchange, where we can physically trade with goods. The Budapest Commodity Exchange had 3 sections: the cereal, the meat and the financial section. The second type is the stock exchange, and within this type we can mention the trading with foreign currency, precious metals and securities. Foreign currency: the conversion between different currencies. There are 3 main leader currencies: euro, dollar and yen; the others are pegged to these currencies, they form blocks and within the same block the currencies vary with the same tendency. Precious metals: on the stock exchange the most trusted metals are the gold and the silver, because theyre always seemed to be growing, thats why people like investing in these metals. Securities market: the place, where the demand and the supply of securities meet. It has a lot of types, for example the shares or the bonds. They can be exhibited by the government or by corporations. In Hungary the commodity and the stock exchange merged in 2005, so now these tasks are operating together.
Kuruczleki va 2012 S&P 500 (SPY) Standard & Poors - It is also an American stock market index including the biggest 500 corporations on earth. Russel 2000 It contains mostly the shares of small and medium size companies.
Cheating
Insider share dealing: Insider person: the person who was given insider information, or gained it somehow, and who is aware of being an insider person. Insider dealing: the deed of trading with shares using the insider information to gain personal advantage. (simple definitions) It means that an insider person uses insider information illegally for the aim of gaining financial advantage. Its prohibited trading with securities or other stock products using insider information. This can be information about the economic or legal status of the issuer, for example organisational restructuring, bankruptcy, liquidation etc. These acts are punished seriously all over the world. Trusts and cartels: Trusts: its a special form of governmental enterprises, composes of a trust centre and the members. The founder controls the other enterprises to make their functioning more economical and to develop them.
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Kuruczleki va 2012 Cartels: its a horizontal agreement, which is made between the competitors to restrict the competition between each other. For example it controls the repartition of the market, price pegging and so on. Nowadays the competition law bans the operation of trusts and cartels, so they only function in a secret way. Before introducing this law a lot of them had been functioning in a lot of countries and sectors. There are legally working ones today, for example the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), which was founded to co-ordinate the politics of the member countries.
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Economic interdependance:
Its a characteristic of a society or macroeconomy where people depend on other people to produce most of the goods and services required to sustain life and living. Basically, the participants in an economic system are dependent on others for the products they cannot produce efficiently for themselves. This connection implies linkages in the demands for products and the incomes of the participants. Interdependence is not solid because firms, individuals and nations may change from the production of one set of products to that of another. Economic interdependence may be a source of the aggregation problem. The massive international flow of capital in form of direct investments, loans, and shares in stock markets have increased economic interdependence. They have provided financial resources essential for investment, so that developing countries have been able to benefit widely by acquiring loans or capital shares. International capital flow has also enabled the expansion of markets in different regions of the world.
Butterfly effect:
The main idea takes from the chaos theory in which it argues that small variations in initial conditions can cause massive differences in a final event. In other words, in a dynamic system like the stock market, any change, no matter how small, can result in completely unpredictable behavior. Thus, a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a tornado in some part of the world. For example, on the stock market, a small decline in share prices which comes from the increased selling of the given stock because of a panic bubble, may result in a tendency which results in the fall of the share releaser company.
Futuretelling:
Stocks usually move with the overall trend of the market. They arent necessarily one-day bumps, but general upward and downward trends bullish markets and bearish markets. For this reason, its important to have an idea what the general trend of the market seems to be and what the market is telling us about future trends. With just two pices of information, you can get the main idea. They are price and volume. When you put these two together, you get a picture that tells whether there are more sellers in the market or buyers. Volume tells you whether there is movement in the market and price tells you which direction. We can use the prices of the biggest stock markets, for example NASDAQ, or S&P 500 to gauge the price fluxuation. The volume indicator comes from the daily sales volume. If the market has a highvolume day and prices are up, you are probably looking at institutional investors buying, which is a sign of an up market trend. On the other hand, a high-volume day with lower prices could mean a downward trend with the big players backing out of the market. Common sense helps when watching these indicators. For
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Kuruczleki va 2012 example, if you have three or four days of high volume and rising prices, it is not unusual to hit a highvolume day where the prices fall off. If you begin to see the down days too frequently in a market that has been moving up, it may be a sign that it is about to reverse course or stall. Institutional investors are the volume buyers and sellers that move the market. When they began moving in a direction, thats where the market goes and you can see it in the price and volume numbers. A market that shows sharp price movements in either direction without corresponding volume increases is sending false messages that should be watched carefully.
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Marketing
The marketing-mix is a business tool used in marketing products. Its synonymous with the 4 Ps.
Promotion: All methods of communication -Public Relations -Advertising (TV, Radio, Cinema, Press, Billboard, etc.) -Advertising Effectiveness Research -Sales Promotion -Personal Selling
In recent times the 4Ps have been expanded to the 7Ps, as the service marketing got a bigger importance: Process: It refers to the methods and process of providing a service. Its very important to have the proper knowledge. Physical Evidence: It refers to the experience of using a product or service, elements within the store, for example the store front, employees wear, signboards, furniture, etc. People: It refers to the customers, employees, management and everybody else involved in it. In service marketing you have to realize that your brand reputation is in the peoples hand.
Promotional mix
Advertising: Presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services. Examples: Print ads, radio, television, billboard, brochures and catalogs, signs, web pages etc. Personal selling: This is a process by which a person persuade the buyer to accept a product or a point of view or convince the buyer to take specific course of action through face to face contact. It can be of face-to-face or through telephone contact. Sales promotion: Media and non-media marketing communication are employed for a limited time, to increase market demand. Examples: Coupons, contests, product samples, etc. Public Relations:PR is the practice of managing the flow of information between an organization and its publics. (example: consumers, investors, partners, and other stakeholders) It builds the reputation. Corporate Image: Its important to create a good image. If the reputation of a company is bad, consumers are less willing to buy a product from this company as they would have been, if the company had a good image. Direct Marketing: Marketing messages are addressed directly to customers. Exhibitions: It provides the chance to try the product by the consumers. The company can get instant response from the potential consumers.
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SWOT:
SWOT is a kind of analysis. The aim of this system is to evaluate companies and their work. Its the first stage of planning and helps marketers to focus on key issues. SWOT is a mosaic word. S and W are for internal factors, and O and T are for external factors. While internal factors are inside the company, external factors are situation outside the company. S means strengths in this analysis. Strengths are characteristics of the business, or project team that give it an advantage over others. W means weaknesses. Weaknesses are characteristics that place the team at a disadvantage relative to others. Shortly, strengths and weaknesses are factors tend to be in the present. O means opportunities. Opportunities are external chances to improve performance in the environment. T means threats. Threats are external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project. All in all, these external factors are factors tend to be in the future.
Market research:
Market research is a very important component of business strategy. It helps companies to collect all kinds of information about the market. These are the following: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) Customers views / opinions, desires / demands Competitors prices, reactions to price changes Brand awareness Effectiveness of promotion, campaigns Best locations, advertising Market charasteristics
There are some important rules in market research. We should start with a general part. After an introduction, people will answer the truth. Delicate or sensitive part should be asked finally, thats why the introduction part is very important. There are many times when companies find it easily to entrust others who deal with market research. I mention some examples: Nielsen Company, Kantar Group and IMS Health Inc. are the most significant ones.
Consumer society
There are several critical opinions against marketing, most of these are of ethical concerns. This easily leads us toward a bigger question, the problems of the consumer societies nowadays. There are two sides of the criticism against consumer societies. First is that it creates such an economic growth that sustainable development cant keep up with, but we discussed the problems of the environment last semester. Second, consumer societies seem to promise that consuming will make people happy which can be strongly misleading. We are focusing on this second effect.
Terms
Consumerism is not a new phenomenon, however it has prospered in the 21st century. The term consumer society is not defined scientifically, but all the definitions state that in a consumer society consuming is the socially and culturally accepted way of ones self-realization, to find ones identity. In critical contexts this is the reason why consumerism is rejected: people tend to identify themselves with consumed goods and services, especially with brand names and these became status-
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Kuruczleki va 2012 symbols. Anti-consumerism mainly comes from two resources, religion and social activity but we wont differentiate them.
Problems
huge corporations penetrate to the everyday life of people as well as they penetrate to politics (like manipulating governments with their power). That is a problem of privacy and free will. Their means are guerilla marketing, telemarketing, spam, child-targeted marketing etc. So you cannot be really free in a consumer society. these corporations, businesses, brands create a false need in people. They will buy goods because they understand that consuming will make them happy, successfull etc. A good example for this are the ads where mobile phones make friendships to the owner, where washing powder is the secret to a happy family life etc. People are obviously not stupid and see through on these manipulating ads, but the unconscious effects are just enough to provoke activity. The next step is disappointment, when the person will not be satisfied in spite of buying the provided goods. Clearly he wont reach those achievements that the ad promised and this creates frustration inside. So all in all the total happiness and satisfaction of a society will not increase with the increase of the GDP, on the contrary, the numbers of cases of depression is much higher in the socalled developed countries.
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Economy of Hungary
Basic facts
Hungary is a small country in Central Europe. Its area is 93.030 km2. The capital city is Budapest, the climate is continental. It has the largest thermal water cave system, the largest natural grasslands (the Hortobny) in Europe and the largest lake (the Balaton) in Central Europe. The two main rivers are the Tisza and the Danube. Hungary has always been in lack of raw materials for example: natural gas, petroleum and coal. Furthermore, after signing the Treaty of Trianon Hungary lost more than half of its territory, direct access to the sea and also its main natural resources such as timber and iron. Although the industry of Hungary is weak, the county has well producing lands so that the agriculture is strong. For example Hungarian wine is a worldwide famous product. In European terms, Hungary's underground water reserve is one of the largest. Hence the country is rich in brooks and hot springs as well as medicinal springs and spas; as of 2003, there are 1250 springs that provide water warmer than 30 degrees. 90% of Hungary's drinking water is mostly retrieved from such sources. Hungary is one of the thirty most popular tourism destinations, attracting more than 8 million people a year.
Macroeconomics
The economy of Hungary is a medium-sized, structurally, politically and institutionally open economy in Central Europe and is part of the European Union's single market. Like most Eastern European economies, the economy of Hungary experienced market liberalisation in the early 1990s as part of the transition from socialist economy to market economy. Hungary is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development since 1995, a member of the World Trade Organization since 1996, and a member of the European Union since 1 May 2004. The currency of Hungary is the Hungarian forint since 1 August 1946. A forint consists of 100 fillrs, however, these have not been in circulation for more than a decade, they are only used in accounting. There are six coins and six banknotes. The 1 and 2 forint coins were withdrawn 4 years ago, yet prices remained the same as stores follow the official rounding scheme for the final price. The 200 forint note was replaced with a coin a few years ago. As a member of the European Union, the long term aim of the Hungarian government is to replace the forint with the euro. Hungarys GDP gross domestic income was estimated $ 190 billion in 2010 with a 0.8% growth. Hungary is ethnically homogenous, the main religion is Roman Catholics. In case of Hungary we speak about aging society as the number of births decreasing and the number of elderly people is increasing.
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Kuruczleki va 2012 We suppose to mention couple of the lack of the organizational side, which ought to defend the individual. In spite of there are changes in the Labor Code recently which are facilitate the lack of the adaptable employee market. The usual way to defend workers should be by the trade unions but the tendency is that they are losing legal protection and financial sources. In conclusion we are close to say that this is a match been already decided : a dead rubber In addition it is a vicious circle threatening the prospects: as the parlament has increased the minimal wage indirectly they shifted the employer contribution higher int he long run they forcing the black economy to increase faster.
Employment expansion
A short list of means to increase employment expansion. Means of the state we distinguish as passive and active employment stimulating policiy. These ones are amended with the spiritual mean of the European Union: life-long learning. Which basically aiming to enforce the regular learning activity by all time practice and training. There are the possibilities which are bringing forward by the modern management, like knowledge management, targeted internal trainigs etc Some other point of view: Eu tendency to aging is endanger the social security system To keep positioned as an employer the most important attribute is problem solution. Courses are to lead to the treshold of paradigm-change in which people should be active and initiative to purpose them skills to develope to find up them incentive motivation. On the organizational side should progress monitoring of the employment due to the market real needs and coach the inactives fittingly.
Export/Import Eximbank: exclusively limited company under the only ownership of the state. Mission: support all domestic companies related to export and import regarding all the goods and services to exploit them competitiveness. Current tendencies: export last year annual growth has been gained but stagnancy was experienced by the last months of the year. Import dynamic is slow cause of the narrow domestic demand, therefore the external trade balance is strong positive Most frequented export destinations: Germany, Austria, France, Italy, UK Outside of the Eu: Singapore, Turkey, South-Africa, USA Regio of Asia forged ahead expecially goods related to communication engineering and voice recording and playing Our export toward countries in crises is indisposed, like Spain, Italy and UK Distribution of products: -determinative weighted conveyances export growth: 8.5% import growth 4.1% -general designation industrial machines, energy-developer machines and installation, and public vehicle export volumen were growing dinamically last year -processed products export 15.4% growth import 12% growth In this group the most important are medicine and pharmaceutical products Other significant products: upper tendency: gum products, trade, science and controlling instruments, energy sources, meat and processed meat lower tendency: plastic product, non-ferrous metals, cereal and processed cereal
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Biggest decrease were performed in the group of tv-appliances and components. Connection with the EU
The European Union is based on the idea of free flow of goods, capital, manpower and services. All the inhabitant of the European Union are member of the Europian citizenship, which contain every attendance and right and equel treatment. From 2004. komplex directive has been set that is a solid and complex frame for all citizens for active and inactive equally. Hungary is full member of the Eu from 1. may. 2004. Hungary possess 22 chairs in the European Parlament. Int he European council Hungary has 12 suffrage. Our present European Comission member Lszl Andor,his field is employment, social affairs and inclusion. There are recent discussion over cohesion source. Its arised cause of failure in obligation to fulfil EUs commitment.
One of them is about the independence of the Bank Of Issue. Problematical points are: wise presidental candidacy at the hand of the head of goverment decisiveness in spite of the absence of the presidental circle etc. International regulation of the tax-break
Meaning: over 60% level of national debt member states are obligated to decrease it by 1/20 part, 5% on average annual basis. Only euro states are in it yet. But due to the Hungarian Basic Law its also obligated for our country form the next goverment period.
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Geography:
The British Isles is the biggest archipelago in Europe, in the North Sea crude oil and natural gas are found. Numerous harbours could be established in the south because of the bays, estuaries, the mild winter and the North Atlantic drift. Only 6-8% of its territory is forest due to the shipbuilding, firewood-cover, the metallurgy and the deforestation to gain more pasture-lands. Great Britain has two natural districts: the yellow and the green Britain. Green Britain can be described with its glaciers, table-lands, valley-lakes (the lochs) and pasture lands on which they breed sheep and neats. The main mineral is the black coal. In the alkaline ground only potato and barley can be grown. Yellow Britain is smaller and younger, the center is the London-basin. Besides the oceanic climate, which means more sunshine but less rain, the ground is fertile, therefore the wheat culture is significant.
Introduction of euro: Great Britain has a so-called opt-out position based on an agreement with the European Community. This mean that while the other EU-members have to join the eurozone in case of the Maastricht Criteria, Britain has the chance to choose if they want to join or not. In the country its an item on the agenda, but the parlaiment is willing to negotiate the question in case of 5 criteria will be fulfilled: 1. 2. 3. 4. if the eurozones and Great Britains business cycles will fit each other if the economy will be flexible enough to avoid the negative effects of the accession the accession has to urge long-term investments the introduction of the euro has to improve the British financial services competitiveness 5. the accession has to improve the economy and the labour market
The economy of the United Kingdom is the seventh-largest national economy in the world measured by nominal GDP and seventh-largest measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), and the third-largest in Europe measured by nominal GDP (after Germany and France). The UK's GDP per capita is the 22nd highest in the world in nominal terms and the 17th highest measured by PPP. The British economy comprises (in descending order of size) the economies of the countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the 18th century the UK was the first country in the world to industrialise,[15] and during the 19th century possessed a dominant role in the global economy, but that part has weakened in the 1st and 2nd worl war. However the UK stillmaintains a significant roleint the world economy being one of the worlds most capitalised countries. London is the worlds largest financial centre alongside NY and has the largest city GDP in Europe.
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Kuruczleki va 2012 As of December 2010 the UK had the third-largest stock of both inward and outward foreign direct investment. The UK is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the European Union, the G7, the G8, the G20, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation and the United Nations. Rank 6th (nominal) / 7th (PPP) (3rd and 2nd in Europe respectively) Currency: Pound sterling (GBP) GDP $2.480 trillion (2011) (nominal; 6th), $2.253trillion (2011) (PPP; 7th) GDP growth 0.8% (2011) 1.2% projected for 2012 (BOE) GDP per capita $39,604 (2011) (nom; 20th) GDP by sector agriculture: 0.7%; industry: 21.6%; services: 77.7% Inflation (CPI) CPI:3.4% (Feb 2012 down from 3.6% in Jan 2012). RPI: 3.7% (Feb 2012 down from 3.9% in Jan 2012). Average gross salary 4,108 / $5,546, monthly (2006) Public debt 977.1 billion 62.8% of GDP (November 2011) Budget deficit 154.7 billion (200910 fiscal year) 93.5 billion (2011-12 fiscal year to date (April 2011-January 2012), end of fiscal year is April 2012). Foreign reserves $66.72 billion (31 Dec. 2009 est.) 310.3 tonnes of gold (17th) Unemployment 8.4% (Feb 2012 unchanged on Jan 2012) Official figures have shown that UK unemployment rose by 28,000 to 2.67 million in the last three months to January, the smallest rise for almost a year. The jobless rate was 8.4%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), up from 8.3% in the previous three month period. Labour force 31.45 million (2010 est.) (17th) Labour force by occupation agriculture: 1.4%; industry: 8%; services: 90.6%
According to the Daily Mail the private sector employees have benn facing the sack, while a record 6,09 million Britons work int he public sector. The Office for National Statistics revealed that around 1,440 private sector workers lost their job each day last year but the number of state employees rose by 126 a day. The UK entered its worst recession since WW2 in the second quarter of 2008, as part of the global economic downturn. On 5 March 2009, the Bank of England announced that they would pump 200 billion of new capital into the British economy, through a process known as quantitative easing. This is the first time in the United Kingdom's history that this measure has been used. The process will see the BoE creating new money for itself, which it will then use to purchase assets such as government bonds, bank loans, or mortgages. Despite the misconception that quantitative easing involves printing money, the BoE are unlikely to do this and instead the money will be created electronically and thus not actually enter the cash circulation system. The initial amount to be created through this method will be 75 billion. The BoE has stated that the decision has been taken to prevent the rate of inflation falling below the two percent target rate. Mervyn King, the Governor of the BoE, also suggested there were no other monetary options left as interest rates had already been cut to their lowest level ever of 0.5% and it was unlikely they would be cut further. The economy began to climb its way back into growth in late 2009: with an 0,4 % growth int he 4th quarter.
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Kuruczleki va 2012
the biggest ones: nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances in the second place: mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation, bituminous substances, mineral waxes
Here I have to mention that incidentally mineral waxes were also the most highly imported pruducts in 2011. The other export products are: technological appliances, chemical products, consumer goods, crude oil, textile, vehicles, food and tobacco. Vehicles and parts and accessories of them ranked as both third highest export and import in the last year. And here is a fact: figures have shown that 8 out of 10 cars built in the UK are exported. Now lets see the significant import goods: raw materials, technological appliances and accessories, chemical products, food, industrial products. Britains major commercial partners are the European Union, the United States and Japan. The United States received the most British export goods last year, followed by Germany and France. The United Kingdom exported 31.7 billion worth of products to the US. The top trade partner for imports was Germany, followed by the US and China.
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