PRICE OF GOLD!
Prices for gold are some of the highest they’ve ever been. In fact, the average price for an ounce of gold has risen nearly 600% over the past 15 years. It’s definitely a great time to think about selling your gold. But why are prices so high right now? It comes down to a combination of factors.
1) Everyone wants gold. It’s been true throughout history. As the world’s favorite precious metal, gold has been used in opulent thrones, royal crowns, prized jewelry and even priceless paintings. Gold is the quintessential treasure — and everyone from Blackbeard to Queen Elizabeth has been mesmerized by its allure.
2) Supply is down. Recently, South Africa — the world’s biggest exporter of gold — has reported a substantial decrease in supply. With supply down and demand rising, prices skyrocket.
3) Demand is up. Gold works as a great hedge against inflation, which the growing economies of Asia are experiencing right now. Demand for gold is through the roof in countries such as China, which in 2012 imported more gold than the entire holdings of the European Central Bank.
4) It’s the economy. The gold market is tied to the strength of the dollar. When inflation pushes the dollar lower, gold increases in price. Also, in times of economic uncertainty, investors turn to precious metals as a safeguard against further turbulence.
1) Everyone wants gold. It’s been true throughout history. As the world’s favorite precious metal, gold has been used in opulent thrones, royal crowns, prized jewelry and even priceless paintings. Gold is the quintessential treasure — and everyone from Blackbeard to Queen Elizabeth has been mesmerized by its allure.
2) Supply is down. Recently, South Africa — the world’s biggest exporter of gold — has reported a substantial decrease in supply. With supply down and demand rising, prices skyrocket.
3) Demand is up. Gold works as a great hedge against inflation, which the growing economies of Asia are experiencing right now. Demand for gold is through the roof in countries such as China, which in 2012 imported more gold than the entire holdings of the European Central Bank.
4) It’s the economy. The gold market is tied to the strength of the dollar. When inflation pushes the dollar lower, gold increases in price. Also, in times of economic uncertainty, investors turn to precious metals as a safeguard against further turbulence.
This is a demand curve for gold and explains how the price increases. As major mines in the world close down or exhaust, supply for gold around the world will have to decrease due to the lack of gold. Since gold has a very big tie to the strength of the dollar, as dollar goes up, price of gold goes up as well, but when a market fails and dollar decreases, price of gold certainly does go down. And recently, after America has been developing, the dollar has been getting stronger. The demand curve shows us that as the quantity of gold goes down, price will go up and vice-versa.
ESF PRICES!
Prices of ESF schools are going up. This makes parents very angry... But this makes teachers very happy! Resources are needed for books, facilities and more... And since ESF has become a private education system, the government does not fund ESF, this means that the money that they raise has to be from the school fees that parents pay. Also, since the demand for international schooling within Hong Kong (offering the IB) has increased, since the demand for coming to ESF increases, it is only natural for prices to go up as well.
HOT HOT HOT! WHAT'S HOT?
In this section, we shall explore what is 'hot' now. What do the cool kids in school carry around? What people carry around the most.
What's cool?
Nowadays, everyone is on mobile phones, this makes you cool now. Texting and staying connected with your friends, being with them even though you are not with them, it's all about communication. So what are the top 5 phones in the world now?
TOP 5 PHONES.
1) Samsung which has sold 396.5 million units.
2) Nokia which has sold 335.6 million units.
3) HTC which has sold 226.5 million units.
4) Apple which has sold 135.8 million units.
5) ZTE which has sold 77.1 million units.
This clearly shows, you want to brag to your friends? Get out there and get yourself one of these phones!
What's cool?
Nowadays, everyone is on mobile phones, this makes you cool now. Texting and staying connected with your friends, being with them even though you are not with them, it's all about communication. So what are the top 5 phones in the world now?
TOP 5 PHONES.
1) Samsung which has sold 396.5 million units.
2) Nokia which has sold 335.6 million units.
3) HTC which has sold 226.5 million units.
4) Apple which has sold 135.8 million units.
5) ZTE which has sold 77.1 million units.
This clearly shows, you want to brag to your friends? Get out there and get yourself one of these phones!
PRICE ELASTICITY OF DEMAND
Price elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of consumers to a change in price. How a company can make more revenue? It depends on how sensitive your customers are. If they don’t want to buy the product if you raise the price, you lose revenue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oj_lnj6pXA
This is the formula for elasticity of demand.
ed/PED - elasticity of demand
%^Qd - percentage change in quantity demanded
%^P - percentage change in price
If PED is < 1, the price change is insignificant to consumers and quantity demanded should stay the same.
-PED varies from zero, which is perfectly inelastic to infinity, which is perfectly elastic.
-A value less than 1 (or -1), means that PED is inelastic.
-A value greater than 1 means PED is elastic
1) INELASTIC means consumers are not very responsive to price change.
2) ELASTIC means consumers are very responsive to price changes.
Elasticity and diagrams
Total revenue = P x Q = TR
There is a net gain in revenue as price increases. (Inelastic demand)
With elastic demand a fall in price from P1 to P increases total revenue
Price elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of consumers to a change in price. How a company can make more revenue? It depends on how sensitive your customers are. If they don’t want to buy the product if you raise the price, you lose revenue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oj_lnj6pXA
This is the formula for elasticity of demand.
ed/PED - elasticity of demand
%^Qd - percentage change in quantity demanded
%^P - percentage change in price
If PED is < 1, the price change is insignificant to consumers and quantity demanded should stay the same.
-PED varies from zero, which is perfectly inelastic to infinity, which is perfectly elastic.
-A value less than 1 (or -1), means that PED is inelastic.
-A value greater than 1 means PED is elastic
1) INELASTIC means consumers are not very responsive to price change.
2) ELASTIC means consumers are very responsive to price changes.
Elasticity and diagrams
Total revenue = P x Q = TR
There is a net gain in revenue as price increases. (Inelastic demand)
With elastic demand a fall in price from P1 to P increases total revenue
Factors that affect PED
1) Time period - people take time to react to price changes.
2) The number of substitute products available, substitutes = higher elasticity.
3) The percentage of a consumer's income spent on the product. Small percentage = inelastic demand.
4) Advertising and branding reduce elasticity by incoming customers loyalty.
Price elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of consumers to a change in price. If there is a big change, the good is said to be price elastic. If there is a small change, it is inelastic. producers will increase their total revenue by raising the price when demand is relatively high. If the demand is elastic, it is better to cut prices in order to increase total revenue. Price elasticity of demand can be affected by a number of factors, such as the number of substitute products, the original price of the product, and the period of time we are looking at.
1) Time period - people take time to react to price changes.
2) The number of substitute products available, substitutes = higher elasticity.
3) The percentage of a consumer's income spent on the product. Small percentage = inelastic demand.
4) Advertising and branding reduce elasticity by incoming customers loyalty.
Price elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of consumers to a change in price. If there is a big change, the good is said to be price elastic. If there is a small change, it is inelastic. producers will increase their total revenue by raising the price when demand is relatively high. If the demand is elastic, it is better to cut prices in order to increase total revenue. Price elasticity of demand can be affected by a number of factors, such as the number of substitute products, the original price of the product, and the period of time we are looking at.
CROSS ELASTICITY OF DEMAND
It measures the responsiveness of consumers of one product, to a change in the price of another product.
It measures the responsiveness of consumers of one product, to a change in the price of another product.
Substitute goods
-i.e competitive products such as Pepsi and Coke
-If the price of Pepsi goes down, what normally happens to demand for Coca Cola?
It would normally go down, by how much? That depends on cross elasticity of demand, but the relationship is always positive.
Complement goods
-e.g petrol and cars.
-If the price of petrol goes down, what happens to the demand for cars? It goes up. So the relationship of cross elasticity for complements is negative.
INCOME ELASTICITY OF DEMAND
Measures the responsiveness of consumer demand to a change in income.
-As the economy grows and GDP increases, demand for goods will generally rise. These are known as “normal” goods. Examples - as income increases, demand for services such as holidays and spas etc. usually increases a lot. But demand for food only increases a little bit. For some goods, demand actually falls as income rises. These are known as inferior goods.
-i.e competitive products such as Pepsi and Coke
-If the price of Pepsi goes down, what normally happens to demand for Coca Cola?
It would normally go down, by how much? That depends on cross elasticity of demand, but the relationship is always positive.
Complement goods
-e.g petrol and cars.
-If the price of petrol goes down, what happens to the demand for cars? It goes up. So the relationship of cross elasticity for complements is negative.
INCOME ELASTICITY OF DEMAND
Measures the responsiveness of consumer demand to a change in income.
-As the economy grows and GDP increases, demand for goods will generally rise. These are known as “normal” goods. Examples - as income increases, demand for services such as holidays and spas etc. usually increases a lot. But demand for food only increases a little bit. For some goods, demand actually falls as income rises. These are known as inferior goods.