Balance of Payments Case Study: Germany
Germany’s balance of payments (BoP) position is strong in comparison to its counterparts. In January 2022, the country’s central bank reported a $12 billion current account surplus (Deutsche Bundesbank, 2022). This statistic reflected a modest decrease from the previous month’s surplus. The situation is reminiscent to the country’s BoP status throughout the last decade. Germany maintained a surplus of 7% of GDP or more for consecutive reporting periods between 2014 and 2020 (Clemens et al., 2021). This strong position is the result of the convergence of various factors. Get theology assignment help. The primary drivers include a solid export-oriented economy, prudent spending on wages and consumer goods, and business savings (Clemens et al., 2021). Germany’s top-quality exports generate high earnings. The undervalued euro also helps the nation’s exports compete more effectively. The country’s households and corporations maintain significant savings. These factors contribute to Germany’s ability to sustain current account surpluses.
While a current account surplus demonstrates a country’s sound financial condition, it presents a dilemma from an investment perspective. With a current account surplus, Germany is able to finance national expenditure and investment without the need for high-interest borrowing. On the negative side, a large trade surplus signals restrained spending. Clemens et al (2021) hypothesized that Germany’s increased current account surplus following the emergence of COVID-19 was principally the result of reduced investment and increased savings. The country can reduce its trade surplus by fostering an investment-friendly business environment. Such a strategy would incentivize corporations to raise their investments and cut savings.
References
Clemens, M., Junker, S., & Pagenhardt, L. (2021). German economy only slowly emerging from the pandemic. DIW Weekly Report, 11(37), 276-280.
Deutsche Bundesbank. (2022, March 15). Balance of payments. https://historyassignmenthelp.com/category/help-with-homework/
1) summarize the argument or claim the author makes 2) evaluate what they say – what are the strengths of the argument, and what are any potential weaknesses 3) offer your own example of an artist or performer you feel embodies or illustrates the points that author makes in the work (apply the concepts in the reading to your example). Each response should be a minimum of 3 pages double spaced, assignment encourages you to reflect deeply and consistently on how performance awakens your critical mind, how it challenges you, and how it can serve as a vehicle for social change.
Present a comparative analysis on narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. Write a thoughtful, separate, concluding paragraph at the end of your work— Please begin your conclusions with, “In conclusion.” Please do not forget to cite your sources. When composing a comparative analysis, be sure to use sentences and phrases that actually compare and contrast the terms.
Identify the fallacy of ambiguity committed in each of the following arguments and mention the Name of the fallacy committed in each sentence: 1. I have no regrets for what I did. God told me to kill your children. Psalm 137 clearly says, “Happy is he who shall seize your children and dash them against the rock”. 2. Our town hall says it is giving out parking permits to fish at Warden’s pond. But that’s ridiculous. Why would a fish need a parking permit? 3. Stanford is academically one of the best universities in the United States. Therefore, Claude, who is a student at Standford, is academically one of the best students in the country. 4. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal. But that’s not certainly the case. Studies show that people are born unequal in intelligence and athletic ability. 5. Both sodium (Na) and chloride (Ca) are dangerous to humans. Therefore, table salt (NaCl), which is a combination of these two chemicals, is dangerous and should be avoided altogether.
Your mission for this assignment is to use the concepts you learned in Hutter and apply them to a city of your choice. You have already chosen two outside sources – on a city of your choice – and written an annotated bibliography and work draft. I hope this has helped in prepping for this part of the course and gaining confidence in your research and writing abilities. **Please note that unfortunately, no late work will be accepted and minimal comments given aside from the rubric totals, except by advance request.
Sources for this business writing help: You have already searched for and gained feedback on your analysis of 3 sociological articles about cities. Please use the comments from your early drafts to either select different articles or enhance your summaries of the ones you have chosen. For the final work, you can also use 3 websites to search for new information or enhance what you have found. Guidelines for web sources on BBD.
Instructions Outbreak Investigation On February 7, 2018, a nurse employed at the Flinn Corporation noticed an increase in the number of employees who were sick. She was concerned that there may be a Salmonella outbreak at the company. She has interviewed each of the employees at the corporation. She has taken samples and sent them out for testing but has not received the results. She asks you, the local epidemiologist, to investigate to see if an outbreak exists and if so what the source of the outbreak is. You follow the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s steps in outbreak investigation (https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson6/section1.html) and report your findings to her. Please note that we will not address all outbreak investigation steps in this assignment. Use the attached Excel worksheet to produce graphs and statistics to answer the questions below. Submit your report as a Word doc and include figures and tables you generate. The report should be easy to follow and interpret and should be written as an academic work in proper APA formatting. Please see the grading rubric for additional details on the work, such as the length for the body of the work. 1. Look at the Excel Spreadsheet attached. There are 3 worksheets (see tabs on bottom of page – “Nurse’s Interview”, “Epi Curve”, “Retrospective Cohort Study”). The first sheet “Nurse’s Interview” has a line list of employees who work at Flinn Corporation. This sheet represents the data the nurse has collected from those employees in an interview. Do you think that an outbreak exists? Why would you recommend to further investigate? Discuss your reasoning. (Step 2: Establish outbreak) 2. Research salmonellosis using academic sources. Are the symptoms that the ill employees exhibit consistent with salmonellosis? Provide a brief summary (1-2 paragraphs) of the disease and discuss the chain of infection for this disease. Use in-text citations in proper APA format and include all sources in your reference section. (Step 3: Verify diagnosis) 3. Identify the percentage of ill employees with each symptom. For example, 1 out of 12 ill employees had blood in stool (Bs) = 8.3%. (Step 4: Working case definition) 4. Conduct descriptive epidemiology (Step 6). Describe the characteristics of the ill employees to determine trends and risk factors. a. Person – Calculate the percentage of ill employees that are male/female. Determine the mean age of the ill employees. b. Place – What percentage of ill employees ate at the cafeteria? What percentage of well employees ate at the cafeteria? c. Time – Using the data collected in the Nurse’s Interview, fill in the column “# of cases” in the “Epi Curve” worksheet. Use 0 if there are no cases. As you fill in the data, the graph will automatically generate. Choose an appropriate title for the graph. Copy and paste graph into your report. What type of epidemic curve is it ? (Hint: read https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson6/section2.html#step6) 5. Based on the information you have gathered, you have developed an hypothesis that there is a food being served at the cafeteria that is causing the employees to become ill. You need to further test this hypothesis by conducting a retrospective cohort study (Step 8). Use the worksheet “Retrospective Cohort Study” to calculate attack rates and risk ratios. The first food item Baked Chicken is done for you. You can also consult https://onlyprofessors.com/tag/management/ for help. Report the Risk ratio for each food item. Based on risk ratios, which is food is most likely to be the source of the illness? Explain. 6. Based on your findings, what would you recommend for prevention and control measures? Apply food safety principles from academic sources to discuss further prevention of Salmonella outbreaks in the cafeteria. (Step 11) Use in-text citations and include sources in reference section. 7. Include a properly formatted reference section in APA format that includes at least 3 academic sources (popular sources should not be used).
Develop a company and determine what it will produce and sell. The requirement for this company is that it be a high-end, special-order type of manufactured product. Complete the following in a Word document of 1,000 words: Develop a list of inputs along with their associated costs, such as labor, materials, and overhead. You can research this information, make it up, or do a combination of both. Be specific as to costs. You are to determine the selling price. Show your calculations, and discuss why you have determined this to be a good sale price. How many items of your product will you need to produce to meet this sale price? How did you calculate this? Determine which of the costing systems discussed in this class will work best for your company. Explain why. Explain why those not chosen were not a good fit for your company. You must explain “why not chosen” for a minimum of 3 costing methods. See https://profsonly.com/tag/accounting-assignment-help/
Within the Discussion Board area, write 300–500 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas. For this Discussion Board, please complete the following: A well-balanced marketing strategy for your product or service includes advertising and public relations elements, along with digital (social media platforms) and nondigital channels (traditional communication channels). What motivated you to purchase the last non-essential product that you bought? Was the message advertised or publicized through a digital or nondigital communication platform? What communication channels do you respond best to when it comes to the products and services that you buy?
Lone Star College – University Park
GEOL1403 – Physical Geology Name:_______________________
Earthquake Project – Spring 2021
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: This project works you through the scientific method. You will:
· make initial observations,
· develop a hypothesis,
· collect data,
· plot the data in meaningful ways,
· describe the data,
· analyze the data, and
· make interpretations about the processes that are occurring at a specific plate boundary.
PROCEDURE:
Focusing on the western boundary of the South America plate (see image at right), you are going to collect data on earthquakes that have occurred that this specific plate boundary during the past semester (January 24 – Today), and then ultimately make an interpretation of the processes occurring along this plate boundary along with a recommendation for future work.
Read through the entire assignment prior to starting. The project is divided up into six parts, each part is weighted differently. See grading rubric at the end.
There are various paths or avenues you can work through this assignment. There is no one “correct way” to do this, but we need to make sure to operate within the guidelines of quality science. With that in mind:
1. Be true to your data. What this means is that your interpretations must be based on the data you have collected, and not the data you think you should have.
2. When you make choices in how you collect the data, you need to explain/justify the reasons that your process makes scientific sense.
MATERIALS NEEDED
·
Copyright © Lone Star College-University Park 2021
· Pencil
· Colored pencils or markers
· Books and notes
· Internet access
· Calculator (optional)
· Ruler (optional)
NOTE: You will use the Internet only during Part 2, the Data Collection stage of this assignment. Using the Internet for any other part of this assignment will result in a zero.
PART 1: INITIAL OBSERVATIONS AND HYPOTHESIS (10 pts)
Start by making some initial observations about the western boundary of the South America plate, and from those, develop a hypothesis regarding what is happening along this plate boundary.
Look at the image of South America on the first page, and make observations features you see in regard to the topography for the western boundary of South America. In your observations, explain the topography in relation to the red plate boundary. Write those below.
Observations (6 pts):
Mapping Earthquakes
Movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates creates faults and causes earthquakes as the lithosphere pushes together, pulls apart, or slides past one another. All plate boundaries have earthquakes associated with their movement. As the movement occurs, the rocks will often break and grind together, releasing vibrations of energy into the ground. The earthquakes on plate boundaries can occur near the ground surface or deep below the ground. The technology we use to detect earthquakes can tell us exactly where the plate boundary occurs below the surface. The image on the right shows two blocks of earth that are sliding against each other. The location at which the rocks actually break during a single event is called the focus of the earthquake. The point on the earth’s surface that is directly above the focus is called the epicenter.
Based on your initial topography observations and the information above. Write a hypothesis for what type of plate boundary you expect for the western boundary of the South America plate. In your hypothesis, state the pattern you expect to see of the earthquakes for this type of plate boundary. Remember, a hypothesis must be something that can be tested to determine if it is true or not.
Essay Help Hypothesis (4 pts):
PART 2: DATA COLLECTION (20 pts)
Now you are ready to collect data about earthquakes in South America. Before you start, familiarize yourself with the data table on the next page. Look at the headers at the top of each column. You will need to collect information on the location (latitude, longitude), depth, and magnitude for each earthquake that has occurred. You will also record the dates of these events. You will only be examining a portion of the plate boundary; the extent of your research area will have these bounds: western boundary: 88° W, eastern boundary: 55° W, northern boundary: 19°S, and southern boundary: 39° S.
IMPORTANT: It is up to you how much data you want to collect. You do not have to fill in the entire table, but you want to make sure that you have a true representation of the data. What does that mean? Imagine if someone was trying to figure out what percent of University Park students wear skirts once a week. Would it be accurate to just ask a portion of the female population? No, because the question is what percent of students, not just female students wear skirts. Should the person ask an even amount of female and male students? Actually, no, because University Park is 61% female, so the survey should be made up of 61% female and 39% male. Does the student have to ask every single student at University Park? No, at some point, you should start to see a consistent result. You will decide how many earthquakes to record (HINT: at least 20).
Instructions on how to collect the data on earthquakes:
1. Start by going to: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/search/
2. In the Basic Options section:
a. For magnitude, choose “Custom” and set your minimum magnitude to 4.
(NOTE: You may decide to change this later, but this is a good starting point).
b. For date and time, choose “custom” and set the start date as the first day of this semester.
3. Now, you will filter the data to just include the region you are interested in. In the Advanced Options section, you will set your geographic region based on the information at the start of this section. NOTE: When longitude is west of the prime meridian, you need to write it as a negative number, and the more negative number is more west. For example, you will type -88 for the west value and -55 for the east value. Similarly, when southern latitudes are also written as negative numbers.
4. Click “Search”.
Question: How many earthquakes does your search bring up? (Look in the upper left under “Search Results”) (1 pt)
Now you need to come up with a data sampling strategy because you do not want to have to record and map all of these data. A pattern will emerge before you get to that point. Looking at the earthquake, decide if you want to sample the data based on an even distribution spatially (like trying to pick earthquakes that are equally spaced from one another) or if you want to sample based on frequency (like selecting more earthquakes in an area that has a lot of earthquakes relative to an area that may just have one). Justify your decision below. Remember, to keep your hypothesis in mind(6 pts):
Record at least 20 events data in this table. It is up to you how many you collect (13 pts).
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PART 3: Presenting the data on a map (15 pts)
With the various components of each earthquake collected, plot these data on the map of South America on the next page. CAUTION: You first need to decide, what would be more meaningful to plot based on testing your hypothesis: the earthquake magnitude or the earthquake depth? Explain your decision (and you cannot choose both) (6 pts):
Now, based on your decision, choose three colors.
If you are plotting the earthquakes based on magnitude, then divide your earthquake magnitudes into three categories and choose a color for each category.
These categories should be:
1) Earthquakes with a magnitude of 4-5,
2) Earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 5 and up to 6, and
3) greater than magnitude 6.
If you have decided to plot your earthquakes based on depth, then choose a color for each of these three categories:
1) Earthquakes with a depth < 100 km,
2) Earthquakes with depths between 100 km and 250 km, and
3) Earthquakes with depths > 250 km.
On the map provided, plot the epicenter of each earthquake (from the table) as a dot using your chosen color. Include the magnitude or depth next to each point. (9 pts)
PART 4: ANALYSIS (20 pts)
You are now ready to analyze your data. Your objective is to determine what type of pattern (if any) exists in the region. If a pattern is not emerging for you or you notice gaps in your data collection, considering collecting additional earthquake data. Add those additional earthquakes below. Mark them on your map with a different star symbol, but the same color-scheme. At this point, you may want to consider contouring your data (like how a topographic map is drawn). This is totally optional, if you decide to do this and need guidance you access the Internet at this point to view this video: https://youtu.be/qtwgHYPtPmI
Additional Data:
| Event # | Date | Latitude (S) | Longitude (W) | Depth (km) | Magnitude (M) |
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Look at your collected data. Sometimes, when doing science, you collect more data than is actually useful. What data did you collect that ended up being not that helpful for your hypothesis? Explain. (4 pts)
You have started by plotting either magnitude or depth on a map of latitude and longitude, but that is just one way to represent the data. On the next page is blank graph paper. What else would be helpful to graph to test your hypothesis?
· Choose from the following for the X-axis: latitude, longitude, or distance from plate boundary, and history essay help
· For the Y-axis: choose magnitude or depth.
· I recommend using the long edge of the graph paper as your X-axis.
Be sure to label your axes with titles and values, and include a title to your graph. (6 pts)
Explain below what you have decided to graph and why you think this could be helpful to your hypothesis. (4 pts)
Making observations on your data:
Now that you have data plotted in two ways (one on a map and one on a graph), provide observations about these data and any patterns that you see from both plots. (6 pts)
Remember, you are not yet interpreting the data. Just describe what you see based on the variables you selected.
PART 5: INTERPRETATION (20 pts)
Now, interpret your observations about the data in regard to the western margin of the South America plate. These should be complete sentences about a process or series of processes that are occurring at this plate boundary. Create a model/drawing to show what is occurring and how your data (the earthquakes and topography) drew you to draw that model for this plate boundary. Remember, your interpretations must be consistent with the data that YOU have collected. Revisit your hypothesis and explain the validity of your hypothesis.
PART 6: FUTURE WORK (15 pts)
Describe possible future work for this study. Be sure to use complete sentences and explain why. Here are some writing prompts:
· How could your study be improved?
· What assumptions did you make in your study?
· What additional data would you like to add to your study?
· What new questions do you have about this plate boundary?
| Excellent (full credit) | Needs work (partial credit) | Not Present (no credit) | Total Possible Pts (of 100) | |
| Hypothesis | Observations and hypothesis are present and are tied to one another | Missing observations or hypothesis or not clear how they are related | No hypothesis stated | 10 |
| Data Collection | Data is sufficiently collected and for proper location and time frame. Justification provided. | Data is either insufficient, wrong location, or wrong time frame AND/OR justification not given. | Data was not collected and justification was not provided. | 20 |
| Presenting the data | Data are plotted accurately and according to the three categories. Explain for decision was given. | Not all data are plotted accurately or data plotted are not appropriate AND/OR explanation for decision was not given | Data was not plotted nor was explanation for decision given. | 15 |
| Analysis | Demonstrates where essential information needs to be included | Has tried to evaluate the data, but has not added anything meaningful | No analysis performed | 20 |
| Interpretation | Interpretations are consistent with the data. Model sketch was drawn and clearly described. | Interpretations occur but are not consistent with data AND/OR model sketch was not drawn and/or not described. | No interpretation present | 20 |
| Future Work | Has identified where gaps in research or avenues for future work exists | Future work suggestions do not align with presented findings | No future work submitted | 15 |
