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QUESTION
Five Reasons Why Economics Is Political | Economics for People with Ha-Joon Chang
Free markets?
Choose a particular good or service market that you know something about from your everyday experiences. (This can be because you have worked in this market, or because you are a frequent customer. This could be the knowledge you gained because one of your parents, a partner, or someone you admire has shared a lot of experiences about their work in this market.)
Research the market you choose. Look for articles from AT LEAST TWO of the ECONOMIC THINK TANKS listed below that discuss regulations in this market. (You may add additional citations from News articles but do not cite anything with a 'pedia' at the end. i.e. wikipedia, investopia)
ECONOMIC Think Tanks:
The Levy Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, Brookings Institution, The Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity, the Cato Institute, or the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Links to several economic think tanks can be found at Economics Think Tanks.
Complete the following in your initial post:
a. Provide a short summary of your articles. Include the key points about the regulations and policies that govern your market.
b. What types of regulations and public policies interact with the market you chose?
c. What types of regulations and public policies that govern this market do you have experience with?
d. Provide a brief economic policy analysis. What economic policies make sense to you and what economic policies were supported by the articles you read. What policies don't makes sense to you and what policies were criticized in the articles you read?
e. How did you use Chang's examples in the video to help you answer the questions above. What was the one biggest insight you learned from the Chang video? Is the market you researched a free market?
| Subject | Economics | Pages | 5 | Style | APA |
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Answer
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a)The first article in the Levy Economics Institute by Dimitri P., Michalis N and Gennaro Z is entitled “Will Tourism save Greece?” This article discusses the tough economic times in Greece, questioning the country’s fiscal austerity and internal devaluation with the aim of increasing competitiveness. The article affirms that following the unprecedented decline in real and nominal wages and its effect on trade, lower prices in tourism won’t generate enough revenue from abroad to meet the targets for a surplus. The second article is a policy brief from Brookings Institution called “Travel South Asia: India’s Tourism Connectivity with the Region.” The article looks at the allure of South Asia as a tourist destination. India, the article asserts, is a leading tourist destination in the region, accounting for the lion’s share of the GDP from tourism proceeds. The article views the connectivity between India and countries in South Asia with regards to tourism.
b)One of the public policies that is present in the tourism industry is the aspect of globalisation. It is a vital concept because tourism essentially involves people from all over the planet interacting and travelling across countries. Secondly, there is the aspect of Economy-wide impact of tourism whereby it is understood as being interconnected to many aspects and pillars of the economy like infrastructure, hospitality, education, immigration and customs and so on. There are regulations that protect the tourism sites and prohibit any form of interference with the natural habitat for instance, animal trafficking.
c)One of the regulations and policies I have experience with within the tourism industry is the element of competitiveness in tourism. It looks at the position of the tourist destination vis a vis its competitors. This competitiveness is understood in the context of sustainability. In other words, it is sustainability that drives competitiveness. The other area is on human resource development. Having worked within this industry, I can affirm that the education and training has to focus on developing customer service skills for the staff that make the frontlines to offer high quality services to the visitor. Marketing and branding is also an essential element in tourism promotion within and outside the country.
d)The contribution of tourism to the country’s and world economy cannot be overlooked. The sector employs many people as tour guides, hoteliers, entertainers and drivers. Improved tourism activities in a region translate to better infrastructure and security by the government. In return, the proceeds from tourism help the country to improve its standing in terms of the GDP. The article that addresses tourism in Greece in the middle of an economic meltdown underscores the vitality of both increasing safety and security as a policy and valorising culture and local attributes. On the other hand, the article on tourism in South Asia emphasize on the importance of measurement and evaluation of the tourism industry consistently to make improvements. It also emphasizes on addressing environmental and climate issues. The policy of using tourism to bail out other sectors of the economy when the economy is struggling like in 2014 Greece does not make sense. The visa barriers to regional tourism also don’t make sense especially when the goal is to bring many neighbours on board.
e)Chang’s examples in the video offer an explanation of how the government usually has control over public policy and regulations. There is virtually no area where we can say that government control is totally absent and this is vital for the tourism industry regulations as explained above. The video made me see more clearly than before how the government of the day is usually responsible for the economic policy adopted in a particular jurisdiction. Indeed, tourism is a free market as many players competitively struggle to gain control. They exploit policy and regulations to gain a competitive advantage.