Reflection

A. What I learned in this class that will be most applicable to my understanding of the world is all the economic viewpoints. These economic viewpoints will be useful because it means I get a better perspective and can look at economics from a German view point. This view point will help me to understand the world in ways like dissecting transportation in geographical ways and understanding that different places in the world make different decisions based on different values to their society. 

B. I am interested in learning more about transportation in differing countries. I really want to know what effects transportation and why Europe is able to be so different in transportation than the United States.  I also would like to learn more about international trade. What are the exact economic factors that affect trade and how do countries try to get the best out of their trade deals? 

C. I would advise the next year students to work ahead of time. To try and start projects, papers and blog posts early. Also take notes on the reading so that you can have precise examples from the reading to add to the next class’s discussion. Also make sure to have a basic understanding of economics and if not talk to any economics professor about economics to get different explanations that might make more sense to you.  

Speculation and expectations for the future

1. In this article it is easy to see that Germany is not untouched by what is happening in Europe. Many companies and people are feeling very pessimistic about the future of German exports. German banks still believe that there will be a turnaround for exports and one in eight expect exports to fall. Also German economic growth has been greatly reduced. It has only grown 0.1 percent from January to March. 

2. This topic really relates to GDP. In particular in pertains to the GDP formula we covered in class. Because of the decrease in exports our formula ( C+I+G+Net Exports) will show that GDP will decrease. Also because of the decrease in optimism for exports the consumption will also go down. This leads to Germany's GDP falling, which is not good at all for Germany's economy. 

3. It will be very hard to fix this situation. The best way would be to find a way to increase optimism in exports. If companies have more faith in their exports then the economies GDP will not fall as much or any because consumption will not go down but instead will probably rise. Another solution would be to break away from the European Union. Nine out of the seventeen countries in the Union are in a recession and holding Germany's economy down. This solution would have terrible consequences for the other countries. 

Central cities of Germany

1. The city that I will be looking at is Bonn, Germany. The city is currently ranked as the 19th largest city in Germany. Some of the really big cities in Germany are Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Hannover. Some smaller cities include Augsburg, Halle, Kiel, Erfurt and Hamm. These cities are all around the country and have a lot of differences that make them unique.

The list can be found at this site.
http://www.citymayors.com/gratis/german_topcities.html

2. Bonn is a great city that has the Rhine River running through the city. Bonn also has the largest metropolitan area in Germany. It also holds a couple of multi-national corporations. Cities bigger than Bonn will have a larger variety of food. They will also hold more national corporations and hubs. Hamburg has the biggest port in Germany and the city of Berlin is the capital of the country.

Here are some pictures of the city:

EGT Consulting

The most important thing to remember about Germany is their economy. Even though they are holding strong, the country is on an economic down turn. The per capital GDP in 2012 for Germany was $39,100 estimated in the year 2012. The biggest port in Germany is the Port of Hamburg. The port is on the north, western side of the country but has many roads and a few rivers leading out of its harbor. The Autobahn will allow for quick transportation of the shipping containers. The most cost effective order of transportation would go train, roads, and then planes because of shipping costs. The business climate in Germany is very good. Compared to the United States in 2012, Germany has a lower corruption level. If the European economy was doing better, Germany would be a sure fire deal; with their GDP and population plus excellent transportation.

Pointing the Blam

1. This article is about how the delivery of some high tech electronics are going to be delivered late and this will cost the company millions. Also the article talks about how the German company called Siemens was always in the news for something negative. The company had been on the right track and had gotten a contract for high speed trains but they will not be able to deliver the parts on time. 

Siemens AG is a German multinational engineering and electronics conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company. Siemens' principal activities are in the fields of industry, energy, transportation and healthcare. It is organized into five main divisions: Industry, Energy, Healthcare, Infrastructure & Cities, and Siemens Financial Services.

2. This had me thinking about the transportation we were talking about last week. By just needing to push back the order by about a month or two the delivery costs are going to be in the millions. I know that transportation was expensive and when a company ships multiple items it will cost close to a million if there was a delivery change but I never thought that transportation costs could cost multiple millions for a company that needed a delivery change. Just making me think that even though those freight containers are useful it still costs a company changing moment. These millions could be the difference of if a company survives and if a company goes under. Thinking that delivery costs is a difference maker is a very interesting thought because then what else could make a major difference in a company? The little costs might not be so little any more. 

3. The solution to this could be having open ended delivery dates, or even not booking transportation for the goods so far in advance. Trying to cut down on delivery costs is a huge deal and one that should always be taken into consideration. All companies should try and minimize transportation costs by not only booking transportation in advance but also knowing what product you are making and know when to not book transportation for the goods if the company even has a doubt the product will not be in on time. 

Crates or a box, whats the difference?

1. The part of this article that I found most interesting was the relation to innovation and how it really helped to create a different type of economy. Now we focus on an innovation driven economy instead of asking how capital and labor can be amassed. As a future economist I really do enjoy this view point because it stretches my brain to think about how something like transportation helped to influence innovation which in turn then influenced the way economies functioned.

2. The author sees the shipping container as what opened up globalization in the world's economy. Instead of it taking close to several weeks for a small amount of goods to be transported it now takes very little time for a lot off goods to be transported, making the manufacturing cost fall to the ground because now goods could be made in low income economies and shipped to high ones to be sold in.

3. I see companies gaining from this because now they can trade all around the world making their goods more available. I also could see the consumer gaining because now there are more competitors lowering the price of goods in the markets. But lastly I see the consumer losing because they will receive goods not at the same standard they are used to. Goods are going to be made cheaply and quickly so they can be sold in bulk, which I believe then harms the consumer in the goods they buy but at the same time decreases prices for them.

Prosperity without growth?

1. The issue this article talks about is if there truly is prosperity without growth. It questions our GDP formula (GDP = C+I+G+(Exports-Imports)) because the formula does not calculate in "the over exploitation of resources, the destruction of biological diversity, air pollution, noise, the expansion of impervious surfaces known as soil sealing, and the poisoning of groundwater." 

                       

2. This issue really can be related to when we talked about the GDP formula and how it was affected by its factors of the equation. This article now makes us think if there is actually something else that affects the formula and makes GDP increase or decrease. 

3. What lead to this was economist's not wanting to include outside environmental factors. This is a really hard policy to figure out because while economists really do want to find a way to measure GDP, they also would love to find a way to measure it properly and include environmental issues. I really do not know of any solutions or any way to improve the formula to include these factors.