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How Does De Beers Control the Diamond Market?

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How Does De Beers Control the Diamond Market?

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OPEC Has a Deal, But Will Its Members Cheat?

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OPEC Has a Deal, But Will Its Members Cheat?

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In reaching November's landmark agreement to reduce oil production, OPEC members labored for months to overcome their mutual suspicions and frequent mistrust.

But reaching the deal could turn out to be the easy part-enforcing it could be another matter.

Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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crude oil/natural gas upstream operations

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OPEC Has a Deal, But Will Its Members Cheat?

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In reaching November's landmark agreement to reduce oil production, OPEC members labored for months to overcome their mutual suspicions and frequent mistrust. But reaching the deal could turn out to be the easy part-enforcing it could be another matter. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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Calorie labels in fast food outlets linked to small drop in calories purchased

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Calorie labels in fast food outlets linked to small drop in calories purchased

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The Swedish Speed Camera Lottery And Healthy Living

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The Swedish Speed Camera Lottery And Healthy Living

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The Swedish Speed Camera Lottery And Healthy Living - The Medical Futurist

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Speed camera lottery improved riders' behavior in Sweden. Could social gamification improve healthy living and make healthcare systems more sustainable?

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Sweden Smoking Ban Brings Smoke-Free Scandinavia A Step Closer

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Sweden Smoking Ban Brings Smoke-Free Scandinavia A Step Closer

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Smoking in Swedish bars and restaurants has been banned since 2005. Now the Scandinavian nation has introduced new laws limiting smoking in public places. From July 1, Swedes are not permitted to smoke in playgrounds, railway stations, and in outdoor sections of restaurants and bars.
Scandinavia against smoking
Sweden and its neighbour Norway have cracked down hard on the tobacco industry and smoking in the past decades. In 2004, Norway's lawmakers made the advertising of tobacco products illegal, and put in place a smoking ban in selected public areas such as outside schools and hospitals. The numbers of people smoking cigarettes has fallen in both countries.

It's a different story in Denmark, however. The country has less strict anti-smoking regulations than Sweden and Norway, and has seen a recent surge in smokers for the first time in twenty years.

The new Swedish ban, which includes e-cigarettes, is part of Sweden's Social Democrat Prime Minister Stefan Löfven's aim for the country to become smoke-free by 2025. Following months of negotiations after a deadlocked general election result last year, Löfven cobbled together a weak alliance of four parties to form a minority government and retain his position as prime minister.
Political reaction to the ban
The reaction to the new regulations will likely be a test for the new minority government. Stockholm city bosses have already said they will defy the ban by allowing three popular bars to continue their outdoor smoking areas. The new law allows restaurants to have sealed-off smoking sections similar in nature to the smoking zones in place at many airports. But the Stockholm bars will allow their patrons to eat and drink there should they wish.

"From a political point of view with have asked our officials to take a pragmatic view over outdoor 'smoking rooms' for smokers, and we are ready to stand firm on that decision if it gets tested in court," said Liberal councillor Jan Jönsson to Sweden's Dagens Nyheter newspaper. Meanwhile, Liberal Party chairman Joar Forssell dressed up as a cigarette the night before the law came into place. Forssell, not a regular smoker, reportedly chain-smoked in the outdoor section of a restaurant in Visby with friends and colleagues until the moment the ban came into effect.
Similar ban "likely" in Norway
Following a string of previous controversies, Progress Party MP Sylvi Listhaug returned to front-line politics with a splash earlier this year. Newly-appointed as Minister for Public Health, the social smoker said people should be allowed to smoke, drink and eat as much red meat as they wish. "They almost feel they have to hide away, and I think that's stupid. Although smoking is harmful, older people have to decide for themselves what they do," she said.

However, Listhaug is a minority voice among Norwegian politicians. With the exception of her party and four Conservative MPs, all parties have asked the Government to propose legislation that extends Norway's current limited smoking ban to all public places. Karl Erik Lund from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health told Norway's Dagbladet newspaper that it won't be long before the same ban seen in Sweden is introduced in Norway.
Is snus a viable alternative?
Official figures reported by AP show only 11% of Sweden's 10 million population smoked daily in 2016. A further 10% said they smoked occasionally. Similar figures are seen in Norway. However, while the use of cigarettes is in decline, it's a different story with snus.

The small bags of powdered tobacco typically placed under the upper lip are illegal in all European Union countries except Sweden, which has an exemption. Its use is also legal in Norway. Official figures released in 2018 showed that the use of snus was more popular than cigarettes in Norway for the first time ever. The law change could see a similar shift in Sweden.

While campaigners claim promoting snus as an alternative to smoking cigarettes would improve public health, the Norwegian Cancer Association says that there are indications that regular use increases the risk of cancer in the pancreas, stomach and mouth. "The use of snus is far less harmful than smoking, but is nevertheless associated with an increased risk of serious health damage. In addition to nicotine, which is highly addictive, snus contains carcinogens," states the association's website.

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Sweden Smoking Ban Brings Smoke-Free Scandinavia A Step Closer

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Smoking in Swedish bars and restaurants has been banned since 2005. Now the Scandinavian nation has introduced new laws limiting smoking in public places. From July 1, Swedes are not permitted to smoke in playgrounds, railway stations, and in outdoor sections of restaurants and bars.

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NYC pol pushes to extend sugary-drink warnings at local chains

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NYC pol pushes to extend sugary-drink warnings at local chains

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NYC pol pushes to extend sugary-drink warnings at local chains

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You may not want to know how much sugar is in that Mocha Frappuccino, but a New York City councilman thinks you should. Food-industry chains including Starbucks would be required to add sugar-content warnings to menu items such as fountain sodas, smoothies, coffee drinks and even salads under a new bill being introduced by City Council Majority Leader Keith Powers (D-Manhattan).

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Exclusive: China readying $143 billion package for its chip firms in face of U.S. curbs

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Exclusive: China readying $143 billion package for its chip firms in face of U.S. curbs

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The Guardian view on buses: a subsidy for £2 fares is money well spent

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The Guardian view on buses: a subsidy for £2 fares is money well spent

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he UK government was slower than several of its European counterparts to realise it. But making public transport cheaper is a good policy that can be expected to deliver multiple benefits. The announcement earlier this week that bus companies in England will be subsidised to cap local fares at £2 for three months, from January to March, is very welcome. It should make life a bit easier for the millions of people who rely on buses to travel to work and for other journeys. Many of them are facing a painful squeeze on their finances due to rising fuel and food prices.

If the subsidy persuades people to travel by bus instead of by car, as ministers hope and expect, it will also have a beneficial effect on the environment. Car journeys are a hugely significant source of carbon emissions and localised air pollution, with 91% of the UK's total transport emissions coming from roads. When more people use buses and bicycles, rather than cars, congestion and journey times are reduced. With single bus fares as high as £5 in some rural areas, people have been strongly incentivised to use cars, particularly when travelling in groups. Change in this destructive state of affairs is long overdue. If energy costs have forced ministers to act, it is better late than never. Reduced demand for petrol could also contribute to lowering inflation.

For more than 30 years, since the bus service was privatised, London was the only place in England with regulated fares - a grossly unfair situation since people living elsewhere have the same need to move around at an affordable price. Imposing similar arrangements elsewhere should have been a no-brainer for a government committed to levelling up. But it was the Labour mayors of Greater Manchester, Liverpool and West Yorkshire who acted first. All three areas already have the £2 cap now being introduced nationally. In July, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, won a judicial review, meaning that his plan for an integrated local transport system similar to that run by Transport for London is expected to go ahead.

In Europe, discounted travel schemes were available this year on state-owned rail as well as bus services. Unfortunately, in Britain rail fares went up for inadequate services.

Germany's three-month experiment with €9 tickets was credited with saving about 1.8m tonnes of CO ₂ emissions. Tallinn, the Estonian capital, has the most radical scheme of all. There, all public transport has been free to residents since 2013.

Past policy failures have left Britons more exposed than they needed to be to the current energy crisis. Had ministers more actively promoted a shift away from fossil-fuel-intensive transport and heating towards more sustainable energy sources and insulation, households would now be less vulnerable and more secure. But the £60m being spent on making buses cheaper will be money well spent.

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The Guardian view on buses: a subsidy for £2 fares is money well spent | Editorial

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he UK government was slower than several of its European counterparts to realise it. But making public transport cheaper is a good policy that can be expected to deliver multiple benefits. The announcement earlier this week that bus companies in England will be subsidised to cap local fares at £2 for three months, from January to March, is very welcome.

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Commentary: Tobacco tax hike needs to be repeated every year to bring down smoking rat

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Commentary: Tobacco tax hike needs to be repeated every year to bring down smoking rat

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U-turn on UK sugar tax? Health bodies hold breath as Truss considers scrapping soft drinks levy

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U-turn on UK sugar tax? Health bodies hold breath as Truss considers scrapping soft drinks levy

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U-turn on UK sugar tax? Health bodies hold breath as Truss considers scrapping soft drinks levy

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20 Sep 2022 --- UK prime minister Liz Truss faces mounting pressure not to scrap the sugar tax on soft drinks, which has been in force for several years, and keep healthy food strategies that have previously been laid out on track. According to health groups, stepping back on nutrition food policies…

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Cigarettes might soon cost double in Switzerland

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Cigarettes might soon cost double in Switzerland

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Minimum alcohol price ‘causes poorest to cut back on food’ in Scotland

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Minimum alcohol price ‘causes poorest to cut back on food’ in Scotland

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Minimum alcohol price 'causes poorest to cut back on food' in Scotland

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Some problem drinkers also reducing heating to afford rising alcohol costs, according to Public Health Scotland

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Malaysia studying whether to raise price ceiling of sugar

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Malaysia studying whether to raise price ceiling of sugar

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India's Price Ceiling On Uber Rides Hurts Riders, Drivers And The Economy

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India's Price Ceiling On Uber Rides Hurts Riders, Drivers And The Economy

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Recent regulatory blowback against Uber, Lyft and other ridesharing services around the world have reignited the ongoing regulatory policy debate surrounding the ride service in India, Uber's second biggest market in terms of cities where it operates. Most prominently, India's government recently enacted legislation that allows major cities to arbitrarily set limits how much ride service companies such as Uber can charge riders during peak times.

As surge pricing often results in fares above the new price ceilings set by the Indian government resulting in supply-demand problems, a potential shortage of rides problem now arises during times of peak demand. Meanwhile, opponents against surge pricing in India argue that the fare price ceiling helps to maintain competitive fares for current cab drivers.
Price ceilings on Uber fares will create shortages of available drivers, longer wait times and deadweight loss
If India really cared for its drivers and riders, it would remove the price ceiling for surge pricing during peak times in order for the supply-demand of rides to reach what economists call an equilibrium. There are examples throughout history that when a government sets these sort of price controls on goods, it interferes with the natural supply and demand equilibrium price and amount of those goods, creating shortages and surpluses. For example, long lines formed at gas stations during the 1970s when the U.S. government put a price ceiling on gasoline, stopping the price from going high enough to reach the equilibrium market clearing price between consumers and producers, creating a shortage. Consumers were incentivized to consume more of the good than they would have consumed under normal market conditions and producers were incentivized to produce less of the good because they couldn't sell at a price high enough to recoup costs and make profits.

India's current price ceiling and the predictable shortages for rides during peak times is bad for both the riders, drivers, society, and leads to a deadweight loss because of the misallocation of time, money, human capital and human potential.
New academic research highlights how surge pricing is necessary to prevent shortages of Uber rides
A new paper by researchers at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business the economics of Uber's surge pricing demonstrates that in the absence of surge pricing at peak times wait times for rides increased from the average of less than three minutes for those willing to pay the surge pricing, to over fifteen minutes across the board.

The graphs below illustrate Uber's surge pricing mechanism behind incentivizing more drivers to come out during peak times, and what happens when this mechanism fails, in order to have a constant and ready supply of drivers for riders willing to pay. Based on the first graph, we can see that Uber incentivizes its drivers with a price high enough for them to outnumber ride requests most of the time. This helps to make sure the supply of drivers is ready for riders at any given time and keeps the riders happy. In the second graph, the Booth School paper talked about how because of the surge price outage, the price of a ride couldn't go high enough to signal to Uber drivers to come out, thus resulting in longer wait times.

In the case of India, because the signal of the higher surge price isn't there under the price ceiling and because the drivers' opportunity costs of going out and driving around are higher than the money they hope to make, they aren't willing to come out to pick up those who value the ride more and who would be willing to pay higher than the price ceiling. This is money that the driver would otherwise be making if there were no price ceiling and it thus leads to less producer surplus because the driver isn't producing the ride. It also leads to a decrease in consumer surplus because those who want rides and are willing to pay the higher prices can't get rides. This decrease of consumer and producer surplus leads to deadweight loss, which is economically inefficient.
How India's Uber price ceiling could widen a mismatch of demand and supply for rides
To give an idea of the supply of and demand gap for rides in India, Mumbai has only has a third of the amount of taxis as New York despite having four times the population. Because India's price ceiling doesn't incentivize as many drivers to come out at peak times as would be needed for the market to clear, people are left hailing rides longer than necessary. This wastes time that they could be using to be more productive, used to build human capital, or put more of their time toward other projects. A recent Washington Post article hypothesized that the amount of time people waste while waiting in commutes in just the U.S. in one year alone could have been used to build hundreds of the pyramids of Giza. Imagine what India can do with all of that human potential being put to better use and all the private and public projects they can accomplish.

Furthermore, if someone is in a hurry or valued their time more by being somewhere else, say somewhere where they are more productive, and is wiling to pay to get there but can't get there because there aren't enough rides during peak times, this leads to a misallocation of human resources to their most preferred ends.

In 2015, India was the second most populated country in the world and was Uber's second biggest market. That is why repealing the price ceiling is so important for both India and for the ride-hailing industry there. In order for India's economy to move forward and compete on a global scale, they must aim for legislation that will allow resources like their citizens' time, money, human capital, and human potential to go toward to their most preferred and efficient uses in order to maximize their country's utility so they can progress.

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India's Price Ceiling On Uber Rides Hurts Riders, Drivers And The Economy

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Co-authored by Jon Hartley and Nawaphon Sittisawassakul Cellphone hailing Uber car (Photo credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images) Recent regulatory blowback against Uber, Lyft and other ridesharing services around the world have reignited the ongoing regulatory policy debate surrounding the ride service in India, Uber's second biggest market in terms of cities where it [...]