Should the US consider Puerto Rico for statehood? What benefits and challenges will Puerto Rico present to the United States?

Please provide sources if used

BLADES, INC. CASE

Consideration of Direct Foreign Investment

For the last year, Blades, Inc., has been exporting to Thailand in order to supplement its declining U.S. sales. Under the existing arrangement, Blades sells 180,000 pairs of roller blades annually to Entertainment Products, a Thai retailer, for a fixed price denominated in Thai baht. The agreement will last for another 2 years. Furthermore, to diversify internationally and to take advantage of an attractive offer by Jogs, Ltd., a British retailer, Blades has recently begun exporting to the United Kingdom. Under the resulting agreement, Jogs will purchase 200,000 pairs of Speedos, Blades' primary product, annually at a fixed price of £80 per pair.

Blades' suppliers of the needed components for its roller blade production are located primarily in the United States, where Blades incurs the majority of its cost of goods sold. Although prices for inputs needed to manufacture roller blades vary, recent costs have run approximately $70 per pair. Blades also imports components from Thailand because of the relatively low price of rubber and plastic components and because of their high quality. These imports are denominated in Thai baht, and the exact price (in baht) depends on prevailing market prices for these components in Thailand. Currently, inputs sufficient to manufacture a pair of roller blades cost approximately 3,000 Thai baht per pair of roller blades.

Although Thailand had been among the world's fastest growing economies, recent events in Thailand have increased the level of economic uncertainty. Specifically, the Thai baht, which had been pegged to the dollar, is now a freely floating currency and has depreciated substantially in recent months. Furthermore, recent levels of inflation in Thailand have been very high. Hence, future economic conditions in Thailand are highly uncertain.

Ben Holt, Blades' chief financial officer (CFO), is seriously considering DFI in Thailand. He believes that this is a perfect time to either establish a subsidiary or acquire an existing business in Thailand because the uncertain economic conditions and the depreciation of the baht have substantially lowered the initial costs required for DFI. Holt believes the growth potential in Asia will be extremely high once the Thai economy stabilizes.

Although Holt has also considered DFI in the United Kingdom, he would prefer that Blades invest in Thailand as opposed to the United Kingdom. Forecasts indicate that the demand for roller blades in the United Kingdom is similar to that in the United States; since Blades' U.S. sales have recently declined because of the high prices it charges, Holt expects that DFI in the United Kingdom will yield similar results, especially since the components required to manufacture roller blades are more expensive in the United Kingdom than in the United States. Furthermore, both domestic and foreign roller blade manufacturers are relatively well established in the United Kingdom, so the growth potential there is limited. Holt believes the Thai roller blade market offers more growth potential.

Blades can sell its products at a lower price but generate higher profit margins in Thailand than it can in the United States. This is because the Thai customer has committed itself to purchase a fixed number of Blades' products annually only if it can purchase Speedos at a substantial discount from the U.S. price. Nevertheless, since the cost of goods sold incurred in Thailand is substantially below that incurred in the United States, Blades has managed to generate higher profit margins from its Thai exports and imports than in the United States.

As a financial analyst for Blades, Inc., you generally agree with Holt's assessment of the situation. However, you are concerned that Thai consumers have not been affected yet by the unfavorable economic conditions. You believe that they may reduce their spending on leisure products within the next year. Therefore, you think it would be beneficial to wait until next year, when the unfavorable economic conditions in Thailand may subside, to make a decision regarding DFI in Thailand. However, if economic conditions in Thailand improve over the next year, DFI may become more expensive both because target firms will be more expensive and because the baht may appreciate. You are also aware that several of Blades' U.S. competitors are considering expanding into Thailand in the next year.

If Blades acquires an existing business in Thailand or establishes a subsidiary there by the end of next year, it would fulfill its agreement with Entertainment Products for the subsequent year. The Thai retailer has expressed an interest in renewing the contractual agreement with Blades at that time if Blades establishes operations in Thailand. However, Holt believes that Blades could charge a higher price for its products if it establishes its own distribution channels.

Holt has asked you to answer the following questions:

1. Identify and discuss some of the benefits that Blades, Inc., could obtain from DFI.

2. Do you think Blades should wait until next year to undertake DFI in Thailand? What is the trade-off if Blades undertakes the DFI now?

3. Do you think Blades should renew its agreement with the Thai retailer for another 3 years? What is the trade-off if Blades renews the agreement?

4. Assume a high level of unemployment in Thailand and a unique production process employed by Blades, Inc. How do you think the Thai government would view the establishment of a subsidiary in Thailand by firms such as Blades? Do you think the Thai government would be more or less supportive if firms such as Blades acquired existing businesses in Thailand? Why?

I just wanted to double check my answers, can you just provide me with the correct answer for each one in order to cross-check, thank you.

The United States' class system is heavily dependent upon an individual's social background.

1. Compare how much the United States and Europe spend on healthcare every year. Does the U.S. spend comparatively more or less than other developed countries?
2. Explain what metrics are used to measure health. Where does the United States fall, according to those metrics?
3. Describe the rationale for the role of government in health care. To what extent is poverty a salient factor, in terms of government intervention? Explain.
4. Describe how health care might be reformed to address high costs and limited coverage.
5. Discuss the prospective advantages and disadvantages of a single-payer system, like that of Canada.   

Use the Commodity Boom discussion thread to discuss the recent commodity trends here in the United States and throughout the world.

Are commodities a good investment right now? What type of impact does a weak US dollar have on the commodity market? The price of wheat, oil, gas, and gold are all on the rise. What is the explanation of this and how do events around the world impact the commodities market here in the United States? As consumers, do we rely too much on non-renewable resources? If so, would you say that our use of these products impacts their value on the commodities market?

Suppose an extraterrestrial anthropologist asks you what type of health system you would build in the United States, if you could start from scratch. You need to 1) describe the health care system and how it would be financed. 2) describe where care would be received and how care would be rationed. 3) discuss production efficiency, efficiency in consumption, and equitable redistribution [see chapter 36 for a reminder of these definitions] and how they relate to your proposal. How and why is your proposed system better than the current health care system in the United States?

The marginal product of labor is defined as A. the additional output that results when one more worker is​ hired, holding all other resources constant. B. the additional number of workers required to produce one more unit of output. C. the cost of hiring one more worker. D. the additional sales revenue that results when one more worker is hired. In the United​ States, government policies with respect to monopolies and collusion are embodied in A. common​ law, which the United States adopted from English law. B. the U.S. Constitution. C. antitrust laws. D. the Supreme Court.

How do you evaluate the benefits or detriments of foreign investment? How much weight do you give to the concern that FPI can lead to economic upheaval? Do you find the argument that foreign investment amounts to “buying” another country? What controls could be put in place to counter this concern? What relationship do you see between FDI and employment? Looking at the United States as an example, have you noticed a shift in the distribution of jobs over the past decade? What jobs are leaving the United States? Where are these jobs going? What jobs are replacing them?

Please walk me through SPSS to answer this question, NOT just answer it but please show me how you did it on SPSS...

Consider the data below of inches of rainfall per month for two different regions in the Northwestern United States:

   Plains Mountains

April 25.2 13.0

May 17.1 18.1

June 18.9 15.7

July 17.3 11.3

August 16.5 14.0

Using SPSS, perform a two-sample t-test for the hypothesis that there is not the same amount of rainfall in both regions in the Northwestern United States with a significance level of 0.025. What are the degrees of freedom of your test statistic?

The game of basketball was introduced to the women of Smith College in 1892. Since then the game has undergone numerous changes, expanding horizons for female athletes. Although there has been great progress for women in basketball, the game is not yet secure in its position in the United States. The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is the most successful women’s league in the United States; however, the WNBA has lost money every year since its founding in the 1990s. In your view, what would it take for women’s basketball to receive great acceptance? How important is it to women’s sport overall for women to succeed in the WNBA?