Microeconomic Issues. Ethical Issues in Business Report

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Introduction

The modern world of business proves to be far from ethics and values of the rest of the society. One of the latest examples of the unethical operations carried out by a company is the case of the South African Comforter’s Healing Gift (CHG) that was sued for the illegal and completely unethical testing and promotion of the allegedly anti-AIDS medicine.

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The essence of the issue lied in the fact that the company under analysis was controlled and sponsored by Christine Qunta, one of the most influential persons in the South African politics (Qunta, 2009). Being closely acquainted with the president of this country, Ms. Qunta and her company Comforter’s Healing Gift (CHG) felt comfortable illegally selling the untested and potentially dangerous medical goods aimed at curing AIDS/HIV (TAC, 2007). The ruling of the South African Supreme Court that claimed such actions to be unethical and illegal was confronted by the interference of President Mbeki who saved Qunta from legal responsibility in the case (TAC, 2007).

Comforter’s Healing Gift (CHG) experienced little effects of the controversy at all. Supply and demand ratios remained at the same levels as before the court case. Production levels and costs of the medicine offered by CHG were on the slight decrease, mainly because of the fact that the company did not want to raise more dispute about it and develop its negative image. However, the market of South Africa demands serious improvements in respect of fair competition and such situation was perceived as a norm in the country. As for the medicine market, it faces the questions of ethics more often than any other business branch as it deals with lives and health of people on the one hand, and with making profit on the other one.

More Labor Resources

The picture of labor force growth in the United States is rather interesting as it reflects both the growth of the number of people ready to work and working and also shows the recent recession-related trends according to which employment levels are on the decrease over the last months. However, the obvious growth of the labor force can be observed through the comparison of the statistical data for the years 1999 and 2009 (BLS, 2009). If in January, 1999, there were 139,003,000 officially working people in the United States, December of the same year manifested already the number of 140,177,000 people officially employed (BLS, 2009). Moreover, January of 2009 saw the dramatic growth of employment compared to January of 1999 as 153,716,000 people were registered as officially employed already. The impossibility to compare December figures of 1999 to 2009 advices to compare June data. In June, 1999 139,329,000 were employed, while in June, 2009 this figure grew to 154,926,000 people (BLS, 2009).

At the same time, the data about employment in Japan are not as detailed as only the annual employment rates are shown, but even such incomplete information allows seeing that Japanese employment rates were on the constant decrease till 2003 as in 1997 64,900,000 people were employed and 2003 saw only 62,510,000 employed (BLS, 2009). However, since 2004 Japanese employment is also growing as in 2004 62,640,000 Japanese were employed and 2007 brought the figure of 63,510,000 people having jobs (BLS, 2009). Thus, the American labor resources had more effect on shifting the nation’s production possibilities curve outward. The increase of the American employment is more sufficient than the Japanese, and it has not experienced the regression of 1997 – 2003, which allowed America not only update equipment but create new working places for the new labor force.

Farm Commodity Prices

Agricultural products are vital for the development of the US economy. Cotton is one of the important agricultural products used in many industries including textile, ready-made clothes, etc. The recent statistical data show that prices for cotton have been on the decrease over the past 3 years (NASS, 2009). In 2007, the price per pound of cotton, as received by farmers, fluctuated between $0.45 – 0.50. The next year saw the sharp increase of cotton prices that grew up to $0.65 – 0.67 per pound (NASS, 2009). This growth can be explained by the increase of demands for cotton and by the increased financial opportunities of the buyers. The economy was on the rise in 2008, but 2009 brought the financial recession and cotton prices dropped to $0.40 – 0.45 again, which was conditioned by the recession-dictated decrease of demand and excessive supply of cotton (NASS, 2009).

The prices for milk underwent the same changes as cotton prices. In 2007 they started growing from $12 to $14 per Cwt. 2008 saw the dramatic increase of prices to $22 per Cwt, but 2009 prices continue dropping below 2007 level amounting to $11 per Cwt (NASS, 2009). The situation with wheat prices is not as drastic as after the 2007 – 2008 growth from $4.5 to $11 per Bu, in 2009 the falling of prices was not very painful amounting to $5.5 – $6 per Bu (NASS, 2009). These data evidence that cotton and milk experienced decrease of demand which led to the falling prices. Demand for wheat, however, decreased not so drastically, which allowed wheat producers to lower their prices more gradually.

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References

BLS. (2009). Official Web Page of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web.

NASS. (2009). Official Web Page of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Web.

Qunta, C. (2009). Professional and Academic. Web.

TAC. (2007). Unethical Promotion and Testing of Medicines on Humans. Web.

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