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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Why Inflation Is Eroding Your Savings



The basic principle behind inflation is that as the money supply increases, so too does the relative price of goods and services. A common sentiment for children to hold is “why can’t we all be millionaires, then there would be no poor people”, or something to that effect. The answer is inflation. In theory we could all be millionaires, but this would drive up the price of consumer goods to reflect the increase in money supply, essentially balancing out society’s new found wealth.
The above scenario is an example of hyper-inflation, where prices rise in an exceedingly rapid fashion. In reality, most modern countries with stable, or fairly stable, economies have an inflation rate in the low single digits. The example of wage parity shares a common connection with how savings are affected by changes in inflation. Your savings must also increase at the same rate of inflation each year in order hold their real worth. If prices are rising annually but your savings remain unchanged, you are able to purchase less with the same amount as you were the previous year. This is why keeping your savings hidden under a mattress is not the smartest investment strategy, even if you ignore the security issues.
Banks have made for sound investments, seeing as the deposit rate has traditionally been above the inflation rate, at least in New Zealand. This means that your savings are growing faster than inflation, effectively increasing the value of your deposit within the marketplace. The problem is, following an increase in GST, inflation has risen above the interest rates offered by banks.
Modern investors need to more carefully consider their options when structuring a portfolio. Of course the key advantage of a bank is that you don’t risk losing your investment, but if your value is being eroded from year to year then you have to ask yourself what the point is. 

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Turunnya Produksi Padi



Produksi padi Indonesia untuk tahun 2011 diperkirakan akan menurun. Menurut Biro Pusat Statistik, produksi padi berdasarkan Angka Ramalan (ARAM) III diperkirakan turun hingga 1,63 persen atau 1,08 juta ton. Penurunan juga terjadi pada produksi jagung dan kedelai.
Kementerian Pertanian menyatakan bahwa produktivitas padi rendah karena petani tidak bisa menggunakan teknologi. Persoalannya tidaklah sesederhana itu. Jika ditinjau dengan seksama, penyebab penurunan produksi padi banyak disebabkan oleh “kesalahan pemerintah”. Sebagai pemangku kebijakan, pemerintah justru banyak memproduksi kebijakan yang merugikan kaum tani, seperti kebijakan impor beras, pencabutan subsidi pertanian, dan lain-lain.
Impor pangan menyebabkan petani kehilangan akses pasar mereka. Lemahnya daya dukung pemerintah dalam urusan permodalan dan teknologi menyebabkan petani tidak bisa bersaing secara bebas dengan produk impor. Akibatnya, karena ketidakmampuan bersaing itu, petani banyak yang bertransformasi menjadi kaum urban.
Petani juga tidak bisa mengakses modal. Pemerintah tidak punya skenario pembiayaan pertanian yang efektif. Penurunan produksi pertanian juga berkaitan dengan menyusutnya jumlah lahan pertanian. Banyak lahan pertanian yang berpindah tangan ke swasta dan beralih-fungsi menjadi perkebunan sawit, kawasan bisnis, dan lain sebagainya. Sementara banyak lahan menganggur tidak bisa diproduktifkan oleh pemerintah.
Infrastruktur pertanian juga sangat buruk. Sedikitnya 3,21 juta hektare, atau 45% dari total jaringan irigasi di Indonesia, mengalami kerusakan. Kerusakan irigasi ini berkontribusi pada menurunnya produksi pertanian. Sementara itu, masih banyak juga lahan pertanian di Indonesia yang belum tersentuh sistim irigasi yang baik.
Infrastruktur lainnya, seperti waduk dan bendungan, juga tidak memadai. Pemerintah SBY-Budiono hampir tidak bisa melakukan apa-apa terhadap infrastruktur ini. Bahkan banyak waduk yang mengalami pengeringan. Infrastruktur lain yang turut bermasalah adalah jalan desa. Banyak jalan desa yang mengalami kerusakan parah dan sama sekali tidak tersentuh oleh program rehabilitasi pemerintah. Padahal, jalan desa sangat membantu petani dalam proses distribusi hasil pertanian.

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The Effect of Gas Prices on the Economy



The USA consumes 400 million gallons of gasoline every day. This with the burgeoning demand from developing nations such as China for gas, has pushed gas prices to record highs, and having an all-pervasive and on-balance a damaging effect on the US economy.
Gas prices in the USA/Canada often vary significantly between gas stations and supermarket gas pumps. In many areas, gas prices can vary by 20-30 cents per gallon or maybe at times even more within a small area. This makes that most motorists in the USA/Canada are shopping around to find the best deals on gas, but are still paying a lot more for it.This will affect the US economy by reducing value of properties in outer commuting zones around the cities, and depress rural property values.
Analysts were predicting a gallon of regular to climb as high as $4.50 a gallon in California by Easter 2011. But these same analysts are saying that if you think gasoline is expensive now, just wait until next year! The effects of such big cost hikes will reduce available spending money for all those on average wages and below who need to travel significant distances in their cars, and this will further depress the US economy when this cash gets diverted away from a myriad of local spending decisions affecting local businesses from restaurants to children’s shoe shops.
Cars now are more fuel-efficient than they were in the 90s, so car owners can reduce your spending on gas by choosing fuel efficient vehicles. This is making US car manufacturers and car importers develop and extend their low fuel vehicle ranges
It is not all bad news though. Companies that own oilfield reserves will be seeing the value of their resources growing, and businesses that are connected with the renewable energy market are growing rapidly right across the range of renewable energy sources from wind, to thermal energy, and of course that most popular of renewable sources which is solar. Renewable energy companies are growing fast and employing increased numbers of staff.

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Rising Oil Price a Boon for the US Economy



According to the investors, the high-ceilinged oil price has come up with positive news for the U.S. economy. The price rose because of the fact that the private sector added almost 111,000 jobs in October 2011. The Automatic Data Processing reported that the service industries got plenty of benefits.
As a result of soaring oil prices, Benchmark crude rose by 32 cents to end the day at $92.51 per barrel in New York, while Brent crude lost 20 cents to finish at $109.34 a barrel in London. After a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve, which doesn’t announce any new policy, the prices on oil may slip a little bit.The studies depicted that the decision taken by the Fed has a greater impact on oil prices. Hence, such things influenced the currency and commodity markets. As a result of alteration in oil price, Benchmark crude mounted 20% higher in 2010.
Despite the fact that consumers are ready to spend more, it is a very difficult task to manage downside risk. Hence, the economy is losing its importance on the commodity market. If the economy stays standstill, then the central bank assures to take a leap step.As mentioned by the Energy Information Administration, the prices on U.S. oil and gasoline climbed up in the last week in October 2011 because of less demand for oil. Another point to note down here is that the demand for distillate supplies that include diesel and heating oil dropped enormously
The demand for diesel is escalating because farmers require the fuel for harvesting. The retail price on diesel has increased 80.1 cents higher per gallon. Its price will keep on rising because of the existing market scenario. The price of gasoline is soaring at $4 per gallon. According to the energy trading, the heating oil lost 3.72 cents to end at $3.0007 per gallon. Gasoline futures finished at $2.6272 per gallon. Natural gas lost 3.2 cents to end at $3.749 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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Penetapan Harga Pembelian Pemerintah (HPP) Gabah/Beras



Salah satu masalah klasik yang sering dialami petani padi adalah anjloknya harga jual gabah / beras pada saat panen raya, dan meningkatnya harga pada saat diluar panen. Kondisi tersebut menyebabkan petani menjadi rugi dan usahatani padi tidak menguntungkan. Selain itu, kenaikan harga beras dapat menimbulkan gejolak sosial mengingat beras merupakan makanan pokok masyarakat Indonesia. Oleh karena itu, pemerintah berupaya membuat regulasi/kebijakan perberasan agar gabah/beras petani dibeli dengan harga tertentu yang bisa memberikan keuntungan yang layak bagi petani. Selain itu, beras dijual ke masyarakat/konsumen diatur dengan harga tertentu sehingga masyarakat mampu mengakses dalam batas wajar. Kebijakan tersebut dikenal dengan istilah Harga Pembelian Pemerintah (HPP) procurement price policy.
Penetapan HPP dilakukan dalam rangka meningkatkan pendapatan petani, pengembangan ekonomi pedesaan, stabilitas ekonomi nasional, peningkatan ketahanan pangan, dan dalam rangka pengadaan cadangan pangan. HPP gabah yang ditetapkan pemerintah diharapkan menjadi “semacam harga minimum” (floor price) yang berfungsi sebagai referensi harga (price reference) bagi petani dan pedagang yang melakukan transaksi jual-beli gabah/beras.
Badan Ketahanan Pangan berperan besar dalam penyusunan kebijakan HPP gabah/beras. Kegiatan yang dilakukan BKP dalam proses penyusunan HPP gabah/beras antara lain melakukan kajian/analisis harga nasional dan internasional, analisis usaha tani, analisis usaha perdagangan dan pengolahan gabah/beras untuk memperoleh informasi besaran harga pembelian pemerintah (HPP) gabah/beras yang bisa melindungi petani dan konsumen. Penetapan HPP gabah/beras pertama kali dilakukan pada tahun 2002 yang dituangkan melalui Instruksi Presiden No. 9 Tahun 2002. Sampai tahun 2012, sudah 8 (delapan) kali ditetapkan kebijakan HPP gabah/beras untuk menyesuaikan situasi perberasan dalam negeri, terutama akibat perkembangan harga yang terus meningkat dari tahun ke tahun.
Beberapa hal yang mendasari perubahan kebijakan HPP antara lain penyesuaian harga bahan bakar minyak (BBM), seperti kejadian pada tanggal 1 Oktober 2005 terjadi kenikan solar sebesar 124 persen yang berdampak sangat besar terhadap kinerja sektor pertanian. Untuk mempertahankan profitabilitas usahatani padi agar usaha tani padi menguntungkan (minimal 30 persen), pemerintah mengeluarkan kebijakan perberasan baru melalui Inpres No. 13/2005 yang menaikan HPP gabah/beras.
Faktor lain yang menyebabkan perubahan HPP adalah harga gabah/beras di pasaran yang jauh lebih tinggi dibanding HPP, seperti pada akhir Tahun 2006 sampai awal 2007, harga gabah/beras sekitar 40-60 persen di atas HPP. Hal ini menyebabkan Bulog tidak dapat memenuhi target pengadaan gabah/beras pemerintah, sehingga pemerintah kembali mengeluarkan kebijakan perberasan melalui Inpres No. 3 Tahun 2007.
Kenaikan Harga Eceran Tertinggi (HET) pupuk subsidi pada April 2010 yang berdampak pada tingginya usahatani padi, juga menjadi salah satu alasan pemerintah kembali menaikkan HPP sebesar 10 persen dengan mengeluarkan Inpres No. 7 Tahun 2009 yang mulai diberlakukan pada Januari 2010.
Di tingkat konsumen, kebijakan perberasan dengan penetapan HPP juga dinilai cukup efektif mengendalikan harga beras dalam negeri. Pada Januari 2008, dunia internasional sedang mengalami krisis pangan yang menyebabkan harga komoditas pangan penting seperti beras, jagung, kedelai dan gandum melonjak tajam. Melonjaknya harga beras dunia pada periode tersebut tidak mempengaruhi harga beras dalam negeri.

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