Negotiations in the Euro Crises (main negotiations and decisions from Research Paper

Negotiations in the Euro Crises (main negotiations and decisions from the beginning until today) - Research Paper Example Countries such as Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain popularly known as the PIGS enjoyed cheap credit in the international capital markets. Moreover, the EU supported these countries by offering structural funds. Additionally, the countries borrowed heavily from the international capital markets. Although investments increased in the PIGS, there was eventual increase in housing prices. Additionally, the economies became less competitive. Consequently, the countries experienced financial crisis resulting from excessive debts. This essay focuses on the negotiations in the Euro Crises and the decisions made from the beginning of the crisis until today. The 2007 financial crisis, which affected other regions of the world, resulted in collapse of the global financial markets. In 2009, the crisis intensified with the worsening of the Greece debt situation. The crisis spread to involve political as well as economic crisis in the entire Eurozone. This has threatened the permanence of the E uropean Union. The challenges facing the Eurozone include increased credits and public deficits in some of the Eurozone countries, the destabilized European banking system, economic downturn, and persistent imbalances in the trading systems in the Eurozone. Additionally, the employment declined gradually in most countries in the Eurozone, especially the PIGS. ... Following this crisis, several meetings, and discussions were held amongst politician, scholars, and businesspersons across the world and especially in the Eurozone. The discussion and meetings aimed at analyzing the crisis and ways to resolve it and prevent such occurrence in the future. The crisis started with deterioration of financial systems in some of the nation in the Euro zone. This resulted in bailouts for countries such as Greece, which was the first nation to receive aid from International Monetary fund and the European Union. This was followed by bailouts for other countries such as Ireland. Moreover, more countries especially the weaker economies in Eurozone have continued to demand for bailout. However, some countries such as Greece and Ireland are facing challenges related to European economic as well as the monetary union (Cooper Web; Bastasin 20-25). One of the major causes of the extension of the crisis is the lack of interest by most EU members on the decision-maki ng processes. Moreover, most economies made decisions based on assumption. Some assumed that the Greek bonds were similar to German bonds in terms of riskiness. The assumption was grounded on the fact that Greek and Germany have similar currency. The assumptions affected the participants in the bond market who failed to understand the difference in competitiveness and internal politic of the different Euro zone countries and effect of such factors on the economy. However, this has changed and negotiation within the Eurozone has resulted in establishment of different interest rate charges for the different countries in the Euro Zone (Nelson, Belkin and Mix 1-5). In June,

Microsoft Company Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words

Microsoft Company Analysis - Assignment Example The Company also designs and sells hardware, and delivers online advertising to the customers. The Company operates in five segments: Windows & Windows Live Division (Windows Division), Server and Tools, Online Services Division (OSD), Microsoft Business Division (MBD), and Entertainment and Devices Division (EDD). The Company’s products include operating systems for personal computers (PCs), servers, phones, and other intelligent devices; server applications for distributed computing environments; productivity applications; business solution applications; desktop and server management tools; software development tools; video games, and online advertising. It also designs and sells hardware, including the Xbox 360 gaming and entertainment console, Kinect for Xbox 360, Xbox 360 accessories, and Microsoft PC hardware products. In July 2012, the Company purchased Edgewater Fullscopes Process Industries 2 (PI2) software and intellectual property. In July 2012, Comcast Corp. acquir ed the Companys 50% stake in MSNBC.com. In October 2012, it acquired PhoneFactor Inc. On July 18, 2012, it acquired Yammer, Inc. (Reuters). Another key acquisition made in 2011 is Skype, Ciao, and Videosurf. On the other hand, apart from these, the company is also very active in the emerging cloud computing business, with cloud-based software and services being the core components of the cloud solution. Usage payments together with advertising are the key sources of revenues for its cloud business. These cloud offerings include Bing, Xbox Live, Windows Live, Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and Azure. These services are offered either individually or as part of solution suites. In all the company is present in more than 100 countries and basically has a planet-wide business, in concert with its key competitors.