Coming off its most successful fiscal year in existence, posting a net profit of just under $32 ½ billion – an increase of 38.3% from FY2007 – Apple appears to be intent on continuing its trend of outperforming its rivals in the computer hardware industry. Its revenue growth rates have far outpaced its competitors in the last 5-7 years, and if past performance is any indication, this trend will continue.

Amidst a persistent credit crunch, a lacklustre housing market, and now a jobs report that is weaker than expected, the American economy faces legitimate concerns of a recession.

When it comes to determining the value of stocks and bonds, analyzing current monetary policy and having the ability to forecast future macroeconomic conditions along with their impact on policy decisions, is integral. When the policymakers of central banks congregate with the objective of formulating the optimal policy, their goal is either to reign in inflation, or to stimulate economic growth by spurring aggregate demand in the economy. Most of the time it’s a balancing act, because a decision to slow the economy down when there is a considerable rise in the consumer price index, could result in the dampening of economic activity to the point of a recession. However, most central banks around the world have become very astute and have implemented policy in a very prudent manner, so that price stability has remained under control. If the Federal Reserve was truly the cause of the Great Depression – as many economists of the Austrian School have suggested – then it has certainly learned its lesson.

One of the most discussed issues in economics is the moral hazard of welfare transfer payments from a certain segment of the population to another. This is not only exclusive to welfare for the less fortunate, but to welfare for large, profitable corporations. One might ask themselves why gigantic firms who rack in monumental revenues would need government assistance in the first place. Well, while the market is most efficient in allocating goods and services an overwhelming amount of the time, there are instances in which it does not sufficiently reward certain investments that are integral for the stability of the economy, or the costs of consumption and production of some goods and services that would benefit society would be too high for any single firm to produce.