What is the study of the way things should be, rather than how they are? macroeconomics
macroeconomics

normative economics
normative economics

positive economics
positive economics

microeconomics
microeconomics

Case in point 1.2 suppose you work in the it department of global hotels, a multinational hotel chain. global hotels runs several specialized business support systems, including a guest reservations system that was developed in-house to meet the requirements of a large company with worldwide operations. guests can make one-stop online reservations by visiting global's website, which has links to all major travel industry sites. global hotels just acquired momma's, a regional chain of 20 motels in western canada. momma's uses a vertical reservations package suitable for small- to medium-sized businesses and a generic accounting and finance package. should momma's use global hotels' information systems or continue with its own? in your answer, consider issues such as business profiles, business processes, system interactivity, edi, ecommerce, and the characteristics of both information systems. what additional information would be to you in making a recommendation?

Peninsula products has just applied for a loan at your bank. when reviewing peninsula's books for the year that just ended, you notice that the firm uses the fair value option for its bonds payable. you also see that the firm recorded a $55,000 debit in its bonds payable account and a $55,000 credit in its unrealized holding gain or loss"income account. over that same period, interest rates decreased by about 0.5 percent. how should this information affect the bank's decision as to whether to grant peninsula a loan? a : the bank should strongly consider giving a loan to peninsula because the changes in firm's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts suggest that peninsula has seen an increase in its credit rating over the past year. b : the bank should put little emphasis on the changes in peninsula's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts because these changes are likely the result of the rise in interest rates. c : the bank should hesitate before giving a loan to peninsula because the changes in firm's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts suggest that peninsula has seen a decline in its credit rating over the past year. d : the bank should put little emphasis on the changes in peninsula's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts because these changes are likely unrelated to either interest rates or the firm's credit rating.

Annuity payments are assumed to come at the end of each payment period (termed an ordinary annuity). however, an exception occurs when the annuity payments come at the beginning of each period (termed an annuity due). what is the future value of a 13-year annuity of $2,800 per period where payments come at the beginning of each period? the interest rate is 9 percent. use appendix c for an approximate answer, but calculate your final answer using the formula and financial calculator methods. to find the future value of an annuity due when using the appendix tables, add 1 to n and subtract 1 from the tabular value. for example, to find the future value of a $100 payment at the beginning of each period for five periods at 10 percent, go to appendix c for n = 6 and i = 10 percent. look up the value of 7.716 and subtract 1 from it for an answer of 6.716 or $671.60 ($100 × 6.716)