Imagine that after completing your economics course (you get an a, of course) you are at a family gathering. your grandmother asks you about a news story she read this morning. the story explained that when the government adjusts social security payments for inflation, it generally uses the cpi-w, which is the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers. because senior citizens spend a lot more than average on medical care, adjustments to their social security payments are not keeping up with their cost of living. your grandmother has two questions: 1. last year i received $15,000 per year from the government. the story said that the cpi increased from 144 to 162. how much will i get this year? 2. why might this additional money not allow me to maintain my standard of living?

This problem has been solved! see the answerchapter 19 problem #8. quality and financial control (connect, perform)part one: geometrica designs and builds domes and space frames for large buildings. while the company had developed quality standards over time to respond to different client problems and training needs, it lacked a unified quality system, and its global client base wanted assurance that geometrica met an established international standard for quality. which of the following was an appropriate step for this company to take? a) reform its accounting and financial reporting systems to comply with sarbanes-oxleyb) establish and document a quality management system to comply with iso 9000management at workyou are the new fleet manager at xpressship, a package delivery company. as your first project, your boss has asked that you to look into implementing an electronic monitoring system for the fleet of 2,000 trucks your company owns. a recent internal audit on maintenance and repair costs on the company’s vehicles revealed while maintenance was performed regularly on the trucks, mileage or use had not been taken into account. this resulted in approximately $20,000 of unneeded repairs. you know that telematics have been used by other companies with fleets of cars or trucks and it will allow your company to not only track mileage and use, but also part replacement needs, vehicle oil pressure, and drivers’ speed and real time location. tracking these items can reduce maintenance costs while improving efficiency. you find that a simple computer can be installed in each vehicle. when the drivers return at the end of the day, the telematics information from each vehicle will be uploaded to a master computer where a software program will generate a report with results on the variables you have selected. early one morning as you are getting a cup of coffee, a few drivers that have been with the company for many years approach you with some concerns. eldon, the most senior driver says, “i heard you’re installing some type of computer to track our driving. my buddy works over at parcel and post package delivery and he said they’ve got these computers, too. he said managers are writing people up and firing drivers for speeding or not wearing seat belts. are you going to do that to us, too? ”part two: as a manager, which of the following statements would be effective in maintaining a positive relationship with company drivers? check all that apply. a) at this time, xpressship will be using telematics to monitor maintenance and repair needs, not drivers’ motoring habitsb) although the company isn’t doing so now, when xpressship begins to monitor driver motoring habits, the company will encourage them to keep a separate daily log where they can document any unusual circumstancesc) while xpressship could monitor things like speed, location, and idle time, the company trusts their drivers and will not be using that data in disciplinary decisionsd) xpressship executives are happy with their technology and believe that implementation is ideal for your organization

Lambert manufacturing has $100,000 to invest in either project a or project b. the following data are available on these projects (ignore income taxes.): project a project b cost of equipment needed now $100,000 $60,000 working capital investment needed now - $40,000 annual cash operating inflows $40,000 $35,000 salvage value of equipment in 6 years $10,000 - both projects will have a useful life of 6 years and the total cost approach to net present value analysis. at the end of 6 years, the working capital investment will be released for use elsewhere. lambert's required rate of return is 14%. the net present value of project b is:

Bdj co. wants to issue new 22-year bonds for some much-needed expansion projects. the company currently has 9.2 percent coupon bonds on the market that sell for $1,132, make semiannual payments, have a $1,000 par value, and mature in 22 years. what coupon rate should the company set on its new bonds if it wants them to sell at par?