Understand economics from scratch

Chapter 40 How to Gain Insight into the General Economic Trend from Financial News—Economics You Need to Learn to Understand Financial News (6)
In the context of recent inflation, the allocation of a certain proportion of gold investment in household assets can achieve the preservation and appreciation of assets.Gold investment is a good investment variety for risk prevention, and can obtain certain investment income. It has irreplaceable advantages in asset value preservation.

According to data, art investment is one of the three most profitable investment projects in the world (the other two are finance and real estate). Its rate of return is so high that it will eventually outperform real estate and financial investment. consensus among investors.Many people began to regard art collection as a kind of value-preserving and value-added investment behavior.

At present, in China, art investment is a special category, and its investment benefits are often more significant than other projects, and its value-added rate is also higher than other investments.Its particularity lies in the fact that these works of art are not only a material existence, but also a crystallization of spiritual culture, which can be used as a material wealth deposit, and can also be appreciated and studied as art.Since the number of fine works is extremely limited in the creation of an artist's life, the so-called fine works are hard to find. Their uniqueness and irreplaceability can often cause their market value to rise by an astonishing rate, while their value is relatively stable.For the sale of these paintings and antiques, you can enter the auction market at any time to get a fair price.

As long as we adopt different investment methods, it is not difficult to outperform the CPI.Or even if you can't win, you can keep pace or follow closely, or you won't be left too far behind.

Old-age welfare, old-age care is a big problem
"Old before getting rich", the welfare of the elderly in China has a long way to go.It is not realistic to rely solely on children to provide for the elderly according to the current national conditions.It is necessary to mobilize social forces extensively in order to fundamentally solve the increasingly serious aging problem in our country.

Welfare for the elderly refers to the policies, measures and social welfare services adopted by the state and society in order to stabilize the life of the elderly, maintain the health of the elderly, and enrich the spiritual culture of the elderly.Many people have a vague understanding that if the elderly receive a pension, they are considered to be enjoying the benefits of the elderly.In practice, this view is rather narrow.my country has enacted the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly", and initially established a basic policy framework for the welfare of the elderly, including all aspects of the material life and spiritual and cultural life of the elderly, not just pensions. one item.

According to the regulations of the World Health Organization, if the proportion of the elderly population over 60 years old in a country or region is more than 10%, or the proportion of the elderly population over 65 years old is more than 7%, it is considered that the country or region has entered the aging society. In October 1999, my country entered the ranks of countries with an aging population in advance. The elderly population over 10 years old reached 60 million, accounting for 1.26% of the total population of the country, and continued to grow at an average annual rate of 10%.Today, my country's elderly population over the age of 3.32 has reached 60 million, which is currently the country with the largest elderly population in the world, accounting for 1.3/1 of the world's elderly population and 5/1 of Asia's elderly population.

Most countries in the world have an aging trend, and my country has also entered the ranks of countries with an aging population.Every country regards the old-age welfare as one of the important contents of the welfare system, and implements many effective measures.

Take some developed countries in the West as an example. Their welfare for the elderly is gradually established in the model of universal welfare, basically completely funded by the government.In addition to enjoying all the welfare benefits of citizens, the elderly can also enjoy the special benefits provided by the society for the elderly.The United States, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom all provide life guidance and food delivery for the elderly.In Sweden, the elderly enjoy half-price discounts on buses, theaters, movies, and museums.In terms of medical care that is especially important for the elderly, the United States provides hospitalization and convalescent services, Germany and France provide nursing support, and Japan has hospice care hospitals.It should be pointed out that due to the prolongation of the average life expectancy of the elderly, the medical and nursing services for the elderly have become an important indicator to measure the level of welfare of the elderly.The welfare of the elderly also includes spiritual and cultural life. In this regard, many countries provide great convenience for the school education of the elderly.France has established a number of universities for the elderly by the state, and their expenditures are included in the government budget.All universities in Sweden are open to seniors.In Brazil, about 150 public and private universities enroll senior college students. It is stipulated that seniors over 60 years old can directly enter the school without the college entrance examination. Of course, the curriculum is also different from the conventional ones.

Compared with the above-mentioned countries, the welfare gap for the elderly in my country is immediately apparent.A recent statistic shows that among the surveyed urban elderly, 98% are still relying on self-care, and less than 2% of them are cared for by community welfare institutions.The existing welfare facilities for the elderly in my country are seriously insufficient. The total number of beds in social welfare institutions is less than 1% of the total number of elderly people, which cannot meet the needs of elderly care. Compared with the ratio of 3% to 5% in developed countries, the gap is quite large. big.However, in economically underdeveloped rural areas, it is common for rural elderly to live in difficulties and lack medical care.There are many deficiencies in our country, and we have not done enough.

Then, why is there such a huge gap in the welfare of the elderly in China, which has a long tradition of "respecting the old and loving the young"?In the final analysis, we have to start with our country's national conditions, which can be expressed in four words, that is, "grow old before getting rich".

my country is still a developing country. Although its economic strength is constantly increasing, its per capita value cannot be compared with that of developed countries.At the same time, the elderly population over 60 years old in my country has exceeded 10% of the total population. It is estimated that by 2015, the elderly population over 60 years old in my country will exceed 2 million, accounting for about 14% of the total population.By the middle of the 21st century, it will reach about 4 million people, accounting for more than 20% of the total population.Faced with such a large elderly population, the national finances obviously feel powerless.On the one hand, there is insufficient funds for the construction of welfare for the elderly, and on the other hand, the welfare needs of the elderly in the whole society are growing rapidly. This contradiction is particularly prominent.

Faced with this situation, it is imperative to promote the "socialization of welfare for the elderly", that is, to mobilize social forces extensively, instead of relying mainly on state finances like developed countries in Europe and the United States. "Socialized elderly care" mainly includes: first, investment channels should be diversified, forming multi-channel investment from the state, collectives, enterprises and individuals, and developing elderly care institutions of various ownerships; The elderly with "three nos" and "five guarantees" have to face the elderly in the whole society; the third is to adopt a variety of service forms. In the past, it was basically "support", and now it is necessary to provide welfare for the elderly through various community services. support.Only when my country's actual situation is integrated with international advanced experience can China's welfare for the elderly form its own characteristics, and a real "care for the elderly, medical care, enjoyment and happiness for the elderly" will be established. Only by a harmonious society in which what one learns, one can do something and one can help one's old age can the elderly truly live in the beautiful life described in "Peach Blossom Spring".

The emergence of "Golden Week", the holiday economy

In 2008, according to the statistics released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Tourism, the total tourism revenue during the "October" Golden Week in Beijing was 52.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27%. During the 7 days of the "Eleventh" Golden Week, Beijing received a total of 235 million foreign tourists, an increase of 2007% over the same period in 22; the number of tourists in Beijing was 370 million, a year-on-year increase of 56%; 197% increase.The total number of tourists reached 20 million, a year-on-year increase of 802%.

Statistics show that traditional tourist attractions such as the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and the Great Wall are still must-see places for tourists to Beijing.Among them, the Forbidden City received 62.5 tourists, setting a record of 13.58 daily visitors; the Temple of Heaven received 31.4 tourists, a year-on-year increase of 89%; the Badaling Great Wall received 39.6 tourists, a year-on-year increase of 58%.

During the Golden Week, the sales of catering in Beijing increased significantly.According to the monitoring data of 37 catering companies conducted by the Beijing Commercial Information Consulting Center, the cumulative turnover of the 7-day festival reached 1.1494 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 53.6%.In particular, some time-honored enterprises and specialty restaurants are favored. The most prominent one is the popularity of wedding banquets. Huatian Group has booked more than 7 tables for 7000 days during the festival, and the number of reserved tables has increased by more than 30% year-on-year.

In terms of accommodation, the average occupancy rate of star-rated hotels in Beijing is 63%, the average occupancy rate of social hotels is 70%, and the average occupancy rate of hotels in outer suburbs is 43%, all of which are much higher than usual levels.

The passenger volume of public transport in Beijing reached 1.41 million person-times, a record high.On September 9, the highest passenger volume of public trams reached 29 million passengers, and the highest passenger volume of subways reached 1474.98 million passengers.

Holiday economy refers to a systematic economic model in which people use holidays to concentrate on shopping and consumption to drive supply, drive the market, and drive economic development.Some people call it figuratively: because some people take a break, another part gets the chance to work.The holiday economy belongs to the category of consumer economy.The main characteristic of the holiday economy is consumption, the cultural characteristics of the holiday economy are leisure and tourism, and the spatial characteristics of the holiday economy are flow and aggregation, including the flow of people, goods and capital.In terms of time, the holiday economy is concentrated on weekends and several holiday peaks.

The industrial system of the holiday economy covers a very wide range, almost involving most of the tertiary industries.In addition to tourism, which is the pillar industry of the holiday economy, commerce, catering, entertainment, sports, transportation, film and television, exhibitions, advertising, and even lotteries are all part of the holiday economy.

Holiday economy is an economic behavior caused by various demand, supply and resource allocation, and its consumption conditions are rich, leisure and cultured.The higher the level of consumption, the stronger its cultural characteristics, the greater its cultural content, and the wider its consumption extension.

The holiday economy is developed under the influence of the country's policy of expanding domestic demand and stimulating consumption.The holiday economy emerged along with my country's first "Golden Week". In September 1999, with the development of my country's national economy and the improvement of people's living standards, the country decided to increase the leisure time of the majority of workers after a period of trial implementation of weekends, and the Spring Festival, "May 9st" and "October 7st" "The rest time of the three most important festivals in Chinese people's lives was extended to [-] days, so the concept of "Golden Week" came into being. In the hearts of tourism management departments, this is a rare opportunity to make money; It is a rare holiday for tourism and leisure.

The "holiday economy" phenomenon that has appeared in my country in recent years is mainly based on the following reasons:
First, with the reform and opening up, social productivity has developed rapidly, and the income level of residents has been greatly improved.

Second, the increase of people's leisure time. In 2013, the national public holidays reached 115 days, accounting for 31.5% of the total number of days in the whole year.

Third, most markets in my country have entered into a buyer-led situation, with more and more types of goods and services.

Fourth, changes in people's consumption concepts.The influence of traditional morality and the difficult life under the "shortage economy" for many years have made most Chinese people pay more attention to accumulation than consumption, especially to take care of spiritual consumption and the improvement of quality of life.As our country enters the "relative surplus economy" period, residents' consumption concepts gradually change, and people begin to pay attention to the improvement of living standards.

(End of this chapter)