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Hello everyone, Debt is an issue that affects countries all over the world. Almost all countries are in debt as their governments take loans to cover for variations in their tax receipts. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, Affirmative action is the term used for a system that instead of operating purely on meritocratic grounds, grants preferential status in selection for people of a particular sex, race, ethnicity or other similar qualification. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, A voucher system is one in which, instead of tax revenues being distributed directly to state-managed schools, parents are issued with vouchers that can be spent on education in any school, whether it is managed by the state or not. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, Collective bargaining is a means by which employees, in the private and often in the public sector, can pool their individual resources and strength of numbers to negotiate directly with their employer in order to seek better pay and working conditions. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, Tourism accounts for a significant and growing source of global economic activity: receipts from international tourism grew to a total value of $919 billion in 2010, representing a real terms increase in takings over 2009 of 4.7%. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, The number of students going into higher education after finishing compulsory education has in recent years grown astronomically with many institutions accepting more students from poorer backgrounds than ever before. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, It is little more than one hundred years since humans first set foot on Antarctica and even today few people have visited the frozen and hostile southern continent. Although nine countries have territorial claims on the continent, several of them overlapping. Please share your...

Hello everyone, A subsidy is a form of government assistance to a group or economic sector. A direct subsidy usually means that taxpayers’ money is used to help support an activity, industry or social group which would not be competitive or viable without financial assistance. Please share...

Hello everyone, It has long been an allegation, made by Republicans, that Democrats are in love with big government and that this poses a threat to individual liberty. They claim that free markets are the only true defender of individual freedoms and that democracy and laissez faire economics...

Hello everyone, The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. In 1984 Brunei Darussalam was admitted, followed by Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar/Burma in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999. Please share your...

Hello everyone, In most developed countries, people who are unable to find work are given "benefits" or "welfare" money to support them whilst they are out of work. Traditionally, people are not required to do any work in return for this money. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, Health professionals agree that high levels of alcohol consumption are bad for individuals and society. Individuals who drink heavily may become alcoholics, dependent upon alcohol and unable to function effectively in society. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, Foreign aid had grown significantly in absolute terms (if not as a percentage of GDP in the case of many developed countries) but this has shown up a paradox – as aid to Africa has grown, the continent has actually become poorer rather than better off. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, An estate tax is a tax on a person's property at the time of death before it is transferred to anyone else. An estate tax is different from an inheritance tax, which is a tax on property one receives from the estate of someone who died. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, Loosely speaking, "smoking bans" mean it is illegal in that country to smoke tobacco in workplaces and other public places, e.g., in hospitals or hotels, to prevent the health problems that can arise as a result of accidentally inhaling other people's cigarette smoke. Please...

Hello everyone, Collective bargaining is a means by which employees, in the private and often in the public sector, can pool their individual resources and strength of numbers to negotiate directly with their employer in order to seek better pay and working conditions. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, Drug companies like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Merck are amongst the most profitable companies in the world. Arguably the drugs they research and produce are among the most important products any company sells. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, The WHO reports that “in 2008 1.5 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight with a Body Mass Index (a proxy measurement of body fat based on height and weight) over 25 and that of these 1.5 billion overweight adults. Please share your views..

Hello everyone, In 2010, nearly $90bn in Official Development Assistance (ODA) aid will be given by the member nations of the UN’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Payments of this type are transferred from the governments of donor states to the governments of the recipient states...

Hello everyone, Asylum is the provision of a refugee for foreign citizens fleeing persecution in their own countries. Asylum-seekers, or refugees, are like other international migrants in seeking a new home in another country, but differ from economic migrants in their motivation. Please...