The Implications of Covid-19 Pandemic on Consumer Burden in Malaysia: An Analysis

The effects of Covid-19 are continuing to increase around the world as the pandemic claims millions of lives. Malaysia is no exception and has been remarkably affected by the pandemic. Apart from the number of people who are or have been infected with this virus, millions of people are directly or indirectly facing many challenges to their living. The challenges include increased cost of living, income reduction or losses, decreased purchasing power, and unemployment, along with other societal issues created by the pandemic. This study contextualised the implications of the pandemic on consumers’ burden in Malaysia, focusing on the cost of living and unemployment. Observations on prices, inflation, and unemployment rates were conducted to provide meaningful evidence. Major findings revealed that the cost of living has risen, contributed by the increase in prices, especially for food items, healthcare, and education. The unemployment rate also expanded due to the lockdown measures, which led to income losses and reduction. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought challenges to the consumers as measures taken to curb the pandemic have altered many aspects of life and increased the consumers’ burden. Although the inflation rate remains manageable, a major concern lies in many people’s income reduction or income losses. This study implies that the government, together with private institutions and NGOs, needs to work hand in hand to minimise the consumers’ financial burden, especially during this pandemic. It is hoped that the discussion presented in this paper would shed light on the impact of the pandemic on consumers’ burden in Malaysia.

Characteristics of and comparisons between US fourth-year veterinary students graduating with and without educational debt from 2001 through 2020

OBJECTIVE To characterize and compare fourth-year students of US veterinary schools graduating with and without related educational debt (ie, DVM debt) from 2001 through 2020. SAMPLE 45,756 fourth-year veterinary students who participated in the annual AVMA Senior Survey from 2001 through 2020. PROCEDURES Survey data were summarized for variables hypothesized to be associated with DVM debt. Multivariable modeling was used to investigate associations between these variables and the likelihood of graduating with DVM debt. RESULTS Mean DVM debt increased fairly steadily from $56,824 in 2001 (n = 1,587) to $157,146 in 2020 (2,859). Of 45,756 students, 6,129 (13.4%) had no DVM debt. Attending Tuskegee University and having children (both men and women) were associated with an increased likelihood of DVM debt. Attending certain other veterinary schools and more recent survey year were associated with a decreased likelihood. For 2020, the likelihood of DVM debt decreased with increasing percentage of tuition paid by family and increased with increasing percentage of tuition paid by educational loans, being a woman with children, and increasing total cost of attendance. No association was found with state cost of living index or per capita income. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results suggested a growing rift between US veterinary students who cannot afford tuition and fees without accumulating financially concerning levels of debt and those who have the financial ability or family situation to fully fund veterinary school. Efforts should be undertaken to recruit across socioeconomic statuses and provide meaningful scholarships to students with greatest financial needs to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in veterinary medicine.

Rising markups and optimal redistributive taxation

This study explores the implications of rising markups for optimal Mirrleesian income and profit taxation. Using a stylized model with two individuals, the main forces shaping welfare-optimal policies are analytically characterized. Although a higher profit tax has redistributive benefits, it adversely affects market competition, leading to a greater equilibrium cost-of-living. Rising markups directly contribute to a decline in optimal marginal taxes on labor income. The optimal policy response to higher markups includes increasingly relying on the profit tax to fund redistribution. Declining optimal marginal income taxes assists the redistributive function of the profit tax by contributing to the expansion of the profit tax base. This response alone considerably increases the equilibrium cost-of-living. Nevertheless, a majority of the individuals become better off with the optimal policy. If it is not possible to tax profits optimally, due, for example, to profit shifting, increasing redistribution via income taxes is not optimal; every individual is worse off relative to the scenario with optimal profit taxation.

Tech-noiR: An Exploration of Interior Spaces in an Urban context generated by Emergent Technology

<p>Poor pedestrian and transportation circulation, overpopulation, expensive cost of living—these are some of the issues inherent to any urban metropolis around the world. As cities develop and grow, more job opportunities open up for people, which leads to the increase in city population. This growth affects the city’s lifestyle, leading to overpopulation, poor circulation and expensive cost of living within the urban centre. Influenced by the concept ‘time is of the essence’, urban living has become synonymous to an autonomous service stuck within a loophole. This lifestyle, now further propelled by the presence of technology, can prove to be detrimental to the inhabitants’ comfort and well-being. In order to adapt to an impending future of the urban areas, an alternative to future urban living using technology with a minimal yet comfortable dwelling must be provided. The thesis proposes that emergent technology as a design-generating tool along with ergonomic design and depictions of visionary architecture are capable of producing an alternative to urban minimal dwellings in the future. It contends that these future urban minimal dwellings can be developed by: mapping and understanding emergent technologies potentially usable in interior architecture that can be developed into tools; collecting and analysing ergonomic principles and techniques appropriate to interior architecture; collecting and analysing literature about minimal dwelling in modern history; and analysing components and technologies used in depicted living spaces within selected filmography.</p>

Tech-noiR: An Exploration of Interior Spaces in an Urban context generated by Emergent Technology

<p>Poor pedestrian and transportation circulation, overpopulation, expensive cost of living—these are some of the issues inherent to any urban metropolis around the world. As cities develop and grow, more job opportunities open up for people, which leads to the increase in city population. This growth affects the city’s lifestyle, leading to overpopulation, poor circulation and expensive cost of living within the urban centre. Influenced by the concept ‘time is of the essence’, urban living has become synonymous to an autonomous service stuck within a loophole. This lifestyle, now further propelled by the presence of technology, can prove to be detrimental to the inhabitants’ comfort and well-being. In order to adapt to an impending future of the urban areas, an alternative to future urban living using technology with a minimal yet comfortable dwelling must be provided. The thesis proposes that emergent technology as a design-generating tool along with ergonomic design and depictions of visionary architecture are capable of producing an alternative to urban minimal dwellings in the future. It contends that these future urban minimal dwellings can be developed by: mapping and understanding emergent technologies potentially usable in interior architecture that can be developed into tools; collecting and analysing ergonomic principles and techniques appropriate to interior architecture; collecting and analysing literature about minimal dwelling in modern history; and analysing components and technologies used in depicted living spaces within selected filmography.</p>

Facts of (Financial) Life: Political Power and Re-Visualization Strategies

Digital visualizations have seen an exponential rise in use by politicians, candidates, and other political actors. Digital visualizations are an informative and engaging genre, but when applied by political candidates, they may also be used to persuade or mislead. However, the ways in which different actors utilize them have yet to receive systematic scholarly attention. Informed by a comprehensive theoretical framework related to political power, digital visualizations, and social media campaigns, I perform grounded qualitative content analysis of all cost-of-living visualizations posted to Facebook during the 2015 Israeli election period, by both peripheral and primary political actors. I define two main argumentation strategies ( Progress Makers & Hinderers and Re-Visualized Economy) reliant on different narrative, visual, and information-oriented strategies by different actors. An overview of the findings reveals digital visualizations as a meeting ground between the political power of actors, the rhetorical power of emotionality, and the cultural-political power of numbers. I conclude with a reflection on re-visualization as a means of expanding a fourth type of power, discursive power, wherein visualizations are used as a tool for resistance by weaker actors, against the narrative of reality promoted by stronger actors, relying on the rhetorical affordances of the digital political visualization genre to increase their political power. Digital visualizations thus offer a uniquely agile tool for political actors of all types to utilize in gaining discursive power in the competition over election narratives in the digital arena of social media.

What is the cost of living online?

The cost of powering streaming and other rapidly growing online services will not "take down the Internet."

Types of Late-Life Challenges to Aging in Place

Many older adults prefer to live within their community because they have built strong relationships with their neighbors and neighborhood. Although housing-related factors promote aging in place, findings on the relationships of late-life challenges to aging in place (e.g., cost of living, autonomy) and relocation are mixed. Less is known about the types of challenges to aging in place and about the relationship between the types of challenges and relocation. Using data from the AARP 2015 Age-Friendly Community Surveys (N=3,190 adults aged 65 and older), this study examined the intersection of challenges to aging in place (e.g., home size, cost, safety, independence, family, transportation) and relocation (i.e., move to a different home outside of their community). Using latent class analysis (LCA), we identified five subgroups of late-life challenges to aging in place: multifaceted challenges, cost of living, independence, social connection, no concern. Findings from LCA with a distal outcome showed that older adults with multifaceted challenges (b=0.77, p&lt;.001), were more likely to move out of their community, compared to those with lower levels of challenges, even after adjusting for age, sex, education, income, and chronic diseases. Also, those with challenges regarding the cost of living (b=0.84, p&lt;.001), independence (b=0.64, p&lt;.001), and family connection (b=0.45, p&lt;.001) were more likely to expect to move out of their community. The findings highlight that older adults have different types of challenges to aging in place. Practitioners and policymakers should provide more individualized supportive services, considering the types of challenges to promote aging in place.