1. Problem Set 2
1) A country with a civilian population of 90,000 (all over age
16) has 70,000 employed and 10,000 unemployed persons. Of
the unemployed, 5,000 are frictionally unemployed and another
3,000 are structurally unemployed. On the basis of this data,
answer the following questions: (show your work for credit)
a. What is the size of the labor force?
b. What is the unemployment rate?
c. What is the natural rate of unemployment for this country?
d. Is this economy in recession or expansion? Explain.
2) Visit www.bls.gov and search through the tables on
unemployment to answer the following questions:
a. What is the current national unemployment rate for the
United States?
b. What is the current national unemployment rate for
teenagers?
c. What is the current unemployment rate for adult women?
3) Consider a country with 300 million residents, a labor force
of 150 million, and 10 million unemployed. Answer the
following questions: (show your work for credit)
a. What is the labor force participation rate?
b. What is the unemployment rate?

2. c. If 5 million of the unemployed become discouraged and stop
looking for work, what is the new unemployment rate?
d. Suppose instead that 30 million jobs are created and this
attracts 20 million new people into the labor force. What would
be the new rates for labor force participation and
unemployment?
4) In 1991, the Barenaked Ladies released their hit song “If I
had a Million Dollars.” How much money would the group need
in 2012 to have the same amount of real purchasing power in
2012? Note that the consumer price index in 1991 was 136.2
and in 2012 it was 230. Show your work for credit.
5) While rooting through the attic you discover a box of old tax
forms. You find that your grandmother made $75 working part-
time during December 1964 when the CPI was 31.3. How much
would you need to have earned in in January of 2013 to have at
least as much real income as your grandmother did in 1964? To
determine the CPI for January of 2013 you can visit the Bureau
of Labor Statistic website (www.bls.gov). Show your work for
credit.
Insert Paper Title Here**
Latin Trade (LT) is a publishing company that specializes in
business news, trends, and
market intelligence in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was
founded 20 years ago under the
name Latin Business Chronicle (LBC). LBC published its
magazine bimoInsert Paper Title Here**
Latin Trade (LT) is a publishing company that specializes in
business news, trends, and
market intelligence in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was
founded 20 years ago under the

3. name Latin Business Chronicle (LBC). LBC published its
magazine bimonthly in Spanish and
English and their target market was owners, women, and CEOs
of Fortune 500 companies in
Latin America and the Caribbean. Their business grew steadily
and with time, they added
services and events such as the BRAVO awards. In 2008, LBC
became Latin Trade Group.
In January of 2016, the company’s strategy was changed to
focus solely on the digital
environment.
C
onsequently, the events division was sold to the Council of the
Americas and
their name was shortened to Latin Trade. The new CEO,
Santiago Gutierrez, indicated that they
anticipate positive revenue growth in the years ahead.
T
hey plan to accomplish this growth in
numerous ways. The company seeks to increase the number of
digital subscriptions and enhance
their brand recognition and loyalty. Furthermore, they intend to
improve the quality of the
content in their publications by employing stronger writers.
They expect to decrease operational
cost by publishing biannually instead of bimonthly. In addition,
they resolve to increase the
number of digital products and services that complement their
current offerings. Through
sponsorships, they plan to strengthen current partnerships
throughout Latin America and the
Caribbean.
In recent years, the publishing industry has seen an inevitable
shift from print to digital.
The latter provides readers the convenience of reading anywhere
and companies welcomed the

4. cost savings. Digital publishing has also allowed companies to
expand their geographical reach
without having to incur additional expenses. While the industry
has recently experienced an nthly in Spanish
and
English and their target market was owners, women, and CEOs
of Fortune 500 companies in
Latin America and the Caribbean. Their business grew steadily
and with time, they added
services and events such as the BRAVO awards. In 2008, LBC
became Latin Trade Group.
In January of 2016, the company’s strategy was changed to
focus solely on the digital
environment.
C
onsequently, the events division was sold to the Council of the
Americas and
their name was shortened to Latin Trade. The new CEO,
Santiago Gutierrez, indicated that they
anticipate positive revenue growth in the years ahead.
T
hey plan to accomplish this growth in
numerous ways. The company seeks to increase the number of
digital subscriptions and enhance
their brand recognition and loyalty. Furthermore, they intend to
improve the quality of the
content in their publications by employing stronger writers.
They expect to decrease operational
cost by publishing biannually instead of bimonthly. In addition,
they resolve to increase the
number of digital products and services that complement their
current offerings. Through
sponsorships, they plan to strengthen current partnerships
throughout Latin America and the
Caribbean.
In recent years, the publishing industry has seen an inevitable

5. shift from print to digital.
The latter provides readers the convenience of reading anywhere
and companies welcomed the
cost savings. Digital publishing has also allowed companies to
expand their geographical reach
without having to incur additional expenses. While the industry
has recently experienced an expected decrease in
subscriptions and sales, digital publishing continues to fare
better than print
publishing.
The Client’s Charge
Latin Trade will be implementing a new digital strategy which
will effectively attract and
retain target audiences. This action will enable them to operate
at a more efficient and cost
effective level. They intend to strengthen their new digital
strategy with new complementary
products, and eventually new business models, that will
radically differentiate the company from
its competitors. LT wants to generate more value for their
audience, transform the industry, and
solidify their competitive position.
The main goals of the project which they have submitted to
Florida International
University are to: compile the main trends in the editorial/
content delivery industry; identify the
major opportunities open to them in the digital realm; select a
group of feasible products which
LT should develop to transform its industry; and determine the
cost of some of the most relevant
options. The secondary goal of the project is to devise a
practical method to measure and
anticipate the needs of the their audience.
LT has divided the new digital strategy project down into four
phases.
Phase One

6. Objective: Find the main industry trends
Deliverables: A powerpoint presentation for the executive staff,
sent at the end of phase
one, which will include:
● Digital content consumed by LT audiences
● Preferred access channels
● Main content providers
● Alternative/ new forms to provide that content
The report will display pertinent examples of ways in which
content is sent and
consumed by their target audience; it should include metrics
which accurately defines the
relevance of the trends and the examples.
Phase Two
Objective: Identify major opportunities available in the the
digital realm
Deliverables: A powerpoint presentation for the executive staff,
sent at the end of phase
two, which will include:
● Competition analysis
● Best industry­transformational options open (new products,
processes,
business models)
● Develop a vision for LT going digital (Explore potential cost
and
schedule)
● Key differentiators: requirements placed on LT and
competition gained
The report should show where the company would stand against
competitors (old and
new) under portfolio alternatives.
Phase Three
Objective: Test ideas, identify challenges, and requirements
Deliverables:
● Prioritize products to be implemented under the new digital
vision.

7. Phase Four
Objective: Fine Tuning process for the best alternatives
Deliverables:
● Comparison of each alternative
● Business Plan/Implementation Plan for
Preferred/Recommended
Alternative
Research Question
In short, the client’s charge can be summarized as follows: How
can the company expand
digitally with new products or services while improving the
quality and decreasing costs?
Competitive Landscape
The digital publishing industry is highly fragmented therefore
industry concentration is low.
Unable to effectively compete against alternative new media,
most print publishing companies
have made the transition to the digital and mobile environments
therefore competition is
continuously increasing. Due to consolidation and globalization,
niche publications are
performing better than general titles meaning companies that
are seeking to differentiate
themselves should seek a niche market and strengthen their
brand to create brand loyalty. In
addition, alternative digital products continue to grow at a
faster pace than e-zines. Since Latin
Trade focuses on Latin America and there are few, if any,
others that do, if the company creates
and implements an effective strategy, it should be able to have a
establish and sustain
competitive advantage.
Predicted Challenges
“Because a consultant commonly seeks to offer newer and more

8. progressive ideas to an
organization, the consultant's challenge is to relate to and
understand different client's needs and
their overall business agenda” (Rashkow, 2016
)
.
The FIU team is eager to meet and exceed the
client’s expectation shown in the client’s charge. While the
team is aware of potential
challenges, it is poised and ready to address them. Firstly, the
team discussed their concerns
with the lack of available information about the company and
the specific industry. Although
there is an abundance of information on digital publishing, the
information does not cover the
specific industry in the Latin American region, which is the
client’s target market. Secondly, due
to the company’s recent development of their new strategic
direction, there are still many ideas
that are in their infancy stage. The team will need to exercise
care when developing these areas,
since it is unfamiliar territory for them and the client. While
LT is adjusting the details of its
new strategy, investigating new strategies may be difficult.
Thirdly, it may be tiresome for
Santiago to provide immediate feedback to the team; as he may
be stretched thin, dealing with
the changes in the company, and settling into his new role as
CEO.
Although those challenges could pose obstacles to our
investigation, we have taken
measures to diminish the effects. For instance, because of the
lack of information, we heeded
Professor Haar’s advice and made an appointment with librarian
Sarah Hammill. Sarah was able

9. to provide us with academic websites that are more reliable than
ones we would have perhaps
found on Google.com. These sites will provide higher quality
data and more relevant content.
In regards to the new direction that LT is taking and the limited
communication from our client,
we try to maximize the limited time we have to interact by
being prepared with questions and
concerns prior to our meetings. We also plan to utilize the
various forms of communication
available when contacting our client.
Source of Primary Research
Primary resources we will use include Latin Trade’s website as
well as FIU’s library
Business Source Complete and ABI/Inform Complete databases.
Works Cited
Rashkow, C. (2016). The Greatest Challenges the Consultant
Faces.
e
Business Management
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