There are many things that are fundamentally wrong with the U.S. economy. In fact, warning signs are everywhere. Politicians are more concerned about elections than addressing the real issues. Voters are more concerned about whether gay people should be allowed to marry, rather than fixing the problems that affect all of us. All the while, the economy is diving further and further into its despair. One of America’s largest problems is the ever growing mountain of federal debt. Investors say that in some cases, debt can be a tool to make money. However, critics claim the United States has used its debt improperly. Politicians have claimed that the budget deficit is decreasing. However, history is showing us an entirely different story. The Treasury Department’s figures show the total outstanding debt on September 30th 2001 was almost six trillion. Ten years later, the debt has increased to almost nine trillion dollars. That is an overwhelming increase of over three trillion dollars. This country has also seen an explosion of debt at the household level. Some people have suggested that our higher standard of living is actually because of debt, rather than from higher wages. The American dream has become ‘borrow money, spend money, and hope to repay tomorrow.’ In fact, the average American worker’s wages have been stagnant for the last six years. Their paychecks reflect a simple increase of only ten dollars per week, after consumer inflation has been taken into account. On top of this, American’s save significantly less than in yester-years. All it takes is one hard hitting financial crisis, and the average American family is in a lot of trouble. The trade deficit is also a growing concern. As a nation, we consume far more ... ... middle of paper ... ...ther to fix the debt crisis, at both the federal and the household level. And, Americans should be taught how to save their money when times are good. And for goodness sake, let’s not borrow money for everything! Works Cited • Barnett, Tracy. “The 5 fundamental problems of the US economy.” The Agonist (2011): 1-3. 12-20-2011 . • Carnia, Catalina. “Romney defends record, jabs Obama on economy” USA Today (2011) 1-3. 12.20.2011. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/12/mitt-romney-fox-news-sunday-barack-obama-/1 • The editorial staff, Economicshelp.org (2008) Tuesday, January 15, 2008 http://econ.economicshelp.org/2008/01/what-went-wrong-with-us-economy.html • Wolf, Richard. USA TODAY (10/28/2011) http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/story/2011-10-27/eurozone-crisis-deal/50963370/1
This deficit has to do with having responsible leader who are willing to increase awareness and make beneficial changes in the nation. In my opinion, the federal debt is a serious threat to the US that must be politically address whenever possible. I believe that the candidates of the 2016 presidential election should make this issue one of the top priorities to discuss and to dictate a considerable amount of work to fix it. That is because the worse the federal debt is, the worse the future would be to the nation. Also, voters must be well educated about this issue in order to shape their decision in voting for the candidate that seems most powerful and confident about this problem. Solving this problem may be difficult and would take time and so much effort. Therefore, the changes and solution must be on both a national and individual levels as
I suggest that the Social Security system be amended to include benefits for self-employed farmers and disabled workers. While there is much work to be done on economic policy domestically, the foreign policy must be dealt with as well. One of the most important aspects of foreign economic policy is that of trade. There are different ways for a government to legislate trade. It can be done from a protectionist position or from a more free trade position.
manufacturing have been vanishing at a fast rate and unemployment percent is on the rise, but
December 2000. 12. What is the difference between a.. “United States Economy.” The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition. Columbia University Press, 2001.
In David Wallenchinsky’s Article “Is the American Dream still possible?” he surveyed more than 2,200 Americans and 84% of them described themselves as middle class citizens. Wallenchinsky states,“ But many average Americans are struggling- squeezed by rising costs, declining wages, credit card debt and diminished benefits.” For some the American Dream is just being happy and being able to live comfortably but, now who would want to live their life struggling to pay their bills and be stressful? Most of the middle class citizens are living like this. Back then living in America wasn’t as difficult as it is now, everything was affordable, but now with the rise in minimum wages everything else goes up. Taxes go up, prices for things go up, it is a never ending cycle. Now trying to get a job even with a college degree is very hard to
Since being founded, America became a capitalist society. Being a capitalist society obtains luxurious benefits and rather harsh consequences if gone bad. In a capitalist society people must buy products and spend money to keep the economy balanced, but once those people stop spending money, the economy goes off balance and the nation enters a recession. Once a recession drastically takes a downturn, the nation enters what is known as a depression. In 2008 America entered a recession and its consequences were severe enough for some people, such as President Barack Obama, to compare the recent crisis to the world’s darkest economic depression in history, the Great Depression. Although the Great Depression and the Great Recession of 2008 hold similarities and differences between the stock market and government spending, political issues, lifestyle changes, and wealth distribution, the Great Depression proved far more detrimental consequences than the Recession.
Between January 2008 and February 2010, employment fell by 8.8 million, the largest decline in American history. The 2008 Recession, which officially lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, began with the bursting of an 8 trillion dollar housing bubble. Job losses during the recession meant that family incomes dropped, poverty rose, and people all over the country were suffering. Things like this don’t just happen. Policy changes incorporated with the economy are often a major factor. In this case, all roads lead to one major problem: Deregulation. Deregulation originating from the Carter and Regan Administrations, combined with a decrease in consumer spending, and the subprime mortgage bubble all led up to the major recession of 2008.
U.S Federal Deficit and Debts:Understanding the history and context. (2011, November 1). Utah Foundation. Retrieved January 25, 2014, from http://www.utahfoundation.org/img/pdfs/rr7
Businesses and families borrow money to start up their business, to run their households and this amount has risen dramatically over the last two decades. According to John Miller, “in 1990 the household debt owed by families was 60.2% which has increased in 2010 to 92.5% and the total debt of businesses in 1980 was 53% whereas in 2010 it jumped to 74.3%” (2011, p. 36) Another words our budgets are not any more balanced than our governments without borrowing. Our government has borrowed and put money into our economy in order to try and give our economy a boost into the right direction. Miller states, “In 2008, the U.S. government spent $253.8 billion on expenditures that will boost the productivity of the economy and help to provide the tax revenue to service our national debt” (2011, p. 37) Our high school seniors need to be taught the appropriate times when to spend money and when they should invest to boost their future.
In the October 10, 2011 issue of Time, there is a feature called “The Great American Divide” that reports on money: who has it, who is spending it on what, and how as a country Americans feel about it. This feature also reports something troubling, how the gap between rich and poor is once again growing wide (Sachs, 2011). Shifts in spending, shifts in money control, and a struggle with how to deal with the great money crisis America and Europe face are all discussed in this feature. This feature pulls together how GDP, unemployment rates, consumer consumption, and pricing affect this era of volatility and the shrinking middle class (Foroohar, 2011). This feature also reflects on inflation, economic growth, political stability in emerging markets and taxes play in as well. The answer to solving this imbalance of wealth and the struggling economy may be found by government action, but will it be too late?
" The US Economy. N.p., 31 Oct. 2012. Web. The Web. The Web.
"Burnham, Daniel Hudson." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. 1999. Retrieved April 10, 2011 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3406400128.html
First off the United States economy, in general, needs to improve. Economy is like a domino effect, and now it is hitting the housing industry. Our unemployment rate is up to about 10%. Banks are not prospering like in the past. Tons of Americans are in debt; by the end of 2008 Americans reached a $972.73 billion debt due to credit cards.
In the late 2000s, the World suffered from a big global economic crisis which caused “the largest and sharpest drop in global economic activity of the modern era”, in which “most major developed economies find themselves in a deep recession”, according to McKibbin and Stoeckel (1). Because its consequences have a very big impact to the whole world, many economists and scientist have tried to find the causes of the crisis; and some major causes have been emphasized are greed, the defection of the free market system, and the lack of prudent regulation and supervision. This essay will focus on the global imbalances, one of the most important causes of the current economic crisis.