Is Europe becoming more economically secure than the US?

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/15/news/economy/europe-gdp/index.html?iid=SF_E_LN
The article, "Pinch me! Europe grew faster than the US" was written on May 15, 2014 by Mark Thompson.

For the first time in years, European economic growth has become greater than the United States'. It looks as if they have been steadily improving over the past few years, as the US has been fluctuating greatly.



The United States blames its bad weather conditions for the downfall this year, but personally, I believe that the economy has just gone south. Meanwhile, Europe prospered from the snowy weather the Us has. They are rising out of a recession at a slow and steady rate. But then again, slow and steady wins the race in the long run.

What does this mean? This means that the economy is doing very poorly if Europe is ahead of us. We have a lot of work to do if we wish to push ahead and improve ourselves. Also, Europe is doing very well for itself. From viewing the graph above, it looks as if European nations have a good thing going for them and they should keep on doing what they are doing. The US, on the other hand, needs to change its plan of attack and think of more ways for us to economically secure. We need to allow the country to pay off our debts before we can finally truly begin to rise again.

Workers Demand More Everywhere

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/07/news/companies/fast-food-worker-strikes-150-cities/index.html?iid=s_mpm
On May 7, 2014, the article "Fast food worker strikes planned in 150 cities" was written by Patrick M. Sheridan.

More and more fast-food workers are planning to strike on May 15, 2014 all across America and this movement is starting to spread over seas to other countries as well. These strikes are due to workers wanting higher wages and for their rights to be respected. The strike started on Wednesday in NYC at a McDonald's where workers tried to deliver a letter asking for these demands. When security would not take the letter, the strikers posted it on McDonald's front door where it was removed soon afterwards.

This movement has been going on for 2 years and has spread to more than 100 cities, such as Chicago, Boston, Memphis, etc. Currently, some of these strikes are working and made workers are getting exactly what they have demanded. Workers from all over are demanding to be payed a minimum wage of $15 an hour and be allowed to form unions without retaliation. Currently, the minimum wage for the country is $9 an hour. This is about $18,500 a year. This is less than Census Bureau's poverty income level of a family of four.

Raising minimum wage and keeping it the safe can both good and bad for the economy in my perspective. By paying more, owners are less likely to have as many employees as they won't be able to afford all of them. This will result in more people losing their jobs and not being able to afford their necessities. This lowers the standard of living and increases the overall poverty rate. On the other hand, people are already suffering from the previously stated reasons due to not being payed enough, even though they are working long hours. Overall, I believe that it is better for more to succeed and be paid more, than allow the whole economy to suffer in the long run. I believe that this article truly shows what the economy is going through right now and it shows how big of a problem our low minimum wage is now.

Are you spending too much in Rent????

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/01/real_estate/rent-spending/index.html?iid=A_E_News
The article, One in three Americans are spending too much much on rent, by Les Christie was posted on May 1, 2014

The article is about how about 1/3 of our population in the United States is now becoming very poor because of their rent. People pay more than 30% of their monthly median income on their households. In some areas, it can be as high as up to 66% of their income. This allows America to be the home to some of the poorest communities in the world. Many are afraid of being foreclosed and have gone into renting houses, this has made a huge demand for rental housing. Causing homeowners to flourish and renters to lose their money.
This is very bad for the economy as it is making many go bankrupt and also, some are having to leave their homes because of this. Also, many are having to not buy their necessities as they have no more money after their rents. This is making the economy go down very very rapidly, leaving homeowners and renters in two very different positions. Homeowners are exploiting the renters daily and soon the only people with money are going to be the homeowners. This needs to be stopped immediately before this effects the US even more than it has. If we don't stop it soon, many are going to be finding themselves homeless and without money to provide them shelter.

Business Structures and Economic Indicators

This week in personal finance, we learned about business structures and economic indicators. To measure economic activity, one must measure the country's GDP. It is the market value of all final goods and services produced within a given period. To be included within a good or service, it must be a final good, be PRODUCED during the time period, and be produced within a NATION’s borders. We calculate GDP by the formula, C + I + G + X = GDP. C stands for consumption by consumers. I stands for investment by businesses. G stands for government spending. Lastly, X stands for net exports. GDP shows us how well a country's economy is doing. Other things that we must take into consideration are standard of living, the unemployment rate, the rate of inflation, the consumer price index, and the national debt. Another thing we learned this week was the business cycle. It consists of prosperity, recession, depression, and recovery. It is about how businesses thrive, slow down, have a downfall, and start to go back up again. We also learned about business structures. There are sole proprietorships, corporations, and partnerships. These different structures act in different ways and effect the way that businesses run all around the world. Overall, this week was very busy and we learned so many different things. We mostly got to understand how the economy runs and how we can calculate it. Overall, it was a very fun experience, especially, when we played the studying game.

iPhone becoming cheaper by the minute!

http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/05/technology/mobile/walmart-iphone-price-cut/index.html?iid=obinsite
Written by James O'Toole on March 5, 2014

Wall-Mart started slashing prices on smart-phones last month. They cutting the prices on Samsung Galaxy S4 and for Apple's 16-gig iPhone 5s and 5c, for costumers signing two-year contracts with AT&T and Verizon. Almost all contracts are down in their prices and new phone devices are also being released soon!!! These sales show that the smartphone market is reaching saturation. It is becoming harder and harder for new products to create the success they had previously. According to Asymco Industry analyst Horace Dediu, the adoption of smart phones will taper off in late 2015.

The article is very relevant to what we have been learning in class and to the economy at its current point. It shows how more people are starting to veer off from the cell-phone track and that they are becoming more cheap. Sales are increasing consumer buying and it's very productive for the consumers and producers. However, it has become harder and harder for them to enter into market as products are not having the same about as success as before. Overall, this post shows how the economy is improving things mostly for the consumers as they are shorting prices and making things cheaper; however, companies are finding it harder and harder to make a better success.

Supply and Stuff

                      This week in Economics, we learned about Supply. It is the willingness and ability of producers to offer goods and services for sale. We were taught about the law of supply as well, along with supply schedules and graphs. Making a supply schedule is a lot of hard work!! You have to calculate marginal cost, marginal revenue, total cost, total revenue, and so much more! It can be very tricky if you aren't paying attention! I got lost once or twice. Supply is very much like demand, so it was pretty easy to understand the concept. There was even 6 factors that change supply, like demand did. They are: technology, producer expectations, number of producers, input costs, labor productivity, and government actions. Also, our awesome teacher allowed for us to be producers of scooters in order for us to learn about supply!! That was the best part of this week's class. My group made "The Rock." It is an awesome vehicle that can do pretty much anything. I want it so badly!!!! You should get it ;) Then we learned about supply by making graphs and schedules for this. It was very helpful! I hope we do something this simple and interesting again! Overall, this is really helpful and has given me insight to the complexity of businesses and how they work.

The Demand for Demand this week

This week in class we learned about the elasticity of demand. It can be very challenging to understand and learn about if you cannot comprehend the basic principles of math. Elasticity of demand describes how responsive consumers are to price changes in the marketplace. There are two types of elasticity. There is elastic and inelastic. Elastic is a change in price with a relatively large change in quantity demanded, like TVs. Inelastic is a small change and a smaller quantity demanded, like Insulin. Sometimes even if the price is lower, the demand for it does not change. It is a relatively simple principle if you remember the names. Now here comes the hard part, MATH!!!! To calculate elasticity of demand, you will always work in percentages and use absolute value. If your result is greater than one, demand is elastic. If it is less than 1, it is inelastic. Pretty simple, right? Now the formula you use is the change in quantity over the change in price. By using this, you will be able to tell whether something changed over time due to price or not. It can be very helpful and is used to help businesses all over the world!!!

Super Special Awesome Suits

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/05/tech/innovation/mma-armor-lorica/index.html?hpt=te_t1

"Batman meets Iron Man in this high-tech armor" by Doug Gross on March 4, 2014

Have you ever wanted to be a superhero like Batman or Iron Man? Well now you can! Australia has created a suit of armor called the Lorica. It is a high-tech suit made from a blend of lightweight, flexible materials and comes with Wifi and Bluetooth connectivity, a POV camera, a microphone, and 52 pressure sensors that can send data to an external computer program. The suit was made to allow people, mostly only martial artists, to compete. They have practiced for many years and this is a way to test their skills without seriously injuring someone. The sensors on the suit transmit data about the fight, describing the force/power of blows and whatnot. This allows for them to understand fighting and the type of damage and it can cause. Many are excited about this, including myself! Also, it will soon be a public event to watch as well in perhaps as soon as late this year. As the company said,

"You look at the popularity of combat sports in video games -- the public loves seeing people fight with weapons...We can throw a Samurai master against a Chinese Shaolin staff master and see who comes out on top."

If that is not cool enough, one of the developers is an armorer who helped build more than 2,500 suits in the "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" movies!! Besides the suits coming to the public, it is also going to the military and for law-enforcement uses in a training environment. This is a huge deal!!! It will effect the economy dramatically. It will change the way that people see everything in the world. It is improving our technology and allowing for this high-tech to become close to us in our lives. My view on this topic is that this will expand the economy and bring up the demand in the market. Many people are willing to buy these suits and this will affect the market. This armor will allow for safer and more scientific discoveries. People will be able to gain new experiences and improve the world for the better. This will affect other economies in the future and gain more new enterprises. More income will come and this money is not being wasted on building these suits. They will help others in need and allow for the world to gain further knowledge. Overall, these suits are super special awesome and YOU NEED IT.... NOW! IT IS FOR THE GREATER GOOD!

Arizona's Discrimination will be their Downfall

The article I read was "Veto follows business backlash over Arizona anti-gay bill" by Blake Ellis and it was published on February 26, 2014.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/25/news/economy/arizona-anti-gay-bill/index.html?iid=H_BN_News

Upon reading the article, i was outraged to find that Arizona had issued a bill that would allow retailers to refuse service to any LGBT. The article showed how many Arizonians are also shocked by this announcement. Governor Brewer of Arizona says that she has not found any discrimination from the bill; however, people say otherwise. 

"When the legislature passes bills like this, it creates a reputation that Arizona is judgmental and unwelcoming," states a letter that more than 80 businesses sent to Gov. Brewer on Monday. "This will haunt our business community for decades to come." 

This could not be more true. Many feel that Arizona's discrimination has gone to far. Many businesses are refusing to work with Arizona, stating it would make their own reputations bad. It is conflicting with workers inside the state as well, who offer diversity in the workplace. Arizona is just recovering from the recession and this bill is making their economy suffer more and more. Many people,even including the Super Bowl Committee and Major League Baseball, has said that they will not work in or with Arizona until their veto this bill. 

My opinion is that Arizona needs to veto this bill. It is an insult to human dignity. They are allowing for discrimination to LGBT and not allowing them their basic human rights. It is not fair at all and people need to stop this injustice now. By having this bill, they are destroying their economy as well. No one wants to work with Arizona and be associated with them. I don't blame them. Arizona needs to get it together and fix their issues with people. They are hurting themselves and their economy. If no one wants to work in Arizona, then they will lose business and consumers. Their income will decline significantly. Overall, this bill is a shock and needs to be stopped.

Did Someone Say Chocolate????

http://economy.money.cnn.com/2014/02/13/chocolate-making-jobs-on-the-decline/

On 13 February 2014, Annalyn Kurtz wrote the article "Chocolate-making jobs on the decline." As the title clearly states, it described how there are fewer jobs in the chocolate-making business. Over the past 20 years, there has been a decrease in jobs. In 1990, about 54,000 Americans worked in this industry. Now there are only 38,000 left. Now, Americans consume about 5.5 pounds of cocoa beans a year still. So why are jobs decreasing if there is still more chocolate to be made??? Well, the answer to that question is that technology is eliminating jobs and producers are shifting work overseas. "Producers from Hershey to Nestlé to Mars, are increasingly relying on computers and robotics to create products more efficiently – they're relying less on physical labor," said Hester Jeon, an IBISWorld analyst who specializes in covering food retailers and producers. In fact in 2012, Hershey's invested $300 million in technology that would work for 24 hours straight. A highly automatized production line in one of its Pennsylvania facilities can make 70 million Hershey's Kisses a day. The company said it trained 700 employees to work with the new high-tech machinery. Now you may say, "Well they are giving some job opportunities still." But you would be wrong. Jobs are going abroad as well, making those back home lose their jobs. "When Hershey's closed down an Oakdale, Calif., facility in 2008, it moved production to a facility in Mexico. An estimated 600 Americans lost their jobs." 

I believe that people are depending too much on machines to do the work and this is one of the major causes of unemployment. We are slowly getting rid of one of the factors of production: labor. We replace it everyday in some way and soon humans will not even be needed anymore. This article is a perfect example of that, people need to allow others to work. Technology is good for improvement and can speed up production; however, if it is resulting in people losing their jobs, then it must be stopped. The economy will be effected good and bad by this. Good as it will speed along production and bad as it is resulting more in unemployment. Overall, we need to find a solution to comprehend this problem before it can get out of hand. 

Introducing the Apple TV

http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/13/technology/apple-tv/index.html?source=cnn_bin

How to fix the Apple TV. That is the name of the article written by Adrian Covert on February 13, 2014. This article was about how Apple wants to expand its horizons and try to "take over the living room." They are interested in creating smart TVs, which would let them take over, dominantly, almost every technological market in the economy. They want to improve how users watch TV; however, every company that has done this has ultimately failed. Apple has not achieved their goal yet of dominating the market because of the fact that many already have HDTVs and that Apple is mostly good at music, not TV. They are two separate things completely and Apple is not going to be very successful.

In my opinion, Apple is a very strong and prosperous company. Many said that people would not buy Apple computers because they already owned a decent one; however, almost everyone nowadays has an Apple laptop. People will always be interested in the next top invention and with Apple being such a popular and well-known company, it's TVs will surely be welcomed into the market. There will still be more competition though and it is not known for certain whether Apple will make a good enough TV to begin with. Other businesses will be effected to if Apple does succeed. Apple will dominant everything really and there will not be that much competition anymore. Overall, I do believe that Apple can expand its horizons; however, it might damage the economy by doing so.

Reflecting On The Lives Of Adam Smith And Karl Marx

This week in my personal finance and economics class, we learned about Adam Smith and Karl Marx and their ideas on economics. We made a dialogue in our class with a partner in which we had to learn about these men and act out how we think they act if they ever meet and discuss their viewpoints on the world's differing economies. Now, Adam Smith and Karl Marx were two completely different men with completely different ideas; however, they both are the same in the way that they changed economics forever. Adam Smith believed in a free market economy and that people should follow their own self-interests. People are free to do what they want and can make their own choices. Karl Marx on the other hand believed in communism or a command market economy. In this economy, the government runs most of the businesses and everyone is equal and forced to have the same standing. This being said, during our differing dialogues in class, we described and came up with ideas that could be used in order to make our local town, Weserville, thrive. Almost everyone agreed that a mixed economy featuring Adam Smith's and Karl Marx's ideas would be needed for it to thrive.

My view on this topic is that it was very insightful in retrospect. Personally, it allowed me to understand a bit more on the differing economies and I was able to understand what type of economy Weserville would need in order to thrive and raise itself up into popularity. Overall, I believe that a mixed economy is the best economy that can be found in any place. I have learned this week that the best economies are not simply directed at one idea, but at a multitude. In order to make a difference, people must change and allow certain aspects to change as well. Command economies are generally seen as bad, but the government running public services can be seen as good! Also, a free market economy gives everyone the freedom to go after their own self-interests and not be held down. A mixed economy is the way to go in everything and I hope that Weserville decides to create one in the end.

I believe this topic can relate to what we are learning continuously in class as economies control the way a nation acts. The class is based upon life problems and the living in the world around the nation's economy. In the end of the day, by learning more about the economy, we can discover more about the way that we are currently living in the US and more about how we can change the world. Our economy effects everything and that is why this subject is so crucial. Everything else in class will be effected by out economy. Also, in the end, we get to understand how important the economy truly is and how much it impacts us.

Hullo Big Nose

Hello Camille. Lovely day isn't it? I find it splendiferous!