Document Analyses - Case Study Example

Document Analysis First Document Income-Inequality Gap Widens Boom in Financial Markets Parallels Rise in Share For Wealthiest Americans Purpose, context and audience The purpose of the document is to convey the readers about the rising inequality in income in the United States in the context of boom in the financial markets. The author conveys that the rich Americans shares the majority of the national income due to bullish markets that has however created anxiety among American workers. This is to convince the audience that the rise in income share of wealthy people is purely due to the better performance of the financial market which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has not taken into account while calculating the income of the one percent rich Americans who share 21.2 percent of the national income. Type of genre, brief description of the content, topic and main points The genre of the document is economics, whereby the economic performance of the nation is related to the financial gains and income of people from all walks of life. The content aims to define the reason for inequality in income by referring to the technological advancement that favors the skilled population, globalization and advancement in communication that gives better rewards to super performers in sports, business and entertainment. The topic of the writing is an Analysis of the income earned by the rich and the poor and the source of income of the wealthiest few. The main points are the comparative increase in the income of the rich while there is a comparative decrease in the income of the poor. The influence of stock market performance is given importance while discussing the income and the role of the IRS in not considering the gross income of the economically poor and income from volatile sources for the wealthy. The author has argued the topic by including a political viewpoint by quoting the comments of the then President Bush on income inequality who claimed that inequality in income is a longstanding phenomenon in the economy and that it is due to the skill gap which is being solved by providing better education through policies such as No Child Left Behind. Style and tone The document is written in a formal language with examples to analyze and support the context. There are no jargons in the document but there are certain terminologies to refer to a set of individuals in a group of wealthy earnings. Logic / Ethos / pathos The writer has strictly adhered to logic to analyze the reason for inequality and the steps to be adopted to rectify such an income gap. There is no emotional factor in the writing and this adds to the credibility of the author which has been reinstated through various references to research conducted by individuals, institutions and experts. Sections, special formats, charts / graphs The document does not have specific side headings but the article is well organized with an introduction, data from IRS, political analysis, research from various sources and a conclusion. The article is supported by a graph including details from IRS. Development of Ideas The author has first described about the income inequality issue, and then the author has analyzed certain statistics over the years to prove the claim. Inequalities are analyzed by referring to the increase and decrease in income percent of people from various strata of the economy and compared it to previous years. The inequality factor is analyzed on the basis of stock market performances. The cause and effect factor is explained on the basis of technological advancement, globalization and communication and has also attributed the decrease in income to the lack of skill among people. Second Document The temptation of dollar seigniorage Purpose, context and audience The purpose of the article is to create awareness about the negative outcomes of seigniorage in the United States. The article is written in the context of the economic crisis and the worsening national budget deficit position of the United States in spite of offering a stimulus package worth US$825 billion. The author has written for an audience associated with financial markets, financial investments and experts in economics to detail about seigniorage and how the related finance process can instill lack of confidence among investors especially the U.S. based mortgage guarantors. Type of genre, brief description of the content, topic and main points The genre of the article is economics with particular emphasis to the financial crisis that has taken place in the recent past and a caution to avoid the recurrence of such a crisis if the U.S. currency hegemony is not under control. The author details about the negative sides of seigniorage, which the U.S. government has been following to retain the value of its currency being a globally accepted currency (international settlement currency). The author points out that the use of funds to rescue collapsing companies in the US economy from debt obligations is growing and becoming enormous by the day despite printing US dollar bills through a process called seigniorage. Seigniorage actually saves the national interest of the US. Seigniorage is of advantage if US dollar bills circulated around the world gain the confidence of investors by considering the dollar value to be stable. Seigniorage is of advantage for the US to settle its trade imbalance by using US dollar bills to correct current account deficit enabling the government to continue with expansionary fiscal and monetary policy even during ballooning debts. The author points out that the US government has failed to properly utilize seigniorage to control money supply when it was aware of the role of central bank. Proper management of money supply would have prevented the global melt down. Style and tone The document is written in an informal style with casual reference to authors and their viewpoint about the subject. The author has used the terminology ‘Seigniorage’ to describe a situation in the economy. Logic / Ethos / pathos The document defines the word seigniorage and its specific context to the US economy. The article continues to explain its affect on global investors and the negative outcomes if it failed to impress investors. The author is emotional in his writing. It is evident because the writer wants to secure his national economic condition and does not wish to become a victim of America’s seigniorage. Credibility of the document is vague. The document would attract mixed response from the audience based on whether the reader is a supporter or non-supporter of American seigniorage. The document does not clearly convince the reader about the negative outcomes of seigniorage. Sections, special formats, charts / graphs The author has referred to other authors of economics to define seigniorage but there is no flow / format to the writing. There are no graphs to depict the claim. Development of Ideas The ideas are self developed, since there are no examples other than the reference to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. There is no comparison, process analysis or a clear cause and effect example to point out the negative outcomes of seigniorage. The document has a general indication of the disadvantages of seigniorage and the possibility that if it failed to impress investors around the world there is a chance for another financial crisis. Works Cited Greg, IP. Income-Inequality Gap Widens. Boom in Financial Markets Parallels Rise in Share For Wealthiest Americans 2007 Available: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119215822413557069.html. Accessed on July 20, 2010 Takahashi, Kosuke. The temptation of dollar seigniorage 2009 Available: http://news.kontentkonsult.com/2009/01/temptation-of-dollar-seigniorage-by.html. Accessed on July 20, 2010 Read More