Income Gap in the U.S. Workers rights vs. Corporate Rights - Research Paper Example

Economics Assignment Questions Question How is Money created in the U.S.? Money in the U.S. is used as a medium of exchange among many other uses that enable transactions in the U.S. concerning exchange of goods and services. The creation and supply of the U.S. Dollar is controlled by the Federal Reserve with the help of other national banks that include the Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase Bank among others. While the supply of the Dollar is regulated by the Federal Reserve, the national banks create money by loaning them out to other borrowers who end up paying with interest.

However, the national banks do not lend out all money as some of the money is reserved with the total reserved being kept by the Federal Reserve. As noted by Winkler’s notes on money creation (5), “DOLLARS ARE CREATED PRIVATELY AS LOANS BY BANKERS WHO ARE PART OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE”. Question 2: Workers’ rights vs. Corporate Rights Employees are some of the best resources that an organization could be endowed with because they determine the performance of the firm to a large extent as compared to any other inputs.

The rights of employees are many and they are embedded in company policies. For effective performance, employees must be given their rights, which leave them motivated. McIntyre argues that there are many rights of employees (102). To begin with, employees are entitled to the best working environment. The working environment entails the conditions at work. For instance, the place of work should not hinder any employee form performing their duties. In addition, the environment should be encouraging to the kind of work done by the employee.

A bad working environment could be illustrated by intimidation by the management. The federal government has always stood for the rights of the employees. This can be clearly indicated by the establishment of the ILO noted by McIntyre who said, “PRESIDENT CLINTON FAILED TO PERSUADE THE SEATTLE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) MEETING TO APPROVE A PANEL ON WORKER RIGHTS AND LABOR STANDARDS, HE SIGNED INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION (ILO) CONVENTION NO. 182 ON THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR” (103).

Therefore, the interests of many employers in the U.S. that are represented by the Council for International Business were curtailed by the ratification of the ILO convention. Concerning corporate rights, employers have a right to sue and the rights of employers are just like those of an individual. In addition to the rights to sue, corporations have some reserved corporate rights granted to them under the common law and the constitution of the U.S. However, the constitution does not grant firms to have similar rights as citizens and the two are not equal in terms of rights.

For instance, the case of Dartmouth College v. Woodward that arose when the board of trustees ousted the president of the college is a good example. In the case, the state of New Hampshire tried publicizing the college and the governor being awarded powers to appoint the board of trustees due to the new powers. However, it was held that the college was independent to govern itself and acquire its own property (Winkler, “Glossary of Terms” 8). Question 3: Income Gap in the U.S. The gap in the income as defined by Winkler in the Glossary of Terms is the differences exhibited in the incomes earned by the different participants in an economy (8).

This means that not all participants get equal income since there are some that get high incomes while others low. The income gap is often presented in as a percentage of the total population in a country. According to Winkler (6), the inequality of income as measured by the Gini coefficient in the U.S. has been on the increase over time and it is higher than any other developed country across the globe. He further argues that though simple to express the level of inequality in the U.S., its causes could be attributed to various factors.

To begin with, globalization and advance in technology can simultaneously be used to explain the increasing inequality. While the skilled high class earn more based on technological change, the unskilled low class earn less and have lost membership to their unions. The real after tax income in the U.S. top 1% households has increased 275% since 1979 to 2007. The income for the remaining top quintile grew by 65% over the same period while the middle class’s income increased by only 37% over the same period.

However, the bottom quintile experienced little growth that stood at 18% only and is shown in this figure below. In addition to income, the top management represented by the CEOs earned 20 times more than the normal worker in 1965. However, they currently earn 383 times more than the normal employees. The level of income as a percent of the national income earned by the top 20% of the U.S. population rose from 42.6% to 50.2% in 2010. While the middle income saw its share decline from 53.2% to 46.

5%, the Gini coefficient increased from 0.316 in the mid 1970s to 0.378 in the late 2000s. In comparison to other countries, the U.S. has a higher income gap. For instance, France and Germany have a more equal level of income as compared to the U.S. with the two countries’ Gini coefficients being slightly over 30. For the case of the United Kingdom, though the Gini values are as high as 35, the level of inequality is less than that of the U.S (Kelly 35). Works Cited Kelly, Marjorie. The Divine rights of Capital: Dethroning the Capital Aristocracy.

San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 2003. Print. McIntyre, Richard. “The United States and Core Worker Rights” in McIntyre, Are Workers’ Rights Human Rights.” 2008. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Winkler, Philippa. Notes on Money Creation: Some Arresting Facts. Webster University. 2013. Winkler, Philippa. Glossary of Terms. Bretton Woods Institutions. 2009. Print. Appendix Final Paper Topic: Impact of IT Outsourcing and Off-shoring on Companies Emergence of web 2.0 paradigm opened windows for Information Technology (IT) business outsourcing and off-shoring (Garner, 2004).

Outsourcing has developed mainly due to changes in the market and industry conditions. There has been a common boost in outsourcing of information processes within business cycles. The needs and expectations of customers in different markets are becoming more specific and highly demanding on businesses. This increase is a result of the need to constantly generate value and develop competitive advantage. This has led to a general appreciation of outsourcing as a cost cutting mechanism and strategy to ensure professionalism in delivery of products and services (Jae-Nam, 2008).

Gibb and Buchanan, (2006) claim that IT outsourcing involves organization outsourcing of computer based tasks or internet based tasks to an external company or consultant. Companies commonly outsource IT tasks like programming and software development. Yeaple (2006) advanced the argument that IT outsourcing is a subset of business process outsourcing (BPO) that involves outsourcing of organizational tasks that need less technical skills. an organization outsources for a variety of reasons for instance lack of adequate technical and human resources, lack of enough resources to support implementation of a functional IT department or need to reduce costs and maximize on marginal revenue (Adeleye, Annansingh, & Nunes, 2004).

Doh (2005) argues that IT outsourcing increases organizational flexibility through increasing lead times, throughput and turnaround times that reflects positively on business processes. IT outsourcing is dependent on efficiency of organizational supply chain management (SCM).