The Great Recession: An Affair to Remember - Assignment Example

Macro Assignments Shift of the PPC outward during World War II Production of war material such as aircraft and ships, guns and artillery pieces changed the PPC outward. Manufacturing of these materials triggered economic activities in the once sleepy towns of the U.S. Technology shift was needed for mass production of war related equipment. The United States had the opportunity of economic growth at the beginning of the war because it had idling manufacturing plants and resources caused by the Great Depression. When President Roosevelt gave the go signal for mass production of war material, the outward shift was more pronounced. 2. During the war Two years before Pearl Harbor, the United States was a neutral country, meaning it did not want to be involved in the war since the country was still recovering from the effects of the Great Depression. But after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt sought reason to enter the war. The president said that the only way to fight was to produce weapons and materials for war. This led to economic activities in the once sleepy towns of the U.S. which had been hard hit by the Great Depression (“PBS.org: War Production” par. 1). Production of war material such as aircraft and aircraft carriers, artillery pieces, tanks and hundreds of thousands of army trucks triggered the growth of the American economy. The United States manufactured more guns and ships than Europe and Japan did. The US had to shift from manufacturing agricultural products to war material (“PBS.org: War Production” par. 4). News Article Review I Title: “U.S. GDP: The Top 5 U.S. GDP Statistics and How to use Them” Date: August 28, 2014 Author: Kimberly Amadeo Page: 1 Publisher & Copyright: About.com Web Address: http://useconomy.about.com/od/grossdomesticproduct/p/US-GDP.htm Brief Summary: This is a report of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2014 which has registered at $17,311,300,000,000. GDP, the article explains, is the gross economic output of the country, which may include goods and services. GDP is an economic measure which tells whether the economy is doing fine or not good. The article also explains about nominal in relation to real GDP. Nominal GDP provides information about economic output, with some quarterly output statistics but with no inflation calculation, and is also used for U.S. debt comparison. Debt-to-GDP ratio, which has been calculated at 102%, is an important part of the nominal GDP report. On the other hand, the U.S. per capita for 2013, an economic indicator for every American in the U.S., was estimated at $52,800. Learning outcome: The article relates to GDP in relation to nominal GDP. The article clearly explains the amount of GDP the country attained for the second quarter which is more than $17 trillion, but only for the second quarter of this year. It does not only provide news about GDP but it also explains about the U.S. economic output. The health of the economy is explained further with the four GDP components that include: personal consumption expenditures (goods and services of every household); business investment (representing the goods and services of the private sector; government expenditures; and net exports (representing the dollar value, or exports minus imports) (Amadeo par. 3). Critique: The health of the economy is going upward instead of going down. Tourism Tourism is important to South Florida because it is a primary source of the state’s income and contributes to its gross domestic product (GDP). Florida has nature’s wealth, such as fine beaches and hotels that attracts local and foreign tourists. Florida is a melting pot and a strategic route of U.S. export to Latin and South America. Tourism contributes to the state’s economy, with approximately 87.3 million tourists recorded in 2011 and 67$ billion in tourism revenues. Florida is top tourist destination worldwide (“State of Florida” par. 3). Assignment #4 News Article Review II Title: “Paying Off for Consumers: How the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is Getting the Job Done” Date: July 24, 2014 Author: Rebecca Thiess Publisher & Copyright: U.S. News Web Address: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2014/07/24/four-years-after-dodd-frank-the-cfpb-is-paying-off Brief Summary of the Article: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created by the Dodd-Frank financial reform law which has the following powers: Card companies should provide funds amounting to $1.8 billion that will be used to refund consumers who had been cheated; Mortgage lenders should limit their charges and stop granting loans to borrowers who cannot afford to pay; prosecute “last dollar” scams who have been victimizing financially unstable individuals; and forming a consumer complaint database to follow “financial market trends and help consumers” (Thiess par. 1).  Which learning outcomes: Fiscal policies for supply and demand side The article relates to the learning outcomes as policies were based on the recent financial crisis and the problems of consumers who must be protected and should feel secure in the face of mounting financial scams in the market.  Critic – This policy was created to protect consumers. Economic Growth The Philippines is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with a 7% growth in the second quarter of 2014. Remittances from overseas Filipino workers have exceeded$7 billion, but many Filipinos are still leaving the country in search for jobs and a better life. Population growth is detrimental to the economy because of the increasing number of families who are hungry and unemployment is still a problem. It also has a growing young population. Technology has helped the economy. The young population are tech-savvy and tech-crazy. Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) have contributed to economic growth. Discussion Rent Control At the close of World War II, there was an artificial housing shortage although the number of housing units and people did not change. There were more people looking for housing units to live in because housing prices were very much lower than before due to the rent control. The demand was such that Americans had to bribe people to be accommodated. Because of the low prices of apartments, more people were seeking apartments, particularly young adults who wanted to live independently from their parents and also larger families who were looking for larger apartments to live in. The artificial shortage ended as soon as the rent control law was not anymore in effect. How accurate is the GDP? Gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of economic performance and the most influential indicator of social well-being. When GDP increases, employment increases, poverty goes down, and quality of life also increases. Some authors argue that GDP is an inadequate measure of social well-being, and that we lack an adequate alternative. GDP is too crudely connected to things that we should care about (Sunstein 1304). Conspicuous Spending Conspicuous spending refers to a consumer’s buying of expensive products not because he/she needs those products, but only to show his wealth. This kind of spending is wasting time and money (“What is conspicuous spending?” par. 1). There are really people who act like this one. Is the President to take the blame or credit for the status of the economy? The Great Recession happened in 2007 up to 2009 and the president of the United States had little power to bring it back on its right course. Americans borrowed more through home mortgages until it could not be sustained, and so the debt burden started to be unbearable in December 2007. Financial institutions panicked and withdrew funds from one another. The panic was then controlled when monetary and fiscal authorities issued emergency measures. The banking crises became a long one (Coy par. 8). Can stagflation happen again? Stagflation is a state of the economy wherein there is high unemployment and the prices of prime commodities are high and also inflation. Stagflation will happen again because we are not in control of the economic situation. There are many factors that are out of our control. In the 1970s, oil prices went up, triggering inflation and high prices of primary commodities. The banking sector during the 2007 to 2009 financial crisis was affected. We can conclude then that stagflation will happen again in the future. Economic growth and productivity Economic growth and productivity can be attained if the means for production are provided and are at easy reach. Take for example, agriculture. Around the world, women are mostly enjoyed in the agriculture sector. But these women cannot produce the food we need because they do not have enough access to the requirements for good agriculture, such as “land, seeds, water, credit and markets” (“U.S. Department of State: Women and Agriculture: A Conversation on Improving Food Security” par. 4). We have to provide the agriculture needs so that there will be increase in production and more people would be saved from poverty and lack of food. Works Cited Amadeo, Kimberly. U.S. GDP: The Top 5 U.S. GDP Statistics and How to use Them. 28 Aug. 2014. Web. 17 Sep. 2014. . Coy, Peter. The Great Recession: An ‘Affair’ to Remember. 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 25 Sep. 2014. . PBS.org: War Production 2007. Web. 17 Sep. 2014. . State of Florida: Facts about Florida 2014. Web. 21 Sep. 2014. . Sunstein, Cass. “Well-being and the State.” Harvard Law Review.107:1 (1994): 1303-1327. EBSCOHOST. Web. 19 Sep. 2014. Thiess, Rebecca. Paying Off for Consumers: How the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is Getting the Job done. 24 Jul. 2014. Web. 21 Sept 2014. . U.S. Department of State: Women and Agriculture: A Conversation on Improving Food Security 2011. Web. 25 Sep. 2014. . What is conspicuous spending. n.d. Web. 19 Sep. 2014. . Read More