The Government Can Control the Economy

http://search.proquest.com/docview/507896696/139EBD69B4F5D04AF2B/2?accountid=6222

The government actually does have a lot of control over the economy but they need to be very careful with their intervention because things can go very wrong.  The article I will be referring to in this post gives some examples of times where governments have intervened with the economy and things have not turned out well.  The role of the government in the economy is very important not just for the government, but also for the businesses involved.  However, the argument is over the amount of influence the government should have. 

A completely free market or a laissez-faire economy means that the government has absolutely no control over the economy at all.  There has never been a completely laissez-faire economy simply because everyone knows that it would never work.  Basically, if companies were all allowed to control their competition and prices, the consumer wouldn't have a chance.  Companies would be able to take advantage of the now uninformed consumers so government regulation is clearly necessary.  So it's decided that at least some government regulation is necessary, but now the question is how much.  

This article talks a lot about Keynesian economics of which the basis is that the government needs to increase spending on public works such as building roads, schools, hospitals, etc. in order to decrease unemployment which would eventually increase the overall market activity.  The idea of this is to get people jobs with hopes that these people will add to the demand in the market and stimulate the economy.  It sounds easy enough, however, the tricky part is exactly how much to spend.  The article mentions some examples of some western economies that decided to put these Keynesian principles into action and ended up being horribly unsuccessful.  The mistake that these governments made was that they didn't give themselves any limits before hand on how much they were ultimately going to spend and they all ended up in economic depressions with an even larger gap between the rich and the poor.

I found this article on Proquest Platinum

Political Economy of Government Intervention in the Free Market System

Written by Stephen K. Aikins

The author is an assistant professor in the Department of Government and International Affairs at the University of Southern Florida so I would say he is pretty credible.  The author cites many different works in this article and the it was written in 2009 so it is still applicable.


Would a free market system actually work? 

Why shouldn't Obama be president?

Why shouldn't Obama be president?

http://theiowarepublican.com/2012/the-agonyf-an-iowa-democrat-convention/ 

Obama claims he will cut the deficit by 4 trillion dollars in a decade. Here is Obama’s plan.

Part 1: Raise corporate taxes as well as the wealthy citizen’s taxes by almost 20%.

                Part 2: Cut Medicare by 400 billion in the next ten years.

Obama has made it obvious that he will increase the taxes on the rich. But, what else is he planning on doing to our economy? It is almost impossible to find Obamas plan for the national debt online and this has to be saying something. He doesn’t know what to do!

Obama does not address the problem with social security and what is going to become of it. Our fund for social security is running low and it is predicated that it will run out by 2033. So anyone under the age of 44 have a blast working your whole life.  This should be a huge eye opener for us Americans.

Second, Obama wants to cut Medicare by 400billion dollars over the next decade. So what do you suppose we do with all the sick elderly that cannot pay to be hospitalized? Only 2% of the American citizens are wealthy, while the rest fall under the middle and poor class.  Cutting Medicare will not affect the wealthy people of America, but it will affect the middle class and especially the poor. Medications and treatments are extremely costly in today’s society.

Obama is planning to significantly raise taxes for businesses and wealthy. But, what is he going to do with that tax money if he is not going to spend in towards social security or health care for the people? Is our tax dollars going to be spent on more wars?

Sources:  
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/23/151231569/how-long-will-social-security-last
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-budget-national-debt-will-be-1-trillion-higher-in-a-decade-than-previously-forecast/2012/02/13/gIQA2Rn1AR_story_1.html

Where has YOUR tax money gone?

Where has YOUR tax money gone?

Our national debt has just passed 16 trillion dollars. The U.S government is expected to collect 2.9 trillion dollars next year in tax money. How will our government ever be able to fix the debt without taking some of our privileges  away?

Our first problem is every year our government spends almost a trillion dollars on national defense.  We spend more money than every country in the European Union combined. We owe so much money yet we don’t stop buying new bombs and tanks to protect a country that hasn’t been attacked in 10 years.

The debt cannot be fixed in a day, or even a year, it is going to take time. Instead of the government cutting programs to help the average American such as Medicare or social security we should cut our budget on national defense. In time we would make a lot more money to create lives much simpler for the American person.

What we need to understand is that our country has never not been in debt. The debt has increased a substantial amount, but it could all be solved. We do not have to eliminate the debt we are in, but we do have to lessen it.    

Our second problem as a country is war. If we ever want to fix our debt we need to stop going into war with other countries. The Iraq war totaled to over 1.5 trillion dollars. On average in one year we spent about 600,000 dollars on one soldier and now while we are in debt are spending 1.2million dollars per soldier in the afghan war. Is this necessary, who are we fighting?

Our government is fighting a war on terror while more than 10% of our country is without a job. Have you ever thought about the war on terror? What is it? The war on terror will never end, because you cannot get rid of terror.

If you were to eliminate or dramatically cut these two factors then in some time our country would become financially stable again. So, what will our government do to fix our debt?

Sources: http://nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/revenues/

Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments http://www.npr.org/2011/12/18/143916137/the-cost-of-war-in-dollars-and-lives

 

Can businesses really help?

What Can Companies Do to Help the Environment?

2020env.com

Even if businesses don't help with the environment, they still have the ability to.  Here is a list of seven ways that businesses can save the planet one small step at a time:

1. Newsletters to PDF

2. Online Seminars

3. eBooks

4. Resumes by Email

5. Work at Home

6. Digital Business Cards

7. Online Invoice Delivery

Although I do not thoroughly go into depth with these ideas, it is very easy to do each of these tasks.  These are things even individuals can do, not JUST businesses.  I believe that people, as individuals themselves, need to think more before they act, especially about the environment if they can save it easily.

You can do more than you think.

My question for the readers is, what would you do to help save the planet?

SOURCE: http://www.verticalmeasures.com/tips/7-ways-your-business-can-help-the-environment/

-Authority: Kristi Hines

China associates with Pythagoras Solar

Pythagoras Solar Announces Photovoltaic Glass Unit (PVGU), First Green Building Material to Combine Energy Efficiency, High Density Solar Power Generation and Transparency.
Global Issues in Context

http://www.design-buildsolar.com/news/pythagoras_solars_window_technology_wins_ge_award/


In this brief article it is stated that, Pythagoras Solar is a company that creates solar windows,  curtains, and skylights. Pythagoras Solar also announced that it has established formal relationships with Arkema, China Sunergy and Flextronics, that way it will be easier to distribute the production. With this company it will be easier for engineers, architects, and business owners to be eco- friendly. 

Do you think this association with Chinese companies will be beneficial ?

Why is Solar Energy Becoming Popular?

Solar energy is becoming more practical and affordable.

Global Issues in Context 

http://www.solardaily.com/reports/China_Sunergy_and_Pythagoras_Solar_Advance_Development_Of_Solar_Windows_999.html


Now of days it is becoming more popular to see houses with solar energy,but there is some pluses and minuses to that. Even though solar energy is good for the environment, having solar energy could be expensive.  But in the long term paying more for solar energy will save you money and you will help the environment. There is also, different kinds of solar energy, one is photovoltaic pannels and cells to transform sunlight into energy. If extra energy is produced it will be stored into the battery. Solar energy is also used to heat up water.   So, the government is intervening to lower the taxes. Do you think it the government should intervene?    

Oil: the energy that hurts?

Oil is the main energy source for the entire world. It makes many countries rich. But it also causes turmoil in many others. 

Qatar
-considered the 2nd richest country in the world
-oil accounts for 60% of the country's GDP
-country has free health care for all
-capital expected to keep growing
Source: Gale Opposing Viewpoints Other Rising Middle East Nations in the Twentieth Century and Global Issues in Context Qatar

Iraq
-oil production jumped 20% in this year alone
-threat to the shaky democracy
-filled with corruption and greed
-disagreements on oil-production and revenue sharing
Source: Gale Opposing Viewpoints  Iraqi Oil a Double-Edged Sword

You could take examples from the Persian Gulf monarchies or Saudi Arabia who all benefit from their oil or you could look at Venezuela, Nigeria, and Russia, all who were harmed by their abundant oil.
The real question is does having oil make you better off in the end? 

Taken from: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/oil-petroleum-and-gasoline/index.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_platform