About a week ago, my class did a random economic project, not in the sense that we had no idea what was going on, (although for some people that might have been the case), just that we were assigned various personalities to become. I was chosen to be the scenario of the white median, married with two children under five years of age. This meant that my spouse and I made $71 thousand a year, which was over $4,000 a month after taxes. Our task for the project was to complete one month's budget with our given scenario.
At first I was expecting some difficulties, for I knew that in today's economy it can be hard to make ends meet even for families in the middle class. But I was actually pleasantly surprised. After all of my expenses, (and I did have more than I expected) I had over $1,000 to play around with. This money I would have probably put into my savings, but it was money that could go anywhere in my budget. I did have some luxuries that others did not, for example, I said that my children's grandmother would be responsible for them, which meant I did not have to pay for day care, and I also did not have to make car payments. Looking at these luxuries I was able to understand more fully how supply and demand works. If consumers wish to purchase something, technically they should be able to control the price. For example, when choosing the type of clothing you would like to wear you have many choices, some more expensive than others. If every consumer chose to wear inexpensive clothing, than designer labels would be forced to make their products cost less. Unfortunately this system does not work for all of us across the board, which is why we have different levels of competition. For those of us who can afford Burberry, than there are many different high end shops to chooses from, and this will continue to be true, whatever level shopper you may be. For now this system seems to be working, and as long as there is a list of healthy competitors, I believe that the system will continue to work.
There were many things about this project which surprised me. When you live at home, it is so hard to comprehend how much support your parents give you. When I look at my budget for one month, it's the little things that seem to add up. Items like shampoo, or when you want to go out to the movies, or even owning a pet which are just simple little things, but they can really ring up your monthly budget. When I had to pretend to be the responsible adult parent, it was much harder to say what I needed, rather than what I wanted. I was fortunate enough to make enough money to not have to really distinguish that point, but for others in my class it was a very hard decision.
The average family income, for the traditional nuclear family is about $79,966* per year. What I found interesting is that while I was close to making that amount of money per year as the White median, the Hispanic median, and Black median were not close at all. It is still astonishing to me that we are still so segregated at this point in time. In 2005, there were about 2 million people receiving welfare**. This information intrigued me, because the number was so large, but it made me think of something we had discussed in class. When we looked at the income of a person on minimum wage, and the amount of money one could receive on Welfare, the amounts were only off by about $5,000, without tax deductions. I guess that some people might look at what they could potentially make, and what they would receive on welfare, and say that welfare was just easier to manage. There are some benefits, up to a point, for example you don't need for daycare for your children, and you also aren't required to pay taxes. Looking at it from that angle, I could understand choosing to just go on welfare, but to me that option is just a pit, with no way out.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Random Economics
About a week ago, my class did a random economic project, not in the sense that we had no idea what was going on, (although for some people that might have been the case), just that we were assigned various personalities to become. I was chosen to be the scenario of the white median, married with two children under five years of age. This meant that my spouse and I made $71 thousand a year, which was over $4,000 a month after taxes. Our task for the project was to complete one month's budget with our given scenario.
At first I was expecting some difficulties, for I knew that in today's economy it can be hard to make ends meet even for families in the middle class. But I was actually pleasantly surprised. After all of my expenses, (and I did have more than I expected) I had over $1,000 to play around with. This money I would have probably put into my savings, but it was money that could go anywhere in my budget. I did have some luxuries that others did not, for example, I said that my children's grandmother would be responsible for them, which meant I did not have to pay for day care, and I also did not have to make car payments.
There were many things about this project which surprised me. When you live at home, it is so hard to comprehend how much support your parents give you. When I look at my budget for one month, it's the little things that seem to add up. Items like shampoo, or when you want to go out to the movies, or even owning a pet which are just simple little things, but they can really ring up your monthly budget. When I had to pretend to be the responsible adult parent, it was much harder to say what I needed, rather than what I wanted. I was fortunate enough to make enough money to not have to really distinguish that point, but for others in my class it was a very hard decision.
The average family income, for the traditional nuclear family is about $79,966* per year. What I found interesting is that while I was close to making that amount of money per year as the White median, the Hispanic median, and Black median were not close at all. It is still astonishing to me that we are still so segregated at this point in time.
In 2005, there were about 2 million people receiving welfare**. This information intrigued me, because the number was so large, but it made me think of something we had discussed in class. When we looked at the income of a person on minimum wage, and the amount of money one could receive on Welfare, the amounts were only off by about $5,000, without tax deductions. I guess that some people might look at what they could potenially make, and what they would recieve on welfare, and say that welfare was just easier to manage. There are some benefits, up to a point, for example you don't need for daycare for your children, and you also aren't required to pay taxes. Looking at it from that angle, I could understand choosing to just go on welfare, but to me that option is just a pit, with no way out.
*http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/statemedfaminc.html
**http://www.govspot.com/know/welfare.htm
At first I was expecting some difficulties, for I knew that in today's economy it can be hard to make ends meet even for families in the middle class. But I was actually pleasantly surprised. After all of my expenses, (and I did have more than I expected) I had over $1,000 to play around with. This money I would have probably put into my savings, but it was money that could go anywhere in my budget. I did have some luxuries that others did not, for example, I said that my children's grandmother would be responsible for them, which meant I did not have to pay for day care, and I also did not have to make car payments.
There were many things about this project which surprised me. When you live at home, it is so hard to comprehend how much support your parents give you. When I look at my budget for one month, it's the little things that seem to add up. Items like shampoo, or when you want to go out to the movies, or even owning a pet which are just simple little things, but they can really ring up your monthly budget. When I had to pretend to be the responsible adult parent, it was much harder to say what I needed, rather than what I wanted. I was fortunate enough to make enough money to not have to really distinguish that point, but for others in my class it was a very hard decision.
The average family income, for the traditional nuclear family is about $79,966* per year. What I found interesting is that while I was close to making that amount of money per year as the White median, the Hispanic median, and Black median were not close at all. It is still astonishing to me that we are still so segregated at this point in time.
In 2005, there were about 2 million people receiving welfare**. This information intrigued me, because the number was so large, but it made me think of something we had discussed in class. When we looked at the income of a person on minimum wage, and the amount of money one could receive on Welfare, the amounts were only off by about $5,000, without tax deductions. I guess that some people might look at what they could potenially make, and what they would recieve on welfare, and say that welfare was just easier to manage. There are some benefits, up to a point, for example you don't need for daycare for your children, and you also aren't required to pay taxes. Looking at it from that angle, I could understand choosing to just go on welfare, but to me that option is just a pit, with no way out.
*http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/statemedfaminc.html
**http://www.govspot.com/know/welfare.htm
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Political Parties (Take Two)
The best party for the United Sates is the Republican party. If we had only one choice, the Republican Party would be best suited to our needs. The party was created in 1854* in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and has continued to be the second largest affiliated party, presently. The platform of the Republicans was centered around big business, the gold standard, high tariffs, and large pensions for veterans*. Today the party focuses on beliefs such as federalism, laissez fair, and fiscal conservatism*. These policies would help to improve our country. If our government put more faith into gold, we would not have the inflation we have today. Hard currency can not just be printed whenever the need is present. Less inflation would also support our finances overseas, because the dollar would be stronger. Republicans believe that the states should have more power than the federal government. Individual states have a better sense of what their state needs, rather than the federal government making one, big, sweeping motion. For example, a snow emergency law makes perfect sense in New York, but is not plausible in Hawaii. This might stimulate the economy, because if states “competed” against one another, each would want to be the best and have the best for their citizens. This would also provide the people with great opportunities because when businesses compete, the people will win. Fiscal conservatism* would reduce spending, providing the government with a way to become debt free. This would also raise our credibility with other nations, because they would be able to see that the US could manage their funds, and would therefore be well equipped to handle other funds.
The downside of having one party, is the lack of new ideas. It could be hard to break out of a rut, which could cause the country to sag lower and lower. The Republican Party has many good ideas, but on the other hand, some may not be plausible. Social conservatism* would not be good for our society. It would benefit us while restricting drugs, or other illegal negotiations, but could hinder some of our rights. People would not take kindly to this belief if they lost some of the freedoms, they thought non removable. High tariffs might also be frowned upon, in this time of economic recession. Businesses are running a tight ship, tying to save as much money as possible, and a high tariff would not factor well into that plan. Other countries could choose to trade with nations other than the United States, to avoid the high tariffs as well. These problems may seem big, but could be solved, as our government looked at what was best for the people. Having the Republican Party as the only party, would ensure that people could agree, and make decisions quickly.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)
http://www.gop.com/about/
The downside of having one party, is the lack of new ideas. It could be hard to break out of a rut, which could cause the country to sag lower and lower. The Republican Party has many good ideas, but on the other hand, some may not be plausible. Social conservatism* would not be good for our society. It would benefit us while restricting drugs, or other illegal negotiations, but could hinder some of our rights. People would not take kindly to this belief if they lost some of the freedoms, they thought non removable. High tariffs might also be frowned upon, in this time of economic recession. Businesses are running a tight ship, tying to save as much money as possible, and a high tariff would not factor well into that plan. Other countries could choose to trade with nations other than the United States, to avoid the high tariffs as well. These problems may seem big, but could be solved, as our government looked at what was best for the people. Having the Republican Party as the only party, would ensure that people could agree, and make decisions quickly.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)
http://www.gop.com/about/
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