>>>Taxes - How Does the Government Spend Money?

Every year the government collects money from the American people through taxes. However, few people know where their money really goes to. Most of the money is generally given out to fund programs and benefits for the people, but in recent years more money has gone to aid the military and war.
The largest Federal program is Social Security, which will provide monthly benefits to over 45 million retired and disabled workers, their dependents, and survivors. It accounts for 23 percent of all Federal spending.

>>Savings and Debt<<

The article in the New York Times paper about the debt that families such as the Moellering's have reflects the type of situation that many families in America are going through. It is very difficult to save money for many people because there are so many bills that have to be paid and usually people only work to pay out those bills. There are many more things that a person has to take care of and they have many more expenses that also carry on interest rates. The use of the credit card worsens many people's situations because they include interest rates that you have to pay. Reading this article made me realize the amount of time needed to completely balance out living a comfortable life and having to deal with the various bills.

>>Critique of GDP Podcast<<

I decided to critique Ronald and Richard's podcast because it is the one that caught most of my attention. I think that it was very creative and original and it made you actually want to listen to what they were saying. The recording was loud and clear eventhough the pictures weren't that descriptive and relating to what they were saying. Also the information that was given was on point, but they could have given more information about the topic: gross domestic product. This podcast taught me the basic things you need to know about gross domestic product but the background music they had and everything else was very original of them, it wasn't like a lesson but more like normal conversation.

>>>U.S. Trade Deficit: getting better?

Trade deficit generally means a negative situation for the economy, it means there is a trade gap instead of a balance of trade. Recently exports have been the center of a steady lift for the economy and a decrease in the trade deficit.

->>TAXES-How does the Government Get Money?

There are many different types of taxes that Americans pay. These include Federal Income Tax, Local Income Tax, Medicare Tax, Real Estate Tax, Social Security Tax and of course sales taxes. Federal Income Tax is probably one of the most important income taxes an American pays, they are the taxes put on our earnings and the earnings of corporations and companies. The taxes put on the corporations are often called corporate taxes. Taxes are like a "enforced contribution" to the government. This money is usually used by the government to fund many things that need to be done, like protection of property and the expenses of war. Other taxes such as Real estate tax or property tax are imposed on the person who owns that certain piece of property and its value. So the federal government collects money more on our personal income, corporate income and other issues such as socail insurances. While the local and State governemnt tax personal, property and sales.

Student Loans - Beware

I believe that many of the students that entered Culinary Schools were only driven there because of much of what they saw on T.V. , especially the Food Network. They must have thought that they would be in such good positions as the chefs they were looking up to and so they didn't tihnk they would have anwy problem in paying off the loans they took. The article states that many didn't completely pay attention to those packets of letters that they received concerning the student loans and just signed, which was a very worng thing to do. Loans can be very tricky because they include interest and if you are not going to be able to pay it off in the long run, it is better to stay as far away as possible from them. Personally I am not takin any student loans, the scholarship money that I have received is paying off most of my college cost. I really think that students should take minimal loans or none at all.

Critique of Federal Reserve Podcast

Today I will be reviewing Nadia and Nicole's Podcast on the Federal Reserve System. In order to clearly understand the content of the podcast, it should be clear and listenable. Nicole and Nadia's podcast was very understandable and clear which allowed me to hear every word they said. It was very informative and they had enthusiasm and humor in their podcast, which helped the podcast not become boring. It was very creative and interesting the way they created their podcasts, making themselves reporters and actually being part of the Federal Reserve System in order to talk about it. Eventhough, some of the pictures were repeated and didn't really help the viewer get a better understanding of what they were talking about.

Compound Interest and Rule of 72

Compound Interest is basically the interest that is added onto the original principal, but also on the interest that has accumulated over time on the principal. So as it was stated, it is the interest on the interest. If there is an interest over a frequent period of time the more accumulated interest will create additional interest. The Rule of 72 shows the growth of a compound interest. The rule of 72 is a formula that can tell you how long it would take to get a certain amount you are aiming for, what percentage of interest you would need if you were to have a time limit and what the outcome of your money would be when you calculate the interest rate and the time.

Insider Trading Scandal - What Happened?

On March 1st 13 people were charged by the U.S. Government with securities fraud, wire fraud, bribery, including employees at major Wall Street banks. UBS and Morgan Stanley charts were also part of it. Insider trading is illegal because it gives people an unfair advantage over the others. The insider trading schemes involved Securities executives who were accused of selling information about upcoming analyst upgrades and downgrades. They were accused of giving out information about mergers and acquisitions. It was said two brokers were involved in blackmailing . They made profits of about $15 millionover the years. This is very unfair to the rest of the people who are trying to make money the right way, without any illegal activities. Insider trading is very dangerous because I believe it ruins your whole reputation if you are part of it. If I were to buy stocks of a certian company and suddenly its stocks went up, of which almost nobody expected, it would a little bit suspicious for many. I believe this is why this case was investigated and was found what these people were doing illegaly.

Stock Market Game 1- Initial Investment Strategy

The stock market is a relevantly new subject to me, even though I live in a city which is the home of the stock market exchange. Since I am starting with 50,000 dollars to invest in the stock market, I think I will begin by investing in one of the most known companies, like apple. I would invest in companies that I know and have purchased from. Afterwards, I think I will move on onto buying stocks from companies which are less known, but have the chance to do very well. I also plan to risk myself in these investments, but not so much as to lose all my money.

Dow down 416 pts! - Why?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average went down 416 points on Tuesday, in relation to what happened to the Chinese Stock Market. I believe that the Chinese Stock market decline affected our Stock Market tremendously. This decline on the stock market created a hectic environment among stockholders because they know if the stock market is going down, they are losing money. The Chinese Stock Market was drastically increasing at one point, but on Tuesday Feb. 27 it went down by 9 percent. A lot of people decide to sell their stocks, and so making the stock market decline. Many people were concerned that the U.S. stock market was stumbling due to the overinflated Chinese stocks. China and the United States are closely linked because they are trade partners, so if something happens to Chinese economy, something is going to happen to our economy. The Dow Jones also went down due to a computer malfunction that slowed down the records of trade. This is the worst decline since after the terrorist attacks back in September of 2001.
This is definitely not as worst as the Great Depression, and I think that to many this might benefit them.

Opportunity Costs

Opportunity Costs are the costs that we pay when we decide to give up something in order to do something else. We usually always have to make a decision between two different things and the things that we give up are usually also the things that in our perspective might benefit us the less. For example, when we go out to buy food and have to decide to buy something nutritional for more money, instead of buying junk food for less, we are going to lose something that would have benefited part of us in some way. If I decide to buy the nutritional food instead, my cost is not being able to eat something that I enjoy the most. I guess there are always opportunity costs in the everyday things that we do, not only related to economics.

Types of Economic Systems

Research and Define these 4 major economic systems.

Traditional Economies: An economic system in which economic decisions are made based on customs, beliefs, religion and habits. TRADITIONAL ECONOMIES USE THE RESOURCES THAT THEY HAVE AVAILABLE TO THEM TO PRODUCE THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE. Traditional economies existed in earlier ages and in some industrialized nations today.

Centrally Planned (Command) Economy: is an economic system in which the state or government controls the factors of production and makes all decisions about their use and about the distribution of income. He planners decide what should be produced and direct enterprises to produce those goods. Important planned economies that existed in the past include the Economy of the Soviet Union, which was for a time the world's second-largest economy.

Market Economy:is an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods and services takes place through the mechanism of free markets guided by a free price system rather than by the state in a planned economy. In a market economy businesses and consumers decide what they will produce and purchase, as opposed to a planned economy where the government decides what is to be produced and in what quantities.

Mixed Economy:is an economy that has a mix of economic systems. It is usually defined as an economy that contains both private-owned and state-owned enterprises or that combines elements of capitalism and socialism, or a mix or market economy and command economy. This economy includes a degree of private economic freedom that mixes in centralized economic planning.

Communism: a theory advocating elimination of private property,a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed.

Socialism:refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control.

Test

Test