PhotoEcon2

Photo1: Describes the substitution effect. Consumers are able to substitute a product for another when the price gets to high.

Photo2: Describes the closing-down effect. Does the marginal revenue outweigh the marginal costs

The Minimum Wage: An Economic Boost

Even thought our nations unemployment rate falling and being at 7.6% its lowest since December 2008, CNNMoney’s Chris Isidore says it’s for the wrong reasons. He believes that even though the unemployment is steadily decreasing it is because less and less people want to participate in search for a job. “In addition, 290,000 fewer people were counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work.”(CNNMoney) As the graph shows there is a decline in participation, because the quantity of jobs (or the supply) is greater than the participation in the search(the demand).They are other factors that play an important role in the job search, “the difficulty for younger workers finding jobs is also a factor, as more young adults unable to find work return to school to try to improve their prospects. The participation rate for those age 16 to 24 was near a 50-year low.”(CNNMoney)

The Minimun Wage is a minimum price that an employer can pay a worker for an hour of labor. (Class Textbook) The Minimum wage is based on the cost of goods and services in the current Market. If the cost of living goes up so should the Minimum Wage. Because the Minimum Wage is based on the cost of living, States have different minimum wages, for instance your hourly pay in New York City would different to that in Dallas. Robyn Blumner of ihavenet.com states in his article that, “I grew up hearing over and over, to the point of tedium, that ‘hard work’ was the secret of success. … No one ever said that you could work hard — harder even than you ever thought possible — and still find yourself sinking ever deeper into poverty and debt.”(Robyn Blumner)

The graph at right (click to enlarge) shows that the Poverty Line has continued to grow in the amount of people below the poverty line. Robyn Blumner illustrates this problem in his article by using a quote from Barbara Ehrenreich,”During 1999 and 2000, Ehrenreich tried to see what it was like to live on$7 an hour. She was a server in Key West, Florida, a nursing home aide in Portland, Maine, and a sales clerk at a Walmart in Minneapolis, Minn. What Ehrenreich found is that you can’t work full time with wages that low and still stabilize your life.”(Robyn Blumner) The fact that people working incredibly hard can’t live a stable life shows that there is a problem with the current level of the minimum wage. We have to raise the minimum wage so that people are able to live above the poverty line and have compensation for their hard work.

I believe that raising the minimum wage will not only bring Americans out of unemployment but also encourage participation in the job search. It will also increase the economy. According to Robyn Blumner, “critics claim that raising the minimum wage always results in job losses, but recent research doesn’t bear that out. Economists at the EPI say that modestly raising the federal minimum wage “would create jobs” throughout the nation by getting money to families who would spend it and stimulate the economy.” (Robyn Blumner) This will change both American lives and boost the Economy.

Shortage

This photo represents shortage that we discussed in class. The single muffin represents the limited resource for an unlimited want, but it is a shortage because the cookie cabinet will be restocked

Wants and Needs

This photo represents the wants and needs discussed in class. The water is what I need to survive, but the iced coffee is what I want.

The Many Faces of Presidential Power

In second trimester of our government class we explored the powers the President has that are not given to him by our constitution. Professor Neustadt explores these powers in his writings. He believes that the President posses three powers other than the ones given to him by the constitution. We explored these three powers and set out to understand them and define their usefulness for a President. The first power we explored was the “informal power” of the President,  the people delegate the strength of the President because they create his image. Therefore the President’s “informal power” comes from the sentiment of his people. The second power that we examined was the power of persuasion. Professor Neustadt believes that this is the most important of the powers for the President.

 

Executive Branch

“Presidential power is the power to persuade…” (reader, 218)  “… those who share in governing this country are aware that at some time, in some degree, the doing of their jobs, the furthering of their ambitions, may depend on the President of the United States. Their need for presidential action, or their fear of it, is bound to recurrent if not actually continuous. Their need or fear is his advantage” (219). … “The power to persuade is the power to bargain” (220).

Finally the last of the three powers is the President’s reputation. The reputation of a President is directly related to his informal powers. Neustadt says that he has the ability to choose his image, “His choices are the means by which he does what he can to build his reputation as he wants it. Decisions are his building blocks. He has no others in his hands.”(Three excerpts from Presidential Power) This asserts that the President has to make sure he constantly reflects on who his target audience is and how he influences our country. A President’s reputation has to be one of trust so that he effectively can bargain.

These powers that the President posses are some of the most important. He does not have all that much power because he is linked to all the branches of government. The checks and balances makes for a non authoritarian ruler but forces the President to use his other powers. He is given the Veto power by the constitution but as Neustadt believes the President has failed if he has to use the Veto. The President’s power of persuasion is the most important, because he is linked to all the branches of the government he has to persuade the branches to follow him. This power is truly the only way that the President’s agenda can happen. The President must be able to compromise in order to succeed. These “informal powers” are what help the President get his agenda passed. The President has to be able to manipulate each of these powers proficiently because the constitution does not give him that much power. The best way for a President to fulfil his duty as our leader is to take advantage of his “informal strength” or his influence on American Society. Because he is affiliated with all sectors of government he needs to pay attention of who and how he influences during his term.

 

Informal Powers

 

The Right to Fair Arms

The Vice President spoke last night at a violence conference in Danbury, Connecticut. His audience, members of the state’s congressional delegation. Mr. Biden was there to push the President’s gun control policy. Mr. Vice President touched bases with the attendees by appealing to their pathos, “‘We have to speak for those 20 beautiful children who died 69 days ago, 12 miles from here,’ Biden said. ‘We have to speak for the voice of those six adults who died trying to save the children in their care that day who can’t speak for themselves. You have to speak for the 1,900 people who have died at the other end of a gun just since Sandy Hook in this country.’”(The Stamford Times)

Mr. Biden was at the conference to reiterate the importance of change concerning guns in this country. He tried to advocate the president’s plan of,

• “Closing background check loopholes to keep guns out of dangerous hands;

• Banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and taking other common-sense steps to reduce gun violence;
• Making schools safer; and
• Increasing access to mental health services.”(Douglas Dispatch)

Though the plan of the President appeals to many there are some that have publicly said that they disapprove of the president’s choice to push gun control laws. “The Utah Sheriff Association wrote to the President a day after he released his plan.The letter stated ‘we respect the office of the President of the United States of America. But, make no mistake, as the duly-elected sheriffs of our respective counties; we will enforce the rights guaranteed to our citizens by the Constitution. No federal official will be permitted to descend upon our constituents and take from them what the Bill of Rights in particular Amendment II has given them. We, like you, swore a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and we are prepared to trade our lives for the preservation of its traditional interpretation.’”(Douglas Dispatch)

The President’s plan is one that in my opinion exemplifies the change that needs to happen around the gun culture in this country. For the people that lost their loved ones in the shootings or the people affected by gun violence we as a nation need to change. Mr. Biden is in the right to advocate the President’s plan for gun control. These simple but necessary things will make this country safer. From background checks to banning military-style assault rifles, is where we need to get as a nation to keep each other safe. Regarding our constitutional rights, clearly stated in the Sheriff’s Association of Utah, are founding fathers gave us the right to bare arms but they met against invading forces. The fact is that no one needs a fully automatic weapons lying around their house. And to the avid hunters out there it is a little unsportsmanlike to try and hunt with a high powered automatic rifle, I believe that it takes away from the art and skill needed to hunt. Mr. Vice President is in the right to try and help our countries gun problem the fact is there are “1,900 people who have died at the other end of a gun just since Sandy Hook in this country.’”(The Stamford Times) The Utah Sheriff Association is in the wrong to think we should interpret the constitution in its traditional form, the fact is that the founding fathers lived in a different time so it would be preposterous to uphold traditions started in the 18th century. The Gun Control plan is the least that the President can do to uphold his swore oath to protect this nation and it’s people.