Go to http://news.google.com and click on "Business" on the left side of the screen. Once more, click on something that seems related to Economic Recovery: something that has to do with employment, wages, consumer confidence, etc.
Then write about it. Don't use a story that has been used by someone else.
- 100 words minimum, 200 words maximum.
- Be clear, concise, concrete, and complete.
- Put the URL (web link) of the news story on the post.
http://randolphguide.com/local/x1633484518/How-does-the-U-S-minimum-wage-compare-to-those-around-the-world
ReplyDeleteMy article discusses and compares the U.S. minimum wage standards to those around the world, as President Obama has suggested raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour. They found, that comparatively speaking, the U.S. underpays its employes through minimum wage. If all the countries were ranked relative to median full time payments, the highest paying being %100 and countries without minimum wage ranked at 0%, the U.S. would fall at 38%. If ranked according to how much purchasing power per hour of work at minimum wage, the U.S. would fall in 10th place out of 23 countries that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has data for.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/readers-digest-files-for-bankruptcy-again/
ReplyDeleteThe article I read was about how Reader’s Digest is filing for their second bankruptcy. Reader’s Digest owns one point one billion dollars in assets and has one point two billion dollars’ worth of debt. Reader’s Digest is hoping to convert four hundred sixty five million dollars’ worth of debt into equity held by its creditors. Reader’s Digest hopes that this will not be the end of the publication. They believe that after the bankruptcy case they will be able to expand their capital and maybe find alternative resources for expanding the empire. Since filing bankruptcy in 2009 Reader’s Digest has had to sell two major publications including Everyday with Rachel Ray and allrecipes.com. With everything becoming more and more available through the internet, it is hard to keep publications alive. Consumers are less interested in having hard copy publications and more interested in having pick and choose publications online. I hope that Reader’s Digest will be able to fulfill their goal of coming back stronger because of filing bankruptcy.
The article that I read talked about how the price of oil is affecting the economy, and how it will harm Europe in particular. The article said that Europe will be spending 500 billion euros on oil imports this year, which is 200 billion above the normal price that they have been paying. More than 80 percent of oil projects worldwide have been delayed by about three years because of technical challenges and security issues. This is why the price of oil is set so high. The current price of oil today is $118 a barrel for Europe , when American is paying just under $95 a barrel.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-18/oil-prices-a-major-threat-to-europe-s-economy-iea-s-birol-says.html
According to Visit Florida, 89.3 million visitors came to Florida in 2012. Not only was this an increase in tourists, but also in jobs related to the tourist industry, 1.03 million. The 89.3 million is a 2.3 percent increase from last year, about 2 million more than in 2011. Governor Rick Scott said that “With the hospitality sector ending the year up 30,300 jobs, it’s clear that more visitors means more jobs for Florida families.” Other new records include Florida drawing 10.2 million overseas visitors, as well as 3.6 million Canadians. D.T. Minich, executive director of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, said that “2013 is looking very good.”
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tampabay.com/news/business/tourism/florida-tourism-sets-record-in-2012/1275630
http://www.thedp.com/article/2013/02/students-uncertain-about-postgraduate-employment
ReplyDeleteThe article that I have chosen this week is on the topic of postgrad employment, particularly focused on students attending the University of Pennsylvania. According to a poll conducted by The Daily Pennsylvanian this past fall, only 70 percent of students said they planned to enter the workforce immediately after graduation. Unfortunately, an additional 26.8 percent of students said that they feel 'not confident' and 'unsure' that they will find a job after graduation or additional schooling. Although this article claims that some students do express confidence in their futures, particularly those in the nursing program, which seems to have better job stability even if the pay is not particularly great. The article ends by attributing some of this uncertainty to the negative news surrounding today's economy. "I can understand pessimism when students hear one story after another about how terrible the job market is," says Patricia Rose, Director of Career Services at Penn, "but in fact, the job market is improving."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-officemax-office-depot-said-to-be-close-to-merger-20130218,0,7359927.story
ReplyDeleteThe article I chose to write on discusses a possible business merger between the second and third largest office supply retailers: OfficeMax and Office Depot. Both of these companies have been struggling mightily in recent years, being unable to surpass or even really keep up with Amazon.com and Staples. As such, business talks regarding a merging between the two companies have been occurring for quite some time now, and a merger could be reached as soon as this week and is expected to be structured as a stock-for-stock transaction. Even with this massive merging though, the new company's sales are still predicted to be less than those of Staples and Amazon.
http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/201892/Employee+Benefits+Compensation/Floridas+Minimum+Wage+To+Increase+On+January+1+2013
ReplyDeleteThis article speaks about the current minimum wage in Florida. Florida law requires a new minimum wage calculation each year on September 30, based on the Consumer Price Index. Because that calculation is higher than the federal rate (which was $7.25 per hour in 2012), the state's rate changed this passed January.
Florida's minimum wage was $7.67 per hour on January 1, 2012. This changed January 1, 2013, making Florida's minimum wage $7.79 per hour, which is a 1.5% (or $0.12) increase from last year due to the change in the Consumer Price Index.This also goes for the employers of "tipped employees." However, the employer must pay "tipped employees" a direct wage of $4.77 starting January 1, 2013 plus tips.The Florida minimum wage will remain constant until the federal minimum wage becomes higher than the state rate. Floridian employers have to pay their employees the hourly state minimum wage for all hours.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/2013/02/18/goldman-economy-to-see-substantial-acceleration-in-2014/
ReplyDeleteAccording to Goldman Sachs, although 2013 does not bode particularly faster economic recovery, 2014 does. The reasons behind this stimulus seem to lean on neutrality of fiscal policy. This article said that where Republicans were previously pushing for budget cuts, using the fiscal cliff as an excuse, they are not pushing as aggressively. This will lead to economic growth because of government spending.
An area of concern, however, is that the government's quantitative easing may lead to a "credit bubble." Members of Goldman Sachs believe this to be an unnecessary concern, though, because the state of the economy now is very different than it was at the time of the financial crisis. Now, different elements of the economy are a lot less dependent on other branches. For example, the private sector is relying on credit less.
Economic recovery is a topic that is so prevalent in this day and age. I am now going to dive into an aspect of economic recovery.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/hampden/gas-price-rise-may-slow-economic-recovery
It involves the wavering of the economy. One of the reasons for a slowing economy is a rise in gas prices. A price for a gallon has gone up 12 cents in only the last week! Likewise, a gallon has gone up, this time 40 cents. It is also a statistic that 4% of our taxes go to gas. This is not how we need to make it out of a recession. I will paraphrase what one person said. The more money we spend on gas, the less we spend on other parts of the economy.
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/article_f7e961f6-765c-11e2-ba9c-0019bb30f31a.html
ReplyDeleteThis article makes the argument that raising minimum wage could hinder economic recovery. It list many ways in which the economy could suffer from this, namely small business owners. Many small business owners barely make a profit as it is one person even stated that as far as selling groceries was concerned they were lucky if they made a half of a percent profit. Forcing the owners to pay more would just make it impossible to make a profit, they would then have to either close down, lay-off workers, or cut hours, none of which are considered great options. No one in the article is saying that minimum wage is a bad thing, but at a time were everything is unstable wage control has been one of the few things that business owners have been able to count on calculating when this is threatened it could cause many un foreseen problems.
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/02/21/half-of-detroit-property-owners-didnt-pay-2011-taxes/
ReplyDeleteThis article is focusing on Detroit's financial crisis. It explains how half of the cities properties did not pay taxes in 2011. In 77 blocks there was only one owner who had paid his taxes which left detroit with $246.5 million dollars that were never collected. All of this was discovered when a review team was checking the records and reported Detroit to be in a financial emergency.