Economy and Voter Responsibility It only takes turning on the local television in Iowa during caucus time to discover the importance economy has on a presidential election. The economy, when good, helps the political party in power win votes. Conversely, during a poor economy, the political party in power has difficulty gathering supporters and gaining momentum. With the upcoming presidential election, the economy is a priority with candidates who are presenting ideas for stabilizing, correcting, and improving the economy. Although for voters to get behind the economic ideas of likely candidates, voters must understand the basics behind the economy. Individuals must understand what defines a stable or declining economy to make sound purchasing, …show more content…
The business cycle expands and contracts as the GDP grows or shrinks. The business cycle includes periods of recession and expansion, and peaks and troughs. Although the business cycle can appear to be a volatile up and down movement, the long term movement of real GDP is generally not affected and reaches upward. In an article by Langelett and Schug (2005), the authors discuss how real GDP and business cycle changes are related. A business cycle begins with an expansion where real GDP is rising and reaches the high point or peak of the expansion (Langelett &Schug, 2005). During this time, individuals and businesses feel comfortable with the current state of the economy and begin spending more. A good economy can last many years although, inevitably, the economy will begin to slow. During times of recession, individuals and business feel uneasy about the future and reduce their spending causing the GDP to decline. The GDP is an important measure for voters to comprehend when deciding between candidates and their economic …show more content…
In all recent elections, the economy has been a major topic for the candidates and public. This opportunity to pick our nation’s leader requires individuals to understand where their candidate feels the economy is headed and how they intend to correct it. GDP is a useful tool to determine, over time, the amount of growth in our economy. As changes occur in the GDP, they are reflected in the business cycle. The business cycle will have ups and downs, although the trend of GDP is typically upward. Without a measurement tool like real GDP, it would be difficult to determine output growth amounts affecting our nation’s decisions. Government policies can be put into place to help stimulate the economy; therefore, voters should consider economic platforms when choosing a presidential candidate to support. It is an exciting time in our nation with the upcoming presidential election and voters should work to understand basic economic terms to ensure they vote for the presidential candidate they believe will positively impact our
In the United States, we encounter quite a bit of obstacles that we can’t seem to get rid of completely. We as a nation deal with inflation, unemployment, stagflation, recessions, depressions, and so much more. Reading these three articles opened my eyes to the world of economics, and even made me question the society we live in. I’ve learned that sometimes questions can’t be answered, and I learned that once we solve one issue, there is always another issue on its way. These articles made me analyze, and think about the future of economics, and what I can do to try and help the economy. These authors of these three articles make it very clear that there are issues in the United States, and they do an amazing job
Baker III, J. A. (2009). Economic Policy: Recommendations for the Next Administration. Institute for Public Policy. Retrieved from http://bakerinstitute.org/publications/TEPP-pub ObamaTransitionDiamondCountryman-011209.pdf
go through cycles of expansion, recession and recovery. Monetary and fiscal policies can affect the timing and length of these cycles. In the expansion phase, the economy grows, businesses add jobs and consumer spending increases. At some point, known as
A nation’s economy plays a vital role in how a nation operates. The United States economy faces a large variety of problems in this paper; we will focus on 4 major economic problems, unemployment, inequality, federal debt, and the financial/credit market. All four issues are interconnected in some way with deep social and economic implications. These issues were emphasized during the Great Recession that hit the U.S. economy in 2007.In the following paper, we will look at each of the four topics individually as well as look at how each plays a significant role in one another’s overall impact on the U.S. economy as well as individuals in the United States. The United States plays a crucial role in the world economy, meaning that every issue and difficulty faced the United States economy has implications far outside the U.S., understanding how these issues relate to one another sheds insight into just how connected every area of the economy actually is.
In recent years, the economy in the United States has been in what most would see as a recession. American people differ in the way they react to a recession. Some, such as Michael Moore, feel it becomes a downward spiral as big business and it’s stockholders gain more money and power, and it’s workers gain less money and stability.
The study and application of macroeconomics influences the well-being of a nation by achieving high rates of material production and by keeping track of how much of something is being consumed. The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the globe, making the government powerful. Government intervention in the Untied States is an important factor that keeps the economy running. Enough power to control the business cycle keeps money circulating the nation. The business cycle includes economic downturns, classified as recessions, expansions, business-cycle peaks and troughs. A good government is essential for the economy to run smoothly. There are three main macroeconomic variables in the nation that the government focuses on, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), unemployment rate, and inflation rate.
First of all, the economy is affected because there are major issues that examines the difference between the policies and political positions such as taxes, the role of government, entitlements (Social Security, Medicare), gun control, immigration, healthcare, abortion, and gay rights. They differ in their philosophies, but yet dominate
America’s economy is a fading light in an endless void of blackness that is going to keep getting dimmer and dimmer until it sizzles out, and unless America realizes this and does something about it, American economy is doomed. Federal debt, lack of jobs, discouraged workers, jobs overseas, job loss, state and local bankruptcy, and reckless inflation all take a large part in the deteriorating of America’s economy. American’s have failed to acknowledge the growing crisis, and because of this, our economy is reaping the consequences. Each problem that America’s economy is facing is going to require a unique set of solutions and an army of problem solvers. Is fixing the United States’ biggest problem going to be easy? Of course it isn’t going to be easy. But it is possible? With every American working together to pay back our debt and end this economic apocalypse once and for all, anything is possible.
economy can alter trends that can either aid or limit how well policies are helping the GDP grow. There has always been a lot of conversation on oil scarcity and drilling land for it. When resources are feared as threatened, they undergo structural changes. In this case, future oil will be more valuable because of its scarcity and the oil we have now will decrease in worth. This limits growth by decreasing value and causing a backwards shift in the specified market (Structural Change, 2007). Another structural change in the United States that has a long term effect of not only halting recovery from a recession but proving continuously problematic after the recession is employment structure. This is where there is a mismatch with the amount of eligible workers with the amount of available jobs. This can be caused by trade agreements such as allowing free trade which in turn decreased jobs in our country. Farmers can find themselves out of work with large food corporations offering lower prices in the market. This will increase unemployment therefore further stunting the recovery of an economic downturn (Amadeo,
Presidential elections and the economy have a very close relationship and they go together hand and hand. Usually when the economy is good and opinion of the government is positive, the incumbent or the party of the last president wins the election. People tend the lean towards why change a good thing.
Americans are revolting in the primaries by either voting for Trump or supporting Sanders because they don’t believe the American economy is fine. Unemployment is at an eight-year low but labor force participation is down. There has been six years of uninterrupted growth but at a pace that won’t close the economy’s output gap until 2026. Wage growth is getting higher but not by much. Statistics like these explain why the 2007 – 2009 recession is still present in the electoral scene.
The 2016 presidential election is arguably one of the most important elections of our lifetime. Both the democratic nominee, Hilary Clinton, and the Republican nominee Donald Trump claim that their policies will increase job growth, as well as the overall gross domestic product (GDP) in America. Some of the clearest domestic policy contrasts between the two candidates involves energy and healthcare. Economically, Clinton and Trump differ on taxes and immigration. Between the two candidates, Trump’s economic plan would more likely result in higher economic and job growth, than that proposed by Hilary Clinton. In fact, Trump claims that his economic policy will result in 25 million new jobs. Trumps plan includes lower taxes, penalties for companies that move overseas.
The Business Cycle is “…the "ups and downs" in economic activity, defined in terms of periods of expansion or recession” (Dr. Econ). Expansion is the period in which employment, production, sales and income increase. Likewise, the contrasting contraction is when the actions above decrease. In order to keep track of the fluctuations of the US’s business cycles troughs and peaks, the National Bureau of Economic Research was created. The NBER is comprised of a group of economic researchers currently led by president James Poterba. The members are usually specialized in the field of business-cycle research, and are chosen by the president. The NBER was founded in 1920 as a private non-profit “…non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, and business professionals.” (http://www.nber.org/info.html). The NBER dating committee was formed in 1978, and plays an important role in the US as an examiner of broad measures of economic activity, and the most reliable source of the beginning and end of recessions in the U.S. This is accomplished by gathering as much data on a given period of economic activity.
An economy, as defined by the Webster Dictionary, is the wealth and resources of a country or region, in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services. An economy, as defined by the vernacular, is a word that has become linked with synonyms that invoke feelings of dread, depression, collapse, and flat out anarchy at best. Both close to home and globally, people have felt some effect of the market crash. Since 2007, millions of Americans lost their homes, jobs, and feelings of financial security. To even begin to think about possible solutions to the current state of the economy, one must first understand the origin of our problems. We are in a recession today because of a weak job market, risky mortgages, and a heavy
Americans have been bombarded by new worries in recent days with the war in Libya, unrest in much of the Middle East, and the seemingly endless series of catastrophes in Japan as reported by a recent Gallup poll measuring economic confidence. Added to that, there is a weak job market, increasing fuel prices, and fierce budget battles in Congress, obviously, it is clear the U.S. economy still faces