Voabulary !!!
ZIP code scandal- the fact that a government Web site mistakenly reported money being spent in nonexistenet ZIP codes
tax revenue-government income due to taxation
tax credit- generally much more valuable than a deduction. It reduces the actual amount of tax that must be paid. A deduction, on the other hand, only reduces the taxable income. Therefore, the tax deduction is subject to the variation in the progressive tax rate. It does not depend on the tax rate and so it is of equal value to a taxpayer regardless of his income level.
http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com/articleupdates/definition-tax-credit
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
A little over a year ago, Congress passed a stimulus bill that started to spend money within few weeks, it helped the economy rapidly, and it had a huge impact on jobs employing almost two million people. Economic research firms such as IHS Global Insight or Macroeconomics Advisors estimate the stimulus bill has added 1.6-1.8 million jobs. This bill does have a lot of criticism: complaints that the money could have been spent more rapidly, the ZIP code scandal, still having an unemployment rate near 10%, and American families still struggling. Liberals don't like the bill because they feel it should have been biggerto fully address all issues and Republicans do'nt like it because it is a Democratic program. The bill has been a little slow getting to the visable parts of the program (spending roads/highways, and buildings) while distributing aid to states, unemployment benefits (my cousin receives these benefits) and tax provisions have been much more successful which are not obvious to the public eye. Some are against the stimulus bill saying that the economy would be no worse without it. Two arguments in favor of the stimulus bill are that the stimulus was used quite frequently and considering the history of financial criseswe are in shape. In early months of 2009, state and government spending decreased along with tax revenue. In spring, tax revenue continued to decline but spending increased! The stimulus kept teachers, healthcare workers, police officers, and firefighters employed. The damage of the recession was intended to be much worse than it is. Republicans, Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson and others had predicted in 2008, that the recession would evolve into a depression. Also our jobless rate is expected to decline consistently by the end of this year. According to Global Insight's economist, Nariman Behravesh the stimulus package deserves a lot of credit. The Senate is now debating about a smaller stimulus bill known as the "job bill" but this is potentially not a good idea since they may not end up with state aid. At this point the economic impact of the Senate bill is looking very small, and this would cause more tension among the American people. The Obama Administartion are discussing a follow-up stimulus bill which would start with: aid (of course), an addition on extended unemployment benefits, which also tend to be spent, and tax credits carefully drafted to get buisnesses to hire and households to spend money. I predict that our economy will improve, but I also think that before making big decisions they should consider the lifestyles of those whom are still struggling and are not among the 2 million who have got jobs. There are still people living very scarcely who were not before. I believe if we go fourth with the follow-up stimulus bill that it will restore confidence and allow our economy to run more smoothly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/economy/17leonhardt.html
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
“Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs”
Vocabulary !!
public assistance- a benefit or benefits from a state or federal program.
unemployment- The state of having no job; joblessness; The phenomenon of joblessness in an economy; The level of joblessness in an economy, often measured as a percentage of the workforce; A type of joblessness due to a particular economic mechanism; An instance or period of joblessness.
expansion- Growth, as in an economic recovery.
https://secure.childsupport.dhs.state.mn.us/whomc/Action/Links/GlossaryMews?printable=true
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
http://www.investorwords.com/1838/expansion.html
More and more middle class Americans are loosing their jobs, and has put them in the category of being "the new poor." This might be shocking to some, since they have thought that the economy was progressing but in actuality people are still loosing jobs. These people now have to rely solely on government assistance for the first times in their lives. Roughly 2.7 million jobless people will lose their unemployment check before the end of April 2010 unless Congress approves the Obama administration’s proposal to extend the payments. People have been affected by this drastically having to choose food and housing over prescribed medications needed to sustain her health, or going to food banks for all groceries. Over 6.3 million Americans have been unemployed for at least six months or longer, this has been the largest number since 1948. Traditionally, there are three sectors that have led the way out of recession: automobiles, home building and banking. Auto companies have been shrinking because strapped households don't have as much buying power. Home building is limited by fears about a glut of foreclosed properties and they are not confident enough. Banking is expanding, but this seems largely a function of government support that is being withdrawn. On average, only two-thirds of unemployed people received state-provided unemployment checks last year, according to the Labor Department. The rest either exhausted their benefits, fell short of requirements or did not apply. Also, these checks are are not enough to supply their every need! It is hard for people to survive comfortably with these wages. These people, are trying too. They apply everywhere and are not being picky and they are still not able to find jobs. I think that if the Obama' Admininstration approves the extension it will help a lot of people get by for another six months. I know this only will solve the present issue but if they create more jobs for people than I think it would solve more problems. Perhaps they could work with the large corporation and stop importing goods. A lot of major corporations are only worried about profits but if they somehow gain a heart than maybe our economy would be more stable.
public assistance- a benefit or benefits from a state or federal program.
unemployment- The state of having no job; joblessness; The phenomenon of joblessness in an economy; The level of joblessness in an economy, often measured as a percentage of the workforce; A type of joblessness due to a particular economic mechanism; An instance or period of joblessness.
expansion- Growth, as in an economic recovery.
https://secure.childsupport.dhs.state.mn.us/whomc/Action/Links/GlossaryMews?printable=true
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
http://www.investorwords.com/1838/expansion.html
More and more middle class Americans are loosing their jobs, and has put them in the category of being "the new poor." This might be shocking to some, since they have thought that the economy was progressing but in actuality people are still loosing jobs. These people now have to rely solely on government assistance for the first times in their lives. Roughly 2.7 million jobless people will lose their unemployment check before the end of April 2010 unless Congress approves the Obama administration’s proposal to extend the payments. People have been affected by this drastically having to choose food and housing over prescribed medications needed to sustain her health, or going to food banks for all groceries. Over 6.3 million Americans have been unemployed for at least six months or longer, this has been the largest number since 1948. Traditionally, there are three sectors that have led the way out of recession: automobiles, home building and banking. Auto companies have been shrinking because strapped households don't have as much buying power. Home building is limited by fears about a glut of foreclosed properties and they are not confident enough. Banking is expanding, but this seems largely a function of government support that is being withdrawn. On average, only two-thirds of unemployed people received state-provided unemployment checks last year, according to the Labor Department. The rest either exhausted their benefits, fell short of requirements or did not apply. Also, these checks are are not enough to supply their every need! It is hard for people to survive comfortably with these wages. These people, are trying too. They apply everywhere and are not being picky and they are still not able to find jobs. I think that if the Obama' Admininstration approves the extension it will help a lot of people get by for another six months. I know this only will solve the present issue but if they create more jobs for people than I think it would solve more problems. Perhaps they could work with the large corporation and stop importing goods. A lot of major corporations are only worried about profits but if they somehow gain a heart than maybe our economy would be more stable.
Monday, February 15, 2010
"EU ready to help Greece on debts"
vocabulary!!
Eurozone- The collective group of countries which use the Euro as their common currency. The Eurozone came into being in 1999, and originally consisted of 11 countries. As of 2009, 16 countries were part of the Eurozone. The Eurozone does not include every country in the European Union, and does not include every country who is using the Euro (to become part of the Eurozone, the country must use the Euro as its sole legal currency). As a currency union, monetary, and rules are created and maintained by the European Central Bank.
Regional aid- Money given by a government, the EU etc to particular areas to help their economic development.
blueprint- A model or prototype.
To lay a plan for.
http://www.investorwords.com/5555/Eurozone.html
http://lexicon.ft.com/term.asp?t=regional-aid
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/blueprint
In my last blog, I talked about how Greece's economy was tumbling down and they would probaly have to receive aide from the EU. Greece is part the the eurozone and its deficit is at 12.7 % more than four times higher than what the eurozone allows. The EU leaders have said that they are prepared or ready to actto help fix Greece's finances and to ensure financial stability in the eurozone but still have not made a specific promise as to how they were going to help. Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council stressed the fact that Greec had not asked or begged for any help, he wanted to make sure that people knew that the EU offered. Greece has support of their government and their committment to do whatever is necessary to help save their economy. The summit statement also encourages Greece to reduce the budget deficit by 4% in the year 2010. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor said that once again the support Greece but they must remember that there are certain rules that must be adhered to. Details of any EU help for Greece may not come about until Monday, February 15,2010. ( This is when the finance minister swill meet together to deliberate.) Mr. Van Rompuy will have to face a big task since he wants the summit to focus primarily on a new strategy for jobs and economic growth with a blueprint for the next ten years. This would replace the Libson Strategy which was launched in March 2000. It was aimmed at making the European Union the most competative economy in the world and acheiving full employment by the year 2010. It rested on three pillars including economic, social, and enviormental pillars. The purpose of this blueprint is to make a long-term recovery and growth and it would be entitle Europe 2020. The EU rules prevent the eurozone from helping to bail out Greece, but the debt crisis that they have had has made it a necessary action. There is still of course doubt of where the aid would come from to help Greece. The taxpayers? Whowould come up with it? To help Greece get back on track, there has been a Greek Austerity Plan :
1) Cut budgetbelow EU ceiling of 3% of GDP by 2012
2) Freeze public sectors & no $$ bonuses
3) Raise average retirement age
4) Raise taxes on fuel, tobacco, alcohol, & property
5) replace 1 in 5 people leaving civil service
This has angered Greek trade unions, but it is estimated to help their economy. I predict that once the eurozone meets they will come up with a means of where to come up with the money most likely from the tax payers of their countries to help support. I still think that Greece will take the regional aid since they truly do need it and probaly without it will suffer and probaly might not be included in anymore innovating plans of the eurozone since they do want to be ultimately one the best economies in the world !!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8508688.stm
Eurozone- The collective group of countries which use the Euro as their common currency. The Eurozone came into being in 1999, and originally consisted of 11 countries. As of 2009, 16 countries were part of the Eurozone. The Eurozone does not include every country in the European Union, and does not include every country who is using the Euro (to become part of the Eurozone, the country must use the Euro as its sole legal currency). As a currency union, monetary, and rules are created and maintained by the European Central Bank.
Regional aid- Money given by a government, the EU etc to particular areas to help their economic development.
blueprint- A model or prototype.
To lay a plan for.
http://www.investorwords.com/5555/Eurozone.html
http://lexicon.ft.com/term.asp?t=regional-aid
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/blueprint
In my last blog, I talked about how Greece's economy was tumbling down and they would probaly have to receive aide from the EU. Greece is part the the eurozone and its deficit is at 12.7 % more than four times higher than what the eurozone allows. The EU leaders have said that they are prepared or ready to actto help fix Greece's finances and to ensure financial stability in the eurozone but still have not made a specific promise as to how they were going to help. Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council stressed the fact that Greec had not asked or begged for any help, he wanted to make sure that people knew that the EU offered. Greece has support of their government and their committment to do whatever is necessary to help save their economy. The summit statement also encourages Greece to reduce the budget deficit by 4% in the year 2010. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor said that once again the support Greece but they must remember that there are certain rules that must be adhered to. Details of any EU help for Greece may not come about until Monday, February 15,2010. ( This is when the finance minister swill meet together to deliberate.) Mr. Van Rompuy will have to face a big task since he wants the summit to focus primarily on a new strategy for jobs and economic growth with a blueprint for the next ten years. This would replace the Libson Strategy which was launched in March 2000. It was aimmed at making the European Union the most competative economy in the world and acheiving full employment by the year 2010. It rested on three pillars including economic, social, and enviormental pillars. The purpose of this blueprint is to make a long-term recovery and growth and it would be entitle Europe 2020. The EU rules prevent the eurozone from helping to bail out Greece, but the debt crisis that they have had has made it a necessary action. There is still of course doubt of where the aid would come from to help Greece. The taxpayers? Whowould come up with it? To help Greece get back on track, there has been a Greek Austerity Plan :
1) Cut budgetbelow EU ceiling of 3% of GDP by 2012
2) Freeze public sectors & no $$ bonuses
3) Raise average retirement age
4) Raise taxes on fuel, tobacco, alcohol, & property
5) replace 1 in 5 people leaving civil service
This has angered Greek trade unions, but it is estimated to help their economy. I predict that once the eurozone meets they will come up with a means of where to come up with the money most likely from the tax payers of their countries to help support. I still think that Greece will take the regional aid since they truly do need it and probaly without it will suffer and probaly might not be included in anymore innovating plans of the eurozone since they do want to be ultimately one the best economies in the world !!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8508688.stm
Monday, February 8, 2010
Greece 'should not get bail out'
Vocabulary !!
financial market- A market for the exchange of capital and credit, including the money markets and the capital markets.
gross domestic product- The total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year, equal to total consumer, investment and government spending, plus the value of exports, minus the value of imports.
deficit- The amount by which a government, company, or individual's spending exceeds its income over a particular period of time.
http://www.investorwords.com/1953/financial_market.html
http://www.investorwords.com/2240/Gross_Domestic_Product.html
http://www.investorwords.com/1371/deficit.html
Greece is now facing their second year of a recession and more and more buisnesses have lost their faith and confidence. The causes of this recession include violating rules, cheating on figures, financing consumption, and public and private by huge debts. Things have gotten worse since their prime minister George Papandreou announced that there would be pay cuts and higher taxes on gasoline !! He even warned on national tv that many Greek households would face pain and harder time in the future and that indeed they have. Gree's rising debts have hit the euro along with the European financial markets. A man named Otmar Issing who is a founding member of the European Central thinks that it is a bad idea to 'bail' Greece out and it might encourage the Greeks to stop trying if they see that help is on the way. Many reports say that helping the Greeks would ameliorate the financial markets significantly. They think that without help, Greece will be doomed !! The Europen bond markets should be very cautious in their decision making so that they could not be blackmailed. It is a very low ratio of Greece rejecting the help, but if they do it is described to be committing "economic suicide." EU rules state no nation in the euro bloc should have an annual budget deficit 3% higher of its GDP. Greeks public debt stands at approx. 300bn euros, and the gorvernment plans to decrease to 9.1% (12.7 down from last year) but many think that this will be nearly impossible to pass this budget, since it calls for such huge public spending. I predict that Europe will give in and help 'bail' Greece out of this troubling time. Of course , i believe that they will create some type of negotiation as they will not being doing it solely on the kindness of their hearts. If they are offered this help/aid then I think Greece will take the help otherwise nothing will get solved and and things would probaly get worse especially they are setting such high/ unrealistic standards for their country!! :)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/buisness/8494187.stm
financial market- A market for the exchange of capital and credit, including the money markets and the capital markets.
gross domestic product- The total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year, equal to total consumer, investment and government spending, plus the value of exports, minus the value of imports.
deficit- The amount by which a government, company, or individual's spending exceeds its income over a particular period of time.
http://www.investorwords.com/1953/financial_market.html
http://www.investorwords.com/2240/Gross_Domestic_Product.html
http://www.investorwords.com/1371/deficit.html
Greece is now facing their second year of a recession and more and more buisnesses have lost their faith and confidence. The causes of this recession include violating rules, cheating on figures, financing consumption, and public and private by huge debts. Things have gotten worse since their prime minister George Papandreou announced that there would be pay cuts and higher taxes on gasoline !! He even warned on national tv that many Greek households would face pain and harder time in the future and that indeed they have. Gree's rising debts have hit the euro along with the European financial markets. A man named Otmar Issing who is a founding member of the European Central thinks that it is a bad idea to 'bail' Greece out and it might encourage the Greeks to stop trying if they see that help is on the way. Many reports say that helping the Greeks would ameliorate the financial markets significantly. They think that without help, Greece will be doomed !! The Europen bond markets should be very cautious in their decision making so that they could not be blackmailed. It is a very low ratio of Greece rejecting the help, but if they do it is described to be committing "economic suicide." EU rules state no nation in the euro bloc should have an annual budget deficit 3% higher of its GDP. Greeks public debt stands at approx. 300bn euros, and the gorvernment plans to decrease to 9.1% (12.7 down from last year) but many think that this will be nearly impossible to pass this budget, since it calls for such huge public spending. I predict that Europe will give in and help 'bail' Greece out of this troubling time. Of course , i believe that they will create some type of negotiation as they will not being doing it solely on the kindness of their hearts. If they are offered this help/aid then I think Greece will take the help otherwise nothing will get solved and and things would probaly get worse especially they are setting such high/ unrealistic standards for their country!! :)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/buisness/8494187.stm
Monday, February 1, 2010
"Latest Stimulus Report Fuels Jobs Pressure"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703762504575037042612269282.html?mod=WSJ_economy_LeftTopHighlights
macroeconomics-The big picture: analysing economy-wide phenomena such as growth, inflation, and unemployment.
funds-money; or sometimes, money plus assets which could be converted to money.
food stamp- A stamp or coupon, issued by the government to persons with low incomes, that can be redeemed for food at stores.
The recipients of economic-stimulus money said that only 599,108 workers were being paid by the funds in the last quarter of 2009, which was way less than the actual number of jobs that had already been accounted for in the package about seven months ago when the package was first put into work. Of course, this made the recipients enraged so they made reports on an official government site about the $787 billion package and others (opinions) feel that it is not even working. White house press secretary said that they were currently trying to work on a bill for jobs that would cost 100 billion, President Obama is hoping that the Senate can tackle this issue ASAP!! But not to bash them, he addressed in his State of the Union that many would be unemployed had it not been for all the steps they have taken to "build" the economy. Vice President Joe Biden seemed to think otherwise saying that the stimulus package was on track and the number of 599,108 was only a glimpse of whom actually received funds. Mr. Gibbs expressed his point that although we have not created all the jobs we wanted, it is still important that stimulus money or recovery is gained so that all small buisness can regain their confidence and faith again. Stimulus recipients had reported that they had directly "created or saved" 640,329 jobs by Sept. 30, but some people reported saving jobs when they had actually spent the money on pay raises or paying employees who were not in danger of being laid off. In December, the White House Office of Management and Budget decided to enforce this and actually couting salaries instead of guessing ! I think that the stimulus package is not a bad idea, becasue it did create and save jobs. Our unemployment rate will not magically change over night, it will take time and people should understand that. As for those who have abused this opputunity, I am very disgusted that anyone would take away from others. I cannot believe how deceiving our country can be. I think as an result that, over time the stimulus package will come in handy and that more and more job growth will occur which would hopefully be a reult of confident employers hiring new people ! :)
definitions...
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Food+stamps
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
http://www.economist.com/research/economics/searchActionTerms.cfm?query=macroeconomics
macroeconomics-The big picture: analysing economy-wide phenomena such as growth, inflation, and unemployment.
funds-money; or sometimes, money plus assets which could be converted to money.
food stamp- A stamp or coupon, issued by the government to persons with low incomes, that can be redeemed for food at stores.
The recipients of economic-stimulus money said that only 599,108 workers were being paid by the funds in the last quarter of 2009, which was way less than the actual number of jobs that had already been accounted for in the package about seven months ago when the package was first put into work. Of course, this made the recipients enraged so they made reports on an official government site about the $787 billion package and others (opinions) feel that it is not even working. White house press secretary said that they were currently trying to work on a bill for jobs that would cost 100 billion, President Obama is hoping that the Senate can tackle this issue ASAP!! But not to bash them, he addressed in his State of the Union that many would be unemployed had it not been for all the steps they have taken to "build" the economy. Vice President Joe Biden seemed to think otherwise saying that the stimulus package was on track and the number of 599,108 was only a glimpse of whom actually received funds. Mr. Gibbs expressed his point that although we have not created all the jobs we wanted, it is still important that stimulus money or recovery is gained so that all small buisness can regain their confidence and faith again. Stimulus recipients had reported that they had directly "created or saved" 640,329 jobs by Sept. 30, but some people reported saving jobs when they had actually spent the money on pay raises or paying employees who were not in danger of being laid off. In December, the White House Office of Management and Budget decided to enforce this and actually couting salaries instead of guessing ! I think that the stimulus package is not a bad idea, becasue it did create and save jobs. Our unemployment rate will not magically change over night, it will take time and people should understand that. As for those who have abused this opputunity, I am very disgusted that anyone would take away from others. I cannot believe how deceiving our country can be. I think as an result that, over time the stimulus package will come in handy and that more and more job growth will occur which would hopefully be a reult of confident employers hiring new people ! :)
definitions...
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Food+stamps
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
http://www.economist.com/research/economics/searchActionTerms.cfm?query=macroeconomics
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