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Discussion N
Part B
The first most important point that Manfred Max-Neef makes is that the economy should serve the people and not the other way round. The second point is that growth and development are not the same. The third one is that development should be about people. These points focus on improving the quality of life as opposed to increasing wealth.
If Max-Neef was to advise president Obama, I think the United States Economy would be better in 10 years. This is because it shall aim at improving the lives of people instead of material accumulation alone.
Part C
I decided to research the Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioner career because it has a good salary and its demand is high.
Personal traits that work best with this career include good communication, physical endurance, patience and caring. I have some of these traits such as caring, physical endurance and good communication. Patience can be developed with time, as one gets used to interacting with the patients.
This career requires one to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing (BSN), an Associate Degree in Nursing, (AND) and a Diploma program in hospital.
The expected earning for this career is around $96,000 per year, which is the median pay. It could be less or higher than this.
The working conditions for a nurse are tough especially emotionally because of seeing suffering people every time. I think this may not be the best match for me, but I like caring for people.
According to my research, demand for nurses is on the rise. Although nurses are increasing, the supply is falling behind demand. There has been an international shortage of nurses, which means it is very easy to find a job in this career.
Given what I have learnt about nursing, I am still interested in pursuing this career because it offers a challenging job, a good pay and it is easy to find employment.
Part D
I think Milton Friedman answers the questions asked well considering one can easily get the answers. For instance, he is asked what would be the adverse effect on legalizing drugs. He answers that it would see people taking more drugs. He also says that legalizing would eliminate the black market.
On the other hand, DEA administrator does not address the questions asked especially in the first questions when she is asked whether heroin is more dangerous to human health than Marijuana. The answer required a yes or no answer, which she does not give. Rather, she says that all illegal drugs are dangerous and avoids the questions. This made it look as if he did not know about drugs well, which is supposed to be her area of expertise.
I think that marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes considering that research highlights its numerous benefits such as treating cancer. Although many people would not approve of it, from a cost benefit view, it would be good to legalize it. Marijuana can be readily available at a lower price than most of the synthesized drugs. In addition, it would provide a source of revenue for the country because people will buy it from drug stores instead of going to the black market. Therefore, legalizing marijuana for medical purposes would have a higher benefit than cost.
For the same reason, revenues from taxation, marijuana should also be legalized for recreational purposes. Although some people argue that it will lead to increased costs of treating people due to its effects, research indicates that it does not have adverse effects more than other legal substances such as alcohol and cigarettes.
Part E
From watching the film, I learnt that recessions are caused by the financial markets. One of the issues that cause such instabilities is lack of proper regulation in the financial institutions. Interest rates are very crucial when it comes to determining the economic status of a country. Regulations are meant to regulate competitive interest rates that can cause inflation. I also learnt that the recent economic crisis occurred because of loss in the value of mortgage loans that resulted in declined capital. Finally, I learnt that much of the regulations in the financial market resulted from the Great Depression.
William Black thinks that we should tighten regulations on the financial institution and bring justice to those who committed fraudulent crime. The recent crisis had been caused by fraudulent lending in the financial markets, which so many people take up loans they were not able to pay.
I think what we should do is regulate the financial industry as well as restrict banks from engaging in investments that can cause conflict of interest. However, regulations should be flexible to allow changes in case it is necessary.
Part F
Keynes thinks it is a good idea to increase government spending in order to pull out an economy out of recession because one’s spending is another person’s earning. He believes that if people spend more, people will also earn more because each person supports the other when they use money. This goes on and on in a circular motion.
On the other hand, Hayek believes that it is not a good idea to increase government spending to pull a country out of recession. Rather, he believes that the market should drive the economy. This is because increased government spending will need to increase taxes in order to support its outflows, which leaves the consumers with less money for spending. Precisely, he argues that increased government spending would result in decreased consumer spending.
Classic economists would favor Hayek because it means the market would be free. Classical economists believe in a free market that regulates itself and allows free competition and laissez-faire. In this case, Hayek’s idea stresses economic freedom, which concurs with classical economics.
I would support Hayek because the market would allow free competition as opposed to government regulated markets where prices are not set by supply and demand. As a consumer, I would be in a position to spend more in the long-term than I would in a government driven market.
Part G
I think that the bank CEOs in United States are overpaid compared to other countries. The chairman of the largest bank in the world, which is Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, took less than 2% of what the CEO of the fourth largest bank in the world, JP Morgan Chase & Co. it is evident that this is a huge difference, which only indicates how overpaid these CEOs are.
Over the last 10 years, I do not think the CEOs did a good job to deserve such high packages. This is because they faced the same pressure as other countries in the economic downturn. In addition, the financial industry, especially banks that engaged in fraudulent activities caused the market capitalization declined that resulted in an economic recession.
Part H
Jeff Faux is concerned about younger people earning lower wages because even with increasing wages, there are no props upon which to rely. He is simply saying that even with increasing wages compared to 1979, people are spending more that they earn because prices have also increased.
In figure 1 of the CBO report, the lowest quintile received the smallest percentage increase in real after-tax income. The top 1 percentile received the largest percentage increase in real after-tax income.
In the second figure, the groups that saw their share of market income decrease are lowest, second, third and fourth quintiles. The highest quintile saw their share within the market increase, meaning the inequality between the rich and poor is growing bigger.
I think having more income and money in hands of the top 1% contributes to economic bubbles because money is in the hands of few. This causes poor investment decisions because they control a big amount of the money, which ends up failing. In addition, research shows that just before the two economic bubbles in United States, wealth was more concentrated at the top 1%. When few people controlling a lot of wealth make investment mistakes, the consequence affects the whole country.
I do not think that my career choice will be subject to lower real wages in the future because its demand is rising everyday, meaning prices for their services will increase as the law of demand and supply stipulates.