Economic resolutions for the US

Currently, the United States obviously has some serious economic problems. However, there are a couple of things which Ben Bernanke and the Fed and the US government could easily do to help speed up the recovery.

1. Set up national workshops, similar to what FDR did during the Great Depression. These workshops do not have to cost near as much, or be as long, but they could help create jobs and complete projects. For example, civilians could be hired to help build or patrol the border fence in the southwest, help fight crime in major cities, and beautify public places in towns across America. Not only would this program create jobs, but it would also complete various tasks around the country.

2. Create stricter regulations for major Wall Street companies, especially banking and loaning institutions. A recession occurs once every few years because a new problem on Wall Street is not discovered until after the recession hits. By better publicizing records and information, the government will be better able to prevent the next recession due to shady Wall Street dealings.

3. Have the government tax those who default on their home and credit cards loans. Many people throughout America think it's OK to declare bankruptcy and default on their payments, but this only loses a lot of money. By placing a tax on future incomes for these citizens, there would be many less bankruptcy claims and much less money lost.

The money cycle in Major League Baseball

In many of the professional sports leagues around the world, there is a yearly salary cap implemented to make sure that no team has an unfair monetary advantage. However, in Major League Baseball, the agreement between the owners and Players' Union does not have a salary cap. Although the absence of a salary cap greatly helps teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cubs, it makes the league extremely uneven. Take, for example, the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays' scouting department has done an excellent job in recent years, and they have an excellent farm system. (Minor League) They even went to the World Series in 2008. Because there is no salary cap, the Rays have to give away many of their best players every single year due to a lack of sufficient funds. Tampa Bay had the best record in the American League this past season, but they were forced to let Carl Crawford, a perennial all-star, go because they didn't have enough money to pay him.

This feature is definitely one of the worst in sports. In baseball, there are several other teams in similar situations with the Rays. The Padres, Twins, and Pirates also have to continually drop their best players if they succeed. Just a few days ago, the Padres had to say goodbye to much of their starting lineup a month removed from their World Series appearance. Although the Yankees are salivating at the new talent available, it proves that money, not talent, really does run sports. When the Yankees have a payroll well over $200 million per year and the Rays and other teams have payrolls in the $30 million range, it makes it almost impossible to compete. Until Major League Baseball finally decides to implement a salary cap, the MLB will not be a fully competitive league.

How retailers get rich off Black Friday

Every year on the day after Thanksgiving, millions of Americans get up early- some camping out overnight- to try to get the best deals at the start of the holiday shopping season. And every year, retail outlets make billions and billions of dollars in profits on Black Friday alone. However, stores often aren't actually lowering prices, but raising them, which leads to the question: 'Why do consumers still shop so much on Black Friday?"

One of the main answers is tradition. For many people, shopping during the Friday after Thanksgiving has been a lifelong tradition, and they see no reason to stop. In my family, all the women go shopping of Black Friday, and they have been for decades. For others, the long weekend is often the only time they have to shop for presents, as December can be an extremely hectic month.

Because of these reasons, all retailers need to do is convince the general public that their sales are greater than anywhere else, since they are virtually guaranteed a viable stream of potential consumers. Many companies do this by offering limited sales: they will heavily advertise a ridiculously low price on an expensive item, but there will only be 5 or 10 at the sale price per store. Yet other companies will offer sales at times when many aren't even up: some companies offer 10% off deals from 4AM-8AM. Still other retailers offer great deals on certain items, but significantly raise the prices on the item's compliment. Yet other stores raise prices way up during the week before Thanksgiving, just so everything in the store can be a certain percent off on Black Friday, even though it is often much higher than the average yearly price. But whatever gimmick retailers decide to use, they certainly rake in the cash of Black Friday every year.

The G20 summit in South Korea

Currently, President Obama is attending a summit in Seoul to discuss trade regulations with South Korea and other countries. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be doing much more than making an appearance. Once again, president Obama has appeared to have failed to get any further regarding relations with other countries, which has placed the US in a state of gridlock. Each meeting, all the president ever does is agree that China, Iran, and North Korea are enemies that need to be regulated. However, the president never actually gets around to forming new trade agreements with allies.

If president Obama could actually reach an agreement, it would greatly help our country. Creating free trade agreements to lower prices, regulating the Chinese Yuan, or increasing exports to Asian countries are all items that the president could accomplish to help American citizens. But if he continues to fail to back up his talk with actions, it won't be helping America.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-11-12-obamatrip12_ST_N.htm?csp=34news

Purpose of this blog

Hello to all that may be reading this. This blog is designed to be an economics blog with stories directly from the financial world. It will be updated biweekly. Enjoy!