Actively read the Newsweek article entitled “We are all Socialists Now”
http://www.newsweek.com/id/183663/output/print, from last weeks’ edition of Newsweek Magazine. Follow the directions for ONE of the following assessments:
Blog:
Summarize the article and at least one additional resource linked to it on Newsweek.com. Discuss the positive and negative aspects of Obama’s economic stimulus plan. To what extent is the government responsible for recovering the economy in a time of recession/decline? How does this stimulus package compare to Washinton’s response to other recessions in US history? Will the stimulus plan work to recover the national economic crisis? Provide evidence to support your response.
Comic Strip/ Visual Timeline/ Power Point/ Poster:
Create a visual comparison highlighting the details of Obama’s stimulus plan to at least TWO other recession recovery programs in US History (use the Daily News’ “US Economy Timeline if you do not have the printed timeline I distributed in class Friday to help you get started: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/useconomytimeline/ ). Be sure to reflect that you actively read these materials and researched outside sources to include information BEYOND what I provided for you.
Media Analysis
View or listen two at least TWO outside news sources analyzing the stimulus plan. Write a reflection or draft a script for a news broadcast of your own comparing and contrasting different perspectives on the wisdom and fate of Obama’s stimulus plan. You may film the broadcast for extra credit.
Your work must be at least 250 words. Due Monday, Feb 22.
(Note: I had to rewrite these directions as I didn’t save the assignment on my home computer, following either set of directions is fine, e-mail me if you have questions: bridgettefranciscsi@gmail.com)
http://www.newsweek.com/id/183663/output/print, from last weeks’ edition of Newsweek Magazine. Follow the directions for ONE of the following assessments:
Blog:
Summarize the article and at least one additional resource linked to it on Newsweek.com. Discuss the positive and negative aspects of Obama’s economic stimulus plan. To what extent is the government responsible for recovering the economy in a time of recession/decline? How does this stimulus package compare to Washinton’s response to other recessions in US history? Will the stimulus plan work to recover the national economic crisis? Provide evidence to support your response.
Comic Strip/ Visual Timeline/ Power Point/ Poster:
Create a visual comparison highlighting the details of Obama’s stimulus plan to at least TWO other recession recovery programs in US History (use the Daily News’ “US Economy Timeline if you do not have the printed timeline I distributed in class Friday to help you get started: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/useconomytimeline/ ). Be sure to reflect that you actively read these materials and researched outside sources to include information BEYOND what I provided for you.
Media Analysis
View or listen two at least TWO outside news sources analyzing the stimulus plan. Write a reflection or draft a script for a news broadcast of your own comparing and contrasting different perspectives on the wisdom and fate of Obama’s stimulus plan. You may film the broadcast for extra credit.
Your work must be at least 250 words. Due Monday, Feb 22.
(Note: I had to rewrite these directions as I didn’t save the assignment on my home computer, following either set of directions is fine, e-mail me if you have questions: bridgettefranciscsi@gmail.com)
Heather V.
ReplyDeleteF Block :)
Newsweek’s article, “We Are All Socialist Now” portrays the current state of America’s economy as a reflection of a European economy. The unemployment rate is at its highest in 16 years, and the Obama administration is pressing to pass the largest financial bill in American history. There seems to be this theme in Newsweek’s article that America is headed in a more European direction. The more the government is spending to fix the economy the more European or French we become. The term “big government” is mentioned throughout the article as the stimulus plan evidently calls for more government intervention in America’s economy.
This new era of big government is the so- called answer to the current economic turmoil throughout our country. The government must stimulate the economy if no one else is going to do so. Nonetheless, with the government attempting to stimulate the economy, America’s growth will be limited. The comment that really caught my attention in Newsweek’s article was, “It [The Obama Administration] must borrow and spend to fix a crisis created by too much borrowing and spending”. Basically our country is in this huge mess of borrowing and spending, and it really opens up my eyes to see how greatly we depend on each other to keep our country up and running.
Depending on where you stand really depicts how you view the stimulus plan and whether certain aspects are positiive or negative. According to the Democratic Policy Committee, this urgently-needed legislation requested by President Obama will create and protect 3.5 million jobs for American workers and begin to put the nation's economy back on track. The stimulus plan will supposedly create good-paying jobs, make investments in American’s future, and cut taxes for working families. It seems like who wouldn’t enjoy this plan, right? But the government will be borrowing and spending so much money to fix the fact that they borrowed and spent too much in the first place. Also, the plan will be giving every worker making less than $75,000 a check for $300, evidently giving money to people who are doing well financially and not to support overall spending.
Compared to Washington’s response to other recessions in U.S history, the stimulus plan is no different just larger numbers being used. For example, in the Great Depression massive stimulus was used and failed to work. After the stock market collapsed in 1929, the Hoover Administration increased federal spending and as a result the unemployment rate did not decrease but stayed the same.
In a time of recession, I believe the government is responsible for recovering the economy yet not to the extent of spending billions of dollars. I believe a recession takes time to be over, yet it does not take a big government to end that recession. Ultimately, I believe spending more to cure a financial crisis is like smoking more to end your addiction; it leads to an ultimate systematic failure. Nonetheless our government is attempting to invest in our future, and many people are referring this to socialism. However I always felt that America ran sufficiently well as a capitalist society, and I hope we can find our way back to stability as soon as possible.
Loretta Au
ReplyDeleteFebruary 21, 2009
Timeline
1837 Market Panic
The country’s first depression led to seven years of high unemployment and the failure of nearly half the country’s 850 banks. While cotton production increased, agriculture expanded, and cities grew, sales of land increased, as did the need for internal improvements. As a solution to the problem, President Jackson attempted to curb the negative attributes of the economy by replacing the central bank with a number of banks. As a result of Jackson’s plan, sufficient hard money was scarce, therefore banks failed, enterprises were bankrupt and unemployment spread.
1929 The Crash
The roaring 20s come to an end as $30 billion was wiped out from the NYSE in five days, leading to the decade-long Great Depression, which lasts until WWII. The roaring 20s was fueled by increased industrialization and new technologies after WWI. Due to the economy’s benefit from the life changing technologies, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared leading many investors to buy shares, many purchasing the stocks on margin. The Dow Jones began decreasing drastically in October 1929, leading to panic selling. Investors traded their shares as fast as possible. Many investors lost their all their property, and were unable to pay their debts. As a result, the government voted to tax income, which was used to fund the WWII.
2009 Stimulus Plan
As the U.S economic stability weakens, Obama creates up a stimulus plan. His plan will inject 75 billion dollars into the economy through tax cut and direct spending. As a backup, 45 billion will be used if the economy continues to worsen in the future. Obama’s first priority as president is to strength the economy and create more jobs for the unemployed. He believes that awarding middle class families money, which he expects to be quickly spent, will improve the economy. “We need that middle-class tax cut now more than ever - not five months from now or five weeks from now, but now.”
Veronica Geager
ReplyDeleteA block
In the article, "We are All Socialists" the author describes the current financial crisis, and its impact on the United State's present and future economy. According to the article, the United States is leaning towards a European mode of financial stability, mainly the French mode of economic stability. By 2010 it is projected that the spending gap between the US and its many European counterparts will be a mere eight points, as spending quickly increases as a result of trying to combat the falling economy.
In US politics, the last few years has clearly done the economy damage. Former President "Bush brought the age of Reagan to a close; now Obama has gone further reversing Bill Clinton's end of big government." It seems as though Obama is moving in the same direction as French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy's politics goes against the capitalist gain of "markets are always right." He clearly states that the American stock market is pit hole of flesh eating money hoarding business men. Obama has endorsed this idea, and even calls the CEO's of big corporations "greedy" and "shameful" Obama has even endorsed Sarkozy's idea of manufacturing patriotism. He is now pumping more money into American factories to produce more domestically used items, as opposed to buying internationally made products. Obama is trying to increase the American economy by creating and manufacturing products domestically.
Also in the article, the author summarizes the fear of big government. In a poll it was surveyed that most Americans are afraid of more government involvement, but want more government rewards, such as health care benefits and national security. The slogan "BIG GOVERNMENT IS THE ENEMY" might be slogan of the nation. Since the 1960's socialism has been the enemy. However, from the article it seems as if it might be the way our government is going.
Cherricka
ReplyDeleteBarak Obama’s stimulus plan is to create jobs and end the recession. His $800 billion package will leave middle class Americans happier than ever. Obama also plans to set a $500,000 salary limit for executives in companies that take money from the government. In my eyes Obama’s plan is not permanent. It is temporary until the economy is restored. However, according to the Newsweek article “We Are all Socialists Now”, many believe Obama’s plans will lead America in the same direction as European countries. This is not a good thing. European countries has reached a record low in the past decade, and this is what America does not need. Obama’s stimulus plan results may be similar to European countries, but the idea is to recover faster than European countries. America becoming a modern Europe is not the best thing for the economy. According to the article, a decade ago the US government spending was 34.3 percent of GDP compared with 48.2 percent in the Euro zone, which is a 14 point difference. As the years progress the gap will become smaller. As the euro spending decrease the US government spending will be increasing. Americans do not like big governments. Larger governments asks for more money; however, there are many benefits, such as health care and national defense. Governments has its ups and downs, but a larger government is more beneficial for citizens.
Obama’s stimulus plan is good for the economy right now. The idea is to cut unnecessary spending to restore the government. His plans should only be in effect until the economy is surely back on the right track. This can take years because it is easier to get into debt than out of debt. His stimulus plan reflects the structure of a market economy is how consumers decide what they will produce and purchase and in what quantities. Decisions are made by law of supply and demand. Within Obama’s stimulus plan the government has to figure out what is most important to spend money on what will be purchased to keep the US running. Supporting millions of people will cost a lot of money. This means as the economy gets worst, citizens get less.
Justin Lefkowitz
ReplyDeleteC Block
The Newsweek articles, “We Are All Socialist Now” and “Big Government is Back-Big Time”, present different perspectives on the nation’s current economic crisis. It also analyzes the almost trillion dollar stimulus plan that Barack Obama has offered. President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan can be both a good plan and a bad plan. I feel that the stimulus plan could work out in the next few years, but in the long run, I feel that it will cripple the economy even more than it currently is.
The eight-hundred billion dollar stimulus plan might be good because it will give money to a variety of different business. If these different businesses get a lot of money, then they will be able to raise the money in their salary cap. If a company’s salary cap becomes larger than it already is, then more money will be available to pay more employees. This will allow many businesses to start hiring employees once again. Since the stimulus plan will help create job opportunities for the millions of recently unemployed American citizens, more Americans will start making money once again. Shortly after they start making more money, they will start investing in the stock market once again, causing a surge in the markets. Creating job opportunities might be the golden ticket that the government has been looking for, to take us out of this recession.
The stimulus plan might not be a good thing for Americans in the long run. We are going to have to pay off this stimulus plan eventually. In the future, taxes will be raised, on not just the wealthy, but also on the poor and the middle-class Americans. If taxes do become a problem in the future and not everybody has the money to pay them off, we might be thrown into another recession.
The way that the United States is currently running is almost like a baseball game. We are currently in the bottom of the fifth/sixth inning. We are down by one run. The stimulus plan could either hit a homerun and tie the game, or it could just strike out. If the game gets tied up, we are still in the fifth/sixth inning looking to win the game. The problem is that it is still too early in the game to tell whether or not we are going to win the game and get out of this depression, or lose and be in a bigger blunder than what we are in.
If the stimulus plan strikes out, we do not lose the game; we will just have less time to make a comeback to win. If we strike out, we are going to need a better game plan to win this game.
The government needs to really watch the way in which this crisis is handled. If handled incorrectly, the United States will appear as if they are becoming a socialist nation like France. Goodbye free-market, hello mixed-market. The government needs to also stop focusing on the little things such as health care and pension, and start worrying about employment opportunities and the stock market. We need to stop comparing ourselves to countries like Great Britain and France. They do not have the number one economy in the world… the United States does. If we start practicing different techniques such as protectionism, other countries will proceed to follow. As a result, trade between countries will slow down. If we stop trading with other countries, we will not be able to export any of the products we make money off of. Not only might this make the economy worse, but it might also cause wars.
Heather - detailed and analytical work. E+
ReplyDeleteLoretta - clear and accurate but lacking analysis. G-
Veronica - solid summary, but you never get to presenting your opinion on "the way things are going." What do you think? G
Cherrika - your summary reflects mixed messages on the purposes and intent of the stimulus plan, but it's not just you, most people (and some would argue Washington as well) are confused on wether the idea is to spend more or save more. Overall, you picked up on main ideas but could've benefitted from some outside research. G-
Justin - I dig the sports metaphor- it clearly illustrated the trends of our modern economic crisis! I'm not convinced health care is a "little thing" but I do see your point that perhaps the emphasis of recovery should be in areas that provide opportunities for economic growth. I'm wondering how you rated the #1 economy and wether or not trade restrictions are a necessary anxiety at this time. Either way, all interesting ideas. Keep thinking. E-
President Barack Obama came up with the idea of the economic stimulus plan with good intentions. On a positive note he expects a rise of unemployment to reduce by the bill being put into action. However, the bill unexpectedly is seen to have a more negative impact on the economy. According to the weekly news, 48% of people thought what they were hearing was negative and 29% thought it was more positive. The purpose of the stimulus is to minimize declines down.
ReplyDeleteGovernments definitely can help in a recession or a decline in the economy. The people’s thoughts are what guide the government, which leaves it up to them to step in and take control. Not everyone agrees that government has any affect but in general they have some influence on the aspects of the economy.
The arguments over the stimulus package have made it more and more clear that putting together the most effective stimulus package is not the best thing to do if its being rushed. Obama needs to take more consideration into the steps he takes and overlook his final decisions. When it comes to a vital change in the economy you can never be too careful. Its possible the plan can recover the United States from this terrible recession and kick us back up to operating at full capacity and production.
One of the governors of Washington named Christine Gregoire said she was disappointed when the Senate passed its version of the stimulus package since it reduced the amount of money for bridges and roads. The people of Washington expected to receive in the billions, yet they only received about half a million. Obama felt he did all he could to organize things but his choices may lead to a series of downfalls.
Mike Orr
ReplyDeleteIn the article We are all socialists, the author tells us about the economical crisis, and how its affecting the president, and the united states. In the article the author is leaning towards changing the ways that our country is being ran which they suggest the idea of using the way the economy is being ran in European countries. Barak Obama’s plan is to hold 75 billion dollars into the economy through tax cut and direct spending. He is going to raise taxes on higher class people which is supposed to help the economy, but in my opinion I do not think it will work. The economy is at its worst and it can’t get much worse. The only thing that Barak can do is just wait it out until it gets better on its own. It can only be so much longer.
His plan to create jobs may work, but we need the money for new businesses in order to NEED new workers which may help the economy but by the time that happens the depression will be over. We either need something done now or never. Obama was put into office at an extremely rough time so none of this is his fault, but I do not think he is handling it correctly by raising taxes. If anything he should lower them so people will have money to spend in stores. Raising will not help in the short run. In this case, many people think that having big governments is the enemy of most countries as veronica said, and I totally agree with her. The best thing for the economy is to just wait it out and things will get better.
Sylvia Shojai
ReplyDeleteBlock A
The article “We Are All Socialists Now” discusses how America is becoming more like the socialist economies in Europe. It seems that during our economic crisis, the government is torn between two sides that encourage it to either stay out of the economy, or to intervene. One reason why Americans are skeptical to allow the government to step in is because they feel it will compromise our capitalist and democratic principles. The nation is currently facing an economic crisis due to the mistakes of the government which everyone is cursing right now. Americans are faced with the highest rate of unemployment that has been witnessed in years; many are getting laid off as well. This interferes with families being able to support themselves and keep their homes. Although Americans do not trust the government, for which they have a perfectly good reason, the best way for our nation to return to stability would be to let them help. President Obama’s stimulus plan was made in order to repair the damages done to the economy. This $800 billion plan is meant to start giving back to those who suffered by the poor choices Bush has made. Jobs will be created, schools will be built, and trust will be put back into corporations such as banks and mortgage companies. This stimulus plan is even similar to George Bush’s, who’s actually cost less. The objective of both bills had the same idea in mind, to get the economy running again. However Obama’s stimulus bill seems risky. It will entrust money to the same businesses that did not manage it properly in the first place. We are facing harsh times that everyone can say we cannot wait to get far away from. To leave this in the past and move on it is up to the corporations not to screw up this time.