CE Week #5: Video “Meet The Press Roundtable – The Economy” Oct. 4th

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on October 4, 2009 at 4:16 pm Comments (12)

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on October 4, 2009 at 5:32 pm Katie Bates Said:

This video was really interesting to me. I learned a lot more about the economy, and as I already knew that we were supposedly recovering, I learned much more about the main problem holding us back: unemployment. The 9.8% unemployment, and leaning towards hitting 10%, is really scary. Not only this, the main thing that shocked me was that 64,000 jobs in construction (aka: short term jobs made by the government) were lost in September. Also, the fact that the average number of hours isn’t even at full time for those who have jobs, stopping companies from giving new jobs to others.
I honestly believe the economy is getting better. Even though the unemployment is still not stable, people aren’t getting worse credit, banks got bailed out successfully, and overall America is peaking economically compared to the last year or two. I believe this will happen with or without government help, therefore government isn’t really needed in order for American’s to fully recover from this recession.
This video mentioned a few terms I have heard several times, yet do not know what they mean. For example, what does “Bipartisan approach” mean? Also, how high is unemployment predicted to go? If the average hours per week is only at 38, people will want more
hours, and the company will grant those people more hours before hiring new people.
on October 7, 2009 at 6:19 pm Bree Ferris Said:

A. The discussion gave me a brief look into all sides of the debate. Unemployment rates are a major concern, with some saying Obama failed to bring the rate to 7%- where it should be according to his proposed plan- while others claim the current 9.8% is better than it would have been had Obama’s administration not stepped in. In terms of the economy, one side argues that thirty years of spending has put us in this situation and more spending isn’t going to fix the problem, to do that we must bring the economy and the debt to a sustainable level. However others argue part of the reason we are in this situation is the collapse of the financial system brought on by bad regulatory decisions. Spending is the solution and fiscal policy is important to bring unemployment rates down to a reasonable level.
B. I agree that spending won’t fix the problem. When in debt don’t dig further! In order to bring the consumers confidence back up, which is key to America’s economy, we must first reduce debt to a more sustainable level. By doing so confidence will rise and this helps stimulate the economy. America’s economy relies on consumer confidence and if they fear an unstable economy than they stop spending and hurt the economy further. It’s a vicious cycle I feel the media helps contribute to. Look at the news, does it focus on all the positives of the economic status or does it report the downfalls of the economy? I think you’ll find it focuses on the down side of the situation. This doesn’t help build confidence either and so we see the cycle continue. Now I’m not saying the whole economic situation is the media’s fault but they sure haven’t helped. Bottom line: You can’t spend money you don’t have, spending more doesn’t fix debt. Consumer confidence is key and negative media attention along with greater debt doesn’t help. Meanwhile, jobs will suffer until the economy is back and rolling.
C. I’d like to hear more about Obama’s proposed solution and compare it to the our current status. I also notice the term “second stimulus” being thrown around and would like to know what is this proposed second stimulus, if there is one or if this is just a theory. The end of the discussion confused me. I understand what the bipartisan approach is but I was unclear where Mike Murphy was going with it. How would it have helped put money into the economy faster?
on October 7, 2009 at 6:30 pm Jessica Levy Said:

A. From this video about the economy I learned about the high unemployment rate. I learned that the unemployment rate was supposed to peak at 9% and then recede to a lower number. At this point in time the unemployment rate is 9.8% and the “broad” unemployment rate which includes those who cannot find full time jobs, but are working part time jobs is 17%. I also learned that a company would rather raise the number of hours a person works than hire a new employee. And the temporary jobs provided by the government and summer jobs have ended in September, causing an even greater number of unemployed.

B. I think the economy is in a terrible state at this point and the government needs to work on providing more jobs for Americans. The government is planning on spending a large amount of money in order to fix the job situation, but this will cause more debt for the country and possibly end up increasing taxes. The state of the economy is going to cause problems for many different classes of people, from the rich to the poor.

C. What exactly is the stimulus plan and how is it going to repair the economy? Who is going to be most affected by the stimulus package?
on October 8, 2009 at 6:25 pm Sarah Fullmer Said:

Video “Meet the Press Roundtable – The Economy”

A. I’ll be honest. I really don’t know that much about the economy. I know that our country is in a lot of debt. Way too much debt. Like I don’t even want to think about the taxes I’ll be paying for the rest of my life to pay this off.
B. I agree with most of what Brooks was saying. We really don’t need to have a second stimulus. I’m not saying the Democrats were totally wrong, but they need to accept that their plan didn’t work. They said if it was to work we’d be a 7% unemployment, and guess what employment is rising. Close to 10%. It took Edison so many tries before he got the light bulb right. So keep trying. Find a plan that works. This is not to say it’s going to happen over night. Also, Biden talked about how there were going to be peaks and valleys in this return to a stable economy. But with the government’s influence or not, there are going to be peaks and valleys. I think the government needs to have less to do with trying to fix this economy. It will work itself out. The worst thing we can do is add more money. They’ve spent enough money bailing out the banks. Its already happened so lets not dwell on the past. But maybe we could learn from our mistakes. STOP SPENDING!!! If we don’t stop spending its going to come back and hit us hard and then we’ll really be in a pickle. This is not the great depression. We’re going to get out of this. It might take a little time, but the economy is like a big cycle. We hit the dips and peaks and that’s just kind of how life is.
C. Can someone fill me in on what the multiplier effect is? I didn’t really understand that.
on October 8, 2009 at 6:47 pm Kevin Yen Said:

A. What you learned?

In my ignorance, and due to my lack of fallowing the news i thought the economy was doing a lot better then what was talked about on this little clip.

The main focus of the clip was on the unemployment rate, which was 9.8%. Originally i thought the unemployment rate to be around 10% about 2 months ago, but seeing the chart has changed my outlook on what Obama is really trying to do to better the economy.

I also learned the just pumping billions of dollars i not just going to magically fix the economy and everything is going to be grand again. It’s going to take time, i understand that, but when people say the recession is over and the unemployment rate is still at 9.8% and rising, it gives me the feeling that they’re lying. What are they seeing that makes them think that the recession is over?

B. What you think?

I think that a lot changes need to be made to the economy, not changes like giving out $700 billion to just anyone and expect that money to go back into the peoples pockets. What i think is that there needs to be more localized project to bring back the economy. Which will be beneficial to the local cities in the short term, but will be beneficial to the nation in the long term.

The unemployment rate will continue to rise, i do not doubt that, but i just think politicians need to take a closer look at what they can to local and state governments.

C. What you would like to know?

Towards the end of the video, the group of people began talking about a bi-partisan approach as a way to pump money back into the economy, and into the people. What my question is, what is the bi-partisan approach?

The lady really just laughed at the idea, and maybe if i knew what bi-partisan really meant i would better understand why she was laughing.

And also i wanted to know more about what Biden was saying, the economy is going get better? But how is that going to work?
on October 9, 2009 at 9:07 pm Megan Erickson Said:

In response to Sarah Fullmer:

I didn’t know what the multiplier effect was either, so then I looked it up and it is still kind of confusing too me, but I’ll try to explain it. The definition from the wonderful wikipedia is that the multiplier effect is “the idea that an initial amount of spending leads to increased consumption spending and so results in an increase in national income greater than the initial amount of spending.” That didn’t help me. So, to put it simply, it is the exchange and circulation of money in the economy. For example, just follow a $10 bill. Someone buys some Coke from a store with the $10, then the clerk uses the $10 to pay his rent, then the landlord uses the $10 to fix his toilet, then the plumber uses the $10 to….. the process goes on. An increase in income leads to the increase of spending and comsumption. This is exactly what Obama was planning with his stimulus plan. The idea of the multiplier effect is to stimulate the demand for products and so the government invests money in it by creating jobs, spending, taxation, or, in this case, a stimulus package. There is a ton more to the multiplier effect, but it involves formulas and big words that just goes over my head, so that’s the gist of it.

Here is where I got my information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiscal_multiplier
http://www.cnmi-guide.com/info/essays/economics/33.html
on October 10, 2009 at 9:01 pm Kevin Yen Said:

C. What exactly is the stimulus plan and how is it going to repair the economy? Who is going to be most affected by the stimulus package?

In response to Jessica Levy:
From what i understand/what Googled, the stimulus plan involves “the Government stimulating economic activity through cash payments, tax breaks and infrastructure projects”. But I’ve yet to see the effects of this plan, due to the fact that it’s a slow process or maybe due to another reason. But that is the gist of the package. Here is a pretty legit diagram breaking down stimulus package.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/02/01/GR2009020100154.html
on October 10, 2009 at 11:39 pm Kylei Tompkins Said:

In response to Katie Bates:

Q:How high is unemployment predicted to go?

A:Unemployment at 9.4% in May up from 8.9% in April and 8.4% in March- that is an increase of between 0.4% and 0.5% per month. There are 7 months till the end of the year. If it continues at trend that could mean another 2.8% to 3.5% rise which will take it to between 12.3% and 12.9%.
on October 11, 2009 at 11:30 am ktbates123 Said:

In response to: Kevin Yen

In reference to you saying people say the recession is “over”. I don’t think anyone could possibly mean it is over, what they are more referring to is the worst is over. And I think that’s easy enough to agree with. Yes, unemployment is still a big issue, but if you look at the big picture, the worst is over. But no, the recession isn’t over.

Also, you asked what a bipartisanship was. I asked the same question, but thanks to our handy dandy Chris Mathews book club I found out it meant the process when both the major parties work together to make a plan or idea. Great Connection and use of other class materials; I am so proud! Kautzman
on October 11, 2009 at 1:58 pm Jessica Levy Said:

In response to Sarah Fullmer:
I disagree with your opinion on the government needing to leave the economy to the people to repair. I feel that the government is necessary to aid in the economic recovery, I understand that they do not need to control the recovery, but I feel that they at least need to have a position in the program. To stop spending would be a good thing for the government, but they also need to provide jobs, otherwise they would still be spending money by having to pay people unemployment when they do not have a job. The government should listen to the people before coming up with another plan, but another plan is required.
on October 11, 2009 at 2:33 pm Bree Ferris Said:

In response to Katie Bates-
From what I researched, a bipartisan approach is basically when both parties, democrats and republicans, come together and solve the problem. Instead of passing the democrat’s plan or the republican’s plan they create a plan together in which both parties agree on and support so they can be proactive. This is a good idea because when everyone in congress is on the same page a lot is accomplished but it is difficult because as we all know republicans and democrats don’t get along a majority of the time.
on October 12, 2009 at 4:03 pm Justin Fritz the Conservative Said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3aYubT2DTs

interesting?