In Debt We Trust free essay sample

In Debt We Trust It is common knowledge that public debt is one of the basic topics in macroeconomics. Debt is actually a certain amount of goods or money (mostly money) owed by one side to another. There are various types of debts, from personal debts to debts by the government. The US public debt is the amount of money owed by the United States federal government to creditors. National and individual debt combined total well over $10 trillion. The video notes how credit card companies quarry on college students and others too young and dumb to realize how easily a spending spree can change their future. Meanwhile, the working poor are mislead into loan schemes with huge disciplinary consequences for late payment, including ever-more-frequent home foreclosures. Middle-class families end up in deepening debt just trying to maintain the same home-and-car-owning lifestyle their parents could afford. Where there used to be a penalizing but real last-ditch escape route, Republican lawmakers recently shoved through restrictions making it almost impossible for individuals to declare bankruptcy. We will write a custom essay sample on In Debt We Trust or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The national debt is the total amount of money the United States Treasury Department has borrowed and currently owes to the federal governments creditors. These creditors are mostly comprised of the public, including individuals, corporations, as well as state, local and foreign governments. They also consist of various government trust funds, such as Social Security and Medicare. Additionally, they include the Federal Reserve, mostly in the form of treasury bonds, bills and notes. Currently, the U. S. national debt is estimated to be $8. 5 trillion. This ever-growing figure brings with it several social and economic implications. Therefore, the national debt is a frequently debated topic that has over the years produced various schools of thought on how the U. S. government should manage it. In order to understand how the national debt could ultimately affect future generations of the United States and the different ways the government can best deal with it, it is first necessary to discuss its’ history. According to the latest statistics, as of 2006 the sum that Federal Government owed to its citizens and overseas creditors was 5. 2 trillion dollars. This sum does not include money, owed to social security fund, and by various corporations. If the sum owed to Social Security Trust Fund is included, then the debt rises to an amazing figure of the $8. 5 trillion dollars. That means that in 2006 the expected interest, paid on the debt will be 364 billion dollars. This sum of money is actually greater than the GDP of several independent states. The average interest rate for the US public debt is 4% annually. Certainly, the debt of $8. 5 trillion dollars is a heavy load for the US taxpayers, as they are forced to service it. US certainly own the greatest amount of money, and American economy certainly has difficulties struggling with such a deficit. It is clear that any other country would simply collapse under the weight of such bonds. One fact has still to be taken into consideration: US economy is the most powerful one today, consequently. If calculating the public debt in percentage of the GDP, it equals 67%. This figure is actually normal for most developed countries, and USA hold 35-th place in the world according to this scale. I find it funny that the film speaks of the impending financial doom that we’re currently experiencing. I find it sad that we’re going to bail out these financial institutions that are doing this. We just sent them 700 billion more because they have us so enslaved that we could not live without them. So when their greed finally got the best of them good old GW and the folks we elected†¦ bailed them out by sending them more of our money for free! When will it end? The answer as of right now looks like never!

Asian economic history essays

Asian economic history essays Brief Economic History and Government Policy Korea was one of the poorest countries in world after experiencing two wars. World War II and Korean war (1950 ~ 1953). The country even experienced a food shortage so that it had to heavily rely on the foreign aid. Yearly per capita consumption was a mere $88 as late as 1965. However, since 1965, Korea has been transformed from its underdeveloped agricultural economy to a leading Newly Industrializing Country. Between 1965 and 1981, its gross national product GNP multiplied twenty times from $3 billion to $63 billion and per capita GNP increased sixteen times from $88 to $1,554. There have been many explanations for Koreas successful story. Among those, the strong role of government would be probably the most important one. At the same time, this would be also responsible for current recession. After Koran war, the government in fact had no sense of direction and also due to the unstable political situation, the country didnt have specific economic policy until 1961 when military government came to power and established the major institution guiding its economic planning called Economic Planing Board (EPB). This government set economic development as the top national priority and recognized the financial system in support of economic development plan. To achieve this purpose, it focused its policies mainly on export expansion moving its emphasis from import substitution. The result was considered quite successful for economic growth. Between 1965 and 1973, exports grew at average annual rate of 45%, from $175 million to $3,271 million. The success of the expansion was due primary to three factors (Kwack, 72). The first was a favorable international economic environment, which saw total world imports expand from $175 billion in 1965 to $536 billion by 1973. Thi s boom in imports of the world reflected the fact that the industrialized had not ...

The Economic Growth of Developing Countries Assignment

The Economic Growth of Developing Countries - Assignment Example More recently WTO has focused upon the need to sustain an open multilateral trading framework, particularly in the light of the proliferation of regional blocs. In spite of some weaknesses and limitations of its strategies, WTO has benefited the economic growth of developing countries and involves them in free trade relations and international trade. The main question worried many nations and economists "Does WTO really promote free trade or just control the international trading relations and economic order The WTO was established on 1st January 1995 by the Marrakesh agreement. It was a new agreement between the global nations which improved and extended articles of GATT established in 1947. .WTO differs from GATT as it is based on different principles and policies of trade relations. GATT is just a set of rules while WTO is an international institution with governing bodies. In contrast to GATT, WTO commitments are full. GATT rules and principles of trade cover only retail trade while WTO regulates services and intellectual property industries. The main difference is that WTO is based on multilateral agreements applied to all members of the institution while GATT involved selective agreements applied to some local economies. The befit of WTO is that it is undeniable that trade policy leaders have their own bases of support, such as interest groups and the bureaucratic institutions they direct. As they depend on those bases to maintain their current position, policymakers' interests, pr iorities, and responsibilities in policy making are put by their support bases. In fact, the state-oriented approach underlines the importance of the demands of society on trade policymaking. In contrast to GATT, WTO has a stricter system of trade control and does not permit trade violations. Trade violations involve such impotent issues as labor relations and environmental concerns. These rules and principles can be seen as a response to dissatisfaction with the explanatory power of international trade relations that concentrate on international factors or assume country interests to be external. Such attempts are grouped by WTO into four, based on their characterization of the international and the domestic, and the lines of responsibility they draw between these political issues. WTO has a set of laws aimed to restrict the activity of those companies which violate accepted rules and norms of international trade. The domestic and international relations each possess different and distinct features and limitations on country action; thus domestic goals are more effectively pursued with international trade strategies.