Economic Crisis - Hebert, Tim

Today in America, the people face a difficult problem the affects us all. The problem is our economy and how horrible it is doing. The American Economy has been in shambles for around ten years because of issues like Bank Bail outs and because of everyday issues such as war (Markham Pg. 7). Not only has the American economy affected its citizens it has caused chaos to other economies around the world. To solve the American Economic Crisis, it would require the voters of America to pass a law by 2012 that would better regulate government spending, eliminate outsourcing jobs and bringing them back to America, and get rid of the party system while requiring a certain level of education to acquire office.

Some of the biggest issues caused by the poor American economy is that America has the strongest economy it fuels other economies around the world such as the European Union and “when we sneeze, the rest of the world gets sick” (Mr. Myers Sophomore Year Economy Class). Now true some people would argue against this saying that the Economy does not have that much influence on other people because now China is flourishing.

Since China is doing really well as America is working hard on trying to figure out ways to save our economy. However China lives off our defeat because when people have no money they resort to buying cheaper goods. They have a lot of cheaper goods because they have no laws that make them pay taxes or to pay their workers. There for because these products are cheaper, more people are buying foreign made materials from places like China.

Another group that would say the economy is not effecting the population are big corporations. These businesses that have almost monopolized their industry have consumers left and right buying their products. This is because they have outsourced their jobs to places such as China, Indonesia, Mexico, India and many more so they can avoid paying Americans minimum wage and benefits. This alone is killing the American economy because the national average unemployment rate is higher then what it has been for decades. This then has a trickle down effect because when people do not have a job they do not have money to spend, which means they do not buy anything and hold on to their money hurting small businesses and helping the rich corporations such as oil companies because of the need for oil. Also they do not have to pay taxes saving hundreds of thousands of dollars to even millions of dollars by out sourcing their jobs. An example of a company doing this is Jordan Shoe Company. They have a factory in Mexico right across the border, which prevents them from paying taxes to our government, and once again neglecting to properly pay workers. Also because Mexico is in the North American Free Trade Agreement, Jordan Shoe Company does not have to pay taxes shipping goods over the border.

Democrats in our government are also another group that would argue that the “depression” is not as bad is it really is, and that our economy has gotten much better then what it was back when the republicans were in charge of the country. They even have evidence proving that unemployment rate has gotten better. With the worst rate at 10.2% in October of 2009 and is now down to 9% (Markham Pg. 72). Also the fact that the Democratic Party has tried passing bills like the American Jobs Bill that would have added up to 100,000 jobs in America but was turned down by the Republicans.

Seeing that these facts are true, the Democrats argument is one sided. This is because who would admit to failure of solving a problem that millions of people depend on to be fixed. So the fact of the matter is they will beat around the bush and sugar coat the true facts, but the cold reality is the American economy will not be solved by the either parties.

The true way to actually solve the economy crisis is to have a multi step plan that starts with how government officials work with money, big corporations, and the lower and middle class citizens of America. By making the Government more efficient with making decisions that actually help America, citizens will have more hope in knowing that laws are being placed in a timely manner. Also to ensure the fact that there will be no problems in making new laws the party system will be eliminated. “The American Party system has separated the country into two and will ultimately be our demise” (Latham Pg. 42). So with the party system gone, there will be less arguing on who is right and wrong just because no one is stuck on one side of the fence and we can take the best of both worlds.

Even though the party system will be eliminated it will still be possible to vote. There would be a lot more people to vote for and would require the effort of each citizen to do their own research to appropriately vote for the candidate best for the job. Each candidate would be approved by the government itself based on qualifications each one has with job experience and education. This will be the toughest issue for Americans to get over because we like to argue because that is what we were built on. So by not having our party systems, we could collaborate with people without the issue of being on the Democratic side or Republican side of ideals. So the only way to get everybody to agree on something is to get rid of the party system all together.

The next step is making the Government more efficient in spending money. This can be solved by putting a salary cap of $90,000 on anyone who works with the government because right now we have Senators making $200,000. Just over three times the average Americans salary (Markham Pg. 24). Knowing that inflation will affect money forever, the salary cap can be moved to fit into the upper middle class level based on an average consensus.

As we all know the government officials who are in office as of now would not even look any further into this solution because as the whole world thinks of us we are “Greedy Bastards” (Uncle David From England). So yes the officials will be taking a major pay cut but would still be able to live a good life with enough money to afford a house, car, even vacations. The only difference is that they will not have two houses or a fancy German car with a nanny. So in plain terms they will be moving down to the average American.

As we learned from the Bailouts in the years of 2009-2010 making sure the government is actually capable of knowing how to handle spending large amounts of money should be a key part in being in the government (Markham Pg. 47). It will then be mandatory for each government official to have a Masters Degree in Economics so that they can for see what would happen when they loan out money to large corporations who use it just to give bonuses to their CEO’s. Also it would make our Government be more conscientious about what jobs or issues at hand need to be solved right away because they will be able to better determine what issue needs to be attended immediately.

Of course head dogs in every corporation that are stationed in America are going to argue against how the government regulates money given to these companies because it will be to rebuilding, and not to buying a private jet. Also it will make it more difficult for people to be elected into office because of the qualifications needed. Even though, you think you know how the economy works because you made money on the stock market means nothing in the real world. “You need to know the inside and outside of how everything works which means getting into big corporations brains and knowing what they know” (Markham Pg. 36).

After fixing the government, it is time to fix the moneymaking companies in America. It will be illegal for any company founded in America or by an American to have his company out source jobs to other places around the world. By doing this, there will be more jobs found here in America which would help stimulate and boost our economy back to its original state. Also it will help out the government by putting a halt on sweatshops around the world and companies cheating the system and getting out of paying taxes to the government.

The only major downfall of taking back the jobs out of the other poorer countries like India is that there economy will become in the same shape as ours because they have twice our population and even less jobs then what we have. Even though we hurt a country while saving ourselves, after we become stable we can return the favor and help them out. The thing is we need to become financially stable to a point where we will not be affected from loaning out money to the poorer countries in the world.

So the first step into implementing this solution is to add on to the law that states how old you must be to take office. Since this law is already in place, adding on to and pigeonhole will be easier then making a whole new law (Beard Pg. 22). Also another law will be enforced getting rid of parties all together so that the government will stop arguing and actually agree on something. This will take longer to actually be emplaced because it will require the votes of the public to change our government for the better as stated in our Constitution.

This law will affect the people in office as of now because it will require all of them to have a Masters in Economics, and limit the payroll to a cap of the upper middle class individual. The only problem is that this will take a while for it to take place because it cannot happen over night. This will then be required by the year 2014 so government officials know what is required and do not kicked out without a chance of keeping their spot in office. Then with getting rid of the party system, our House of Representatives and Senate will need to be redesigned to fit our single party system where everyone is sitting along side each other and not separated by the party line.

Next step is to apply the law requiring businesses to keep jobs here in America. To test this, only one major company will be done so we can see if the business fails or succeeds here in America. This is to see how well the company will keep up profits because they will be forced to pay higher wages, have to pay taxes, and also have to pay environmental fees if any. If the company manages to stay alive, then others will soon be forced by law to comply.

Since only one company will be forced to do this, they will be given a tax break to help benefit the business because if the company goes out of business then it helps no one. Also because of the safety precaution, this law will take up to three years to actually be forced depending on how the guinea pig company does based on consumer standards from purchased goods to gross income.

The Economic crisis today needs to be solved tomorrow. This is because the longer America is in debt, the weaker we become as a nation. Including our government, military, and society as one will become weaker as a whole. The reason why this solution has multiple parts is because to solve a big problem you need multiple tools or ideas to be going at a time, and because our government right now cannot make a decision because they are to full of them selves. Along with having multiple steps, implementing this plan is going to be difficult because it requires the cooperation of all Americans who are eligible to vote. Even though it is going to be tuff to enforce and will take some time, the reward is going to be worth it because we will have more jobs, a stronger work force in technology.

Since the new laws will take up to three years to be emplaced and the government will still be new to the no party system, Americans need to do their own part in helping ourselves out. Americans today have become lazy, uneducated, and full of ourselves because we have had an easy life compared to the rest of the world. So our main problem is our selves. The Citizens of the United States of America. To help our government out Americans today need to do their part by buying things we can afford, taking the McDonalds job even if its bellow our standards, and finally going to college to get educated because we need education to survive and to revive our economy keeping us number one in the world.

Works Cited

The American Constitution.

Beard, Charles A. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States.

New York: Macmillan Co, 1941. Print.

Latham, Earl. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Boston: Heath,

1956. Print.

Markham, Jesse W. The American Economy. New York: G. Braziller, 1963. Print.

Siegan, Bernard H. Economic Liberties and the Constitution. Chicago: University of

Chicago Press, 1980. Print.

Mr. Scott Myers. Economics teacher at Cherokee Trail High School

Uncle David. Citizen of England.