Social Security.

By Collin Sternad 

Social Security.

As the U.S. government tries to control the debt that has grown exponentially in recent years that debate on what should be done, or if anything should be done with social security continues to be a hot topic for economist nationwide. Social Security was first created under President Roosevelt to start the development of comprehensive social insurance to cover all economic hazards with special emphasis on injury and old age. Money for social security is directly taken out of American workers income; 6.2% to be exact is take out and  put into trust funds (one for retirement and one for disability), and the employer matches that amount unless the amount earned is greater than $90,000 dollars. In theory Social Security requires individuals to save, and when they retire they will receive enough money to survive monthly.

            However this theory has been challenged drastically in recent years due to the number of people entering retirement. Because of demographic pressure and the weak economy the social security program will only be solvent until 2033. Unless changes are made be 2033 those who retire, or are currently retired will only receive 75 percent on what they were previously promised. If this were to happen, it would send a shockwave across American. “Less than half of households ages 55 to 64 have retirement savings, and of those, half have less than $120,000. Many near-retirees also have lost home equity or a job.”(Social Security). Social Security is a vital necessity to many Americans and possible cuts could leave Americans who are unprepared high and dry. However, if cuts are not made to social security, then bigger cuts will have to be made elsewhere. Currently about 17% of the U.S. Governments debts is to the Social Security trust fund, and this number will continue to grow as more and more members of the baby boom generation retire.

           

Clearly it isn’t feasible to cut the Social Security program all together, but economists and politicians have proposed ideas to help reduce its impact. One of which is raising the age, at which citizens receive benefits, from 65 to 67 or 69. Raising the age at which Americans start receiving benefits would save the United States government millions of dollars. Supporters of this idea argue that the life expectancy of Americans is growing, so naturally the retirement age should rise too. However, this idea isn’t by any means supported by everyone; Americans argue that they shouldn’t have to wait another two or three years to receive the benefits that they rightfully deserve.

Another possible way to lessen the affects of Social Security, as proposed, is withhold benefits from the wealthy. Some believe that this is a viable solution because the wealthy don’t need the extra money anyways; they already have money saved, and a few thousand dollars extra isn’t needed. Other politicians argue that the wealthy should get just as many benefits if not more, because in reality they were the ones paying in the greatest amount. Just because the rich may not need the money as badly, is it right for them to be punished for being successful? This is one of the questions politicians will have to consider and examine in the future when considering cuts to Social Security. Only time will tell what the government decides to do about Social Security as they try to reduce the American debt.

Works Cited

 "China Fears U.S. Debt Default, But Has Few Options : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2013. <http://www.npr.org/2011/07/28/138754315/china-fears-u-s-debt-default-but-has-few-options>.

"Social Security Retirement Benefits - Online Application Information." The United States Social Security Administration. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2013. <http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pgm/retirement.htm>.

"Social Security, Present and Future - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/opinion/sunday/social-security-present-and-future.html?_r=0>.

The End of Elastic Oil

Written by: Bailey Zimmerly 

The End of Elastic Oil

          Oil, a commodity unlike any other, the basis of transportation, and the wealth of nations is changing. There is no current shortage of oil, but oil reserves are becoming more difficult to drill. “The oil supply is becoming less elastic as new oil supplies come increasingly from unconventional oil” (Konrad). Simply put, consumers are reacting more to more severe changes in oil prices and any change in the price of oil produces a small change in supply. Over the past decade this shift can be seen.

            Back in the 1990s consumer reaction to oil was not as high. The demand was extremely inelastic. Consumers thought the oil supply would never end and production was not highly regulated. However now, at least in the long run, the demand elasticity for oil can be more elastic. This is being done through carpooling, moving closer to work, and driving more fuel efficient vehicles. Replacing a car or moving may be unrealistic in the short-run, but in the long-run it becomes more possible therefore a change in elasticity is possible. However, if oil prices continue to rise, especially at an exponential rate, then the economy will not be able to adjust, therefore hammering the country with higher unemployment rates. However, another side has to be taken into consideration.

            Supply side elasticity has remained steady throughout the 1990s with little regulation. However, now with a strict oil limits amongst the countries of OPEC, supply will now remain constant with a rising price therefore forcing supply to become nearly perfectly inelastic. This problem haunts many of the top world consumers of oil. In the past supply would always adjust to the demand side of the economy for oil, however a change is coming.

            With this shift away from the elastic supply of oil, countries such as the United States are going to have to make many critical changes to prevent disaster from soaring oil prices. Simple changes such as increased investment in public transportation and encouraging people to carpool are short term fixes. However, long-term plans including improving the nations rail system to shift from truck to rail as well as encouraging the electrification of transportation. Finally, to help pay for these changes an increase in the gas tax at a slow and predictable rate over time to provide funds for the nations improvements as well as to signal consumers for the prices above.

            With the improvements listed above the United States and oil consumers around the world will be more able to adjust to higher gas prices with a continued limited supply. The markets need to encourage alternative uses in the transportation sector in order to make it a successful long-run superpower in the future.

Article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomkonrad/2012/01/26/the-end-of-elastic-oil/

Cited:

 "The End of Elastic Oil - Forbes." Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 June 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomkonrad/2012/01/26/the-end-of-elastic-oil/>.

Careers, looking forward, and behind.

Cal Stempel

Careers, looking forward, and behind.

Everyone has dreams of becoming successful, may it be treating patients as a doctor, or designing the next great monument as an architect.  We have a pre-set list of careers engrained into our heads that reap the highest income.  But what jobs and careers in today’s economy bring in higher incomes than would be expected?

            The top 3 highest paying jobs in the US are Anesthesiologists, Surgeons, and in third obstetricians and gynecologists (according to usnews.com).  All of these careers expectedly make over $200,000 annually; but with these jobs comes years of medical schooling and educational debts. 

            For the majority of us though, we do not have access to the skills that medical schooling requires, we may not have gotten the grades to get us into the finest law schools or prestigious engineering programs.  But did you know that successful hot dog vendors can make up to $100,000?  There are niche careers throughout our economy that yield high incomes.

            How about being an ice cream taster?  Ice cream tasters make about $60,000 annually.  Funeral Managers make about $80,000 a year, human statues (street performers) make about $100 an hour!  All of these jobs do not require years of education, or thousands of dollars of debt.  

            These unconventional careers are rare and far in-between.  So you may be wondering, what careers are in demand that pay well?  Our economy today is outsourcing unspecialized positions and replacing human hands with robots.  So what careers could possibly be in demand in the US today? 

            Unsurprisingly, the healthcare is not going anywhere soon; some of the most needed positions in today’s economy are physician assistants, nurses, and medical technicians.  You have probably seen the endless commercials for 2 year colleges that prepare you in a career with the medical field.  Well the reason these commercials are so common is that these careers are in high demand,  and will be in the distant future. 

            Medical careers do not require years of schooling as you have learned from the commercials and low ranking positions such as medical assistants and billing and coders still reap high incomes, averaging around $50,000-$70,000.

            Another extremely in demand career are programmers and IT specialists. The US has been a technological force for decades and continues to progress.  With this progression there is the need for more and more IT positions and skilled computer programmers.  Just like the medical careers, IT schools strongly advertise on television; that is because the jobs are in high demand, and are future proof.

            So next time you think of which career field you think you will want to join, don’t look at the expected jobs such as surgeons, lawyers, or engineers.  You could very well be better off as a hot dog vendor, or funeral manager!  High paying jobs are scattered everywhere; It just takes a little digging to uncover them.   

http://www.ehow.com/list_5481635_10-needed-jobs-future.html#page=5

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/05/23/10-unusual-jobs-that-pay-surprisingly-well/

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/29/the-10-highest-paid-jobs-in-america

Is the Federal Reserve at its Breaking Point?

Written by: Jess Wolter

Monetary policy are the actions that the Federal Reserve System takes to influence the level of real GDP and the rate of inflation in the economy. For the past couple of years the economy has been struggling to get out of a recession and the Federal Reserve has taken many actions to try and stimulate the economy. Recently though a former Federal Reserve chairman, Paul Volcker, is questioning if the Feds are doing too much to help out.

            While the Feds are doing anything in their power to help with stimulation they also need to abide by what their many goals are. They cannot be straying away from those purposes otherwise their establishment is nearly pointless. On the other hand some people believe that the Federal Reserves are not doing enough and should be doing more for this country. Volcker states, The Fed is being asked to "accommodate misguided fiscal policies" and "deal with structural imbalances". On top of doing their job of keeping low inflation and strengthening the economy. The Feds are being asked to take over the jobs that the government should been doing because they are in charge of fiscal policy. At this point in time the government is still arguing over the fiscal policy and that is adding more economic turmoil to the mix. It is the Federal Reserves best interest to stick their main tasks and work on keeping prices stable.

            The Federal Reserve is doing anything to try and push economic growth but there comes a point when too much pushing can become harmful. In the video on CNN News Volcker talks about his views on what the Federal Reserve should do. In the video he says,” Low interest rates have pushed up all assets,” and those are the movements that are needed to get this economies blood pumping. The negative side of this though is that “The Federal Reserve has kept short-term interest rates near zero since December 2008, in an effort to stimulate the U.S. economy” (CNN News). The bad part about these low interest rates is that when the economy becomes stable and the rates need to rise citizens will become frantic and upset with the raising rates. When they become upset the consumers will not want to invest as much because of the higher rates and that will not stimulate the economy.

            The Federal Reserve struggles to find the equilibrium of how much they should be doing for the economy. John Volcker believes that the Feds are going to fall short of the expectations that are ahead of them. His thought process is that the Fed will be focusing on their tasks and will not be able to tackle the jobs that are not a part of their duties. With all the Federal Reserve does, the future may be bleak because of the transition back to more normal interest rates. Consumers may panic and cut back investments and that is the opposite of economic growth. Without the Federal Reserve’s help though, the economy could still be in the recession and not in a growing process. What do you think the Federal Reserve should do?

Kurtz, Annalyn. "Volcker: Fed Will 'fall short'" CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 29 May 2013. Web. 31 May 2013.