Archive for category Mixed Economy
‘Wake-up call’: 1 in 6 went hungry in America in 2008
Posted by admin in Mixed Economy on November 17th, 2009
by Marisol Bello – Nov. 16, 2009
USAToday.com
The biggest increases were among households with children and people who were hungry most often.
The report, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, found that 17 million people in the U.S. went hungry or did not eat regularly for a few days of each month over seven or eight months last year. That’s a 45% increase from 12 million people in 2007. In 2008, 16.7 million children did not eat regularly at some point, up from 12.4 million in 2007.
“This is a dramatic and alarming increase,” said Stacy Dean, director of food assistance policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which studies policies affecting the poor. “It confirms that the recession has had an impact on the ability of millions of Americans to deal with the most basic of issues, such as can they afford to eat.”
President Obama said his administration is taking steps to prevent Americans from going hungry by boosting benefits for food stamps and expanding eligibility for school lunch and breakfast programs.
Obama noted food stamp applications are surging and food bank shelves are emptying. In August, 36.5 million people received food stamps, up from 29.5 million in August last year.
Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America, the country’s largest hunger-relief organization, said its food banks in states hit hardest by the recession, including Nevada, Florida, Michigan, California and Ohio, have seen 50% increases in people turning to them for help.
She said donations are up 20% but that is not enough to meet the need at her group’s 205 food banks.
“This is a wake-up call,” Escarra said.
Pope Benedict XVI decried the rise in hunger after 60 heads of state and dozens of ministers from other nations at a food summit in Rome rejected a United Nations appeal to commit billions of dollars annually to helping farmers in poor countries.
“Hunger is the most cruel and concrete sign of poverty,” he said. “Opulence and waste are no longer acceptable when the tragedy of hunger is assuming ever greater proportions.”
U.N. officials say 1 billion people — one in six globally — don’t get enough to eat.
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Obama announces jobs, economy forum in December
Posted by admin in Mixed Economy on November 12th, 2009
By Robert Schroeder – Nov. 12, 2009 10:36 a.m. EST
MarketWatch.com
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Barack Obama in December will host a White House forum about creating jobs and growing the economy, he said Thursday, amid signs that the economy is improving but job growth is lagging.
Obama said the meeting would include chief executives of corporations, labor leaders, economists and others, “to talk about how we can work together to create jobs and get this economy moving again.”
Obama spoke after the Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims dropped by 12,000 in the latest week to 502,000, the fewest initial claims since early January. He called the report a “hopeful sign,” but said it’s not enough.
“The economic growth that we’ve seen has not yet led to the job growth that we desperately need,” Obama said at the White House, just before departing for a trip to Asian countries. Read story about jobless claims.
Obama said he’d use meetings with Asian leaders to discuss a “balanced and broadly shared” strategy for economic growth.
“It’s a strategy in which Asian and Pacific markets are open to our exports, and one in which prosperity around the world is no longer as dependent on American consumption and borrowing, but rather more on American innovation and products,” Obama said.
Obama’s eight-day trip in Asia will take him to Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and Seoul, as well as to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore. There, he is slated to meet with 18 fellow world leaders.
Historic Examples Of A Mixed Economy
Posted by admin in Mixed Economy on November 12th, 2009
Nov. 12, 2009
Market Mix Up – History 101
Once again… we did more research on a Mixed Economy, and I was able to find some Historic Examples dated as far back as the 1800′s . Take a look!
The American School (also known as the National System)[10] is the economic philosophy that dominated United States national policies from the time of the American Civil War until the mid-twentieth century as the country’s policies evolved in a free market direction. It consisted of a three core policy initiatives: protecting industry through high tariffs (1861-1932) (changing to subsidies and reciprocity from 1932-1970′s), government investment in infrastructure through internal improvements, and a national bank to promote the growth of productive enterprises. During this period the United States grew into the largest economy in the world, surpassing England (though not the British Empire) by 1880.[11][12][13]
Dirigisme is an economic policy initiated under Charles de Gaulle of France designating an economy where the government exerts strong directive influence. It involved state control of a minority of the industry, such as transportation, energy and telecommunication infrastructures, as well as various incentives for private corporations to merge or engage in certain projects. Under its influence France experienced what is called “Thirty Glorious Years” of profound economic growth.[14]
Social market economy is the economic policy of modern Germany that steers a middle path between socialism and capitalism and aims at maintaining a balance between a high rate of economic growth, low inflation, low levels of unemployment, good working conditions, public welfare and public services by using state intervention. Under its influence Germany has emerged from desolation and defeat to become an industrial giant within the European Union.[14]
Although nominally socialist, the economy of Syria is in practice a mixed economy comprising large state enterprises and small businesses.
Source: Wikipedia- Mixed Economy “Historic Examples”
What Is A Mixed Economy?
Posted by admin in Mix Up TV, Mixed Economy on November 11th, 2009
What Is a Mixed Economy? — powered by eHow.com
Summary: A mixed economy is an economy that consists of a combination of a market economy, in which there is free exchange of goods in a private market, and a planned economy that is totally controlled by a governmental entity. Discover how countries show elements of multiple economies with help from an online campaign manager in this free video on mixed economies.
The 4 Stages of a Market Recovery
Posted by admin in Mixed Economy on November 10th, 2009
Market Mix Up
by Katy Marquardt – Nov. 10, 2009
USNews.com
Talk about “mixed messages”. Stocks are blasting off, yet unemployment remains stubbornly high. The economy grew in the third quarter—posting the first increase in a year—so why all the gloomy talk? And exactly where are we in the current economic cycle? Jason Pride, director of research at Haverford Investments, believes we’ve entered a period of “true growth,” when the economy begins catching up with the market. According to Pride, this is stage three of four in a market recovery. Here’s his rundown of each stage.
1. Extreme Sell-Off. Call it the panic phase. Buyers disappear in the market, and spooked investors start selling. “This selling pushes the market down further, hitting more investors’ pain thresholds and leading to even more selling,” Pride says. “This self-reinforcing cycle causes a downward spiral in the market where the decline actually accelerates on the way down.” Consumers begin to delay big purchases, and companies start to lose confidence, reflected by cautious commentary and a more conservative outlook for their businesses, he says. They also start putting off inventory purchases, and perhaps they don’t hire workers that they would normally hire, Pride adds. “The economy and the market are doing things at the same time,” Pride continues. “Normally, the market and economy even accelerate a bit into the downturn, and at some point, stage two occurs.”
[See how long it will take to recover your investment losses.]
2. From Burn to Turn. At this point, the market and economy look so bad that it doesn’t take much to see improvement, says Pride. “Valuations drop to absurd levels for a number of stocks. Buyers start coming in, and people start to nibble.” Pride believes this stage began in March, when stocks hit bottom and were trading around nine times normalized earnings (roughly half of the historical norm). “At this point, some investors’ eyes open,” he says. Companies start sounding more upbeat, as they’ve set the bar so low for earnings estimates that even a small dose of positive news allows them to beat expectations, according to Pride. “Those initial achievements come primarily from cost-cutting measures . . . and that starts getting investors’ attention. The market starts to move off of that bottom, and you start seeing companies beating estimates. You start to see early signs of life,” he says. “Remember, between March and July, people started commenting that things look ‘less bad.’ ”
3. True Growth. This is the stage Pride believes we’re in now: “We’ve seen slight improvements in housing, and initial jobless claims start turning. We’ve seen companies actually beating on the top line and not just the bottom line.” Other signs: The economy begins to post growth, along with some international economies. “Everything is not completely back to normal, but the path back to a more normal economic environment is becoming more visible,” he says. “Early indicators of employment—initial jobless claims—begin to improve, but unemployment is still rising and has not started to decline yet.” Pride expects this stage to continue up to around the end of the year.
Employment trends rise for 2nd straight month
Posted by admin in Mixed Economy on November 10th, 2009
by Rex Nutting- Nov. 10, 2009
MarketWatch.com
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – A forward-looking gauge of U.S. employment trends improved in October for the second straight month, suggesting that job growth could revive early next year, the private Conference Board reported Monday.
The employment trends index — based on eight employment indicators — rose 0.7% in October after a 0.5% gain in September. It is down 13.2% from a year ago.
Four of the eight components improved in October: initial jobless claims, temporary-help employment, industrial production, and real sales.
“The employment trends index has likely turned a corner in September, and the historical relationship between the index and employment suggests that job losses will end in early 2010,” said Gad Levanon, senior economist at the Conference Board. “While layoffs have certainly declined in recent months, we still expect to see employers adding hours to their existing workforce before hiring will strongly increase.”
The other four components of the index declined in October: the percentage of consumers saying jobs are hard to get, the percentage of small businesses with unfilled openings, the number of job openings, and the ratio of involuntary part-time workers.
The report comes days after the Labor Department said the U.S. unemployment rate rose above 10% for the first time in 26 years, hitting 10.2% in October. The alternative rate that measures underemployment rose to 17.5%. See full story.
The government also said nonfarm payrolls fell by 190,000. The average workweek was steady at a record-low 33 hours.
Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch.
The U.S. Is Considered A Mixed Economy
Posted by admin in Mixed Economy on November 10th, 2009
Market Mix Up
Market Mix Up
Posted: 11/10/09
We decided to do some research on whether or not the United States is a “Mixed Economy”, and we’re able to find some interesting facts.
Here are some examples:
- A central United States bank.
- Many cities provide public transit as competition against private options, an indirect form of price control.
- The United States Postal Service is a public mail service that exists alongside private options such as FedEx or UPS.
- Most road networks are government built and maintained, although private citizens and companies are allowed to “sponsor” a highway or road to ease some of the financial strain.
- Public and private schools are available for children.
- Waste collection and treatment are usually provided as a service by the local government, though most local governments pay private companies to perform the service.
- State and local governments provide guaranteed police and firefighting support, though private security forces are available.
- Intercity passenger rail (Amtrak) is a nationalized industry, as are many local trains.
- American airports are government operated but all American airlines are private.
- The FDA must test and approve a drug or chemical before it is allowed to be sold on the market.
- State and Federal governments have minimum wage laws, though several occupations are exempt from the rules, such as wait-staff, who make up most of their income from tips.
- The government provides a social safety net through methods such as Social Security and unemployment benefits.
- All Americans over the age of 65 are eligible for Medicare, a public health insurance option.
- Most agriculture has been subsidized.
- The Federal government has the power to loan money to failing businesses, in the form of bailouts, as a means of keeping markets afloat and preventing sudden unemployment. These bailouts usually come with significant constraints to prevent the businesses from spending the money frivolously. Some of the strongest criticisms of the recent TARP bailouts were that they had relatively few regulations on how the money could be spent, leading to several whistleblower reports of exorbitant CEO bonuses.
So there you have it folks…
Source: Wikipedia definition of Mixed Economy.
