Chapter 9 GDP

Each chapter I am more impressed on how something as seemingly  complicated can be explained in terms I can understand. Wheelan takes on the great topic of GDP. The first thing that I found interesting that I am going to directly quote is on page 195. Wheelan gives a new way of thinking about how much wealth we need to live, more specifically how we can measure it. "The real cost of living isn't measured in dollars and cents but in hours and minutes we must work to live".
Wheelan in the previous pages references chapter 5, a chapter all about efficiency brought on by new technological advances. The technology increases are GDP and decreases the time we must work to get a specific job done( AKA productivity). He mentions on page 194 that america is now 5 times wealthier than in 1940, which is incredible. We have to spend less time to acquire goods and services, even though the cost has gone up since that time.

Chapter 9

I think it's interesting how one number can tell us so many different things about a country. I also think it's interesting how one number is the determinate of how our economy is doing. Wheelan claims GDP can tell us several things. He examined America's GDP and what it tells us about our country. To summarize, American GDP tells us:
-the American economy is massive by global standards (only a little smaller than all of the countries of the European Union combined)
-we are rich by global and historical standards
-our GDP is growing (in the sense of a long span of time, our GDP per capita is more than twice what it was in 1970)
"In other words, the average American is five times as rich as he or she would have been in 1940." Wheelan asks why this is, and the answer is simple: we are more productive. The amount in which productivity has increased since then is incredible, and it makes me think: how much more productive can we get? To what extent will technology advance and will increase productivity even more than what it is now? Considering these factors, how much more will GDP increase in the span of a couple decades and what will cause the increase?
(Pgs. 194-195)

Ch. 9

6.
The passage that I found most interesting was the one where nominal GDP rose 10 percent but the inflation also rose 10 percent. This happening would mean that we sold the same amount of things at a higher price. This will look nice on paper. Seeing that our GDP rose 10 percent. When you really look at it nothing beneficial came out of it. We made no progress. The example used with the bills provides a good concept of the idea. 10 $1 bills looks a lot better than 1 $10 bill, but they are exactly the same. If the minimum wage is to go up it will only look like the 10 $1 bills. It will be nothing special. It will only look a potentially feel good. The people will feel like they are richer because they have more money, but then the price of everything will go. This is because businesses won't be able to afford their employees so they jack up all their prices. Soon a latte will be $8. Nobody really wants that to happen. The real goal is to keep inflation down and have the GDP rise otherwise it will only look good from the outside. Then no progress will be made.

Chapter 9

The passage that I found most interesting was the paragraph discussing the idea of GDP but applied to everyday life.  The book says that GDP "does not count any economic activity that is not paid for." This was very interesting to me because America always displays the ideal family with a mother who cooks and cleans and takes care of her children, but that contradicts what we want as a nation.  As a nation we want positive GDP, yet when the mothers are doing the necessary "right" thing for their family, it doesn't benefit our country in any way.  If were not spending money, were not growing.  Therefore in a way, it seems like GDP promotes the attitude of people doing other things for you, which reflects our generations attitude more accurately then anything else.

Chapter 9

I was intrigued by Wheelan's claim (if I'm understanding it correctly) that we could keep the economy from plummeting fast during recessions if we essentially turn a blind eye to the whole thing. It seems simple enough to say that if we continue to spend how we normally would than the economy wouldn't take a nose dive at full speed during recessions. If I were the head of a business, corporation or even household for that matter, I would want to save! As a whole the economy would be stimulated if everyone kept there regular spending habits but what if I chose to buy the car I was saving for during a recession and than the house market crashes anyway and now I don't have money to deal with that (huge) problem? It sort of reminds me of the card game we played in class, unless everyone helps to stimulate the economy, there will always be a big heap of "losers."

Ch 9

In chapter nine I was interested to learn how much yet how little GDP means. It is the most accurate representation of economic weath, whilst disregarding all social contributions. We obsess over it it and personify it to be a powerful entity. Yet, GDP does not take into account certain critical components of an economy such as income inequality. To me this generally means GDP means nothing considering the well being of a country. Just as Wheelan explained currently there isn't a more efficient way to calculate numerically the economic standing of a region, yet it seems silly that it has not happened yet. Also I was confused as to why Wheelan said the cost of living is not measured in dollars but in time. I understand that we've become more efficient, but how does that directly correlate to time equalling the cost of living.

Chapter 9: Keeping Score

6. 

People are silly creatures. When discussing inflation and growth, Wheelan states, "Your salary will have most likely gone up 10 percent as well, but so will have the price of everything you buy. It's the economic equivalent o f swapping a $10 bill for ten $1 bills - it looks good in your wallet, but you're not any richer"(194). His example reminds me of a story about a child and his father I heard a few years back. The father gave his son a dollar and was told to do with it what he wanted. The son found a man and traded him four quarters for the dollar and went back to his father proud of his accomplishment to make four out of one. Upon telling his unimpressed father, he went back to the man to trade him for more yet. He traded him his four quarters for ten dimes and returned to his father to show him his greater wealth. Once again his father was not impressed. Angered by the lack of pride his father took in his accomplishment, the son went back once more to the man and traded him his ten dimes for one hundred pennies. Determined to impress his father, the boy came to him and said, "Look father! I have one hundred pennies. You gave me but one dollar and I have turned it into one hundred coins!" And the father responded by only shaking his head. 

Likewise, I feel the average person would rather have greater inventory of a sum rather than the same sum in smaller quantity. Personally, I would rather have the same sum in a smaller quantity for organizational purposes, but to each their own. 

In addition, growth is good and bad. Take the example of a child. When he is small, he wishes to become tall enough to ride Thunder Mountain and dreams of the twists and turns it takes just beyond his grasp. However, when he is older (and several feet taller), he wishes to shrink down to that small size he retained as a child so he would be able to reach behind that small area behind his dresser without moving it. I have heard adulthood compared to that of a dog in a car. "Adulthood is like the vet, and we're all the dogs that were excited for the car ride until we realized where we're going" -Unknown

Adulthood can be compared to the economy. The economy is booming and everything seems to be going great! Well, then the crash of 1929 occurs and the Great Depression sets in. Similarly, you hit your prime and feel great, but then comes the back pain, the arthritis, and the bunions and you wish you could go back to when you were a child and all of your issues were cared for by your parents. Obviously I'm speaking from my parents viewpoints and adults whose stories I listen to as I am still technically a child, but I have decided to take heed and savor life before it gets more complicated. 

Ch. 9.

It seems to me like there's not much emphasis on positive activity. The dirtiest cities are among those with a higher GDP. (I almost wrote GPA ;) ). The thought he gives around pages 197-8 is kind of disappointing. The fact that sixteen out of twenty-five of the filthiest cities are in China, and the statistic that China has quite the GDP, means it's economically acceptable to create waste in order for it to be cleaned up and that cost counted in the GDP. That has the appearance of an incentive...and I don't like it. I'm not sure if this is how it's viewed in economists' eyes but it's somewhat disheartening. I understand the logic and reasoning that a day in the park with a picnic in the shade on a blanket wouldn't benefit the economy and 'make the pie bigger,' but it suggests that it could be the cause of or some of the reason our country is so work-a-holic, so focused on money and profit. ---I could be totally wrong here but it is something to chew on.

Chapter Nine

A difficulty with the science of economics that Wheelan makes a point of in chapter nine is the fact that we don't have one defining and sure method of determining the health or success of an economy. We can measure GDP, income inequality, or poverty, but we can't come up with a unified system for ultimately measuring an economy. Part of the problem is that there is no sure way to measure happiness. The science of economics can offer a method of predicting how people may feel or react to changes in the economic environment but human emotion is not always rational and cannot be measured with numbers. There is controversy as to whether the methods we have of measuring economic growth and health are worthwhile, but Wheelan points out that we notice failures to prevent recessions more than we notice successes and it is likely that the work of economists does have an effect.

Chapter 9

     Why can't we fix the problems that keep happening over and over again? Wheelan asks, "Why is it that all economies, rich and poor, proceed in fine starts, stumbling from growth to recession and back to growth again?". There will always be problems with how our market works. We can have the best market and work perfectly and then a year later be in the worst of times. This is what the economists call the "business cycle". This all comes down to GDP at the end of they day. Its all about how much we make and how much we sell. It all comes down to whether or not we grow in the economy in that year. As a country we need to grow by at least 2.3 percent to consider it a growth year.
     GDP also comes down to the number of people that live in that country which is called GDP per capita. Wheelan talks about Israel and India and give us the numbers and we automatically think that the larger number is the better number. You have to factor in the number of people that live in the county though. Israel has less people than India so in comparison Israel is the richer country.

9

"Dag nabbit these prices are just boulder dash compared what it was like back in my day" my grandpa would always say to me about any product that seemed priced to high to him. Maybe now I can give him a response that will make him give a bit of thought too. "Hey gramps how about the amount of work time it would take now to get that compared to the "good ole days"'. Is what I would say back to my stubborn grandpa. I found that very interesting when Wheelan talked about that in this chapter about how dramatically the work time needed to buy a product has gone down. Just because so many times in my life I have heard people older then me discuss how prices seem so high, even I have found myself thinking even back a few years about how prices have seemed to rise but I guess it just didn't quite make as much sense since I haven't been in the work force. But on the other hand it just baffles me that India's health care infrastructure is too idiotic to treat a horrible disease that can be fixed for 3$, now I do keep in mind that that can be a lot of money for India's very low GDP for each person but the drug is free to those who suffer but once again the government and it's health care can't figure out a simple structure in which could helps hundreds of thousands of people, which personally is so frustrating that these people will suffer horribly because of it.

Chapter Nine

"'Making money takes time, so when we shop, we're really spending time. The real cost of living isn't measured in dollars and cents but in the hours and minutes we must work to live'" (Dallas Federal officials).  Before I got a job, buying a coffee for $4.50 didn't seem like a big deal. $5.00 can't get you much anyways. After I got a job I started seeing dollar amounts as minutes that I had to work in order to earn that amount of money. That coffee is now about 40 minutes folding clothes or answering a customer's questions. This idea of visualizing things in a different way, ties in with what Wheelan was saying a few pages earlier. A countries wealth can be explained in a variety of different ways depending on their GDP for the entire country as well as the GPD per capita. Although India has a much larger GDP than Israel, their GDP per capita is much lower.

Chapter 6

"The most insightful way to think about poverty, in this country or anywhere else in the world, is as a dearth of human capital. True, people are poor in America because they cannot find good jobs. But that is the symptom, not the illness. The underlying problem is a lack of skills, or human capital" (129).

This passage caught my attention because Wheelan described the reason for unemployment in a way that was easy to understand. I never thought about poverty this way, I didn't realize that the main problem/cause for poverty is human capital and that it is economics. Wheelan brought up that "Excellent trial lawyers are scarce; burger flippers are not" (129). Excellent trial lawyers are scarce because it takes money for law school, motivation, and all these other factors which some are based upon luck (if you are born in to a family with money, etc). I liked how Wheelan used "symptom" and "illness" to describe lack of jobs. It helped better illustrate the idea.

Chapter 6

Reading this chapter made me think about how all the time I here people complain about how they deserve to earn more money. But for the most part it's not true. Most jobs are not scarce, therefore, the pay is not high. To make a higher salary, either utilize God given talents, or work hard to be the best and increase your human capital. That's the purpose of education.

Chapter 6

The phrase "jobs are created anytime an individual provides a new good or service, or finds a better (or cheaper) way of providing an old one."really struck me about the usefulness and power our generation has and that the United States luckily already possesses, and that is productivity. Our country is more productive, as Wheelan said, immigrants are not permanently a problem for our economy and they can find jobs, because there are jobs. Yes things may be unequal but could a society function without people who work the minimum wage jobs? But why can't they earn more? Because, to their disadvantage, they do not possess the skills or probably education to be available for jobs beyond that. Ideally the only people that would be working jobs that required lower human capital would be high school and college aged kids (yes that presents other problems but this is hypothetical) instead of adults trying to make a living working at fast food chains. But these adults who do work these jobs probably invested less in their education and future, and that has what has left them there.

Chapter 6

The basic idea of this chapter comes down to the importance of education. It reminds me of one of the first chapters we read and the harsh truth that there is no "get rich quick" scheme waiting to be stumbled upon after years of watching Netflix and eating cheetos rather than being educated in some way or another. If you want to get rich quick(er) you go to school, and for that matter you keep going to school, and maybe even some more school after that school. I liked how Wheelan made the point that even if our economy flourishes, unskilled laborers will still not be in demand. "A robust economy does not transform valet parking attendants into college professors," the greatest capital we have to work with in this world is ourselves. Like Wheelan said, the demand for unskilled labor just keeps decreasing as technology advances, and "500 million minds are a terrible thing to waste." he great thing for most Americans is that we have the freedom to make ourselves the most demanded capital in the country. That sounds a bit weird but compared to many countries, we have educational resources all around us. It can cost a person nearly nothing get a high school education, and if that person worlds their butt off for four years, it could cost them nothing to attend college as well. I think education should be at the top of the "World's To-Do List" (that's not a thing but we can pretend it is). We should be focusing on giving as many people the opportunity to be educated as we can. If we focus on educating people, the other items on our "to-do list" will be taken care of. For instance finding a cure for cancer; educated people will be the ones who find the cure for cancer. Just as we have been learning in class, education is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest positive externalities in our economy.

The most interesting thing that I read was when it talked about each individuals set of skills and human capital.  Often times we are told when you are younger that if you are good at something, then you can go far with it and make a lot of money.  That is not necessarily true.  If you are an excellent typer on the keyboard, you're not all that likely to get a high paying job because the guy next in line can also be a phenomenal typer, this skill is not unique.  "Alex Rodriguez will earn $275 million over ten years playing baseball for the New York Yankees because he can hit a round ball traveling ninety-plus miles an hour harder and more often than other people can." It is not whether or not you are the best at something that will get you to the top, but whether or not you are the best at something UNIQUE, because when you have a unique skill, no one else can do it the way you can therefore your demand and value increases.

Ch. 6.

The whole concept of  Human Capitol is fascinating to me. The fact that "the labor market is no different from the market for anything else," (127) is so interesting to me! People can be in demand just as much as products can be. Who cares about money, to start with anyway; the human Capitol is what really boosts the economy and "makes the pie bigger." It's interesting how the Nobel Prize winner Robert Solow put it: "there are a lot of good economists, but there is only one Rodger Clemens." People who are 'scarce,' or have scarce skills are more desirable. I think this is why our economy has so much of an aura of competition to it. The better and more valuable you are, the more you're worth and the more you will be likely to contribute.

Ch. 6

3.
Many people in America have to work jobs that do not require a lot of skill. This is because they did not get an education or some even happened in their life. These people are on the lower end when it comes to how much money people have. The people that make a lot of money are the ones creating robots to do these jobs that don't require much skill. Many people believe that this is a good thing. We are making progress. It seems great that we are finding cheaper and faster ways to produce things, but what about the people who lose their jobs to robots. They will begin to run out of things to do and the poor will actually start getting poorer. We will begin to progress so much that there will be an unhealthy gap between the rich and the poor. Now that people do not want to be poor they are motivated to get an education. More and more people will have educations. The younger you are the smarter you will be. Soon the older people will start losing their high end jobs and we will have a poor society run by young people. This may be dramatic, but it is a bit concerning.

Chapter Six

"There is a striking correlation between a country's level of human capital and it's economic well-being. At the same time, there is a striking lack of correlation between natural resources and standard of living." This one sentence helps depict exactly what is going wrong in our world. The first part of the quote seems positive, people who are educated will succeed and do great things. But then you also have to take a step back and look at the people (or countries for that matter), who are not as fortunate. Some countries get lucky with where they are located and land on natural resources that make the people in power extremely rich, but for the common people this wealth means nothing. This is what makes education so important, once attained, your education and things which have been learned cannot be taken away. This sense of ownership is what makes education so necessary.

Chapter 6: Productivity and Human Capital

6.

Wheelan gives us the reason why Americans are better off: "America is rich because Americans are productive. We are better off today than at any other point in the history of civilization because we are better at producing goods and services than we have ever been, including things like health care and entertainment"(136). I find this interesting due to the fact that many people in today's world are dissatisfied and annoyed and irritated with the way life is going in their chosen countries. It seems as though Americans on average think of the country as though it is sinking rapidly into the $17,500,190,524,912.56 and believing there is no hope as France and Zimbabwe both believe as well. A researcher by the name of Jean Lessalle travelled across the French nation to interview the people of the country and found the people in great despair and in lack of hope for their homeland. To summarize their views, they believe France is declining rapidly and they are extremely worried about the progression of their lives. The Zimbabwean, a news group stationed in Zimbabwe interviewed recent graduates about where they think their lives are headed. One person stated, "The government has let down the youths of this country for a very long time... It is ironic and a shame that political parties use young people and women to win elections but, after winning elections, they are discarded like a used condom"(Tsepiso Mpofu, Zimbabwe). Another stated, "I and other young MP's in parliament are going to fight for the rights of youths in parliament. We need jobs for our youths who are graduating from our colleges and universities. We are also going to advocate for a clear and effective government youth policy that is divorced from political parties"(Bekhithemba Nyathi-Mpopoma, Pelandaba Consitiuency MP). Americans are better off today than they were in the early 1900's and before. We have better work hours, better pay, better health care, and better lives in general. We compare ourselves to others in our own country rather than others in the world itself. Even the poorest person in the United States is wealthier than the average person in a place such as the Congo where two out of three women are raped. We do not realize how blessed we truly are until we take a step back and view the world through another's eyes.

Chapter 6

"But the larger philosophical debate will rage on: If the pie is growing, how much should we care about the pieces?" In part of chapter 6, Wheelan describes the issue of income inequality between rich and poor. While economic growth makes the whole pie bigger and the poor are increasingly better off, the gap between the rich and poor is also growing. Some studies would say that "we should care about how much pie the poor are getting, not how much pie they are getting relative to Bill Gates," but others show that relative wealth has an effect on people's incentives and could have a negative effect on economic growth. The philosophical question which cannot be completely answered by economics is then that of how much we should care about the gap between rich and poor and how much we should do to lessen it.
The central focus of the chapter was on the extreme importance of human capital. The better education and skills a person has, the more productive they are and the higher chance they have of adapting to economic change. Wheelan illuminates the high value of education and how it works to grow the whole economic pie by increasing human capital and productivity. The more opportunities people have to gain education and skills, the more they are likely to be productive and the less likely they are to be impoverished. Education is instrumental in decreasing poverty as people with more knowledge and skills are less likely to be poor.

6

This chapter has basically just been screaming that if you want to make a good living, going to college and acquiring skills is the best way to start. If you want to be an important aspect to the economy and make the money you want to earn, you have to make an investment in yourself by putting yourself through college to gain those special skills that others don't. I was super intrigued by Mr. Abouali's thinking in that the sooner he can get his son through college, the more secure he will be. Now in America that thinking may not make as much sense but when you think about it in terms of countries that aren't as stable, it's incredibly smart. If Mr. Abouali's son can get his degree and his skills then he can go almost anywhere and find a job, plus giving him a way easier chance to be able to immigrate to a different country because he has a special skill that has a greater demand. Now it's not just the fact that you can make more income but you're overall smarter and can contribute to the world in a more informed way like Wheelan said. If we can get more people educated then they can educate their children better then they were, causing each generation to be more informed which can only hope the world. So it seems that the best way to help fix low income countries is education. The more educated people can only lead to a better of society as a whole.

Chapter 6

     One thing that really sticks with me from this book was in chapter one when Wheelan talks about Alex Rodriguez and why he gets paid so much and some people have so little. Wheelan brings this up again in chapter six. He states "Alex Rodriguez will earn $275 million over ten years of playing baseball for the New York Yankees because he can hit a round call traveling ninety-plus miles an hour harder and more often then other people can" (127). The most important part of that whole quote is "more often then other people can". Wheelan explains labor market very nicely with stating that "some kinds of talent are in greater demand than others"(127). "A-Rod" sells tickets and merchandise not because he's average but because he is the best.

      One major take away from me from this chapter is that we all have our own unique contributions to the economy. On page 129 Wheelan talks about how anyone can ask would you like fries with that so thats why it is not a high paying job. In reality we need those people to work those jobs. "If we all had Ph.D's, who would pass out towels at the Four Seasons?" (146). Not everyone can be rich and have all that they want in life. We need to work together to make our economy better for the future. 

Chapter 8

"Creative destruction", is that what a perfect world is? Wheelan this chapter points out what may be good for one may not benefit others in the long run. "The legislative system helps those who help themselves".  American businesses for example could complain about low prices from imports, so the government adds a tariff on that good. This in turn helps the one business but does not help the world. These policies are destructive and are only aimed at one group of people, the ones who only do things for their own good.

Chapter 8

Reading this chapter made me think about what the real motives are for a lot of politicians and voters. They all promise that they have a fail-proof plan to fix the economy, but never take effective action. And often times people vote for a certain candidate just because they don't like the other guy, not even paying attention policies. If politics was more about selling possible economic policies rather than people, the economy might run a lot smoother.

Chapter 8

In chapter eight Wheelan sheds light on the question of "why our growing knowledge of public policy does not always translate into a perfect world." The answer lies in politics and small interest groups. We have research pointing towards practices that will improve the economy, but we are unable to act on this knowledge due to the established "christmas tree" system in politics. I find how politics can hold back economic growth by working like a game in which votes are won through supporting unneeded subsidies frustrating, but Wheelan shows how nearly impossible it is to change the system. I was surprised to learn that ethanol is actually harmful to the environment but retains subsidies because the interest group receiving the subsidy is small and organized while those paying for it are a diverse and disorganized group. The system is difficult to change, but at least small changes are necessary to keep moving forward and avoid falling into a position like that of Industrial Revolution era China. As Wheelan points out, progress is halted when we do things akin to banning the telegraph to help the Pony Express.

Chapter 8

This chapter may be my favorite so far, because as we have been learning about economics and all of these good/bad ideas/curves/theory's I have been thinking to myself, why doesn't everyone read this book and understand this? Or why do politicians make poor policies regarding our economic future? This chapter answered it for me. Why do we have our tax dollars and sink us further into debt by giving money to all of theses random groups?Sometimes the impact isn't felt too harshly on the American people, by way of taxes.  Sometimes it helps out farmers that have or could be ruined by the American population diverting it's demand to other products, and sometimes it is purely to gain votes. Keeping the hundreds of millions of people in this country and interest groups happy is an impossible task. Since small groups have better leverage, things are done to ensure their comfort because the reward is greater a greater incentive than the small additions to taxes the large group pays. But there are a lot of $0.98 here and there, and to me this seems like a potential problem. But it also made me realize that economics, while should be the driving point of monetary decisions in this country, sometimes it just wouldn't work with the way we do politics.

Chapter 8

What I found interesting was the piece about the "Christmas tree" and how he discussed that when things are based on their singular cost significance it seems minor compared to the grand scheme of things, when really when you look at the entire "tree" a whole bunch of ornaments have been added.  That is when things become a problem and money and debt becomes overwhelming.  Economics is all about thinking about the long term effects of things as we learned in the beginning of class, so if the government payed more attention to all of the free money they were handing out to small projects in subsidies and taxs, then maybe we wouldnt have so many pronblems.

Ch. 8

6.
A passage I found interesting was the part about barbers and manicurists in Illinois must be licensed, but electricians do not have to be. The government creates these laws to protect certain groups of people. It seems like when the government is doing this they overlook certain things. In this case the Illinois government has made a mistake. I have no idea what they could have done to do this, but all I know is that I would rather have my electrician be licensed over my barber or manicurist. I have seen many dumb laws. They even have apps where it gives all the dumb laws that each state has. It seems that our government should be giving us reasons for what they are doing or at least think about some problems that could happen because of what they do.

Chapter 8

     While reading this chapter it made me think back to the video we watched in class about the man who was interviewing the farmers." What the mohair farmers have going for them is that they can get large payments from the government without taxpayers every really noticing" (176). What I can remember from the video in class was that the interviewer was asking the farmers if they deserved the tax money they were getting and the farmers thought they should get that money no matter what. They got the money just for being farmers.
      For me as a student I want the most well trained and the best teachers. The study on page 182 was very interesting to me. I went to public school up till fifth grade and then I came to Minnehaha. There is a very big difference in the teaching of public schools and private. I think that all teachers no matter if you are a teacher right now or becoming a teacher should all have to go through the same thing. If the government decides to make becoming a teacher harder and make them take more tests they should make the teachers already in the schools do the same. As a student I believe that we should have the most well trained teachers we can.

Ch 8

Chapter 8 answered the question: if we have so much knowledge why is everything so messed up? The section most interesting to me and most coherent to this question was cut the politicians a break. It was  fascinating to me because I am the type of person who initially asked the question. It seems to simple on paper that if we have all the "right" answers use them, but as I discovered and as Wheelan clarified it's immensely more complicated. Simply he said "we are the special interests." It is ridiculous to try to satisfy every group, but the group that isn't satisfied is inevitably disturbed. It is also simple to think that a government cannot fit all the requirements that people suggest, almost self explanatory. Yet, as Wheelan explains, it is still a continual question.

Ch. 8

The question still lingers in my brain: why are we giving money to people who don't need it. That's got to be, at the very least, a part of the reason for our country's immense debt. The M farmers don't need our supplements anymore, so why do they get them? Yes, it doesn't hurt us to pay "mere pennies" toward the funding, but it's "mere payment" that could and should be used elsewhere---where it is needed most! This can't be that hard, people are stubborn and there would, of course, be a hiccup in the way the farmers---and maybe even other citizens---view the government for a while but it would blow over and the money would be put to much better use.

Now, I understand the motivation for supporting the Ethanol supplement but I find it sad that people are so difficult. It could, and probably does play a huge factor in winning you the campaign for President if you support Ethanol. This is upsetting, but true.

Chapter 8

This chapter was interesting for me because it really tied in what my government class was recently talking about in our elections unit. The sad reality is that politics is a game and their is definitely a winning strategy; often that strategy is giving some form  of payment to a group that will sway your campaign. Kathryn mentioned a key example of this. Often we here politicians talk about their campaigning in Iowa and what they should've done or said there. I never truly understood this until reading this chapter. Politicians "let the tail wag the dog" and it works. Who really truly cares about supporting the mohair market anyway? I sure don't, but I can see how our next presidential candidates would. It's almost disturbing to learn how, dare I say, corrupted, the political game has become. The same politicians who support "go green" regulations may very well be supporting a tax subside for corn farmers, who then produce ethanol and weaken our ozone. What scares me about our economic/political corruption is that we are in so deep and that's because the system is acceptable for most Americans. Most people don't think about the extra penny they hand over to an ethanol subside and they don't think about the future affects. People have a tendency to consider how they will be affected in this year and the next, rather than thinking about how their children and grandchildren will be affected in the decades to come. I often wonder what it would take to create a truly fair and just political environment and to be honest it just seems impossible.

Chapter 8

"Yes, ladies and gentlemen we are the special interests. All of us. You may not raise Angora goats (the source of mohair); you may not grow corn (the source of ethanol). But you are part of some group—probably many of them—that has unique interests: a profession, and ethnic group, a demographic group, a neighborhood, an industry, a part of the country" (187).
In this passage,  Wheelan is emphasizing that although most of us aren't directly related to the problem, we are still linked to it because we are part of the country which uses these sources. For example, most of us drive to school everyday (or take the bus). Although we aren't the producers of gas, we still play a role in the consumption of it, therefore we are still a part of the problem.

Chapter 8: The Power of Organized Interests

2. 

Being the little guy doesn't always have to be a bad thing. Wheelan summarizes, "the large group subsidizes the smaller group"(180). In other words, the bully pays you to take your dessert. Wheelan uses the example of large and small agricultural businesses in America and Europe versus China and India. To paraphrase Wheelan, American and European farmers are subsidized by the government in order to continue making money off of an unneeded good (like mohair after it was unneeded by the army). In contrast, agricultural businesses in India, for example, are required to sell their goods for less than the market price in order for the everyday consumer to meet their basic nutritional needs. In the Indian case, the agricultural businesses are paying the consumers to buy their goods in a sense. Thus the concept is brought full circle: the larger corporations pay the smaller. In order to create good economic standing, the market must create a balance of subsidies and taxes in order to avoid a crash. A market crash can be a good and a bad thing. Yes, virtually everything would have a decreased value and prices for goods would most likely skyrocket, but for those buying into the market it would be tremendulously good. Prices per share would be at an all time low and potential shareholders would be able to purchase a share for significantly lower than the previous prices. For example, the NYSE Composite is selling at an approximate rate of $10,489.97 per share today. Since we have no way of knowing exactly how far the market would crash, there is no way to estimate the lowered price of the NYSE. It could range anywhere up to present standings. According to previous data however, if the stock market crashed as it did in 1929, it would pave the way for a second Great Depression. Only one thing is for certain: there will be a crash soon. 

8

I didn't realize what Wheelan was talking about when he discussed "pork barrel legislation" until I connected it back to a House of Cards episode that I watched. In the episode congressmen Frank Underwood was desperately trying to pass a bill that was very controversial among the rest on congress because it would be bad for the environment, although he needed everyone to vote for it. It came down to one more congressmen that was totally against it, as Underwood was meeting with him he figured out that the other congressmen had a wife with Alzheimer's so Underwood tried to convince him that if the other man would vote for his bill, that Underwood would promise to make sure a bill for Alzheimer's funding would be passed. Underwood had no intention to help Alzheimer's research but he needed that final vote from the other congressmen to be able to get his bill passed, so he had to come to an agreement and compromise for something he would usually not care about. Trading favors. The only unfortunate thing about this is that the other congressmen knew Underwoods bill would be bad for the environment, but the Alzheimer's funding was so important to his personal life that he was willing to vote for something that he was totally against. Situations that no doubt happen in congress and politics all the time.

Chapter Eight

"In politics, the tail can wag the dog" (180). After reading about how the larger population pays for the subsidies of the smaller population and how this affects things like elections, I got to thinking about the debates that I have heard during presidential electons. Pleasing Iowa and the two percent of the population that is farmers is very important during elections being that the Iowa caucus is the first and people pay attention to it. Most candidates run supporting ethanol, which pleases the corn farmers in Iowa in turn helping the candidate to win. Wheelan however pointed out how Ethonol isn't even proven to be better for the environment and in fact could have more harmful effects than gasoline. This example is just one of the ones used in this chapter to show how even though the majority of the country doesn't notice the few more cents taken from them used as a subsidy for the corn farmers, it does however have huge repercussions on our politics.