Question

response that correlates a country's financial health to its citizens' financial health. Provide an analysis of data related to personal, corporate, or governmental decisions and the effects of these decisions on individual, family, or community spending. Provide at least two resources that support your analysis.

Answer 1

First, I think it all depends on how you define “citizen.” I would argue the country’s financial health is directly related the financial health of citizens who happen to be investors or the wealthy 1%. In fact, I think often times the country’s financial health is directly related to the health of Wall Street and not Main Street. For example, stocks are indicative of the health of companies. Often times if consumers are spending more it’s not because of increased wages or jobs, it’s because of increased access to credit and the ability to go into debt .

            Concerning the analysis of data, it really all depends on what you want to look at. I would argue a lot of what is considered common knowledge is just propaganda to keep the working class in line. For example, when you look at data related to personal decisions the working class is faced with stagnate wages, increased cost of living, and a high motivation to go into debt. This is coupled with the ease of access for the working class to go into debt . Corporate decisions are based on what is going to make the company more profitable and what is going to keep the investors happy. Corporate decisions are not based on what is for the good of everyday people . Then there are government decision. Just by looking at that government has done recently with the housing market crash of 2008, the government is solely concerned with propping up a broken economy, keeping so called “too big to fail” institutions from collapsing, creating more debt, and having the Fed print more money . A wealth of data shows that government decisions are based on what is good for Wall Street and big business, not what is good for Main Street and everyday workers.

            As far as the effects these decisions have on individual, family, and community spending, the effect is dramatic. Individuals are forced to take on thousands of dollars of debt to go to school at For-Profit schools in pursuit of more opportunity that is increasingly shown to not exist. On the individual level and even at the family level the spending decisions are pretty clear. Take on more debt, work a second job, or both . Wages have stagnated to the point the a majority of working class households have to have both parents working one or more jobs just to get by and forced to take on more debt in the form of credit cards and student loans, with very little return on that debt Communities are finding themselves stuck between having to cut spending for services, raising taxes, or taking on more debt. This is why many communities have to cut spending for mental health programs, lunch assistance programs, and are unable to upkeep with community maintenance