Nadia's Econ Page

How To Save Money

2007-06-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

The article is basically about how people can save money. It gives the reader different strategies to save money. The article is directed towards young people in their twenties and thirties. It talks about the significance of IRAs and the age at which they are started. It gives examples of how life would be at 65 with and without an IRA.

Taxes- How Does The Government Spend Money?

2007-05-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

The government gets its money from tax payers. Tax payers' money goes towards funding programs to help others. For example the largest Federal program is Social Security, which acounts for 23 percent of the government's spending. The government also spends its money on national defense, foreign affairs, social insurance for the elderly, health insurance for the elderly and poor, education, law enforcement, transportation, science and technology.

New York spends a lot of tax dollars on education. It has been reported that New York spends the most money on their students with $14, 119 per student.

Savings And Debt

2007-05-21T08:07:00.001-07:00

It is amazing to me how easy it is to get into debt. I know of many people who are in debt, including my own family. I alwasy knew that it was easy but I didn't know of all the factors contributing to debt. Finance charges are very dangerous. They basically charge you for charging items on your credit card. The finance charge is multiplied by the amount of money charged to the card. If a person sepnds a lot of money using their credit card then they will have a very high bill. If they cannot pay it, the charges pile on top of one another. In my opinion Americans do not save money because they cannot afford to. Minimum wage is higher, but so is the cost of living. Rent/mortgage rates are higher along with gas and other utilities. People simply do not have any money left over after bills to put away.

Compared to other nations the United State's net savings is doing pretty much the same. Not figures wise but in the sense that the savings rates in other countries are also declining.

Critique of the GDP Podcast

2007-05-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

For my GDP Podcast review I chose Jared and Mari's podcast. Their recording was clear and loud. I could understand what they were saying without straining to hear. The pictures represented what they where talking about well. I think they went well with what they were saying when they were saying it. Their podcast was interesting and informative. I liked their idea to not just use the regular method when doing a podcast. They mixed it up. I learned a lot listening to it.

US Trade Defecit: Getting Better?

2007-05-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

The article was basically about how the US is starting to produce more goods for themselves as opposed to getting everything from overseas. By doing this the US can decrease their trade deficit. Trade deficit is the excess of imports over exports. The US trade deficit is going to go down in the future because the US is not going to make more of their goods and import less. Decreasing trade deficit is largely due to the weak dollar. The weak dollar is a term used to describe the fall in value against foreign currencies. This can be a good thing for the US because it will make them use more of their own stuff instead of spending all of their money on foreign goods. Also, if the US dollar value falls it will be easier for another country who couldn't afford to buy American goods before to be able to purchase American goods. Thus increasing the amount of exports from America. The US will start making their own cars, engines and other neccessities. This will be good for people in the future because it will create more jobs for the unemployed.

Taxes- How Does The Government Get Money

2007-05-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

Americans pay billions of dollars in taxes every year. Some pay more taxes than others because their income or amount of assets. On the other hand there are taxes that everyone has to pay. These include sales tax, social security, medicare and federal/ state income tax. The federal government gets its money from the taxes that people pay There are many types of taxes that people have to pay. For example there are Federal taxes, State taxes, property tax and sales tax. Everyone does not have to pay every tax. Taxes are subject to change depending on the government's need for money.

An example of what/how taxes are collected are as follows:

Federal Tax

Income Tax: Taken from wages, bank accounts and rents.
Excise Tax: Tax on tobacco, gasoline and alcohol.
Payroll Tax: Taken from salaries and wages.
Estate Tax: Taken from a deceased person’s estate.
Gift Tax: Taken from the money in the transfer of money between live people.

State Tax

General States Tax: Collected from general sales.
Inheritance Tax: Taken from a person that has inherited something from a deceased person.
Excise Tax: Tax on tobacco, gasoline and alcohol.
Estate Tax: Taken from a deceased person’s estate.

City/Local Taxes

General Sale Tax: Collected from general sales
Excise Tax: Tax on tobacco, gasoline and alcohol.
Property Tax: Taken from financial and real assets, including stocks, bonds, houses, cars and artwork.

Student Loan

2007-05-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, everyone wants to go to a well-known and respectable school. When selecting any kind of school to attend a person usually looks for how high it is on the list of the top schools. The higher on the list a school is, the higher tuition and fees are. Many people that aspire to be chefs do not come from well off families and often have no way of paying for college. the only option is to take out loans. When choosing from the schools accepted to, most people choose the school that is seen as "better." To cover the cost of school many people have to take out large loans because they cannot afford to pay for any part of it.
Personally I feel that student loans are essential when it comes to funding a college education. Many people cannot afford to pay tens of thousands of dollars a year to go to school and would prefer to take out loans and pay for them later. Most people think that after college they will get a well paying job and will be able to pay back their student loans.
I do not have any other way to pay for my college education besides taking out loans. My family has no money to contribute to my schooling so have to find a way to pay for it myself. I will have to take out about $60,000 in loans and that might not cover everything.

Insider Trading Scandal- What Happened?

2007-03-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Insider Trading can be summarized as the illegal use
of insider information for profit in financial
trading. An example would be a person that works in a
large company. The person some how finds out that a
certain stock is going to go down. They tell other
people that shouldn't know about it and they all sell
their shares in the stock to avoid losing money. This
is not fair to the general public because it gives the
insider traders an unfair advantage over them. They
will gain money while everyone else loses.

Student Podcast Review

2007-03-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

The student podcast for the Federal Reserve I am reviewing was created by Alison and Andrew.

Compound Interest

2007-03-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Compound Interest is basically the interest added to the interest as well as the principle in a savings account or loan. Compund interest is a very good thing because you get "free money" without having to work for it. It keeps your money and gives you a little extra. For example if you have $1,000 and you have a 20% interest, which you will never find, by the end of the year you will have $1,200. I used a Compound Interest Calculator and I found out that if I put $500 in a savings account at 2% interest a year for 10 years without adding any of my own money to it, my balance would be $609.50, which means that my Compound Interest would be $109.50 for the ten years that my money was in the bank. That is over 100 "free dollars"! I think that the great thing about Compound Interest that inspired Einstein to say "The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest", is the fact that you don't have to do anything to help your money grow.
The Rule of 72 is: A rule stating that in order to find the number of years required to double your money at a given interest rate, you must divide the compound return (interest) into 72. The result is the approximate number of years that it will take for your investment to double. An example of Compound Interest would be if you have $2,000 in your savings account. You have a 4% interest each year. You would divide 72 by 4% to get 18, which would be the amount of years it will take to double your money.

Dow Down 416 Points? Why?

2007-03-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

China's stock market plunged 9 percent scaring the rest of the world into selling their stocks. This mass selling of stocks caused the stock market to drop 416 points in one day. Dow has lost about $6 Billion in market value which will send their industrial average into the negatives for the rest of the year.
During the Great Depression affected more than the United States. During the Great Depression the stock market crashed and a tremendous amount of people lost most if not all of their money. it took years to get out of the debt.
I plan on buying more stocks because eventually stocks will go back up and increase their values. I think it is a time to buy stocks now that they are cheaper because everyone knows what stocks are always going to make money. Gas and electric cannot stay in a slump for too long because everyone uses them. They should be back up in a little while. in my opinion buying stocks at any time is a risk so it's better to invest in something you are positive will make money.

Opportunity Costs

2007-03-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

Opportunity Costs is the passing up of the next best thing or choice when you make a decision. When you make a decision to buy something you pass up on the opportunity to buy something else or not buy anything at all. Opportunity costs, when dealing with money is the amount of money you lose when you choose to go one way instead of the other. For example: Say you invest in a stock and it returns a paltry 2% over the year. In placing your money in the stock, you gave up the opportunity of another investment - say, a risk-free government bond yielding 6%. In this situation, your opportunity costs are 4% (6%-2%).
An example from my own life would be: When I choose to not study instead of study. As a result I fail the test. I could have chosen to study and pass the test. The opportunity cost is a grade significantly lower than the score I would have gotten if I passed.

Types of Economic Systems

2007-02-16T07:56:00.000-08:00

In Traditional Economies:
Existed in earlier ages and in some un-industrialized nations. Basic economic decisions were structured on tradition and custom not market activity. It is greatly based on farming for survival. It is also based on primitive methods and tools.

In a Centrally Planned (Command) Economy:

The economy is planned and controlled by a central administration. It is seen in most communist countries. An example is the former Soviet Union. Businesses are not allowed to do as they feel.

In a Market Economy:

A Market Economy is an economy that operates by voluntary exchange in a free market. It is not planned or controlled by a central authority. Most of the production, distribution and exchange is controlled by individuals and privately owned companies instead of the government. A Market Economy is the opposite of a Central Economy.

Mixed Economy:

A Mixed Economy allows public and private enterprises to operate at the same time. It contains all types of economic systems. It combines elements of capitalism and socialism.

The Difference Between Socialism and Communism:

The difference between Communism and Socialism is that Socialism is an economic system and Communism is a political system. Socialism allows the people to have a say in how the economy works. Communism only gives a few people a say in the economy works. Socialism is liberal and Communism is conservative.

Stock Market Game Research

2007-02-13T07:38:00.000-08:00

Mr. Moloney suggested that we don't invest in big companies like Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart. Those companies usually don't change much. Instead we should look to invest in small companies because they tend to change more. Books-A-Million, Inc. (BAMM)

Stock Market Game

2007-02-12T07:52:00.000-08:00

I would like to invest in Disney, Wal-Mart, Citigroup, Exxon Mobile.

Test

2007-02-02T07:52:00.001-08:00

Test