Wk #9 Economic Disparities

This week I wanted to write about economics. Last week we covered topics such as the Great Depression which hit not only America hard, but the world. The depression allowed us as a nation to see the immense impact that finance has in making our world function. Our textbook mentioned some very interesting information with regards to our global output. Our text mentioned that in about fifty years the global output increased from 7 trillion dollars to about 73 trillion dollars, that is an insane amount of money.

There would good and bad things that came with the increase in wealth. On the plus side, I think as a whole, people were seeing a greater progress in quality of life as there were declines in such things as infant mortality but an increase in such things as literacy. I was surprised to read that one of the positive outcomes was the reduction in poverty. I had to think about this, because I felt as it there are still large economic disparities in the world. Within our text there was a chart which outlined Global development and Inequality as of 2011. Obviously 2011 is now part of our history, yet this was not that long ago, these numbers are still relevant today. The column that caught my attention the most was the low income column which profiled countries like, Kenya, Ethiopia. As I looked back in our history I could not help to realize that the reason some of these nations find themselves to be in the low income category is due largely to the fact that for most of history Africa as a whole has been exploited. The nations that comprise Africa have often been exploited for the well being and financial gain of other nations. Countries , have taken their people as slaves, and taken their resources. Thankfully, slavery was eventually abolished, yet it still left these nations too far behind to catch up. Some of the numbers which are evidence of that are numbers that reflect technology use, years in education, and population growth. As I looked at this column I could not help but think that some of these items were a domino effect. I looked at the life expectancy number which was at most 60 years! Considering the longevity of life that is possible, this number is extremely low. As low as it may be I see it as a result of lack of education on our behalf, and education in health. I realized that life expectancy could also increase due to the type of employment one might have, yet how should people get great employment opportunities if they are not granted access to education. Another staggering number to me was the possession of cell phones. In our nation, cellphones are a daily commodity, and everyone needs one, yet in the low income nations, there was only a marginal amount of phones available. As we think about phones we think about technology, without technology, I do not think it is possible to carry out a strong economic populations. In the end, I could not help but think that wealthier nations, to a certain degree are responsible for the impoverished state of certain nations yet we do not take accountability. I just do not know what accountability would look like on our behalf.

Wk# 8 Causes & End of the Great Depression

I was wrong! I always remember hearing that the great depression was caused by the stock market crash of 1929, yet there were many other factors which led up to this moment. The 1920’s marked a time in history when people were gaudy, and enjoied the new luxuries of life. Material items were purchased on a system of credit which proved to be dangerous. Another important contribution was the agricultural sector. Due to the world war one, farming had expanded to many places across america in order to meet the high demands of food for soldiers overseas, hence at that time farms and factories were over producing goods, this increased availability of food meant that prices were low so low that some farms foreclosed due to lack of revenue. There was also other signs of economic weakness like the decline of car sales. Although these signs were most definitely contributors of our failing economy, I think that the real cause of the great depression was the weak banking system. At that time the the federal reserve was in existence although many banks were small individual banks which relied on their own resources. A wave of bank failures occurred when depositors came to withdraw their money before banks were in danger. As a result, banks needed to sell any assets and call in loans ultimately putting a pause on credit as there was less money in circulation. It seems to be that the real start of the great depression could be attributed to 1930 when unemployment began to skyrocket. In 1930s, unemployment continue to grow and grow reaching about 30% unemployment rate. People would travel across america looking for work, yet it still did not prevent the need of people asking for government assistance, standing in breadlines, or living in shantytowns.

The response to the great depression came from president roosevelt and his New Deal. Having won the presidential election in 1932, America was in desperate need of hope which is what President Roosevelt provided. The New Deal was basically a set of government programs which intended to ameliorate the damaging effects of the Great Depression and prevent future depressions from happening. There were three broad categories for these programs, Relief- which provided more immediate response through money for those in need,  Recovery- which tried to fix the economy in the short run while providing means of employment, Reform- which was created to prevent future depressions. Immediate programs created aimed to curtail unemployment such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, Agricultural Adjustment Act, Public Works Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Agricultural Adjustment Act; yet this was not enough for many Americans leading to the establishment of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration to give a means of welfare. While these things took place there was another effort to establish longer term reforms such as the social security administration, and the wagner act which allowed workers the right to unionize.

Although the New Deal helped to end the Great Depression, It seemed to be that the actual end of the depression was the incidence of World War II which then called for military goods to be produced at a rapid rate, providing jobs for many Americans.