Tracking the U.S Economy

This will be followed by a personal economic outlook or the remainder of 2014. Current State of U. S Economy: A. Gross Domestic Product (GAP) According to the figures illustrated in the above graph prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (SEA), an agency of the Commerce Department, U. S. Real gross domestic product contracted sharply at an annual rate of 1. 0 percent in IQ 2014 compared to 2. 6 percent in the previous quarter. This marked the first decline in economic growth since January 2011, a period of three years.The drop in GAP growth comes as a revision, down from the BEAK'S original estimate released last April which showed an increase of 0. 1 percent. The BEA announces early estimates based on incomplete and partial data to provide a general picture of economic activity. These estimates are usually revised, with a second and third estimate being released as more data is acquired. The third and last revision for IQ 2014 is due to be released on June 25th and it remains to be seen how the GAP numbers will be affected. So why did the numbers decline so drastically?Many economists blame the anemic growth due to diminished business inventories, and the abnormally, harsh winter the country experienced during the beginning of the year, however, not everyone agrees. Forbes quotes Steve Blitz, chief economist at ITS Investment Research who states, â€Å"Looking through the rest of the report, we see the cold hand of winter, although I am not sure to what extent the cold in the Midwest caused the level of exports to drop by $40. 5 billion while imports only dropped $8. 8 billion. Surely the supply chains weren't frozen in only one direction. Despite the historically, cold weather, there is more to the unexpected, weak performance of the battered U. S economy. Numerous components of the GAP played a hand in causing the decline in economic growth, including a decrease in exports, lack of business investments and decreased government spending. Reduction in rea l exports (real imports, which are a subtracted in the GAP calculation declined as well), accounted for a significant portion of the economic decline, followed by a decrease in inventory investments, non residential fixed investments, residential investments and a cutback in state and local government spending.The GAP ‘s only supporter so far this year came in the form of increased real personal consumer expenditures, which grew from 2. 1 percent from the previous estimate of 2. 0 percent, mainly reflecting sharp increases in services and light increases in other areas. The BEA states, â€Å"The downturn in the percent change in real GAP, primarily reflected a downturn in exports, a larger decrease in private inventory investment, and downturns in nonresidential fixed investment and in state and local government spending that were partly offset by an upturn in federal government spending† (2014).The table below, prepared by the BEA, shows precisely which components of G AP rose and tumbled in IQ 2014. B. Foreign Trade (Exports & Imports) According to records maintained by the U. S Census Bureau and the BEA, exports in April of $193. 3 billion and imports of $240. Billion resulted in a trade deficit of $47. 2 billion, up from $44. 2 billion in March. The April exports were $0. 3 billion less than March exports of $193. 7 billion, but imports were $2. 7 billion more than March imports of $237. 8 billion. The chart produced by the BEA below displays the U. S. International trade in goods and services in a period of two years, from April 2012 to April 2014. Goods deficit in April increased by $3. 3 billion from March to $65. 8 billion and services surplus increased by $0. 2 billion from March to $18. 6 billion. Exports of goods decreased $0. 6 billion to $135. Billion, but imports however increased by $2. 7 billion to $200. 9 billion. Services exports increased by $0. 3 billion to $58. 2 billion and imports followed suit increasing by $0. 1 billion to $39. 7 billion. From April 2013 to April 2014, the goods and services deficit has increased by $6. Billion. Imports in that time period were up by 5. 4 percent or, $12. 4 billion and exports were up by 3. 0 percent, or $5. 6 billion. C. Gross Private Domestic Investments (Business Investment) Gross private domestic investment is a vital component of GAP because it gives us an idea of future productive capacity. It accounts for approximately 14 percent of our GAP and is considered to be the least stable component. The BEA defines gross private domestic investment as private fixed investment and change in private inventories.It is measured without a deduction for consumption of fixed capital and includes replacements and addition to the capital stock, but excludes investment by U. S. Residents in other countries, hence the domestic. The BEA divides business investments into to sub-categories, fixed nonresidential investment, residential investment and business inventories. In short, g ross private domestic investment is n aggregate component of expenditures and includes fixed investments (nonresidential and residential) and change in private inventories.In the above graph from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLESS), the analysis depicts gross private domestic investment data with future projections as far as 2022. The growth rate for the time period of 2002 to 2012 is 0. 6 percent, with negative annual growth rates for all categories of fixed residential structures. However, the annual growth rate in business inventories in this same time period increased from the last decade from -3. 3 percent to 12. 9 percent. They project business inventories to increase by 2022 at an average annual rate of 0. 6 percent. D. Consumer Spending The Consumer Confidence Index increased slightly in May.The index is currently at 83. 0, up from 81. 7 Just last month in April. The BEA recently reported that consumer spending increased to 10914. 40 billion in IQ 2014, up from 10831. 50 billion in Q 2013. U. S. Consumer spending fell for the first time in a year in April 2014 after two months of solid gains, but the decline is probably interim in nature given the strengthening numbers in the Job market. The drop followed a revised 1. Percent increase in March that was the largest gain since August 2009. Real disposable personal income (DIP) remained steady throughout IQ 2014 with a slight decreases in both April and May.E. Unemployment Rate As reported by the Bull's latest economic news release, total nonfat payroll employment increased by 217,000 in May. The increase was due largely to professional and business services, health care and social assistance, leisure and hospitality, transportation and warehousing and temporary services. Employment in other sectors such as manufacturing, mining and logging, construction, wholesale ND retail trade, information and financial services, and government remained steady. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6. 3 perce nt. In May, following a decline of 0. 4 percent in April.The number of unemployed persons remained the same in May at 9. 8 million, a decrease of 1. 9 million over the last year. Over the previous year, nonfat payroll employment averaged approximately 197,000 a month. The long term unemployed numbers remained steady at 3. 4 million and accounted for 34. 6 percent of the unemployed. That number has declined by almost a million workers, as the economy continues to gradually recover ND improve. The graph below by the BEA shows the inclines and declines of the unemployment rate since 1990. Updated unemployment figures and charts for June 2014 will be released on July 3, 2014. F.Inflation Rate (ICP) The most recent release by the BLESS states that the ICP for all urban consumers (ICP-U) increased by 0. 3 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis. Over the past year, the all items index increased by 2. 0 percent before seasonal adjustment. Gasoline, shelter, and food indexes all ros e in April and so did all items less food and energy. The consumer price index for May will be released on June 17, 2014. G. Government Spending: Fiscal and Monetary Policies According to the data reported by the BEA, current government expenditures exceeded receipts and caused a net government saving of -966. Billion during first quarter of 2014; an increase from Q 2013. Net lending or net borrowing which is an alternative measure of the government fiscal position was -1036. 5 billion, increasing from -968. 7 Q 2013. U. S. Economic Outlook: Remainder 2014 Coming off the harshest winter we've experienced in quite some time, the economy is expected to rebound and continue improving its upward growth in the remainder of 2014. The economy is expected to expand 2. 4 percent with the recovery of the housing market and business investments. Government consumption is expected to slow economic growth this year for the fourth straight year in a row.Consumer spending will remain in the 2 perc ent range, but it's possible that it might increase due to the increase in disposable personal income. This is assuming consumer confidence increases as the year passes. Employment is expected to continue its growth of 180,000-190,000 Jobs gained monthly similar to the previous two years. Structural unemployment will continue to be an issue as most Jobs created will be in he food service and retail industries. Small businesses are expected to gain confidence and provide support to the economic growth in 2014 with a key source of funding that's been missing since the recession; home equity.The increase in home values over the previous year and the ongoing housing recovery is expected to support small businesses. The recovering housing market will play a role in GAP growth as home values continue to rise fueling construction activity leading to an accelerated pace in residential investment. Accelerated business investment will gain approximately 2. 5 percent to around 4. Percent in th e following quarters; driven by hefty gains in nonresidential structures and slight increases in equipment and software expenditures. Growing demand for industrial space will support the increase in business investments.Inflation will rise modestly from the lows of 2013 but will remain humble. Consumer prices will rise as producer prices rise due to global and domestic demand. Net exports will play a leading role and is expected to add to the overall GAP growth. Economists predict a 6. 6 percent rate of growth, along with the support of the oil boom to increase the pace of export activity. U. S. Economic Personal Outlook: 2014 From the extensive research I've done on this topic, my personal outlook on the economy for 2014 in one word, subpart. I expect GAP to grow slightly over the year due to more than one component.Consumer spending is a strong candidate to increase most simply because disposable income is increasing. I understand that we just recently went through a recession and money conservation would be wise, but we're a consumer nation and a consumer based culture, therefore I expect personal consumer expenditures to rise. The winter that affected the nation during the ginning of the year slowed growth but in March, when the weather started to lift consumer expenditures skyrocketed. Personally, it would seem as if consumer confidence is on the rise and the data supports my theory.I believe the increasing home values will embolden consumers and business owners alike and add to economic growth, with businesses leading the way. I feel as if consumers aren't ready to make such a big financial commitment such as a mortgage and the ones willing to take risks will be the entrepreneurs or the business owners, so I expect to see growth in business investments. Residential investments will continue to improve as confidence is restored in the housing market allowing consumers to purchase rental properties to supplement or increase their income.Non residential inv estments will increase as well as values rise due to demand but I'm not quite sure how strong this demand will be. Being the consumer culture we are, I expect us to import more than we export like we have for over a two decades now, however, the strengthening oil and gas sector in the country will gain momentum, gradually relieving us of our oil dependency on OPEC nations in the years to come, decreasing our imports of foreign oil. Economic growth in 2014 may be slow, but it's much better compared to where we were as a nation a couple of years ago.

Comparing Othello by William Shakespeare and the Film Othello Essay

An update of Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ with a young cast, set in a high school and centered around basketball player Odin. Director: Tim Blake Nelson Writers: William Shakespeare (play), Brad Kaaya (screenplay) Stars: Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett, Andrew Keegan The film starts during a basketball game. At the last minute Odin scores the basket that wins the game for his team. Later at an awards ceremony Duke presents the MVP award to Odin for his efforts, an award he shares with Michael. At a party celebrating the victory, Hugo plans with Roger to tell Desi’s father that Odin raped her in order to split them up so that Roger can woo her. Roger, however, is only a pawn in Hugo’s ultimate plan to destroy Odin. Later in another game Odin’s team wins once again. At the celebration party, Hugo engineers a fight between Roger and a very drunk Michael, who is temporarily suspended from the team. Hugo tells Michael to ingratiate himself with Desi so that she will talk to Odin on his behalf. Soon afterward, Hugo tells Odin that Desi and Michael have been spending a lot of time together, and that she may be cheating on him. Odin doesn’t believe this at first, but gradually comes to suspect them. Odin questions Desi, but she calms him down and he believes her. In the meantime, Hugo manipulates Emily into stealing a scarf for him that Odin had given to Desi. Hugo, in turn, gives it to Michael in hopes that Odin will believe that Desi gave Michael the scarf, and so is cheating on him. Meanwhile, Desi and Odin are having passionate sex at a motel. During their lovemaking, Odin sees an image of Michael on top of Desi in the mirror; angered, he becomes very rough with Desi, to the point that she cries out for him to stop, a plea he ignores. Afterward, they lie together staring in opposite directions. After a dunk contest in which Odin himself performs a dunk that pulls the rim and breaks the glass backboard and assaults a ball boy, Hugo tells Odin about the scarf, convincing him that Desi is cheating on him. Enraged, Odin vows to kill her; Hugo then promises to kill Michael. Hugo, with Odin and Roger, plans to kill Michael and Desi. Hugo and Roger attempt to kill Michael in a carjacking, but it does not go as planned: Roger and Michael struggle, Hugo hits Michael with a crowbar, knocking him unconscious. Roger shoots Michael in the leg, and then Hugo turns the gun on Roger and makes him shoot himself after telling him that Desi is dead. Odin and Desi are in Desi’s room talking and Odin is pretending to make up with her. They are making out on the bed when suddenly Odin attacks her; she fights back, but he finally strangles her. Emily rushes into the room and sees Desi’s body; she soon finds out what Hugo has done. She begins telling Odin that Hugo told her to steal the scarf and exposes his plot. Hugo tells her to shut up, but she refuses, so he shoots and kills her. Odin finally realizes that Hugo has been manipulating him the entire time, and demands to know why; Hugo refuses to answer. When the police arrive, Odin tells them what happened, and commits suicide, shooting himself in the heart. The story ends with Hugo being taken into police custody, saying (in voice over) that he will have his day in the spotlight. Mekhi Phifer as Odin James The star basketball player, who gets more attention from Hugo’s dad than Hugo. He is also dating Desi. Josh Hartnett as Hugo Goulding The son of coach Duke Goulding, and jealous of Odin’s attention from his father. Julia Stiles as Desi Brable Odin’s girlfriend Andrew Keegan as Michael Cassio The overshadowed star on the basketball team because of Odin. Rain Phoenix as Emily Friend of Desi. Elden Henson as Roger Calhoun A kid bullied at school who is picked on by Michael. Martin Sheen as Coach Duke Goulding, the coach of the Hawks. Father of Hugo. John Heard as Dean Bob Brable Father of Desi. Rachel Shumate as Brandy Michael’s love interest. Box office

Healthy Work Environment - Impact on Workplace Incivility Essay

Healthy Work Environment - Impact on Workplace Incivility - Essay Example 2. As a result of the uncivil behaviour of the nurse towards others in the workplace the team and organisation at large suffered many consequences. Firstly the nurse was detested by others and as such not any one was willing to work with her. Those who were scheduled to work with her as per the demands of the business did not feel good being at work; they spent a lot of time avoiding her. Communication between this particular nurse and colleagues was therefore severely impaired with consequential negative outcomes for patients. There is no doubt therefore that workplace incivility adversely affects works place relations and organisational performance as a result of diminishing service to customers. 3. My experience with workplace incivility relates with a lot of literature on the topic which has associated incivility in the work environment with negative consequences on productivity. According to Hutton, S., Gates, D. (2008), mobbing that is aimed at intimidating adversely affects the health & welfare of co-workers and also work performance. Other forms of incivility also negatively impact on performance and coherence in the workplace such as bullying. Consequences include an increase in employee absenteeism, lowered productivity; reduce incidence reporting, poor organisational commitment and even the feeling among employees of separation from employees. 4. Faced with workplace incivility, employees respond in different ways which combined adversely and severely affect organisational performance. As a response to the uncivil nurse co-workers tended to avoid her at all costs so as to avoid the embarrassment of being intimidated. They avoided being in the same office with her, attending to patients with her, and even just talking to her. When scheduled to work at the same time with her some colleagues even opted to be absent from work. The ultimate effect was poor communication and poor service to customers. 5. The

Impact of adopting information system management in Lagos state local Dissertation

Impact of adopting information system management in Lagos state local governments - Dissertation Example DECLARATION I hereby certify that this dissertation constitutes my own product, that where the language of others is set forth, quotation marks so indicate, and that appropriate credit is given where I have used the language, ideas, expressions, or writings of another. I declare that the dissertation describes original work that has not previously been presented for the award of any other degree of any institution. Signed, Charles Adeshina â€Å"This dissertation contains material that is confidential and/or commercially sensitive. It is included here on the understanding that this will not be revealed to any person not involved in the assessment process.† ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the employees of the local government of Ifako Ijaiye for their gracious hospitality that enabled me to gain insight of their challenges both formally and informally if an information management system has been pursued. Their candid statements and disclosures made me appreciate the importance of the other factors in the success of an information management system. I also wish to acknowledge the help and assistance of Mr Dapo Okeniran, Head of the Information Office for Ifako Ijaiye local government whose valuable insights made me realize the rationale for the challenges. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES vii Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Chapter 2. Background and review of literature 5 Chapter 3. Theory 8 3.1.1 Project Planning 10 3.1.2 System Analysis and Design 13 3.1.3 System Design and Coding 15 3.1.4 Implementation and Roll Out 15 3.1.5 Acceptance and Full Deployment 17 3.1.6 Maintenance and Operation 17 3.1.7 Benefits 18 3.1.8 Challenges 20 3.2 Other Impacts 22 3.2.1 Anticipation 22 3.2.2 Failure 22... An information system management system shall also include the digitization of the documents generated over the years from the various local government units operations. And to be truly paperless, the ISM in fact includes an email system that would enable the various departments of the local government units to communicate with each other. The three systems is a start that will make the operation of the local government of Ifako Ijaiye truly paperless. Further along, to provide Ifako Ijaye with a good decision support system an Enterprise Resource Management system with a financial system module capable of handling government accounting can also be installed and used to manage its finances for a more transparent operation. The impact to the organization comes in several different ways as well. The psychological impact; pertains to the effects on the confidence, motivation and the dynamics or the relationship of each personnel in the organization with each other. Efficiency impact the process flow itself and the performance of the organization including its service level. Cost impacts the operating expenses related in the mainte-nance of the Information System Management.

The Impact of Technology on Experimentation and Popularity Essay

The Impact of Technology on Experimentation and Popularity - Essay Example As the study stresses music or visual art, there is an evolution which can be seen. This begins with the concept of the handicraft, such as seen in the oil paintings, sculptures or other types of natural art pieces. This is also seen in the acoustical sounds of music that are often noted with performances. Each of these has an aesthetic value that is used within the art and which was important in the values of society and culture in past times. Today, the integration of technology has changed the expression as well as the aesthetic value. The evolution is one which now integrates different techniques, sounds and ideas, specifically because of the ability to add in technology and to relate to the ways in which it can express the main ideologies that are a part of both the artists’ viewpoint and the concept which is valued through the spectator or listener. According to the paper findings the concept of technology as a part of the evolution of art is one which relates to the ideology of Collingwood, specifically with the aesthetics theory. According to this specific theory, the artist evolves different ideals because of the relationship to aesthetics. When an artist sees specific ideals within society, such as images, there is a direct relation to the concept of what is considered as beautiful and what should be represented in different forms of art. The concept of music has moved from the idea of aesthetics that are based on acoustics, such as through classical forms of music. However, in the early 1900s, electronics began to be a part of the experimentation with musical instruments as well as with various composers. By the 1950s, recording studios, electronic guitars and other electronic instruments were at the forefront of music. Rock and roll, country and other forms of contemporary sounds began to arise with the ideology of popular music. As these continued to form, there was also a different sound which was heard, mixtures of instruments that differed from the acoustical sounds and a growing popularity of both recordings and live performances with various musicians. The impact which technology had not only led to the making of music with technology, but also was associated with mass consumption of the music because of the new and popular sounds which were available to everyone both inside and outside of a performance (Theberge, 1997: 9). As popular music has continued to arise within culture and society, it has also led into a different way of associating with expression and the way in which music is heard. Combining art and technology

Software Piracy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Software Piracy - Assignment Example hical means 4: Government Government must provide the autonomy to each stakeholder about the use of software for their interests Government must ensure that pirated software does not harm the interests of the original creator as well as other stakeholders It is the duty of government to tell the truth about software piracy The Dilemma (Software Piracy) Software consists of programs that are designed to perform specific tasks for the different classes of users. Today, software applications are widely being used by individuals, government and business organizations for a variety of purposes. The software programs’ utilities are numerous in certain areas such as hospitals, banking education and space studies. Software programs can be purchased from software vendors. Eventually, certain general purpose software programs are available on internet, as freeware and shareware. However, the freeware and shareware software do not have much capabilities that are owned by the retail softw are packages (University of West Florida, 2012). Software piracy can be defined as the illegal copying, distribution or in general the illegal use of software. In other words, software piracy can be described as copying of software programs by individuals or business organizations either with profit motive or to harm others. The advancement in technological systems and tools has not only a favorable impact on the society but has also contributed immensely towards software piracy throughout the globe. Software piracy has serious impacts both on national economy as well as on the software producing organizations. The software producing companies spend millions of Dollars on their research activities for inventing particular software. Unfortunately, a few individuals and organizations take negative advantage of the technological advancements bothering less about the nation’s economy and software producing organizations which results in the form of pirated software (Ohio Literacy Resource Centre, 2001). Consequently, such factors have attracted the interests of many researchers to choose software piracy as one of the largely debated ethical issues. Three Principles The three principles selected for the matrix include Autonomy, Non-maleficence and Veracity. Autonomy can be described as freedom of an individual to take his/her own decisions. Every individual is free to use genuine or pirated software which is solely based on the conscience of an individual to consider it as ethical or unethical. However, the decision an individual takes should not harm any other individual or group or it should be non-maleficence. At the same time, the decision should not violate the rules and the laws established by the state or federal government. The truth related to incurrence of any act in relation to software piracy should be brought into limelight so that any such occurrence of piracy in future can be prevented. It can also benefit to create awareness about software pi racy and the harm that it can create to the

Racial Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Racial Diversity - Essay Example The main aim of this report is to understand using a real life company, the different kinds of discriminations that employees face at work, the make up of the group i.e. the racial make up of the group, the existing problems and issues and the solutions used by management to resolve the issues. The company chosen for this research is Wal Mart. The next section will deal with a brief about Wal Mart and a little about the employees. Wal Mart is the biggest retailers in the world. Wal – Mart has wide operations spread across 14 markets, 7390 Wal – Mart stores. They company employees over 2 million associates. It is the largest employer in America. The company claims to give importance to the employee’s growth and careers. The company’s website claims to provide the employees with a competitive pay, skills development and health benefits for the employee and family. Articles and studies have shown that the company pays employees a salary which is way below the poverty line and employees have confessed that they cannot live out of the pay received from Wal – Mart alone. The average hours worked by employees is around 40 hours a week. However the pay received is very low and for some of the employees it is just enough to live out of a Dodge truck (Greenhouse, 2005). A study showed that even though employees were given hikes in salary they did not really benefit from the hikes. Wal – Mart has instituted a new payment method. The company has placed a range for every job level and once an employee reaches the top of the pay range, the salary freezes and chances of pay increase is completely eliminated. The promotion system is also very poor and employees working for almost 13-14 years in the company and have not been promoted (Gogoi, 2006). Wal Mart’s main vision for the company is to become leading retailers in the world. The