Right now our politicians are debating about raising or lowering taxes and the fact that our congress is in a gridlock between two parties who cannot comprise on any level to reach any sort of agreement. This cartoon is very representative of that because it is mainly saying hey here is the big old fat cat congressman who doesn't really need to care about over or under taxation and here is the scared twig man of the American people. The cartoon is also hinting at the idea of we are getting closer to a point of no return and the ending point of this tax stall in congress. This cartoon shows/says that the more congress just sits around and the American people are still in no power Taxes with either be insanely high or no one will be taxed properly and there goes a lot of budgets and programs that Government funds through taxation money.http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/022db99b-6898-4067-b381-5cad3ccc1cde.html

gas prices

Gas prices are the biggest pain in a lot of wallets right now. It is one of the only things that can steadily rise in $ and people will still buy it no matter what. Gas prices have always been a roller-coaster but now it seems like instead of the big drops that last awhile we are just getting smaller and smaller drops and bigger and bigger inclines. This is truly one big demand and supply graph, the price per gallon of crude oil is largely dependent on the demand for it. less demand the cheaper the gas should be. Time will only tell how the gas war on prices will turn out.http://gaspricesexplained.org/?gclid=CKXmyO2dm7ACFQ8CQAodvjj0XA 

housing market....time to buy?

In 2012 many people have been affected by the housing crash in 2008. So right now we are still trying to bounce back and get on the right path. If you are in the housing business it is a good time to be a buyer not a seller. But buying is a dual edged blade due to the fact that it is now extremely difficult to even be qualified for a loan. In the case you do qualify there are some good tips for you to follow in order to keep the house or get the house you would like. Get pre-approved it is a great way to let the seller know you are financially stable and can handle the house. Also get a inspector and do your research on the home, if you are an antsy person who can not stay in one place for long stay away from a home purchase. But all in all if you have good credit and can get pre-approved and become an educated and smart shopper there are plenty of choices out their for you in the housing market.http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson8/index.htm

3 reasons not to buy a Facebook stock

In this article, we compare two wimilar internet websites-Google and Facebook.  They have their similarities (i.e; they recieve money from advertising), but Google has been around far longer than Facebook.  In it's old age, it has seen its ups and downs in the stock market, and throughout the ages, investors are still investing in Google.  Why?  Because it never goes out of style.  Three reasons to not buy a Facebook share are:
1. Facebook is nearly twice the starting stock value as Google was "back in the day".
2. Google has the advertising rights of many "low hanging fruits".
3. The world only needs so much advertising.
So, say no thanks to Facebook.  Google will always be there for you.

Economic bright side...sarcasm?

As you can see, this bus is named "Bernake and Geithner Party Bus".  I get the impression that this cartoon is bashing Bernake's choice to lower interest rates, no?  While this may help slow the problem, as the cartoon depicts, the bus will soon hit rock bottom anyways.  is this what we are headed towards?  Whatever the case, we know that "The good news is that we're falling less fast!", but we are still falling.
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/economy/ig/Economic-Cartoons/Economic-Bright-Side.htm

Foreign or Domestic?

Cars today have become a status symbol as well as an everyday necessity for many and with that most people are looking for quality. The old misconception was the American built meant long lasting and wont fall apart. While Japanese or Korean built meant cheap parts and cheap build. Today many people fail to realize that most Honda's, Toyota's, Kia's, and German cars are actually built here in the US and many US cars are designed and get parts from foreign countries. But despite all that "American" cars still seem to lose their value faster then foreign cars in today's market. But that is not all bad news because that means when shopping for a used car you the consumer are going to find a good reliable vehicle that will be cheaper then many other foreign cars. Will the demand for "American" cars rise or fall with today's economy? Only time will tell, but I am sure that the demand for "American" cars will be on the steady incline.http://www.all-about-car-selection.com/import-cars.html

Now would be an awesome time for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage...

If you are interested in buying a home, then you're in luck.  For the fourth week in a row, the interest rates on a 30-year fixed loan has decreased now from 3.79% to 3.78%.  this may not seem like a huge drop, but if you're in Red's AP Macro class, you would know that interest rates are just as important as the money in the bank.  For example, this time last year, the interest rates on said loans were a staggering 4.60%.  this is saving borrowers around $48 dollars per $100,000 loaned.  To put this into perspective, over a 30 year period, this saves borrows a whopping $17,217 compared to last year!  The demand of houses in the industry are sure to rise, according to Frank Nothaft.  "Mortgage rates were virtually unchanged this week with fixed-rate loans remaining at record lows and helping to drive homebuyer affordability", he states in the article.  What will this mean for home buyers?  I guess more availability to buy their American dream house.

outsourcing

Is outsourcing good or bad? Business men will defend it and politicians will condemn it. But why is it done, it is because the opportunity cost of having someone else do the work for less than half to even 75%of what it would cost you to do only makes sense. Why not ship off all your work to someone who can do it equally as well and for cheaper and you reap all the benefits. The hottest trend and idea moving foreword for companies is how can we produce the same product for the least amount of money. This ties right into the idea of free market capitalism in which the individual person or business entity can go big and thrive. As well as lowering expenses and increasing revenue is the heart of outsourcing. SO why not outsource because if you want to turn this into a graph over the long run with outsourcing, that will lead to other countries developing and the level of wealth per person will rise creating a new market and expanding the global GDP. http://www.billshrink.com/blog/6741/12-reasons-companies-outsource-operations-overseas/

Student Debt...College, is it worth it?

Living in a world(United States of America) where you need to have a college education in order to get a simple job that barely pays the bills is becoming the everyday reality. My question is... Is college worth the debt? In most cases its turning out to be NO! More and more students today are dropping out or getting a degree and not finding a job. This is creating the problem of not being able to pay off the one type of debt that will never go away student debt. The colleges and the government all have there hand in the pot by letting so many people default on the student loans as well as keep handing them out left and right. The only way to solve the problem of this bubble is to forgive the student debt and to help change the systemhttps://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/17-2

Funny cartoon!!!!

I know, I'm doing two topics in a row about college grads.  But this made me giggle!  Many believe that after college you're guaranteed a job offer right away or soon after.  This is becoming increasingly untrue.  While you may be spending a fortune on education for college, you're going to not only be spending more paying those loans back, but also searching for a job to pay those back in the first place.  This just makes me laugh because with prices of school going up, more people are wondering whether or not to go to college.  I think it's beyond worth it, however I'm not excited to be spending $20,000 a year on school when I've had it for free for 12 years.

The impact of internships

Internships are becoming more and more of a necessity to getting jobs than ever before.  We all know that internships can be an important stepping stone to getting your first job, but why?  Experts say it's for the experience.  Internships are like working in a real job.  Having a minimum wage job at 17 just won't cut it for the experience anymore.  With an intership, you can do on the job training, find out if that's what you really want to do in life, and gain critical career knowledge that others won't have.  Katie Williams, who went to the University of Tulsa, OK, says that because of her Honeywell internship, "I was the first person in my graduating class to find a job."

Will the U.S. be like Japan?

"Political gridlock. High national debt. Rock-bottom bond rates. An aging population. Warnings about more downgrades."-CNN Money

Is the U.S. economy headed towards a fate like Japan's?  Jeanne Sahadi thinks so.  With our Gross Debt at almost 100% over our GDP and Japan's at 236% over theirs, Sahadi believes that we are headed towards the same problems that Japan is facing.  Japan hit a stock market crash almost 20 years ago and never recovered.  However, I feel that this article makes our debt seem much worse than it actually is.  I mean, really, JAPAN?  C'mon.