Reflection

This Thursday in Econ we voted on what insurance is the most important to us.  Groups of four presented information on Auto, Health, Life, Homeowners, and Disability insurance.  Based on the voting of of the class it seems like we think Health Insurance is the most important.  I agree with the majority opinion that it is important.  Throughout your life you could end up spending so much more money without healthcare.  Doctor's visits are important.

This is a current event based on what we've been up to in class

This is the first year I recall "Black Friday" Sales starting days before Thanksgiving.  Its kind of interesting that people go from being thankful for what they do have on Thanksgiving Day to tearing each other apart the next day to get the good deals.  I read an article that was made to inform the shoppers of the negative effects of the credit card and why they need to be used wisely.  A statistic shows that the average debt of Americans in credit card debt in the year 2013 is over $7,000.  These debts are what cause the credit card companies to do so well.  The thought of getting a object now and having to worry about the cost later really appeals to consumers.  People who pay the minimum payment will result in paying over double the original price.  Financial guru Jean Chatsky advises, “Minimum payments are a credit-card company’s way of getting you to carry a single debt almost forever. If you, like the average American family, have $8,000 in card debt at a typical rate of 13.97 percent, and you pay only the minimum 2.2 percent of the balance required each month, it will take you 30 years to retire that debt and cost about $10,000 in interest.”  (Qtd. "Credit Card Debt...").  This segment of personal finance helped me to realize why my parents have told not to get a credit card because it isn't necessary.  
Young, Sherry. "Sherry Young: Credit Card Debt Can Diminish the Joy of the Season."DeseretNews.com. N.p., 05 Dec. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865591816/Credit-card-debt-can-diminish-the-joy-of-the-season.html?scrlybrkr=d50413d5>.

Another Reflective Blog :D

So this week we moved out of the economics half of the year into the personal finance part.  This means that we will start to learn more about decisions that us specifically could end up making in the future.  The most interesting thing we covered this week was watching a video about a man who traded a red paper clip and eventually ended up owning a house.  This was a story that one of my friends from another school was describing to me on a long car ride one day so I was pretty excited to hear about it in class today.  We are actually attempting to do what "Kyle" did and trade a paper clip and work up to larger items.  I'm going to make this game more fun and realistic by not trading with anyone else from the class who already knows about the game.  Right now I have a mechanical pencil after two trades.... wish me luck!

Current Event November

One of the biggest storms in history of the world is moving towards the Philippines.  This storm known as Super Typhoon Haiyan will have WINDS OVER 190 MPH! Thousands of people have been relocated to safer places and find shelter on higher grounds.  A storm that hit the Philippines in 2012 that was not nearly as large killed 1900 people.  This storm is surely going to have a major long term effect on the Philippine economy... I think it would be best to keep the Philippines in our prayers that the damages will be minimal.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/world/asia/philippines-typhoon-haiyan/?scrlybrkr=4e3ddbb3

WALMART IS BAD

The focus of our class has been if Walmart is right for Weserville or not.  I don't think it is right for Weserville.  It will drastically change our small town for the worst.  I cannot say much because much of the information of my group is being kept confidential for the big debate tomorrow.  Our group will win the argument! We have some very strong points.

So it seems like the two main political parties the Republicans and the Democrats both have very different ideas on what they want to do.  The Republicans want to pass a six week debt ceiling increase, but this bill would not end our government shutdown.  The Republicans would really prefer to discuss a long term commitment but Democrat Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, says that they won't budge and the it's "not going to happen".  After Reid said that the White House made an official statement saying  "the president and the Senate Democrats will continue to pursue reasonable discussions about our budget challenges after these manufactured crises end."  This statement is basically implying the pointing of blame on the Republicans Party. These people in the House and Senate need to man up and become Bipartisan if they want to get anything accomplished.  

I got this information from: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/10/boehner-pitches-short-term-debt-ceiling-hike-ahead-white-house-meeting/

Current Event First Week of October

I read an article about the government shutdown that is all politicians are talking about now.  After reading this article it seems that president Obama is trying to use the chaos of our country to his advantage in order to get his way.  The white house said that Obama would be happy to talk about the health care system and possible changes after the government reopens.  He also continues to encourage Congress to put a budget through and end the shutdown.  Obama and the Democratic party are going to need to be open to the idea of changes being made to the health care system in order for a budget to be passed anytime this year.
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/10/government-shutdown-2013-after-fruitless-meeting-shutdown-heads-into-third-day-94816.html?scrlybrkr=47c1ea27