| Ameliorating an Economic Slow Down The economy is currently in poor shape, and while many individuals have been professing that the economy will soon recover for over a year things have only gotten worse. This decline undeniably has myriad effects some of which are decreases in consumption and employment. Such drops greatly affect the populace and must be remedied as quickly as possible. Resulting from economic degradation is the loss of one’s vocation and the destitution which undoubtedly follows. Of course, young students such as I have no fear of that since they are either unemployed or are most likely employed for menial labor. And even if they did lose their job they could always turn to their parents for help thus avoiding indigence. Verily, loss of employment is no worry of a young student but the search for a career after inevitably departing from academics is. Students graduating during a recession would have the plight of acquiring a position which would provide a starting point for a career. Certainly, it would be beneficial if this plight were overcome. As anyone knows the easiest way to overcome a recession is conquest e.g. the Japanese invasion of China or a major world conflict in which we are not involved. However, conquest has been prohibited since the formation of the United Nations and the United States has long shed its isolationist policies, therefore different approaches must be taken to “jumpstart” the economy. Huxley’s A Brave New World inspires one panacea: the promotion of consumption. This can be accomplished by a government sponsored campaign proponing the perpetual use of unneeded “necessities” and extremely perishable items. Demand would increase and so would prices and the need for jobs thus putting the nation well on the track to recovery. Another way to improve the economy would be to decrease the fear of impending doom by the hands of some crazed militant suffered by the ignorant mass. To accomplish such a feat the United States government could stop the advertisements featuring Secretary of Homeland Security Ridge intimating the end of civilization. Also, regulation of the media would help assuage the populace’s anxiety. Then as fear decreases people will again become good consumers and spring for that new car or whatever item they were skeptical of purchasing when they thought hard times were imminent. One final method to stimulate the economy would be to increase personal funds, hence allowing more spending. The traditional method for achieving this is a tax cut, and in this respect tradition should be followed. Traditionally, the only taxes cut are progressive ones such as federal income tax. However, simply raising the progressive taxes would be indisputably more beneficial because it would allow an increase in federal funding to states, which in turn allows states to better fund their various programs and counties whilst lowering regressive taxes such as sales tax thus giving the common man more spending power and incentive for procuring the items they desire. In conclusion, three feasible remedies for the current state of the economy are to promote consumption, assuage the multitude’s fear and increase progressive taxes whilst decreasing regressive ones. Such methods would insure economic recovery and allow students such as me to find an initial occupation from which to a career. |