Inflation and Government Economic Policies Essay Example for Free

Inflation and Government Economic Policies Essay Inflation is described as the process by which prices are continuously rising or the value of money continuously decreases (Consumer Price Index Frequently Asked Questions, 2013). As the definition explains, this is not something that would be desirable for the government or its citizens. For example, Germany during the 1920’s experienced a period of hyperinflation. Germans literally had to carry wheel barrels of money to buy groceries. The price of a loaf of bread rose from around 200 Marks to over 200,000,000,000 Marks. Inflation is measured in several ways including Consumer Price Index, Producer Price Index, Employment Cost Index, Gross Domestic Product Deflator, and several other methods (Consumer Price Index Frequently Asked Questions, 2013). Inflation can be caused when the demand of goods and services cannot be met. Since demand cannot be fulfilled, manufacturers can increase the price of goods, thus causing inflation. Inflation can also be caused when there is too much money in circulation. Money can lose its value if everyone has too much of it. In order to try to control inflation, the government can regulate fiscal policies. Employees’ wages can play a big role in inflation. If everyone is making a lot of money, then prices can increase. Lower incomes actually help governments avoid inflation. Another method of regulating/manipulating inflation is by controlling aggregate demand, the number of goods and services requested at the given price point. Aggregate demand can be altered by either imposing taxes or decreasing and restricting government spending. According to BLS.gov, CPI, or Consumer Price Index, is the means by which we measure change in prices urban consumers pay for goods and services in the market basket. This measures what consumers pay on a daily basis for goods and services. Since 2000, CPI has been increasing. CPI can change due to shifts in population or buying habits of consumers. If the economy is up, people will most likely spend more money, and inversely if the economy is  down, consumers will spend less. New trends in technology or even fads can also change CPI. If consumers are influenced by media on alternatives to goods and services that buy and use, this too causes changes in CPI. CPI directly impacts the economy because it is used to determine the amount of government assisted people can be given such as Medicaid benefits and Social Security Benefits. The graph below shows the changes over time since January 2000 to January 2014 (Consumer Price Index Chained Consumer Price Index, 2014). CPI from January 2000-January 2014 PPI, or Producer Price Index, measures the changed by which producers sell their products (Producer Price Indexes, n.d.). This measures inflation at the beginning stages, ground level, from the manufacturers’ standpoint. Since 2000, PPI like CPI has also increased. Both of these measurements go hand in hand, as the price the manufacturers’/producers charge for their goods and services increases, the amount consumers are paying for these said items also increases. The difference between the two however can include taxes imposed on both producers and/or consumers alike. PPI can be used to determine at what point prices need to escalate. The following graph shows changes in PPI since 2000 (Producer Price Index-Commodities, 2014). PPI from the Year 2000 to the Year 2014 Consumer Expenditure Survey, CE, is defined by BLS.gov as the â€Å"program consists of two surveys, the Quarterly Interview Survey and the Diary Survey, that provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics. The survey data are collected for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau†. CE has also been increasing since 2000 to present day. CE is pivotal to government fiscal policies because it is the only measurements that shows us not only the amount of money consumers earn and spend, but also consumers spending habits  and trends that we observe. CE is used by policymakers to study the effects of their policies on economic groups and by the Census Bureau to determine Supplemental Poverty Measurements, Like CPI, new technology greatly impacts CE. In the 1980’s, spending on computers and hardware were not as prominent as they are now. According to BLS.gov, changes in internet services and cellphones were also not as prominent in the 1980’s (The Consumer Expenditure Survey—30 Years as a Continuous Survey, 2010). Increases in income and the amount of money consumers spend change CE. The graph below shows these changes (Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2014). Consumer Expenditure Survey 2000-2012 Throughout the last fourteen years, the different units of measurement use to determine inflation have all increased. As the standard and cost of living increases, and as minimum wage continues to increase, all of these units will also increase. This has helped to prevent inflation and hyperinflation. If the prices of goods increase while the income people are bringing in stays the same, this would lead to inflation. As income decreased in 2008-2009, the CPI, PPI, and CE also decreased. The more money we are circulating, the more producers’ will be able to increase the price of goods and services, and the more consumers are going to pay for them. This cycle will continue to grow exponentially. As I stated earlier, there are different methods and fiscal policies governments can implement to avoid inflation. Like Keynesian economics, some of which are based around limiting and controlling government spending. References Consumer Expenditure Survey. Retrieved August 20, 2014 from http://www.bls.gov/cex/ Consumer Expenditure Survey. Retrieved August 20, 2014 from http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet The Consumer Expenditure Survey—30 Years as a Continuous Survey. Retrieved August 20, 2014 from http://www.bls.gov/cex/ceturnsthirty.htm Consumer Price Index Chained Consumer Price Index. (August 19, 2014). Retrieved August 19, 2014 from http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet Consumer Price Index Frequently Asked Questions. (August 15, 2013). Retrieved August 19, 2014, from http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpifaq.htm#Question_1 Producer Price Index-Commodities. (August 19, 2014). Retrieved August 19, 2014 from http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet Producer Price Indexes. Retrieved August 19, 2014 from http://www.bls.gov/ppi/

Moving Around as a Child Essay example -- Personal Narratives Courage

Moving Around as a Child So far in my life I have moved eight times and been to twelve different schools. I’m not talking about just moving houses. I’m talking about eight times, packing all of my things and moving to a whole different state. In all this I have learned the most important quality that anyone needs to get through all of the hardships and changes in moving. That quality is courage. Courage is as stated in The New International Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language to be â€Å"the capacity to meet danger or difficulty with firmness.† In my mind courage has always meant doing what you had to do, and dealing with it because you had to. I never had a choice in my life whether I wanted to move to a different city or not. I just would get told one day that I had about a month before I had to pack up all of my things, say goodbye to all of my friends, say goodbye to my school, and leave everything I had know for the last year or so and move to a whole different place that I didn’t know. For a young child this can be hard. I learned early on, that I was suppost to â€Å"stay strong,† as my father always said. He would tell me that I had to be courageous, and a trooper through all of this and that it would be a new adventure. That’s how I looked at it, as another challenge to face. Courage has to be found deep within you. It isn’t always easy to find, as I have learned from experience, and every time a hardship or a difficult situation comes up yo...

Utilitarianism and Happiness

The philosophical theory that I choose to do is called â€Å"utilitarianism†. In a brief sentence, utilitarianism means the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Basically what this means is, doing the right thing is based on how many people your action benefits rather than how much it benefits you. According to the Oxford American Dictionary utility means â€Å"the state of being useful, profitable, or beneficial†(oxford dictionary,2013). The whole theory is all about how much it benefits and how useful or profitable an action or an idea is. For example: if killing one criminal brings forth happiness to a hundred people, then killing that one criminal is not a bad idea. Simply because it makes one hundred people happy. According to utilitarian’s the ultimate goal or the most important part of life is to seek happiness. But the happiness that you seek must not only benefit you, but it has to benefit a large sum of the people. This is called the â€Å"greatest happiness principle†(Wikipedia, Feb, 11,2013). Now this is the main idea of utilitarianism, but it does branch out in the different direction due to many philosophers that thought of this theory. Utilitarianism is not discovered by just one person, it’s made up of many ideas from many different philosophers. Although many people believe that utilitarianism started with Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, there were philosophers that came up with similar ideas as utilitarianism. Before we talk about the authors of this theory, we must really understand the history of utilitarianism and how it came to be. Way back in history when humans invented writing in the Sumerian Civilization of the Old Babylon, the ancient Mesopotamian people wrote a poem/story called the â€Å"Epic of Gilgamesh† about a friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. In this story there’s a character by the name of Siduri that tells Gilgamesh â€Å"Fill your belly. Day and night make merry. Let days be full of joy. Dance and make music day and night†(Wikipedia, Feb, 3, 2013). This quote dates back to the very first advocacy of hedonistic philosophy in the human civilization. It is believed to be written during 2500 – 2000 B. C. A little forward in time and we come to meet Aristippus of Cyrene (435 – 356 BC). Aristippus is a student of one of the greatest philosophers to ever oam the planet, the father of philosophy, Socrates. Though Aristippus didn’t follow in the footsteps of his teacher, he had his own ideas and own theories of philosophy, one of them being hedonism. Aristippus idea of hedonism is that all people have the right to do anything to achieve the greatest amount of pleasure. For example: if drinking and doing drugs bring you the greatest amount of pleasure and happiness, then there is nothing wrong in doing so. You may be asking yourself, why I am telling you about the history of hedonism. So let me explain, in the 18th – 19th century. The British philosopher’s by the name of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill came up with the theory of utilitarianism by taking hedonism of Aristippus and adding the â€Å"greatest happiness principle† (Kerby Anderson, 2012). The hedonistic theory of doing anything to achieve the greatest amount of pleasure turned into doing anything to achieve the â€Å"greatest good for the greatest number of people† which is now called utilitarianism, this philosophical theory is basically an innovation of hedonism. Though many philosophers had part in its discovery, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill brought utilitarianism to its true glory, if they didn’t explain their philosophy in the way they did. Perhaps I wouldn’t be writing this essay right now. So the ones to be credited for utilitarianism is Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. But its not to say that this theory doesn’t have its advantages and disadvantages. Like all things in life, there are benefits and there are hindrances. The Advantage of utilitarianism is simply the happiness that you gain from doing something, whether the happiness is for you or someone you care about. In the end, someone is happy. If you’re in confusion on a certain decision and don’t know what to do, you can simply apply the greatest happiness theory and make your decision based on that. That way, you don’t seem selfish only thinking about your happiness and people will respect that choice and someday repay your kindness by sacrificing their happiness for yours. By sacrificing your happiness for someone else already makes you good human being. Its fits to show that our actions have consequences. If someone cares only about his/her actions alone, he/she wouldn’t have many friends ue to the lack to affection and concerns that he/she shows towards others. Another important advantage of utilitarianism is when you’re faced with a challenging and difficult task; it gives you the methodology of choosing the right path, the one that will benefit the most people. Instead of questioning how beneficial it will be for you. You begin to value other peopleâ⠂¬â„¢s happiness over your own. Therefore giving you the best possible option. Though it is good to put other before you, utilitarianism has its disadvantages as well. This particular philosophical theory has many disadvantages, but the one that matters to me is. Utilitarian’s only care about happiness, whatever brings the greatest amount of people the greatest amount of happiness. Sure, happiness is good, but what about people who don’t get that happiness. For example: out of 50 people, 35 of them get happiness. What happens to the other 15 people? Are we to just ignore how they feel? They are humans too, they have feelings as well. We can’t abandon them just because the other 35 people are happy. Secondly, if we care about others more than we care about ourselves. How can we possibly be able to live with ourselves? We can’t always be looking out for other people. We have to take care of ourselves as well. In the end, it’s our life. We have to look out for ourselves and make the decisions based on how well our life is going to be. There’s a saying in the famous movie pirate of the Caribbean â€Å"Even a good decision if made for the wrong reasons can be a wrong decision†(Jonathan Pryce, 2003) So, I strongly believe that when it comes to making life changing decisions, we must always put ourselves before others.

Unisex And The Utilitarian Ethical Dilemma Essay - 1950 Words

Tanisha Stidwell PHI 240 0001FA Mr. Beltran, Julian Nov. 6, 2016 Unisex and the Utilitarian In today’s society exists the ethical dilemma referred to as unisex which can be actively described as the direct efforts to blur the line separating male from female. According to most, this is done to further the idea of equality between men and women. But to others it is a moral concern that ultimately could be detrimental to the members of the affected society. Avoiding a consequence such as this would thusly mean promoting the ideas encapsulated within the moral frame of Utilitarianism. This essay will showcase the problem with unisex and its relationship to the utilitarian. It, however, is necessary, first, to elaborate on the topic of unisex to better define and emphasize its problematic features. Unisex is defined as: (Adjective) of, designed, or suitable for both sexes; not distinguishing between male and female; undifferentiated as to sex. Or (Noun) The state or quality of being unisex, also referred to as ‘Gender-Blindness’. This term ‘unisex†™ is used in opposition to the act of Gender-Specification, which is the separating of labels or items- boy or girl, for Women or for Men. Though the term ‘unisex’ was popularized in the early 1960’s, the demand for things to be categorized as such, grew exponentially in the early 2000’s and peeks in 2016. This is due to the growing influx of people verbalizing and arguing their disapproval over gender specification, parents especially.