Friday, June 6, 2008
Current Events Reflection
I did learn a lot by having to do current events every week, although I did not always feel enthusiastic about it; at the beginning of the year when the current events bookmarks were assigned, I though "Oh god, just another stupid thing I'm going to have hanging over my head the WHOLE. ENTIRE. YEAR." But once I actually found good sources, I didn't mind at all, and I was happy to know what was going on in the world and not feel like an ignorant teenager. I read Newsweek before we started doing current events, but that's more focused on events in America, so by having to do the bookmarks, I was finding out more about what was going on in the world and was able to understand some of the things happening in the world more. I could have learned more about current events, maybe, if I had to do more than one region every week, or if i had to research one story that I found every week; not necessarily more, but it would be more in depth on one subject. I think that the bookmarks are the best way to get a good balance of current events and history, though; if we had to do more work for current events, it would be too much focus on that and not enough in history. Next time, I would try to branch out with my sources. I had a few sources, but I mostly used bbcnews.com, so it would probably be better to try to get information from other places as well that might have different perspectives or ways of writing about stories. What could be improved on Mr. Scott's part is the Wikispaces summaries at the end of each quarter; I never really felt like I knew exactly what was expected of me when doing them, and we never got our grades, so I didn't know what I was doing right or wrong. A little more clarity on the instructions would be nice next time. I do think that I will keep reading the news. I like knowing what's going on in different parts of the world; it's important to be aware of your surroundings in order to be a balanced person with a good understanding of the world.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Chapter 34 Section 2 Study Guide
The Domestic Economy: Good News and Bad News
1. What was the good news? Millions of new jobs were created between 1993 and 1999; by 2000, unemployment rates fell to the lowest they had been since 1970.
2. What was the bad news? Wage inequality between upper and lower-income Americans (aka the income back) became much wider, and median household income dropped.
The Changing Domestic Economy:
3. What trends led to explosive growth in the service sector? How did this affect workers? Positions in service sector jobs were often part-time and temporary with limited benefits, and grew fast in the '90's; by 2000, 80% of Americans worked in such jobs. Low paying jobs like sales and fast food service grew fastest. Corporations did not want to invest in salaries and benefits for a full-time staff, so they started hiring temporary workers and downsizing (cutting payrolls to streamline operations and increase profits). By 1998, one fourth of America's work force worked in such positions, but because of the cuts and downsizing, younger workers had a higher unemployment rate. By 1999, an average of 11% of workers aged 16 to 24 were unemployed, more than double the national rate, and 75% of young workers were expected to earn less money as adults than their parents.
4. What trends led to explosive growth in temporary work? How were workers affected?
The same answer as before: Corporations did not want to invest in salaries and benefits for a full-time staff, so they started hiring temporary workers and downsizing (cutting payrolls to streamline operations and increase profits). By 1998, one fourth of America's work force worked in such positions, but because of the cuts and downsizing, younger workers had a higher unemployment rate. By 1999, an average of 11% of workers aged 16 to 24 were unemployed, more than double the national rate, and 75% of young workers were expected to earn less money as adults than their parents.
5. What trend led to a sharp decline in manufacturing jobs? How were workers affected? Because of the huge growth of jobs in the service sector, traditional manufacturing jobs declined hugely; in 1992, 140,000 steel workers did the same work that 240,000 did a decade beforehand. This contributed to a drop in participation in unions; by 1998, only 14% of Americans were union members because many workers either did not feel the need for them or were frightened that they would lose their jobs. The increase in high tech machinery cut many jobs, but it also made a powerful new "high-tech" economy.
6. What trend led to explosive growth in the high tech industry? How were workers affected? In the 1990s, many entrepreneurs turned to computer technology; this and the large amount of related businesses that cropped up went with the growth of the Internet in the '90s; the NASDAQ, which is a "technology dominated stock index" on Wall Street, rose hugely; they largely dealt with dotcoms, which became the place for new businesses to start out and attracted new talents and expanded rapidly. many quit their jobs and became stock traders online.
The Changing Global Economy:
7. What trend affected international trade and competition? How did those trends affect U.S. businesses and workers? In 1994 in response to increasing international competition in trading, the U.S. and other nations joined in signing and updated version of the general Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. This established the World Trade Organization to resolve trade disputes and lowered tariffs and other trade barriers. In the 1990s, companies started moving their operations to less economically advanced countries such as Mexico, which, after the passage of NAFTA, caused more than 100,000 low wage jobs to be lost in industries such as apparel, auto parts and electronics. The international competition also caused Americans corporations to maintain lower wages.
1. What was the good news? Millions of new jobs were created between 1993 and 1999; by 2000, unemployment rates fell to the lowest they had been since 1970.
2. What was the bad news? Wage inequality between upper and lower-income Americans (aka the income back) became much wider, and median household income dropped.
The Changing Domestic Economy:
3. What trends led to explosive growth in the service sector? How did this affect workers? Positions in service sector jobs were often part-time and temporary with limited benefits, and grew fast in the '90's; by 2000, 80% of Americans worked in such jobs. Low paying jobs like sales and fast food service grew fastest. Corporations did not want to invest in salaries and benefits for a full-time staff, so they started hiring temporary workers and downsizing (cutting payrolls to streamline operations and increase profits). By 1998, one fourth of America's work force worked in such positions, but because of the cuts and downsizing, younger workers had a higher unemployment rate. By 1999, an average of 11% of workers aged 16 to 24 were unemployed, more than double the national rate, and 75% of young workers were expected to earn less money as adults than their parents.
4. What trends led to explosive growth in temporary work? How were workers affected?
The same answer as before: Corporations did not want to invest in salaries and benefits for a full-time staff, so they started hiring temporary workers and downsizing (cutting payrolls to streamline operations and increase profits). By 1998, one fourth of America's work force worked in such positions, but because of the cuts and downsizing, younger workers had a higher unemployment rate. By 1999, an average of 11% of workers aged 16 to 24 were unemployed, more than double the national rate, and 75% of young workers were expected to earn less money as adults than their parents.
5. What trend led to a sharp decline in manufacturing jobs? How were workers affected? Because of the huge growth of jobs in the service sector, traditional manufacturing jobs declined hugely; in 1992, 140,000 steel workers did the same work that 240,000 did a decade beforehand. This contributed to a drop in participation in unions; by 1998, only 14% of Americans were union members because many workers either did not feel the need for them or were frightened that they would lose their jobs. The increase in high tech machinery cut many jobs, but it also made a powerful new "high-tech" economy.
6. What trend led to explosive growth in the high tech industry? How were workers affected? In the 1990s, many entrepreneurs turned to computer technology; this and the large amount of related businesses that cropped up went with the growth of the Internet in the '90s; the NASDAQ, which is a "technology dominated stock index" on Wall Street, rose hugely; they largely dealt with dotcoms, which became the place for new businesses to start out and attracted new talents and expanded rapidly. many quit their jobs and became stock traders online.
The Changing Global Economy:
7. What trend affected international trade and competition? How did those trends affect U.S. businesses and workers? In 1994 in response to increasing international competition in trading, the U.S. and other nations joined in signing and updated version of the general Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. This established the World Trade Organization to resolve trade disputes and lowered tariffs and other trade barriers. In the 1990s, companies started moving their operations to less economically advanced countries such as Mexico, which, after the passage of NAFTA, caused more than 100,000 low wage jobs to be lost in industries such as apparel, auto parts and electronics. The international competition also caused Americans corporations to maintain lower wages.
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