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Virus pushes US unemployment toward highest since Great Depression

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/04/23/coronavirus-warnings-ramadan-some-pandemic-shutdowns-ease/

In New York, research has shown that unemployment is swelling to high levels, last seen in the 1920’s with 1 in 6 American workers without a job. Over 4.5 million Americans were laid off and applying for unemployment benefits. Looking into the Northeast US, receiving the hardest hit of the deadly virus. Although there are nearly 900,000 cases in the United States there are protests nationwide to reopen the economy. This is viewed because individuals do not want to lose their mortgages, and support their families. Officials stated that reopening the economy this fragile would create another outbreak. Some governors have eased up despite warnings, Georgia is reopening gyms and hair salons this Friday.

Every week our class digs deeper into this very serious pandemic. In early February, before it reached the United States, we all predicted the impact it would have on the economy. Now, 4-5 weeks into quarantine, researching the reopening of the economy is what we learned in the past chapters about aggregate demand and aggregate supply. Our course is supposed to teach us how to apply macroeconomic concepts into real life. This is significantly bad for everyone however, it has taught us how to use what we have learned.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/04/23/coronavirus-warnings-ramadan-some-pandemic-shutdowns-ease/

April 23, 2020- David Crary, Kathy Gannon, and Angela Charlton

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It will take Hawaii years to recover from COVID-19 lockdown

https://www.redbluffdailynews.com/2020/03/31/it-will-take-hawaii-years-to-recover-from-coronavirus-lockdown/

It pays to live in paradise. Workers in the tourism industry, are low-wage and tip-dependent live in the nation’s highest living costs, 92% higher than the U.S average. Streets and beaches are now empty in one of the nation’s top tourist destinations. Studies have shown that it will take about three years from now, for the state’s economy to recover fully. Due to tourism being 21% of the state’s entire economy, 82,963 unemployment requests have been filed. No other state so heavily relies on tourism as Hawaii. Closing businesses and adversely affecting people’s incomes. Small businesses heavily affected, are trying to rely on locals to hold them up and support. To recover from a such rapidly decreasing economy will take time. Due to most of the items we have imported to the islands, that creates an extra fragile environment for COVID-19 to arise again.

Personally, this article applies directly to what we’ve been learning because a certain recession for our nation will affect every state. Living in Hawaii for majority of my life, understanding first hand how much more expensive it is to live here. In class, we discussed the aggregate demand curve which shows the quantity of goods and services. This will go down along with consumer spending.

https://www.redbluffdailynews.com/2020/03/31/it-will-take-hawaii-years-to-recover-from-coronavirus-lockdown/

April 2- 2020- Joe Guzzardi

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Wuhan’s Lockdown Exit Doesn’t Mean China’s Crisis is Over

https://www.barrons.com/articles/chinas-crisis-isnt-over-after-lockdown-exit-51586362556

The crisis in China where this deadly virus emerged reported on Tuesday it was their first day wit no deaths since the epidemic began. Schools, stores, factories, and restaurants are reopening. While the trend of China’s progress hasn’t been denied, there will most likely be a second wave of infections affecting their county’s economy. The biggest economic concerns are underestimation of the jobless rate, companies’ sustainability, and access to resources for industrial production. Both the public health and the economic numbers should show more clarity to their information within weeks, but inflation, vehicle sales, and imports and exports will be expected. The first quarter GDP growth is expected April 17, if their officials release the numbers. There have been similar concerns for other countries spreading this virus globally.

I found that this connects to our learner profiles because of the reality of this situation. We as a class figured out how there would be a recession not only in the United States but globally. In Chapter 20 we learned about Aggregate demand and supply. The curve would go down because of the loss in consumer spending, the largest segment of GDP. On the other hand, the unemployment rate is sky rocketing, which we learned the 3 different types of unemployment.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/chinas-crisis-isnt-over-after-lockdown-exit-51586362556

April 8th, 2020- Tanner Brown.

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Understanding the Economic Shock of the Coronavirus.

https://hbr.org/2020/03/understanding-the-economic-shock-of-coronavirus

This article speaks about the continuous march of the Coronavirus. This virus has now stalled economies and delivering not a national, but global recession. For example, consensus estimates for initial unemployment claims in the U.S were around 1.6 million this week, but the figure came in at 3.28 million- an historically unprecedented figured, about five times greater than the largest weekly increase in global finance history. The graphs in the article show that the United states is slightly underneath the projected growth trend of GDP. Other countries in Europe however are creating a “U Shape” where they are significantly hurting from this pandemic. The economists thought it’d be between a financial system shock or a real economy freeze. A prolonged Covid-19 crisis could drive up the number of real economy bankruptcies, which make it even harder for the financial system to manage.

Our program learning outcomes and course learning outcomes apply perfectly as both micro and macroeconomics are applied into this article. Applying the chapters we have been reading about unemployment and recession it is very accurate to the reading. Every week we complete these Padlets to keep up with current events and its honestly mind-boggling to see the change of information updated.

https://hbr.org/2020/03/understanding-the-economic-shock-of-coronavirus

April 1st, Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak- Harvard Business Review

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Coronavirus meets the Great Influenza Pandemic

https://voxeu.org/article/coronavirus-meets-great-influenza-pandemic

Looking beyond the sad deaths, the spread of COVID-19 has led to stock-market crashes, financial volatility, and contractions of real economic activity. Due to the point were at now, there is uncertainty about the economic implications, looking back on the Great Influenza Pandemic in 1918. This pandemic a little over a century ago, shows the worst possible scenario for the Coronavirus. With the higher death rates, can lead to declination of GDP and stocks. Although this is less likely to happen now, due to the technological state we’re in, the economy can not do anything other than fall into a depression. Although 1918 was not close to the Great Depression, that was by far the worst economic step our nation was in. Creating things like the FDIC, is important to make sure money never falls back when banks fail.

I found this article very interesting because we had just learned about all of these concepts and applying them to a real life issue is important. Consumer spending has become the largest amount of our GDP, and it would be really sad to see our numbers go down, hurting the economy. Not only the United States, but Italy, the United Kingdom are hurting from this. Recovering will take a while with the amount of unemployment.

https://voxeu.org/article/coronavirus-meets-great-influenza-pandemic

March 20th, Robert Barro- VOX

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What Coronavirus Could Mean for the Global Economy
https://hbr.org/2020/03/what-coronavirus-could-mean-for-the-global-economy

Due to the rest of the world largely ignoring Covid-19 until it reached us, global financial markets reacted very strong last week when it spread across Europe and the Middle east, creating a global pandemic. Due to this insane virus spreading quickly, this has aggressively created a recession due to consumer spending, the largest component of GDP. Recessions can fall into three categories, real recession, policy recession or financial crisis. Looking at the information, it is under the “real economy” classification which is good. These generally shock the nation, but can come back quickly. Nothing will compare to the Great Depression, induced by the largest policy error ever. Hopefully the United States is able to recover with good time. With so many people staying home and not keeping the economy circling, it is plummeting quickly. This will create a direct hit towards consumer confidence, correlating with how people will use their money and spending it on staples for their families. Even after this passes, people will forever be conscious of the daily decisions they make. They are telling leaders to focus on consumer confidence signals on their comeback from this economic crisis.

I felt that this directly correlates with the chapters that we previously read and what is happening with the world now.

https://hbr.org/2020/03/what-coronavirus-could-mean-for-the-global-economy

Mar. 03 2020, Phillip Carlsson-Szlezak- Harvard Business Review.

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Is the Economy already in a Recession?

https://www.usnews.com/news/economy/articles/2020-03-17/has-the-coronavirus-pandemic-already-driven-the-us-economy-into-a-recession

Due to the economic activity grinds to a halt in the United States there are schools and businesses that are closing, hurting the overall consumer spending for our GDP. This will most likely drag our nation into another recession, the first since 2008. Anirban Basu, chief economist at Associated Builders and Contractors, issued a statement speculating that “the broader economy is already in recession due to COVID-19”. A recession is defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research as two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction. Officially, the NBER is responsible for designating when recessions begin and end, and it usually takes two quarters – or six months – of a slowdown before that designation can be reached. Due to the speed of this disease, this may not be a dragged on recession but a sharp dip. The stocks have been dropping consistently, with people trying to sell theirs due to the worth of companies.

I found this article very relative to the past few chapters we have been studying. Last chapter was on unemployment and very evident with our everyday life. Unemployment rates have been flying up due to the restrictions and self-quarantining happening. This recession is different from the last because of how it began, but hopefully our economy can bounce back from this.

Is the Economy Already in a Recession?

https://www.usnews.com/news/economy/articles/2020-03-17/has-the-coronavirus-pandemic-already-driven-the-us-economy-into-a-recession

Mar. 17 2020, Andrew Soergel- U.S News

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Hawai’i is a Paradise, But Whose?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/04/travel/hawaii-tourism-protests.html

This article speaks about the economic issues that Hawai’i is dealing with due to tourism and price of living. Due to most people in Hawaii working more than one job, it shows how the economy must be. From the 2018 Annual Average Cost of Living Index, Hawaii is the most expensive state to live in. For an example, groceries are 60 percent more than the national average. Tourism has become the biggest source of Hawaii’s economy, accounting for about 20% of the state’s jobs. About 10 million people visited the state within 2018 and 2019. Guest arrivals were expected to surpass the number, a record high. Although there are so many people going they’re spending less money due to the high amounts. This hurts the economy because it can lower the nation’s GDP. Some of the locals reported that the resorts are run by non-Hawaiians with Hawaiian people being employed in the lower-paying jobs. This benefits outsiders, bringing in a higher economy but losing the cultural background of Hawaii.

Throughout the entire article, I found it intriguing that we can tie in the information that we have previously learned to real life. Growing up in an environment where everything is expensive, I was never able to see the in-depth business side of it all.

Hawaii is a Paradise, But Whose?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/04/travel/hawaii-tourism-protests.html

Feb. 4th 2020. Tariro Mzezewa- NY Times.

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How Millennials could make the Fed's Job Harder
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/business/economy/millennials-retirement.html

“The millennials are lazy,” blasted across fifteen major US cities last summer. “Retire early and prove them right.” The young generation of encroaching savers leave bankers with less room to cut the interest rates, which have been done to boost growth in times of economic trouble. With millennials trying to retire early they need to build up their retirement funds, while consuming less in the process. If today’s workers were able to retire young, the future economy isn’t looking good by shrinking the labor force. With many of them indicating that they leave the work force early- economists say this could create macroeconomic trouble. Interest rates have been dropping for decades and demographics have become a major factor with the decline. Members of Gen X are very short on savings so they may need to work into older age, essentially helping the economy. Connecting this to what we are learning, interest rates are constantly changing and being apart of Gen X, the millennials decision to retire early affects us directly.

Joining the workforce in a couple years, thinking about how we want to save our money and provide for ourselves in the present and future is valuable. I enjoyed how this article gave a very realistic view, not sugar coating any information.

How Millenials could make the Fed’s Job Harder.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/business/economy/millennials-retirement.html

February 19th 2020. Jeanna Smialek- NY Times.

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Singapore downgrades 2020 Economic Forecast Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/17/singapore-releases-fourth-quarter-full-year-2019-gdp-data.html

Singapore has reported one of the highest numbers of coronavirus infections outside china, with 75 confirmed cases as of Sunday according to the Ministry of Health. The ministry of Trade and Industry said the Singapore Economy is expected to grow by around -0.5% and 1.5%. This is worse than the earlier projections of growth between 0.5% and 2.5%. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, it has affected the economy of China and the countries directly to them. On top of this tiny Southeast Asian country dealing with coronavirus, they got the worst hit of the global SARS epidemic in 2003. Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong suggested that Singapore could enter recession as a result of this outrageous outbreak. This is the slowest growth Singapore has seen since 2009. The construction sector, meanwhile, grew by 4.3% into the fourth quarter. I was able to connect this to the learner outcomes about GDP and current issues and trends within macroeconomics.

In class we learned what GDP is, and how it connects to the real world. Learning about the coronavirus, not only from the source but outsourcing to Singapore is interesting to learn about. In conclusion, the Singapore economy grew by 1% in the fourth quarter of last year and 0.7% for the whole 2019.

Singapore downgrades 2020 Economic Forecast Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/17/singapore-releases-fourth-quarter-full-year-2019-gdp-data.html February 17th 2020.

Yen Nee Lee- CNBC.

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Is Hawaii's Economy Healthy?

https://www.khon2.com/local-news/is-hawaiis-economy-healthy-study-says-its-one-of-the-best-in-the-nation/

As our country goes into our election year, 30% of people say that the strength of our economy will be a primary consideration of how they vote in 2020. Senior Living.org released its study, Best and Worst State Economies in the U.S. The study read the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis. Hawaii did significantly well with number 4 in unemployment rate at 2.6%, Number 16 in average annual wage $52,900 and in per capita GDP. Compared to the rest of the nation, the top were Utah, Colorado, California, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, Illinois, and Massachusetts. Determining these numbers are important to reflect and show how economies can improve within each personal government of each state.

Connecting this to our Course Learner Outcomes, “GDP, its components, and real vs nominal differences” and “Unemployment, the major types of unemployment, and the concept of full employment.” Lastly, it connected to “Currently issues and trends in macroeconomics”. I enjoyed personally tying in my home with the concepts we are being taught in this course. I personally did not know this prior to this article, so being able to thoroughly comprehend the terminology used is good.

Is Hawaii’s Economy Good?

https://www.khon2.com/local-news/is-hawaiis-economy-healthy-study-says-its-one-of-the-best-in-the-nation/February 9th 2020.

Web Staff- KHON2 News.

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The Coronavirus could cost China’s economy $60 billion this quarter.

https://www.kitv.com/story/41636469/the-coronavirus-could-cost-chinas-economy-60-billion-this-quarter-beijing-will-have-to-act-fast-to-avert-a-bigger-hit

The Coronavirus has become a global phenomena with the astonishing speed it has been traveling. This fatal disease has made a significant statement to the Chinese government. China may need to cut down on taxes, boost spending, and slash their interest rates to ensure that the virus will not destroy their previously fragile economy. China cannot afford this as growth was the country’s weakest in nearly three decades. With it’s rising debt, and fallout of trade with the United States on behalf of President Trump. The coronavirus has killed more than 200 people in Wuhan. This was more than the people of the SARS outbreak of 2003. China’s 290 million migrant workers among this are exposed to be in a slump. Many of these travel from rural areas into the city to perform their jobs. Due to the closure of regular jobs, the economy (human capitol) will decrease immensely. China’s unemployment rate will most likely reach a record high into the upcoming month due to the illness. The traditional rate was 4-5%.

I was able to connect to the learner outcomes, “Current issues and trends in macroeconomics.” Majority of the people in our course are Global business Management majors. This means that connecting our lessons into real-life application with other countries internationally. This article showed the effect of China into the United States and other countries they trade with.

The Coronavirus could cost China’s economy $60 billion this quarter. https://www.kitv.com/story/41636469/the-coronavirus-could-cost-chinas-economy-60-billion-this-quarter-beijing-will-have-to-act-fast-to-avert-a-bigger-hitFeburary 4th 2020. Laura He- CNN Business.

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US new home sales drop in December for the third straight month.

Digging in deeper to the U.S single-family homes, CNBC provided an article of the unexpected fall in December of 2019, likely held down by a shortage of ore affordable homes. The new home sales slipped 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 694,000 units. In comparison to the rest of the country, the Southern region went to a one-year low according to the Commerce Department. November sales pace was revised down to 697,000 units than the previously reported 719,000 units. Economists polled that new home sales, which account for about 11.1% of housing market sales would increase by 1.5% to a pace of 730,000 units in December however, it went the opposite direction. In addition to this, the median new house price rose about 0.5% to $331,440 in December from a year ago. New home sales in the South with accounted for the bulk of the transactions, dropped 15.4% in December. Connecting this to our Learner Outcomes, number 4 and 5, “The determinants of consumption through the application of the consumption function and the investment and savings.”

Throughout this article I learned that families who are not buying homes directly affect the economy. In class we discussed the different factors and components to the GDP equation and I discovered that this directly correlates with the equation.

US new home sales drop in December for the third straight month

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/27/us-new-home-sales-drop-in-december-for-the-third-straight-month.html

January 27th 2020. Unknown Author.

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U.S Weekly Jobless claims increase less than expected.
The article that I chose to read this week was from CNBC, about the unemployment rates within the past week across the United States. The initial claims for unemployment benefit rates rose about 6,000 to 211,000 for the week ending with Jan. 18. Claims were declining at a steady amount in post-thanksgiving and early December through the end of the year. The government surveys were finding that the average claims dropped about 12,500 between December and January showing some job growth within the month. This is most likely due to the new year, people morally trying to become better people and employ to help their families. The economy created 145,000 jobs just within the past month after adding an overwhelming 256,000 positions within November. Although the data shows some overpromising growth, the US has been in the longest economic expansion on record, in its 11th year. I chose this article because it directly connects to one of the course learning outcomes, “Unemployment, major types of unemployment, and the concept of full employment.” Macroeconomics is focusing our attention on the bigger picture of our economy and how we affect that as an individual. Joining the workforce in a short number of years, applying these concepts to real-life stories are important.

U.S Weekly Jobless claims increase less than expected. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/23/weekly-jobless-claims.html

January 24th 2020. Unknown author.