·         The process the student has used to explore this hypothesis. 

·         An explanation of the student’s finding resulting from the research study regarding the hypothesis, and an attempt to analyze and explain these findings in terms of assumptions.

·         A list of references used for the project.

Please review the following requirements carefully.

·         The essay must be 500-1200 words in length. 

·         The topic should be a latest news item or current event, or policy debates related to macroeconomics.

·         The document must be submitted in Microsoft Word format.

·         The essay must consist of at least five paragraphs, including an introduction and conclusion. 

·         All ideas from outside sources must be cited in APA Style.

·         You should use several types of sources for your information.

·         Additional supporting information such as charts of supporting data and/or find a journal articles or website(s), or videos, etc. might be presented. 

If companies in the mobile wireless industry can increase their concentration, then their combined market power will increase. 

-          Explain how each article relates to your research topic and adds something new to what you learned about the topic.

-          These articles must be recent.

-          Include only credible sources relating to your Final Research Project topic.
Answer the question: “What are you interested in economics?” Hypothesis (economic prediction) is a special kind of prediction that forecasts how one economic variable will affect a second economic variable. 
The hypothesis can be written using the “If . . . then . . .” format. FORMAT: If the (independent economic variable) is [increased/decreased/etc.], then the (dependent economic variable) will [increase/ decrease /vary /etc.]. For example, the income of individual households and business profits are independent economic variables that affect overall business performance and economic growth. The price of a product (independent economic variable) will influence the demand for it (dependent economic variable). 

I learned a lot from this article. Using credit cards has become so popular in in the US. People rely on credit cards, when their funds become low, more than ever, setting the new record of $1.023 trillion owed to credit cards, in November. Getting approved for a credit card, is so simple and takes less than 10 minutes. Yes, there are positives to using credit cards, like raising your credit and being able to use them when you don't have the cash to spend on what you need/want. You may think there’s no risk to using credit cards, but there are. One of the risks being the interest rates.

The interest rates already start off high as it is, but in 2018 they're expected to just keep rising. Some credit cards APR starts at at least 20%, if not higher. Making a simple $250 purchase close to $500 when you calculate the interest that you're stuck paying, on top of the responsibility of remembering for the next 10 months to make your minimum payment, at least.

Using credit cards has become so popular over the years, with people getting so in debt due to these little plastic cards. When you get a $1,000.00 credit limit, it becomes hard to control your spending. Thinking to yourself "it’s only $30, I can just put it on my credit card." Slowly you're adding more and more to your amount owed, and next thing you know your card is maxed out, and you're stuck paying the minimum payment for the next 3 - 4 years.

            I believe the author chose this topic and to write about it to help the US manage their credit cards and use them responsibly, because she may have got stuck paying more to the interest to the principal payment. With that, I believe it will help me with my research topic, because more people have credit cards than those who do not have credit cards. The problem with the economy is that seems to be charging interest on just about anything and everything, and the author wants to educate people in what precautions to take when getting a credit card and making purchases on that card. 

            I believe this article helps support my argument,  and is related in many ways. I have credit cards, and I have calculated how much I pay to my purchases, and how much I have, and will have to pay toward interest alone. The interest rate on one of my cards is 26.9% which means every month, I pay almost 27% of my current balance to just interest. If my balance is $1,000 that is $270 toward just interest! Do you know what I could use $270 for???

 

 

 

 

 

News article sources:

Pay Down Those Credit Cards, Before Rates Rise Further

By Ann Carrns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                            Works Cited

 

The economic implications of cyberattacks | GRI. (2017, September 28). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from 

Researchers have also drawn links between higher rates of unemployment and major social problems to higher crimes rates and greater political unrest, as well as higher rates of depression, heart disease, and other illnesses among unemployed individuals as stated in Economics Principles, Problems, and Policies on page 518.  When inflation increases, it becomes troublesome for low-income families because it will cost more to purchase the goods they need to survive.  

According to page 518, “if the family’s income does not rise as fast as the price of the goods and services that it consumes, it won’t be able to purchase as much as it used to and its standard of living will fall” (Economies, 2018).

 According to the New York Times, “Stock market has begun a “correction” – financial jargon of at least 10 percent.”   The investors are concerned about the stick market and how far it will plunge.  The report also stated the following: “Markets tend to overshoot, up, and down, and they could certainly plunge much further” (Jeff Sommer, 2018).  Moreover, “The Fed has been tightening monetary policy while the federal government is loosening fiscal policy by cutting taxes, and then adding hundreds of billions in government spending in a last-minute budget deal on Friday.  Furthermore, the Trump administration has been pushing for lighter regulation of financial markets.   These shifts during a period of stress raise short-term risks for investors in stocks and bonds” (Jeff Sommer, 2018).

The scariest thing about the market right now is the shocking response of traders who had become accustomed to the unsustainably placid conditions that have been unceremoniously swept away (Jeff Sommer, 2018).

Despite the up-and-down swings of the stock market, it is not a declaration that the market is in deep trouble and will crash, because it will not.  One cannot assume where stocks are heading in the upcoming weeks but, based on history, they will eventually rise. “Eventually” is a word with a lot of wiggle room, however. Markets tend to overshoot, up and down, and they could certainly plunge much further (Jeff Sommer, 2018).

The timing is awkward. The Fed has been tightening monetary policy while the federal government is loosening fiscal policy by cutting taxes, and then adding hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending in a last-minute budget deal on Friday. Furthermore, the Trump administration has been pushing for lighter regulation of financial markets. These shifts during a period of stress raise short-term risks for investors in stocks and bonds (Jeff Sommer, 2018).

On Wednesday, William C. Dudley, president of the New York Fed, told the New York Times the following: “My outlook hasn’t changed just because the stock market is a little bit lower than it was a few days ago. If the stock market were to go down precipitously and stay down, then that would actually feed into the economic outlook.”

On February 8, the New York Times reported that the unemployment rate is already low, and the new tax cut may push economic growth even higher. Wall Street knows that if officials think inflation is poised to exceed its 2 percent target, they will raise interest rates to try to stop that from happening.

According to Yahoo Finance, on February 6, 2018, the tax cuts are still likely to boost profits, but markets are now factoring in some of the problems associated with tax cuts that Trump and his fellow Republicans never mentioned, and perhaps didn’t even recognize. For the economy, the main concern seems to be inflation, which could run a little deeper than investors have been expecting. Why might that happen? “Too much stimulus,” writes Greg Valliere of Horizon Investments. “The economy is in danger of over-heating, thanks to massive tax cuts, out-of-control government spending, synchronized global growth, and perhaps the most important factor: a U.S. labor market that’s exceptionally tight, with inevitable wage pressure coming this year.”

The tax cuts are pushing inflation expectations higher for a couple reasons. Bigger profits put more money into the economy, potentially pushing up spending, wages and asset prices. Taken together, that’s the inflationary surge, or “overheating,” many analysts worry about. There’s an optimal level of all these things (which nobody can ever pinpoint exactly), and then there are levels that are too high. The judgment of the markets right now is that these levels are exceeding too high, and the tax cuts are contributing to that.

Harris wrote in a recent note to clients: “This means ‘crowding out’ of private investment, offsetting the incentive of lower tax rates. For markets, it means faster Fed hikes, rising bond yields and a stronger dollar. And all of those things are bad news, relatively speaking, for stock prices” (Rick Newman, 2018).

            In conclusion, I believe the economy will not get better in the interim, but it will become better in the future.  However, no one should decide to sell or buy stock right now.   It’s better to wait and see where the economic is going.  In regard to the tax cut, it is disservice to the hard-working middle class Americans.  

 

 

Economies, M. B. (2018). Economics Principles, Problems, and Policies TWENTY-FIRST EDITION. Penn Plaza, New York: McGraw-HIll Education.

Jeff Sommer, s. (2018, February 9). Business/stock market. Retrieved from 2018 The New York Times Company: https://www.nytimes.com

Rick Newman, C. (2018, February 6). Retrieved from Yahoo: https://finance.yahoo.com/

 

Your topics should be a latest news item or current event or policy debates related to macroeconomics. You should use several types of sources for your information. You might also present charts of supporting data and/or find a journal articles or website(s) that provide additional supporting information.

My Interest: If this trade war with China escalates the US economy will suffer and we will lose a lot of resources. Much of our supplies come from China, about 56 percent, so if we cut of trade then we lose all of our products including clothing, food, and technology. If a decrease in domestic demand occurs between the United States and China, the world’s economy will be impacted greatly and global economic growth will decline rapidly. Overall, the Trade War doesn’t just affect China and the US but also the whole world and dramatic changes will occur that aren’t good for anyone.

 

 

-        Introduce your topic by answering the question: “What are you interested in microeconomics?” 

Find articles that address your topic.Your sources must be credible, include economic data (quantitative measures