Field Trip

I felt this field trip was extremely worthwhile as I learned plenty of what goes on in the Chicago Board of Trade along with what goes on in the Federal Reserve Bank. What I learned from the Chicago Board of Trade was that being in a job involved with money is incredibly risky, as making a simple mistake between communications with a broker can make or break a deal costing costly mistakes. Along with this, the CBOT has it's own unique language with hand gestures that seemed really interesting in which the tour guide explained it would have to be explained in a matter of 3 weeks. In the Federal Reserve Bank, I mostly learned about bitcoins about how internet currency can have an effect on the economy but apparently there have been no plans of yet to ban or adopt this form yet. This trip is really educational as the mandatory questions the students have to ask do a good job of actually teaching of what goes on in the world of economics.

Keeping a Budget

When I first obtained a job I wasn't able to keep a straight budget spending nearly over half my income to unecessary luxuries. I also had to pay several friends back which was also a damper also to pay my mother for gas for transit. It seems that the best way to budget is to form a 20/80 budget. Living on 20 percent and saving 80 percent for later on in life. College debt is also a major factor as not get attracted to credit cards but being responsible with money. But it is easier said then done, it just seems the temptations of having more never fully satisfies me. The idea of minimalism would do wonders for many who can't control themselves including me. Maybe when I get older I will be able to fully embrace minimalism.

Interest Rates

In class this week we mainly talked about interest rates about how it has been the lowest ever being around 3.5%. I found it kinda of disheartening that soon it will be raised as the economy gets progressively better this includes student loans. It seems that every year that college tuition gets even more expensive it seems that going to college for the full 4 year experience seems less likely to be the norm. It seems financially better to attend a community college for 2 years, and to attend a regular one for another 2 years. In the eyes of many including myself it just seems that the economy is getting worse, when in fact it isn't but the large looming student debt just seems to big to handle.

Fiscal Policy

Ever since in class we have been learning about fiscal policy, it got me thinking of how messed up the budget was, that the deficit would only get bigger and bigger. But, in the news relatively the United States has been getting better financially being the expansion part of the cycle. It seems that the only way public outlook will get better is if there are massive reforms to the budget, mainly on military spending and discretionary spending. I still don't get the reasoning on why military spending is as large as it is, consisting of around 528 billion. This could be used for more important things such as education or the research department of the budget having less then 1 percent of what the budget consists of. It just seems that the money is going to all the wrong places.

Prisons

In my Expo Comp class, we were recently talking about how expensive it was to keep a single prisoner in Illinois comfortable for their incarceration while in jail. It costs around 20,000 dollars to keep a single prisoner well fed and "comfortable". In 2009 taxpayers spent more then 1 billion dollars on state prisons, a cost that is too great to be ignored. The crime rates have reduced over the years but there are still those that are in prison. The prison system costs taxpayers a lot of money annually and there needs to be some reform to this system. Along with some reforms among school lunch programs primarily those in inner city schools. It seems now more then ever significant sacrifices have to be made in order to adjust the federal budget, with almost no resources being focused on education but rather more on military.

Taxes

Everyone who has job knows and hates taxes with a passion, myself included. I just hate seeing my paycheck with nearly half the income of what I was supposed to receive, and just feel a little bit angry. It is just the fact that I see the words federal income tax, social security, medicare etc, and notice all the deductions and what would eventually become my net income. Maybe it would lessen the blow if it was hidden in my eyes, but open to my manager. I've always known taxes were important for the federal government, local government, and for the welfare of others. It just seems I want to know what the government specifically does with my taxes such as several corporate bailouts of several corporations that happened nearing the recession of 2008. Overall, taxes can take half my paycheck, but hey it happens to everyone.

CISPA

In the news recently, the CISPA bill has been brought up back in Congress for discussion even though it has been halted before as the general public deemed this bill unfit and too broad of what it seems to accomplish. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act allows large companies to work alongside government agencies such as the NSA to allow sharing of internet traffic information, which in turn would help to defend against future cyber-attacks. Lots of people deem this bill similar to the SOPA act or Stop Online Piracy Act, which intrudes on the privacy of others while on the internet. The internet should remain a wide open forum but not be spied upon by the United States government always living in fear of what to type as it should not be that way. It shouldn't be a police state where everyone is in constant paranoia but rather feel safe and protected by the government without them interfering in private company affairs. If a large corporation wishes to stop piracy, the company should do it themselves rather than ask for help.