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.

Business Decisions

Just recently, Jersey Mike's was selling subs for 1 dollar each, and the outcome was not pretty. There were numerous amounts of people just yesterday willing to line up for what is basically a free sub sandwich. The amount of resources being used seem liked they were about to lose a large amount of money. Comparing Jersey Mike's to McDonald's, Jersey Mike's seems to use fresh ingredients compared to McDonald's where almost everything is frozen or pre-made. I know this is a marketing scheme but it seems the marketing wouldn't work at all, losing vast amounts of money in short time. Due to this Jersey Mike's would have to sacrifice quality for quantity, basically having frozen packaged food rather than the usual fresh food. This can make a difference being cheaper to obtain and having almost no repercussions in the customer's eyes. This could be a smart decision if it were true as word of mouth will get around of how great the sandwiches can be, which can result in more customers and more revenue. In the short run it is probably a bad idea, but in the long run it will be worth it.    

GDP

Gross Domestic Product is a gauge used to measure a country's economic status and it is calculated in expenditures and investments. Many people want GDP to also include many other things such as the black market, or non economic sources of well being an example being happiness. I don't believe that GDP should be drastically changed but should add an addition to the underground economy that goes on in the United States and various other countries. Illegal activities has a lot profit and value over it, but it is not formally accounted for even though it is a sort of income such as major seizures of illegal drugs from a gang or cartel. There are lots of illegal weapons being hopped along the borders from Canada and Mexico, and the weapons themselves have lots of value also. I personally think that GDP should be defined as any item that has value is sold or bought in the U.S. should be accounted for whether it be illegal or not.

Is Greed Good?

Greed is good to a certain extent, those that create jobs for a company created by smart owners, but bad for the rich CEOs that only want money. Greed can help stimulate the economy when those that have disposable income can spend their money on things that may need the help of another person. Prime examples being workers to help if making new additions to a home, or purchasing stock from a newly formed company. Stocks can help build up an entirely new company to the mix, which in turn creates jobs, and possibly gaining more revenue from the enhanced workforce. But the question still remains how much is too much? There are people in the world that only want to gain money that could be at the cost of others. A CEO of a major company may decide to liquidate a company entirely overnight which can cause people to lose their jobs without even noticing. In the eyes of stockholders as long as the stock continues to rise, there isn't any reason to care for the minimum wage worker because money is all they see.

Government Shutdown

The recent government shutdown seems to be the problem of the old Republicans vs Democratic party of deciding on Obamacare even though it is now technically a law. The Republicans are just delaying the inevitable of what will eventually happen, with some politicians afraid of the amount of money being poured into it when the United States is already in deep financial trouble. It seems that opportunity costs weighs heavily on this as the budget for the United States will be reduced in every aspects except healthcare. The fact remains that the U.S. cannot spend any more or else the financial problem will be bigger than ever. The Republicans in this position are only delaying what is soon to come and should just agree to what the Senate did. Congress should also take immediate action to this rather than sit around doing nothing, or perhaps even take a paycut such as those that are on definite leave working for the federal government. It seems that politicians are rather worried about furthering their own agenda rather than opinions of the people.