So, I have some homework for Economics that requires me to do a survey of 20 people to answer 5 questions. I'm allowed to do it however I want, just as long as I get 20 different people. They are simple answers, and there are no right or wrong ones. You don't need any knowledge of economics, just what YOU think of the questions. It also requires for me to gather the first and last names of anyone who answers my questions. You may send me a private message if you do not want to directly state your real name in the comments. Mods, if that is not something I'm allowed to do here, then you may close this thread and I will try somewhere else. Just a few words, or just one, will suffice for each question. The questions are:

 

Does raising Minimum Wage help or hurt low income people/families?

 

Is outsourcing (jobs moving to other countries) a good or bad thing for U.S.citizens?

 

Should the prices of some products be controlled or regulated?

 

Does greed, overall,make a society better or worse off?

 

Do you make rational decisions?Does everyone make rational decisions?

Help

Bad

Yes

Worse

Sometimes and no

Short answersIf done properly it helps

Bad in the long run

Yes

Greed and the desire to have stuff, both primary drivers of the economy, but make society worse.

I try to and no not everyone does.

 

Long answers:

 

Raising minimum wage also makes companies do more outsourcing, lest they raise the price of products possibly negating the extra money a minimum wage worker makes. Though if you can raise minimum wage without raising the cost of living, then yes, it does help.

 

Outsourcing to other countries is bad in the long run. Because then there is a constant flow from our economy into another country's and if we aren't exporting enough we won't be getting any of that money back. And if we don't get any of it back...eventually our economy won't have any worth.

 

Price regulations are both good and bad. On one side it ensures citizens aren't getting charged outrageous prices for some products, or helps keep the price up for food products to help farmers stay in business. But it hinders a free economy, where prices are managed by supply and demand. A free economy is somewhat chaotic, but it can be good as well. But since we as a people like and want stability, regulations on some products is good.

 

Greed is a primary motivator to go out and make money, more money than one needs. This can help drive the economy forwards and create businesses that end up creating more jobs or products that help people. Though in the case of those who refuse to have compassion or turn the thievery, it causes social problems. But what if we didn't have greed? We probably would have some sort of bartering society that traded for needs, or wants in the most fair ways possible. There also would be the chance for a true communism where everyone would be getting their needs met and if things went well enough a lot of their wants. Though going back to the side of greed, it's desire for more has probably helped finance many scientific and exploration discoveries. Sure, some of these could have arisen in societies with out greed, but greed gave them worth and even if we aren't greedy we don't throw resources at what we think is worthless.In conclusion, greed doesn't really help our society as much as it hinders it at this point, but if it wasn't for greed we wouldn't have all the innovations we have. So, yes let's do away with greed and try to work for the benefit of all!

 

Lots of people try to make rational decisions, including myself, but physically it is impossible for us to make 100% rational decisions 100% of the time. So, no not everyone makes them all the time, and some people just seem incapable of making rational decisions (I am looking at you disorganized schizophrenics).  But the average person will probably make at least one rational decision in their life time.

 

Yes definetly helps

 

nah best keep jobs national if possible, keep money in the economy instead of fishing for workers elsewhere.

 

Yes, certain household commodities should always be affordable, things like petrol should be kept high and drugs like cigarettes or drinks containing alchol shoyld have a high price range.

 

Greed screws up everything, its the centre of why its hard to find a perfect governement, everyone taking little bits for themselves here and there.

 

As humans we are limited to how rational we can be, we are corruptible and weak for the most part, unable too forsee the close future clearly. ignorance is our escense.

Hmm... I'm not too good with economics, but I'll give it a shot. (BTW, I don't believe this thread is against any rules...) I'm going to give you some longer answers, it seems the others have shorter ones for you.

 

Does raising Minimum Wage help or hurt low income people/families?
It certainly could be helpful, as it is always helpful to have more money. However, there are some issues that could arise. Upping the minimum wage will mean that companies will, in turn, have to pay more money to their employees. Now, if the company is well off, this may not be much of a factor. However, a struggling company may decided to lay off employees in order to save money. In addition, companies may also decide to raise the prices of their goods or services in order to recoup the loss in revenue.
 

Is outsourcing (jobs moving to other countries) a good or bad thing for U.S.citizens?
I'm certain that some people do benefit from outsourcing, namely the people running the companies that outsource. For the general populace, a basic assumption that jobs going overseas equals less jobs locally, thus it would be bad. The exact magnitude of the impact outsourcing has on job availability in the US isn't something I have knowledge on, however. 

 

Should the prices of some products be controlled or regulated?
I certainly wouldn't be against such regulations. That is, of course, going on the assumption that the regulations would be for the benefit of keeping said products at a fair market price. Though, I suppose I could see advantages to forcing products such as alcohol and tobacco to have higher prices, though perhaps that is just my political viewpoint fogging my perspective.

 

Does greed, overall,make a society better or worse off?
In a perfect world, a little greed would make society better. I know that sounds silly, as something such as greed doesn't sound like it should have a place in a perfect world. However, greed, at least as I see it, is a major driving force in economics. People always want something bigger and better. When we see that someone has something nicer than we do, we can't help but feel a little envious. In a way, greed could be seen as the fuel that allows competition to run between businesses; businesses that will always try to make the more desirable product to attract the "greedy" consumers. This is not a perfect world, however, and greed comes in droves. As it is, the immense greed in our society and indeed world can only be seen as making us worse off overall.

 

Do you make rational decisions? Does everyone make rational decisions? 

I, as do most people, like to believe the decisions I make are rational. I suppose they seem rational to me? In that regard, other people certainly make decisions that seem irrational in my eyes. Without knowing the whole story, seeing the "big picture" as some might say, it is certainly hard to decide whether any decision is rational or irrational. Additionally, a decision may seem rational at the time it is made, but in hindsight may not be so. I'm not quite sure if that's what your looking for, but thats my answer.

Edited August 23, 201312 yr by DragonMaster

I joined the forum to check on KH speculation and theorizing and found this. In love with you all.

So, on to the questions. I will try to explain my points of view as well as I can.

 

1- Minimum wage hurts low income families awfully. In the very short term - like, immediately as those policies are taken into effect - the effects might seem benefitial. Just enough for governors to get support and perhaps even come back to office later blaming his opponents when the bad consequences of his actions start showing up. In my understanding: labor market is also, well, a market. It can only be fully effective (maximum employment and productivity at the lowest costs) if supply meets demand. That means the prices (wages) for those services must adjust and be neither higher nor lower than the needs of the market. When government intervenes and raises those prices artificially, less employment turns up across the economy. Adding inflation into the mix makes it even more chaotic.

Taking it one step further, that's exactly the logic behing unions. They push their wages higher than normals levels. Amazing for union workers, but the less skilled workers pay for that distortion. Less employment...

 

2- This one is hard. If things can effectively be made much cheaper somewhere else, they probably should be, as it will bring less expensive goods to US citizens. In fact, lowering costs of production might help raise the overall real wages and living standards. It can help the country concentrate on higher paying jobs, moving low paying ones to less developed places with suitable conditions for them.

I think we should instead question how can manufacturing something half across the world still be cheaper than doing it locally, specially if we are talking about a resource rich country. Too high nominal wages and regulations, for example, can water down the competitive advantages of US workers.

 

3- No, mostly because I believe the market can do that fine. But let's say we are going to regulate. The regulators must know exactly what this fair price is, and not just guess. If they guess higher, a minimum price, people are getting less goods while some privileged sellers get more than they should. A forced shortage of demand.

They guess lower, a maximum price lower than market price, then we have shortages of supply, as producers can't afford to sell at the lower prices too long and have to reduce their output and employ less people. So, I think it's always bad, because it's impossible to know what a price should be, and it can only be determined by the thousands/millions of market agents collectively. There's that last case, when we raise prices for greater good, such as raising alcohol prices to reduce consumption. I don't like that view much.

 

4- Better, but I don't think we can always tell wether or not people act motivated by mere greed, or rather a very subjective self-interest. We have this knack for satisfying ourselves first, so we can satisfy others after that. It can drive businesses to serve and produce massively, for the joy of their customers. Nowadays it just seems to drive businesses to Washington, however.

 

5- Yes. Still I don't think we can tell wether not a certain act was rational, as that seems very complex and subjective to me. I think that so long as people have knowledge on the consequences of their actions (which is frequently very hard), they won't purposely act against their interests. That doesn't mean people act exclusively for their own good, but I tend to view helping others as a way to help ourselves too. I mean, if you get very happy when acting for someone else's good, you are also benefiting, even if not materially.

 

I hope I could express myself nicely, good luck with the homework.

Edited August 24, 201312 yr by Loup