More and more people are starting to believe in an improving national economy. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey cleared it all out for us. The survey also showed some figures concerning the new president Barack Obama, who has had his first 100 days in the office. The results are satisfying.
48% of the people questioned in May believed that the current economic conditions are really bad. In February this figure was even higher – about 66% had negative ideas about the nation’s economy. In April this percentage has come down to 37%, which is a positive thing. Civilians who are having positive visions about the improvement of the homeland economy is an important step to actually reach the wanted improvements, since a bad economy is the most important thing on a public’s mind.
Another important figure is showing that 63% of the people who participated the questioning think that Obama is doing a good job. He pays enough attention to the most important problems that the United States is facing these days and he also has the right priorities. Compared to the statistics that were relevant a couple of years ago this is a good thing. Only 46% thought the same thing about president Bush in 2001 and only 37% about Bill Clinton in 1993.
The survey also showed that about 68% of the people questioned believe that Obama is doing a good job in keeping his promises that he made during the campaigns for the White House. 30% say that he’s doing a bad job. This is while only 30% believed that Clinton did a good job here. The conclusion is pretty simple: in almost every area Obama is doing better than Bush and Clinton.
It’s a good thing that people start to think more positive about the future economy of the United States. This will make them consume again and as read in previous blogs I find the demand side of the economy the most important thing. It will cause an even bigger improvement real soon.
I’m also not really surprised about the statistics that concern Obama. I already knew that he is a great president for the United States. I just couldn’t find myself with the ideas president Bush had. He was way too radical. Obama is just more neutral and has much more empathy. I also find it important that there finally is a black president in the United States. I would definitely be part of the 63% of the people who think that Obama is doing a good job.
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/29/news/economy/obama_economy_100days/index.htm?postversion=2009042911
donderdag 30 april 2009
zondag 26 april 2009
Obama changes approach to Cuba
President Obama has decided to change the relations with Cuba significantly. He has directed his administration to allow travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba.
I am sure this will be in the benefit of the Cuban people. It will increase the freedom they have because Obama has also directed his administration to lift restrictions on communications. But more importantly, these measures will allow Cuban Americans to see their families again and send them money of course. Some say that this is the best way to gain the sympathy of the Cuban people. After all, Obama said in a campaign speech that there are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban Americans. And I think we must all agree with him. Nevertheless, the Republicans do have criticism. They say that the Cuban dictatorship is one of the most brutal in the world and that the U.S. economic embargo must remain in place until tyranny gives way to freedom and democracy. The Republicans are afraid that the Communist Party in Havana will benefit from this new evolution.
I am of the opinion that the past shows us that the Republicans are wrong.
First of all, Obama is not planning to stop the embargo completely, for example sending money to senior government officials and Cummunist Party members remains prohibited.
Secondly, while the embargo was in place, the Cuban economy proved that it did not need the U.S. economy at all. Maybe it is not bad to try something completely different.
It will help Cubans to become more independent of the state and I think this is the right way to ‘free’ the Cuban people.
Written by De Clercq Stijn
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/13/obama-eases-restrictions-cuban-americans-traveling-cuba/
I am sure this will be in the benefit of the Cuban people. It will increase the freedom they have because Obama has also directed his administration to lift restrictions on communications. But more importantly, these measures will allow Cuban Americans to see their families again and send them money of course. Some say that this is the best way to gain the sympathy of the Cuban people. After all, Obama said in a campaign speech that there are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban Americans. And I think we must all agree with him. Nevertheless, the Republicans do have criticism. They say that the Cuban dictatorship is one of the most brutal in the world and that the U.S. economic embargo must remain in place until tyranny gives way to freedom and democracy. The Republicans are afraid that the Communist Party in Havana will benefit from this new evolution.
I am of the opinion that the past shows us that the Republicans are wrong.
First of all, Obama is not planning to stop the embargo completely, for example sending money to senior government officials and Cummunist Party members remains prohibited.
Secondly, while the embargo was in place, the Cuban economy proved that it did not need the U.S. economy at all. Maybe it is not bad to try something completely different.
It will help Cubans to become more independent of the state and I think this is the right way to ‘free’ the Cuban people.
Written by De Clercq Stijn
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/13/obama-eases-restrictions-cuban-americans-traveling-cuba/
US housing starts is going through a bad patch
New US housing construction plunged sharply and more than expected in March, reversing a big jump from the previous month. The hopes were tempered and the effect is: the housing market stability is on the horizon.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that the construction of new homes and apartments dropped 10.8 percent last month to an adjusted annual rate of 510,000 units. The cause of the decline is due to a decrease in construction of multi-family homes. But there is also good news: the single-family activity may finally by stabilizing.
Some figures: the drop in construction in March followed a 17.2 percent surge in February, which was an unexpected gain. The 510,000 unit pace for total construction is one of the lowest in government records dating to January 1959. The record low was a 488,000 unit pace set in January.
The US economist at Capital Economics said even if the housing activity has turned the corner, it is still very weak. In spite of the disappointing results The National Association of Home Builders reported Wednesday that its gauge of builder sentiment posted its biggest one-month jump in five years in April. The US housing market has been badly hit as the credit crisis has made obtaining a mortgage even more expensive. Moreover the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week, but so-called continued claims rose to a fresh record as the recession bit.
According to me, the housing market suffers severely from the financial crisis. The impact is considerable, so the government has to tackle the problem by drawing up a plan and lending financial support. Furthermore the consumers are put off by this crisis, but actually their behaviour has to be the same like before the crisis, so there is not an arrest of growth.
Written by Marie Maes
Source: The Financial Times
Article: US housing starts fall 10.8% in March
Published: April 16, 2009
By Alan Rappeport in New York
Podcast 2
The link to our 2nd podcast can be found here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/226018299/podcast_2.mp3
The American Economy team out!
http://rapidshare.com/files/226018299/podcast_2.mp3
The American Economy team out!
Microsoft suffers first sales dip
For the first time in 23 years, Microsoft has announced a quarterly sales drop of 6% comparing to the previous year. Most of its profit is made by selling its operating system Windows and its business software, like Microsoft Office. The sales drop resulted from a fall of sales of personal computers bought by consumers and businesses.
According to Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, the bad news is a result of the downturn in the world economy. They expect the weakness will last at least till the end of the next quarter. The situation is worse than analysts had been expecting. It looks like the demand and consumer preference had reached their maximum. But there are also positive elements, Microsoft is controlling costs and getting that under control.
To solve this issue, Microsoft has cost-cutting plans. Last January, Microsoft announced a disappearance of 5,000 jobs over the following 18 months.
Businesses all over the world are suffering from the financial crisis. So it’s quite normal, Microsoft is also having problems. According to me, the situation is not very alarming. In times of a bad economic market, sales figures are falling in all areas.
The job losses are more alarming. Certainly in countries with a bad system of social security. A lot of families will have problems.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8015623.stm
According to Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, the bad news is a result of the downturn in the world economy. They expect the weakness will last at least till the end of the next quarter. The situation is worse than analysts had been expecting. It looks like the demand and consumer preference had reached their maximum. But there are also positive elements, Microsoft is controlling costs and getting that under control.
To solve this issue, Microsoft has cost-cutting plans. Last January, Microsoft announced a disappearance of 5,000 jobs over the following 18 months.
Businesses all over the world are suffering from the financial crisis. So it’s quite normal, Microsoft is also having problems. According to me, the situation is not very alarming. In times of a bad economic market, sales figures are falling in all areas.
The job losses are more alarming. Certainly in countries with a bad system of social security. A lot of families will have problems.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8015623.stm
zaterdag 25 april 2009
Ford loses $1.4 billion
Ford company announced this week a lower than expected loss for the first quarter in 2009. Also the company announced that it remains on track to meet its financial targets despite the worst quarter for the car constructors since 25 years.
Ford is the only car constructing company in the U.S. that didn’t receive loans from the government to help avoid bankruptcy, but this quarter it made net losses of $ 1.4 billion. There is not only the loss of $ 1.4 billion, but also the revenue dropped with 37% to $ 24.8 billion in the this quarter. Ford is already making losses since 2005, what brings the total losses just under $ 40 billion. Unless the bad results Ford is doing better than expected, Wall Street was expecting a revenue of only $ 22 billion. It’s also doing better than its two U.S.-based rivals.
Based on what Ford said in its statement that it still does not intend to ask for federal aid, it’s also going to restructure its debt and make changes in its labor contract with the United Auto Workers union.
According to me the financial crisis keeps making victims in the car industry and all the other sectors. At this moment buying a car is not the priority for the most people so the car industry is collapsing. It’s important that the government keeps supporting G.M., Ford and Chrysler because otherwise the damage will be disastrous not only for the economy but also the unemployment rate will raise again.
Source:http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/24/news/companies/ford_results/index.htm?postversion=2009042408
Ford is the only car constructing company in the U.S. that didn’t receive loans from the government to help avoid bankruptcy, but this quarter it made net losses of $ 1.4 billion. There is not only the loss of $ 1.4 billion, but also the revenue dropped with 37% to $ 24.8 billion in the this quarter. Ford is already making losses since 2005, what brings the total losses just under $ 40 billion. Unless the bad results Ford is doing better than expected, Wall Street was expecting a revenue of only $ 22 billion. It’s also doing better than its two U.S.-based rivals.
Based on what Ford said in its statement that it still does not intend to ask for federal aid, it’s also going to restructure its debt and make changes in its labor contract with the United Auto Workers union.
According to me the financial crisis keeps making victims in the car industry and all the other sectors. At this moment buying a car is not the priority for the most people so the car industry is collapsing. It’s important that the government keeps supporting G.M., Ford and Chrysler because otherwise the damage will be disastrous not only for the economy but also the unemployment rate will raise again.
Source:http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/24/news/companies/ford_results/index.htm?postversion=2009042408
donderdag 23 april 2009
Obama to lean on credit card CEOs
Finally the measures to protect consumers against the credit card market might be legalized. Years ago, the measures have been introduced but there was no legislation yet. On April 21, Barack Obama announced that there will be a meeting of administration officials of the congress and card company executives on Thursday. This could finally be the break-through where a lot of people have been waiting for.
The measures are there to protect the consumer. A system of bills would be used and these would be responsible for banning card companies who ask ridiculous high interest rates and fees. It would also prevent young adults from getting credit cards and run up debts. Now more than ever credits cards are having bad influences on consumers’ wallets. In February the amount of money credit card companies can’t collect from their customers reached a new peak; it’s never been this high during the last 20 years.
Though there are a lot of people who are against these measures. Banking lobbyists warn us that these new and tougher rules could make credit card lending more costly. This could slow down the recovery of the credit markets that are undergoing hard times. During the 2008 elections, the credit card sector gave about $7.3 million to lawmakers in both political parties. The company Visa spent $1.7 million on lobbying according to the government lobbying registries.
I really hope that these measures will be legalized. It’s unbelievable how much interest some of the companies ask. A lot of normal people just don’t know how easy it is to run up debts and are likely to spend more money than they can actually have. I also find that young adults shouldn’t be able to get their hands on a credit card; they don’t know the value of money yet and it’s really dangerous for them also to build up debts.
I can conclude that the credit card market needs governmental guidance for the safety of the average consumer.
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