Monday, April 11, 2016

Current Debate on U.S. Labor Markets

Image result for labor markets


Go to the following website listing online Economic debates over the current state of the U.S. labor force. http://www.swcollege.com/bef/econ_debate.html Click on Labor Markets under Microeconomics.
Select one of the debate topics on the left side of the page. Begin your blog entry with a short (one sentence) description of the topic. Do not just copy and paste the introduction. Browse through the resources on your topic. Discuss your feelings on the issue (3-5 sentences). Choose a topic that you have strong feelings about. Cite two examples from the resource list that are in line with your opinion on the issue. You may use the same debate topics as your classmates but not the same citations.

76 comments:


  1. Now, this is a story all about how
    My life got flipped-turned upside down
    And I'd like to take a minute
    Just sit right there
    I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air

    In west Philadelphia born and raised
    On the playground was where I spent most of my days
    Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
    And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school
    When a couple of guys who were up to no good
    Started making trouble in my neighborhood
    I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
    She said 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air'

    I begged and pleaded with her day after day
    But she packed my suitcase and sent me on my way
    She gave me a kiss and then she gave me my ticket.
    I put my Walkman on and said, 'I might as well kick it'.

    First class, yo this is bad
    Drinking orange juice out of a champagne glass.
    Is this what the people of Bel-Air living like?
    Hmm this might be alright.

    But wait I hear they're prissy, bourgeois, all that
    Is this the type of place that they just send this cool cat?
    I don't think so
    I'll see when I get there
    I hope they're prepared for the prince of Bel-Air

    Well, the plane landed and when I came out
    There was a dude who looked like a cop standing there with my name out
    I ain't trying to get arrested yet
    I just got here
    I sprang with the quickness like lightning, disappeared

    I whistled for a cab and when it came near
    The license plate said fresh and it had dice in the mirror
    If anything I could say that this cab was rare
    But I thought 'Nah, forget it' - 'Yo, home to Bel-Air'

    I pulled up to the house about 7 or 8
    And I yelled to the cabbie 'Yo home smell ya later'
    I looked at my kingdom
    I was finally there
    To sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel-Air

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The wage rate of female workers has been below that of male workers for forever; for every $1 that a man makes, a woman makes $.77. The debate is not over the existence of a gender wage differential, but rather on the cause of the difference in wage. Evidence indicates that most wage differential is due to gender-related differences in occupational choice, educational attainment, and prior work experience. Most secretaries, nurses, and elementary school teachers are women while most engineers, surgeons, computer programmers, and chemists are men. It is expected, however, that as the proportion of women in male-dominated occupations continues to increase, the wage differential is likely to narrow. Part of the wage differential is due to the lower average level of educational attainment for women. It is expected that this portion of the wage differential will narrow over time as more highly educated women enter the labor market and older women retire. Differences in work experience also explain part of the gender wage gap.

    http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/EOP/CEA/html/gendergap.html
    https://www.eeoc.gov

    Fatima Wahid
    Period 2

    ReplyDelete
  4. Veronica Wang
    Period 4

    American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year. United States labor laws regulate safe and fair working conditions. Any one that chooses to work at a job that requires long hours and heavy responsibilities are compensated with higher pay. Adults should be able to decide whether they are appropriate for a job and can handle the stress load that comes with it. The beauty of our nation's freedoms allows for individuals to chose their own job. If they do not like long hours then they are always free to pursue another occupation with shorter hours.

    http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/kilm/index.htm
    http://stats.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1997/04/art1full.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  5. Raising minimum wage would increase the unemployment rate because it would increase the supply of workers but the number of jobs will not change or even decrease. Minimum wage is quite low as of right now at $7.25 an hour causing a very high percentage of our population to be counted as impoverished. I believe that we should raise the minimum wage to a decent amount so that those who are employed will be making enough to sustain a decent life but not too high to the point where we have a surplus of workers and therefore a high unemployment rate. The minimum wage should be raised to "living wage" which is enough to exceed the poverty line and the minimum wage should be adjusted for inflation to keep up with the increasing poverty line. The government needs to work on finding the right amount for minimum wage to keep our population out of poverty and low enough to avoid unemployment.

    http://www.policyalmanac.org/economic/minimum_wage.shtml
    http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=88

    ReplyDelete
  6. Even though personal decisions on what college major to pursue, how much time to spend studying, and what career to pursue after college still matters, college education will definitely land you a job better paying than one you can get or not get without receiving a college degree. The time and money one spends in college should be considered a wise investment because, without spending time learning skills and knowledge in college, life otherwise will be time wasted being unproductive in society and depending on others for funds to survive. The investment cost can be minimized if one starts investing in education sooner- in high school, where achievements often amount to scholarships not needing to be repaid at a later date. "From about 1930 to 1970, the typical college graduate in the United States earned about 40 percent more than the typical high school graduate."
    javascript:remoteStart('http://www.house.gov/jec/educ.htm')
    javascript:remoteStart('http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/hecon/he11-98/value.html')

    ReplyDelete
  7. The topic at debate here is whether or not gender wage gap still exists. Women at first had to fight for the right and, for what? They still get treated unfairly compared to men. Female wages have been about 3/4 equal of the level of male wages, so the average wages of females has been below the average wage rate of a male. Personally i feel that is a female gets the same amount of education as a male they should get paid equally. There is no reason a woman should have to get paid less, for something she can equally as good, if not better than a male. I just find it sexist that women get paid less just because some portray them as being inferior to males. Equality for all.

    http://www.feminist.com/fairpay/
    http://www.now.org/

    Cynthia Galán
    Period 4

    ReplyDelete
  8. There are people out there that think college education is not a good invent due to high price of tuition and the amount of time and work you have to put in. However, this education should not be measured by how many hours you are in the class but by how you make out of it. You can get all the best books but there's no point if you don't read them. Not only that but it also helps people make better decisions. For example, a well educated person is more likely to know how the world works better. In addition college graduated earn higher pay, which can help the economy. So college education is worth it.

    Alex Ittoop 2nd
    http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-a-college-degree-still-worth-it
    http://time.com/money/4081143/is-college-worth-the-investment/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Studies have also shown that college graduates have a better quality of life than those without degrees. Its also more easier for college grads to find jobs.

      Delete
  9. Tiffany Chan
    6th period

    Many reports have seen an increase in the number of hours worked over the course of the years. I believe that Americans should keep on doing what they are doing now. Without the extra work people put in everyday, the United States would not be where it is now. Having approximately two weeks of paid vacation should be enough instead of having roughly four weeks of paid vacation in most European countries. If people were to have more paid vacation time, then they would take advantage of it causing them to not work as hard as before. Therefore, people should take it upon themselves in choosing a job that they can excel at while keeping in mind the number of hours they will have to put in.

    www.bls.gov/tus/
    www.hrmguide.net/usa/worklife/unused_vacation.htm

    ReplyDelete
  10. The debate is how open-source software, that is not proprietary, will compete with the big private software companies such as Microsoft and Apple. People say that open source is not efficient because the amount of effort that goes into creating the intricate programming is not worth free, limitless distribution on the web. Others believe that not having open source software will allow for the big companies to have an incentive to innovate and make better quality products. I personally believe that Microsoft and Apple should remain proprietary softwares and not open source. If they become open source then people will rip off their hard work and it will eliminate any incentive to progress the technology if they do not make money on it. Linux and other open source softwares can continue to be a free and customizable alternative to the big brands.

    http://www.free-soft.org/
    http://pauillac.inria.fr/~lang/hotlist/free/licence/

    Omar Khadimally Period 2

    ReplyDelete
  11. United States leaders have looked at the immense pressure of insurgents and enemies they deal with on a day to day regularity and wonder if a re-instatement of the military draft would benefit the national security or not. If we look at the loss of lives in todays wars versus prior wars, the difference is MASSIVE. The more people you have that volunteer with passion rather than yanking some guy who has nothing to live for off the street, you have a much higher moral between squads and you have a real team. You also have the willingness to become a better skilled soldier, it matters about strategy and it matters about how you use the resources in war, not about man power. After all, Japan was knocked out with atomic bombs, they had more than enough people to keep fighting, but we had the resources. Therefore it does not matter how many men you have, it matters about how many skilled men you have. Also, a draft goes highly against individual liberty, you tell the man he has all the freedom to choose in this country, but comes time there is a war that has nothing to do with him nor afflicts him, he is yanked in and will most likely end up scrubbing the floors with his toothbrush cause he has no interest in becoming a soldier anyhow.

    http://www.fff.org/comment/com0303f.asp
    http://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/posner_r-cc.html

    Babur Khan
    4th Period

    ReplyDelete
  12. raising the minimum wage will not decrease unemployment because once the minimum wage goes up so will everything else in order to keep the profits up.

    David Sander
    4th

    ReplyDelete
  13. The topic of debate is about if increasing minimum wage will in result increase the unemployment rate. I think the minimum wage should be increased to a point where it would have the best balance between the employment rate and the minimum wage. To the point where minimum wage is enough money to live and not be in poverty, and where employment rate isn't that high either. Finding that point should be more of the point in this issue, increasing the minimum wage in return will also increase the price of living so finding the right balance is necessary.

    http://epinet.org/
    http://www.msu.edu/~neumarkd/Old/minwage.htm

    Shogan Tom
    6th period

    ReplyDelete
  14. The topic of the debate is regarding whether going and finishing a college education is a good investment for ones' future. I think, especially in today's society, that college is a necessity. We saw in this last chapter that, with even a GED, no college degree reduces one's chances of obtaining a well paying job. Without a degree, one is stuck in a never ending cycle of poverty and never can go very far in life. (Not all people, just some)

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-j-lowe/education-is-worth-the-in_b_5767518.html
    http://diverseeducation.com/article/66679/

    Amanda Miller
    Period 6

    ReplyDelete
  15. The topic to debate is whether raising the minimum wage will increase the unemployment rate. I think it raising the minimum wage will result in increasing unemployment rate. It is necessary to increase the minimum wage,but increase some and equalize the employment rate. This would enable workers to get sufficient amount of money for the effort they give and capable of making a living.Althouh finding the balance is a bit challenging,this prevent worker laziness to work and earn high amount of money.
    https://www.epionline.org
    http://www.epinet.org/Issueguides/minwage/minwage_select_bib.html
    ZhiQi Jiang
    2nd Period

    ReplyDelete
  16. The topic to the debate is whether international trade is harmful for the environment. I think international trade allows countries to attain more of what they want, including environmental protection. It allows countries to acquire goods and services at a lower opportunity cost.

    http://www.greenpeace.org/politics/wto/
    http://www.foe.org/

    Rifa Shah
    4th period

    ReplyDelete
  17. Technological change can be very beneficial to societies in general, but can negatively affect workers who lose their jobs from it. While an increase in technology can result in the loss of workers, I believe that technology promotes the welfare of the overall economy because it creates new jobs and can make production cheaper and faster. It seems that the demand for labor in some markets will be miserably affected as well, but the total employment rate will be sufficient. Things like computers and cell phone technology have made it so much easier for people and corporations to get things done without spending extra time or money. Sending an e-mail, calculating graphs, data entry, and networking have evolved from the technology that we have invested in, and it is worth it. I feel that not only does technology help benefit the economy, but it also helps people live longer and become safer. We have security cameras that can be installed in our homes and buildings at a small cost to help us catch criminals, and we also have medical treatments and healthcare that has progress through machinery such as X-rays and heart beat monitors. Overall, I side with more technology because it is better in the long run for the overall society.

    http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/history/reich/reports/grow.htm
    http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2000/20000711.htm

    Yousuf Sirajuddin
    Period 2

    ReplyDelete
  18. Women have been fighting for equal wages for decades but even to this day, we still have not succeeded at that.The average wage rate for women workers has always been below that of an male worker. This discrimination is not the only discrimination that has been witnessed in the work force unfortunately. Us women receive the same educational opportunities as men and even get into the same work field, yet women received $0.77 for every dollar a man gets, in 1999. The Equal pay law has been passed 53 years ago, but were still fighting for equality.

    http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/women/
    http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/epa.html

    Britney Stephen, Period 4

    ReplyDelete
  19. Women have been fighting for equal wages for decades but even to this day, we still have not succeeded at that.The average wage rate for women workers has always been below that of an male worker. This discrimination is not the only discrimination that has been witnessed in the work force unfortunately. Us women receive the same educational opportunities as men and even get into the same work field, yet women received $0.77 for every dollar a man gets, in 1999. The Equal pay law has been passed 53 years ago, but were still fighting for equality.

    http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/women/
    http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/epa.html

    Britney Stephen, Period 4

    ReplyDelete
  20. The article " Is College education a good investment" advocates about the differences between college and high school investments. In my opinion, college is very good investment as it leads to lifetime career. It said that jobs often offered to college students are much more relaxed, however are given lower pay compared to high school graduates. Though, this seems unfair, college education should enable a person to earn more than the minimum wage that is offered to high school students. The human capital model suggests that education may increase both individual and national income. If the signaling model is correct, there will still be a positive private return for those who acquire college degrees, but the net benefit to society is negative.

    http://nces.ed.gov
    http://www.oecd.org/publications/observer/215/e-harto.htm

    Ashley Abraham
    Period 6

    ReplyDelete
  21. The issue at hand is whether or not the Americans are overworked. While the ration of time devoted to labor and leisure on a daily basis has remained largely unchanged for centuries, American work more weeks during the year than in any other industrialized nation. For most minimun wage workers, work is scheduled for seven days a week. The only off days an employee of Walmart or Walgreen's may expect to see are Christmas day, Thanksgiving if they are lucky. Even in higher level jobs the average time off a U.S employee receives is 3 weeks per year. Americans should spend more time pursuing life goals outside of the career realm rather than work their lives away.

    http://www.iatur.org/
    http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/work_howmuch_dayone.html

    Logan Felton
    Period 2

    ReplyDelete
  22. The description is health care reform necessary. To my opinion I think this is needed because we need to address adverse health industry practices by stopping discriminatory health insurance industry practices that needs more transparency and accountability taking out waste, fraud, and abuse.
    We need to provide better health insurance coverage for more Americans by assisting people purchase health insurance coverage,putting down family spending on health insurance premiums, putting a limit to consumers’ yearly out-of-pocket spending, assisting small businesses give health insurance coverage for their employees, and giving health insurance coverage for people who are not insured and reducing costs for everyone
    http://www.swcollege.com/bef/econ_debate.html
    https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/report/2010/02/25/7355/why-we-need-health-care-reform/

    ReplyDelete
  23. There has been a persistent wage gap between men and women. In today's society, people are beginning to question if women are still under discrimination for their gender and if they should be receiving the same pay as their male counterpart.


    I feel very strongly about the wage gap. Regardless of gender, both men and women should receive the same pay if they occupy the same position. It is absurd to me that a woman is discriminated against based on her gender and societal perception. This is unfair and unjust and I feel that they should receive equal pay


    http://www.infoplease.com/spot/sptwagegap1.html
    http://stats.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1997/04/art1full.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  24. Immigrants have been accused of stealing jobs from many domestic workers. Groups that are against immigrant laborers say that the immigrants lower the wage and employment levels for domestic residents. However, immigrants do benefit the business in increasing the supply of labor, but they also make many domestic workers unemployed, as the immigrants are willing to work for less money than the domestic workers are. Additionally, immigrants have been using more government services, such as welfare. This has been a more significant issue in recent decades since recent immigrants have generally possessed lower levels of education and training than that of earlier immigrants. Thus, it is in the best interest for the society to limit the number of immigrants.
    http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/index.htm
    http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/aboutus/statistics/legishist/561.htm
    Neha Shah
    6th period

    ReplyDelete

  25. The U.S. has relied on an all-volunteer army since 1973. Since 1980, however, males between the ages of 18 and 25 have been required to register with the Selective Service System so that a draft could be quickly re instituted in the event of a military crisis. Under a draft system a draftee may only make $15,000 a year, where as in an all-volunteer army might make $25,000. Looking at just the numbers it apperars that an all volunteer army is less costly, however you must also take into account the opportunity cost to society of having such individuals in the military is the value that society places on the output they could have produced in the civilian labor force. Rather, those who volunteer their services for the military do so if the value of their time in the military is higher than in alternative employments.There is also evidence indicating that an all-volunteer military has attracted individuals who are smarter and better educated than their civilian counterparts.Some also suggest that volunteers are better trained and motivated than conscripts. Since the turnover rate is lower, it is optimal for the military to invest more resources in training soldiers, resulting in a more highly skilled military labor force. Thus this can be attributed to more lives being saved in times of war. I believe that we should keep the military as a volunteer basis.

    http://www.cato.org/pubs/fpbriefs/fpb-006.html
    http://www.libertyhaven.com/politicsandcurrentevents/warpeacediplomacyorforeignaid/lifesaving.shtml
    Jackie Landoski
    Pd.2

    ReplyDelete
  26. The topic of raising the minimum wage has resurfaced into the limelight in the past couple of weeks. Minimum wage in the U.S. dates all the way back to the Great Depression Era, and under the National Industrial Recovery Act, the U.S. established its first attempt at minimum wages within the midst of an economic downturn. Although establishing a minimum wage might have been beneficial back in the 1930s, there is plenty of evidence to support the fact that raising the minimum wage in our present time may not help much at all. In Jill Jenkins, "Minimum Wages: Many Poor are Not Winners," Jenkins states that minimum wage workers who come from high income families will most likely benefit from a minimum wage increase while those from lower income families will not, possibly losing their jobs in such an event because of their lack of education. This sentiment is also shared by Dr Mark Wilson,who states that raising the minimum wage will not have a direct impact on poverty levels in the U.S., while it will also make it harder for people to find work. This is particularly notable in the state of California, among the 2 states that have declared a $15 minimum wage, where the number of mechanized cashiers and registers for fast food restaurants is the highest in the nation. Therefore, raising minimum wage may end up hurting people in the long run than most would actually believe.

    http://www.epf.org/ff/ff000112/ff0001121.htm
    http://www.heritage.org/Research/Labor/EM590.cfm
    http://www.swcollege.com/bef/econ_debate.html

    Andrew Auyeung
    period 2

    ReplyDelete
  27. Policy Debate: Will Social Security survive into the 21st century?


    The debate is over whether social security will last into the 21st century and whether it should be privatized. I feel as though it should be lowered slightly and that the money taxed from one's paycheck should help that generation when they retires, rather than the current retirees. Therefore, the sudden drop of tax income (when the Baby Boomers retire) will not affect the Social Security so drastically.

    Sources:

    Henry J. Aaron, "The Myths of Social Security Crisis: Behind the Privatization Push"
    http://www.brook.edu/views/op-ed/aaron/19960721.htm

    Dean Baker, "Privatizing Social Security: The Wall Street Fix"
    http://www.lights.com/epi/virlib/IssueBrief/1996/privatizings.PDF

    ReplyDelete
  28. The debate discusses whether Americans are working way above what was expected many years ago. In recent studies, the Census showed that differences in overestimation in work hours were dependent upon characteristics of the laborer as women have displayed much greater hours of work compared to men. Their is a statistic that shows that 166 out of 168 countries guarantee a paid vacation for women who just conceived a child, but the United States is not one of them. Also 25% of all Americans do not get a paid leave. This results in more people feeling jeopardized when they don't work. The result ends up being that people work more hours and make more money because they do not want to risk losing money simply because they were not present at the work place, regardless of whether or not the reasoning behind the absence was significant.

    Sources:

    http://business.scu.edu/economics/faculty/wsundstrom/pdf/overworked.pdf

    https://www.takebackyourtime.org/

    Ayoub Nasraddine
    Period 6

    ReplyDelete
  29. This debate is over whether or not the wage gap still exists. I believe the wage gap still exists because women are getting paid $0.77 to every dollar that a man makes and it is even less for women with different ethnicity. Even in big industries like the music industry and the film industry, female musicians or actresses are paid less than their male counterparts. If women are doing the same quality work as men in the same position, why should there be any reason to pay differently simply due to differences in gender?

    http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/women/

    http://www.eiro.eurofound.ie/2000/11/features/ie0011160f.html

    ReplyDelete
  30. The topic being discussed is over whether or not the death penalty should still exist.I feel as though the death penalty is a waste of money and time. The criminals who commit the crimes should just be sentenced a life sentence and die of age and illness with the harsh casualties within prison. And although these citizens violate the law, there are rights that are written in the constitution that we must follow to keep order.By a death penalty existing then there are two wrongs by breaking the law by emotion and feeling along with punishment that is only due to emotions which are inevitably wrong.

    Http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/
    Http://www.aclu.org/death-penalty/

    Allen Watson
    6th Period

    ReplyDelete
  31. The topic of the debate is set in 1997, when Microsoft accounted for 93% of all the computer operating system sales. Microsoft's Windows operating system has become the de facto standard for home and business computer applications. It is fairly clear that Microsoft is the dominant firm in the market for computer operating systems. The question in the current Microsoft antitrust case is whether or not the computer firm has used its market dominance to restrain trade in violation of federal antitrust statutes. I believe that the action that the U.S. Justice Department took was adequate for the situation. Instead of having Microsoft break up into separate companies, they simply made them allow other companies to function under their programming. This allowed for Microsoft not to break up entirely, but still 'broke up' the large company for more competition.

    http://www.ftc.gov/

    http://usvms.gpo.gov/

    Isabelle Tzeng ; 6th

    ReplyDelete
  32. The topic of debate is does an increase in minimum wage result in a higher unemployment rate. I think this question is quite obvious and unfortunately an increase in minimum wage will result in higher unemployment. A higher minimum wage will result in job cuts because most business owners and employers simply do not want to give more to their employees because that takes away from profits and because they simply cannot afford it. Also a reduction in wage costs of some few thousand dollars increases employment. Obviously therefore a rise in wage costs of four or five times that is going to have significant unemployment effects.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/06/11/proof-that-raising-the-minimum-wage-will-increase-unemployment/#1b6267033e5a
    http://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2015/december/effects-of-minimum-wage-on-employment/

    Jonathan Ungar
    4th Period

    ReplyDelete
  33. The debate is whether technological advancements result in higher unemployment. Technological advancements can result in higher unemployment of the lower productivity jobs, but increases output and productivity overall. Depending on the innovation, technological advancements cause increases and decreases to skilled workers and unskilled workers: an inverse relationship. So although advancements may decrease employment in one sector, it increases jobs in another sector while also increasing output, productivity, and making the product more available to the consumers. The results of technological advancements have an overall positive affect on the labor markets because it increases the the rate of economic growth.
    Ana Salim
    4th period

    http://www.bostonfed.org/economic/nerr/rr1996/fall/iss96_4.htm
    http://federalreserve.gov/Pubs/FEDS/2000/200020/200020pap.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  34. The topic of this debate is whether or not pursuing an education in college is a efficient investment of one's money. A college education can benefit a student more than a student who only graduated from high school. College graduates tend to have better, higher paying jobs than those who did not go to college. According to the bureau of labor statistics, unemployment is higher in people who have not pursued a college education compared to people who have pursued a college degree and other qualifications.

    http://www.bls.gov/
    http://nces.ed.gov

    ReplyDelete
  35. The question is whether or not a higher minimum wage will effect unemployment rates. Despite the idea that the higher pay will aid poor families, there have been studies that conclude that simply raising minimum wage will not aid them. Therefore, the unemployment rate will not drastically be affected by a change in minimum pay. Raising the wage would result in the raising of prices of necessities, and that would make it even harder for those who struggle to find jobs.

    http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=88
    http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/1995/5/cj15n1-8.pdf

    Alexis Nguyen
    6th

    ReplyDelete
  36. One debate being discussed is whether the anti-sweatshop movement helps or harms low wage workers. The movement, which advocates against the sweatshop conditions that some companies put their workers through, strikes down the companies that take advantage of lesser developed countries that do not have labor laws. These companies often hire children and place them in terrible work conditions in order to produce their product. However, the movement itself in America is harming American low-wage workers because the companies that use the cheap labor often sell their products at a lower price as a result of their lack of need to pay high for labor. The strike leads these companies to use more expensive labor, therefore making the need for them to raise their prices and making it harder for low wage workers in America to purchase these goods.

    http://ns.umich.edu/Releases/2000/Oct00/report.pdf
    http://www.swcollege.com/bef/econ_debate.html

    Collier Thomas 2nd period

    ReplyDelete
  37. The world has experienced an exponential growth in terms of the technological advancements that have taken place in the last half century. Work that used to be fulfilled by a handful of workers has now been replaced by robots and other types of machinery that are 3 times faster and cost less overall to run in comparison to the amount of money that went towards the handful of workers wages. Technological advances have shown to increase output greatly as well as raise economic growth of the nation. While, yes the demand for unskilled labor is decreased by the presence of machinery, the lack of jobs in that area is replaced by the need for technicians and skilled labors in another market. In the past years, statistics have shown a greater growth in employment than in unemployment. The need for skilled laborers for the future generations offers an initiative for others to seek out education so that they do have a chance at a job and a place in the market. The growth in technology is simply shifting the jobs from one market area to another while increasing the rate of output and giving growth to our economy.

    http://www1.oecd.org/sge/min/job94/part2c.htm
    http://www.ncpa.org/pd/economy/econ9.html

    Period 6

    ReplyDelete
  38. Some domestic workers may argue that there should be more restriction on immigrants so that they would not take opportunities away from the domestic workers. I don't think that immigration is a problem for the country at the moment. In resent years we are seeing an increase in people's lifespans and a decrease in birth rate. The increasing number of immigrants should help to fill the empty spots that's needed after the elder generation retires. Many immigrants are taking jobs that requires little education which many domestic workers would not settle for. Most Immigrants moved here looking for jobs or just a better chance to make a living. I don't think they are a threat to domestic workers. Most domestic worker do not have the barriers that immigrants have to break through; such as language, support of family and friends, and the environment.
    http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1995/11/in-the-strawberry-fields/305754/
    http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1996/11/can-we-still-afford-to-be-a-nation-of-immigrants/304835/

    Sophia Lian
    2nd Period

    ReplyDelete
  39. Most of us are already exposed to open-source; some without even knowing it. The Android phone people use is built on the Linux kernel. The banking sector and most governments depend on strong, near-uncrackable encryption. RSA, ECDSA, and PGP are the bridges necessary to facilitate transmission without malicious third-parties. Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Instagram are built on open-sourced server setups. Pretty much everywhere you go, open-source is omnipresent.

    The point being; is that open-source may help unify everyone in this increasingly connected world. Open-source aims to bring the power to the people who partake in it. No more corporations dictating our lives and prying into our private life without justification.

    http://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html
    http://www.netaction.org/opensrc/oss-whole.html

    Derrick S., 2nd

    ReplyDelete
  40. My topic is whether or not raising the minimum wage will benefit workers, or decrease the availability of jobs for the low skilled workers. Raising the minimum wage will only increase the cost of living, which intern will make it more difficult to live. Increasing the minimum wage will cause more people to suffer from unemployment due to the increased costs of companies that hire these individuals. Increasing the minimum wage will also cause more companies to leave the country in search of cheaper labor, thus raising the minimum wage is not as beneficial as one might imagine.


    Sean Moss
    2nd
    http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa106.html
    http://www.livingwagecampaign.org/

    ReplyDelete
  41. The debate topic is about minimum wage and whether or not it should be raised. The main topic f the argument is that raising the minimum wage would decrease the amount of available jobs in minimum wage sectors. However, I believe that raising the minimum wage would not be all that hurtful, but we do need to be smart about how we do it. With this I point you towards California who has reluctantly introduced a way to raise minimum wage gradually over the next couple of years that combats inflation. Also, research has shown that raising the minimum wage isn't all that determental in fact after New Jersey raised their minimum wage research was done comparing the fast food employment there and in Pennsylvania and it was shown New Jersey was growing FASTER than Penn.

    http://www.nber.org/papers/w6386.pdf
    http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2001Q1/berman1.html

    Bailee Mouton
    Sixth Period

    ReplyDelete
  42. The wage gap is expressed as a percentage and is calculated by dividing the median annual earnings for women by the median annual earnings for men, this article talks about this wage gap and whether or not it still exists. I think the fact that there was ever a wage gap based on gender is ridiculous. If two people do the same work they should get paid the same amount of money and gender should not be a factor. This wage gap still exists and there's plenty of proof to prove so. In recent years, female wages have been approximately equal to 3/4 of the level of male wages. Thus, the empirical evidence indicates that most (or all) of the male-female wage differential is due to gender-related differences in occupational choice, educational attainment, and prior work experience.

    Temi O
    6th period
    http://www.swcollege.com/bef/econ_debate.html

    ReplyDelete
  43. The topic of debate is about overworking in America. The hours dedicated by citizens is all dependent on the current situation in the economy. For example, the income effect and substitution effect will dominate the workforce when wages are high or low. Americans truly decide whether they are overworked or not. It is their decision to obey the income effect or substitution effect. The labor and leisure tradeoff will fluctuate depending on the current situation in America
    http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/kilm/index.htm
    http://stats.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1998/10/art2full.pdf

    Daanish Virani
    2nd period

    ReplyDelete
  44. The topic questions whether the United States benefits from the World Trade Organization. Free trade (with trusted allies) creates a mutually beneficial relationship. Both countries benefit and the United States, in most cases, is able to obtain goods for a cheaper cost. This, in turn, increases disposable income for Americans, helping our nation. Opponents say jobs are lost to foreign workers, which is true, but the benefits of higher incomes as well as the promotion of diplomatic relations far exceed the costs.

    https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/10ben_e/10b00_e.htm
    https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact3_e.htm

    Prakul Suresh
    6th Per.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Daniel Oviedo
    period 4

    The topic of whether increasing minimum wage really does affect the unemployment rate is hard to come to an exact answer but for the most part i believe it does slowly increase the unemployment rate. Labor supply goes up and there can only be so many jobs, and if the wage is increased some companies will have to hire less employees to compensate for the increase in wages to workers. I feel that it slowly but surely increases the unemployment rate.

    http://www.prospect.org/print/V7/26/schmitt-j.html
    http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=88

    ReplyDelete
  46. I believe the wage gap still exists and it is unfair. Women and men should have the same pay if they both have the same job. Gender should not be a factor. Women have been fighting for equal wages for a long time and are continuing to go through this struggle.

    http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/EOP/CEA/html/gendergap.html
    http://www.now.org/

    Jenny George
    6th period

    ReplyDelete
  47. The topic of this debate is whether an increase in the minimum wage results in a higher unemployment rate. Mostly the argument in favor of doing so is that the minimum wage has unemployment effects, something we consider undesirable, while the EITC, by its very design, increases employment, something we consider desirable.There is another side to this of course: the EITC does end up as being in part a subsidy to the employers of that low value labor. Given that this is what it is designed to be this isn't actually a problem but that does still grate with some people. The other point on this side is that if we increase the EITC then it is us as taxpayers that have to put our hands in our pockets and pay for it. An increase in the minimum wage, we’ll still probably be paying it but we can at least fool ourselves into believing that someone else out there is going to have to pay it. The capitalists in lower profits or something like that.

    http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/013015/how-minimum-wage-impacts-unemployment.asp
    http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-05-27/finally-an-answer-to-the-old-minimum-wage-question
    http://www.businessforafairminimumwage.org/news/00135/research-shows-minimum-wage-increases-do-not-cause-job-loss

    Lameese Taha
    6th period

    ReplyDelete
  48. The debate is whether technological advancements result in higher unemployment. Since the 20th century, technology has been advancing progressively and it has produced outputs faster and more efficient. Although it may raise economic growth, technology advancement will increase unemployment. As population keeps growing day by day, unemployment will rise in time because technology, as well, will improve day by day. People that are less educated will have more of a harder time finding jobs as time progresses because technology will replace their jobs. And as technology start to take jobs that were for unskilled workers, soon it will take jobs for the skilled. Technology may improve the economy and may make corporations and big companies more money, but it will not help individuals that are uneducated and unskilled and eventually, individuals that are educated and skilled.

    http://themarketmogul.com/the-impact-of-technology-on-unemployment/
    http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/does-more-technology-create-unemployment
    http://pennpoliticalreview.org/archives/5745

    Lucky Marchelino
    4th Period

    ReplyDelete
  49. Debate: Does an increase in the minimum wage result in a higher unemployment rate? Most of the debate is about increasing minimum wage causes more people unemployed. From my point of view, I feel the same thing. There have two big problems after minimum wages increases. The first main problem is that it causes the price increases. Employers might raise prices of their product in order to generate enough income to support their more highly paid minimum wage employees, which could ultimately create a ripple effect for other shops and industries, resulting in a slightly higher cost of living, resulting in another push to raise minimum wage again. The second one is that it causes fewer hiring. If business must pay their minimum wage employees more, they cannot afford to hire as many employees. Or instead of hiring fewer employees, the company may start outsourcing jobs to employees in countries that are willing to work for much less than $10.10 per hour, resulting in fewer jobs for Americans.

    http://www.ncpa.org/~ncpa/ba/ba270.html
    http://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/1996/october/the-minimum-wage/

    Jiayu Wang
    Period 4th

    ReplyDelete
  50. People are worried about American overworking themselves compared to their European counterparts today. It is definitely true that Europeans get more leisure time than Americans. However, the cost of living is way less here and we choose to work more because in my opinion we want money to go out and spend every day on things we like. I would rather be in America where things are cheaper and work more to get more benefits out of it. According to Judith Markham Semas, people are upset about overworking but when they realize that they are benefitting the firm and themselves, they are happy.
    http://www.hightechcareers.com/doc599/ethics599.html
    http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec99/overwork_9-6.html

    Nofil Haque
    Pd. 2

    ReplyDelete
  51. Debate: People believe that Americans tend to work many more hours than Europeans do weekly. Whats seen here is a clear case of the labor/leisure tradeoff. Most Americans who work extreme hours choose to do so as they prefer to make as much money as they can. Europe has a more leisurely attitude towards work, therefore they work less hours than American workers.

    http://stats.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1999/08/art3full.pdf
    http://stats.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/02/art3full.pdf

    Akhil Raju
    Period 2

    ReplyDelete
  52. The U.S. Should not reinstate the draft firstly because lots of people volunteer to be in the military thus would make it irrelevant to enlist everyone for the draft. Secondly there's no need to, there aren't any current wars going on besides the Isis situation. Also we have technology and machines replacing human bodies in today's world. If a situation were to arise then we have drones and other military equipment to assist us in combat rather than drafting citizens.

    Period 6
    Aaron Hudson

    ReplyDelete
  53. Recent stats depict the sparking concern over Americans being overworked compared to surrounding nations. It seems as if Americans are generally working more than twice as much as other nations such as Germany or or France. Clearly, it is evident that Americans are subject to less leasure time than their Europeans counterparts, in fact, Americans are seen working 320 hours or more. This is equal to two months more than the Europeans. In my opinion, America has done itself well to push the work hours in order to advance the country overall and render it the powerhouse of the world. However, I do believe that at present day Americans are being pushed over the limits in terms of their work hours as the majority of students and adults alike recieve less than 6 hours of sleep a day. In general, studies have shown that this cycle leads to a more unhealthy and unhappy life.


    http://abcnews.go.com/onair/GoodMorningAmerica/GMA000920Working_overtime.html
    http://www.hrmguide.net/usa/worklife/unused_vacation.htm

    period 2
    Mahnoor Malik

    ReplyDelete
  54. Does US immigration policies harm domestic work?

    A common consensus, regardless of you Nationality, is that most immigrants harm the job market by taking away jobs from the local populous. Agreed, it does increase the net amount of labor available for a job in your country; however, it does not harm the job market. The more immigrants travel to your country to work, the more productivity is available for your country. If anything, it stimulates your economy and producing more jobs in other areas. If there is more productivity being produced to meet demand then the company is making a larger profit causing them to produce more, requiring more jobs to meet the growing demand and profit potential. Despite this, most of the time people migrate from there own country because they are not satisfied with the leaving conditions of there own. No one migrates for the sake of migrating, and most immigrants are escaping poverty or other harsh conditions. In other words, they tend to take the cheaper jobs as they appreciate being able to get anything, there is no reason that anyone from there own country, who received a proper education, who received so many benefits that they don't have shouldn't be able to get a job. Jobs worked by those who Immigrate, for the most part, are unlikely to be worked at all by the local populous or they would of already done so. The unnatural hatred for immigrants is just that, unnatural, immigrants do not harm the economy they stimulate it, restricting immigration is restricting your potential labor force and your potential profits.

    Guy Joseph Period 2

    ReplyDelete
  55. Does US immigration policies harm domestic work?

    A common consensus, regardless of you Nationality, is that most immigrants harm the job market by taking away jobs from the local populous. Agreed, it does increase the net amount of labor available for a job in your country; however, it does not harm the job market. The more immigrants travel to your country to work, the more productivity is available for your country. If anything, it stimulates your economy and producing more jobs in other areas. If there is more productivity being produced to meet demand then the company is making a larger profit causing them to produce more, requiring more jobs to meet the growing demand and profit potential. Despite this, most of the time people migrate from there own country because they are not satisfied with the leaving conditions of there own. No one migrates for the sake of migrating, and most immigrants are escaping poverty or other harsh conditions. In other words, they tend to take the cheaper jobs as they appreciate being able to get anything, there is no reason that anyone from there own country, who received a proper education, who received so many benefits that they don't have shouldn't be able to get a job. Jobs worked by those who Immigrate, for the most part, are unlikely to be worked at all by the local populous or they would of already done so. The unnatural hatred for immigrants is just that, unnatural, immigrants do not harm the economy they stimulate it, restricting immigration is restricting your potential labor force and your potential profits.

    Guy Joseph Period 2

    ReplyDelete
  56. In regards to questioning whether or not a college education is vital in being successful in life, I believe it is. Although we have cases of vey successful driven entrepreneurs who have successfully lived without a college education, I believe that among the rest of who maybe aren't as naturally driven, a college education and clear steps are necessary. College provides you with the real things you need to know for your job. Without a degree you aren't as qualified to do your job. College is expensive, but it is an investment into your future.

    Lauren Pham
    Period 4

    ReplyDelete
  57. Joyce
    6th period

    There is disagreement on whether there should be a market for human organs. I don’t think there should be a legal market for organs, as the poor would be disadvantaged and outbidded by the rich for the simple chance at a life. It would also be difficult to obtain consent and regulate the trade. In addition, it is always possible that people greedy for money could abuse the system.

    http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr/rm/index.cfm?docid=3792
    http://www.vendio.com/awdaily/dailynews/1-090399.html

    ReplyDelete
  58. One of the main reasons for the male-female wage differential is that those occupations that are disproportionately filled by women tend to be relatively low-paying occupations while male-dominated occupations tend to offer high wages. Most secretaries, nurses, and elementary school teachers are women while most engineers, surgeons, computer programmers, and chemists are men.
    However regardless of how many degrees a woman has or how long shes had experience, the man still makes more money.

    http://shns.scripps.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=WOMENDOCTORS-07-18-00&cat=AH


    Jewel Zachariah
    Period 6

    ReplyDelete
  59. The topic of the debate is whether Americans are overworked. In the last twenty years the amount of time Americans have spent at their jobs has risen steadily. They have less leisure and vacation time. It is obvious that compared to our past and to other countries, Americans today are working way more hours. It is not that they want to work more but feel pressured to since workers are trying to match each other's pace. Therefore, I believe Americans today are overworked.

    http://stats.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1999/04/art4full.pdf
    http://www.timeday.org/

    Sarah Sam
    6th period

    ReplyDelete
  60. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  61. The debate talks about how different types of immigrants depending in their income are elegible to recieve welfare. Many immigrants who move to the US usually do not get high paying jobs unless they have a well built experience background. Immigrants who have low income aren't elegible to recieve welfare from the states and the goverment. The debate discusses how many of our workers are immigrants and they take up ad much as 60% of the working force, in addition they debate how depending on race they income and wages are affected. Furthermore they explain why salaries should be based on efficiency rather than experience, and why immigrants should all be able to be elegile for welfare.

    http://www.ceip.org/programs/migrat/rpm1sum.htm

    -Eric Chong, 2nd Period

    ReplyDelete
  62. Christian Cortez, 2nd Period

    This debate discusses whether or not immigration policies are detrimental to domestic workers. One argument states that immigrants mainly come in through tourism or as students, so the immigration has little effect on the job availability of domestic, local workers. Another rebuts this statements scything that immigrants come to the United States in search of opportunity, whether it be for jobs or education. It goes further and states that the decline of jobs in the States does not help the matter at all.

    ReplyDelete
  63. This debate is around whether or not technological advancements will lead to unemployment. I do believe that technological advancements will lead to unemployment, however, I don't feel that this is necessarily a bad thing. It was an inevitability due to human ingenuity and laziness that easier cheaper and quicker ways to do things will happen. And we've seen this over and over again with the introduction of the cotton gin, textile factories, gmos technology advances and jobs go extinct. As technology advances jobs become lost but that doesn't necessarily mean the economy itself will be bad as new avenues of capital are

    ('https://www.sciamarchive.com')
    ('http://www.levy.org/docs/hili/41a.html')
    Humans need not apply by Jerry Kaplan

    ReplyDelete
  64. when it comes to the critical question whether the influx of migrants in this country is beneficial or not , the answer is yes. a lot of people believe that since jobs are lost to these migrants , it must be bad for the economy but the afct of the matter is that the income that is earned by these migrants is spent in the domestic market thus further strenthening it.
    http://www.swcollege.com/bef/econ_debate.html
    does immigration policy harm migrant workers

    ReplyDelete
  65. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Cuba since the early 1960s in response to the overthrow of the U.S.-supported Battista regime.
    A grain embargo was imposed on the Soviet Union in 1979 in response to the invasion of Afghanistan.
    Sanctions were imposed on South Africa and Rhodesia to alter the racist policies of their governments.
    Sanctions have been imposed on Libya since 198? in response to its past support of terrorist groups and its alleged connection to the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
    Since 1984, economic sanctions have been imposed upon Iran in a response to its support for terrorists groups and its attempts to acquire nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
    Economic sanctions have been imposed on Iraq since the end of the Gulf War in response to its attempts to develop weapons of mass destruction.
    http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/women/
    http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/epa.html

    Karina Guerrero
    4th period

    ReplyDelete
  66. the question "is college a good investment" has been asked by students for decades, but it is very difficult to answer due to many actors playing a part in the life of the individual.
    it is said that by choosing a certain type of major in college, you will end up with a higher salary than most people, but this is not fair to everyone. what if someone isnt looking to have a high salary, but to simply live comfortably and have other goals in mind?javascript:remoteStart('http://www.ed.gov/pubs/CollegeForAll/index.html')
    Rachael Crumbaker
    2nd period

    ReplyDelete
  67. the question "is college a good investment" has been asked by students for decades, but it is very difficult to answer due to many actors playing a part in the life of the individual.
    it is said that by choosing a certain type of major in college, you will end up with a higher salary than most people, but this is not fair to everyone. what if someone isnt looking to have a high salary, but to simply live comfortably and have other goals in mind?javascript:remoteStart('http://www.ed.gov/pubs/CollegeForAll/index.html')
    Rachael Crumbaker
    2nd period

    ReplyDelete
  68. I believe that a college education is a good investment. A study showed that workers around the age of 25 or older with college degrees earned about $20,000 more per year than workers of the same age group that had high school degrees. Also, Joop Hartog has found through his own studies that rates of return to education range from 5% to 15%.

    http://www.house.gov/jec/educ.htm
    http://www.oecd.org/publications/observer/215/e-harto.htm

    Karishma Shah, period 2

    ReplyDelete
  69. Since the early 1940s, the introduction of longer work hours, less workers, and a longer workweek have become an increasing concern for American people. I believe that Americans are slowly but surely being overworked. This is mainly due to the increase of overtime workers. Another big reason is because of the wages being offered for most jobs requires people to work longer hours to keep up with the higher cost of living and living standards.

    Gavin Levy
    6th Period

    ReplyDelete
  70. Technological advances do not necessarily increase unemployment. IN some cases they do and in some they dont. It all depends on the type of technological advancement. For example a new laptop will not increase unemployment whereas a new conveyor belt in a factory will. They type of advancement is the only thing that will determine if it increases or decreases unemployment.

    http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/nerr/rr1996/fall/iss96_4.htm
    http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/history/reich/reports/grow.htm

    Srikar V.
    6th Period

    ReplyDelete
  71. It was very helpful. Our website also has a lot of good stuff. Come see! I read a good article. In the future, I will visit often and see a lot of content. I will visit often in the future^^

    Visit my site :: 휴게텔
    (jk)

    ReplyDelete