Most of the Recession’s Stay-at-Home Dads Are Going Back to Work

This is an interesting article about the househusband and housedad returning back to the labor force. 

According to the article, the percentage of U.S. families with children under 18 and married parents featured an employed mother and a father who was either unemployed or not in the labor force keeps dropping for the fifth year in 2015 since the rising during 2007-09. The share of married-couple families with a working mom and a nonworking dad rose during the 2007-09 recession from 4.8% in 2005 and 2006 to 7.4% in 2009 and 2010. And last year, it went back to the long-run average, 5.3%. 

Actually I have heard of the tendency that many men leave the labor force market back home during the recession time, around 2008. Actually it's good to see them gradually getting back to the labor force because it can be seen as a signal of economic recovery. Also, at the same time, as what we have talked about in class, I guess we probably can see the decrease of unemployment rate because more people get into the labor force. 

What's more, I find the comments under the article is interesting which shows that many dad left the workforce is not only because the recession but also because they want to spend more time with family. This can be seen as a changing of social ideology. 

Here's the link: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/04/22/most-of-the-recessions-stay-at-home-dads-are-going-back-to-work/ 

China debt load reaches record high as risk to economy mounts

China’s total debt rose to a record 237 percent of gross domestic product in the first quarter. Economists says this could mean a financial crisis in looming or a a prolonged slowdown in growth. China has turned to a massive amount of borrowing to boost its growth. Another concern is how fast China has accumulated all this debt, the total amount of debt was only 148 percent of GDP at the end of 2007. China ominous debt situation could be a problem for other advanced economies. China is having a difficult time finding ways ways to invest these loans given such a small time frame. China's economy continues to be a problem, and the worse seems to still be ahead. Hopefully China makes good on their loans and prevents their financial troubles from worsening and spreading into other markets.

 http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/24/financial-times-china-debt-load-reaches-record-high-as-risk-to-economy-mounts.html

Disappearing pensions hurt U.S. economy as well as workers

 U.S has increased the elimination of pensions,  this has caused the U.S. to move closer to a capitalist economy where companies no longer rely on pensions to attract workers and also don’t have a safety net where companies and workers are taxed to raise money for their pensions, as is the case in most European countries. That change has led to increased inequality, because low- and middle-class workers cannot afford pensions, whereas the wealthy can. 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/04/23/pensions-economy-workers/83292892/

$20 Billion in Tax Credits Fails to Increase College Attendance

In this article, Susan Dynarski talks about how tax credits that people receive do not encourage people to attend college. Tax benefits for people in college makes up most of the benefits the government gives to any level of education. This is because these benefits were suppose to help deduct interest on student loans and help students pay their tuition. What studies have found is there is no correlation between the two, in fact, these tax credits do not have any effect on people who attend or do not attend college. This is mainly due to the fact that families who receive these tax credits are either middle class or upper class families, and the amount they receive from these credits, which ranges around $2,000 to $3,000, have no affect if a family is going to send their child to college or not. Also the credits that are given out, usually come out after most schools' deadline to pay off their tuition, so these credits do not help with paying for school in that year. To me, if the government wants these tax credits to encourage people to go to college, the government needs to offer more of an incentive for families, or give them out earlier so they can help families pay their children's tuition.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/20/upshot/how-to-use-tax-credits-to-increase-college-attendance.html?ref=economy&_r=0

China's middle class beats America's

This is a very interesting article that inspects how many Americans think trade is not beneficial to the domestic economy.

Chinese middle class is 'booming,' it says, where growth in America has stagnated. The article also incorporates the idea of the rise Trump supporters with them believing in his ideas of "bringing back jobs from Mexico and China."

Here is the article: http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/24/news/economy/china-us-trade/index.html?iid=Lead

Volkswagen Posts Deep Loss After Taking $18.28 Billion Hit on Emissions Scandal

After selling diesel cars in America that contained software designed to cheat emissions tests, Volkswagen, the German auto manufacturer, delivered a proposed settlement to U.S. federal judge this week to help end their legal battle.  The company proposed a buy back or repair of as many as 500,000 diesel vehicles sold in the U.S., while also offering payments to owners. Volkswagen estimates it will cost $18.28 billion in 2015 alone to put the crisis to bed. This will probably increase demand for other competitors in the auto industry, and will decrease demand and customer loyalty for volkswagen.

Early Analysis of Seattle's $15 an Hour Wage Law

Peter Kelly of UW Today reports that Most Seattle employers surveyed in a University of Washington-led study said in 2015 that they expected to raise prices on goods and services to compensate for the city’s move to a $15 per hour minimum wage. But a year after its implementation, this doesn't appear to be the case. According to one survey, "Sixty-two percent of employers said they expected to raise prices of goods and services to accommodate the higher wages brought by the law. Ten percent of the employers believed incorrectly that the ordinance would force their business to move to a $15 wage immediately upon implementation". The purpose of the study was to develop a full understanding of how businesses and nonprofits change their practices to accommodate higher wages, and of whether a higher minimum wage meaningfully transforms lives.

http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/04/18/early-analysis-of-seattles-15-wage-law-effect-on-prices-minimal-one-year-after-implementation/

U.S. Airlines fearing the pesty Norwegians

The airway market in the United States has been facing controversy recently. Recently, Norwegian Air International was approved to being able to fly in U.S. airways. This is being hit with massive backlash and has the potential to change the airways immensely. This is because NAI is based in Dublin, Ireland. In Dublin, costs of running the airline are much less stringent and give NAI a substantial advantage over U.S. airlines, which is the cause to all of the backlash. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

http://www.businessinsider.com/norwegian-air-international-america-boeing-2016-4

Investors aren't going to make money in this Fragile market

"How can investors generate sustained positive returns against this type of turbulence?" The answer is many can't, at least in the traditional areas of money management. We're increasingly looking to the alternative area as a result." This article talks about how investors are increasing speculation every year and have withdrew almost $15 billion from the banking sector in the last year. The article expresses its concerns that which such figures and an expected increase in withdrawals in the coming years, the focus is shifting from the banking  to other areas to generate revenues specially the tech industry. 

Link: http://www.businessinsider.com/blackstone-market-is-fragile-2016-4

$20 Billion in Tax Credits Fails to Increase College Attendance

The federal government spends over $30 billion annually in tax benefits for college. The American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit also provide benefits for deductions on interest on student loans. The government spends a lot more money on college education than elementary and secondary schools. The tax benefits are in place to get more people into and through college. Two economists at Stanford University have found that tax benefits and tax credits have no effect on college attendance. They believe this could be because they are going to middle and upper class families whose decision to send their kid to college is unlikely to depend on around $2,500. Also the benefits are often not given back until after tuition is due which would not effect enrollment. The complexity of tax benefits doesn’t seem to be helping raise college attendance rates. It will be interesting to see if they change how and when they give the credits in the future, and if it will increase college attendance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/20/upshot/how-to-use-tax-credits-to-increase-college-attendance.html?ref=economy&_r=0