Is the United States Economically Failing Its People? - Research Paper

Introduction

From the news that people all over the world get every day, one would think that the US economy is doing very well and many Americans are achieving their dreams. The unemployment statistics are below 5%, suggesting that many people are working and the economic conditions are good. The dollar is strong; the stocks are doing well, and all these would suggest an economy that is doing very well. Many would conclude that the democracy in the United States coupled with the economic liberalization is doing very well for the economy. Many forget a few articles indicating that the US economy is in the wrong direction and something needs to be done ((Bivens 47)). The current US president resonated well with the citizens because he promised to deal with the failing economy, and ended up becoming winning elections that many in the world thought that it would be impossible for him. A deeper evaluation of the US economy shows that it is failing the people and most affected are the future generation.

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First, the analysis that 4.4% is the percentage of unemployment in the US is misleading in many ways (Roberts). The fact is that there are many more people who are unemployed, simply because the minimum wage is very low. Most of the people working are the adults aged above 55 years (Roberts).

Most of the young people are not able to find jobs that can enable them to live an independent life. After getting educational loans, they are offered very low wages in the market, and they opt to stay with their parents since they cannot work and at the same time pay the loans as well as sustain their independent life. This generally means that the rate of dependence in the economy is very high and many young people are struggling with loans that they cannot afford. Even the old people in the labor market are taking several part-time jobs to meet their needs. Economists have questioned the fact that the low unemployment rate reported in the US has not been able to pressure wages up, suggesting that the conditions are that the number of people who have opted out of the labor market is very many (Bivens 38).

There are many foreign workers in the United States who have been thought to be taking the low wage jobs. The fact is that these foreigners also take up the best jobs such as software engineering jobs that are thought to be well paying while many young Americans remain at home. The fact that the government has allowed foreigners take up various jobs at lower pay has disadvantaged the young people who already have a huge debt burden. The companies in the US have also invested heavily in offshoring of jobs, with the aim of reducing the costs of operations. While the US president promised to bring back the jobs, the strategies to achieve this have not been identified.

As already stated, many young people graduate with debts that they are expected to pay. In addition to this, the public debt in the US is very high, reaching about 75% of the total GDP for the country as per the 2016 statistics. While public borrowing is allowed and a good idea for any country, it is not reasonable to have such a massive debt in a country where the infrastructure has become very poor and would need about $1.5 trillion to improve it (Roberts).

Other countries competing with the US such as China have improved their infrastructure which includes roads, airports, and even rail. With such poor infrastructure, many companies are no longer interested in investing in the country. The future generations will this experience economic burden for services that they will not enjoy in the future. This is issues that need urgent attention so that the young people can live a better life.

The US has been too much concerned about activities in foreign countries, spending too much in such countries for unjustified reasons which have worsened the crisis. An example is an invasion of Libya and Iraq, where huge amounts of money have been spent. The results are that many refugees have headed to the US, a lot of donations have headed to refugee camps, and this has been at the expense of developing the economy.

Sanctions against countries such as Russia, North Korea, and Iran because of issues such as developing nuclear missiles has hampered trade relations while other countries continue to trade with such countries and benefit economically from the trade relations. The policies have not only failed but isolate the US from such countries. It will be difficult for the future generations to engage in economic relations with such countries (Roberts).

The growth of the large business has been observed in the US, especially because of the technological development. The problem is that these companies have become too large and there have been no efforts to check on their impact in the economy. Companies such as Amazon are leading to collapse of many retailers that employed many people in the US. This means that a few Americans are becoming billionaires while the others lose jobs and suffer from poverty (Crouse 78). In the future, the income gap will be so high that social problems will be very high. This is unlike countries such as China that has been keen on ensuring that there is a better life for all people in the country.

Technology in the US is also replacing human beings in the workplace, further leading to huge profits for companies that are owned by a few shareholders. An example is the robots that have taken up many manual jobs in various places. Apart from the loss of jobs, the technology creates a huge income gap because the owners of such companies generate huge profits and this makes the income gap significant. It should be noted that robots cannot be taxed, and this means a reduction in government financing through revenues (Roberts). With such a trend, provision of social amenities in the future will be a challenge, and the young people will end up suffering, with no job and reduced access to social services.

Regardless of the high technology and many foreign workers in the United States, the country continues to import huge amounts of goods from the rest of the world. Recent events have been that the country has been trying to renegotiate trade deals or even abandoning trade deals that are assumed to be unfair. The response from the rest of the world has been that there have been new partnerships that isolate the United States and at the same time, retaliation that is meant to respond to actions by the United States (Crouse 71).

Some of the responses by the US government have just lead to expensive products for the companies in the US (Crouse 71). Instead of focusing on improving the efficiency of the companies in the economy, the US has failed to do the right thing and ensure that the companies improve and compete globally. These are decisions that will continue to worsen the living standards of the future generation.

The US have not done a lot in investing in clean energy sources. India has invested a lot in solar-powered vehicles while China has invested in various green sources of energy to achieve sustainability in operations. Such lower costs of renewable energy will mean cheaper production costs for such countries, while the US will struggle with huge energy costs, the other countries will be doing well with a goo infrastructure of renewable energy (Crouse 69).

Conclusion

In summary, the trend in the United States has been that the infrastructure has been declining, labor participation has been at the lowest levels due to low minimum wages, the country is becoming isolated in trade deals, and the competitiveness of its industries have been wanting over the years. Young people leave universities with huge debts; they cannot secure a job, the economy is struggling with huge debt and deficit budget every year and many companies are leaving for other countries. Other companies are investing in the future technologies such as green sources of energy, such as India and China, while the US has not fully embraced change. This entire burden is on the citizens of the country, and the future generation will suffer a lot because of the mistakes that were made in the past. The US is generally not doing well in securing a better economic environment for the future generation.

Works Cited

Bivens, Josh. Failure by Design: The Story Behind America's Broken Economy. Cornell University Press, 2016.Crouse, E. R. "Ford's Economy." America's Failing Economy and the Rise of Ronald Reagan, 2018, pp. 67-89, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-70545-3_4.

Roberts, P. C. "The US Economy Is Failing -- Paul Craig Roberts - PaulCraigRoberts.org." 29 Sept. 2017, www.paulcraigroberts.org/2017/09/29/us-economy-failing-paul-craig-roberts/.