any econ majors out there?

[alantani]

went to work early yesterday morning for a 6:30AM shift.  felt fine!  around 9am, i started vomiting.  by 10am i had it coming out of both ends.  barely made it home without an accident after a 1 hour drive.  was sick as a dog all day yesterday, sick last night, still queezy this morning but at least i can hold down fluids and apple sauce.   anyway, my daughter comes home and says she has an econ paper due in 2 days.  "so, how much so you have done?" says i.  yup, she has her outline and some online references and that's it.  

this kid was straight A's all through middle school and her first two years of high school.  her grades have been steadily dropping.   in between trips to the bathroom, this is what she and i hammered out.  it's a rough draft that she took to her teacher this morning.  we need to put this paper in finished form this evening AND she needs to get the rest of her homework done.  if there are any econ majors out there. could you take a look?  it doesn't have to be perfect.  it doesn't even have to be right.  it just has to get done.  i'm going to try to find so references for her today. it's supposed to be 12 pound font and 6-8 pages double spaced.  hopefully there will not be as many trips to the bathroom.  alan

Following the 2008 Wall Street crash and subsequent recession, the government issued a massive $700 billion bailout package to save these larger companies and restore consumer confidence in the financial system.  This attempt to prevent a deeper recession left politicians scrambling to find a quick solution to the crisis, concentrating on Wall Street instead of Main Street.  The greatest recession the US had ever seen since the Great Depression still hit the economy with crippling force.  Although big businesses are an essential driving force of the US economy, strong government support of small businesses is ultimately a more effective method of addressing the recession.  

According to the US Small Business Association, these small businesses are companies with less than 500 employees and less than $7 million in annual receipts.  There are 22 million small businesses in the United States, compared to 14,000 big businesses.  18% of the national workforce is employed by companies with 20 employees or less.  17 million businesses are sole-proprietorships employing a single person.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_business  This is where the government should concentrate its efforts.  

Job Creation - Small businesses create more new jobs than big businesses and this is essential for an economic recovery.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, small businesses (companies with fewer than 500 employees) created 64 percent of all new jobs from 1992 to 2007.  Net new jobs for small businesses include job losses as well as job gains.  These statistics give a more accurate view of the total job picture.   The unemployment rate rose when the recession hit in 2007 and still remains high.  Until these small businesses are given enough assistance, job growth will remain stagnant along with the economy.  The key to job growth remains in the hands of small business.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/the-myths-and-realities-of-the-role-of-small-business-in-the-economy/2011/12/09/gIQAmaBanO_story.html
Community Support - Small businesses are more likely to support other local businesses in the community.  Local businesses also are more likely to supply locally produced products than chains, ultimately benefiting their community.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_business

Innovation - Innovation is one of the greatest strengths of a small business.  A more structured big business might rarely allow a person the freedom to be innovative.  Self-employed inventors and inventors working for small companies  have been awarded 40% of all US corporate patents.  Finding new ways to do things is also a strength of small businesses.  Amazon.com is one such example, with sales now reaching $3 billion.  It is the freedom to invent, the ability to avoid red tape, and the personal rewards that give small businesses and innovative edge.  http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/1.0/exploring-business/ch-5-challenges-starting-busin/importance-small-business-u.s.

Secondary Labor Market - Small businesses are generally owned by more women and minorities or employ more women and minorities from the secondary labor market.  In a survey of small businesses in the US during late 2010, half were owned by women.  ^ Staff (17 Nov 2011), "Small-Biz Snapshot: Women-owned Companies", Portfolio.com, http://www.portfolio.com/business-news/2011/11/17/acbj-women-owned-business-insights-2011?ana=e_pft, retrieved 21 Dec 2011  A secondary laborer is traditionally a wife or child that works full or part time but makes less than the "bread-winner" of the family and supplements the family income.  These jobs are often low pay, part time and high turnover.  They may come without vacation, health or retirement benefits, but provide an important source of income to a struggling family.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_labor_market

Benefits of Big Business – In the U.S., wages are 49% higher for employees of large firms.  Employees of big business are more likely to receive medical, dental and vision insurance, disability insurance, paid sick leave, vacation and holiday time, bonuses and pensions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_business.  These big businesses offer more stable jobs.  Even if a job paid less, and employee might opt for this lower paying job in exchange for a benefit package.  An impersonal, strict, and inflexible working environment is traded for a regular paycheck and benefits.  The decreased tendency of an employee to quit is seen particularly with regards to taking advantage of pension and retirement benefits.  Bureau of Labor statistics from March of 2006 show that 78% of employees in companies with greater than 100 employees have some type of retirement benefits, as opposed to only 44% of those working in companies with less than 100 employees.  Similarly, 84% of employees in larger companies have health care benefits, while only 44% of their colleagues in smaller companies do.  

Downside of Big Business - Big businesses can actually drain a local community of resources.  Large national chain stores can cause smaller local stores to fail because they cannot compete.  When a local business fails, people lose their jobs and the community loses tax revenue.  The presence of a big business in a community could employ 1000 workers, but it could drive away over half that number of jobs in other sectors because of its mere presence.  In some cases,  large firms displace just as many jobs as they create.[17] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_business
A 2004 study of new-firm locations and expansions in Georgia examined the effect of locating a large firm (greater than 300 employees) in a new location.  It suggested that the location of a new large firm slows the growth of the existing small businesses and discourages the establishment of new ones that would otherwise have located there.  Locating a new plant with 1,000 workers actually netted only 285 workers over a five-year period.  Such a company might add 1,000 workers in its own plant, but would drive away 715 other jobs that would have been generated (or retained) if the new large firm was not there. Add in lost tax revenue from the small businesses driven out and the drain placed on local community resources by the large company, and benefit of locating a new business in a community might be totally negated. Fox, W.F., and M.N. Murray. 2004. "Do Economic Effects Justify the Use of Fiscal Incentives?"  Southern Economic Journal, vol. 71, no. 1, pp. 78-92.
http://www.kc.frb.org/publicat/econrev/PDF/2q07edmi.pdf


Helping Small Businesses – "Probably the best idea would be to revisit the disappointing 2010 Small Business Jobs Act, which wound down last fall having spent just $4 billion out of the intended $30 billion. The program failed largely for two reasons. One is that the terms under which the money was made available to banks was arguably too onerous. The other is simply that for most of the life of the program, the economic outlook was so weak that there was little demand for loans. Today's economy, though still in need of support, is stronger, so there may be more interest. And having already conducted the program once, both bankers and Treasury Department officials should be more familiar with how to run the process smoothly."
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/small_business/2012/01/small_businesses_in_the_economic_recovery_the_disproportionate_impact_of_the_credit_crunch.html

Conclusion – Small businesses alone cannot end unemployment.  Economic development comes from both sides, but the majority of jobs come from small businesses and they remain an important source of innovation.  Big businesses still provide the highest paying jobs and the best benefits, but can drain a community of important resources.  With support, small business can become larger firms that can provide greater long term benefit to the community.  An economic strategy of supporting startups, entrepreneurs and existing small businesses may provide the best employment growth.  

http://archive.sba.gov/advo/research/rs372tot.pdf
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/small_business/2012/01/small_businesses_in_the_economic_recovery_the_disproportionate_impact_of_the_credit_crunch.html
http://www.gaebler.com/Small-Business-Role-in-Economic-Recovery.htm
http://www.evolveyourbiz.com/the-importance-of-small-business-to-the-us-economy.php
http://www.kc.frb.org/publicat/econrev/PDF/2q07edmi.pdf
http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/1.0/exploring-business/ch-5-challenges-starting-busin/importance-small-business-u.s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_business
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/the-myths-and-realities-of-the-role-of-small-business-in-the-economy/2011/12/09/gIQAmaBanO_story.html

[redsetta]

Email sent.

[alantani]

thanks a million!  the essay was brilliant!  we incorporated many of your ideas and got her paper in just under the wire.  another 10 minutes and the best possible grade would have been a 75%.  yes, you get 25% marked off for being late.  again, my thanks.  alan

[Bryan Young]

25% is a small lesson.  I know guys who lost their job for being late with their production schedule.

[Jim]

Sorry I came to the party late!
What was this paper supposed to be about and can I assume this is a high-school class?
During my time as a grad student teaching freshman economics I'll tell you, you wouldn't believe the crap I read that UC students had turned in. This wasn't that bad.
Oh, if I had a dollar for every paper I read that was written at the last minute . . .
Time management and planning should be a mandatory class at the middle-school level.

[alantani]

tell me about it!  we just wrote another essay.  this one was for the wait list for admission to UC san diego.  we knocked it out pretty quick, once we actually got past the writer's block.  we have an english tutor coming over tomorrow to look at it. 

and i'm supposed to be working on fishing reels!!!!!!!!!