lucy-w-05

[lucy-w-05]

The Economy Has Changed

Is it the end of the world? Everyone is struggling with pandemic socially and economically. Even Though the economy is doing badly right now, could it improve our future economy? Will it have an infinite impact on the economy? What is the difference of employment vs business failure? Many of us are trying to understand what is happening in our world right now and are trying to figure more information to help inform ourselves better. If you have these questions you are gonna wanna keep reading.

Here are some key terms to remember:

Vulnerable industry- When a company/ business are being exposed to destruction or hostile factors.

Respondents- A person or group of people who respond to a survey or questions.

Momentous- Something that will have a huge impact on the future.

Okay let’s get started,

Business Failure

“The hospitality and restaurant sector appears to be the most vulnerable industry, with 41% of CEOs saying their business might not survive the crisis. Thirty percent of leaders in aerospace and aviation, 19% in wholesale and retail sales and 19% in education said their business is at risk of failure.”

The businesses that are most vulnerable are restaurant and hospitality sectors. 41% of those businesses CEOs have said their business may not survive. After that airlines, Retail stores, and schools are all saying their businesses might also fail.

Employment

“The outlook on employment is better, with 51% of CEOs polled saying their total number of employees will be the same or higher one year from now. But one quarter of respondents expect that number to be down by more than 20%, with businesses in the Canada, Australia, Middle East and North Africa regions more likely than those in the U.S. to anticipate big headcount reductions.”

Employment is doing better than business with a little over half of CEOs saying that they plan on keeping the same employment and maybe even be hiring more. However, in some places such as Australia, Middle East, Canada, and North Africa are less than 20% with employment.

Infinite Impact

“Mordell said that while the pandemic is having an alarmingly negative impact right now, it will stand as a momentous point in history and impact global life and business forever.”

Although the Pandemic is very hard on everyone and the economy, it could change our economy for the better and could end up helping the future economy. No matter what negative or positive it will forever change our economy. 

Some Questions You May Still Have?

How is the employment doing better than businesses?

With businesses staying open they need more help and need more employees to help them to continue.

With this change in our economy could it be negative?

Although we don’t know for sure, it does have a negative effect right now but it will most likely better our economy in the future. 

Interview

I interviewed a health care employee and asked how her job has changed, and about her opinions on the economy, and this is what she said.

1. What role do you play in your company?

“Physician Relationship Manager”

2. How has your day-to-day task changed?

“Normally I would be out visiting doctors offices and working with the administrators in the hospitals. Now I am at home doing a lot of virtual meetings and calling or emailing doctors offices.”

3. Do you believe your job will go back to how it was originally or continue with your new task?

“When things go back to normal I think there will be a new normal. While face-to-face meetings are good, virtual meetings are more convenient and efficient because there is no driving time, so I believe those are going to continue, just to a lesser degree than now.”

4. Do you think the pandemic will leave a lasting impact on our economy?

“I don’t think our economy will go back to the way it was for a long time. It will be a long time before businesses can open at 100%, which will continue to have a huge economic impact.”

Conclusion

The economy has changed. It is a whole new ball game, with businesses failing and employment lowering. Peoples roles in jobs have changed and are being impacted. Some people are working less and some are having to work more. Although change is scary and different for many it is going to happen and is not in our control. What we can do is to adapt to the new ways of the economy and make the best out of it. No matter what, the economy has changed so lets have it change for the better.

[lucy-w-05]

Is choosing not to social distance selfish

Hi everyone, recently most of us have seen the horrible incident with nurses and frontline workers being disrespected. Is it fair to protest the pandemic if you are putting people at risk? By protesting the pandemic and not social distancing you are putting tons of people at risk by then going to places such as grocery stores and exposing that to others. Nurses and frontline workers protested telling people to stay at home and keep yourself and others at risk. These individuals were disrespected even with them doing the right thing and trying to help others. Read and find out more about the unbelievable backlash these hero received.

Before we get started here are some words to think about...

Key Terms

Protesters- a group of people who start a movement to go against a law or action being taken.

Physician- a doctor that is the first contact point.

Witness- a individual observes an obstruction of justice.

Not Even A Thank You

“‘Some people have said ‘Thank you,’ which is very confusing,’ Jo told Westword of the protest scene on Sunday. ‘But mostly people have been very aggressive. It’s been overall pretty negative from people in the cars, but very nice from people in the street.’”

These nurses stood outside protesting people who weren’t social distancing. Everyday these nurses see the behind the scenes of the virus and have put themselves at risk everyday and with everything they have seen and the data they know they are asking people to follow the simple orders of staying inside. Not only are they not being thanked for putting themselves at risk but they are being mainly disrespected and screamed at.

Protesters Risk

“Many protesters were not practicing social distancing or wearing masks, McClaran said, which made her feel unsafe. Instead of going onto the main Capitol lawn, she posted up across the street with a long lens to take in the action. When she decided to leave, she took Grant Street toward her home on Capitol Hill. That’s when she saw the two people in hospital garb standing in the street and took off running to capture the scene.”

People can’t even take pictures of the protesters but of how unsafe it is. These protesters are not following any of the rules that these doctors have ordered and explained how important it is to follow. These nurses were safely protesting to make people aware of what is happening and show how it affects them. They were able to photograph because they weren’t putting anyone at risk.

Unnecessary hate

“‘The nurses, these frontline workers were out there saying, ‘Hey, we’re here for you. We’re trying to help.’ And for (protesters) to be disrespecting them, it was a crazy thing to witness,’ McClaran said.”

These nurses and frontline workers put themselves at risk and stood there being disrespected not for themselves but to help those who were being disrespectful. All they want is to help people and create awareness and the fact that they were disrespected is hard to hear.

Good News

Through this global economic and health concerns, Amazon is doing really well. This is because with many stores being closed and safety concern of those open, consumers are trying to mainly shop online and with Amazon having a wide range of options many people are choosing to show on Amazon. This has there stock market doing good starting in mid march a high increase in stock with +10.77 (up 45%).

Questions You May Still Have?

Can people get in trouble for protesting? 

No because it is a civil right as long as they are not being physically violent, but they are hurting themselves and the people around them. 

Should social distancing be followed?

Yes, people who are studying the virus and seeing first hand the effects of what the virus is doing to people are telling people to social distance. They know all the data and know what is best and if that's what they believe then we should do our part and social distance.

In Conclusion

By not social distancing you are being selfish. You are putting people at risk. People who may not be as healthy as you. People who can’t risk getting this virus. These nurses and frontline workers see the behind the scenes of covid everyday. They are learning more and more information everyday. It is important for us to stop the virus and listen to them. They are trying to help us and keep us safe. Don’t be selfish and help by social distancing. Do it for those who are risking themselves. Do it for those at risk. If we listen to what the experts are saying we can get through this, but we can’t do that if we can’t follow the simple expectations they have provided for us. 

Thanks for reading!

xoxo, Lucy White

[lucy-w-05]

Amazon’s dictatorship on the economy and your impact!

Hi everyone, although you may have not noticed you have been changing your shopping habits because of the pandemic and probably shopping online more which has caused you to have caused a big influence on our economy. Amazon is the king of the economy right now, but once the pandemic is over will they continue to be? Amazon has a very high demand with many businesses being closed but their employees are not happy about the conditions and how they are being put at risk with their own health. If you continue to shop at Amazon will you end up hurting retail businesses when they do reopen? Find out what will happen with Amazon leading our economy and how you personally have a impact.

Before we get started though here are some words you might want to keep in mind to help better understand:)

Key Terms

Furloughed- During poor economic times, a long or short temporary layoff of employees.

Retail- Where a business sells goods and services straight to the consumer, not through another company.

Derogation- when rules or regulations that should be applied are not being applied.

Now that you understand these words lets get into it!

Retail Business Closer And Employment

This passage really stood out to me to and helped me really think about our economy’s unemployment and retail stores being shut down.

“Those closures are dealing potentially catastrophic blows to cash reserves and accelerating trends in consumer behavior that could spell doom for large swaths of brick-and-mortar retail and the 16 million people the industry employs. Nearly 1 million retail workers were furloughed in a single week recently, according to the Washington Post, and more than 250,000 stores have been shuttered, according to GlobalData Retail. Some analysts predict 15,000 retail stores will close permanently this year, which would mark a 60 percent increase from last year’s record closures.”

With the pandemic that is happening, it has caused tons of unemployment and closure of businesses. The fact that 1 million retail workers lost their jobs and were furloughed in one week shows the amount of unemployment that is being forced to happen. This was caused from the thousands of retail stores that had to be closed and shut down. With some retail stores being newer and/or smaller than others it will cause many of these businesses to permanently shut down causing those workers to be permanently be let go. This will have an impact on consumer behavior and how they continue to shop at retail stores.

How Is Amazon Treating Their Employees

Another passage that interested me was how Amazon employees were doing walkouts and how Amazon choose to respond.

“Attendance at Amazon facilities has fallen as much as 30 percent, according to the New York Times, presumably a combination of employees who won’t risk their health for a paycheck as well as those who have been impacted by the virus. Workers in at least three Amazon facilities in the US have staged walkouts, including Christian Smalls, an organizer at the company’s Staten Island, New York, facility. Amazon fired him the same day he led a walkout, saying he violated a 14-day quarantine that the company imposed after he had been in close contact with a colleague who tested positive for the coronavirus. (Smalls believes he was fired in retaliation for his activism.) And after notes saying he violated a 14-day quarantine that the company imposed after he had been in close contact with a colleague who tested positive for the coronavirus. (Smalls believes he was fired in retaliation for his activism.) And after notes leaked from an Amazon executive meeting showing the company’s top lawyer making derogatory remarks about Smalls and strategizing about targeting him in the media, it prompted tense debates among some Amazon corporate employees.”

Although Amazon is doing well in business there employment is not doing well. Many people are not willing to risk getting the virus and are choosing to not work. Some employees are doing walkouts in order to prove a point that they shouldn’t be working because of the conditions. An organizer named Christian Smalls has been leading some of these walkouts. Amazon doesn’t want people starting bad business for their company so for him to do things such as walkouts it grabs the media's attention and causes bad business. Amazon chose to find an excuse to fire him so he wouldn’t be able to stir up more trouble for the company. Amazon made a big deal in the media of him being fired by not following the quarantine rule to make them look good like they care about corona and only fired him for that reason but it ended up back firing. This is because someone leaked the notes Amazon's top lawyer took showing how they went through trying to find an excuse for firing him because of his activism. This caused a lot of trouble for Amazon corporate employees and could affect if employees chose to work there. Already employees were upset with the conditions and are now worried that if they start their own activism they too could be targeted and fired.

After The Pandemic Is Over What Will Happen To Amazon And Small Businesses?

“So if Amazon’s power is growing, where do traditional retailers go from here? It’s common knowledge in the retail industry that the US has more stores than it needs, so in some cases the crisis will only accelerate closures that would have happened anyway. For those who would have survived, the new CARES stimulus act does provide tax refunds to some retailers that have remodeled stores over the past two years. The Fed is working to give midsize and big companies access to more credit. Small businesses also have paths to get some financial help through the act, though the main lending program has been beset by early issues. As of now, there is no massive federal bailout coming to Big or Small Retail in the way there is for Big Airline. And that could be a big problem.”

The US already had more businesses than needed. However with the shut down of these businesses it will cause the businesses to continue to suffer afterwards. People tend to not like to change habits, and with the pandemic consumers are being forced to change their shopping habits and do more online shopping and shop at places like Amazon and Walmart. However, the issue with this is that people may not want to change back to their old shopping habits and want to keep their new ones. This would cause many businesses that rely on consumers' old shopping habits before the pandemic when they used to shop at their businesses to close because consumers no longer want to go there anymore. The government needs to help these businesses continue to stay open through loans and grants such as the CARES stimulus act. This would help these small businesses to be financially stable and stay open, yet not big loans or grants have been given out yet. Even with this no one knows how consumers will choose to shop which could cause a huge problem.

Some Questions You May Still Have?

If Amazon doesn’t do something about their employment could their business get hurt?

Although when it comes to their high demand they are thriving but in order for a company to run smoothly they need employees and already 30% have stopped working and if it continues to go down hill Amazon is going to need to find a better way to take care and satisfy their employees or it could hurt their business.

If smaller businesses that survived the pandemic are given big grants or loans will that be enough for them to continue to survive?

Grants and loans would help the businesses be closer to survival but the issue is if consumers choose to shop at big companies such as Amazon instead of these small businesses then the businesses won’t have a profit and even with the money they were given won’t be successful enough.

Final Thoughts

After reading this blog you should start to think about your own spending habits. I personally have changed my spending habits during this pandemic and have been spending more money online shopping at places like Amazon. My family has been shopping a lot on Amazon and online too. As a family we have changed our shopping habits and have been spending more money at a time at grocery stores because we don’t want to go to the store often so we have been purchasing a lot of necessities and stocking up. This article was a huge eye opener to me though and I am sure to many. After this pandemic I am going to try to spend more money at smaller businesses and try to help support businesses that were forced to close, so they can come back from this. I hope that you too will also keep this in mind and think about how you as a consumer have a huge impact on our economy and choose wisely where you spend your money.

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo, Lucy White

[lucy-w-05]

Economy vs virus, who will win?

Hi everyone! This world wide pandemic that is happening is scary and difficult, but it is very important that we are able to educate ourselves on it so we are able to prepare ourselves for the future. Not only has the virus hurt and killed many itself but a big effect of the virus is the shutdown of the economy. This leaves many economists, health experts, officials, and people trying to figure it which is more dangerous, the virus or the economy? Before we get started, here are some key terms to keep in mind.

Key terms:

Economy- A world-wide system where there is an exchange for goods and services.

Policymakers- A person who can set up a policy framework for an organization.

Economist- A person who studies how things such as unemployment and inflation have an effect on the supply and demand.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR?

In the article this passage stood out to me.

“It is still very early in the U.S. effort to snuff a lethal pandemic by shutting down much of the economy. But there is a growing question — from workers, the White House, corporate boardrooms and small businesses on the brink — that hangs over what is essentially a war effort against a virus that has already killed more than 9,000 Americans.” 

With the pandemic that is happening, the US has shut down a lot of the economy and has hurt many businesses and workers. This has people wondering how essential is closing down the economy. The virus has killed over 9,000 people and no one knows what to do.

PREDICTIONS and the MILLIONS UNEMPLOYED

This is another passage I found interesting speaking on the amount of unemployment.

“Public health experts are beginning to make predictions about when coronavirus infection rates will peak. Economists are calculating when the cost of continuing to shutter restaurants, shopping malls and other businesses — a move that has already pushed some 10 million Americans into unemployment, with millions more on the way — will outweigh the savings from further efforts to slow the virus once the infection curve has flattened out.”

The Public health experts are trying to make predictions about when they think the corona virus will have its peak so they have a better idea of when this will be over. Meanwhile, economists are trying to calculate how much the businesses and unemployment is going to be affected as this continues. Already 10 million people in America are unemployed and they are expecting millions of more people. The shut down of the economy will hurt more people then the virus itself.

LACK OF DATA

This goes to show how important getting these test are.

“Without more testing, “there’s no way that you could set a time limit on when you could open up the economy,” said Simon Mongey, a University of Chicago economist who is among the authors of a new study that found that rapid deployment of randomized testing for the virus could reduce its health and economic damage”

Without having these tests the economist Simon Mongey has said that you can’t predict when the economy will open because of the lack of data on the virus. They have also found studies that believe with randomized tests will reduce its health and economic damages.

BIG QUESTIONS?

How will the US be able to support the unemployed and the businesses being shut down?

The policymakers will need to support the unemployment and businesses. This could look like them giving out unemployment benefits, payments to individuals, small business loans, and/or the government deploying money.

How are policymakers going to be able to support those who are on the line and have to continue working such as first responders, doctors, etc.?

Policy makers will need to give these workers more health care and protection. They believe the most important thing is the health and safety of these employees to stop the virus. This means they need affordable care for children, paid sick leaves, access to test for the virus, and good health coverage.

In conclusion, the shut down of the economy is very dangerous. It will leave millions unemployed and many small businesses to fail and close. With the help of policy makers hopefully people can be stable and reach employment and these businesses won't have to shut down. Until we get more test and data we won’t be able to have a good prediction of the pandemic impact. This leaves everyone wondering one question, what will happen next?

Thanks for listening! 

xoxo, Lucy White