Biggest Problem Facing America Today

Apparently, amongst the problematic crises, America faces today, none is as severe as economic instability. The inflation, balance of payment crisis and the credit crunch is evidence of the lack of uncertainty. It is a unique problem as it impacts on all persons in the United States. The economy today is strained as the output growth is not equal to the rate of inflation experienced. The adjustment of the rates of capital tax gain to be aligned with the rates of income tax would significantly enhance the economic stability of America.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

So many people are unemployed in the US. The high rate of unemployment experienced has been mainly blamed on the moribund economic growth being experienced in the US as of the financial crisis worldwide (Lenaerts et al. 7). The jobs may be available, but there are not sufficiently well-paying jobs. This is because only an act of Congress can raise the minimum wage and many workers continue receiving the same salaries or become poorer over time. The payments do not match the demands due to the economy. Over the previous several months, the rate of unemployment has increased dramatically. Many complications have been created for the people of America. Until we get the economy to the track it is supposed to be on; there is a long way to go. This happens to be so in spite of the millions of job opportunities created in the near past. The job growth is a relief. There are, however, a higher percentage of people still unemployed. These are billions of people left to fend for themselves with no means of doing so.

The US government has been under pressure to bring up new policies which will help the economic boost to create more employment opportunities for the unemployed in the United States (Baker et al. 1598). There was a decline in the rate of unemployment since the introduction of a package of economic stimulus by President Barack Obama. The number of new job opportunities before the financial disaster strike the entire world, with the US not being an exemption lowered significantly. The United States is faced with the problem of poverty due to low paying jobs or the lack of employment. This keeps getting worse every day and not enough is being done about it. The system is to blame as the social programs such as the welfare and social security offer minimal amounts of money to help the poor.

There are massive slums in the inner US cities. The capitalists are however investing in company shares and engaging in charity works in Africa instead of uplifting these types of areas (Pryer 50). It is admirable of them to venture in charity and be ambitious by opting for share gains, but their investment in the country would stabilise the economy and be a win-win situation for all. The government and the citizens, inclusive of the one's poverty-stricken.

Poverty is correlated with poor education, unemployment, low salaries, single parenting and environmental problems such as floods and droughts. The lack of proper institutions which provide students with an excellent educational background limits them from attaining a better future with a well-paying job(Barker 1601). Retrenchment and loss of employment due to sickness cause a downfall in the economy. There thus comes no contribution from those who are unemployed. The lousy economy may also be the reason for the loss of jobs when companies are forced to have fewer workers due to the prevailing economic situation.

The health issue is of concern in the US. The current economic crisis has a significant impact on the decisions people make regarding their health. This is about their healthcare expenditure. This instability has caused a strain for people across the sectors: the unemployed employed and retired persons. The ones working and retired are often forced to forego basic needs with those more financially stable feeling the pressure although still being able to access health care. The increasing cost of healthcare and decreasing security towards economic stability causes a strain even to people who were once financially secure. The societal view that nature provides a priceless life is now changing as now they require capital to sustain that life. Life now has a price tag on it. This has caused a tremendous dilemma mostly to those who suffer from chronic illnesses such as cancer. The healthcare spending annually in the U.S caters for a vast portion of the care of these patients.

The citizens are malnourished and are becoming insulin resistant due to the processed food they intake. The United States spends over 3 trillion dollars each year on health care, and yet it ranks among 17 developed nations in health and mortality. The cost of staying at a hospital in the US is very high today, with a large percentage of physicians reporting burnout. The overly regulated health care system accounts for this, with patients incurring more costs trickled down to them. The access to proper healthcare as aimed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) becomes strained as the patients are unable to cater for the additional costs (Dieleman et al. 2630).

War has had an impact on the economy profoundly over history. Persons who won the war have significantly shaped the economic institution and the patterns of trade. Technological developments have been influenced by conflicts as well. Persistent war has however disrupted markets, drained wealth and mostly lowered the economic growth in the U.S. The cost of wars is high. This is regarding money and resources such as technology. They are very destructive of capital and human welfare and disruptive on the availability of funds, labour and trade. The larger a war is, the more severe the shock to the participating countries is (Stiglitz 45). War impedes economic growth generally, despite having some positive short-term to long-term rebuilding of destruction made. For a long time now, the United States has valued the dominance of the globe over its own people's welfare. The US spending pie chart is evidence to the priorities they take.

The population in the US is rapidly growing. The unsustainable growth of the economy is attached to the untenable lifestyle in the world today (Summers 67). It becomes clear that we are on a misguided mission each day. The pursuit of continuous development in the economy is not a disarming plan for permanent prosperity. Yes, structuring a better economy makes sense but the aim of always doing that at the cost of people is however unfair.

Therefore, the government considers enforcing a noteworthy change in the calculation of investments in real estate, business gains, and stocks. I believe it is a remarkable economic sense to the index capital gains to inflation. An optimisation of investment decisions would be made by acknowledging that the economic value is changed by inflation. These gains would encourage more long-term planning, and efficiency of the economy would be on the rise (Zwick and James 219). The problem of unemployment, poverty and healthcare burden shall thus be eased upon stabilising the economy.

Works Cited

Baker, Scott R., Nicholas Bloom, and Steven J. Davis. "Measuring economic policy uncertainty." The Quarterly Journal of Economics 131.4 (2016): 1593-1636. Retrieved from http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/64986/1/dp1379.pdf

Dieleman, Joseph L., et al. "US spending on personal health care and public health, 1996-2013." Jama 316.24 (2016): 2627-2646.doi:10.1001/jama.2016.16885Summers, Lawrence H. "US economic prospects: Secular stagnation, hysteresis, and the zero lower bound." Business Economics 49.2 (2014): 65-73. Retrieved from https://pages.wustl.edu/files/pages/imce/fazz/summers_sec_stag.pdf

Lenaerts, Karolien, Felix Paquier, and Suzanne Simonetta. Unemployment Insurance in America: A model for Europe?. CEPS, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.ceps.eu/system/files/PI2017-23_KL%20et%20al%20EUBS.pdf.

Pryer, Jane A. Poverty and vulnerability in Dhaka slums: the urban livelihoods study. Routledge, 2017.

Stiglitz, Joseph E. "How to restore equitable and sustainable economic growth in the United States." American Economic Review 106.5 (2016): 43-47. Retrieved from https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.p20161006.

Zwick, Eric, and James Mahon. "Tax policy and heterogeneous investment behavior." American Economic Review 107.1 (2017): 217-48.Retrived from https://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/course131/zwick-mahonAER17.pdf