Macroecenomics
Ask anyone; the biggest nightmare out there is unemployment. It’s something that no one ever wants to face in their lifetime. It effects not only their sleep and dreams, but their reality as well, which makes it worse than other nightmares. It effects how you live, how you eat, how you are able to present yourself to others, and so much more. You need money to function in this modern day world and you need a job in order to get that money. Unemployment also alters the economy. With more people unemployed, less money is filtered through to the government because people are trying to save their money and buy less.
Being unemployed changes everything. “Unemployment occurs when an individual is without a job, or work, or is not actively seeking a job,” according to Wikipedia’s article broaching the subject. No real solution has been created to cure, or stop unemployment because the causes of unemployment stem out from so many different problems, both personal and economical. An example of a personal affair dealing with unemployment would be that while an employer cannot just simply fire you, in most cases, they can begin to make the workplace uncomfortable so you leave or wish to leave.
An economical example would be like during times of recession, where unemployment rates are incredibly low, employers do not have the means of supporting a certain number of employees and are forced to let some of them go. There are also several different types of unemployment, the two main versions being structural and frictional. Structural Unemployment is based upon structural problems concerning the economy and different variations of supply and demand. While no real causes have been solidified, arguments blame disruptive technology and globalization.
Frictional Unemployment focuses on voluntary decisions by an individual to work. Entry wages and wage rates are often the largest factor that effects the decision to take a job or not to. But nowadays, structural unemployment is the most common form of unemployment in the U. S. In January, the unemployment rate increased to 7. 9%. The unemployment rate is calculated by taking the number of the unemployed and dividing it by the labor force. Then you times it by a hundred and you get the percentage of unemployment, or the unemployment rate. President Obama’s expensive “stimulus” plan was supposed to bring that number down to 5. % by now, but it hasn’t. The economic state isn’t improving and, in the article U. S. Unemployment: Our Long Economic Nightmare Continues, it is stated that the economic growth isn’t growing at all. There is something seriously wrong with our economy today, but economists can’t understand what it is or how to fix it. No one person can directly effect the economy so little changes must be made in order for the economy to get better at all. Like stated in the book, losing a job can be the most distressing economic event in a person’s life.
People rely on earnings from work to maintain their standard of living. Losing a job can create problems concerning both the present and the future. It lowers your standard of living and you struggle to make ends meet. It creates anxiety about the future, about how things will pan out, and about how it will effect the other members of your immediate family. Losing a job can even lower your self esteem. Bringing in money and contributing to the pay of important necessities, like bills or food items or clothing, can bring about a sense of personal accomplishment to an individual.
The normal rate of unemployment in which the rate is able to fluctuate is called the natural rate of unemployment, while the deviation of unemployment from it’s natural rate is called cyclical unemployment. The normal rate of unemployment and cyclical unemployment effect the rates of unemployment each year. No matter what we do, there is always some version or form of unemployment, even if the economy is doing really, really well. There are four different reasons for this. First off, it takes time for unemployed individuals to search for find jobs that are suited towards their ideal way of living and to their standard means of living.
Another reason there is always unemployment fluctuating within an economy is that the number of jobs available may be insufficient to give a job to everyone, everyone who wants a job, that is. When the quantity of work exceeds the amount demanded, this particular example occurs. The third reason is the availability of jobs and the best way to search for them. Although we have been gifted with the Internet, we still struggle to to find jobs. The last problem is Unemployment Insurance. While they may not necessarily mean to, the program increases the amount of frictional unemployment. My dad lost his job last summer.
He’d been working for the company for years, but due to the economy, his position wasn’t viewed as a necessity and they ended up letting him go. It was horrible because we went from living well below our means to living well above. Our only income was a teacher’s salary, which isn’t much for a family of five. The first week of unemployment was spent in shock. My dad, mom, and I sat at the kitchen table and discussed possible outcomes and solutions to our newest problem. While my dad searched for jobs at home on the computer, I did house work and yard work for our neighbors to help bring in some kind of income.
It was so stressful. We couldn’t just go out to eat anymore, we had to actually cook because it was cheaper. Books, movies, things that we could just run out and get when we were bored couldn’t happen anymore. Before we did anything, took any kind of trip, we had to plan out exactly how much everything would cost. It really changed me and the perspective I had on life. In a few years, I will be moving out on my own and it will be up to me to make sure I have enough money to live comfortably. Like when my dad was unemployed, I will have to watch every penny like a hawk and make sure my money is well spent.
It’s challenging and something everyone will witness at some point in their lifetime, whether it effects them directly or they are watching from the sidelines. It really is America’s most common and largest nightmare.
Works Cited
- “Unemployment. ” Wikipedia. N. p. , 01 Feb 2013. Web. 6 Feb 2013. ;http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/
- Unemployment;. Woodhill, Louis. “U. S. Unemployment: Our Long Economic Nightmare Continues. ” Forbes. N. p. , 05 Feb 2013. Web. 6 Feb 2013. ;http://www. forbes. com/sites/louiswoodhill/2013/02/05/u-s-unemployment-our-long-economic-nightmare-continues/;.
