http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/01/23/f-money-minimum-wage.html
Summary
The purpose of minimum wage is to provide work for those who are unskilled or non-unionized and also to prevent undercutting. In the 19th century, there was no minimum wage throughout the country. However, by 1912, over 100,000 workers belonged in a union which helped the workers lead to the creation of minimum wage in 1918. By 1960, all of Canada had minimum wage. Today, the minimum wage rate varies partially by inflation and by an ad-hoc basis. Exception to minimum wage in Canada varies, including the self-employed, students in training programs, and more. There is a large amount of people who depend on minimum wage, and they are barely getting by. According to Campaign 2000, 45% of low income children live in a family where at least one parent worked full-time. Some say the solution can be to increase the minimum wage. However, it can lead to job cuts. Others say that it is not a matter of increasing the wage, but rather to provide wage supplements.
Connection
Chapter 16 discusses about payroll and the procedures of how to record it into journal entries. In the article, wages are discussed in more detail. The article talks about minimum wage, something that is not discussed in the text book. Wages are for people with "blue-collar" jobs, meaning people who perform manual labour, such as construction workers and farmers. Minimum wage is the same thing, but the pay is the lowest amount paid by the employer to make sure the person can have a decent living. However, people who make a living with minimum wage can barely make a living, let alone a decent one.
Reflection
For people who are barely getting by on minimum wage, I think raising the wage is not a healthy solution. If the minimum wage increases, small businesses would want to hire less employees and have the employers work more than they should to compensate the amount of work that would be needed from the person who could have gotten a position if the minimum wage did not increase. Because this possible solution can produce these consequences, it can worsen the economy. As a solution, I think the people who are unable to make a decent living with minimum wage should look for social welfare. Furthermore, they should be educated in learning how to invest and save to be able to earn a decent living.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Ch 15: Christmas in April as profits rebound
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=2785590
Summary
Next week is the first quarter for earning reports. The markets for North America should be optimistic this year for a few reasons. Goods and services are increasing, the demand for products are rising, and inventory is pretty low. For the United States, the mean average gain of the S&P 500 for the first quarter earnings is expected to be 36%. It sounds good, but the reason why the index predicts that it will be doing well is because it was doing poorly for the previous year. Furthermore, it is not the mean average gain that should be looked at, but rather the median average gain. The median average gain for the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Companies is 10.2% and it is because of "materials, energy, technology, and industrial sectors as well as financial services." For Canada, we are doing much better. Our top 60 companies (includes the "gold, base metal, and energy companies") has a median average gain of around 18.2%. Since the first quarter annual reports will likely be good results, it will lead to other good news, such as dividend increases.
Connection
This article is related to Chapter 15 because it talks of how well the market is performing. When a market performs well, many will want to invest in certain companies. S&P 500 and 30 Dow Jones are reputable companies that investors take into account when deciding what companies to invest in because they are outsiders who analyze and study financial strengths of companies. When they talk of mean average gains and median average gains which are going up, people see a bright future and will want to invest in these companies' analyses that have good results.
Reflection
The future seems bright, but if I wanted to invest in a business or company, I would not depend or confide completely on the indexes like S&P 500 and 30 Dow Jones, despite their reputation. In 2002, Enron was part of the S&P 500, and it led to over $1.3 billion dollars lost for those who invested in the company because they made a sudden file for bankruptcy. However, I would want to invest in a few companies under the S&P or Dow Jones because the overall performance of the market is doing well.
Summary
Next week is the first quarter for earning reports. The markets for North America should be optimistic this year for a few reasons. Goods and services are increasing, the demand for products are rising, and inventory is pretty low. For the United States, the mean average gain of the S&P 500 for the first quarter earnings is expected to be 36%. It sounds good, but the reason why the index predicts that it will be doing well is because it was doing poorly for the previous year. Furthermore, it is not the mean average gain that should be looked at, but rather the median average gain. The median average gain for the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Companies is 10.2% and it is because of "materials, energy, technology, and industrial sectors as well as financial services." For Canada, we are doing much better. Our top 60 companies (includes the "gold, base metal, and energy companies") has a median average gain of around 18.2%. Since the first quarter annual reports will likely be good results, it will lead to other good news, such as dividend increases.
Connection
This article is related to Chapter 15 because it talks of how well the market is performing. When a market performs well, many will want to invest in certain companies. S&P 500 and 30 Dow Jones are reputable companies that investors take into account when deciding what companies to invest in because they are outsiders who analyze and study financial strengths of companies. When they talk of mean average gains and median average gains which are going up, people see a bright future and will want to invest in these companies' analyses that have good results.
Reflection
The future seems bright, but if I wanted to invest in a business or company, I would not depend or confide completely on the indexes like S&P 500 and 30 Dow Jones, despite their reputation. In 2002, Enron was part of the S&P 500, and it led to over $1.3 billion dollars lost for those who invested in the company because they made a sudden file for bankruptcy. However, I would want to invest in a few companies under the S&P or Dow Jones because the overall performance of the market is doing well.
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