Savings and Debt

I believe that when you start to spend more then you make that is when you need to cut your credit cards, even if you haven't maxed out. In the article if the couple would have calculated all the charges they made to their credit card they may not be in this predicament. Many people get into debt by not calculating the costs of the items they buy. Majority of the time they keep charging it and saying "I'll be getting my check in a week." which can be true but they don't focus on the amount they are getting. Finance charges were put in so that the companies who technically loan you the money first will get something in return for their services. However if you fail to pay it off first time around the charges build up and you eventually pay more with your credit card then if you have paid with your money.

Majority of the American people are in debt so they can't afford to save money, their busy paying off bills. The rest who are not in debt don't see the point in saving their money which gets them the most 5% which isn't a lot, compared to buying real estate. In general not only in America is saving rates declining, in France, Britain, Italy, Germany, and Japan all dropped.

Critique of GDP Podcasthttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

1.) How strong is the content of the podcast? Does it thoroughly explain GDP? (Link to the original GDP podcast lesson.)
2.) How is the recording? Is it loud, clear, and listenable?
3.) How are the images? Do they contribute to and match the verbal content?
4.) How effective is the style of the podcast? Is it interesting and creative; or not?
5.) Did you learn anything from the podcast? Is it educational?

I've decided to use Ronald and Richard's Podcast, right from the beginning the podcast caught my attention and kept it by being original. Although I had knew the information that was being presented the fact that it was different made me pay attention. It explained it fairly, the podcast itself was a little bit short compared to all others. The podcast is loud for anyone to hear and it is very ear catching. The images do match the information presented but a little more pictures would be better. The podcats is very creative and interesting it catches the visitor's attention. The style is very original I haven't seen another podcast like it. I didn't really learn alot because I had already knew the information but it was good re-explaination.

US Trade deficit: getting better?

The New York Time article is talking about the us decreasing the trade deficit and coming closer to bridging the gap that they got themselves into. A trade deficit is when a country has more imports then exports which makes the country lose any profit it makes from exporting. The trade deficit is morel ikely to go down in the future because of the weaker value of the dollar. As the value of the dollar decreases more companies will produce products here and swell abroad. The country is selling products such as shovels, engines, cars, poles to foreign countries. By having the value of the dollar less then it use to allows production to take place in america and not overseas.