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(11/25/15 4:58pm)
It’s November and in the world of cinema that means that the race for the Oscars has already begun. While some films look like they have been cooked up in a lab to bait Oscar voters (cough "Danish Girl," cough "Suffragette" cough), it really is the most wonderful time of the year.
(11/10/15 12:58am)
With more than a month and a half still to go until the end of the year, the only movie anyone seems to be talking about is “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” a film that some of my friends believe is going to be the “biggest cinematic event of the decade.”
(09/22/15 2:08am)
There has been a recent trend in the global economy. Many nations are moving towards a system of letting people keep their hard-earned money to spend as freely as they please.
(09/09/15 4:01am)
After seeing the latest personification of nostalgia-exploitation in the form of "Jurassic World," you can go to your nearest massive department store chain and buy a pre-faded "Iron Man" T-shirt that matches your "Avengers Assemble" backpack that’s carrying your "Star Wars" folders and notebooks.
(08/25/15 3:06am)
In recent months, there has been a fervent and passionate crusade against one of Hollywood’s all-time classics "Gone With The Wind" by contemporary critics for the film’s blatant romanticism of “the South’s lost cause” and the institution of slavery itself.
(04/28/15 2:39am)
When I heard that "2001: A Space Odyssey" was being re-released in the U.K. a few months ago, I will admit that I was completely jealous. "2001: A Space Odyssey" is the best movie of all time, and should be re-released in the U.S. as well. Before I begin my explanation as to why "2001: A Space Odyssey" is the best movie that has ever been made, here, for comparison, is a list of my top-10 favorite movies:
(04/21/15 3:47am)
On July 21, 2010, the Obama administration saw the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act take effect, much to the dismay of Republicans in both the house and the senate. The bill passed without one Republican vote in the House, with many conservative critics claiming that the 2,300-page bill was a worthless and dangerous expansion of the government’s regulatory powers on Wall Street.
(04/14/15 2:52am)
Wall Street is already looking forward to June: the time when the Federal Reserve will make its decision to either raise interest rates or keep them at their current levels. As of right now, the Fed has kept interest rates near 0 percent since December 2008, and it has not raised the rates since July 2006.
(04/07/15 3:58am)
Climate change is upon us, ladies and gentlemen, whether you believe that it is man-made or not. Icebergs are melting, the global temperature is increasing and greenhouse gases are eating away at the ozone. While it is clear that people must reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions, experts wonder at what expense it comes to the economy.
(03/31/15 3:33am)
It’s tax season, baby! (Cue explosions)
(03/24/15 4:46am)
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. A long time ago, (in a galaxy far, far away) the U.S. represented what was considered the shining, technological future. In the '50s and '60s, the most modern cities, the largest airports and the fastest cars dominated the landscape built on the back of FDR’s New Deal.
(03/17/15 12:39am)
The U.S. dollar now owns the world. Recent reports suggest that foreign countries have borrowed $9 trillion in U.S. currency, which is up from nearly $2 trillion in 2000. Such a dollar dominated global economy reflects with the recent plunging of the euro to near record lows, with the dollar rallying to a 12-year high against the European currency. A single euro is now worth just $1.06. In fact, the U.S. currency has risen about 24 percent against the other worldwide currencies since May. Around the world, China’s productivity and overall economic growth is slowing and the Euro is being hit hard by the European Central Bank’s new (and failing) bond-buying stimulus program which is having a very hard time trying to find investors, who end up looking elsewhere. As a result, they begin looking toward the greenback. The U.S. is having a job surge which is shattering expectations. The country added 295,000 jobs in February, reducing unemployment down to nearly 5.5 percent, continuing a nation-wide trend of adding 300,000 jobs a month over the last six months. This is one reason leading foreign investors to buy U.S. bonds enticed by higher returns. As a result, the U.S economy is seeing an increased demand of the dollar to a very robust high. This isn't necessarily a good thing. Usually a strong U.S. dollar is associated with a strong overall American economy. Despite that traditional wisdom, there are many negatives to the strong U.S. dollar that policymakers should be very concerned with.First and foremost, the biggest impact of a strong dollar is that U.S. exports will have a hard time selling their products priced in dollars. In fact, the current currency exchange situation only widens a trade gap between American and foreign companies. According to Paul Krugman, weak overseas currency like the euro, pound or yen makes foreign industry more competitive, as both their exports become cheap to sell worldwide and their imports become cheap to buy in overseas markets. In the meantime, the U.S. markets become less competitive as it is more costly for major American companies to export their products overseas. This is a direct result due to the rising cost of purchasing a product priced in strong American dollars. This means that the major companies are losing profits, leading to weaker and sluggish stocks that become less enticing to investors. According to Bloomberg Business, many companies are already complaining about this as the impact of a strong dollar is already hurting profits and competition. For example, Ford Motor Company has cited that that a weak yen gives Japanese automakers as much as $11,000 more profit per car. A strong dollar only ends up putting major pressure on American firms who expanded overseas in order to seek growth and profit but cannot keep up with dollar-based costs with shrinking sales. In general, the rising dollar is not good news for U.S. manufacturing as durable goods orders continue to fall for major companies. Export-based companies like Proctor and Gamble Co. have seen sales down by 4 percent and profit down by 31 percent, leading to a reduction of profits by $1.4 billion this year according to the Wall Street Journal. Other expanded American companies like Microsoft and Pfizer are reportedly also in danger of facing loses from the growing trade deficit.As the dollar becomes stronger and other currencies become weaker, the U.S. economy is in danger of slowing down again because of a potential trade deficit. Events this upcoming week and how the Federal Reserve acts in June should determine the long-term impact of the strong dollar on the American economy. Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.
(03/03/15 1:15am)
The idea of biofuels was once a lone bright light in an age dominated by fossil fuels and the omnipresence of global warming.
(02/24/15 12:18am)
Listen to me, Greece: Get the hell out of the Eurozone.With the crumbling state of Greece’s economy, returning to the drachma would be the best option for the country. The Greeks need the flexibility and strength of their own currency and exchange rate if they have any hope of recovering from this economic disaster. Greece must jump ship before things get bad for the European Union. The Union has been hurting the 27 member countries since monetary union came into full force in 2002. According to John Kallianiotis, a Professor at the University of Scranton, the euro has destroyed exports, foreign investments, tourism, shipping and many other activities. Current trends that include increasing taxes continue to hurt Greek citizens.Greece needs the ability to devalue its currency, which it cannot currently do being a part of the Eurozone. Because the value of the Euro is dominated by huge economies in Europe like Germany, France and Italy, according to the Vice President of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, the economic performance of a small economy like Greece has little effect on the value of the euro. If a country cannot devalue its own currency, then the country must go through years of austerity to even try to reach minimal levels of economic competitiveness again. Greece must leave the Euro to begin the path of economic recovery. In 2002, Argentina was facing a similar situation to what Greece is now: the South American country was in a severe recession that several rounds of fiscal austerity could not fix. This is because in 1991, the Argentinian government tied its currency to the American dollar as way to reduce hyperinflation. While the inflation problem was fixed, the country’s exchange rate hindered the government by leaving Argentina with little control of its own money supply. In fact, it only further slowed the economy. When the government tried to cut spending and raise taxes, the austerity only decreased growth. While the aftermath of devaluation in Argentina was disastrous immediately in 2001, just two years later the economy was in full recovery: unemployment had dropped by two-thirds, doubled output and tripled exports. The economic change resulted because, when Argentina devalued, the country began an economic outlook that focused on growth instead of a plan around austerity that only continues a cycle of struggling cuts and burdens. But yet, I fully understand that this could have devastating effect immediately on Greece. Returning to the drachma will be so difficult that the entire banking system could face severe consequences that include running out of liquidity. In fact, Greece, by devaluing and leaving the Euro, could have inflation skyrocket up to 50 percent. There is no doubt that leaving the Eurozone will both difficult and devastating, but it is necessary. If Greece continues down this current path, a prolonging of more austerity, low levels of economic productivity and very high unemployment will continue to hurt the Greek people. Inflexibility is the key to helping Greece’s economy woes. While there might be a period short-term harm, examples like Argentina show that a period of long-term economic recovery will be just over the horizon. Reach the columnist at ndsmit12@asu.edu or follow @noahsmith1996 on Twitter.Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.
(02/17/15 12:48am)
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was one of the most revolutionary of the New Deal alphabet soup, a bill Franklin Delano Roosevelt once claimed was the most important piece of legislation since the Social Security Act.In today’s U.S., the FLSA establishes minimum wage, youth employment standards, record-keeping and overtime. It is the very foundation of workers' rights in every form of industry, public or private.Yet, despite being one of the most important bills ever passed in U.S. history, a specific part of the bill promotes a discrimination wage setting that affects thousands of workers across the U.S. After many failed attempts such as the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013, the resolution of this issue must be made a priority by the Obama administration.Section 14(c) of the FLSA gives public and private employers the ability to obtain special certificates from the Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division that allow them to compensate workers with disabilities at rates below minimum wage based on the individual’s level of productivity.For more than 70 years, this section of the FLSA has legally allowed large corporations to pay workers with disabilities rates that are far below the standard of minimum as long as they have a certificate from the state government. According to ThinkProgress.org, it is estimated that 420,000 U.S. citizens with disabilities are employed under the 14(c) wage certificate. The same study indicates that nearly 95 percent of these citizens are also employed in “work center” that employ larger numbers of people with disabilities.According to a Forbes article, Goodwill came under scrutiny two years ago for paying its workers with disabilities as little as 22 cents, 38 cents and 41 cents an hour. This makes Section 14(c) inherently flawed: It only applies specifically to workers with disabilities, creating the notion that workers are less productive because of disabilities and mental illnesses.As a result, Section 14(c) of the FLSA has created disturbing trends among Americans with disabilities and mental illnesses. The National Council on Disability has found that Americans with disabilities are about three times as likely to live in poverty and only 18 percent of the disabled participate in the work force. The Obama administration has heard this issue before and has taken steps to currently address it. An Executive Order for Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces in 2014 stated that all individuals working under service or concessions contracts within the federal government will be covered by wage protections. But, according to Fortune, the problem is that this executive order only applies to a small population of people and federal contracted workers already frequently have the ability to make more than the minimum wage.Then there is the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013 which had the potential of ending this exploitation of Americans by repealing Section 14(c) and allowing individuals to no longer have to work in sub-minimum wage workshops. The bill stated that corporations and businesses would have three years to enact models and business structures that would instead have the ability to assist individuals with disabilities with finding more competitive jobs at stronger, healthier wages by repealing wage certificates.There is only one problem. As much as the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013 sounds like a good idea, it died in Congress. Again, Fortune reports that the bill, which was sponsored by Republican Gregg Harper of Mississippi, only had 62 co-sponsors in the 113th session of Congress. That means that it did not have enough support to even merit a committee vote. GovTrack had it at an 8 percent chance of making it pass the committee at the time. The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act is a great way to solve the problems of the FLSA, but Congress must first give it a chance in this new session if U.S. citizens with disabilities hope to have any chances at protection from sub-minimum wage. Reach the columnist at ndsmit12@asu.edu or follow @noahsmith1996 on Twitter.Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.
(02/10/15 12:02am)
Throughout the country, the price of health insurance is going up. The prices on the federal health exchange are reaching amounts that are forcing people in areas of the country to pay as much as 20 percent in higher premiums if they are unable to find a different policy.In order to combat rising prices across the country, the logical step for the federal government would be to allow for interstate compacts for health insurance that allow consumers and employers to purchase health insurance across state borders. Almost anything, including Waylon Jennings CDs, life insurance, Colorado Avalanche jerseys, bank accounts, Monty Python movies on Blu-ray, stocks and bonds, Marvel comic books and even George R.R. Martin novels can be purchased across state borders. Is health insurance so radically different from other financial products that Americans should be barred from purchasing it across state lines and regulations? Right now, according to Forbes, there are only state markets, many infested by iron-clad near-monopolies that routinely avoid getting caught with offering lower quality insurance at higher premiums.This is why a national market of health insurance is something that must happen. Imagine insurers building multi-state plans around ones that share borders and similar demographics and economic characteristics. This creates larger risk pools that lessen volatility of health-care spending and administrative costs. The result is more people buying insurance on their own. According to the Heritage Foundation, interstate insurance competition would create a system that promotes consumer choice in health care, reduces cost and enhances competitive innovation because officials from different states have the ability to cooperate with each other. The benefits of the national market will have great impacts in individual states. According to a study done by health economists at the University of Minnesota, a national market would increase health coverage by 49 percent in New Jersey and 22 percent in New York, two states with some of the toughest regulations on buying health care, such as guaranteed-issue and community rating laws. This is because people are not forced to buy policies covering things that they do need because of state regulations.The same Forbes article points out instances where health insurance policies in Massachusetts must cover at least 49 specified treatments and types of providers. If one does not want or need all 49 of those treatments and providers because it raises the price of the package, currently they cannot buy plans in Michigan which only has 24 treatments.People should have the right to choose where to buy insurance, whether it is from inside or outside the state. It is clear that allowing consumers to buy health insurance across state lines will increase competition, helping reduce the escalating prices of current health care premiums. There should be little to no worry about a “race to the bottom” where states that abandon any sort of consumer protections would attract the most outside business. How can Congress sit there and continue to deny people the ability to buy more affordable insurance policies? It's not right. Reach the columnist at ndsmit12@asu.edu or follow @noahsmith1996 on Twitter.Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.
(02/03/15 1:39am)
We all know that the U.S. election system is a little funky. From the strange electoral college, to unknown super PACs, to large amounts of dark money, there are many things to complain about when it comes to choosing this country’s leaders. The most disturbing element, though, of the election system is the very existence of gerrymandering. After each census, each and every state goes through the process of reapportionment of district lines which comes as a result of a rule where every district must contain the same number of voters. So thus, movements in the state’s population mean that states must redraw district boundaries and lines. Gerrymandering, as a result, is the manipulation of district lines for political advantage of one party or class. Prominently, here in the U.S. there is both partisan gerrymandering and racial gerrymandering. When participating in partisan gerrymandering, the dominant party in the state comes up with the district lines to give the edge to their current incumbents and to grab as many potential future seats as possible. That means, in the U.S.-representation-for-all election system (cue eagles now), Democrats have the ability to eliminate a previous district where Republicans had a majority of the vote and instead make two new districts, splitting up the conservative vote. Now the conservatives now have only half the percent of voters in each, giving the edge to the Democrats. That process is known as “cracking."Another strategy of gerrymandering that makes our forefathers turn over in their respective graves is known as “packing." This is a strategy where an opposing party will draw lines in order concentrate as many voters of the opposing party as possible into one district; that gives the opposing party only the chance to win one seat, where if they were spread around in other districts, they would have a greater chance of winning more seats.According to an article done by Freedom House, many of today’s legislative districts, especially in the House of Representatives, do not contain communities, but instead conglomerates of groups of people who have the same color of skin, same level of wealth, same political agendas, same sort of jobs, and similar voting habits.Racial gerrymandering is the forming of prominently minority districts throughout a state, usually used when the dominate party in the state are the Democrats. While it has made it easier for minorities to win political seats in the house, it comes with its consequences. According to the Wall Street Journal, too many black voters have been packed into a handful of districts, which means a dilution of black voters elsewhere. The fear is that the creation of majority black districts has steered U.S. democracy toward a trend of ghettoized politics and racial demagogy. According to a professor of political science at Mount Holyoke, some states like California, Texas, Kentucky and Indiana have become infamous for gerrymandering. For example, gerrymandering has become so ridiculous that state Democrats in California designed a district for an incumbent that had 385 sides. Just check out this map of Congressional District 12 in North Carolina.It is obvious that the existence of gerrymandering is hurting the democratic integrity of the U.S. election process. The elimination of this outdated process will reduce the presence of extremes in the U.S. democratic system and move overall U.S. democracy in the right direction. It won’t fix everything such as the Electoral College and influence of dark money, but given the state of the election process today, anything will be a major improvement. Reach the columnist at ndsmit12@asu.edu or follow @noahsmith1996 on Twitter.Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.
(01/27/15 1:24am)
I am personally offended by these accusations against the New England Patriots over the deflation of footballs in the Patriots' victory over the Colts in the AFC title game, which has been sensationalized into one of the biggest sports stories over of the past year. How dare people accuse such a noble and honest organization of doing something that so distasteful: cheating! Bill Belichick is the best and only role model in the NFL for demonstrating what it means to lead with honorable integrity and ethical maturity due to his outstanding track record.
(01/20/15 12:35am)
In his new State of the Union address, the President plans to introduce several new economic proposals that are designed to create revenue to pay for a series of breaks toward boosting stagnant middle and low incomes. One such proposal would raise the current capital gains tax from its current level of 23.8 percent to 28 percent, which the administration is hoping could raise around $320 billion in the next 10 years to fund these tax credits for the middle and low class.
(01/13/15 12:10am)
I think that it is fair to say that not many young people give a second thought about politics. Today’s youth are more likely to vote for their favorite singers in "American Idol" or "The Voice" rather than their nation’s president. According to a political science professor at the University of Illinois, there are students in his classes who are not even aware of the three branches of government. He is worried that too many people rely on campaign ads and Internet information for political knowledge.