Obama plans high-speed rail in US

President Obama is planing on building a high-speed rail system in America. The implementation of this plan would create many jobs . One question that comes into my mind is which Americans are willing to do these type of blue collar jobs however unemployment will cause many people to evalute their situation and will have to make do with what ever job they can get.

America in comparison to other developed countries is behind in transportation. For example Spain and Japan has trains that travel from city to city with speeds of 240km/h. In my opinion the long term benefits will be far greater than the short term. The long term benfits will enable America to cut down on congested traffic which according President Obama, "Our highways are clogged with traffic, costing us $80 billion a year in lost productivity and wasted fuel." If these numbers are accurate I believe the government should invest in building a railway system. The Railway system will provide many jobs in the short term and in the long term the railway system will provide efficiency.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8003077.stm

Carmaker Ford cuts debt by $9.9bn

One of the three major automobile manufacturers, Ford, has not requested or has received any bailout money. The company has decided to weather out the current economic times by managing themselves more efficiently. They have reduced there debt by $9.9 billion dollars from their $25.8 billion dollars causing their share price to increase by 16%. I believe that Ford is taking the right steps by reducing their debt so that they can look at the long term growth. The consumer would also be happier if they saw Ford survive without the assistance of the government whereas the other two American automobile makers were not able to manage themselves efficiently. Shareholders main concern is to make sure the company survives and that the share value increases. As the company is waiting for the economy to turn around the company is getting rid of debt which would reduce interest risk. Clearly, Ford is taking necessary steps to please the shareholders and consumers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7986272.stm

Interview betwwen John Stewart and Jim Cramer

I was watching the interview between John Stewart from the daily show and Jim Cramer from the show on MSNBC called Fast Money. Normally the daily show is funny but this interview was serious and to the point. The point John Stewart was trying to get across was that as a financial channel like MSNBC should be trying to find out the truth and have credible evidence shown to the American public. After watching this episode, John Stewart talked about not messing with the peoples 401K's which would be invested in the markets. On Jim Cramer's show, he gives financial advice to the people. Most people should do their own research but most people probably that watch the show are influenced by it. As a wealty financial manger it could be easy to tell some to spend money on one stock and sell another. I believe that it should be a reponsibility for a finacial channel to find and research information before publishing it on television.

Obama anger at AIG bonus payouts

AIG came into criticism by President Barack Obama when they disclosed their information on paying bonuses to their executives. The government has provided AIG with a bailout to help the current economy, not to provide thier executives with a hefty bonus. As a taxpayer I am happy to see the government looking into cases where top executives are getting these fancy bonuses. Currently in this economic state I feel there is no reason for any executives to get texpayers money to meet there contractul demands. If the current executives are at fault they definately should not be paid any bonuses. I feel it is AIG's responsibility to know in this current economic state that taxpayers money should be going in the right places and not into high paying executives. I believe the government should only intervene if they feel AIG is not being responsible with their bailout package.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7945774.stm

Who is to blame for the current economic state?

The current economic state stems from mistakes made by different sectors of the business world. I believe it started off with people wanting to live the American dream by owning their own house. Banks were quite happy in gibing out loans to people that they knew that could not afford them. All these mortgages were then bundled up as CDOs. These were then sold to investors that were looking to make an investment. These CDOs were sold to many people that did not even know what they were. Selling these CDOs brought in revenue and as long as the housing market increased in value the banks were happy.

This is just an overview on some areas at fault for the current economic state. The people, banks, government and even analysts that could of seen potential of this happening are at fault. There has been careless mistakes made by different areas where someone should be held accountable.

Airlines Slash Fares to Fill Up Empty Seats

Another industry hit by the current economy is the airline industry. In 2008 when gas prices were at record high prices the airline industry cut down several thousand jobs. The airline industry was hoping that with lower oil prices the airline industry would turnaround however with the current economic state, people are not traveling causing airline industries to cut their airline fares. I believe that the airline industry has to cut fares to get people to fly. People are choosing to drive to their locations instead of flying. The American public are just more conservative. I believe their will be some good deals this summer which several people will enjoy but the airline industry will suffer.

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106694/Airlines-Slash-Fares-to-Fill-Up-Empty-Seats

US car sales plunge in February

Their is more bad news for the automobile industry. The current recession has caused the American people from spending money on automobiles. The sales for "GM's sales plummeted 53% in February from a year earlier, Ford's fell 48%, Toyota's dropped 40% and Nissan's declined 37%"(bbc). From these statistics it is obvious that it is not just American companies that are suffering but the whole industry in general. The current job security in America has caused Americans to fear spending money. The American people would rather hold onto their money until they feel safer to spend. Now all the companies are looking for funding of some type to combat the current economic crisis.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7920379.stm