Economics During Trump Era

Whether you like it or not, Donald Trump is the new U.S. president. It is hard to predict how the American economy will flourish under his leadership. As early as now, though, economists think that Trump’s take on immigration, budget, and trade do not make sense.

Soon dubbed as “Trumponomics”, the public was excited about his economic plans. But economists are worried and anxious since the changes he has in mind has a big impact on the country’s economy. CNBC shared this story.

American business economists think that President Donald Trump's effort to restrict immigration is a bad idea.

And they think the current health insurance system should be replaced by one that gives consumers more choice and control, with tax credits to support the cost of insurance.

Those are the findings of a survey of some 285 economists released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics.

The group also thinks Trump's proposal to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement is a step in the wrong direction.

Roughly 7 in 10 of those surveyed said the U.S. should set up import barriers only "occasionally and tactically, when vital industries are threatened by unfair trade practices." Another 27 percent said there should "never" be barriers to entry of imports to the U.S.

(Via: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/06/economists-think-trump-is-wrong-on-budget-trade-obamacare-and-immigration.html)

The economy is in a better shape now than it did eight years ago when former President Obama assumed office but Trump has even bolder plans to make America great again. He may have high hopes in repealing Obamacare but the Republicans are struggling in replacing it with a better health care law. Meanwhile, his other policies focus on infrastructure and tax reform.

In short, while investor confidence in the Trump administration's pro-growth philosophy remains high, doubts are beginning to emerge about its implementation. Investors are beginning to ask how potentially conflicting priorities can be resolved. Those concerns are only likely to be assuaged when specific, growth-friendly legislation in areas such as taxation, deregulation and infrastructure spending makes headway in Congress. And that typically requires presidential leadership.

Our view is that market trends that began to emerge in the second-half of 2016 are likely to persist, albeit more gradually. U.S. and global growth continue to improve. Inflation appears to have bottomed in the U.S. , Japan and much of Europe, but is only likely to rise at a gradual pace. China continues to grow steadily, even if its imbalances remain unaddressed. Recessions are giving way to better growth prospects in Russia and Brazil.

(Via: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/07/will-politics-trump-economics.html)

Trump does not only implement his America first policy within the U.S. but even on free trade too. He initially planned to break trade agreements previously made to other countries like China but fortunately has not acted upon them yet. If so, it can likely lead to a trade war where no one wins and everyone suffers and make other places no longer hospitable to Americans. For instance, European countries like Austria will see the U.S. in a negative light and affect trade relations between both countries.

Trump’s new protectionism—putting America first—will not help those he claims to speak for, and it will not help the economy as a whole. It will give us a country whose influence in the world is by far diminished. The world will become a less-friendly place, either in support of our values or of our interests. The U.S. was able to play the role of leader of the free world partly because of the size of our economy and of our military forces, but partly also because we were trusted. Others recognized that, in the end, we would do what was in our self-interest—no American president could do otherwise—but we took an enlightened and long-term view of what “self-interest” meant. In announcing his “America first” policy, Trump is, in effect, announcing that we will be selfish and shortsighted—a country that cannot be trusted to honor past commitments and therefore cannot be trusted to honor future ones.

(Via: http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/donald-trump-china-economics-trade)

Economics is a tricky topic since nothing stays absolutely constant. Moreso, bad economic policies can significantly affect relationships with other countries, something that is looming on the horizon if the new U.S. president acts the way he does in business and during the last election. Even areas of culture and the arts may be affected. We can only cross our fingers and hope that President Trump stays level headed before making any drastic economic policies that can backlash with a vengeance.

The blog post Economics During Trump Era was first published on The IPAC Blog

source https://ipaction.org/blog/economics-during-trump-era/

Obamacare No More: Say Hello To The New Health Care Act

Cliché as it may seem, health is wealth. However, it probably works the other way around now. You need to be wealthy to be healthy. It's a sad reality for millions of Americans right now. It is every person’s right to have good health along with some other basic rights like the right to life, food, and shelter. Unfortunately, you may fall ill at times and compromise the state of your health.

Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, has been in effect for the past two terms of former President Barack Obama. The unexpected win of President Donald Trump spawned the creation of the long-awaited House Republican bill that is set to change the American economy. No longer will healthcare cover more Americans but it will also benefit more of the rich than those from the poorer classes.

With Republicans now controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, the bill would drive government policy down routes long advocated by conservatives. The course correction would take at least two years to get rolling, and probably longer to show definitive results. If it falls short, it would give rise to a fresh set of health care grievances.

The Republican legislation would limit future federal funding for Medicaid, which covers low-income people, about 1 in 5 Americans. And it would loosen rules that former President Barack Obama's law imposed for health plans directly purchased by individuals, while also scaling back insurance subsidies.

(Via: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/gop-bill-settle-passionate-health-care-debate-45955892)

Despite Republican claims of bringing in a new and better health care law in place, many Democrats see it as a cruel attempt to deprive Americans of reasonable health care. Will people now support hypnosis research in treating temporomandibular disorder (TMD) if the government will no longer help you pay for its treatment?

It is a risky gamble for the GOP. If you’re curious as to what this new bill covers, vox.com got it covered:

Some of Obamacare’s signature features are gone immediately, such as the tax on people who don’t purchase health care. Other protections, including the ban on discriminating people with pre-existing conditions and the provision that allows young adults to stay on their parents’ plan through age 26, would survive.

The plan maintains the Medicaid expansion — for now. The Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid to cover millions of low-income Americans. And, in a big shift from previous drafts of the legislation, which ended Medicaid expansion immediately, this bill would continue to that coverage expansion through January 1, 2020. At that point, enrollment would “freeze,” and legislators expect enrollees would drop out of the program as their incomes change.

The replacement plan benefits people who are healthy and high-income, and disadvantages those who are sicker and lower-income. The replacement plan would make several changes to what health insurers can charge enrollees who purchase insurance on the individual market, as well as changing what benefits their plans must cover. In aggregate, these changes could be advantageous to younger and healthier enrollees who want skimpier (and cheaper) benefit packages. But they could be costly for older and sicker Obamacare enrollees, who rely on the law’s current requirements.

The bill looks a lot more like Obamacare than previous drafts. A curious thing has happened to the Republican replacement plan as it has evolved through multiple drafts: it has begun to look more and more like Obamacare itself. The bill keeps some key features of Obamacare, like giving more help to lower-income Americans and the Medicaid expansion, around in a scaled-back form. This speaks to how entrenched the health care law has become since its enactment 7 years ago, and how difficult it will be for the GOP to repeal it entirely.

A lot of people are already not happy that these changes are taking place and are demanding reform. But with the Republican party having the upper hand right now, we can all expect to see them try to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something of their own making.

It is not good news for many that the party attempts to force the majority of Americans to pay for more expensive healthcare while many more lose their health insurance coverage in the process.

Now, if the government can’t look after the health of its citizens and makes it harder for many to afford care, what else can we expect in the next four years? After all, President Trump is the most powerful man in all of America.

The following article Obamacare No More: Say Hello To The New Health Care Act was originally published to IPAction.org

source https://ipaction.org/blog/obamacare-no-more-say-hello-to-the-new-health-care-act/

Damaged Hard Drive? No Problem!

With many of today’s population now owning a gadget or two, many files have also gone digital. You no longer need to hoard piles upon piles of documents nor spend money on getting documents typed and printed for you. You can save files in different formats and save them directly on your computer, or in the cloud, so you can access it using whatever device you have, or even in a handy flash drive you can always bring with you.

Sometimes, life doesn’t turn out as you want it to be. You may accidentally open an online scam that infects your computer with a virus (this site has a lot of information on that stuff).

What would you do if your good old hard drive decides to take the day off and leave you high and dry of important documents you need for school or for work? You’d probably go into panic mode, right? Well it is expected considering it’s not like you just accidentally deleted a file that you can still access through the recycle bin.

If your hard drive is damaged, we guess you’ll put the security of data, especially important data, in the first place. But as an ordinary user who has no experience in data recovery, how to recover data from damaged hard drive becomes the biggest obstacle you need to overcome. Frustration soon kicks in if you lose valuable photos, documents or other types of files that you can’t recreate the same one.

(Via: https://www.whatech.com/business-software/press-release/263113-recover-data-from-damaged-hard-drive-fast-you-can-do-it)

You can breathe a sigh of relief since you can still salvage important files even with a damaged hard drive. This mostly requires professional help, though, but it is possible. You can also attempt doing it on your own if you're a brave soul and have some computer know-how. It is likely that the file is still intact on your hard drive.

You must learn how to understand the state of your hard drive to avoid issues with data loss. Simply watch out for signs of odd noises, reduced performance, and file corruption. Act right away or regret it. Here’s what you must do to protect your data according to goandroid.co.in:

How can you avoid data loss?

The first and the foremost step that you can do to prevent data loss is to keep a backup of your data. It is important because it will provide you the flexibility of getting back the data of any particular date that you want. You need to choose the time frame of your data backup.

The second important factor that is going to help you in keeping your data safe and the sound is to use a paid anti-virus service that is going to allow to keep your computer away from all kinds of infections.

Keep your computer safe with a password. It is important to make sure that the equipment is safe from the hands of hackers.

Keep your operating system updated as every time you update your operating system it removes some vulnerabilities from your system

Avoid installing untrusted software as they may be a reason for infections in your computer system.

Always have a backup in place to ensure files that mean the world to you do not disappear without a trace. Or as mentioned earlier, make several copies and save it in your USB or external hard drive; that way you still have a copy even if your hard drive crashes. Using the right file recovery software is also an option to help save yourself from this digital headache.

3 Steps to Recover Data from Damaged Hard Drive

Step 1. Check whether the partition containing your needed files exists on the computer or not.

Step 2. Run MiniTool Power Data Recovery and choose a proper module to perform data recovery from damaged HDD.

Step 3. Go to the place you chose to save recovered files and check those files.

(Via: https://www.whatech.com/business-software/press-release/263113-recover-data-from-damaged-hard-drive-fast-you-can-do-it)

There you have it. A damaged hard drive is not the end of the world if you know what you are dealing with. After all, all problems are meant to be solved and this one is not an exception.

Damaged Hard Drive? No Problem! was first published to https://ipaction.org/blog

source https://ipaction.org/blog/damaged-hard-drive-no-problem/

Watch Out For These Travel Trends And Go Places

The idea of exploring the globe has never been as tempting and as realistic as it is now. You see photos of other people traveling to different parts of the globe on social platforms like Facebook and Instagram and your heart melts at the beauty of the places.

You do not have to spend thousands to have the vacation of your dreams. In fact, some tourists go backpacking. It is an option that does not suit the taste of many but works for others. Some can even work for their food and accommodation and only spend for their plane ticket.

Air travel is also not as expensive as it used to be. There are different airline promos you can look to if you plan your trip months ahead. Racking up points can also earn you airline mileage that you can use to pay for a flight once you have accumulated sufficient points.

Hostels and Airbnb will help you find the perfect place to stay without ripping off of your hard earned money. Be creative with your travel and you can definitely go the distance at a fraction of the price.

Meanwhile, hostels and Airbnb will help you find the perfect place to stay without ripping you off of your hard earned money. Be creative with your travel and you can definitely go the distance at a fraction of the price.

We all aim for a customized travel experience and you can rarely get it if you go the usual route travelers in the past did.

There are certain travel trends that influence the idea of travel. Today’s travelers make it a point to read reviews. It gives you the feel of a place even before you step foot there. You also get to see what a certain place looks like from photos posted on sites like Airbnb. From there, you can decide if you can see yourself staying in the same place too. The Huffington Post knows exactly what this means:

As travelers move away from relying on the generic offerings of big brands, they’ll gravitate more toward customized travel experiences, which provide specialized experiences and amenities. Rather than depending on brand recognition alone, companies should cultivate their reputations on sites like Yelp, Glassdoor and TripAdvisor, where user-generated content drives decision-making. 

Speaking of getting exactly what you’re looking for, virtual reality will become more ubiquitous (and more in demand) this year. In our industry, this means travelers will seek out virtual tours that give them detailed insight into the quality, feature, and amenities of their vacation rental, hotel room or airplane cabin.

(Via: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/young-entrepreneur-council/3-emerging-travel-trends_b_14719696.html)

On the contrary, though, traditional travel agents have a hard time generating sales. Travelers nowadays prefer to book their own flights online. Travel tours do not catch people’s attention anymore when they can do enjoy the same tour without paying for a lucrative travel agency to do that for them.

It's a cruel irony that the biggest asset of major traditional travel companies – great staff – has rapidly emerged as possibly their biggest issue. The numbers don't lie.

Global travel retailer Flight Centre, with 19,500 employees, is a classic example with staff numbers (and wages) steadily increasing even though profits are in decline.

The company's first half net profit after tax of A$74.4 million was the worst for several years, despite record turnover driven by consumer demand for cheap airfares flooding the market.

As a result, profit per staff member has collapsed and is now in the region of $3815 over the past six months.

(Via: http://www.traveltrends.biz/ttn555-retail-rumble-staff-costs-smashing-traditional-agents/)

Since many of us practically have the World Wide Web in the palm of our hand, it makes more sense to download travel apps that allow us to make our own travel itineraries along with a handy map to help you navigate while on the road. This way, you can go down the less traveled path and chance upon some wondrous natural wonder other people have not laid their eyes on.

And for some of us, there’s no need to go far. For instance, hidden in the Colorado Rockies is the Indigo Mountain Nature Center that serves as a wildlife sanctuary.

 Young Melbourne entrepreneur Anthony Soriano has just launched Loom, an app that allows friends to synchronise their travel itineraries and meet up while on the road.

"There's also a map feature, which highlights where friends will be holidaying each month with a click of a button and a chat function to easily communicate," Anthony says.

(Via: http://www.traveltrends.biz/ttn555-loom-new-travel-itinerary-app-launches/)

Millennials make up the biggest chunk of the living demographic today. And their love for technology and their desire to go out into the world have set all these travel trends into place. Some who work remotely can also travel for extended periods because they can mix both work and leisure. They are daring and have no qualms visiting uncharted territories. Some places that were not tourist favorite in previous years are now made more accessible than ever. Tourists can now travel to countries like Tunisia in the North of Africa and enjoy seeing many of its museums, ancient baths, and ruins.

The following blog post Watch Out For These Travel Trends And Go Places See more on: https://ipaction.org/blog

source https://ipaction.org/blog/watch-out-for-these-travel-trends-and-go-places/

Innovation in Education: Is Privatization the Answer?

A good education can spell the difference between a life full of opportunities and one that is devoid of it. Educated people have the edge in a market that has grown global and competitive. From learning your ABC’s and 123’s to comprehending the most complex concepts in your chosen field, it is the role of the educational system to educate its youth in the ways of the world. Today, people educate themselves through the Internet and not from regular classes. Social media took the world by storm and authority sites mushroomed everywhere. Far from the norm, anyone can create their own blogs and take the place of traditional journalists in disseminating information to the public.

Education is no longer limited to what is taught in textbooks nor does it end once you step out of the four corners of the classroom with the numerous advancements in technology.

Today’s kids are more open to embracing all the changes around them but are they educated enough to remain competitive after graduation? Has our educational system learned to innovate and keep up with all the changes?

Despite his strong stance on international trade and immigration reforms, it seems as if President Trump has no clear plan yet when it comes to education along with an even more controversial Secretary of Education appointment whose plans involve privatizing the sector.

How will the present administration address issues surrounding schools and the educational system that is currently taking place and the job mismatch after when the statistics show this idea is not the answer:

“According to The Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) in 2013, which compared academic results between charter and traditional public schools across 26 states, only 29 percent of charters studied performed stronger than traditional school counterparts in math, whereas 31 percent performed weaker and 40 percent showed no notable difference. In its 2015 study on the state of Texas, which is notorious for having poor-performing charter schools, students lost 14 days of learning in reading and 29 days of learning in math (based on a 180-day school year), as compared to peers attending traditional public schools.

Studies on school voucher systems provide similarly concerning results. In a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper published in 2015, researchers found that Louisiana’s Scholarship Program (LSP) substantially reduced academic achievement, even though it was intended to provide vouchers specifically for disadvantaged students. Students who attended an LSP-eligible private school were 50 percent more likely to obtain a failing math score.”

(Via: https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/05/what-betsy-devos-confirmation-means-for-innovation-in-education/)

Meanwhile, there are suggestions for supporting public education considering that the economy has already bounced back and this support is now doable. The aim is to put the children first for a brighter future for the country.

“Among the provisions are a 10-percent raise to bring teacher salaries up to a $55,000 average by 2019. School-based administrators would also see their pay increased by an average of 6.5 percent and all other state employees by 2 percent or $800, whichever is higher, the Journal’s Arika Herron reported.

The governor’s budget supports early childhood education for an additional 4,700 Pre-K spots as well as childcare subsidies. It supports restoring the Child Care Tax Credit, which would certainly help working families.

It would invest $30 million in education lottery funds to purchase new instructional materials and hire more staff, giving schools the flexibility to hire for the positions they need most. Another $10 million in lottery funds would go to “transformation services” — planning and coaching support for low-performing schools, the Journal reported.”

(Via: http://www.journalnow.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-gop-should-join-governor-in-education-push/article_dc751cc5-eaf7-58f2-ae2d-90e8d02a01b6.html)

All of us are hoping for better education reforms from the new administration. With the annual tuition fees continually rising, more and more American youth fail to graduate with good scores or make it to college. What’s even more concerning is that they perform poorly in class during primary and secondary school. Making new laws that address the current school issues is just the start of this journey and we hope it begins today.

The following blog post Innovation in Education: Is Privatization the Answer? was originally published to https://ipaction.org

source https://ipaction.org/blog/innovation-in-education-is-privatization-the-answer/