The Year 2024

It's the year 2024 and I'm 28. The government realized the of the Bush tax cuts and the other expenses the government couldn't afford to pay for after the United States fell off of the fiscal cliff in 2012. Now, there are increased tax rates for everyone and the wealthy are paying their equal share. The tax code has been rewritten to rid it of tax loopholes in order for the government to gain more income from Americans. Some government assistance programs have been cut to save money. In result, Americans have become less dependent on the government and more reliant on themselves to fund necessary expenses. Another thing that's changed are the financial responsibilities of Americans. All the expenses we used to rely on the government for are funded by ourselves, which has led to an awareness and necessity to bank responsibly save and maintain a balanced budget.

As a result of cutting back on money consuming programs, the national debt has decreased, but there still is three trillion dollars in debt. Currently, there is a steady decrease in the deficit. America has become aware of the mistakes the past governments and presidents have made and have taken what they've learned from those mistakes into account. By doing this, the government has been able to execute a plan of action and is setting aside a larger amount of money to be used in an emergency situation. Although these past years and the few years ahead have been and will continue to be rough as Americans have to shell out more of there income, being able to rid of our large amount of debt has amounted to a happier, more optimistic and economically satisfactory America.

Now that the debt seems to no longer be an economic issue, what regulations and provisions will be imposed on Wall Street to avoid another housing market crash or economic disaster, which could cripple America again?

The Benefits of Honda's American Operations

The American Honda Company has contributed greatly to the economy of the United States by bringing the production of American Honda products to the United States. As a result, they have contributed to the growth and employment of many Americans within the seven states they mainly operate in and other states that deal with smaller Honda operations. Their presence in the U.S. has also aided in the growth of other American companies that produce industrial products for automobiles. By bringing factories and other operations of American Honda products to the United States, Honda Motor Company has had a positive impact on the economies they serve.

The seven states in which Honda mainly operates are: Ohio, Alabama, California, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina and South Carolina. Overall, Honda has created more than 165,000 manufacturing and retail jobs in these states since American Honda Motor Company was first founded in Torrance, California, where their headquarters operations are located, in 1959. In Ohio, Alabama, Georgia and Indiana—automotive manufacturing and research and development operations occur. In South Carolina—engine manufacturing and other research and development operations occur, while in North Carolina—engine manufacturing, other research and development operations, and aerospace operations take place. Although these operations may seem to only benefit the states they’re located, but these operations have a ripple effect, or spin-off, which creates more jobs within the U.S. economy.

In 2006, when it was announced that a manufacturing plant for Honda Civics would open in Indiana, the economic effect of this new plant was not projected to only benefit Indiana; it was projected to be more economically beneficial within the neighboring states, such as Kentucky and Ohio, as well. It was predicted in a study compiled by the Center for Automotive Research for Honda Motor Company that in 2010, there would be a total of 6,480 jobs created in Indiana and an overall 12,840 jobs would be added to the U.S. economy from the new manufacturing plant. This is a great example of the effects one of Honda’s operations in a single state, can have on surrounding states. Now that the factory has been built, it is said that because of every one job at that plant, an additional 5.4 jobs have been created nationwide. With all of the jobs and operations of Honda Motor Company in the U.S., additional jobs have been added to the national economy because of the outside workers Honda hires to transport manufactured parts to assembly plants and outside research facilities that investigate new technologies. Honda has not only had an effect on their seven, main operation states, but they’ve also impacted the United States as a whole.

Nationally, Honda has created 233,701, direct and intermediate, private sector jobs in Honda operations and paid out more than $17 billion in wages and salaries to workers. In turn, some of the $17 million is spent in the economy and beneficial to its growth. Also, for every one job at Honda factories or its dealerships, there are an additional 1.9 spin-off jobs in the economy. That means that an additional 133,982 jobs created from that spin-off has been created in the U.S. Overall, Honda has created a total of 367,683 private sector jobs from all of its operations in the U.S. On Honda’s ‘Honda in America’ website, facts and statistics about their U.S. operations are listed and explanations of the effects Honda’s U.S. operations has had on America’s economy from 1959 to 2011 are there too. A shocking statistic on the site is that from the 7,000+ Honda automotive manufacturing jobs, there are an additional 2,000+ jobs in the manufacturing industry of other products, such as plastics and metals, to be used in Honda products. The manufacturing processes that Honda utilizes have not only created improvements to their operations. These processes have contributed to improvements in productivity of the automotive and other major U.S. industries that Honda works in, also. Honda also uses its U.S. plants to export products and parts to other countries. In the five years recorded, which ended in 2007, Honda exported nearly $200 million in power equipment and multi-purpose engine products to over 30 countries. Unfortunately, since these plants that export these products or located in the Carolinas, the impact of these exports are mainly felt in the surrounding areas and not the U.S. economy as a whole. The export of Honda vehicles from the U.S. since 1987 has totaled over one million. Honda has been able to expand and not cut any American jobs since the Honda brand has grown in popularity.

With such a strong company and the direct and indirect employment of over 300,000 people, it’s no surprise that Honda has been able to not lay-off workers in the 50+ years it’s been operational in the U.S. Indirect employment from Honda’s more than 50 suppliers has created expansion in those suppliers’ businesses resulting in thousands of jobs being created by the indirect actions of the American Honda Motor Company. Another fact is that 85% of all Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the U.S. are manufactured in the U.S. creating sustainable jobs in a country where unemployment is still high. Since Honda has produced vehicles with the fewest defects, less money has been spent on fixing the problems. In turn, more money can be used towards the advancement of technologies and the expansion of Honda in America potentially created thousands of jobs.

Honda’s U.S. operations has resulted in a significant, positive impact on our economy. Without those operations, hundreds of thousands of jobs would have never entered the U.S. Since Honda has created thousands of jobs from spin-off, other industrial companies have expanded and created more U.S. jobs. From Honda’s ingenious strategizing, other companies could learn from a motor company that cleanly executes its operations to have the biggest impact on the economies it influences.

Works Cited:

"Homepage." Honda in America. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. 

"Honda in America - Economic Impact Study." Honda in America - Economic Impact Study. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. 

"Parts & Suppliers." Honda in America. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.

The Fiscal Cliff

The fiscal cliff is an automatic $500 billion tax increase and spending cut "crisis" that was produced by past presidents and Congresses in order to force leaders to come up with a tax and spending budget. In order to avoid the $500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts, President Obama and Republicans must reach an agreement on how to reduce the deficit. Some of the reasons why leaders can't come up with a plan are their differences on the Debt Ceiling, the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax), the other tax related programs, such as the Payroll Tax Holiday.

The Debt Ceiling and the the AMT are all a matter of whether or not they should be adjusted. Leaders are debating if the Debt Ceiling should be raised or kept as is to prevent more debt from accumulating, but, they say. where will all the money for spending on programs and the military come from? The AMT is not selective to only the wealthy, but can effect those with low income. It depends on what your tax returns say and that can cause many to fork over additional money to the regular income tax amount. Leaders are debating on whether or not to alter it so it affects the wealthy and not low income families in order to prevent them from being victimized by the AMT.

Additionally to the AMT, the payroll tax holiday is on the chopping block.This helped the economy to rise to where it currently is. Without it, families won't be able to splurge or invest extra money into the economy. Many fear that'll have to be cut since it costs $95 billion each year. Despite that being a small loss for Americans, there are definitely other larger and higher tax rates potentially coming our way. The loss of the payroll tax holiday compared to the other tax increases appears to only be a small loss.

Overall, the U.S. will fall over the fiscal cliff if the President and Republicans don't agree on a way to reduce the nation's deficit.