Most people are acquainted, perhaps from their many commercials, with Rocket Mortgage. The fintech mortgage lender previously known as Quicken Loans is currently the largest retail mortgage lender in the United States. Rocket’s claim to fame has been its digitization of the mortgage filing process, such as allowing applicants to upload documents with their phone, personalizing information on available rates, and providing online chat features to reach out to professionals.
Mask mandates are being lifted left and right, rush hour is back in action, and the economy seems to be looking up. As we transition into a new normal, something resembling pre-2020 society, the economy’s rebound will be far from linear.
Ethiopia is one of the few countries in Africa that pursues an active and comprehensive industrial policy. Ethiopia is looking to position itself as the new low-cost manufacturer of the world. To achieve its goal, Ethiopia needs proper industrial policies consideration which comprise “more particular facts than any brain could ascertain or manipulate” (Hayek 1973). The objective of the “Industrial Policies Series” is to examine current outcomes of Ethiopia’s endeavor to identify key elements in the Ethiopia-specific complexity that are pivotal to both success and failure. Targeted sectors used for our examinations are the leather sector, horticulture sector, and cement sector. In part A, a comparison between the leather, horticulture sector and the cement sector will be made to stress on the value of import-substituting policies.
In the midst of emerging from the pandemic, it is important to look at the next steps to get the economy back on track. Within his first hundred days in office, president Joe Biden announced his lofty infrastructure plan. President Biden noted that this plan “is a one-in-a-generation investment in America” that has the potential to redefine the country (Tankersley, 2021). This extensive plan will inject money directly into the economy and could possibly be changing the United States for the foreseeable future. When considering what steps to take forward, it is crucial to analyze what the long term results are. So far, implementations like stimulus checks have provided a degree of short-term, immediate relief to some, but such policy action is not something that will help them get jobs and prosper growth. Families are able to pay for their immediate expenses to support themselves, but the checks are not providing them with secure jobs with stable income. In contrast, the infrastructure plan aims to create jobs for millions of Americans and improve the current crumbling infrastructure. According to the World Economic Forum, at its current state, the United States’ infrastructure is ranked 13th among other rich countries, with the score having gone down in recent years (Duncan). The United States is behind countries like Switzerland and Singapore, but this doesn’t have to be the case. White House correspondent for the New York Times, Jim Tankersley, stated that this plan has the potential to “create millions of jobs in the short run and strengthen American competitiveness in the long run,” demonstrating that this is a plan for the future, not just a small fix (Tankersley, 2021).
Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, recalled this plan as a “common sense investment” that will create jobs and help alleviate the budget deficit (King, 2021). Such an investment in public good will benefit everyone, not just a small group of people. President Biden notes that it will also set up the United States to be “more competitive around the world,” especially against those with fast-growing economies like China (King, 2021).
The Earth’s average temperature has risen by 0.6°C since the late 1800s (World Health Organization). The change seems minuscule given the time horizon, but even the slightest increase in temperature can have grave effects. Climate change directly affects food production and weather conditions which influence transmission patterns for diseases and infections like malaria. It has already wreaked havoc worldwide as many animal species are becoming endangered with nowhere else to go. With so many warning signs and scientists advocating that the U.S. government should take a stronger position on the issue, it is a wonder why so little change has occurred. A 2019 study by Pew Research Center indicates that the United States ranks 20th in the world regarding citizens’ views on climate change as only 59% of U.S. citizens believe it is a major problem (Fagan & Huang 2019). Given that the government prioritizes issues important to the public, it is no surprise that environmental protection has remained in the shadows of issues more pressing to Americans such as taxation, foreign policy, and more. Nevertheless, the environment has remained a controversial topic as the debate between prioritizing economic success and environmental protection has been a decades-long battle. Due to the lack of prioritization of environmental protection, there has been limited action by the U.S. government and businesses to take steps towards more environmentally-friendly regulations and measures.
The history of elections in Latin America has gone through periods of varying political philosophies. Previously, there have been left-leaning governments such as Rafael Correa's in Ecuador or Evo Morales's in Bolivia. More recently, there has been a rise in right-leaning governments such as Bolsonaro's in Brazil or Pinera in Chile. A pattern seems to arise where governments of the right follow left-leaning governments. The swings from the left may have been fueled by corruption scandals (World Politics Review, 2021) or failure to activate the economy. Under these historical circumstances, presidential elections are being held in Peru. Both candidates represent extremes on political ideologies.
What was once an industry exclusive to only the “A-list” of Corporate America, is now accessible to the average person. The financial trading industry has a scope like no other. It measures and regulates the economy worldwide and its impact goes even deeper. In the rise of online trading, we have seen the inclusivity of the investment world erupt. The expansion has made investing more popular, but has also made it more vulnerable to ignorance and sometimes being left at the mercy of the inexperienced.
The average human attention span is 8 seconds. The amount seems minuscule, especially considering that the average attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds. However, this was not always the case; in 2000, the average human attention span was 12 seconds (Stefanski 2020). It seems that people are unable to concentrate without multitasking or being distracted. It may be easy to simply accept this fact as inevitable human nature, but it’s worth considering how this decline in attention span came to be. It’s no coincidence that this substantial change in average human attention span occurred from 2000 to 2013, exactly matching the exponential rise in technological growth. Over the past few decades, devices have provided over 4.93 billion people with the ability to access countless websites and apps (Broadband Search). Even more recently, social media has risen to prevalence as the most popular apps for teens and adults alike. Despite the overabundance of information available on the internet, people seem to have become lazier and unable to focus for more than a few seconds. However, laziness has driven the growth of innovations such as artificial intelligence that have automated simple tasks and revolutionized the world.
About four years ago, in August 2017, I began my journey to obtain my undergraduate degree as a biology major on the pre - health track. For the majority of my life, I dreamed of wearing the iconic white lab coat, listening to patients, and providing aid for their ailments. However, all of that changed when I enrolled in the first four courses of my freshman year of college: General Chemistry I, Introduction to Biology I, Composition II, and Faith and Critical Reasoning. I struggled through my first two science courses and after receiving my horrible midterm grades, I promptly decided that biology was no longer for me. I felt lost with what I wanted to do in my life, but I knew that I had to achieve my undergraduate degree one way or another. On average, about 36 million Americans attend college but are unable to complete all of their coursework in order to obtain their respective degrees (Fain, 2019). Although I was incredibly lost in my future, I knew that I wanted to push myself further and finish college as it is an extreme privilege that many do not have. This led me down the path of mathematics where I rediscovered a passion for logical reasoning and calculations. Following this, I enrolled in my first computer science course, Computer Science I.
With the Biden administration looking to deliver on its campaign promises and ease the country’s political tension, the minimum wage debate has resurfaced with more potency than ever before.The issue is largely partisan and is often divided into two sides: advocates for a higher minimum wage argue that workers would benefit from having more of a living wage and that they are entitled to such pay, while opponents argue that paying higher wages will cause businesses to pass expenses onto consumers via inflation, lay off workers, cut hours, and shut down entirely. While this simplification doesn’t capture all of the arguments’ nuances, it gives the main strife: will people be better or worse off?
