Assignment 1 Essay

Assignment 1: Economic Basics
(24.0 points) 1. Describe two examples of important things that financial planning skills can help you do, and explain why these things are important to you personally. (4-6 sentences. 2.0 points) Two important things financial planning can help me do is to create a budget and plan for retirement. Creating a budget is an important thing to do because it helps organize your finances and figure out how much money you have to spend on certain things. Planning for retirement is important because you need to make sure you have enough money stored up to support your lifestyle when you retire. Both things are important to help live a flexible, money-wise lifestyle. 2. List two examples of goods you have purchased in the past or may purchase in the future. (Complete sentences are not necessary. 0.5 points)
Cell Phone
Food

3. List two examples of services you have purchased in the past or may purchase in the future. (Complete sentences are not necessary. 0.5 points)
Plumbing Services
Gardening Services 4. One of the functions of money is as a store of value. How does inflation affect money's ability to store value? (3-6 sentences. 2.0 points) Inflation can drastically affect money’s ability to store value. As inflation occurs, the value of money decreases over time, meaning things cost more and money is worth less. This is why money isn’t always the best way to store value. 5. Imagine that you are considering moving to a new country and looking for a job there, but you first want to make sure the country has a strong economy. Describe at least three economic factors that you would want to research as evidence of the economy's strength or weakness, and explain how each factor would affect your decision to move there. (4-6 sentences. 3.0 points) There are several economic factors you would want to research before moving to a new country to see if it has a strong economy. One factor is the rate of company and job growth, which is a sign new businesses are starting up and prospering. Another factor to look for is whether the goods and services of said country were increasing in value, which means people are earning more money. Lastly you would also want to see how much money people have and how much they spend, which is a sign that people are well off and the economy is strong. 6. Explain which economic system (market, planned, mixed, or traditional) you think is best for consumers. Describe at least one reason why you think this system is best for consumers. (4-7 sentences. 3.0 points) Personally if I had to choose what I thought was the best economic system for consumer, I would say the market economy. The market economy is regulated by supply and demand instead of by fixed prices, which means people would be able to buy goods and services for what they’re really worth. Also competition between businesses would lower prices to make them more reasonable for the consumers. For these two reasons I think the Market Economy best serves the needs of the consumer. 7. In capitalism, most businesses have a profit motive. Describe at least one reason that businesses with a profit motive may be helpful for society and at least one reason that they may be harmful for society. Then, explain whether you think profit motive is a good thing or a bad thing for society. (4-7 sentences. 2.0 points) The profit motive can be both helpful and harmful for society depending on the situation. The profit motive encourages businesses to compete with each other by lowering prices and offering better services, which is helpful. But the profit motive can also lead businesses to do unethical things to get ahead and make money. Overall though, I think the profit motive does more help then harm because profit mainly comes from the consumers’ decisions, and consumers tend to favor a business that offers good services and low prices. 8. Choose a well-known company that you know of, and describe its direct and

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Assignment 3 Assignment 1

P1 Assignment 1 Assignment