The effects of different political parties on the US economy Essay

The effects of different political parties on the US economy - Essay Example Despite this, Reagan added his own brand of Big Government with the swelling of the National Debt under his watch which crippled the economy. Liberal and conservative economic ideologies cannot necessarily be connected with Democratic and Republican Parties respectively as this paper will illuminate. The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history, and one which spread to virtually the entire industrialized world. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920’s, and the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part of that same decade. The misdistribution of wealth in the 1920s existed on many levels. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U.S. and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. The excessive speculation in the late 1920s kept the stock market artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes. These market crashes, combined with the misdistribution of wealth, caused the American economy to capsize. The ‘roaring twentie s’ was an era when our country prospered tremendously. The nation’s total realized income rose from $74.3 billion in 1923 to $89 billion in 1929 (Hicks, 1960 p. 110). However, the rewards of the (Republican) ‘Coolidge Prosperity’ of the 1920’s were not shared evenly among all Americans. According to a study done by the Brookings Institute, in 1929 the top 0.1 percent of Americans had a combined income equal to the bottom 42 percent (McElvaine, 1984 p. 38). That same top 0.1 percent of Americans in 1929 controlled 34 percent of all savings, while 80 percent of Americans had no savings at all (McElvaine, 1984 p. 38).

In the United Kingdom the big four supermarkets of Tesco, Asda, Essay

In the United Kingdom the big four supermarkets of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Wm Morrison have gained a steadily increasing - Essay Example In recent time some of the retail giants of United Kingdom like Sainsbury, Asda, Morrisons and Tesco have been accused of swindling the suppliers by paying them the bottom prices or finding some other way by which they can pressurise the suppliers to pay the cost of the unsold or perished goods. There are also other ways by which the suppliers are exploited that includes paying lower than the agreed price after the delivery of the order, delaying to pay them, make changes in the order at the last moment, making the suppliers to bear the cost, forcing the supplier to use certain specific expensive hauliers for delivering their goods and often ruining the supplier due to lack of cash flow. The supermarket retailers even pressurised the suppliers to pay for the shoplifted goods and making their profits to rise high, when they are expected to be lower. The study focuses on this issue. Supermarket competition Relentless rise in the supermarkets has given rise to the concern regarding thei r holdings over the suppliers and the customers. A research conducted by TNS Worldpanel, the market research group has concluded that the big four retail giants of UK Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Asda and Tesco holds almost three quarter of the grocery market that amounts to about 74.4%. Tesco is the leading supermarket that holds the biggest share. The report suggests that for every ?8 the consumer spends ?1 goes towards the business of Tesco. In 2004 it has been recorded that the retail sector of UK amounts to almost ?246bn, which is more than the amount if the economies of Ireland and Switzerland are combined together. This implies that the retail sector offers quite a significant amount (BBC News, 2006). (Source: BBC News, 2006) According to the reports of the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group, almost half of 278,630 shops in UK are managed and owned by a sole trader. These small local stores are losing their market because of the growth of the supermarkets that are gradually moving towards the convenience store format. As per the report of Association of Convenience Store for the last twelve months till June of 2005, 2000 independent convenience stores closed their operations owning to the growing competition of the supermarkets. The Office of fair Trading (OFT) has been investigating the two main issues firstly the competition that surrounds the worries regarding the competition in the supermarkets and abusing relationship between the supermarket and the suppliers. The OFT has claimed that there is no restriction on the grocery market, which prompts a widespread scorn from the action group and the local shops. OFT further states that there is no need of incorporating any type of reform in the ways the super markets are operating; though there are claims regarding application of bullying tactics by the four big supermarkets. According to the recent declaration of OFT there are significant indications regarding increase in the purchasing power of the cu stomer of the supermarket (BBC News, 2006). Area of Concern The corner and local shop areas are becoming the potential places for the growth of the supermarkets. The four big supermarkets face certain restrictive measures that pave the pathway for expanding their operations by following the convenient store format. This also helps the supermarkets to target the customers who are cash rich