Revised Response to: The government should eliminate the underground economy.

As a representative for the Department of Justice and I have to present the advantages and disadvantages of the underground economy, I would give strong argument for both sides. I would start off the presentation by giving the disadvantages of the underground economy. The disadvantages of the underground economy are that it hurts the economy and everyone in the country that contribute to the economy. Those who participate in the underground economy avoid their tax responsibilities at your expense, and place an unfair burden on all law-abiding taxpayers. Unpaid taxes mean less money for programs, such as health care, childcare, employment insurance and pensions. Also the underground economy undermines the competitiveness of businesses and citizens because it takes away their taxes and goes against the legal ideas. The underground economy is illegal because of what it does to the economy as a whole and it takes away money from the people and gives it to others who don't deserve it. Again it is against the law because of tax evasion and the result is the loss of a job, business, homes, family, and freedom. A long jail sentence and The IRS has access to a variety of tools to detect and prosecute those who do not report all of their income, including information-sharing agreements, on-site visits by officers, information obtained from third party reporting systems, leads from other audit files, and lifestyle audits. There aren't that many advantages of the underground economy and they only involve the people that are in the illegal economy. For consumers, paying "under the table" for a job is not a better deal; if you pay cash you have no warranty, no recourse for poor workmanship, and the added risk of liability if an injury takes place on your property. As a person who is involved in this economy the risk is jail but if they are good at it, there are no taxes to be paid, no insurance or liabilities. Also if a person is good at breaking the law and not getting caught then a lot of money can come out of it because of the high demand for illegal goods that are purchased on the black market. The avoidance of tax is the biggest part as the consumer will avoid a tax on the good and the producer doesn’t have to give any money to the government for the good or anything. That is why it is so illegal for this black market to be occurring underneath the government's nose.

Response to: Why has oil price surged recently?

Recently gas prices has soared just like it has many times in the oast couple years. It is the holiday seasons and when there is a time of year when there is high demand going on in the economy then gas prices also increase. When demand and quantity increase, then prices increase too causing gas prices and prices for other items to increase along with demand. If prices increase too much then inflation will occur but as far as gas prices are concerned, as long as demand increases, then the price on gasoline will be high. The time when prices for gas are low is during the spring leading into the summer when it is not a high shopping season and people are going on a lot of vacations. But as the seasons turn and Christmas approaches, then prices start to increase again and then they get to an all time high.

Response to: "Scalping” tickets for major sporting events and economics

On the outside of a stadium at every sporting event there are many people braking the law and trying to scalp tickets. It happens hundreds of times every season for every sport and what it does to the U.S. market it troubling. It hurts the market as it is similar the underground economy as items are being traded with money and having no effect of the economy. Just like the underground economy, there are no taxes put onto the tickets and the money is going right into the pocket of the person that is scalping the tickets. This creates market shortages as no taxes are being given to the government and the economy is not benefiting from these transactions being made. The underground economy is illegal and so is scalping tickets and the government is trying to stop this because it is unfair for people to make money of items that have no taxes on them. Other ways that these tickets can be distributed is that these people that want to sell these tickets can give it to the team that is playing in the game. Then after that person gives the team those tickets then that team can sell those tickets. Once that team sells those tickets with a tax on them, then the person that is giving the tickets to the team to give away for a price will receive a part of the profit from the tickets. That way there are taxes on the tickets and both sides will receive a profit and then there won't be anyone losing money.

Response to: Do we work too hard?

Everyone knows that U.S. citizens are the hardest working people in the entire world. That shows when the data of hours worked per year are given and the U.S. workers work three hundred more than workers in France. There is a law though in Europe limiting their workers to certain amount of hours per week. There also have been questions about whether the United States should have this law. I don't agree with this because it will hurt the Economic Growth os the U.S. and it will cause many recessions. Income will decrease along with the economy as less hours will be worked along with the amount of money made every week. Economic growth will decrease because less hours worked and more vacations means that there will be less money made, less production, and less money circulating around the economy. Also production possibilities will decrease because companies will not be able to make their quotas as less amount of hours will be worked. As workers don't work the hours that are used to being worked then production will go down due to not enough work being done. As economic growth and production decrease, so will the market mechanism of the U.S. economy. With less hours being worked and less production, then the market will also decrease along with thsoe two. Some people might say that with less hours being worked more people will have more time to be out buying items, but that won't effect the market mechanism like less hours being worked and more vacation time will. Less production and not enough economic growth will cause the market to decrease as there are not enough materials and money circulating.

Response to: Who should pay the external costs of driving?

Pollution is the most major concern that is on the minds of the citizens of the United States. As a result of pollution there are greater chances of consumption of CO2 andn other dangerous chemicals. This can lead to health problems that might not be able to be paid off will just insurance and health costs continue to increase. There was an idea to put a tax on gasoline so that health costs can be paid for by that tax. This has created a controversy and like every argument, there are pros and cons that go along with the subject. The pros for this tax are that if there are any porblems with any person's health then their medical care can be paid for by the tax. Harmful chemicals that are released into the air by the burning of gasoline can cause many different health problems like cancer and birth defects. The procedures that will need to be put in place to fix these health problems will cost a lot of money and with this tax, the people affected can pay for this medical care. Another pro about a tax on gasoline is that with a tax in place for health care other things that need to be paid for with a tax can be funded as more money is going into the economy. Why leave anything untouched that is needed to be funded? This new money could be put into for health care leaving other money left over to provide some help on other problems going on in the country. One con about this tax that is to be put on gasoline is that people will have to more money when they fill up their car at the gas pumps. This tax will cause an out cry from the people of the U.S. as they will complain about the new outrageuos prices that will now be on gasoline. Another con about this tax is that gas prices will increase and new pollution laws will be in place and put a limit on having automobiles on the road that have harmful emissions and use up a lot of gas mileage. Because of this new limitation, thousands of cars will be taken off the road and thousands of families will have to be required to purchase new cars and trucks.

Response to: Should you pay less for your education?

There have always been controversies with subsidies going into something so that it can get funded. The most common controversy is the one on giving subsidies to public schools and public universities. It is argued for schools to get funded because adults don’t want to pay so much money on something that they are a part of. But they a part of the school system as their children go to the schools in their local town and they need a good education for them to be successful in life. That is why education is so important so children and teenagers can learn about life, failures, success, and the courses in their school. Every person wants to live a good life and be successful so they are happy, with a good education that will come as they will be the best at what they have as a career. Without the subsidies from the taxpayers then there will not be a school system in place in a person’s community and there will be no education for the citizens of the town. For universities they need subsidies so that they can stay a college in the town and state that they are in. Also colleges need to keep their campus up to date and looking clean and appealing to people that go there and want to go there. They need subsidies to keep students going there and for students to keep coming in or they will have to stop being a college.

Response to: Should you pay less for your education?

There has always been a controversy on subisides given to certain thigns so that they can be funded. One certain controversy that involves subsidies is on ethanol fuel and whether it should be funded so that it can be in ful stream use. Another subsidy controversy is a funded public school system and public universities. The problem is that people think that taxpayers shouldn't need to pay so much for a school system that they aren't involved in. This shouldn't even be a situation that is argued because we need to educate the future of our nation. Without funds and money from the taxpayers going into the school system in towns then there will be no school system for our children to get educated. The amount of money that is going into the schools is just right because right now, education is at a high level and test scores are increasing along with graduate numbers. There are a great amount of students that are being successful in our schools right now and a lot of students are graduating and for something to be changed it would not be good for the school system. Also for universities, they don't need a good amount of subsidies but as part of a local community or state then there needs to be funds to keep the campus going. Subsidies that colleges receive will make the campus look up to date and not dirt, and it will keep the school in the town and the students