The Federal Reserve

      Although it is easier to point out all of the things wrong with the Federal Reserve, the importance of this central banking system outweighs its faults and it is still an asset to this country.  An asset, in this context, is defined as a useful or valuable thing or quality.  The Federal Reserve is a useful system to have in our country for numerous reasons.  It "conducts the nation's monetary policy" (federal reserve.gov), supervises and regulates banks, and maintains the stability of the financial system.  The Federal Reserve is a vital structure in the United States.
      The monetary policy is what the Federal Reserve uses to makes decisions.  According to CNBC, the monetary policy is the "regulation of interest rates and the availability of money in order to provide economic growth and prevent downturns" (CNBC.com).  The Federal Reserve can supply more credit to banks for lending if the economy needs to grow faster and create more jobs.  It can also lower banks' reserves and can "lend more to businesses and consumers as well as to other banks" (CNBC.com).  Doing this increases the money supply in the economy.  The Federal Reserve is also needed to spot excessive growth in order to prevent inflation and fix it by increasing interest rates.  To maintain the stability of the financial system, the Federal Reserve decides whether to increase or decrease the money supply.  An example of this would be "when the Fed buys securities in the market, like U.S. government Treasury bonds, which increases the amount of money in circulation" (investopedia.com).  It is the Federal Reserve's job to manage the financial systems of the nation.  All consumers are impacted by the state of the financial system in our country and when issues come up the "Fed’s job of ensuring that all is working within a controlled balance becomes paramount to maintaining a well-run, efficient economy" (investopedia.com).  The Federal Reserve is a necessary asset of the the United States, which maintains the order of imperative financial situations.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/about_12799.htm
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/090514/federal-reserve-system-affects-you-more-you-might-think.asp
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43752521

Business Cycles, Recessions, and Depressions

          It is difficult for economists to predict the business cycle for many reasons.  One reason being that periods of expansion and recession are unavoidable and "driven in great part by a tug-of-war between expectations and reality" (2 Ip).  Business cycles are also heavily reliant on market cycles making them extremely susceptible to frequent change.  The business economy is largely about determining how people will react to certain things and that's hard enough to determine in just regular day to day life let alone when it comes to the future of businesses.  Businesses make these plans based on how much they expect their sales to grow, making these decisions just as dependent "on gut feelings as cold calculations" (2 Ip).  Business cycles are tough to predict.
          A bull market and a bear market contrast each other. A bull market is when the market appears to be in a long-term incline and a bear market is when the market appears to be in a long term decline.  A bull market tends to develop when the economy is strong, the unemployment rate is low, and inflation is under control.  A bear market is most likely to occur when unemployment is high and inflations is rising.  Bear markets are also "more violent than bull markets and the unemployment rises more quickly than it falls" (2 Ip).

          Imbalances have occurred throughout history causing these economic patterns.  Things such as crop failures and band panics were known as natural disasters during the nineteenth century in America.  A spike in oil prices is what caused these changes in 1973 and 1990.  Many believe that "if we could just inoculate ourselves against past imbalances then we could eliminate recessions" (3 Ip), however, this is not true because these imbalances come in many different forms and it is impossible to protect ourselves against all of them.
          A recession and a depressions often go hand in hand.  A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters in which real  gross domestic product falls.  A depression is described as a severe and prolonged recession.  A recession is mainly considered a depression when real gross domestic product falls for more than two consecutive quarters and when the "economy's normal recuperative mechanism fails to engage" (4 Ip).  A recession more often than not, leads to a depression.

The Underground Economy

            The underground economy is a system in which those who can not find a full-time or regular job are paid under the table.  This way they do not report their income and therefore have no taxes to pay on it.  There are positives and negatives to this system.  A positive to this system is an increase in consumer spending, however, this is only a short term effect.  Because people  gain more money through the underground economy, more money goes back into the system, "boosting the economy" (Koba).  A negative to this system is that this system is often associated with dangerous illegal activities.  "Drug dealing" (Koba) is a main way of making money through the underground economy.  This economy is very well known and because it is growing, it is becoming more and more clear that there is a need for change in our regular every day economy.  This is one effect that is negative because it shows us what is is wrong with the economy but also very helpful when trying to determine how our economic system today needs to change.  

Net Neutrality

          Net neutrality is a current controversial topic of discussion.  The idea of net neutrality is that all internet traffic should be treated equally.  It is the "principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites" (www.dig.csail.mit.edu).  It is important to both corporations and consumers.  Corporations would benefit from this because they could charge clients for going on certain sites and partly control your internet access.  Net neutrality is important for the consumers because most believe that corporations such as Comcast and Verizon should not have control over internet traffic.  The FCC controls the neutrality of the internet with the Open Internet Order.  It was created in 2010 to "prevent broadband Internet service providers from blocking or interfering with traffic on the Web" (http://www.savetheinternet.com).  The order prevents wired ISPs from blocking and discriminating against content on the internet.

Spoils System Vs. Merit System

          The "spoils system" played a major role in our government for a long period of time and was eventually replaced by the merit system.  Basically, the "spoils system" was a system in our government that hired employees based on their political connections and the merit system is an arrangement where people are hired based on their ability to perform a job.  Andrew Jackson, the seventh president, is credited with starting the "spoils system" because he gave it it's name after John Quincy Adams gained his presidency through what is known as the "corrupt bargain" today.  Henry Clay, who was also a candidate for President and a member of the House, threw his support to John Quincy Adams and was subsequently appointed Secretary of State by Adams.  Andrew Jackson and his supporters were infuriated by this clear act of quid pro quo.  The Spoils System was formally ended  when President James Garfield was assasinated by an upset office seeker who was denied an appointment and subsequently took revenge against Garfield.  The act that ended this "spoils system" was the Pendelton Act of 1883, which also created the merit system.  The president could now only hand out a certain amount of jobs that must be approved by the senate. 
          The "spoils system" is still in our government today.  An example of this could be something like the amount of money raised by Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown to get elected as the Massachusetts State senators.  Together they raised seventy million dollars (open secrets.org).  This shows how people in our government are still hired based on their status rather than their ability to perform a certain job.  In my opinion, the "spoils system" will most likely never vanish completely. 

Riley Vs. California

          I believe it is necessary for the police to obtain a warrant before searching through a person's cell phone, therefore, I agree with the Supreme Court's ruling. In cases of emergency such as "finding a ticking bomb or a kidnapped child" (Smith 17), I believe a warrantless search is acceptable because lives are at stake. Many people have very personal conversations on their cell phones, which is why it is important for there to be solid evidence suggesting there is something incriminating on the cell phone before searching it. According to the article, these electronic devices "hold the most intimate details of a person's life" (Smith 17), therefore, they should be protected.
Even though the writers of the Fourth Amendment were not expecting such devices such as smart phones, tablets, and laptops, all of the Supreme Court justices agree that the devices fall under the amendment. Because the police did not have permission, the nine justices ruled that "they violated his Fourth Amendment right to privacy" (Smith 15). Most would agree that cell phones should be included in our right to privacy. Many people keep their most private information, such as personal conversations, photos, and bank records on their cell phones. Today rather than jotting down notes on a piece of paper, the average person could more than likely store that information in their cell phone. Because of their easy accessibility, they have just become a common keepsake for most information. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Argues that just because "technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand, does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought" (Smith 16). Cell phones also provide information like where exactly a person was at a certain date and time. Because of all the private information stored on a person's cell phone, I believe the devices should be protected by the Fourth Amendment, meaning a warrant must be given before they are searched.

Time Capsule Unearthed from 1795

            On Thursday, December 11, a time capsule was discovered from underneath the State House building in Boston Massachusetts.  Works came across it while attempting to repair a water leak.  The capsule was buried by Paul Revere and Samuel Adams in 1795 when Adams was the governor.  It was originally put there when they began construction on the State House's iconic dome.  As soon as the workers fixing the leak stumbled upon it, the Secretary of State William Galvin, who happens to be the head of the state historical commission, contacted Pamela Hatchfield, the head of object conservation at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  The was controversy on whether or not the box should be removed from where it was buried, which was a barricade of stone.  The decision was to try to carefully chip away at the stone to see if the box was fully intact and if it was, to hopefully remove it.  After seven hours were spent trying to extricate the capsule, it was finally removed.  The contents are of concern due to time and other obvious reasons, however, the plaster surrounding the container was in good condition.  In the box, there is believed to be several coins and a plaque inscribed by Paul Revere.  Other contents are expected be found inside as well. Even though the capsule has not been opened yet, it has been x-rayed.  It is expected to be opened over the next week or so.

            I believe this is related to American Government because the contents were put there by people who had a huge say in the founding of our government.  People who were of the first in our nation thought that what ever was in that box was important enough to be locked away and discovered at some point in the future after they were long gone.  There could be words written that change the way we look at government or statements that affirm the way our Founding Fathers and earliest Patriots wanted government to be.  There was some dissuasion on what should be done with the capsule after it is opened and such.  As of yet, the decision is to rebury it and possibly add objects to it.  I admit this happening was not exactly an issue but an interesting, semi-controvertial situation that I believe was handled in an appropriate way by everyone involved including the press.