Strengths and Weaknesses of the Union and Confederacy Reading

Strengths and weaknesses

Witness the impact of the global financial crisis of 2007–08

Overview of the global financial crisis of 2007–08.

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The U.S. economic system is marked by resilience, flexibility, and innovation. In the start decade of the 21st century, the economy was able to withstand a number of plush setbacks. These included the plummet of stock markets following an untenable run-up in engineering science shares, losses from corporate scandals, the September 11 attacks in 2001, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the destruction of Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Declension near New Orleans in 2005, and the punishing economical downturn that became widely known as the Great Recession, which officially dated from Dec 2007 to June 2009 and was caused in office by a financial debacle related to subprime mortgages.

For the nigh part, the U.S. government plays only a small straight role in running the country's economical enterprises. Businesses are costless to hire or fire employees and open or close operations. Unlike the situation in many other countries, new products and innovative practices can be introduced with minimal bureaucratic delays. The government does, yet, regulate various aspects of all U.South. industries. Federal agencies oversee worker condom and piece of work conditions, air and water pollution, food and prescription drug safety, transportation prophylactic, and automotive fuel economy—to name just a few examples. Moreover, the Social Security Administration operates the country'south pension system, which is funded through payroll taxes. The government as well operates public health programs such equally Medicaid (for the poor) and Medicare (for the elderly).

In an economic system dominated by privately owned businesses, there are still some authorities-owned companies. These include the U.South. Postal Service, the Nuclear Regulatory Committee, Amtrak (formally the National Railroad Passenger Corporation), and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The federal government also influences economic activity in other ways. As a purchaser of goods, it exerts considerable leverage on sure sectors of the economy—most notably in the defense and aerospace industries. It also implements antitrust laws to preclude companies from colluding on prices or monopolizing market shares.

Despite its power to conditions economic shocks, in the primeval years of the 21st century the U.South. economic system developed many weaknesses that pointed to future risks. The country faces a chronic trade deficit; imports greatly outweigh the value of U.S. goods and services exported to other countries. For many citizens, household incomes have finer stagnated since the 1970s, while indebtedness reached record levels. Moreover, many observers have pointed to an increasing gap in income disparity betwixt the small cohort at the elevation of the economical pyramid and the rest of the land'due south citizens. Rising energy prices made it more costly to run businesses, heat homes, and transport appurtenances and people. The country'due south aging population placed new burdens on public health spending and pension programs (including Social Security). At the same time, the burgeoning federal budget deficit limited the amount of funding available for social programs.

Taxation

Nearly all of the federal government'southward revenues come from taxes, with total income from federal taxes representing about one-5th of Gdp. The virtually important source of tax revenue is the personal income tax (accounting for roughly half of federal acquirement). Gross receipts from corporate income taxes yield a far smaller fraction (nigh 1-eighth) of total federal receipts. Excise duties yield nonetheless another small portion (less than ane-tenth) of total federal revenue; all the same, individual states levy their own excise and sales taxes. Federal excises rest heavily on alcohol, gasoline, and tobacco. Other sources of revenue include Medicare and Social Security payroll taxes (which account for virtually two-fifths of federal acquirement) and estate and souvenir taxes (yielding only about i per centum of the total).

Labour force

With an unemployment rate that returned to the traditional level of roughly 5 per centum per twelvemonth following the college rates that had resulted from the Groovy Recession, the U.S. labour marketplace is in line with those of other adult countries. The service sector accounts for more than three-fourths of the country's jobs, whereas industrial and manufacturing trades employ less than one-fifth of the labour market.

After peaking in the 1950s, when 36 percentage of American workers were enrolled in unions, union membership at the beginning of the 21st century had fallen to less than xv percent of U.Southward. workers, well-nigh half of them government employees. The transformation in the late 20th century to a service-based economy inverse the nature of labour unions. Organizational efforts, once aimed primarily at manufacturing industries, are now focused on service industries. The country'due south largest union, the National Instruction Association (NEA), represents teachers. In 2005 3 large labour unions bankrupt their amalgamation with the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the nationwide federation of unions, and formed a new federation, the Change to Win coalition, with the goal of reviving matrimony influence in the labour marketplace. Although the freedom to strike is qualified with provisions requiring cooling-off periods and in some cases compulsory mediation, major unions are able and sometimes willing to embark on long strikes.

Agriculture, forestry, and angling

Despite the enormous productivity of U.S. agriculture, the combined outputs of agronomics, forestry, and fishing contribute to only a modest percent of GDP. Advances in farm productivity (stemming from mechanization and organizational changes in commercial farming) have enabled a smaller labour force to produce greater quantities than e'er before. Improvements in yields have also resulted from the increased utilize of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides and from changes in agricultural techniques (such as irrigation). Among the nigh important crops are corn (maize), soybeans, wheat, cotton, grapes, and potatoes.

corn harvesting, Iowa

Harvesting corn on a farm nearly Alden, north-cardinal Iowa.

Thomas Hovland/Grant Heilman Photography

The United States is the world's major producer of timber. More than than four-fifths of the trees harvested are softwoods such as Douglas fir and southern pine. The major hardwood is oak.

The United States likewise ranks among the world'southward largest producers of edible and nonedible fish products. Fish for human being consumption accounts for more than than half of the tonnage landed. Shellfish account for less than one-fifth of the almanac catch but for nearly half the total value.

Less than one-fiftieth of the Gdp comes from mining and quarrying, nonetheless the United States is a leading producer of coal, petroleum, and some metals.

Resources and power

The United States is ane of the world's leading producers of free energy. It was long the globe's biggest consumer of free energy, until information technology was passed past People's republic of china in the early 21st century. Information technology relies on other countries for many energy sources—petroleum products in particular. The country is notable for its efficient use of natural resources, and it excels in transforming its resources into usable products.

Minerals

With major producing fields in Alaska, California, the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, and Oklahoma, the United States is ane of the world's leading producers of refined petroleum and has important reserves of natural gas. Kickoff in the 1990s, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of shale gas likewise grew in importance in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Westward Virginia. The U.s. is likewise amongst the world's coal exporters. Recoverable coal deposits are concentrated largely in the Appalachian Mountains and in Wyoming. Nearly half the bituminous coal is mined in West Virginia and Kentucky, while Pennsylvania produces the state's only anthracite. Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio also produce coal.

Iron ore is mined predominantly in Minnesota and Michigan. The United States also has of import reserves of copper, magnesium, lead, and zinc. Copper production is full-bodied in the mountainous western states of Arizona, Utah, Montana, Nevada, and New Mexico. Zinc is mined in Tennessee, Missouri, Idaho, and New York. Lead mining is concentrated in Missouri. Other metals mined in the U.s.a. are gilded, silver, molybdenum, manganese, tungsten, bauxite, uranium, vanadium, and nickel. Of import nonmetallic minerals produced are phosphates, potash, sulfur, stone, and clays.

Biological resources

More than two-fifths of the total land area of the United States is devoted to farming (including pasture and range). Tobacco is produced in the Southeast and in Kentucky and cotton in the South and Southwest; California is noted for its vineyards, citrus groves, and truck gardens; the Midwest is the eye of corn and wheat farming, while dairy herds are concentrated in the Northern states. The Southwestern and Rocky Mountain states support big herds of livestock.

Most of the U.S. forestland is located in the West (including Alaska), just significant forests also grow elsewhere. Almost one-half of the state's hardwood forests are located in Appalachia. Of full commercial forestland, more than 2-thirds is privately endemic. About 1-fifth is owned or controlled past the federal government, the residue being controlled by state and local governments.

Power

Hydroelectric resources are heavily full-bodied in the Pacific and Mount regions. Hydroelectricity, however, contributes less than ane-10th of the country's electricity supply. Coal-burning plants provide more than one-quaternary of the country's power, nuclear generators contribute virtually 1-5th, and renewable sources of energy constitute between one-10th and one-fifth.

Manufacturing

Since the mid-20th century, services (such as health care, entertainment, and finance) have grown faster than any other sector of the economy. Notwithstanding, while manufacturing jobs have declined since the 1960s, advances in productivity have caused manufacturing output, including construction, to remain relatively constant at virtually 1-6th of Gross domestic product.

Significant economic productivity occurs in a broad range of industries. The manufacture of transportation equipment (including motor vehicles, aircraft, and space equipment) represents a leading sector. Estimator and telecommunications firms (including software and hardware) remain strong, despite a downturn in the early 21st century. Other important sectors include drug manufacturing and biotechnology, wellness services, food products, chemicals, electrical and nonelectrical machinery, energy, and insurance.

Finance

Under the Federal Reserve System, which regulates bank credit and influences the money supply, central cyberbanking functions are exercised past 12 regional Federal Reserve banks. The Board of Governors, appointed by the U.South. president, supervises these banks. Based in Washington, D.C., the board does not necessarily act in accordance with the assistants's views on economic policy. The U.S. Treasury also influences the working of the monetary organization through its direction of the national debt (which tin can affect involvement rates) and by irresolute its own deposits with the Federal Reserve banks (which can affect the book of credit). While but about ii-fifths of all commercial banks belong to the Federal Reserve Organisation, these banks concord virtually iii-fourths of all commercial bank deposits. Banks incorporated under national charter must be members of the system, while banks incorporated under state charters may become members. Fellow member banks must maintain minimum legal reserves and must deposit a percentage of their savings and checking accounts with a Federal Reserve bank. In that location are also thousands of nonbank credit agencies such as personal credit institutions and savings and loan associations (South&Ls).

Although banks supply less than half of the funds used for corporate finance, banking concern loans represent the country's largest source of majuscule for business borrowing. A liberalizing tendency in land cyberbanking laws in the 1970s and '80s encouraged both intra- and interstate expansion of bank facilities and bank holding companies. Succeeding mergers among the state'due south largest banks led to the formation of large regional and national banking and financial services corporations. In serving both individual and commercial customers, these institutions accept deposits, provide checking accounts, underwrite securities, originate loans, offer mortgages, manage investments, and sponsor credit cards.

Fiscal services are also provided by insurance companies and security brokerages. The federal government sponsors credit agencies in the areas of housing (dwelling house mortgages), farming (agricultural loans), and higher teaching (student loans). New York City has three organized stock exchanges—the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NYSE Amex Equities, and NASDAQ—which account for the bulk of all stock sales in the Us. The land'southward leading markets for bolt, futures, and options are the Chicago Lath of Trade (CBOT), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) specializes in futures contracts for greenhouse gas emissions (carbon credits). Smaller exchanges operate in a number of American cities.

New York Stock Substitution

Trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, New York Metropolis.

Ballad Chiliad. Highsmith Archive/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-highsm-11972)

Foreign trade

International trade is crucial to the national economy, with the combined value of imports and exports equivalent to well-nigh three-tenths of the gross national product. Canada, Red china, Mexico, Japan, Germany, the Uk, and South Korea are principal trading partners. Leading exports include electric and office machinery, chemical products, motor vehicles, airplanes and aviation parts, and scientific equipment. Major imports include manufactured goods, petroleum and fuel products, and mechanism and transportation equipment.

Economist Intelligence Unit of measurement The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Source: https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States/Strengths-and-weaknesses

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