Biden Will Weaken U.S. Dollar and Increase Living Standards

Achieving a weaker dollar has been a popular talking point over the years and has translated into President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden centering their economic plans around this idea. A weaker dollar not only helps U.S. exportersbut also encourages American production and manufacturing. Both politicians aim to achieve this by increasing the federal deficit, but their taxation and government expenditure methods differ. Although Trump’s drastic tariff implementations on China and other countries have generated greater government revenue and fewer U.S. imports, they have directly harmed American small businesses and consumers. These small businesses have paid more than $32 billion in additional taxes, while JP Morgan estimated that every middle-class family lost up to $1,000 and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the average family would lose roughly an additional $580 in 2020. The CBO has also acknowledged that White House trade advisor Peter Navarro’s claim of having China pay for tariffs was incorrect and that the tariffs realistically cast a larger share of their cost than previously estimated on Americans. On the other hand, Biden intends to work for middle-class Americans’ best interests through necessary funding in stimulus packages, education, infrastructure and renewable energy. Due to neither political party taking much action towards cutting government expenditures, the U.S. dollar will remain weak regardless of the election results. Still, the implementation procedure of stimulus action and normalization of trade policies have a crucial impact on American families. That being said, Biden’s willingness to prioritize government investment would be a better option for American citizens and businesses than Trump’s tariffs and trade wars with China.

Before measuring Biden’s actions related to weakening the American dollar, let’s first analyze how President Trump’s tariff measures have achieved this. Trump’s “America First” approach of imposing approximately $355 billion in tariffs on imports related to steel, aluminum and other goods from China was not effective in helping middle-class Americans. These tariffs decreased trade altogether. As imports and exports fell, prices for outsourced products surged and ultimately fell on American consumers and businesses. In addition to the American Action Forum, tariffs on aluminum were reinstated a couple of months ago, which will increase American consumer costs by $582 million per year. It is also important to look at the jobs that are supported by global trade. Around 40 million (one of every five) jobs in the U.S were negatively affected by these tariffs. Moreover, people who work in farming and manufacturing, who make up a significant portion of President Trump’s voter base, got hit the hardest. Therefore, it is counterintuitive for these middle-class Americans to vote for policies that jeopardize global trade and directly worsen their living standards. The only winners of the China/U.S. trade war were Vietnam, Taiwan and France, as they all had increases in total U.S. imports. At the same time, American manufacturers and farmers continued to suffer. And after all of this, the trade-weighted U.S. Dollar Index has moved about one index point since Trump’s inauguration.  

The President-elect and the Democratic-majority House of Representatives plan to weaken the dollar through the party’s carefully-chosen government expenditures, including education, infrastructure and renewable energy. The Democrats’ newly outlined stimulus package, Emergency Action Plan to Save the Economy, proposes reviving small American businesses and helping people get back on their feet. Similar to former President Barack Obama’s stimulus package in 2009, Biden aims to assist Americans with finding employment, prevent families from falling into more debt and urge big corporations to commit to helping their workforce and the communities in which they operate. Suppose these actions are implemented correspondingly to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In that case, millions of full-time jobs will be created, consumer confidence will soar to near pre-COVID-19 rates and children will receive better educational instruction, all within four years. All of these measures will spur economic growth for all of America, just like in the past when the average GDP per capita annual growth rate was around 3.1%. In contrast to Trump’s actions, Biden’s plan for economic growth will benefit Americans by providing them with full-time jobs, better education and a cleaner future with renewable sources of energy. As a result of all of these government expenditures, economic activity will weaken the dollar effectively while also increasing middle-class Americans’ living standards. 

Ultimately, Joe Biden’s focus on improving education, infrastructure and research concerning renewable energy will be more effective in weakening the U.S. dollar than Trump’s efforts in starting trade wars with other world powers.

Biden Will Weaken U.S. Dollar and Increase Living Standards

Written by Mikael La Ferla

Biden Will Weaken U.S. Dollar and Increase Living Standards

Google Monopoly Downfall with Antitrust Lawsuit? Hopefully.

Whether you are online shopping, looking up the weather, or checking what time your plane departs, it is nearly guaranteed that Google is your search engine. With Google controllingroughly 87% of the U.S. search market, its algorithms essentially dictate the order of the search results that show up on its platform, meaning Google has absolute power over a business succeeding or failing. As a result, Google is getting hit with the biggest U.S. antitrust lawsuit since Microsoft Corp. in 1998. Microsoft’s settlements with various antitrust lawsuits directly contributed to Google’s market share growth, as Google Chrome surpassed Internet Explorer in popularity, and Google was crowned the king of search engines. 

The Justice Department has grounds to accuse Google of unfairly blocking out rivals and forcing businesses into buying more ads than necessary, ultimately fueling Google’s dominance. While smaller companies pay to use Google’s selective services to grow their market shares, they have taken a backseat to Google’s brand as the tech company prioritizes its own products and views its users as competitors. For example, Chairman of Expedia and IAC Barry Diller acknowledges how great Google is for customers, but states how the search engine repeatedly pushes down his company’s sites in favor of Google’s services. His claim was substantiated by the House of Representatives report, which reiterates Google’s bullying and abuse of its algorithms. So, why should these smaller companies pay their competitors?

Google’s most common responses to these allegations are that it provides free web browsing services for consumers and that antitrust laws should not help rivals steal market share from companies. And Google is right. Not only does Google offer the most concrete search engine in the world, but it also provides a suite of productivity applications for spreadsheets, word processing and photo-editing, cloud storage for consumers, businesses and news aggregation. 

In defense of its free services, Google spokeswoman Julie Tarallo McAlister’s rebuttal claims that antitrust laws aim to protect customers and their privacy, not diminish a company’s worth and the range of products people use every day. On the other hand, the antitrust laws’ backbone is centered around protecting and promoting healthy competition within all sectors of the U.S. economy. These laws address price fixing problems, misrepresenting companies’ product lines or availability and prioritizing its own products even if they are inferior to those of its competitors. 

There is credible evidence from public investigators and other government officials that Google has committed these predatory acts to subdue competition and maintain its monopoly. For this reason, Google should face the consequences, which would enable the U.S. government to regulate Google’s algorithms further, ensuring fair market competition amongst its competitors. 

It is paramount that any argument related to smaller companies profiting from Google’s services does not hold any relevance in whether Google violated antitrust laws. It is not a matter of the pros outweighing the cons of what Google does for its consumers. It is not relevant to conclude that even though Google dominates its target market, people still benefit overall. Lawmakers and public investigators aren’t determining the net benefit of Google’s existence, but Google has broken these antitrust laws. Fortunately for Google, the trickiest part of U.S. antitrust law is deciding at what point something good for the public goes bad, thus giving the tech company a lot of room to work with. To reiterate, New York University law professor Eleanor Fox stated how U.S. antitrust law provides a large amount of freedom to firms to decide what competitive strategies they want to exercise. Google’s mostly-free platform of goods and services to people will speak for itself, as Google’s spokespeople or lawyers will likely refute the prosecution’s allegations by giving an overall analysis of its consumers. This kind of debate framework has been effective for many other companies who have also been accused of similar law violations this year, such as Apple, Amazon and Facebook. 

Since Google is still in the early stages of the lawsuit against it, a verdict likely won’t be made until late 2021. I assume there will be a settlement made between Google and the Department of Justice, consisting of substantial financial payments and insight into the company’s hidden parts that will continue the government’s fight in checking these omnipotent tech companies. But as of right now, the main thing to pay attention to is Google’s argument structure and the effectiveness of the prosecution’s questions.

Google Monopoly Downfall with Antitrust Lawsuit? Hopefully.

Written by Mikael La Ferla

Biden Presidency Will Promote Electric Car Industry

A cornerstone of President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign platform was his $2 trillion climate agenda that focuses on shifting from fossil fuel energy towards renewable energy. The Union of Concerned Scientists called Biden’s election victory a “win for science,” as Biden’s conscious and realistic approach regarding global warming sets a precedent for future administrations. Revising emissions requirements, financing the expansion of electric vehicle (EV) tax credit and manufacturing transition and establishing more charging infrastructure and employment would assist all car companies in raising their EV sales. Moreover, Biden’s vision for clean energy and green vehicles will positively impact the electric car industry, ultimately helping domestic car companies such as Tesla and General Motors sell more EVs.

To revise the current administration’s environmental rules relating to governing clean air, water, wildlife and toxic chemicals, Biden will institute existing policies from President Obama’s tenure while also implementing new strategies that combat global warming. President Trump’s changes to American environmental policy include withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, abandoning the Clean Power Plan, and allowing coal power plants to disregard regulations on capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions. Changing these policies under the Biden administration would bring more value to car companies that are stocking up on EVs. Operating in an economy that desires energy-efficient methods to guide human activity leads to these environmentally friendly companies having a larger market share in their respective industries. 

Last year, both parties in Congress agreed on an extension of the federal EV tax credit consisting of a manufacturer cap increase from 200,000 to 600,000 vehicle deliveries and the reinstatement of a tax credit for fuel-cell vehicles. As a result, consumers are more inclined to buy EVs while car companies have a larger cap of eligible sales to fill. Unfortunately, this effort was denied by the White House. Thanks to previous bipartisan support for this bill, Biden’s administration will endure little to no obstacles preventing them from assisting these EV manufacturers when the bill is proposed again. 

Biden’s plan to build at least 500,000 public charging stations throughout the country and increase EV battery-related research and development (R&D), which will create one million jobs in the U.S. automotive industry, will benefit car companies. In addition to the massive influx of resources aiding EV production, Biden and Sen. Chuck Schumer’s “Cash for Clunkers” style plan provides rebates and tax incentives for consumers to trade in their gas cars for EVs. This proposal, backed by environmentalists, laborers and large automakers, benefits all domestic companies currently building EVs, especially Tesla and General Motors. Sierra Club, United Automobile Workers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Ford and General Motors are all in favor of this transaction. 

According to LMC Automotive, automakers will have 121 EV models for sale by 2025. Automakers plan on producing more than 1 million EVs by 2024, which is over four times the number of EVs sold last year. The only concerns for these car companies are getting more people to transition from their gas cars to electric cars and driving down manufacturing costs. Fortunately, the expansion of EV tax credits would erase any uncertainty for Tesla and GM, as these companies would easily surpass the 200,000 credit maximum. 

General Motors Vice President Ken Morris stated the company’s willingness to work with the Biden administration by adopting their EV policy. GM’s $2 billion investment consists of converting three U.S. assembly plants to make EVs, and the company has already mapped out its plans for building the first fully electric Cadillac, Hummer pickup EV and a larger edition of the Chevy Bolt. And for Tesla, no other EV company achieves more. Garrett Nelson of CFRA Research highlighted how Biden’s renewable energy plan could increase battery-powered cars market share from 2% to 25% of new car sales by 2030. With Tesla’s $390 billion market cap, the Cybertruck and a two-seat roadster coming out by late 2021, Tesla serves as the industry leader in gross margins and R&D.

Joe Biden’s ambitious goal of transitioning from gas cars to EVs ensures a more sustainable way of life and will lead to more employment opportunities. Car manufacturers such as Tesla and GM have the most gain from Biden’s renewable energy platform, which will eventually lead to other car manufacturers producing battery-powered cars.

Biden Presidency Will Promote Electric Car Industry

Written by Mikael La Ferla

Biden Presidency Will Promote Electric Car Industry

Graduate School Graduate School Should Be an Alternative, Not the Solution

There is no doubt that taking the leap and going to graduate school is effective in teaching students about more advanced concepts of business management and how to network successfully. Many graduates have used these classes and in-person interactions to strengthen their communication, leadership, critical thinking and information technology skills. Because of this, MBA graduates are able to fill positions in tech, healthcare, consumer goods, government, nonprofits and many other industries. 

In addition to the benefits of receiving an MBA, the types of people these graduates meet consist of recruiters, entrepreneurs, C-suite executives and other prominent figures in business. The popularity of an MBA among all college majors is mainly due to MBA graduates receiving full-time job opportunities and lucrative salaries. When comparing the average annual incomes of people with a BBA and those with an MBA, MBA graduates gross approximately twice as much as BBA graduates. Although getting an MBA is considered one of the most expensive graduate degree programs, the high return on investment makes up for the burdensome expenses during graduate school. Unfortunately, many current MBA students are losing the satisfaction of pursuing their graduate degrees as their courses and in-person experiences are transitioning online.

The pandemic has forced many businesses, primarily in transportation, hospitality and professional sports, who hire MBA graduates and interns to halt these programs. According to an analysis by Poets & Quants, at the top 25 business schools in the country, MBA employment rates at graduation dropped an average of 22% from the MBA class of 2007. Current MBA students have taken notice, as many plan to defer graduate school until the U.S. economy recovers and business operations resume as usual. For the incoming and returning students, the central promises of graduate business school are now in jeopardy as thousands of MBA students worldwide are studying from home. Due to these disruptions in the job market and graduate schools, business students should rephrase their main concern from: “Should I pursue an MBA now?” to “What specific skills do I need to thrive in the workforce today?” Even when a safe and accessible vaccine is developed and COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, BBA students should enter the workforce rather than get an MBA right after college.

The main reasons why working at an entry-level position is preferable are rooted in the misrepresented and hidden data regarding the salaries of MBA graduates. First, it is essential to know the underlying reasons for the discrepancies in wages between non-graduate students and graduate students. Although MBA grads make around twice as much as BBA grads, an important detail that is frequently overlooked is that this pay gap also involves 5-9 years of professional work experience. 

Ironically, business students with little to no experience who pursue an MBA are acting counterintuitively to the main reason for going into the business realm. Their situations involve racking up more student debt and wondering whether an MBA is a smart investment. Considering that employers greatly value the name of the schools they hire from, this has created a large wage disparity between the top 25 business schools and bottom-ranked business schools. What might seem like a generous living wage is only the tip of the iceberg. A Harvard Business graduate earns around $115,000 annually on average, while a business graduate from a bottom-ranked business school will roughly gross an average of about $60,000 annually. Even though MBA graduates have key skills in critical thinking and analytical skills, their knowledge of more specific concepts such as accounting, finance, operations and marketing is generally broad. Thus, it is possible that companies only intend to hire employees with specific or specialized knowledge  in their particular area of business. Dedicating an entire two-year period towards studies and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a degree can be wasted if a graduate does not meet their desired job requirements. 

For these reasons, it is crucial to understand that sacrificing debt for a higher paying job is not a guarantee, and graduate school should always be an alternative plan for immediate business employment. Every BBA student should utilize their undergraduate degree as soon as possible by seeking employment and gaining business experience in the workforce. Delaying these opportunities and blindly following a norm has hindered the average business undergraduate student’s success.

Graduate School Should Be an Alternative, Not the Solution

Written by Mikael La Ferla

Mikael La Ferla is an accounting intern who holds experience working with property management companies. As an accountant, Mikael is responsible for duties such as analyzing data, preparing financial reports and audits, and developing innovative accounting solutions on behalf of the property group. In addition to Mikael’s experience in property management accounting, he previously worked as a co-editor and Research and Development Intern.

What to Expect from MikaelLaFerla.com

MikaelLaFerla.com is a resource for learning about a variety of topics linked to Mikael’s areas of interest. A few types of topics that readers can expect posts featured on this site include:

Accounting Resources: As an experienced intern with property management accounting, Mikael will provide resources that explore the field and its processes to the benefit of readers.

Web Design Content: Mikael is passionate about web design and will include content that covers a variety of topics associated with the field and how web designers can make effective, simple to navigate pages through prioritizing concepts such as UX, UI, and more.

Professional Insights: Mikael La Ferla aims to leverage his experience and certificate courses to share insights that can be valuable to new and experienced professionals alike. Professional insights from Mikael will address topics such as marketing, personal development, and leadership.

Mikael La Ferla Discusses Characteristics of Successful Accounting Professionals

Mikael La Ferla upholds that there are many individuals who are interested in breaking into the accounting space due to the career opportunities available and the role diverse roles that accountants play in maintaining the financial health of businesses across industries. Mikael mentions that a common question for new accounting professionals is the skillset that empowers accountants to bring sustainable results to businesses and clients and how they can harness them for continued success.

Here, Mikael La Ferla includes a few traits associated with successful accountants.

Attention to Detail and Accuracy

Attention to detail is essential for any successful accountant because they need to be trusted to produce accurate work. A misplaced digit or comma could result in a variety of issues for an organization if left unchecked. Mikael La Ferla mentions that the best accounting professionals are extremely detail oriented and can quickly and effectively find information that they need to perform their duties. If you are someone who prides themselves on their ability to pay close attention to their work for accurate bookkeeping, accounting may be a great industry for you.

Organization

Accountants are often working in line with strict timelines for their projects which necessitates that they can organize relevant information efficiently. For example, Mikael notes that paperwork and computer files should be organized in a manner that they are easy to access at any time. This is because searching for documents in unorganized systems can waste vital time that could otherwise be utilized elsewhere. Organization also helps to prevent professionals form making critical errors during periods of high stress and workloads such as tax season while ensuring that they do not lose overall perspective of their tasks. When dealing with numbers, it simply pays to be as organized as possible.

Adaptability

Good accountants are very comfortable with structure in their line of work; however, great accountants know that they need to be adaptable to come up with fresh ideas for a variety of financial difficulties that could impact a business or accounting client. After all, sometimes you need to think outside the box to develop creative solutions to challenges. Mikael recognizes that adaptability is a coveted trait among accountants because it empowers professionals to implement effective, yet unconventional solutions when necessary.

Communication Skills

While many may not see accounting as an extroverted field, there are many ways that communication skills can help an accountant hone their skills and reach success within the industry. For example, accountants that can communicate effectively to clients or the organizations that they serve are often well regarded because they are great at explaining concepts that may be difficult to understand for individuals without formal education in the subject. Accountants also should be able to answer pertinent questions fielded by clients or their businesses clearly and effectively to their benefit. Mikael acknowledges that communication skills also are essential for concise presentations and sharing accounting strategies that can be harnessed to overcome organizational and financial challenges.

Willingness to Learn

One important thing to remember about accounting is that, like any field, no one enters with all the skills and expertise that they need to succeed on their career path. Accountants that start out with the misconception that they do not have a lot of learning to do are in for a rude awakening when they make their first mistake or end up requiring assistance. Mikael encourages individuals interested in pursuing accounting to come to terms with the fact that they will need to remain constant students of their space. A willingness to learn and stay the course is essential for successful accountants because best practices, technologies, and the diverse needs of clients and organizations evolve at a rapid pace. To keep up, you need to stay motivated!

More from Mikael La Ferla

Mikael La Ferla realizes that there are many people who are interested in learning more about topics such as accounting, web design, personal development, and more from individuals with experience on these subjects. For this reason, Mikael hopes to include a variety of content that explores his areas of expertise to the benefit of readers.

Interested in learning more about accounting, web design, professional development, and related topics from Mikael La Ferla? Tune in to this website for more information inspired by Mikael’s insights.

Below is Mikael La Ferla’s UX Design Portfolio. He created my prototypes using Figma, a web application for interface design. One of the three prototypes he made is Shopden, a shopping app that assists shoppers by providing them with GPS-based notifications, all-in-one checkout, and live inventory for stores.

https://www.figma.com/file/aeapPDExGSsshMFFOVZdRH/Mikael’s-Portfolio?node-id=0%3A1&t=Rk1mX3cHleANXWQX-0

Created by Mikael La Ferla

Mikael La Ferla is now halfway through completing a certificate program from eCornell for Web Design and Development! So far, Mikael La Ferla has completed the following classes: Framing Front-End Web Development, Structuring Content with HTML and Styling Web Content with CSS. Here is a completed project by Mikael La Ferla regarding validating and implementing CSS for a photography studio’s website:

Created by Mikael La Ferla

User Experience for Shopden – A shopping app that consists of GPS-based notifications, live inventory, and all-in-one checkout.

Created by Mikael La Ferla

https://www.figma.com/file/d17z8c3YhMXZUlv8z4uWsS/Mikael’s-App?node-id=58%3A518&t=vCZJSPkmTWmjj3Gd-1

Instructions

In this course project you will solidify your understanding and application of mental models vis-à-vis web development. 

Except as indicated, use this document to record all your project work and responses to any questions. At a minimum you will need to turn in a digital copy of this document to your instructor as part of your project completion. You may also have additional supporting documents that you will need to submit. Your instructor will provide feedback to help you work through your findings.

Note: Though your work will only be seen by those grading the course and will not be used or shared outside the course, you should take care to obscure any information you feel might be of a sensitive or confidential nature.

Complete each project part as you progress through the course. Wait to submit the project until both parts are complete. Begin your course project by completing Part One below. A submit button can be found on the final Course Project assignment page. Information about the grading rubric is available on any of the course project assignment pages online. Do not hesitate to contact your instructor if you have any questions about the project.

Part One

Mental Models for Web Development

In this part of the course project you will choose a website and use it to describe your own mental model for how you think it should work. By going through this project part you will continue to improve your ability to recognize how your design decisions impact others. 

Note: For this mental exercise to be most beneficial, choose a website that you find frustrating to navigate. 

Answer the questions below.

1	What website are you choosing for this project part? Paste the URL in the answer box to the right.	I’m choosing to do Craigslist in Philadelphia.https://philadelphia.craigslist.org
2	Using the concepts presented in this module, describe what led to a frustrating user experience.	I’ve never used Craigslist but I’ve heard of it many times, so I decided to browse and see what it had. The website seems really outdated as there isn’t any pictures or engaging content (like LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, etc.). It’s still somehow a very popular website, although I’m not exactly sure.
3	What would you recommend to the original designers of the website, knowing what you know now? Be specific, and consider drawing or mapping a new model for how the navigation elements of the website should work.	My suggestion would be to have a similar user interface to LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter, so it’s more engaging. But at the same time, the website’s simplicity may be a reason for why it’s so popular. I’m not sure, but maybe Craigslist isn’t for my generation but for people in their 30s/40s.s

Part Two

Consider the Audience

In this part of the course project will use the same website you chose for Part One to consider how the audience’s needs are or are not being met. 

1	Considering the same website that you chose in Part One, who do you think the target audience is? Is it clear? Why or why not?	I think the target audience consists of people who want to be hired for jobs/internships. I think it is clear because LinkedIn makes it easy for people to search for jobs in any area as well as matches them with jobs that are relevant to the person’s experience/skills.
2	Based on who you think the target audience(s) is, how would you revise your initial recommendations to the  web designer?	I don’t think I would revise anything. Whoever the web designer was did a great job.
3	Can you identify 2-3 biases in  the design of the website? We encourage you to use the resources found on GenderMag.org to help you  in crafting your response.	2 biases that exist in LinkedIn are recency bias and implicit bias. There’s recency bias because LinkedIn prioritizes more recent job postings than older ones, so people will see these instead of all of them. This bias can harm businesses that have job postings that are older than a few weeks. There’s implicit bias because LinkedIn tends to prioritize job postings from bigger firms than small businesses. This bias can harm small businesses attract talent because their postings are at the bottom.

To submit this assignment, please refer to the instructions in the course. 

Created by Mikael La Ferla

Completed by Mikael La Ferla