Discussion Post I
Benjamin Franklin reportedly said, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." In other words, taxes will always be with us.
o When we think of taxes, we often focus on the largest one, the federal personal income tax. But we also pay other taxes. Some are federal, and some are only in specific geographic areas (cities or states). Paying taxes can have a significant impact on our household budget. However, it's also important to note the benefits we receive from services that are funded by tax dollars (public education, roads, parks, food assistance, etc.).
o Identify one tax (other than federal personal income tax) you pay and one benefit you utilize that is funded by tax dollars. How do both of these impact your life and your family member's lives?
Discussion Post II
o Review the Aldi case study on page 169 of your text. Assess your satisfaction with Aldi and make recommendations about how the company could modify its business-level strategy to both increase your overall level of satisfaction and to attract new customers. Provide specific examples to support your response.
o Analyze the five business-level strategies discussed in Chapter 4 to determine which strategy most likely applies to Aldi. Determine how a shopper's experience might change if it switched to one of the other four strategies (your choice). Explain your rationale.
Homework: Economic Impacts
Scenario
Some friends who know that you are learning problem solving skills and economics have come to you for advice. They have brought with them their family budget from last year (Budget 1) and their current budget for this year (Budget 2).
Budget 1 on the left shows how their family used to spend their income of $25,000.
At the beginning of this year, they found that rent and the price of imported food have risen, and the price of food from the United States has dropped. They had no change in income, and they changed their purchases to those in Budget 2 on the right.
Your friends' family is unhappy that they are buying less of their favorite imported foods, keeping the apartment colder in the winter and warmer in the summer, and walking more instead of taking taxis or using ride sharing services. They are also unhappy about saving less. Your friends know that you are studying personal finance and have asked you how to explain to their family what has happened to their spending.
Help your friends create a way to explain the economic and budget situation to their family. Additionally, think about what economic trends and changes mean to your own personal life and finances.
Task
• You have learned about economic concepts such as supply and demand, scarcity, tradeoff decisions, international trade, opportunity cost, and compound growth. Choose one economic concept from this list and explain how it is relevant to your friends' budget situation.
• How did expenditures change between budgets? Which expenditures changed the most? Which expenditures changed the least? Which stayed the same?
• What were the economic trends that created the need for your friends'family to change their expenditures? What can you infer about the connection between prices and expenditures, based on the economic concepts you have learned?
• Help your friends explain the rationale for their budget decisions to their family. Some questions you could help them answer are:
o Why did your friends decide to buy less imported food and more domestic food?
o Why did your friends decide to use the furnace and air conditioning less?
o Why did your friends decide to walk more?
o Why couldn't your friendschange the amount spent on education and family care?
o Why did your friends decide to reduce savings, and what will the long-term effects of that be?
• In our personal lives, we sometimes need to react to changes in our economic environment. Thinking about your own budget, describe how a change in an economic variable (such as a change in income, employment, interest rates, or prices) from within the last year either has impacted or could impact your personal life and finances. If the trend continues over the next year or two, what predictions could you make about further impacts to your personal life and finances?
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
o The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
o The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
o Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.
Attachment:- Economic-Impacts-Template.rar