Ayaz Ali - Assignment 6A

Assignment 6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

•  Opportunities: Increasing minimum wage, decreasing interest rates, decreasing sales tax, and ending the government shutdown.

1. Increasing minimum wage: I went to different newspaper websites and found that minimum wage prices seemed to be a topic that was being reoccured. Minimum wage has been a topic of discussion for quite some time as many people believe it should be raised. Many workers do not believe that the minimum wage right now is enough to help them in their lives, and the argument can be made easily. Many people work minimum wage jobs, and it is unfair to them to make such little money when they have so many responsibilities. The customers for this scenario would be all workers making minimum wage. I believe the opportunity to increase the minimum wage should be quite easy. Companies are making tons of money, and they should be okay with paying their workers a little more than they currently are. I saw this opportunity because I used to work a job for minimum wage and I can see that it was not a lot. For me, making that a few hundred bucks a week or every other week was fine, but seeing older people working and struggling to provide for themselves and their families was difficult to see. It was even more unfortunate seeing how much money the company I was working at was making. They could have easily paid the minimum wage workers a little more and it would not hurt them at all, and would really help the workers. 

2. Decreasing interest rates: This was also another topic I looked up online, but also read about in my current bank account headlines and details. I personally do not like interest rates at all, but I see why companies must do it. However, seeing some interest rates as high as 10% is crazy to me. It really can add up for people and companies and banks manipulate their customers where they almost get trapped with credit cards. The opportunity definitely exists because I think companies can still charge interest but not as high as they should be. You need to think quantity here, and there are so many credit cards or other sources where interest gets charged and we can see how much money companies are bringing in. The customers in this case are normal people who sign up for plans with interest.  This is easily exploitable because companies would still bring in tons of money even if they lowered their interest rates. I saw this opportunity because I have a credit card which has interest fees on it. I see month to month how much money I am losing and I am very unhappy with the plan. Every month I am losing almost $45 to interest which is ridiculous since I never really even use my credit card. 

3. Decreasing sales tax: I saw this topic on my local newspaper website and was intrigued by it. I see many people recently trying to decrease the sales tax, and especially in Florida with some rates going between 6-8%. These prices many do not seem like a lot when we are purchasing little things, but if you keep track, you can see how much it really adds up. Florida still is one of the more friendlier states when it comes to sales tax, but it can still be fixed. This goes back to my last point and seeing how much money is being bought in. Companies and businesses all over are making money and implying a sales tax of above 5% is ridiculous to me. Nobody likes spending extra money, especially with how expensive things are nowadays. This affects all customers of any kind since everyone pays sales tax in the state. Obviously it has been talked about lately but I think something can easily be done to fix the issue. Prices are high so why even charge such a high interest rate? Everyone is trying to make money, but the people deserve better. I see the opportunity because I see myself paying sales tax and it adding up. When it comes to purchases over $100 you are paying $6 extra, not it may seem like nothing, but as a college kid with no job, saving anywhere and everywhere is nice. I just do not see the point of a sales tax being above 5% and I hope these people trying to change that succeed. 

4. Ending the government shutdown: This issue has been all over the news and every news website and we can only hope it is coming to an end soon. The government shutdown is affecting so many people throughout the U.S. currently and its making local citizens go through struggle. The true point is that the government cannot go on a shutdown like this because it affects too much of our local societies. This affects many people throughout the country, and none more than the federal workers who are now not getting paid because of the issue. The government needs to solve their issues and come together and end this shutdown so the citizens can go back to living their normal lives. I saw this opportunity because I have a few family members who are federal workers, and seeing them struggle with something they have no control over hurts. My family has been there to help, but my aunts and uncles deserve to live their own lives peacefully without having to worry about wether money is coming in or not.