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Introduction to Business 2e

Working the Net

Introduction to Business 2eWorking the Net

Working the Net

  1. The Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles demographic data. Visit https://www.bls.gov/bls/demographics.htm, and describe the different types of information it provides. What kinds of changes are likely to occur in the United States over the next 25 years? Navigate to the "Subjects" menu and then click on Spending & Time Use and select How Americans Spend Time to read about the American Time Use Survey. What trends can you identify?
  2. Go to the Wired (https://www.wired.com) site and research technology trends. Compile a list of three trends that sound most promising to you, and describe them briefly. How will they affect businesses? What impact, if any, will they have on you personally?
  3. Use the Bureau of Labor Statistics site (https://www.bls.gov/) to determine the current trends in GDP growth, unemployment, and inflation. What do these trends tell you about the level of business activity and the business cycle? If you owned a staffing agency, how would this information affect your decision-making?
  4. What’s the latest U.S. economic news? Follow the link to the Economy page on the CNBC website, which categorizes news about the world economy, the U.S. economy, and other important topics (https://www.cnbc.com/economy/). Read the various articles about the U.S. economy, and then do the same for GDP Outlook (https://www.cnbc.com/rapid-update/). Prepare a summary of what you learned, and use it to discuss where you think the economy is headed for the next 6 to 12 months.
  5. How would you spend the national budget if you were president? Here’s your chance to find out how your ideas would affect the federal budget. Go online to Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, at https://www.crfb.org/debtfixer, which is an exercise in making difficult decisions and how government officials make trade-offs when they prepare the federal budget. Experiment with your own budget ideas at the site. What are the effects of your decisions?
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