May/June 2021
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
P1 Economics Corner
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P2 U.S. Government News
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P3 Religion
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P4 Book Review
EDUCATION CENTRAL (Facts on America's Business, History, and Religion)
THE OUTTOP AN EDUCATION COMPANY
Message from the editor... Welcome to The Outtop, a research company whose sole purpose is to educate individuals on U.S. history. History that captures the past and present of American spiritually, the peaks and valleys of the country's economy, and its leadership. Truth today is something of an anamoly. It, unfortunately, has become like art - it's in the eyes of the beholder. However, historical truth - that which actually occurred - is just that! Truth!
America's First Recession: 1819 The United States was only forty-three years old when it would experience its first major financial debacle: the Panic of 1819. After the War of 1812 ended, economic expansion proliferated with increased European demand for American goods. Banks expanded credit to speculators, farmers, and business owners. In 1816, Thomas Jefferson would label this period as a "bank bubble." Economist Murray N. Rothbard stated in his book, The Panic of 1819, that "the number of banks in the U.S. rose from 88 in 1811 to 208 in 1815, while bank notes outstanding rose from $2.3 million to $4.6 million in the same period." The Second Bank of the United States eventually tightened credit resulting in bankruptcies, high unemployment, foreclosures, and business failures. I bet you are asking why do I need to know anything regarding economics? You probably think economics is just for someone who has their nose in books all the time. Well, not necessarily. Actually, economics applies to all of us today as well as in the future. Economic data gives us a window into how the economy, say, in the United States is doing. If the economy is doing well, there are jobs available,vacations to take, things to buy. As you buy more things, retailers thrive, and the businesses making and selling the products you are buying can hire more people. Let's look at a term that tells us how the economy is doing: the GDP.
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Fourth Quarter 2020 GDP: 4.3 percent (third estimate)
The Economics Corner Economics Term: GDP Determining the strength of the economy can be seen in numbers. How important are these numbers to you and me. Believe it or not, very important. There is an important economic term called the GDP that helps us know if the economy is booming, holding steady, or not doing well. The GDP means Gross Domestic Product. It measures the value of all final goods and services produced in the United States over a certain time period. Notice the word "final." The GDP does not take into account the value of each of the components that make up a product. This makes sense. Why? Because you would be recounting the value of the components at each stage of production, thereby, inflating the value of the product. The GDP are goods and services that are bought and sold in the marketplace. What is an example of a final good produced? Let's take a vacuum cleaner, for example. Your parents buy one for their home. The transaction of buying a vacuum cleaner is included in the GDP. However, using the vacuum cleaner in one's home is not part of the GDP. The quality of life that a product or service provides to the buyer is omitted in the calculation. The four components of the GDP are: personal consumption expenditures (PCE), gross private domestic investment, government purchases, and net exports of goods and services.
Enjoy the information in this first bimonthly edition. Alda Stephens Publisher
The U.S. Constitution's First Amendment - Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition The words of the First Amendment to the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof' or bridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Patrick Henry, on June 4, 1788, told the Virginia Ratifying Convention that "there are only three things to be retained. Religion, freedom of the press, and jury trial." On September 25, 1789, the First Congress would approve twelve amendments to the U.S. Constitution.In 1791, ten of the twelve amendments became part of the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment. Two men who fougnt hard in 1787 for the Bill of Rights were George Mason and Ellbridge Gerry.
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