Simoes
Honors Critical Thinking
24 November 2012
Term Paper
Topic: Government Intervention in the Free Market through the Auto Industry Bailout and Healthcare Reform The topic being discussed in this paper is one as widely diverse in opinions as it is in matters of implementation; should government have the ability to intervene in the free market? Two present-day examples of this include the Auto Industry Bailout and Healthcare reform, both of which are hotly debated topics in the political, social, and economical spectrums of America. There is not necessarily a line drawn immediately down the middle of the two sides of this discussion, though many may think or like others to think that. Positives and negatives, supplemental …show more content…
First to consider is the fact that, being one of the largest manufacturing industries in the US, the collapse of these auto giants would not only damage the US economic competitiveness worldwide, increase unemployment, and weaken the U.S. Dollar, but it could potentially destroy entire communities throughout the regions of the U.S. which rely so heavily on the careers provided by the auto industry (Michigan through Pennsylvania) by eliminating their economic foundations. Ideally, this auto bailout is protection for the people living in these regions. Yet another thing to consider is that, as global economic recessions progress further, a dog-eat-dog market evolves gradually in which each country takes steps to strengthen its own economy without focusing on what is happening in a worldwide sense. This introspective, somewhat selfish outlook typically results in measures taken which may only appear valid inside that country’s borders. The auto bailout carries with it the idea that a collapsing manufacturing industry will send a shockwave throughout the economy and weaken the national currency. Since the U.S. Dollar is also one of the primary reserve currencies around the world, a weakened U.S.D. will not only affect our economy’s buying power, but devalue world reserves and have the heightened possibility to drive the global recession even further. While seemingly irrational to some observers, the intention …show more content…
economy. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, American healthcare companies generated a collective amount of an astounding $1,835,384,000,000 in revenue in the 2009 fiscal year alone ("Annual Revenue for Health Care Industries: 2007 to 2009 "). Taking this into consideration, it is easy to see why healthcare reform is such a widely discussed and debated topic, considering that said proposal for reform would completely overhaul and up heave the current system set in