Individual essay on values Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Individual on values - Essay Example nt of an organisation has been given fiduciary responsibility on the economic resources of the society that comprise of both human and natural resources. It is important for every organisation to consider the social, economic and environmental systems in which it is operating; the corporations that develop a long-term vision for their business along with their responsibilities towards the society are able to sustain their development in economy (Albareda, 2008; Crane et al., 2008). Considering the environment in which the organisation is operating is important so that all organisation functions are running in the right perspective and in an ethical manner. When the organisations accept their right of controlling economic resources of the society, the management agrees to take the duty of being accountable about using the assets. This level of accountability needs to be conducted on fair grounds and in a sincere manner by the organisation. Even if the organisation faces losses, it should realise that it needs to be accountable for the situation rather than indulging in false excuses. As the individuals in the management department are looking for a model that can help them in fulfilling their societal responsibilities, the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ (TBL) concept was presented (Park & Stoel, 2005). The introduction of this concept acted as a vehicle for proper reporting about the articulation of the corporation’s environmental, economic and social performance (Ketola, 2009). Performances related to the environment and social concerns can be monitored with the help of the TBL concept. TBL has grown in popularity as it assists an organisation in determining the extent to which it is successfully meeting its responsibilities towards the community. The concept of TBL has given a direction to the management of organisations in developing the goals and objectives of the organisation according to the business environment. By following the guidelines specified in TBL,

Personal Statement for Admission to Law School Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

For Admission to Law School - Personal Statement Example These words could not better describe the attitudes of my fellow students and peers since the tender age of eleven and throughout my high school period. I studied in predominantly white private institution based in Maryland. I was subjected to numerous racist names like Midnight, Oreo, Double Stuff, Dark Skin just to mention a few. Living in a neighbourhood and attending a school that was far removed from my culture and origin, I started to feel meaningless as my efforts of being accepted with my peers bore no fruit. Normally I neither paid attention to those insults, nor reported them to the responsible administration in order to avoid confrontation. I was to realise later that my desensitization to racist taunting led to shame due to my skin colour. When and how, I wondered, shall I make a distinction according to my worth and accomplishment? When shall I make my stand against such prejudice? The answer came when I had a closer look at New York City and my family heritage. Though I have not visited the city before, I was aware of the reputation of the city as a hub of diversities and a melting pot of all cultures. It is there that someone comes across people of different colours, sexualities, religions and social-economic statuses. The existence and integration of people of different backgrounds in this city further consolidated my belief in working against prejudice and in the service of others. I now realise that I have to act on these convictions, unlike my behaviour at high school. My individuality is described by the following beliefs: to help those that suffer prejudice, those that do not have an opportunity to reach the required level of education enabling them to make a stand, and to help the many that suffer in Africa or some other places. My desire to help people is also fuelled by my family heritage in public service. My father is the direct progeny of Nigerian royalty. Though Nigeria is not controlled by political or royal figures, my family has

Emerging trends in Human Resources Management Essay Example for Free

Emerging trends in Human Resources Management Essay Session Outcomes: †¢ Discover the global trends affecting human  resources management, †¢ Describe the impact these trends are having on  organizations and the management of human  resources, †¢ Develop an appreciation of the changing role of  human resources management in supporting  organizational strategy. Emerging Trends in Human Resources Management (HRM) †¢ How would you define or describe Human Resources  Management (HRM)? – What is it? – How do you define it? †¢ Turn to the person next to you and share your thoughts  regarding what you think what Human Resources  Management is. †¢ I will select a number of people to share what they came up with. †¢ You have 2 minutes to do this.

Staff Retention in Nursing

Staff Retention in Nursing Arlena Davis, Stephanee Thurman STAFF RETENTION IN NURSING Introduction Staff retention is one of the strategies nurse administrators employs in preventing high rates of nurse turnover. Currently, the rate of nurse turnover is quite high, and this problem is more common in nurses at the entry level. The high rate of nurse turnover is one the major contributors of the shortage of nurses experienced throughout the country (Brunetto, 2012). Apart from prevention of nurse turnover, retention of nurses has a lot of benefits accrued to it. The strategy is useful in keeping nurses in a particular organization, and this helps to retain the skills and knowledge accrued in the process of serving at the organization. Other benefits associated with nurse retention include a reduced number of new nurses or â€Å"rookies,† thus reducing cost of training, fewer terminations that lead to reduced termination cost and increased productivity. However, the retention of nurses also comes along with increased cost. Some of the nurse retention costs include salary incre ases, rewards, bonus programs, ongoing â€Å"education and promotion,† among others (Ley, 2007). Therefore, as a nurse manager, it is essential to devise ways of dealing with challenges that arise as a result of nurse retention. Possessing the knowledge on nurse retention is vital for career development as a nurse manager. Hence, this paper provides an analysis of research articles regarding the issue of nurse retention. Staff Retention in Nursing Part A: Summary of Each Study Article 1: Retention Priorities for the Intergenerational Nurse Workforce by Wieck et al., 2010 The researchers in this particular study focused on the retention priorities for nurses belonging to different generations. The purpose of the study was â€Å"to conduct an assessment on the environment, job satisfaction, and desired traits of managers in a bid to improve nurse retention† (Wieck et al., 2010). As mentioned earlier, nurses’ retention is important in any organization since it helps reduce the problem of nurses’ shortages that is felt across the whole country. Work environment, job satisfaction, and qualities portrayed by nurse managers have direct impacts on nurse retention. As part of the methodology, this study was purely quantitative and entailed collection of data from 1,773 nurses from 22 hospitals. The survey was conducted online and included aspects such as â€Å"nurse manager desired traits, safety perceptions, nursing work index and job satisfaction† (Wieck et al., 2010). The findings of this research indicate that the satisfaction with work environment were high among all the participants. The satisfaction was highest where there existed nurse-physician relationship, and lowest where there was nurse control of practice, and younger nurses were less satisfied compared to nurses aged over 40 years. 40% of nurses involved in the sample expressed safety concerns. Additionally, 61% of all the participants indicated that they were planning to leave their jobs within the next ten years (Wieck et al., 2010). In order to halt the alarming findings contained in this research, the researchers assert that health organizations should create model managers since the characteristics of the manager are among the major factors influencing nurse retention. Hence, it important for nurse managers to possess qualities that promote a good working relationship with the nursing staff. The nurse managers should empower the staff nurse councils, which are very useful in advancing the grievances raised by nurses, hence improving job satisfaction. The other recommendations are revamping of the incentives, stabilizing staffing, and focusing on their safety during service delivery (Wieck et al., 2010). Article 2: Study on Nurse Retention by Brunetto The study aimed at improving the rates of nurse retention by focusing on the factors that make nurses stick into their professions (Brunetto, 2012). The study took three years, and it sought to determine nurses’ satisfaction levels concerning the relationship with supervisors, ability to solve problems during service delivery, and communication structures (Brunetto, 2012). The findings of the study show that nurses leave their jobs due to lack of autonomy. 20% of the nurses involved in the study felt that they did not possess the relevant skills to solve the problems they were facing, thereby forced to consult from their superior. This practice leads to erosion of the autonomy in nursing. Other findings indicate that younger nurses are faced with the greatest challenges of retention. Another factor that contributes to nurses leaving their job is random changes in the hospital management that complicate the work relationships between the nurses and supervisors. Well-organized structures in the hospital have the potential to reduce the number of nurses leaving their jobs (Brunetto, 2012). The insights contained in this study can be very beneficial if they are applied in a hospital. First of all, increasing the autonomy of nurses can help lower nurses turnover and retain more nurses in the hospital. In the cases where nurses lack autonomy due to lack of knowledge on how to deal with certain situations can undergo further in training to increase their knowledge (Brunetto, 2012). The supervisors should create proper working relationships with nurses. Good relations between the nurses and their supervisors will help reduce the rate of nurse turnover. Article 3: â€Å"Keeping Nurses on the Job: Retention is part of the Answer to the Nursing Shortage† (New York University, 2009). The purpose of this study was to â€Å"establish the factors that can help keep new nurses from leaving their jobs† (New York University, 2009). The topic of study was important because nurses turnover not only results in a shortage of nursing staff in the hospital, but also results increased hospital budget as the hospitals tries to cater for turnover costs (New York University, 2009). This study was funded by the Robert Wood Foundation, and it incorporated a sample size of 1,933 newly licensed nurses that were sampled from various hospitals across 34 states in the USA† (New York University, 2009). The results of the study showed that nurses stayed on their jobs based on factors that included perceptions of the working conditions, job opportunities available, personal characteristics and specific workplace attributes. According to the researchers, nurse retention can be useful in cutting the costs of running the hospitals. Nurse retention is also useful in improving patients’ outcomes since it increases the staff stability. Whenever the nurses are satisfied with their jobs, bear the organizational commitment, possess autonomy, and have opportunities for promotion, such nurses have minimal chances of leaving their job (New York University, 2009). The knowledge contained in this research article is applicable in addressing problems with nurses’ retention. Health organizations should try to create equal chances for promotion for the nurses. Some nurses should not feel sidelined for promotions whereas others are favored. As the results of the study show, the hospitals can reduce high workload for nurses in a bid to increase job satisfaction. Increasing job satisfaction can result in the high rate of nurses’ retention. The nurse managers should provide supervisory support in the efforts to increase the organizational commitment among younger nurses. Nurse Managers should also avoid some practices such as mandatory overtime since they lead to reduced organizational commitment (New York University, 2009). Article 4: â€Å"Effective Strategies for Nurse Retention in Acute Hospitals; A mixed Method Study† by Koen et al., 2013 Nurse retention is one of the best strategies in countering the problem nurse shortage within the organization. Therefore, â€Å"the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of nurse education, nurse staffing and nursing practice environment on the nurse reported intention to leave the hospital† (Koen et al., 2013). The study also sought to â€Å"provide best practices in the nursing care that can lead to a sound practice environment and thereby improving nurse retention rates† (Koen et al., 2013). The study involved 3186 bedside nurses drawn from 56 Belgian acute hospitals. The results show that 29.5% of the participants were planning to leave the hospital. â€Å"Two factors, namely, nurse work environment and patient-to-nurse ratio were among the leading reasons for the intentions of nurses to leave† (Koen et al., 2013). Further results indicate, â€Å"high performing hospitals with high rates of nurse retention had a participative management style, structured education programs, and career opportunities for nurses† (Koen et al., 2013). However, the study contains several limitations. The RN4CAST nurse survey conducted did not cover all the components. Important elements like magnetic force 11 were locked out of the study. The qualitative data was collected from six Flemish hospitals and thus it hard to make generalizations of the findings. Therefore, the knowledge contained in this research article is applicable in addressing problems with nurses’ retention, and this can be achieved by mentoring nurses and addressing their dissatisfactions in a timely manner (Koen et al., 2013). Article 5: â€Å"Exploring the Key Predictors of Retention in Emergency Nurses† by Sawatzky Enns, 2012 The objective of this study was specifically â€Å"to explore and describe the influencing and intermediary factors that predict the retention of nurses working in the emergency departments† (Sawatzky, Enns, 2012). The researchers employed cross-sectional survey designed in the collection of the data (Sawatzky Enns, 2012). The results indicate, â€Å"Engagement emerged as the most convincing predictor for intermediary factors† (Sawatzky Enns, 2012).The intermediary factors use in this case included job satisfaction, fatigue, and burnout. An inverse relationship was evident between â€Å"engagement and influencing factors such as nursing management, collaboration with nurses, available resources, and shift work† (Sawatzky Enns, 2012).There are limitations contained in this work. The purposive sampling method used can elicit biased findings. The other limitation is that the despite the fact that framework used in the research was â€Å"based on scientific evidence,† it had not been tested (Sawatzky Enns, 2012). In addition, since the subjects used in the study were drawn from the nurses operating in the emergency departments, the findings of the study cannot be applied in the entire nursing population. According to the findings of this study, engagement is a key factor in retainin g nurses working in the emergency departments. Hence, nurse managers should work on factors that increase engagements. Some of these factors include engaging the nursing management in providing guidance, collaboration with physicians, and shift work. Article 6: â€Å"The Mediating Role of Organizational Subcultures in Health Care Organizations† by Lok et al., 2011 The objective of this study was â€Å"to investigate the mediating role of the organizational subculture between job satisfaction, organizational commitment and leadership culture in health care organizations† (Lok et al., 2011). The study used nurses drawn from 26 wards in indifferent hospitals (Lok et al., 2011). The results obtained â€Å"shows that in the innovative ward, subculture was found to bear greater impact on nurses’ commitment and retention. In the bureaucratic ward, â€Å"subculture had a significant negative direct relationship with commitment† (Lok et al., 2011). On the supportive ward, â€Å"subculture had small but positive indirect relationship with job commitment, and this was achieved through job satisfaction† (Lok et al., 2011). Some limitations contained in this research calls for further research. In the first instance, this research is only applicable in Australia due to differences in culture across the different countries of the world. Another limitation is that the study was conducted in a hospital in which nurses spend long periods in the ward. Hence, in organizations where nurses move more frequently, they may not have adequate time to form subcultures that influence commitment (Lok et al., 2011). The findings of this research can be applied in healthcare organizations by creating an environment that promotes commitment. Servant leadership is critical in increasing the level of commitment among the employees. Hence, the nurse managers should embrace a transformative style of leadership in order to boost the level of commitment among the nurse Article 7: â€Å"Which Organizational Culture Moves Towards Organizational Excellency† by Gogheri et al., 2013. The overall objective of this study was to evaluate â€Å"the relationship of types of culture and the execution of organizational excellencies based on the EFQM model in government organizations† (Gogheri et al., 2013). 311 questionnaires were used to collect the data contained in this study (Gogheri et al., 2013). According to the descriptive data collected by the researchers, culture is a major determiner of the organization’s boundaries (Gogheri et al., 2013). Culture creates a stable and sustainable social system. The result findings found out that the majority of the respondents viewed culture as a label that is capable of connecting components of the organization through proper standards. The findings found it essential for nurse managers to understand culture issues in groups and the organization at large. However, the study was faced with several limitations. One of the limitations was lack of cooperation from personnel and organizations during the process of collecting. There were also some previous studies conducted on â€Å"the relationship between organizational culture and organizational excellence performance† that made the findings no original (Najmi Hosseini, 2006). According to the findings of this study, organizational culture is important in any organization since it affects goals and strategies set by the organization. Organizational culture can be a strength or weakness in the organization. Since nursing managers have an essential role of developing organizational culture, they should ensure they develop positive organizational culture that will impact the organization positively (Najmi Hosseini, 2006). Part B. Critique and Overall Summary The above articles address the issue of nurse retention in health organizations. The information contained in this articles can be successfully applied in addressing problems associated with retention of nurses in health care organizations. In the first article, the knowledge can be applied in health organizations by creating model nurse leaders and empowering the nursing councils. In the second article, the application of the insight collected can be done through increasing the autonomy of nurses, and this strategy can help lower nurses’ turnover rate and eventually retain more nurses in hospitals. The supervisors should also create good relationships with the employees. Nurse Managers can apply the findings of the third article by providing supervisory support to nurses during service delivery in the efforts to increase the organizational commitment among younger nurses (New York University, 2009). Nurse Managers should also avoid some practices such as mandatory overtime since they lead to reduced organizational commitment, and thus increased turnover. In the fourth article, the knowledge obtained can be applied by creating a more participative work environment where nurses collaborate freely with the management (Koen et al., 2013). Nurse Managers can apply the knowledge on the fifth article in healthcare organizations by working on factors that increase engagements. Some of these factors include nursing management, collaboration with physicians, shift work and resources (Sawatzky, Enns, 2012). The findings of the sixth and seventh research article can be applied in health care organizations by creating an environment that promotes commitment and as well as cultural sensitive work environment (Manojlovich, 2006). In summary, all the summarized articles are very credible, and they provide evidence-based practices that can be applied by nursing managers to avert the increasing problems associated with retention of nurses. Apart from the interventions identified in the articles, nursing managers can also address problems of retention among nurses by addressing shortages of nurses, adopting top-notch recruitment and retention policies, effective planning and use of the available nursing resources, and providing incentives that motivate nurses. Therefore, all the strategies identified in the articles when implemented effectively can increase nurses’ job satisfaction thus reducing problems of retention (Ley, 2007). Conclusion Nursing retention is an effective measure in curbing the problem of nurses’ shortages in heath care organizations. For nurse managers, understanding the mechanisms of retaining nurses is essential for the purposes of career development. This research paper has provided five articles addressing the issue of nurse retention, and two articles addressing organizational culture and it influence on retention. In regard to nurse retention, the style of leadership adopted by nurse administrator has direct impacts on the nurse retention. Hence, nurse administrators should create an environment that promotes commitment. In regard to organizational culture, leaders are largely responsible for developing an organizational culture and it important for nurse managers to use their positions to develop a positive culture that promote retention of nurses. References Brunetto, Y.( 2012). Study on Nurse Retention. The Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 34, 28-38. Duffield, C. M., Roche, M. A., Blay, N., Stasa, H. (2011). Nursing unit managers, staff retention and the work environment.Journal of clinical nursing,20(1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 2), 23-33. Gogheri, A. S., Nawaser, K., Vesal, S. M., Jahanshahi, A. A., Kazi, R. (2013). Which organizational culture moves towards organizational excellency. Asian Social Science, 9(11), 221-236. Koen, V., et al. (2013). Effective strategies for nurse retention in acute hospitals: A mixed method study. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 50(2):185–194 Ley, L. (2007). ‘Shortage of Nurses.’ Journal of medical practice. 3(1), 23-43. Lok, P., Jo, R., Westwood, B. (2011). The mediating role of organizational subcultures in health care organizations, Journal of Health Organization and Management, 25(5): pp.506 – 525. Manojlovich, M. (2006). Enhancing nurses job satisfaction through improvements in the practice environment and effective nurse physician communication. Journal of Nursing Administration, 36(5), 229-230 Najmi, M., Hosseini, S. (2006). EFQM Excellence Model, From Idea to Execution. Ronas (6th ed.). Tehran, Iran. New York University. (20130). Keeping Nurses on the Job: Retention Is Part Of The Answer To The Nursing Shortage. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 29, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090330154802.htm Sawatzky, V. Enns, C.(2012). Exploring the key predictors of retention in emergency nurses. Journal of Nursing Management., 20(5); 696-707. Wieck, K., et al. (2010). Retention priorities for the intergenerational nurse workforce. Nursing Forum, 45(1), 7-17.

Greek History Essay -- Greece Historic Historical Essays

Greek History Works Cited Missing Relatively little is known about the nature of life in Greece during the Neolithic and Early Helladic periods. Since there are no written records from these periods in Greek history, it is only possible to learn about the cultures that existed during this time by studying the remains of their settlements. The sites of Sesklo, Dimini, and Lerna are all good examples of the types of settlements that existed on mainland Greece from the Middle Neolithic period to the Early Helladic. Although they don’t give us a complete picture, these sites help us understand what life was like on the Greek mainland before the arrival of the people that are known today as the Greeks. During the Neolithic period the most advanced area of Greece was Thessaly. This area in northern Greece was the place where both Sesklo and Dimini were established. During the Helladic period the area of greatest advancement shifted to the south. This period is best represented by Lerna. Sesklo was first occupied in the Early Neolithic period but didn’t reach its peak until the Middle Neolithic. It was built on a low mound that had an area of about 100m by 45m. A large, two-room megaron which opened on to a paved courtyard was built at the center of the mound (www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/siteindex?entry=sesklo). Near the megaron were various other smaller buildings packed closely together. One building stands out from the others, because it appears to have served a special purpose. That building is the two room building now identified as a potter’s workshop. The inhabitants of Sesklo surrounded the whole area on top of the mound with what appears to have been a single one meter thick wall. It’s uncertain whether thi... ...peaks in the development of the Greek mainland from the Neolithic to Helladic period. Each settlement represents a fairly significant advancement over its predecessor and shows how Greek settlements progressed over the years. These settlements also provide many clues about the nature of mainland Greek culture during this period of time. Even though we have no written records, by examining the architecture and artifacts of these cultures we are able to determine how their communities were organized. We are also able to determine the nature of their relationships with other settlements by examining their fortification systems. Although many things about early civilizations in Greece remain a mystery, we have learned much from these sites and continue to study them in hopes of gaining a more complete picture of what life was like for the early inhabitants of Greece.

Promotion and Retention of Women in Mathematics :: Mathematical Careers Education Essays

Promotion and Retention of Women in Mathematics How do we interest and retain more women in the field of mathematics? "Women now make up nearly half the undergraduate math majors in the U.S. (1993 Annual Survey of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical association of America); yet in graduate math programs, only about one-quarter of the American students are women" (Adhikari & Nolan, 1997, p. 17). For women who choose SME (Science, Mathematics, Engineering) majors, persistence rates in the major are significantly lower than that of male peers. (Seymour, 1995, p. 438) I am interested in the topic because I am a female who experienced pursuing undergraduate and graduate mathematics degrees. I want to know what I can do to help motivate other women in mathematics. While reading the literature, I became aware of subtle personal experiences that paralleled common experiences of women pursuing mathematics majors. Whereas I had informally considered my attempts at fair, consistent treatment for all students to be po sitively related to motivating women (and other minorities) in mathematics, upon reading the literature a strong case is made for additional support to different groups. Although I will focus the majority of the paper on college experiences that influence women in SME majors, literature also points to the influence of pre-college coursework. â€Å"Maple and Stage (1991) found that students who took more science and math courses in high school were significantly more likely to choose science and math majors in college† (Trusty, 2002). Farmer, Wardrop, Anderson, and Risinger (1995) found taking elective science courses in high school had a moderate direct effect on persistence for women in science-related careers, but taking elective math courses did not. (p. 163) Although in this research taking elective math courses was not found to effect persistence of women in science-related careers, I contend that math courses are still critical as they are prerequisites for science electives of chemistry and physics. The National Science Foundation has reported, â€Å"young women have lower interest in math courses and take fewer advanced math courses† (Farmer, Wardrop, Anderson and Risinger, 1995, p. 157). In addition, Seymour and Hewitt (1997) found the effects of inadequate high school preparation to be the most common contributor to early decisions to switch from SME (science, mathematics, engineering) majors to non-SME majors (p. 79). Seymour (1995) also points out that studies have noted â€Å"the subtle deterrents to active participation in mathematics and science which bear upon precollege girls† (p.

Macroeconomics: Should the Minimum Wage Increase? Essay

Minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law or by a special agreement that can be applied for an employee or put simply, the lowest amount of pay that an employee can make. Governments set a minimum wage on businesses in hope for reduced poverty and increases in the standard of living. Minimum wages are beneficial up to a line, when minimum wage is too high, it makes businesses make crucial decisions and must save money by firing workers, reducing output, and increasing prices on products. Over the years, the federal minimum wage has increased and has been beneficial up to the minimum wage increase in July 24, 2009 from $6.55 to $7.25. After the increase, the unemployment rate has soared and businesses fired worker and increased their prices. For this reason, it would be beneficial to the economy if the minimum wage is reduced back to $6.55 because it will decrease the unemployment rate, increase GDP, and help youth and unskilled workers in the job industry. The Great Depression was a devastating time for the United States with families having no income, there was no economic growth, and the poverty rate was at an all time high. To aid with the matter, President Roosevelt attempted to impose a federal minimum wage but was struck down by the Supreme Court. The Court continued to refuse to have a federal minimum wage over and over again. It was until chose a presidential nominee, and made a platform that supported minimum wages by the party’s presidential nominee, Alf Landon. After this, the Court decided to allow a minimum wage. Over the years, the government has increased the minimum wage from 25 cents in 1938 to $7.25 in 2009. The current debate in Congress now is that President Obama wants to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 which is going to be a bad idea for the economy, decreasing the minimum wage will benefit the economy for reasons that will be stated now. Human labor is very important to businesses even though technology is rapidly improving but if the minimum wage increases, the cost of human labor increases, so to deal with this, businesses must decrease output, increases prices, and ultimately fire employees. So if the minimum wage increases, the unemployment will also ultimately increase. Evidence of this occurring is seen through a recent minimum wage increase from $6.55 to $7.25. When the minimum wage increased from 2008 to 2009, the unemployment rate almost doubled. In 2008, the unemployment rate was 5.5% and in 2009, it increased to 11.2%. Decreasing the minimum wage will reverse this because human labor is cheaper, therefore businesses can increase output, lower prices, and hire more employees. This rapid increase unemployment rate is undesirable because of the huge economic cost for GDP. The economic cost is determined using Okun’s Law which is to double the unemployment rate to find the GDP gap, so the GDP gap for the year 2009 is 22.4%. Multiplying the GDP gap with the potential GDP gives the economic cost. The potential GDP in 2009 was about $13750 billion and multiplying this with the GDP gap 22.4% gives the economic cost of $3080 billion (McConnell, 2012, p. 175). The cost of this was way too high and the cost will increase much more if the minimum wage is increased, but if the m inimum wage was decreased, maybe the economic cost can be reversed. If the minimum wage can be decreased, the unemployment rate will also decrease, and GDP can increase. GDP is a monetary measure of the health of the economy. This is calculated by adding up all the expenditures made on final goods and services in the U.S or adding all the income mad in the U.S. If minimum wage is decreased, businesses and firms can increase output with more employees and lower prices. Since there are lower prices, there will be a higher demand so more goods and services can be sold thus increasing GDP making a bigger and healthier economy. For example, a man sells burgers and hires 10 people at $7.25 and minimum wage goes up to $9.50, the cost of ingredients goes up. The labor that is used in bringing the beef to market is paid with minimum wage. If those wages go up the cost of producing the beef will go up, ultimately driving up the price of beef. The man now can’t afford the price rise on raw ingredients because it will cause him to run at a deficit. Instea d he will have to raise prices and sell less burgers or make less output. Since there is less output to be made, fewer employees are needed so employees are fired. Since there is less burgers to be sold and it is at higher prices, not a lot of consumers will purchase the burgers and thus GDP will decrease. Decreasing the minimum wage will not just decrease unemployment and increase GDP; it will also benefit the working youth and unskilled workers as well. If the minimum wage decreases, businesses and firms can afford to hire more employees, including youth workers and unskilled workers and can train them. This gives youth and unskilled workers valuable experience which can help them with future job opportunities. If the youth and unskilled workers can at least get a job, they can work their way up the ladder and use the experience they get from the minimum wage job and use it as they rank up or pursue higher income jobs. There are many reasons for why decreasing the minimum wage would benefit the economy but there are those who oppose this view. Those who oppose this view say that decreasing the minimum wage will hurt the economy because lowering the minimum wage decreases the income of families so that they can purchase fewer goods and therefore decrease the GDP growth rate. There is another argument saying that is only fair to give an employee a â€Å"living wage† and can support at least a family of two for 40 hours a week. This is untrue because most employees that work minimum wage don’t work 40 hours a week anyway so it is already not a living wage but they don’t take the job for the short run, they do it to gain experience and can in the future work with other businesses that require past experience and will pay the employee a higher wage. As stated before, employees can work their way up the income ladder. Decreasing minimum wage is beneficial to the economy because of many reasons. It is beneficial because it reduces the unemployment rate, increases the GDP, and helps youth and unskilled workers with future job opportunities. This can be done by first refusing Obama’s plan of increasing minimum wage, and then starting a bill to reduce minimum wage. Minimum wage is needed to prevent employees getting an unfair pay but there is a limit on it, don’t raise the minimum wage too much Mr. President. References 2050., & 2000, u. f. (n.d.). Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Retrieved July 24, 2013, from http://www.cbo.gov/ Brownstein, R. (n.d.). A Short History of the Minimum Wage Fight – NationalJournal.com. NationalJournal.com. Retrieved July 24, 2013, from http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/a-short-history-of-the-minimum-wage-fight-20130214 Macroeconomics, global edition (19 ed., p. 175). (2012). 9. S.l.: Mcgraw Hill Higher Educat. Shemkus, S. (n.d.). Increasing the Minimum Wage: Pros & Cons – Salary.com. Welcome to Salary.com – Salary.com. Retrieved July 24, 2013, from http://www.salary.com/increasing-the-minimum-wage-pros-cons/ U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). (n.d.). U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Retrieved July 24, 2013, from http://www.bea.gov/index.htm U.S. Department of Labor – Wage and Hour Division (WHD) – Minimum Wage. (n.d.). United States Department of Labor. Retrieved July 24, 2013, from http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/coverage.htm