The Buy American requirements act is a legislation that was passed by president Hoover in the year 1933 in his last full day in office, which required the people and the government of the United States of America to prefer goods made from their own country when they are purchasing goods in various places (Frank, 2000). The history of this act did not just start with president Hoover; it has a sparse and confusing history since 1875 when it was first brought to the senate. The government passed the Buy American requirement act to help reduce the unemployment rate. The US economy at this time was going through a great depression and the economy was poor and could not support the people of America. President Hoover being concerned and an economist …show more content…
had to look for other ways to sustain the people of America and that why the bill was taken to the senate and it was later passed and signed by the president (Frank, 2000). The Buy American Requirement Act applies to direct procurement by the US government and the construction contracts awarded to different firms by the government. The act requires the companies in the U.S especially those involved in construction to purchase US-mined or produced manufactured goods, supplies and materials. This act has some exceptions and it exempts some foreign nations and no preferences are given for U.S goods over those from those nations. Products and services exempted include GPA signatories, Free Trade Agreement and “Least developed” countries. 2. Determine the substantive means by which the Buy American Requirements would benefit both VectorCal and your new company. Provide a rationale for your response. The Buy American Requirement would benefit both VectorCal and my new company Hawk-eye in a number of ways which are, increasing revenue earned annually, discouraging competition and increasing priority of the company. Increase Revenue The Buy American Requirement requires the American people to prefer goods made from America by the companies there and my company and VectorCal being in America, the act will have the people buy products from the companies instead of looking for other similar products made from other companies known international from other countries like China and Japan. Apart from increasing revenue, the people of America by purchasing products from their own country shows some sense of pride and belonging, shows they prefer goods made in their country to the others. Discourages competition The act eliminates competition right away from other companies making the same goods and supplying them to the American people and this is because the act requires an increase in tax on every foreign good and the increased tax makes the good more expensive than the goods locally made and therefore most people will prefer the cheaper goods made in the country.
To determine foreign goods the act provides a provision that if any good has been made and fifty percent of the parts used to make it are imported it is considered foreign and on the other hand for an item to be considered an American product, seventy five percent of the materials used to make should be from America. Increase Priority The Buy American Requirement will increase the priority of people choosing my company to give a contract for national security and interest purposes. The act gives priority to goods made in America therefore, being the only company of its kind in the country, people will have no choice but to get products from my company and the VectorCal Company. 3. Analysis and comparison of the Buy American Act and Capitalism. Support your answer with two examples of such a …show more content…
contradiction. Capitalism is a free market where trade, means of production and industries are owned by rich private owners who run them and provide employment to people (Friedman & Milton, 1962) The Buy American Requirement is contradicting with the free market economy system in a number of ways; Freedom to choose The basis of a free economy is that private owners are the ones who own and create employment to the people and the market controls the prices by the demand and supply law but by the government introducing the act, it seems like the owners have no freedom and the market has no freedom to choose the service provider they need. The government has limited the American people to the products of the country only by this Buy American Requirement Act and on the other hand Capitalism encourages foreign investors to bring foreign goods and provide employment for the people and make profits (Friedman & Milton, 1962). Efficiency The Buy American Requirement was established to increase efficiency and flow in trade and means of production on the other hand capitalism ensures their id efficiency in production and supply of products from the producers to the consumers.
The Buy American Requirement that encourages Americans to buy goods made and produced in America breaks the high level of efficiency that capitalism makes. In this case the Buy American Requirement increases efficiency within the American people but assumes the potential of America, capitalism seems to give America the full potential to grow and maintain its superiority by encouraging foreign investors and foreign products making it a free economy which ensures faster growth of the
economy. 4. Debate whether or not you believe that the exceptions to the Buy American Requirements set forth by the government are fair and advantageous to the US economy. Provide a rationale for your response. The Buy American requirement act has its advantages and disadvantages to the American economy, for instance one of the greatest achievements of the act was helping America come out of the great depression. The Buy American Act has increased the economy of the US economy to emerge from the great depression and this by the American people being the first market to their own products such that most products manufactured in the country, leave shelves within a very short time while those that are foreign may stay there, on the shelves for quite some time thus discouraging the foreign goods from being supplied in the country in large quantities. The other advantage is that the act increased the US market for the goods manufactured and not only in the country but also internationally and goods from America are supplied among other countries because the act allows buyers from outside but discourages goods from outside by increasing duty and taxes on the foreign products. The disadvantage of the Buy American Requirement act is that in the long run it is not as efficient as it is in the short run, when people in a country are required to buy the products made from their own country they increase their gross domestic products for some time but after the economy is grown to sustain the growth the country has to engage in the international trade and open their boundaries for foreign goods and foreign investors to work freely and produce goods in the country. The Buy American Requirement as mentioned earlier helped the American economy to rise but if the growth is to be sustained and the growth to be higher capitalism has to come in place and take over the part of the act. For any economy to grow better the boundaries must be open for investors and foreign goods circulate freely, the Buy American Act makes the American people to prefer goods over the goods from other countries like German and Japan and this may deny the people of America to get the products they want (Case & Karl, 2004). For this reason the American economy should be both capitalist and individual, individual in this case means the use of the Buy American Requirement act and this will allow the American people to buy the best goods regardless of wherever they come from and at the same time the government controls the entry of foreign goods and makes sure that goods locally made are also supplied and leave the shelves in time, it is an art of balancing the two for effective trading and ensuring maximum profits and therefore a bigger growth of the economy (Case & Karl, 2004). 5. Determine the key advantages and disadvantages of using the Buy American Requirements with the navigation system that both VectorCal and your company produce. Justify your response. My company engages itself in the manufacture of a security and control unit called the All Eyes On You abbreviated as AEOY. This unit is able to offer total control and management of the drone and provide necessary security details needed and this Buy American Requirement act can be of great help to my company, Hawk-eye and VectorCal and some of the advantages are: Assured market Being the only company that produces these goods of a kind, my company does not have to worry of the market and also foreign goods that could be of the same kind may be expensive because of the duties imposed on them, thus leaving my company as the major supply and therefore the people have no choice other than to get the goods for Hawk-eye and VectorCal. Elimination of Competition Companies struggle to impress the market in order to beat rivals but in the case of Hawk-eye and VectorCal competition from other companies in other countries like Japan, China and German is eliminated by the Buy American Requirement that needs the Americans to give priority to goods made in America. The major disadvantage is that the American people are denied freedom to choose what they want, they could be giving priority to American products over the rest which could be better than those of America. The people should be free to choose and buy the best for fair competition regardless where the good is manufactured (Case & Karl, 2004).
In American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865 - 1900, H.W. Brands worked to write a book that illustrates the decades after the Civil War, focusing on Morgan and his fellow capitalists who effected a stunning transformation of American life. Brands focuses on the threat of capitalism in American democracy. The broader implications of focusing on capitalism in American democracy is the book becomes a frame work based on a contest between democracy and capitalism. He explains democracy depends on equality, whereas, capitalism depends on inequality (5). The constant changing of the classes as new technologies and ways of life arise affect the contest between democracy and capitalism.
The current issues that have been created by the market have trapped our political system in a never-ending cycle that has no solution but remains salient. There is constant argument as to the right way to handle the market, the appropriate regulatory measures, and what steps should be taken to protect those that fail to be competitive in the market. As the ideological spectrum splits on the issue and refuses to come to a meaningful compromise, it gets trapped in the policy cycle and in turn traps the cycle. Other issues fail to be handled as officials drag the market into every issue area and forum as a tool to direct and control the discussion. Charles Lindblom sees this as an issue that any society that allows the market to control government will face from the outset of his work.
Roberts, Russell. (2006). The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
...tually break up monopolies when they formed, by specific legislation” (600). They see that the government is letting the business tycoons to own whatever land they want and extend their fortunes. Unlike the first two books, Johnson’s book discussed the history of the book without bias and from a different perception; one that was not came from an American view.
When America's cotton is sent to China, it is made into T-shirts in the sweatshops of China by laborers working 12-hour days and being paid subsistence wages. When the finished T-shirts re-enter the U.S., they are protected by the government through subsidies, tariffs, taxes, and protectionist policies that ensure that these foreign products will not provide too much competition to American-made shirts. Government regulations control how many T-shirt can be imported from various countrie...
Trade is essential to overcome the dollar gap that prevented foreign marketing of United States goods (Melanson and Mayers, 159). There are many economic issues which face the nation at this time. A recovery from World War II and the Korean War, a recession, a change in the political party of the president, and several other issues. Thus, this must be a time of strong economic leadership. The policies made and legislature passed must steer the United States through this apparent storm and give the nation a chance to rest from the hecticness of the first half of the century.
This is a major con of the commerce clause. People in America commonly expect to have the opportunity to buy and sale goods without restrictions. That is the basic idea of free enterprise. What would the United States be without the clause? How would things be different? Does the commerce clause help or hurt? These questions lead to examining the details of the commerce clause and how it is applied daily in everyday situations. There are pros to the commerce clause.
Have you ever thought about those little words in fine print that tell you where a product was made? How about the last time you put tires on your car? Before you made a decision on the purchase did you stop and ask where the tires are made? Probably not! You heard the only words you wanted to hear....good and cheap! When did we stop caring about where a product is made or did we ever? Why would this matter anyway and what importance is of it? Some may argue that free trade and imports give us purchasing power. They believe cheaper goods results in more money in our pocket to buy other goods. That theory is a farce with little to no data to support it. Buying American made supports job growth, the environment and human rights. The impact on us, our children and the future of America is greatly impacted on our purchasing decisions.
This forced industrialists and monopolistic corporations to consider public opinion when making business decisions, which benefited the consumer and helped grow the economy. One way that Wilson and Roosevelt tried protecting these smaller businesses was by removing trusts that were much bigger than they were. Under Wilson’s authority in 1814, the Clayton Anti-trust Act was passed, which abolished interlocking directorates. This law was passed as an amendment to clarify and supplement the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. When Roosevelt became president in 1901, he demanded a “Square Deal” that would address his principal concerns for the era- the three C’s: control of corporations, consumer protection, and conservation.... ...
It is a good practice to buy American made goods if possible. Because the American public no longer thinks before they buy an item, we are losing out manufacturing base every day that passes on the calendar. Every day you watch the news there are stories about how bad the economy is and getting worse with each tick of the clock. In the recent history, United States of America was the leading exporter of goods but now we run a trade deficit each year. John Carpenter in the article “Why You Should Buy American Made Products,” at the website http://ezinearticles.com has made the point that the American public has to take a share of the blame because they have lost their patriotism and pride.
After the War of 1812, cheaper British manufactured goods poured into American markets. In order to protect American “infant industries” from British competition, Congress passed a protective tariff in 1816. Proponents of the tariff reasoned that, without some protection, American would always be in the position of supplying raw materials (such as cotton) in ret...
...first through a war on drugs, and then a tacit protection of oil interests during Gulf War 1 and veiled protection of US petroleum interests in Gulf War 2. Implicit in public support for both of these wars was the desire to secure continued economic power to protect American interests of an inexpensive (at least monetarily) and high quality of living through control of oil reserves and the acknowledgment that the fates of multinational corporations are directly tied to capitalist American hegemony. The enduring global free trade and protection of American global market security enforcement is a result of efforts by multinational corporations to meet the demands of Americans for cheep products, the needs of industry for cheep supplies. These efforts have lead to free trade conditions that maximize outcomes for industry leaders while satiating the American public.
The ideal of American citizenship was not only if you were legal in America, but the ideal that you have the values and rights of a citizen. Unregulated capitalism and the ultimate change in government regulations in big business led to a change in the ideal of citizenship. With the start of big business in America the theory of unregulated capitalism was tested for the first time. In this paper I will discuss the ideal of what a citizen was before the great depression with unregulated capitalism, and the changing from no regulations to some, and the after effect this had.
After all, America was founded on being the best solution to a free society. However, Capitalism would still afford me the best opportunity to advance my career in life, no matter what position I may find myself slotted in. If I select, as Rawls suggests that I should, choosing Capitalism gives the best opportunity for the worst case in our society to advance. Works Cited Warburton, Nigel. A.
Anonymous author (Mar. 1 2007). ‘American Capitalism, A Necessary Evil?’. Retrieved on Mar 23 from: