Social Regulation
Social regulation is the process by which the government imposes certain restrictions that are meant to reduce and prevent undesirable behavior in the society. Social regulation is therefore aimed at maintaining the behavioral standards of corporations. United States of America is one of the countries in which social regulation exists. One example of social regulation in this country is the control of the monopolies of the country (McConnell 2012). In this case, the government has fixed the prices above which monopolies like electrical companies should not exceed. The benefit of this is that the consumers of electric products will access the products and services at a cheaper price. However, the productivity of these companies may be compromised since there would be fewer incentives to improve efficiency due to the low pricing.
We can argue that the social regulation in this case is economically justifiable. This is due to the fact that the poor and the middle class people will be in a position to purchase the products of the electricity companies at fair prices. If no regulation would be set on the pricing of these companies, the monopolies would charge higher prices to earn more profits. This would affect the low income earners since they would not be in a position to purchase the products of the monopolies. According to me, the government has done well in the regulation of prices in the economy. Based on the economic justification of the results of social regulation, the restrictions that have been made have created more benefits than costs in the society. The price controls have increased the level of economic activities due to willingness by various investors to trade at the set prices (McConnell 2012).
Off-shoring
Off shoring is the process by which the business of one company can be shifted from one country to another. The main aim of off shoring is to reduce the costs of the company. Off shoring in the United States of America has involved the shedding of white collar jobs to other countries (Ron 2011). This has raised questions on the issue of job creation in the country. There are many middle class workers who are dislocated to other countries. This has led to a hollowing effect of the middle class white collar jobs in the country. People also fear that some of the jobs may be shed permanently. According to financial analysts, this action is likely to lower the wages of the workers left in the country.
The views expressed in the news clips are complementary to the ones in the text book. Both argue that although off shoring is meant to reduce costs and increase productivity to a great extent, it will largely affect the employment of the country. The text book argues that as production is being transferred, the process of job creation should be improved in the country in order to prevent a hollowing effect in the economy (McConnell 2012). According to me, off shoring should be done only under prompt economic planning. The plan should incorporate the maintenance of the current jobs as well as creating new ones for the unemployed. This will help in preventing adverse effects that may be associated with off shoring.
References
McConnell, C, 2012. Microeconomics: principles, problems, and policies (19th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Ron H, 2011. Outsourcing America: What's behind Our National Crisis and how we can reclaim American Jobs. New York. Hedge Publishers.
