Congressional Report Highlights Reduced Deficit With Looming Long-Term Problems

The Federal Deficit shrunk in 2014 by $170 billion according to the Congressional Budget Office. The report also argues that future problems with budgets may occur if federal laws relating to taxes and spending remain unchanged. The next few years look bright for the federal deficit and the labor market which will lose some slack as higher corporate profits push for expansion and the rehiring unemployed workers. The positive news comes with significant long-term risks where proactive solutions are needed.

A 15% increase in spending on Medicaid and a 5% increase in Social Security are putting pressure on the budget. Revenue is expected to increase 6% for individual income tax, 8% for payroll tax and 15% for corporate taxes to help release some that budget pressure. The increased revenue and high costs will have an impact on spending priorities.

Federal deficit held by the public will increase to 74% which is the highest since 1950. Additional debt held by the public will rise in 2018 irritating higher interest payments and other financial obligations. The higher debt will likely force large buyers of government debt to start raising interest rates thereby making the debt more costly and a greater burden to the nation. 

The actual report provides a stronger overview of debt in America and the recent improvements in economic development. Government should seek to find ways to simplify the tax structure and reduce the complexity that hinders investment in the country. Simplicity allows companies to make predictions and calculations further into the future and this has an influence on choices of companies to invest here or somewhere else.

Government spending is also a problem as a number of large programs create legacy costs that are difficult to maneuver around.  Large fixed obligations reduce flexibility.  Adjusting spending to shorter-term commitments and renewing those commitments when necessary helps to create some flexibility in handling debt while not locking down national resources.

Government is expensive and often not up-to-date in its overall operations thereby wasting taxpayer money and resources. Adjusting the system upwards in a way that improves efficiency, lowers fixed costs, improves infrastructure, and enhances the lives of its citizens is beneficial. Such movement requires a new way of thinking about government and its functionality. 

The processes of stagnation and rapid change are just as common in government as they are in business. As costs rise, revenue flat lines and competitors improve all organizations are either forced to change or wither into irrelevancy. Proactive small changes today lead to bigger solutions tomorrow. What happens if public servants focus on effectiveness and efficiency? Effectiveness being successful solutions and efficiency defined as the most cost effective way of operating that solution.

Research has taught us that there are many ways the government can adjust its operations, internal incentives, processes, procedures, revenue and spending activities to create a more effective and cost efficient system. Tradition and resource seeking stakeholders that benefit from large government spending are often the main catalysts behind a failure to change when that change is needed.

In the corporate world, companies that continuously innovate to overcome hurdles are more successful than those who are stuck in tradition or ineffective structures. Proactive management requires taking best practices from both research and governance successes in other parts of the world and incorporating them into the larger American model to push it to a higher level of functioning needed in modern markets. This cannot happen unless open-mindedness and proactive thinking focuses on short and long-term solutions.  Starting to change when revenues are high and balancing the budget with cost reduction can thwart significant problems in the future. As improvement continues additional savings are found and applied to reduce the debt and further improvement in the operational functionality of government entities.

If you want to get a highlight on teamwork and the type of personalities that can work together read a blurb on teamwork research HERE

Report

The Economic Outlook for 2014 to 2024 in 15 Slides from Congressional Budget Office

Webinar: From Silver Bullets to Embedded Assessments: Focusing on What Counts in a Distracted Educational World

Date: September 25^th, 2014 at 2-3:00 PM Eastern

Virginia Tech

Website: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/322017114

Education, writ large, has a tendency to look for and accept "silver bullets," uber-easy and uber-effective solutions to complex and complicated problems, without the necessary scrutiny. Unfortunately, this silver bullet search has taken our collective eyes off of more solid approaches to assessment in education. This webinar will move the conversation from silver bullets to embedded assessments in the teaching and learning process, resulting in "assessment for free." The concept of "assessment for free" results from situations where the focus is on creating learning environments/activities/experiences that naturally yield an artifact - presentation, product, paper, processing, performance - that can then be used to assess student learning and development. There is plenty of rhetoric and noise in today's educational systems; it's time to move forward proactively in creating instructional environments that focus on student learning and assessment, using the process itself as a catalyst. 

 About the Presenter 

Peter E. Doolittle is Assistant Provost for Teaching and Learning, Executive Director of the Center for InstructionalDevelopment and Educational Research (CIDER), and Professor of Educational Psychology in the Department of Learning Sciences and Technologies at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia. His academic background includes 25 years teaching undergraduate and graduate students in public and private universities; using traditional, blended, and online formats; across several subject areas, including advanced educational psychology, cognition and instruction, constructivism and education, and college teaching. In addition, he created the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, the Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy, and the Mastering Flipped Classes: Building Better Learning Environments professional development seminars. At Virginia Tech, he was awarded the University Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Certificate of Teaching Excellence and Graduate Student Advising Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, and the Outstanding Teaching Award from the School of Education. His current research focus includes the investigation of working memory capacity and learning efficacy in multimedia learning environments. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, provided over 50 keynote and invited addresses, presented at over 100 conference presentations, and received in excess of $2 million in grants.

Do American Universities Draw International Talent?

Higher education is an important point of discussion within American intellectual circles. Higher education is more expensive than in the past and some have questioned its ability to produce students that can effectively fill positions and compete globally. The very nature of competition has moved from domestic to international as companies now must sell and interact in a more complex market. A paper by Garcia and de Lourdes Villarreal discusses international students and the slowing down of the ability to attract those students to foster greater learning and higher revenue in higher education (2014). 

International students make decisions to frequent the United States based on a whole range of issues related to opportunities, prestige, international competitiveness, ease of entry, cost, etc… Like the purchase of any other product or service the personal and social cost can be extensive for these students and there are many different options and alternatives.

Some of the costs students face includes leaving their families behind, paying in cash, restricted visas due to the Patriot Act, English as an international business language, and the type of programs a university offers. These are significant considerations and countries that can ease the process of attending higher education may find themselves as a draw for future highly skilled employees.

Many countries don’t have the same breadth of programs the U.S. maintains. They are limited in terms of not only the type of programs offered but also the ability to attend higher education based upon high demand and low supply. At other times, countries are inherently discriminatory to minorities and bar them from achieving a competitive degree.

International students not only raise the learning level and international competitiveness of domestic graduates but also pay their tuition in cash making them attractive to school administrators. International students are one way in which higher education budget short-falls can be improved while avoiding cutting education quality.

When successful international students are recruited by local companies and are retained within the country they add to the intellectual capital of the nation and encourage greater economic growth. Their knowledge and skill of international markets can be applied to greater business growth and economic development.

The report doesn’t move into online education and is primarily focused on ground based institutions. International online education is an exportable product that can be a cheaper option for many students who must make choices to travel and leave their home countries. As online education raises in value and prestige it offers an alternative for those who seek to stay home while obtaining a quality American degree. Naturally, ground based universities will attract students interested in laboratory research but other degrees can be equally competitive with much less personal, financial, and social costs to the student. These students will help raise domestic intellectual capacity and may become prime recruitment targets of international firms due to their mastery of the English language and familiarity with American education. 

Garcia, H. & de Lourdes Villarreal, M (2014). The redirecting of international students: American higher education policy hindrances and implications. Journal of International Students, 4 (2).

Book Review: Philosophy 101 by Paul Kleinman

Philosophy 101 provides a broad snap shot of the major philosophical thoughts since ancient times. The book is easy to read and simplifies the theories and ideas for layman philosophers to see the depth and scope of thought in human society. It is this human thought that has pushed society to newer levels of thinking that keep humanity moving forward to new heights. 

Philosophy is considered a cultured persons hobby, a poor man’s occupation, and trivia entertainment to the masses. We fail to see that philosophy is the root foundation of science and the two cannot be unmarried. Skilled philosophers use multiple avenues to understand a problem and regularly are running against the grain of current thought. 

Despite the natural desire to arrest new thoughts in society it is the philosophers that society owes its greatest consideration. Whether we are discussing scientific principle or the very constitution of the country none of it would have been possible unless philosophical minds pondered the possibilities. 

I selected one theory, one philosophical point, and a logical-sequential function to highlight the point. The Theory of Universals tells us that everything in the universe has some type of order through connecting universals, the Philosophy of Cultures shows us that understanding our world is subjective based upon rearing, and the Scientific Method guides us in a methodology of testing our environment. 

The Theory of Universals:

The Theory of Universals states that there are universals in our world outside of mind and language. Plato believed that there were properties and qualities that can characterize our world. Some believe in forms that exist outside space and time while others believe they exist within our space and time. The example provided are the redness of a cherry and apple and how these exist regardless of whether or not someone perceives them. 

If we were to look at science and properties we can find that there are universals in terms of elements that exist and function regardless of whether or not we perceive them. As technology increases we are able to perceive universals in their more minute form and change how we define them in our minds but don’t necessary change the fundamental nature of existence. It exists whether or not we are aware of it.

The Philosophy of Culture:

Culture in the past was seen differently than it is today. Culture was part of the rearing process and created a way of understanding the world. It fundamentally changed how we view the world and how we see particular issues. Culture is embedded in our language and mental images derived from language. 

Culture is seen as collective or individualistic. In collective societies people see their duties to their social networks while in individualistic societies people feel that their duties lie primarily with themselves. Ethics and values can be culturally relative depending on the values one is reared with. Some have argued that both types of cultural vantage points can still judge right and wrong based upon helpful and unhelpful behaviors. 

The Enlightenment:

The enlightenment changes the way in which we view the world as philosophers sought to find truth in the universe. It had a profound impact on perceptions of society, government, nature, the universe, and rational thought. It changed the mystical views of the past to the scientific method we use today. 

The scientific method provided a frame work for reason and logic to analyze the world around us. The circular model is based on observation, theory development, prediction, and experimentation. As new observations and predictions occur new theories develop and existing ones are adjusted to make them more accurate. 

Kleinman, P. (2013) Philosophy 101. [Kindle DX version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com

Five Miracle Foods that Support Weight Loss and Health

Food provides the essential vitamins and nutrients our body needs to function effectively each day. It is difficult to know which foods are really beneficial and which are just part of the latest fad. I have provided five foods you should consider incorporating into your diet to enhance your other activities.

 

Most of us know that foods like pizza, processed hot dogs, and pasta primavera are not that good for us. Then what? It is not enough to know which ones should be avoided without knowing which foods are beneficial for swapping.

 

Some food protects our bodies from diseases, others provide the right chemicals we need to function well and others regulate our fat storage. Eating foods that improve health, support muscle growth and help control fat storage is helpful in achieving fitness goals.

 

Eating the right food can make a lot of difference. Image if you were provided food that burnt calories simply by doing something natural to us. The five foods below help burn calories and support other areas of your health at the same time.

 

The Five Foods

 

Greek Yogurt: High protein, burns calories digesting, and stays longer in the stomach (1). 

 

Avocados: Improves cellular communication with fat hormones and helps reduce total storage (2). 

 

Black Coffee: Black coffee is known to be an anti-oxidant and have some improvement in weight loss when used in moderation (3). 

 

Brown Rice: Brown rice is full of fiber and nutrients. It is absorbed slowly into the bloodstream giving the body a chance to properly process it (4). 

 

Tomatoes: Foods heavy in tomatoes provide an anti-oxidant, fights cancer and regulates weight loss (5). 

 

Another source of information is http://www.healthdaddy.org/2014/08/fat-burning-foods.html