Question on the economy for my class.?

Question

for my political science class, i have to write a paper on whats more important a good economy, health care or the lose of jobs. i picked the economy because if there was a good economy people could get jobs and afford health care. i really dont understand what economy really means and i need some help. i would like to talk about why its important that the US economy be the strongest of any country and how devistating it could be if the US goes into a recession, does anyone have any ideas???

Answer 1

Think of the US as the rich man who lives in a mansion in a small town.  Everyone else makes a living by doing stuff for the rich man.  Some fix his car, some clean his house, he buys groceries from another, and so on.

Given, other people also buy their groceries from the grocery store, like the mechanic.  But, the rich man buys more food and more expensive food and, secondly, the mechanic buys food there with money he made from fixing the rich man's cars.

Now, what happens if the rich man cuts back on his spending?  Yes, there are still people to shop at the grocery or others who need to get their cars fixed, but without as much money flowing around, people will be concerned where their next paycheck is coming from.  If I'm not cleaning the rich man's house, maybe I can put off getting that oil change.  Maybe the landscaper doesn't need to buy steak this week.

You see?  Without the wealthy generating the cash flow for the rest, then the economies of scale kick in and bring everyone down.  The US is the rich man on the block.  Many people are jealous of him, but the fact is that we still need him to furnish the rest of us with jobs and a market to sell our goods.

Hope this helps.