Neo-Liberalism

Neo-Liberalism

The concept of neoliberalism can be broken down into a laissez-faire form of a resurgence in terms of economic liberalism. It is a concept that draws ideologies meant to oppose resurgence movements like capitalism and the likes. This concept can also be defined as the destruction experienced by all human beings from their political struggles. As much as this resurgence is purposed to bring economic stability, there are several difficulties it has undergone, which make it lose its meaning. For instance, neo-liberalism is seen to lose its popularity, mobility, morals, and intellectual legitimacy it ought to have for economic sanity to be achieved.

Yanis describes an economy as determined by the source of power, i.e., the economy of a country is highly dependent on who sits at the helm of leadership in that particular country (DiEM25). Some of the problems Yanis have identified pre-capitalism and capitalism as the main problems facing neo-liberalism. He mentions that most individuals are still in pre-capitalism, and others are engraved in the capitalist’s way of handling issues (DiEM25). This implies that the economic development of a nation may be hindered by practicing the capitalist’s mode of the ruling. He proposes a total abandonment of the practices as the next possible solution to raising neo-liberalism in the modern-day world.

Neoliberalism is a diverse field, and the changes are observed from time to time. There are many experiences described by Yanis of how the pre-capitalist and the capitalist eras have been. From my standpoint, I consider capitalism the most suitable and applicable method that should be used for solving most of the economic needs. Capitalism is more effective than neoliberalism since it allows for some aspects to be forced into a rule or action. Therefore, I am opposed to Yanis’ view that capitalism should be done away with entirely and replaced by neoliberalism.

European Union

The European Union can be considered from both a political and an economic standpoint. Several issues have been identified concerning this union. Some issues have been addressed, while others have not been thoroughly discussed in this session. The interviewer has asked questions that are related to the difficulty the EU is undergoing. Yanis, on the other hand, has handled the concerns raised following the European Union and has provided possible solutions to these problems identified by the interviewer(DiEM25). Some of the issues and solutions which were identified in the talk are mentioned in this section of the paper.

The interviewer describes the European Union as a monetary union without a proper fiscal union. According to him, such a monetary institution or association is set to fail if action is not taken as early as it ought to be done. In response to this, Yanis mentions that the union is not a federal government. He compares the federal government of the USA, bringing together all the states which make up the United States of America. Yanis says that for the EU to achieve a proper fiscal union, there is a need to abandon a lot of factors that are experienced in the association with regards to economic and monetary perspectives(DiEM25).

First, Yanis identifies the availability of different banking systems within the union. With this, Yanis makes his claims with regards to the German banking system, the Italian, the Turkish, the English, the Irish, the French banking systems, among others(DiEM25). With this in regard, he mentions that it becomes cumbersome of monetary solutions to have arrived quickly without hindrances within the community. However, since the EU gave no response to the different banking systems, the fiscal stability expected of the union cannot be achieved. As such, Yanis proposes allowing or merging all the banking systems dependent on the requirements to perform a specific goal geared towards providing a uniform banking system that does not hold bias among its users.

The other problem identified to affect the European Union (EU) is the fact that they rely on the same currency, i.e., all trades are made using the Euro as the main currency for trade. This is not a problem for the union, and the problem sets in such that there is no universal democracy for which the country is expected to run. This implies that there is no democracy for all of the M25 member countries of the union. Lack of freedom leads to poor living conditions in some parts of the region. For instance, Yanis points out Germany as an example where continued use of the Euro without a universal democracy has led to bureaucracy among the residents. He mentions that half the population in Germany suffers from poor living conditions in major cities while the other half are relinquishing money. This has provided a lack of balance in the union, thus its continuous instability. Yanis points out that the union should not compel its members from using the Euro. Alternatively, he mentions that in case using the Euro will make the union stronger, and then there should be a bourgeois democracy that should be adhered to by all of the countries belonging to the union(DiEM25).

To me, all the problems mentioned are evidence at the ground in the European Union. Additionally, all the proposed solutions to these problems are achievable, considering the placement of the union. Moreover, the association is well capable of ensuring that this is met fully and that the proper fiscal union desired of this union is achieved within minimal time. However, the fact that the EU is not a federal government is an actual show of how the call for a conventional democracy may not come to action, though I am open to it happening.

Robotics and sales of shares

One of the members of the audience present asks a question on how sure one can be concerning robotic companies approaching individuals with business proposals allowing for these people to buy shares from the company. To respond to this question, Yanis answers this question by introducing legislation into the discussion. However, he is negative towards robotic companies seeking individuals to buy shares from them. Instead, he mentions that these robotic companies are less interested in external investors and have based their interest in avoiding taxation. With this, he introduces the concept of legislation, where he mentions that such companies will bring in new regulations that will deter them from paying taxes, that is how they get their capitals.

For me, this question was not well framed. Instead, the questioner should have asked with regards to proceeding actions in the robotic world. Since Yanis had earlier mentioned that robotic companies depend on capitalism as their method of achieving their targets, the questioner should have based her question concerning how these companies should be driven towards paying their taxes instead of evading tax payments. All in all, Yanis gives a response to the question as it was asked and further explains that legislation allows for all the malpractice to take place. I firmly believe that there is an alternative to tax evasions through legislation. In that case, robotic companies should avoid legislation.

PART II

Student loans have been a menace for an extended period now. Students opt to take loans for them to complete their school work. Student loans have been misused by students making it hard for the loans to be repaid. With statistics showing that nearly most of the scholars lack jobs after their schooling, it becomes hard for them to repay their loans. The increasing number of student loans has made the debt collection process a menace. For instance, some employees have their job licenses brought down since they are indebted or have failed to honor the agreed repayment terms. Others have been arrested, too, showing the gravity in the issue of student loans.

Student loans have overtime resulted in credit blacklisting of a majority of the students as a result of lack of pay. This implies that these same individuals are unable to access loans from other institutions that offer loans such as banks. Since students borrow directly from the state department of education, it becomes hard for students to default.

Taxation, salary, and other economic factors are some of the issues that are influenced by the existence of student loans. There have been cases where unemployed former students have received payment charges cut from their savings account. Besides, the government uses third party organizations such to collect the loans from defaulters. This implies that the amount payable by the student should be able to cater to the payment of these organizations. Moreover, such organizations seek to maximize the profits accruing from asking for the repayment to be done. Therefore, economic policies have been affected as a result of these loans.

PART III

Prescription drugs play a vital role in the day to day life of humans. However, it is a menace that these same drugs for which other individuals are dependent on have hit skyrocketing prices, making it extremely hard for some individuals to access. This issue is so sensitive that the Senate needs to push a hand in it to ensure that the high drug prices are reduced. For an essential need such as medicinal drugs, the government ought to reduce or subsidize the costs to ensure that its citizens get enough at a lower price.

Various economic policy factors are affected as a result of increased prices of drugs. Taxation is relatively low, but as compared to when the country experienced lower prices for drugs, it is slightly higher. The input-output ratio also affects economic principles since most people are unable to cater to these high prices. The economic policy of the nation is held in jeopardy with continued skyrocketing costs of medicinal drugs. As a result, the issue should be looked into as well.