"True" Value

The definition of "value" is entirely subjective. The value of any said product, based on a concept created by Karl Marx, is determined by six influencing factors: wages and salaries of workers, profit made, interest on the product, any kind of rent paid for facilities used, taxes, and fees (including royalties). The product value is determined by the item's cost of production and the function of the item to the individual consumer. An mp3 player, for example, would be determined by its usefulness to the consumer - does it hold music? Video? Photos? This value, plus the manufacturing cost (materials, labor, facility fees) make up the product value as determined by this concept.

"Market value", however, takes into account the economy, the knowledge of the consumer and the time at which it will be bought. The value of that product is dependent upon the market into which it is thrown. In the current market, some products are latched onto and become trendy, and it doesn't give other products of equal usefulness the opportunity to succeed. Which would you rather have: an iPod Nano, or an RCA mp3 player? Would you rather have a MOTOROKR or a random Kyocera cell phone with a built-in music player? Would you rather have a tee-shirt from Hollister, or a tee-shirt from Sears?

Market value leaves room for competition. The product that get the trendiest the fastest is named with the highest price. The thing is, people would rather have that product so much that they're willing to pay the market price, even though its true product value is much lower.

Finding market value is much more difficult than finding product value, because an audience must be continually surveyed. Market value depends on the trendiness of the products combined with their product value. Ever-changing consumers will want the trendiest product available, and the research put into a product's market value will help the product to do its best in the current market.

Medicare Crisis

Because America is obsessed with increasing life expectancy among its already ridiculously old people, more and more money is needed each year for Medicare.

To put it bluntly, the elderly covered by Medicare refuse to kick the bucket because they have a neverending supply of money at their fingertips to spend on medical procedures. Modern medicine insists on telling them that there are more options, more operations and more medications that will squeeze a few more months out of them.

President Bush semi-recently authorized the coverage of prescription medications in Medicare, meaning more government funding for any grandma or grandpa who needs anything from Prozac to Zyrtek.

The current retirement age is sixty-five. With the baby boomers approaching this milestone in the near future, the government is going to be expected to shell out much more cash; those approaching seniority have been promised full medical coverage for the rest of their lives.

It may sound inhumane to propose that we stop covering the elderly's chemotherapy medication or life-saving CT scans - and it's true, many elderly people can't afford it without federal assistance. However, at some point, you have to stop dishing money that you don't have simply because you want to help.

This is why it would be advisable to make cuts from Medicare and not from other developing areas (such as education, and not to mention growing debt) that the money should be dedicated to. This is not to say that the elderly do not deserve to be covered - major life-saving operations, chemotherapy, unavoidable accidents - these should all be covered by taxes. However, it is the unnecessary medications and excessive hospitalizations that are truly a thorn in the side of all taxpayers.

Gross Domestic Product

The index report I read described the purposes of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It explains that GDP is the most powerful measure of the value of our economic production. The report states that Gross Domestic Product is the most looked-into indicator of our economy floating around out there. It is presented quarterly.
The report is used to gauge the health of the American economy based on a basic equation: GDP = Consumption + Government Expenditures + Investment + Exports - Imports.
Although this is a simple equation, and many factors might be added in, this is the basic idea and use of Gross Domestic Product.
However, the GPA can be considered weak because it is released quarterly. The untimelyness of the report can make the information somewhat irrelevant.
Perks of the Gross Domestic Product report include the fact that it includes inflation. Without including inflation, the data can be flawed. GDP is also considered the best measure of economic growth and output.
I believe the Gross Domestic Product report is the most useful measure of American economy and is incredibly important. Without the GDP, we could only guess as to how slowly or quickly our economy is growing or shrinking.