6a - Identifying Opportunities in Economics & Regulatory Trends

Economic Trend: Undocumented immigrants pay state and local taxes

· Source - https://itep.org/undocumented-immigrants-state-local-tax-contributions-2/


 An economic study came out from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy showing that undocumented immigrants pay $11.84 million a year. This trend shows that there are undocumented immigrants who contribute to the U.S. economy. The study shows that if the undocumented immigrants became U.S. citizens the tax contribution would go up.

· The prototypical customer is someone living in the U.S. undocumented but wants to become a citizen. These people have different jobs and live in all 50 states. This issue can have different effects depending on the location and can be difficult to exploit depending on the circumstances. There are millions of undocumented immigrants so putting them all into one category is difficult.

· I saw this opportunity because the economic issue from immigration is a big topic right now. I am also majoring in food and resource economics and many of the agriculture businesses in the U.S. hire undocumented immigrants for lower skilled labor jobs.



Economic Trend: Interest Rates are rising.

· Source - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/upshot/interest-rates-are-rising-thats-great-news-for-most.html

· The higher income rates can help the economy in the long run. Previous trends of interest rates have been graphed in the past and show what has happened when interest rates go up, down or stay flat.

· Right now, the prototypical customer has had flat interest rate and has not seen much growth in the bank. However, there is a good chance it is going to increase a decent amount. The prototypical customer might have more money in the stock market because it has been growing a lot more. Economists are predicting another market crash, which could negatively affect people’s stock. Predicting the interest rate and stock market are difficult to exploit. Economic bubbles and inflation are hard to represent. Having an exact date when interest rate or stocks will change is not possible. Raising interest rates help the long-term economy, but it can also hurt the short term making loans more expensive.

· I have personally seen my interest rate go up and stocks go down. Also, I have a subscribe to the Wall Street Journal and read up on the market regularly.




Regulatory Changes: There is an opportunity for better gun safety and background checks

· https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/07026

· This opportunity exists because gun safety is a popular topic, especially when it comes to school safety. There was a Parkland Safety Act that was signed to try to help school safety and improve gun laws. Fulfilling the opportunity will be difficult because gun laws are very controversial.

· The prototypical customers are people trying to find the best way for children attend school in a safe environment and not worry about school shooting. Parents will also feel safer.

· I saw this opportunity because I constantly see mass shooting being reporter. This shows me that there is a problem.



Regulatory Changes: There is an opportunity for a cancer vaccination.

· Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-12-major-breakthrough-quest-cancer-vaccine.html



· Scientist and doctors are spending a lot of time in cancer research. Cancer is common and destructive to people’s bodies. Many people can relate to cancer stories because they know someone with cancer. Right now there are doctors who are close to a cancer vaccine in the near future. Studies have shown how the vaccine can work on the human immune system.

· The prototypical customer is almost everyone. Nobody wants to have cancer. Being able to kill cells before the become cancerous would save millions of lives. A cancer vaccine will change the world.

· I see this as great opportunity because right now my great aunt is suffering through stage four cancer. Seeing someone fight cancer is hard to see and anyway to prevent it is amazing.