Free «An Overview of the American Economy» Essay Paper

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational banking and financial services corporation whose headquarters are in Charlotte, North Carolina. This bank holding company is among the largest financial service providers in the US and also deals in wealth management. It offers retail banking services to about three quarters 80 of the U.S. population (Moynihan & Brian 2). The bank began as a provider of banking services to immigrants who had been refused to access the services by other banks in San Francisco, and was originally known as Bank of Italy (PBS 1).

The company's net incomefrom global banking stands at about 1.6 billion U.S. dollars. Lower noninterest expenses, which have been experienced together with reduced credit costs as a result of a rise in asset quality, have offset declines in revenue. The company's revenue, as of late 2012, stands at 4.5 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of about 5 percent from the previous year's quarter. This has been attributed to minimized banking charges for investors and some acquired portfolios that have been accreted.

 

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The company's noninterest expense stood at 2.2 billion dollars, a 6% decline from last year's final quarter. This has been attributed to the cut down labor costs. The company still makes moves to reduce its staff to effective minimal levels in order to maintain this trend.

The company's major market risks lie in factors related to the increasing average loans and leases, which hit 20.3 billion dollars. A growth in local lending and in the volume of international corporate loaning services is attributed to this increase. Its average deposits have increased by 5 percent, from the first quarter of 2011. The company's balances, however, have kept on growing. Its treasury services revenue stands at 1.6 billion, which is a great rise as compared to previous fiscal years. Credit loss provision has indicated an improved credit quality in its decline over main consumer portfolios. The same trend has been seen over commercial portfolios.

Facebook Inc. is a multinational internet corporation which owns and manages the social networking website known as Facebook. It is headquartered in Menlo Park, California and its stocks have been sold out to the public since May 18, 2012. Mark Zuckerberg, a computer programmer, co-founded the social network while studying at Harvard University. The company grew fast from a substitution for the conventional student online directory to an IPO. It is managed by proficient IT and management personnel, who as of December 2012, included Chris Cox as the Vice President of Product, Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg who is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Its chief financial officer is David Ebersman while its public relations head is Elliot Schrage (Wolff & Michael 1). The company has employed over 2,000 people and operates offices in about 15 countries.

Facebook's revenue has been steadily rising since its inception and hit a high of 4,270 million US Dollars in 2011 (Womack & Brian 7). The company gets its revenue mainly from advertisements, click-through products, brand promotions and sharing links. The company's stock, in its initial stock trading, stood at the price of 38 dollars per share. This made it to be valued at 104 billion. The IPO's shares raised about 16 billion dollars and its stock traded a volume of 460 million shares. Unnatural support given by underwriters cushioned the IPO's stock price from experiencing falls to below the IPO price on initial trading sessions.

Walt Disney is the world's largest media conglomerate in revenue size. It is headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios, Burbank in California. It transacts business as a diversified multinational mass media corporation. Its Walt Disney Studios are among the most reputed studios in Hollywood and one of the most famous in the world. It also possesses and manages some of the best-known television networks in the world such as the ABC broadcast television network, Disney Channel, A+E Networks and ESPN and ABC Family. The company began as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio before becoming Walt Disney Productions. Its line of operation has transited from the animation industry into live-action film production, television broadcasting and travel. Walt Disney Studios is one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. The company also generates a lot of income from merchandising, publishing, theatre divisions and theme parks in many parts of the globe.

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The company experiences major expenses in infrastructural maintenance and operation. Its latest income from Cable Networks stands at about 5.7 billion dollars. The great financial performance can be attributed to ESPN growth. The increase in the equity income of Disney Channels has also contributed to the increased revenue from Cable Networks (Walt Disney 2). ESPN's revenue, growth is associated with enhanced affiliation with major companies and advertising. The costs of designing and implementing unique programs, however, have proven costly and offset the increase in revenue. This is fueled by rising contractual rates in programming for such sports as Major League Baseball, NBA and NFL. Disney Channels' revenue has increased as a result of rises in domestic contractual rates and the upsurge in international subscription.

The company's earnings as for the 2012 fiscal year stood at 3.13 U.S. Dollars diluted earnings per. This was an increase from the 2.52 U.S. Dollars of the previous year. The diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter were 0.68 dollars. This was also an increase from the 0.58 dollars of the previous quarter. The earnings per share for the entire, year increased to 3.07 dollars, a 21 percent rise.

Income is also obtained from parks and resorts, and for 2012, it increased by 10 percent to hit 12.9 billion dollars. Segment operating income also increased to 1.9 billion dollars. Overall revenue increased by 9% to reach 3.4 and this was exhibited in better financial performance of domestic parks and resorts, as well as that of others such as Tokyo Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. The company has also experienced increased operating income at its domestic parks, which is mainly attributed to an increase in the expenditure of guests and rising guest numbers. The pricing for average tickets, accommodation and meals has increased even with increased attendance. The rise in costs is attributed to new hosting services, enhanced quality in accommodation and the expanded resorts. The expansions have also brought about the need for more employees and more spending on salaries (Walt Disney 2).

Part Two

In order to improve the economy, President Obama should work at averting the country's budget deficits. These deficits are most likely to result from raised costs of production and unpaid over-taxation of the wealthy. A recession is likely to result from the effects of a taxation structure that deters people from working for more money. Most people find themselves in financial crisis as a result of either being underemployed or unemployed, as a result of this, the president should work at increasing job opportunities. This can be realized well by working closely with the private sector. This sector is a major employer, and has the greatest potential for growth. The president should spearhead the implementation of incentives to potential employers by creating conducive business environment for them.

One of the major factors that determine the productivity of any firm, sector or industry, is the availability of affordable energy. The president should focus on areas of the economy that rely heavily on the affordability of energy and ensure that appropriate legislation is enacted to fuel them. The number of oil rigs should be increased to facilitate production. Natural gas should also be availed in adequate levels to guarantee uninterrupted and adequate electricity should be generated. Renewable energy sources such as wind, geothermal and solar should be utilized fully to avert overuse of coal. Stepping up energy production will certainly avail more jobs to people in industries and in the service sector as well.

The financial security of the middle class is vital in building a sustainable economy, since it makes up a large proportion of the economy. President Obama should look into the issues that affect this class, including job security, taxation and availability of room for growth. The president should also enhance provision of quality financial services to U.S. citizens by protecting them from unscrupulous bankers, lenders and brokers. This can be achieved through the implementation of consumer-oriented laws to regulate the increasing fraud levels in financial service provision.

The quality of education also needs to be improved because it contributes to the suffering of many graduates from unemployment. The education system that is in use has failed to evolve to fit the job market. Most of the knowledge passed to graduates is repository and can barely equip them with concrete skills from which they can earn a living. The president should encourage the incorporation of modules that emphasize on enhancing innovation skills, other than archiving existent knowledge in learners. The affordability of education must also be achieved since most private financial institutions are indebting students heavily. The president should re-instate the government's mandate in freeing students from such debts by providing them with merit-based grants and softer loans.

In conclusion, the American economy needs to be rejuvenated through reformulation of various policies that curtail the economic growth of individuals and businesses. Legal reforms are vital in ensuring that there are sufficient production resources, adequate opportunities for all people and fair business practice. Job creation is an unavoidable measure in the empowerment of young people in order to give them a chance to amass financial assets. The service sector, especially the banking sector must be refined to make it suit the needs of the public. Education sector must also be remodeled to ensure that only quality skills are imparted to learners and that it is affordable to all economic classes.