ROYCE AND THE NEWS ARTICLE
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Royce and the News Article
“The ongoing transformation of the American economy has turned many lives upside down, as the experiences of these people and millions of others attest. Though certainly making the rich richer, four decades of economic restructuring, topped off by the most severe recession since the Great Depression, have brought significant hardship to average Americans: long-term unemployment for some, reduced earnings for others, mounting indebtedness for many, and economic insecurity for most (Royce, 2019: p81).”
The quote has helped me understand and explain the recent case that has been presented in the news article. According to Royce, the continued alteration of the American economy has affected the lives of many people. Citizens are the backbone of a country’s economy. Nonetheless, if they cannot find employment that enables them to meet their needs, their lives will be turned upside down. Regardless of the state of the economy, Royce believes that the rich are still being made richer because they are the leading players in the production industry. On the other hand, because of the challenges that the poor are experiencing due to the severe recession, there has been long term unemployment to people, increasing indebtedness to the majority of the people, economic insecurity, and reduced earning. Therefore, through the quote, I have understood how COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of the majority of people by rendering them jobless. Besides, it has also enabled me to understand how the global economy has been destructed.
There is a connection between Royce writing as presented in the quote and the case as explained in the article since they all talk about pandemics like COVID-19 and severe recession affected the American economy and rendered people jobless. Most people require employment for them to meet their basic needs. Nonetheless, with the change in the structure of the economy and unavailability of employment opportunities, the rate of poverty will be projected to increase. According to Royce’s quote, the transformation of the American economy has turned the majority of lives upside down with most people attesting to the fact. In the news article, there many people who have attested that the rough economic times due to COVID-19 pandemic have affected their ability to cater to the needs of their families. Majority of people have been rendered jobless, thereby resulting in a surge of new employees who have interrupted the law of demand and supply.
Royce’s argument helps me better understand contemporary life as described in the news article be he explains how the transformation of the American economy has affected and rendered numerous people jobless. According to Royce (2019), the four decades of American economic restricting that was characterized with severe recession brought long term unemployment for many people, reduced earnings because most firms were not willing to pay higher salaries, and most people started experiencing economic insecurity. Just like Royce, the news article also describes how COVID-19 has rendered the majority of people jobless and reduced their earnings. According to the article, before COVID-19 pandemic, individuals like Leveque could earn a decent wage by driving people from the country’s different airports to their hotels or homes, create logos for online clients, and deliver dinners.
With the Americas unemployment rate about to get to 15 percent, IMF predicts that there will be a 3 percent contraction in the international economy with the majority of people who depended on gig work experiencing a drop in their earning due to increased number of people who compete for few available job opportunities. For that reason, Royce’s quote offers enlightenment on how pandemics like COVID-19 can affect the daily life of people by rendering them unemployed. The epidemic has driven most people to frustration because of their inability to carter for the needs of their families. Now that additional work is not there, the desperation to find a job is evident with the majority of companies not willing to hire or spend extra coin to pay their workers. Workers have been forced to have a pay cut to retain their job position or get laid off.
Reference
Royce, E., 2019. Poverty and Power: The problem of structural inequality. Rowman & Littlefield.