Homelessness and Other Issues Caused by The Mergers and Advancement of Companies in The United States

During these flourishing times in the 90’s, American companies heavily invest in steel and oil. These companies started to merge. Steel and oil mergers like those, around the late 90’s, created the great oil and steel corporations we have today. By 1997, a record number of mergers involving American companies took place as larger companies took over smaller competitors in the interests of efficiency and greater profits. This resulted in fewer small and local companies.

Monopoly laws helped lower the number of mergers although many small companies went out of business or were purchased. For large companies, competition lowered and efficiency and sales rose. A consequence of the mergers however, was layoffs of workers. The jobs available to those looking for other work were often positions that paid far less.

By 2001, before 9/11, the economy was slumping, Manufacturing fell to its lowest point in 10 years. Unemployment rates rose and unemployed citizens who needed state unemployment benefits dramatically increased. The American people’s confidence in the economy was lowered by growing reports of corporate greed and upper level fraud.

Some corporations made huge profits that were often illegal. For example, the Enron Corporation, an energy trade company, said that they had published five years of misleading reports and then immediately declared bankruptcy. As the scandal grew, it was known that other companies were also participating in this illegal scheming. The accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, provided funds for financial differences. As the corporate empire began to tumble, the executives of these large companies cashed in their stock and made millions of dollars. Meanwhile, the company’s workers, lost their stock, jobs, and retirement savings.

Homelessness became a more dominant feature of American life. The homelessness rates drastically increased especially in large cities. Because of industrialization, machines put a lot of people out of work. Since everyone is industrializing, there were not many jobs, let alone well paying jobs, available. Because of the shift in elite attitudes toward homelessness as a social problem. The past efforts may have contributed to that shift in the wrong ways. The changes in elite attitudes may not be the same as the opinions of the entire population.

Obama has been pushing for what he thinks, the country needs in terms of healthcare He wants insurance reforms to protect consumers from insurance companies. He doesn’t want denying coverage based on pre existing conditions, and having full coverage when you get sick and need it most. The creation of a public option to increase consumer choice and guarantee coverage without deductibles was popular among some. Finally, improving the quality and extending the life of Medicare. Unfortunately, there will not be a public option but besides that, I think Obama is doing a fine job as President. He has to juggle two consecutive wars plus the problems within the states so I believe he is doing just fine.

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