Economic and Regulatory Trends

Economic Trend: Increasing Minimum Wage

https://www.npr.org/2018/12/30/681055793/minimum-wages-rising-in-20-states-and-several-cities

Opportunity: The opportunity here is one to work fewer jobs. Many people are forced to work three or four jobs and over 60 hours a week just to make ends meet.

Prototypical Customer: Here the person to benefit are college students working to pay off loans, recent immigrants who are looking for simple service jobs, non-educated workers who struggle to make a living with minimum wage jobs.

Relative Difficulty: Because this is going to be an official increase it is going to be easy for the people working these jobs to benefit from the increase, however, the increase is not happening in every state. It will definitely be more difficult for those in unchanged states because they would either need to move to a state with a higher minimum wage, continue to struggle, or petition the state government to increase it. It is also difficult to take advantage of this opportunity because the wage increase is anywhere from $0.05 to $1.00.

Why did you see the opportunity? I saw this opportunity because as a college student I work a minimum wage job and I have to heavily rely on my parents and on my government loans to pay for everything. I should be able to pay my rent without the help of the government, but unless I work 40 hours a week every week, I wouldn’t be able to pay for my rent. And even then I would barely have any money left over to pay for necessities.

Economic Trend: Baby Boomers Aren’t Retiring

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/retirement-boomers-arent-ready-yet-2019-01-23

Opportunity: Late retirement or returning to the workforce after retirement has become a common practice, this gives people the opportunity to make more money and support their loved ones as well as increase their retirement value.

Prototypical Customer: This is mostly seen in Baby Boomers who generally reached retirement age about ten years ago.

Relative Difficulty: Although many Boomers are coming back to the workforce as part-time employees to keep busy or because they are simply healthy enough to keep working, there are many who aren’t retiring because they have no choice but to keep working. Their extended stay in the workforce is due to the increased medical expenses and cost of living.

Why did you see the opportunity? I saw this opportunity because as a member of the younger generation, this could ruin my own chances of retirement and it is currently leaving fewer positions open for myself and my peers that are graduating and looking to join the workforce.

Regulatory Change: Financial Technology Protection Act

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr56/summary

Opportunity: Cryptocurrencies can be very difficult to track, hence their popularity amongst black market dealers and traffickers, and terrorists. This bill creates a task force to monitor these currencies, do research, and even create cash rewards for people that provide leads and investigation.

Prototypical Customer: This would protect the citizens of the United States from being scammed or taken advantage of, and creates more government jobs for people particularly skilled in technology and investigation.

Relative Difficulty: Because of the nature of cryptocurrency the task force could be very difficult to create, they would need people with a very specific set of skills. The bill also comes with a provision for academics and private companies to apply for grants to experiment ways to make the task force more effective.

Why did you see the opportunity? I saw this opportunity because of my interest in cryptocurrency, bitcoin in particular. I think it is an interesting business venture, and could completely change the way we do business in the future if monitored and regulated properly. However because it is relatively new, regulations are spotty and not many people are well informed on its uses, advantages, and drawbacks.

Regulatory Change: FairTax Act of 2019

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr25/summary

Opportunity: The bill is going to eliminate income tax and replace it with a 23% sales tax, the revenues from the tax will then go to the general revenue, the old-age and survivors insurance trust fund, the disability insurance trust fund, the hospital insurance trust fund, and the federal supplementary medical insurance trust fund. The bill will also eliminate taxes on gifts, property, capital gains, Social Security, and Medicare, amongst other things.

Prototypical Customer: This will affect all lawful U.S. citizens

Relative Difficulty: This is a good plan because it will save Americans money in the long run, they would keep 100% of their gross income and increase spending, stimulating the economy and increasing the GDP. The IRS would be discontinued, which would stress people out less and reduce the amount of paperwork. This bill would also allocate a monthly sales tax rebate to families depending on their size and necessity.

Why did you see the opportunity? I saw the opportunity because in the last year I worked a ridiculous amount and didn’t even see 100% of my money because of taxes, and when it came time to receive my income tax, the amount was abysmal.