http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fabrictraditions-celebrates-25th-anniversary-with-new-made-in-america-collection-to-benefit-military-families-240268481.html
FabricTraditions, a leading supplier of printed fabrics for America's $30 billion home-sewing and craft market, is celebrating its 25th Anniversary with a Made-In-America collection, "Creating New Traditions." Available at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores and Joann.com late-January 2014, a portion of the line's sales will be donated to The National Military Family Association.
I really like FabricTraditions idea. I already love the idea of Made-In-America collections, but now FabricTraditions has taken it one step farther. By having a Made in America collection they are already supporting the economy and U.S. jobs, but now they are supporting Military Families. I personally think this will make the Made in America collection more desirable because it now pulls on peoples emotional side because I think a good amount of people are trying to find ways to help out. Having the Made in America collection donate a portion of the sales to The National Military Family Association, is not only charitable, but a good marketing strategy and really American proud.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
'Made in USA' labels appeal to holiday shoppers-NBC News.com
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/made-usa-labels-appeal-holiday-shoppers-2D11702480
This article is a little old but I found it very interesting. The article is all about how retail stores this past Holiday season had featured Made in America sections. Some these stores include, Wal-Mart, Target, J. Crew, Nordstrom, Club Monaco, OFabz Swimwear, and Cracker Barrel "Old Country Store." I think shopping for Made in America goods is a good idea because in the article they talk about how usually during the Holidays people are willing to spend more on gifts, even with all sales going on, which I completely agree with. I hope that this trend continues and makes shoppers take a thought to where products are being made. I honestly look all the time at where goods are made, not because it is always going to sway my decision because sometimes I don't have an option to weather the good I am trying to buy is Made in America, and if I need the good I am going to buy it, but it definitely makes me think and has now become a habit of mine. The article also talks about a website called, USA Love List, that is devoted to sourcing domestically sourced products, which I think is great because if you want to buy Made in America goods but don't know where to go, and don't want to spend the time checking tags, you can go on the site and search a good you are looking for.
This article is a little old but I found it very interesting. The article is all about how retail stores this past Holiday season had featured Made in America sections. Some these stores include, Wal-Mart, Target, J. Crew, Nordstrom, Club Monaco, OFabz Swimwear, and Cracker Barrel "Old Country Store." I think shopping for Made in America goods is a good idea because in the article they talk about how usually during the Holidays people are willing to spend more on gifts, even with all sales going on, which I completely agree with. I hope that this trend continues and makes shoppers take a thought to where products are being made. I honestly look all the time at where goods are made, not because it is always going to sway my decision because sometimes I don't have an option to weather the good I am trying to buy is Made in America, and if I need the good I am going to buy it, but it definitely makes me think and has now become a habit of mine. The article also talks about a website called, USA Love List, that is devoted to sourcing domestically sourced products, which I think is great because if you want to buy Made in America goods but don't know where to go, and don't want to spend the time checking tags, you can go on the site and search a good you are looking for.
Mittens Sold to Raise Money for US Olympic Team Made in China-abcnews.com
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/12/mittens-sold-to-raise-money-for-us-olympic-team-made-in-china/
So my first article was all about how the U.S. Winter Olympic Snowboarding uniforms were not made in the solely in the U.S. Just like all the U.S. Summer Olympic uniforms 2 years ago, which were completely made in China. Although I think Burton did a good job of justifying why we used vendors around the world, I still think the uniforms could have been made in the U.S. and should have been. Now, this article is all about how Mittens are being sold to raise money for the U.S. Winter Olympic team are Made in China. Seriously? I just think this is so ridiculous it makes me laugh. They are mittens! I think we could make those gloves no problem in the U.S. and we can. The gloves are 14 dollars There is a video that comes with the article and in that video David Muir tells us of 4 states and on specific company, Midwest gloves and gear, that could have made the gloves and would have been happy too. But it doesn't end there. David Muir goes to a local yarn shop and talks to one of the employees. Ironically the shop has a color named, Olympic Blue, and the yarn is Made in America too. One yarn ball is $6.49 and you could make two pairs, of the same exact type of gloves, from that one ball of yarn. Not to mention if a factory was buying it, they would be buying it in bulk so it would be even cheaper for the yarn. In the end, we could have easily made $14 gloves that were Made in America with American made yarn. Not only supporting the U.S. Winter Olympic team but supporting U.S. companies and jobs.
So my first article was all about how the U.S. Winter Olympic Snowboarding uniforms were not made in the solely in the U.S. Just like all the U.S. Summer Olympic uniforms 2 years ago, which were completely made in China. Although I think Burton did a good job of justifying why we used vendors around the world, I still think the uniforms could have been made in the U.S. and should have been. Now, this article is all about how Mittens are being sold to raise money for the U.S. Winter Olympic team are Made in China. Seriously? I just think this is so ridiculous it makes me laugh. They are mittens! I think we could make those gloves no problem in the U.S. and we can. The gloves are 14 dollars There is a video that comes with the article and in that video David Muir tells us of 4 states and on specific company, Midwest gloves and gear, that could have made the gloves and would have been happy too. But it doesn't end there. David Muir goes to a local yarn shop and talks to one of the employees. Ironically the shop has a color named, Olympic Blue, and the yarn is Made in America too. One yarn ball is $6.49 and you could make two pairs, of the same exact type of gloves, from that one ball of yarn. Not to mention if a factory was buying it, they would be buying it in bulk so it would be even cheaper for the yarn. In the end, we could have easily made $14 gloves that were Made in America with American made yarn. Not only supporting the U.S. Winter Olympic team but supporting U.S. companies and jobs.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Olympic outsourcing: Team USA snowboarders' uniforms foreign-made-Fox News.com
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/12/06/olympic-outsourcing-team-usa-snowboarders-uniforms-foreign-made/
I am sure you all can still remember the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Michael Phelps becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time, Gabby Douglas becoming the first African American to win the Gold in the All-around Girls Gymnastics, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings taking the Gold in woman's Beach volleyball and so much more. So, for anyone who watched the games I am sure you will remember the all the big headlines about the how the USA uniforms were not made in America. Well, it happened again. Burton a very big snowboard company partnered with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association to create uniforms for the U.S. Snowboarding team, but the uniforms were not Made In America. The uniforms were actually made all over the world. The uniforms went too Japan, Italy, Taiwan, Vietnam, China. Burton defends the decision by saying that they sent the uniforms to the best vendors around the world.
"The Sochi Games will mark the third Winter Olympics where Burton partnered with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association to create uniforms for the U.S. Snowboarding team. The primary focus of this year’s design, according to company materials, was “technical performance” above all.
“As such, every piece of the uniform has to perform at the highest level and keep the athletes warm and dry in the unpredictable weather conditions that could come in Sochi,” Burton’s statement continued."
When I heard about the 2012 Summer Olympic uniforms being not being made in the US, I personally thought it was stupid. I believed that the Olympic uniforms should be made in the US. But, after reading this article it made me think about it more. Burton talks about the "technical performance being the above all primary focus, because the boarders need to stay warm and dry. This makes total sense to me because being a skier myself I want to stay warm and dry, and as Burton says in the article this is the Olympic games the most important of their careers, they deserve the best, which I do completely agree with. I think what got me about the summer Olympics is that well those uniforms don't require as much technical performance as the winter uniforms. I am all for clothes being made in America, especially the Olympic uniforms, but if we truly do not have the resources then I understand. I agree with Burton's decision on the winter uniforms and I think they make up for it considering the majority of the snowboards the Burton athletes will be using were handmade in Burlington, Vermont at Burton Headquarters.
I am sure you all can still remember the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Michael Phelps becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time, Gabby Douglas becoming the first African American to win the Gold in the All-around Girls Gymnastics, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings taking the Gold in woman's Beach volleyball and so much more. So, for anyone who watched the games I am sure you will remember the all the big headlines about the how the USA uniforms were not made in America. Well, it happened again. Burton a very big snowboard company partnered with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association to create uniforms for the U.S. Snowboarding team, but the uniforms were not Made In America. The uniforms were actually made all over the world. The uniforms went too Japan, Italy, Taiwan, Vietnam, China. Burton defends the decision by saying that they sent the uniforms to the best vendors around the world.
"The Sochi Games will mark the third Winter Olympics where Burton partnered with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association to create uniforms for the U.S. Snowboarding team. The primary focus of this year’s design, according to company materials, was “technical performance” above all.
“As such, every piece of the uniform has to perform at the highest level and keep the athletes warm and dry in the unpredictable weather conditions that could come in Sochi,” Burton’s statement continued."
When I heard about the 2012 Summer Olympic uniforms being not being made in the US, I personally thought it was stupid. I believed that the Olympic uniforms should be made in the US. But, after reading this article it made me think about it more. Burton talks about the "technical performance being the above all primary focus, because the boarders need to stay warm and dry. This makes total sense to me because being a skier myself I want to stay warm and dry, and as Burton says in the article this is the Olympic games the most important of their careers, they deserve the best, which I do completely agree with. I think what got me about the summer Olympics is that well those uniforms don't require as much technical performance as the winter uniforms. I am all for clothes being made in America, especially the Olympic uniforms, but if we truly do not have the resources then I understand. I agree with Burton's decision on the winter uniforms and I think they make up for it considering the majority of the snowboards the Burton athletes will be using were handmade in Burlington, Vermont at Burton Headquarters.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Europe Gets a Halloween Scare on Inflation - Bloomberg Business Week
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-31/europe-gets-a-halloween-scare-on-inflation
On October 31st Europe's inflation plummeted to 0.7 percent. This is very low, especially since in September it held a record high of 12.2 percent. This is not good for the European Central Bank. Due to the decrease in inflation the bank now has a lot of pressure on them to cut interest rates. October now marks the ninth consecutive month inflation has decreased below the bank's 2% target. In the article they say; "One especially troubling aspect of the inflation data was a slump in the services sector, suggesting that recovery across the region has not gained much traction. The last time inflation was this low, in 2009, the euro zone was mired in recession." This is not only not good for the European Central Bank but countries that use the euro could possibly be affected too.
Compared to the U.S. Europe's inflation is lower then ours and seems to be hurting them right now. Thankfully the U.S. has not been hurt yet due to inflation being too low, but it could be possible. The European Central Bank and the U.S. Fed have the same 2% target for inflation, which I thought was very interesting and did not expect. So long story short the over all U.S. economy might be doing worse than the European Economies but our inflation is definitely better than theirs.
On October 31st Europe's inflation plummeted to 0.7 percent. This is very low, especially since in September it held a record high of 12.2 percent. This is not good for the European Central Bank. Due to the decrease in inflation the bank now has a lot of pressure on them to cut interest rates. October now marks the ninth consecutive month inflation has decreased below the bank's 2% target. In the article they say; "One especially troubling aspect of the inflation data was a slump in the services sector, suggesting that recovery across the region has not gained much traction. The last time inflation was this low, in 2009, the euro zone was mired in recession." This is not only not good for the European Central Bank but countries that use the euro could possibly be affected too.
Compared to the U.S. Europe's inflation is lower then ours and seems to be hurting them right now. Thankfully the U.S. has not been hurt yet due to inflation being too low, but it could be possible. The European Central Bank and the U.S. Fed have the same 2% target for inflation, which I thought was very interesting and did not expect. So long story short the over all U.S. economy might be doing worse than the European Economies but our inflation is definitely better than theirs.
Are fears of inflation overblown? - Chicago Tribune
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-06-17/news/0906160441_1_inflation-prices-stock-market
This article is a little old again, but the title caught my attention. It says that people are worried about to much money being spent, and they are worried about the inflation increasing. Well for inflation to raise you need plenty of money and plenty of demand. During this time there was not much demand, people were saving. I think this is still true today though. I believe people are very fearful of inflation rising yet they don't realize because they are demanded less with their money and saving it, they are keeping inflation down.
I think that inflation is low right now because the demand is down and so is the quantity of money. Even though some economists say that our economy is getting better, even with the high unemployment rate, I don't think it is growing or getting better fast enough. The economy might be better than it was over all from 2-3 years ago, but for me personally I feel like my family has started to save money more and more. I also think that the majority of the U.S. citizens are in the middle class and although there is plenty of money there, the majority of the money is in the top 1% but that is really another topic. I definitely think there is a big fear for inflation but I wonder if that is not a good thing considering it seems to be keeping the demand down and therefore the inflation down, but in my second article it talked about how a little rise in inflation might cause a economic boost which would be good, if it is only a little. So maybe the Fed should focus on a way to get people to demand a little more but not too much more.
This article is a little old again, but the title caught my attention. It says that people are worried about to much money being spent, and they are worried about the inflation increasing. Well for inflation to raise you need plenty of money and plenty of demand. During this time there was not much demand, people were saving. I think this is still true today though. I believe people are very fearful of inflation rising yet they don't realize because they are demanded less with their money and saving it, they are keeping inflation down.
I think that inflation is low right now because the demand is down and so is the quantity of money. Even though some economists say that our economy is getting better, even with the high unemployment rate, I don't think it is growing or getting better fast enough. The economy might be better than it was over all from 2-3 years ago, but for me personally I feel like my family has started to save money more and more. I also think that the majority of the U.S. citizens are in the middle class and although there is plenty of money there, the majority of the money is in the top 1% but that is really another topic. I definitely think there is a big fear for inflation but I wonder if that is not a good thing considering it seems to be keeping the demand down and therefore the inflation down, but in my second article it talked about how a little rise in inflation might cause a economic boost which would be good, if it is only a little. So maybe the Fed should focus on a way to get people to demand a little more but not too much more.
It's Time to Start Hoping for More Inflation - U.S. News
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/11/05/its-time-to-start-hoping-for-more-inflation
The article is more up to date then my last. This is from November 5th this year. I read the article and was a little confused. Inflation has been persistently below 2 percent objective, which is really good, but in the article it says that it could pose risks to economic performance. The Fed is not afraid that prices are spiraling out of control, it's that inflation is getting to low. not that prices are spiraling out of control. The article states; "Instead, the latest statements from the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed committee tasked with setting interest rate policy, show the Fed is keeping its eye on whether inflation is getting too low."
I wonder how inflation can be too low. All I have ever heard in my seventeen years is all the negative inflation has on an economy, never anything good. The article gives a simple version of how inflation can boost growth; "Consider a city with a lot of renters. Apartment owners may see some young and relatively high income people move into the city and decide they can charge more for rent. If that happens on a broad enough scale, more employers may feel the need to raise their wages in order to attract workers. Ideally, that raise leaves workers with some leftover money to spend or save elsewhere, making them richer in real terms. And the money from higher rents, meanwhile, could lead rental companies to hire more workers or boost pay to their workers, which could also be an economic boost." From this example I can see how inflation can sometimes help boost the economy, but I just think there are so many negative affects that we should be happy that inflation is low. I think that also if we try to raise inflation to help boost the economy it will just get out of control and end up stunting economic growth instead of boosting it.
The article is more up to date then my last. This is from November 5th this year. I read the article and was a little confused. Inflation has been persistently below 2 percent objective, which is really good, but in the article it says that it could pose risks to economic performance. The Fed is not afraid that prices are spiraling out of control, it's that inflation is getting to low. not that prices are spiraling out of control. The article states; "Instead, the latest statements from the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed committee tasked with setting interest rate policy, show the Fed is keeping its eye on whether inflation is getting too low."
I wonder how inflation can be too low. All I have ever heard in my seventeen years is all the negative inflation has on an economy, never anything good. The article gives a simple version of how inflation can boost growth; "Consider a city with a lot of renters. Apartment owners may see some young and relatively high income people move into the city and decide they can charge more for rent. If that happens on a broad enough scale, more employers may feel the need to raise their wages in order to attract workers. Ideally, that raise leaves workers with some leftover money to spend or save elsewhere, making them richer in real terms. And the money from higher rents, meanwhile, could lead rental companies to hire more workers or boost pay to their workers, which could also be an economic boost." From this example I can see how inflation can sometimes help boost the economy, but I just think there are so many negative affects that we should be happy that inflation is low. I think that also if we try to raise inflation to help boost the economy it will just get out of control and end up stunting economic growth instead of boosting it.
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