Occupy Wall Street, Research Paper Example

Economic Analysis of ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Movement

Occupy Wall Street Movement refers to the ongoing series of protests against what is believed to be corporate greed, economic and social inequality and corruption. It was initiated by Adbusters which is a Canadian activist group. For about two months now, thousands of people have been assembling at Zuccotti Park in the New York City which is the centre of global economic and financial services. This is believed to be as a result of the hopelessness and desperation faced by the majority of American citizens as a result of poor financial governance, greedy corporate entities and the skewed distribution of wealth amongst the citizens. The demonstrators are using the slogan “we are the 99%” to try and tell the greedy wealthy and few individuals that they are responsible for the many financial crises that face most of the American people (occupywallst.org, 2011). Many people, as they say, are unable to meet the basic needs in their homes such as basic education for their children and the basic health insurance for their families. The ever-increasing rate of unemployment is also a causative factor that pushed some people into the protest. It was clearly evident on the Wall Street that most Americans are tired of the bureaucracy as upheld by the governing institutions who, as said earlier, are corrupt and most of which are subject to manipulation by the lobbyist groups (Prashad, 2011).

The protests have resulted into a slow movement in developmental matters for the hotel industry, for example, has had few visitors. This few visitors have resulted into diminished returns which have further translated into massive lay offs of employees in most industries of the United States.

The choice of the protests headquarters or centre point to be at New York City which is the centre of all financial activities of the USA has in itself had a significantly negative impact on the economy in general. This move is what made it possible for the protests to attract the attention of the world and other international activist groups. This has portrayed negatively the economic venture of the American investors in other countries a fact that has resulted in the duplication of the protests in those countries (occupywallst.org, 2011).

The impacts of the protests at one time were ignored for it was perceived that the protests would just fade out with time. This, however, has not yet happened and the real effects of the protests are significantly being felt across the United States of America and also in other corners around the world. (Wall Street Survivor 2011).

The effects of the protests’ series are being felt in different ways at different levels and are not just limited to the wealthiest. For example, most business owners around the Wall Street and in many parts of New York have been greatly affected by the protests. In as much as they are not the targets of the protests, they unfortunately are victims of circumstances. The protests have attracted road blockages by the security personnel against the protesters in an effort to prevent them from accessing such business enterprises. The affected enterprises have then, with time, been forced to lay off some workers to minimize losses (Prashad, 2011). The laid off workers are then left in an uncertain state of unemployment. In this way the local businesses around the Wall Street are being negatively affected by the police barricades which are inadvertently blocking customer accessibility. The loss has been reported to range from $500,000 for every business man around the Wall Street (Wall Street Survivor 2011).

Other business-owners claim that the negative publicity associated with the protests have driven away potential customers. An example of such is a restaurant owner who says that most of his customers buy snacks and carry them to the park as part of leisure. He further says that the negative publicity that has engulfed the Zucort Park of late has made it impossible for his customers to pay him a visit. This has translated into very few customers visiting the restaurant and hence little profitable returns (Wall Street Survivor 2011)

The other effect resulting from the protests is the general unification of public against a clique of the wealthiest people. The unity currently being manifested by the American people in the movement has never been witnessed in America especially to an extent as large as the one in the movement. When the wealthy that also happen to own most of the businesses in the country have their businesses activities threatened, they tend to pull out from the business. This will result in some commodities becoming scarce due to the lack of supply to meet the demand sin some states. This will definitely result tin the rising cost of the commodities in the various affected states.

The public relations of the US have been affected negatively by the ongoing protests especially the manner in which it has responded to the demonstrators. At first the force that was used to try and stop the protests was what could be described as harsh especially considering the fact that the security forces used tear gas to try and disperse the demonstrators (occupywallst.org, 2011). This however did not discourage more people from joining the cause but it instead attracted more who had been silently suffering from the side effects of a hijacked economy.

As a result of the continuing protests, banks have started putting in place disadvantageous measures in place in transaction that would in the long run have a detrimental impact on its customers in the near future. Such measures include the introduction of fee-charge on the debit cards by the Bank of America Company (BAC). This is the resultant storm from the protests and the only solution or action to weather the storm might be investing in the companies upholding the bargain blue chip (Prashad, 2011). Unless something is done to alleviate the looming crisis in the banking sector, most American will be faced with stricter financial laws that provide strain on the normal banking activities.

Conclusion

The Occupy Wall Street Movement is simply the voice of the suppressed people that have been bearing the suppression for a very long time caused by the few wealthy and also the people who are affected worst by the economic downfall resulting from poor financial leadership and/or governance.

The economic impacts as a result of the movement continue being manifest in many fields of life. In as much as the economies of many countries support capitalism because of its competitive environment it creates it has on the people of a given country, if unchecked it can be the worst monster that haunts the majority of the people in a given country (Wall Street Survivor 2011).

With the aim of solving the crisis, the US government should initiate dialog measures hat will enhance the termination the strike for the protestors represent a large quantity of human resource that could be used elsewhere successfully. As mentioned earlier the government should endeavor to create employment opportunities that will absorb the majority of the unemployed Americans (Prashad, 2011).

The America’s wealthy should be on the forefront in helping calm down the protests. They should state forward and try to address the allegations leveled towards them and bring everything to light. The continued protests will continue affecting more industries and if correct measures are not taken to alleviate the crisis life is going to be hard for most Americans.

Works cited

Occupy Denver Under Attack: Occupiers Take Streets Facing Tear Gas and Rubber Bullets.      Retrieved on November 14, 2011, from, http://occupywallst.org/.

Prashad, V. (2011). Zombie Capitalism and the Post-Obama Left. Retrieved on November 14,   2011, from http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/06/zombie-capitalism-and-the-post-obama-left/

Wall Street Survivor 2011. Retrieved on November 14, 2011, from http://wallstreetsurvivor.com/