BUSINESS, EDUCATION

AND WELFARE IN THE USA

LECTURER: HONG THI PHUONG ANH
 BUSINESS IN THE USA
• Whether for good or evil, the United States is the capital
of capitalism with the largest and most powerful economy
in the world.
• The US population enjoys one of the highest living
standards in the world in relation to income and material
goods.
• The national economy benefits from the country’s
favorable geographical location, which provides an
abundance of agricultural products.
• Additionally, the nation’s energy reserves, timberlands,
river systems, ocean harbors, and the world’s sixth-
largest fishing fleet make the country virtually self-
sufficient.
• Americans have voracious appetites for all products
domestic and foreign and the enormity of their purchasing
power can cause a recession or surge in the world
economy according to their rates of spending.
• The government has generally operated on laissez-faire
and free-market principles.
 believe individual self-interest would promote the general
welfare
 government has limited its intervention into business
dealings
 entrepreneurship & individual “pursuit of happiness”
The business world rewards the values and virtues
Americans admire: hard work, achievement,
competitiveness, materialism, rationality, perseverance, and
building toward the future.
 Some American values in business
1. Equality
2. Hard work
3. Punctuality
4. Impersonal Dealings
5. Quantitative Reasoning
6. Written words
7. Self-improvement
8. Mobility
 EDUCATION IN THE USA
• The United States has one of the most extensive and
diverse educational systems in the world.
 The belief in advancement
• Education has in America’s whole history been the major
hope for improving the individual and society

• It is a fundamental part of the American Dream and a part

of the social compact idea that democracies require
educated citizens.
• Education in the United States is notable for the many
goals it aspires to accomplish—promoting democracy,
assimilation, nationalism, equality of opportunity, and
personal development.
Overall the system is market-driven, pluralistic and
decentralized.
+ Universities compete for students and students
compete for acceptance into universities.
+ The system providing opportunities for students of
different abilities, income levels, family responsibilities, and
goals.
+ The states have constitutional authority over
education.
+ Public schools are funded through local taxes and
governed by local school boards.
• In addition to these government-funded public schools,
the United States has many schools that are privately
financed and maintained.

• Many of America's most renowned universities and

colleges are also privately endowed and run.
PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION
 PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION
1. Inadequate facilities in public schools
2. Inadequate level of students’ achievement
3. Substandard teachers in public schools
4. Conflicting state policies on education
5. Discrimination
6. High cost of college
 Inadequate facilities in public schools

Poorer districts find it difficult to fund the basics and are

marked by inadequate supplies, burned-out teachers,
absent students, old computers, and rotting physical
structures.
MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA
MATH PROFICIENCY
WASHINGTON D.C READING PROFICIENCY
DROP-OUT FACTORIES
US MATH SCORES COMPARED TO OTHER DEVELOPED
COUNTRIES
REASONS FOR THE PROBLEM
1. Tenure
 REASONS FOR THE PROBLEM
2. Conflicting policies between states
 Discrimination in education
The muticultural society of America has a history of
disadvantage and discrimination.

 difficult to balance equal protection and equal

opportunity.
 Counter-actions for bias in admissions

1. Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT)

- Originally created to simplify admissions testing for

prestigious private schools
 Counter-actions for bias in admissions

2. Affirmative Action (early 1970s)

- extra advantages and opportunities to groups that were

generally underrepresented at the highest levels of
business and in other professions.

- financial assistance
Criticisms of Affirmative Action:
- unfair to those who were denied admission in order to
admit those in designated group categories
- a form of reverse discrimination
Cost of College
 WELFARE STATE
• The United States is a welfare state with an infrastructure
designed to distribute services to those who qualify or to
those in need.
• Over the last 50 years, government has played a big role
in increasing incomes and life spans, primarily through
subsidies for education, pensions, and public health.
• The expenditure for social programs far exceeds the
money spent for defense.
• This is highly controversial in a nation that promotes
individual and family self-reliance, has a diversity of racial
and ethnic groups.
• From 1789 until the 1930s, the United States did not
provide public assistance.
• Most of the government aid programs available in
contemporary America are rooted in the social policies of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal.
• In addition to public assistance, there are private
organizations and charities which offer services outside
the public framework.
• Eg: Private insurance, company health care and pension
plan, etc.
 Medicare
• The contemporary United States is virtually alone among
industrialized nations in not having a comprehensive
health care system for its citizens.
 Coming up next
1. The Arts
2. Food, Drink and Housing
3. Leisure activities
 Presentations
Group 13 + 14: “American culture is more often defined by
its popular and democratically inclusive features.”
Discuss the statement.