Image and Magnitude of the American Economy

1. Comparative GNP, reputation: ('business of America is business', 'Americanization', 'consumer society', etc.)
2. High percentage of many sectors of world production, resources
3. California alone would be the 7th-10th largest 'global' economy (surpassed only by the U.S., China, Japan, India, Germany, the U.K., Russia, France, Brazil and Italy, depending on whose statistics are used — see List of Countries by GDP [PPP])
4. Uneven distribution of wealth, individually and regionally; regional concentration of traditional 'smokestack' industries (iron belt, steel belt, industrial belt, rust belt) vs 'newer' IT centers (Silicon Valley, Silicon Alley, Silicon Forest, Route 128, etc.); differences in average income of different states.
5. Knowledge-based 'information' economy — mobile, global; importer of knowledge, capital, and resources, abundant information available via business media (the "Fortune 500" [e.g. Fortune magazine's annual listing] and other 'public' stock exchange company data, the U.S. Government Budget, etc.)

Structure and Images of Working Force ['Three-Sector' Division]

1. Primary producers (agriculture, mining, etc.) ca. 3%
2. Secondary producers (manufacturing, building) ca. 20%
3. Tertiary and Quaternary activities (services, trade, government, professions) ca. 63%
4. Self-employed, unemployed ...
5. Over 50% employed in "information work" (cf. physical services or primary/secondary)
6. Blue & white collar workers; pink collar, gold collar or 'knowledge workers', etc.

Government Influence on the Economy; Banking and Payments

1. Fiscal vs monetary policy; USG FY (FY13/FY2013) October-September
2. The Federal Reserve System (the 'Fed') — 12 district reserve banks, monetary policy regulation via prime interest rate, etc., administrator of 'clearinghouse' system of check-based payments for private banks
3. Traditionally no national branch banking, reliance on personal checks as payment system, thus the need for a guarantor/clearinghouse mechanism
4. Recent government 'intervention' in the economy to support banks, protect homeowners, etc.

Individual and Corporate Taxation, Health and Pension Coverage

1. Overview of different types of taxation in the U.S. [Wikipedia], and their interrelationships.
2. Federal (vs State and local) taxation: personal vs business tax (fiscal) year, Form #1040 (PDF) [see also "1040 Central"], due mid-April.
3. Limits on employer-withheld tax (see table [PDF]). Current maximum withholding percentage of 35%, although 6.2% Social Security tax plus various State and Local taxes, including real estate tax, should be added to this for an overall individual taxation percentage compared to Finnish or other European taxation rates.
4. Responsibility placed on individual to provide his/her own health and pension insurance via employment plans and/or selection of preferred health insurance/pension options with money that may otherwise have gone to higher federal taxation.
5. Resulting 'unequal' abilities of different groups to provide for themselves; more 'affluent' individuals with better, more secure jobs are advantages; they may also reduce their overall tax liability by investment in tax-exempt securities, donations to tax-exempt institutions, etc.
6. Individual retirement accounts [IRA's] are a common means of financing retirement (see Wikipedia background), as are 401(k) (see Wikipedia background) matching-value stock plans, etc.
7. Related consequences of the 2008-> financial breakdown and rise in unemployment: historical connection of personal health insurance to one's employment instead of via a tax-financed public health structure (with the exception, to some extent, of Medicare and Medicaid); connection of housing location to better schools (in larger urban areas) — thus unlike in Finland, loss of employment may have wider-reaching consequences.

Business, Manufacturing, Stock Exchanges, Labor Unions

1. Although bulk of manufacturing/business is via 'small business' (fewer than 20 employees as one definition), economy dominated by large conglomerate corporations
2. However, competition an important concept: Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) as basis for most current competition legislation
3. "Wall Street" & various public stock exchanges, Dow Jones, NASDAQ; 'ratings' indexes such as Standard & Poor's; public takeovers and stock buyouts of companies, corporate writeoffs, restructuring, parent and subsidiary corporations, corporate diversity, synergy; traditional stockbroker agencies vs recent net-based 'day trading'
4. The 'franchise' corporation — an 'American' compromise (cf 'chains') in a highly mobile society, allowing both individual 'ownership' and national brand and advertising recognition
5. Unions: AFL-CIO, UAW, Teamsters, etc. — largely non-ideological though traditionally inclined toward the Democratic party, collective bargaining, binding arbitration, Taft-Hartley (anti-strike) legislation, strong traditional distrust of unions; current decline in blue-collar union membership; rise in white-collar and professional 'unions'.
6. Only 13% of U.S. workers unionized (IHT 11Jan05) vs 80% in Finland (SAK 18Oct04 — see also New York Times, 22 January 2010, which reports 12.3% for the U.S.)

Agriculture, Agribusiness, the 'Food and Fiber Industry'

1. Agricultural production as a chief U.S. export sector, especially wheat, corn, soybeans, oranges, chickens, beef, rice, cotton, sugar, tobacco, fruit, GM technologies, etc.
2. Steady 20th century increase in production simultaneous with decline in number of farms and farmers since 1920; hybrid and GM seeds and fertilizing techniques, improved soil & crop rotation, state 'land-grant' university agricultural extension office services, reliance on capital-intensive mechanization to compensate for lack of physical labor, need to produce
3. 'Farmer' stereotype changing to 'agribusiness' stereotype; not just traditional hard work & muddy boots but also information technology, high capital costs, need to develop & consolidate markets, produce crop supply to match market demand, etc.
4. Dilemma of needing to increase efficiency and value of output to offset rising capital costs, taxation overhead & threat of reduced government subsidies vs concern over increased specialization of production, possible GM ('transgenetic') consequences, takeover of the 'family farm' by large commercial agri-corporations, etc.