FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING (FMA)

ASSIGNMENT 1

NAME : Mansi Verma

PRN : 1212210104

MACRO LEVEL NEWS

BIDEN’S ODDLY NORMAL SPEECH TO A NATION IN NEED OF CHANGE

In his State of the Union address on March 1, President Joe Biden's most important duty was to
begin healing a dangerously divided country. This would have been true even if Russia's heinous
assault on Ukraine hadn't occurred—but Vladimir Putin's rash gamble has made rebuilding US
politics even more important than before. A divided America is a weaker America, less able to
protect its own interests and less capable of leading the free world, which it still needs.

Ukraine was rightfully placed at the top of the president's speech. His sentiments of solidarity with
the victims of Putin's war were welcomed by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
Opponents and supporters alike credit him with leading an energised coalition to a far more
powerful response to Russian aggression than Putin, for one, could have imagined.

The situation in Ukraine is deteriorating, the US and its allies are reaching their limits, and the
potential of escalation is real. Despite this, the president rapidly shifted from the European issue to a
routine recital of domestic priorities. This was a mistake not because people care more about foreign
policy than jobs, prices, and their own economic prospects, but because voters care more about
foreign policy than jobs, prices, and their own economic prospects. They don't, unless it's a full-
fledged war. It was a mistake because domestic unity and consensus are just as important as
international relations. Biden should have taken advantage of the Ukraine crisis to acknowledge this
and shift his presidency in a more productive direction.

During Biden's first year in office, the partisan divides he promised to heal expanded even further. To
be sure, these schisms aren't his fault—former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies
bear far more responsibility—but Biden has made little effort to mend them. Rather than reaching
out to political moderates, he allowed himself to be co-opted by his party's left.

With one significant exception, he made no attempt to correct this in his address. He mocked the
slogan "defund the cops" and stated what the vast majority of Americans believe: that "fund the
cops" is a better idea. Even though Biden tried and failed to get his domestic programme passed via
a deeply divided Congress, the remainder of his agenda remained mostly unchanged.

He reiterated his proposals for a massive expenditure plan that would be impossible to fund due to a
lack of money. He called for a strict "Buy\American" approach to public investment, which sees get-\
sting taxpayers'\value for money as secondary. When he\sturned to the country's inflation problem,
he said "Don't\cut wages, cut costs"-a puzzling instruction, because most\employers are currently
raising wages, not lowering them. He channelled the left's instinctive distrust of capitalism and
commercial success once again.

The president's criticism of medicine pricing in the United States was justified, and his solution—
allowing Medicare to bargain with manufacturers—is sound. His climate-change initiatives are
desperately needed, yet they're currently connected to an omnibus bill that isn't moving forward.
Taken together, his re-stated domestic-policy goals leave no room for bipartisan cooperation. If
Democrats were surging in the polls and looking confidently toward the midterm elections, this
reluctance to compromise would be understandable. But Biden's popularity is shaky, and his party is
heading for heavy defeat. It's crucial to have a course correction. The Ukraine crisis provided the
president with an opportunity to reset by providing a moment of clarity and common purpose.
Unfortunately he chose not to deviate.
MICRO LEVEL NEWS.

ENCOUNTERS INDIAN DEMOCRACY IN UP, UTTRAKHAND

The commotion around the Uttar Pradesh elections is still going on. However, the election has its
own narrative. I'd like to share some of my experiences with India's inner layers of democracy while
travelling through Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Covid has shattered the Indian economy's backbone, and economists are split on when it will
recover. People on the street, on the other hand, have already returned to normal life, far faster
than predicted. Sufficient food grains and other government assistance instilled trust in them that
they would not go hungry no matter what. It is considered that if Indians were given enough food,
they could achieve anything. And the two states in the Hindi belt are ready to pitch in with
everything they've got.

"We know it cannot happen," they said when asked if they expected to get free grains for the rest of
their lives.

Most were concerned that the system might come to an end after the elections, but they were not
scared. In reality, a Dalit woman from Mathura claimed that if everything was supplied for free, the
children would grow indolent, destroying the typical Indian's self-respect.

I imagined the pandemic would have shattered our youth's spirits. According to reports, job chances
are expected to plummet, with small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) being the most impacted.
In India, SMEs, combined with the informal sector, account for more than 90% of all jobs. How can
unemployment be controlled when small enterprises are in trouble? In such a circumstance,
economists may feel powerless, yet young people in small towns and villages remain optimistic.

They believe India is developing and would offer up new opportunities. They are correct because
they derive their vigour from the earth.

But don't be fooled into thinking that everything is OK. Because the government is not recruiting,
there is a sense of helplessness. Working for the army, police and paramilitary forces

When small businesses are in trouble, how can unemployment be controlled?

In rural India, where a big portion is growing increasingly dejected due to a dearth of government
jobs, and the youth have publicly demanded government jobs at public gatherings held by ministers,
is regarded a status symbol.

The government is focusing on innovation and self-employment to meet their worries, although it is
still in the early stages. It needs to be accelerated because else it will be difficult to stop large-scale
exodus from communities, which is quite alarming. Our towns are crumbling and our villages are
forsaken as a result of this.

A big proportion of people wanted their leaders would be more restrained when expressing their
opinions. Things would change, they claimed, if the leaders utilised their energies to solve their
issues rather than assaulting each other. People were generally dissatisfied with their politicians in
most regions. There were no complaints against notable officials, but they feared local
representatives were not communicating their issues to the party's top leadership. However, an MLA
confided in me that, despite receiving votes in the name of his party and its top leader, he must
spend significant quantities of money in order to win elections. While the leaders are commended,
what does he have to show his electorate in terms of development?