The Real Drain on the Economy

Posted by Craig

There are a lot of factors that contribute to a slow economy. Some say the unemployment numbers lead to a slow economy, some say the increasing trade deficit, some even claim it is because a Republican sit in office. But I say all of these reasons are merely a symptom of a much worse issue in the American economy; frivolous lawsuits.

Nearly 95% of those Americans looking for work can find it, the trade deficit is being hugely affected because of the weak dollar, and liberals are the only ones that blame the President. I feel that the amount of frivolous lawsuits; the lawsuits initiated for the simple reason of hoping for a big payoff. These lawsuits have become much like our lottery system, take a chance and see if your big payday comes around.

I heard a statistic this morning on a local radio broadcast that stated that although America has only 5% of the world's population, there exists 97% of the world's lawyers. But you really can't blame the lawyers, the judges that preside over the cases are as much to blame.

Like the most famous story of the lady and the hot coffee from McDonalds, frivolous lawsuits can drain the economy. Recently the story of a lady in San Jose, California claimed she found a finger in her chili at Wendy's. These kind of lawsuits can put a enormous financial constraint on business. The coffee lady was awarded 2.7 million in punitive damages. Think about he employees that a place like McDonald's could hire with 2.7 million dollars.

Here is the problem that I see; the old adage of what a reasonable person could expect to do or be responsible for seems to have been skewed. While I was taking Business Law and all of the Economic classes, one constant remained in deciding outcome factors; what would a reasonable person decide. Well apparently, a reasonable person is not responsible to be careful when ordering and receiving hot coffee, they are not held responsible from the possibility that they planted a finger in their chili, are people not held to any responsibility of any sort?

I have been affected personally by frivolous lawsuits. My father was the taget of such a lawsuit, and my sister was forced to watch the individual's daughter receive a nice vehicle while my sister received none. It took my father years to recover from the lawsuit, in fact it could be said he never fully recovered. The medical field is just a wrought with these lawsuits as our big companies.

The issue with the medical lawsuits is people are forced to pay higher bills for medical care, and insurance companies are also forced to charge higher premiums. It is a vicious circle, and trust me, the insuance companies will not go broke.

The truth is, tort reform is very important to our economy surviving. However, when you have politicians like John Edwards that has made his money through these frivolous lawsuits, it is doubtful anything will be done.