Interview Project
Over Easter Break I conducted an interview with two
relatives of mine, along with myself. I first interviewed my father, Paul
Powers, 49, then over the phone my grandfather, David Powers, 88, and finally
myself, Mason Powers, 19. I was intrigued by the stories and history of economics
from the past century through the eyes of my family. I thought it would be cool
to do the Powers side of my family because my grandfather was a well-known man
in his days, and raised nine sons one being my father.
My father, Paul Powers, is a man that is all about business.
He is a hard worker with labor and behind the desk. He is a bus salesman and on
the side he runs a trophy/engraving business out of the house. It was an
enjoyment because I love to hear his stories from when he was a kid and how he
looks at the world. He had a lot to say about economics because he is the man
that always is thinking of a way to make a dollar reading business weekly. As I stated before he comes from a family of 8
brothers, him being the youngest of all. The interview was a great reflection
about his outlook of society, which I found rather surprised with a few
responses of his such as how he views the value of a dollar.
My grandfather, David Powers a.k.a. Bumpa, comes from a past full of the wildest, oddest, and coolest memories. He was raised in Connecticut also with a large family with old money. He was first a young pilot in World War II, and came close to death when he was shot out of the air over field in Germany while allied with British forces. He claims this is when he “started”to live, as he went on to be a post man and a political figure with my grandmother who was a powerful women of politics at a state and national level. I believe this is why his views differ my fathers who is a man of business and had stories that blew me away with facts of history.
Now for myself, a young adult that cuts down trees for a job
when I am out of school. I am a student of business and follow American
business frequently as I tried to start my own online business
talenttrailers.com. I am always thinking about how I can make a dollar and be successful
from an economic view. I found this interview helpful in a sense along with
surprising because I was exploring my mind with memories and ideas that reveal
how my outlook about America is somewhat radical but exciting at the same time.
Overall this project
was a good time. I hear stories from the past 3 generations of the Powers
family that made this family how it is because economics shape this world with
a way of living. The information that was revealed will remain a part of me
forever because it made me look at life with a more serious approach. It was funny at one point because my "Bumpa" was completely sidetracked at one point when he was talking about the war and was telling me how he used to go down to New York for training and would drive through every stop sign and speed, and then one time he didnt speed or break the lawand it was only 5 minutes longer. He is always looking out for me, because he knows I have some what of a lead foot from my father. Thepart I enjoyed most was the bonding time between my family. I havent seen my Bumpa in a while and it was nice to see him again. I used to love his stories, hearng them brought back memories and refreshed how times used to be. Also, it was interesting to hear what my father had to say because you never know with that man, but this inteview lead to more questioning of economics and government later at diner that night. I would have to say if I could do this again I deffinatly would.
RS The Interview
Project
Those who answered the Likert Scale Questions:
P1 Bumpa, 88,
P-2 Father, 49,
P-3 Myself, 19.
Likert Scale Questions: 1 – 10
1. The government
should regulate the economy.
P1 – Disagree
P2 – Disagree
P3 – Disagree
2. Politics has a
major influence on the economy.
P1 – Agree
P2 – Agree
P3 – Agree
3. Everyone should
take an Economics class in high school.
P1 – Agree
P2 – Agree
P3 – Agree
4. Banks should be
government owned.
P1 – Disagree
P2 – Disagree
P3 – Disagree
5. The government
bailouts worked.
P1 – Agree
P2 – Neutral
P3 – Disagree
6. Local government
should have more control.
P1 – Agree
P2 – Agree
P3 – Agree
7. We should invade
Iran.
P1 – Disagree
P2 – Disagree
P3 – Disagree
8. In 6 months the
economy will be better than today.
P1 – Disagree
P2 – Disagree
P3 – Agree
9. I am well
informed about economic news.
P1 – Agree
P2 – Agree
P3 – Agree
10. The recession personally affected me.
P1 – Agree
P2 – Agree
P3 – Agree
Regular Questions: 1 – 10
1. In your lifetime,
what city that you are familiar with has changed the most (positive and
negative)?
P1 – Positive: New Britain, Connecticut was a city that used
to be nothing but crime and factory workers that were immigrants from Poland and
Mexico. The city was trashed but over time cleaned up as the Earls and Lords,
two local gangs, diminished and government was no longer corrupt.
Negative: Detroit has changed the most for the
worst. I recall when I was there for Air Force work seeing the downtown with a
live energy. The city has darkened and became a place where only half the
people work because of the car market crashing.
P2 – Positive: New York City has changed the most that I
have seen. I remember when I was dating your mother 30 years ago walking down
42nd Street being offered all sorts of drugs every 5 feet! Now New York has a
large increase of crowd control and is a fun place to experience
Negative: Detriot
because all there is there are people who are broke, cannot pay their rent and
a city that is in such poverty a bailout cannot even help them.
P3 – Positive: New York City because I remember as a kid my
parents would not take me there because the crime was very bad. Since I was in
third grade and 9/11 the city has been on the rise for the better. When I lived
there for a short time with my father, I saw first-hand how the city is a safe
place to live.
Negative: Hartford, Connecticut is a
place where I would go when I was a kid to see AHL hockey and play in the park.
I had great memories there, but now strolling through the city it is a ghost
town, as well as a city that you do not want to walk alone at night because
crime has increase as the police squad was decreased.
2. In your opinion,
what president had the biggest positive impact on the economy? Why?
P1 – I think that FDR had the most positive impact on the
economy because he gathered the nation as one to fight the war over seas along
with back home raising money which later benefited society with an economic
boom after the war.
P2 – I would have to say that Teddy Roosevelt has had the
greatest impact because he bailed out the nation in the great depression, which
was when America was at its worst. This is not something that can be done
overnight, but he did it in a timely fashion.
P3 – I agreed with my father on this one because Teddy
Roosevelt boosted the nations morals as well as economy with great plans that
he exercised such as going after the monopolies that ran America at the time.
3. What is your
first memory of a major economic event impacting your life?
P1 – When I was a young boy I remember the great depression
coming down on my family hard. My grandfather, the owner of the Powers Car
Museum in Southington, Connecticut had to sell the museum along with nearly all
his cars besides his favorites in his collection. My family now could not live
off of the wealth, and became hard workers.
P2 – The first economic event impacting my life was in the
early 80’s when I bought my first stock which I still have today. Stocks were
something I always was interested in but when I was offered Apple stock when I
worked at the printing company and then the stock market when crazy in a good
way. I tried to learn patterns in stock but I was not always right and didn’t like
to gamble my money like that.
P3 – The recession was the first major economic event
impacting my life because it first started when I was around 16 years old and
it was difficult to find a typical “high school” job, because everyone and
their brother we trying to find any job they could to put food on the table.
Therefore I worked for a tree service company and business was not at steady as
it once was because there was an increase in landscapers and those that work in
a tree service type of business.
4. How do you get
economic news? How has this changed over
your life?
P1 – I usually get my news through the newspaper, primarily the
Hartford Courant. This has not changed much over my life because I have always
read the paper since I was in the service because I liked to know what was
going on in the world.
P2 – I get most of my economic news through T.V. programing
and my business weekly subscription which I try to read throughout the week.
This has changed because there never really were any magazines about business
like it is today.
P3 – I get my economic news through online articles and
videos on youtube. This has changed because when I was younger the internet was
not as complex and there weren’t online newspapers making it easier to access
and read.
5. What is your
definition of economics (When you hear the word economy or economics what do
you think about)?
P1 – What is going on with money and government around the
world.
P2 – The situations that go on now and the past dealing with
money and business.
P3 – How to make money and how business is functions in a
good or bad way.
6. How do you deal
with rising prices e.g. substitute for cheaper brand, stop buying? Any examples?
P1 – I really do not worry about rising prices because I buy
the same brand of what I need and do not really need much anymore such as gas
T.V. and such because I do not use them as much.
P2 – I am always careful with how I spend my money because I
like to buy a cheaper brand for instance when I went out the other week to get
shirts I just went to walmart instead of some main stream name because they do
the same job.
P3 – I do not deal with rising prices well because I have a
tendency to spend money freely, but I am like my father because I do not need
the expensive brands because it doesn’t do you any better.
7. What product or
service has most changed over your lifetime?
P1 – Television has changed the most over my lifetime. I
remember watching it with only 3 channels, then color T.V. came out and now
there is high definition.
P2 – The telephone has changed the most over my lifetime. It
went from being only in your home to your car and then you had cellphones that
were the size of bricks, to now where the cellphone has the same features as
your computer.
P3 – I think that the internet has changed the most in my
lifetime, because it went from something that was a service mainly for stores
and business to a household item and then a way of life where you are addicted
with high speed internet.
8. How do you handle
savings and how has this changed?
P1 – I have always saved my money in the bank and never had
to worry about managing my money because I had a good grasp on my spending.
P2 – I have my savings in 4 separate bank accounts, along
with a CD account because of interest, it changed within the past 10 years
because interest rates were going down and I was worried about the money that
was in the bank when banks began to shut down.
P3 – I do not deal with my savings well because I do not
have a job that pays enough to where I can save up a large amount of money
because I enjoy to go out with my friends and spend money freely.
9. What was your
wage at your first job?
P1 – 5 dollars a week.
P2 – It was $7 a week when I was 5 years old working the
paper route.
P3 – It was $ 8.25 an hour at Dairy Queen
10. What was the price of gas when you got your first car?
P1 – I remember when I first filled up the jeep in the service
the military discount at a gas station as 5 cents for a gallon.
P2 – The first time I pumped gas ever I think the price of
gas was about one dollar for a gallon.
P3 – When I first got my license it was $3.50 which drained
my pockets.
