Monetary policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Monetary policy - Essay Example The RBA often determines the official cash rate after deciding on what monetary policy target it intends to attain (Reserve Bank of Australia, 2012a). Such targets may include, increasing economic growth, lowering inflation. RBA uses open market operations to affect the changes of the official cash rate, which in turn trickles down to the financial system in the country. Although RBA changes the official cash rate through open market operations, the actual cash rates are often determined by supply and demand actions among banks. Each bank is free to determine the rate by which it lends to another bank. Changing the official cash rate however, impacts all other interest rates in the market which in turn impacts the supply and demand of money in the economic system (Reserve Bank of Australia, 2012b; Lowe, 1995:1-2). The market rate of interest on the other hand is the rate that financial institutions charge its clients for borrowing money. This interest is often impacted by changes in the official cash rate, whereby increases in cash rate would imply that the banks are borrowing from other banks expensively and hence would also increase the interest rate that they charge their customers for borrowing money. A drop in the official cash rate would make it cheaper for the banks to borrow funds and hence competition among banks would reduce the market interest rate across the Australian Economy (Smales, 2011:52-55). The RBA decreases the cash rate through open market operations in order to ensure that the official cash rate that has been set is as close as possible to the actual cash rate exhibited in the market due to forces of demand and supply. Each financial institution in the country has an Exchange settlement account for which enable banks to settle payments between each and also with the RBA. Where RBA wants to reduce the cash rate, it would buy repurchase agreements (repos) or second-hand common wealth government securities (CGS) from the financial institutio ns in the economy. The RBA pays the banks using their exchange settlement accounts with the RBA which increases the amount that they have access to and can lend out (Reserve Bank of Australia, 2012b; Kuttner and Mosser, 2002: 16). This increases the supply of money in the economy, and due to competition to lend out to borrowers, the cash rate as well as the market interest rates drop. This is as demonstrated in a simple Keynesian model below: As noted in the figure, when the RBA uses the open market mechanism to purchase government securities and repos, the money supply denoted by MS, moves from the original position MS to MS1 showing a rise in money supply. Since the supply money is inelastic relative to interest rates, the MS curve is perfectly inelastic. On the other hand, the demand for money changes with changes in interest rate. Hence as money supply increases in volume due to RBA purchasing repos and CGS, interest rates fall also drop. Answer two Effect of a decrease of inter est rate on: Consumption and Investment expenditures: a fall interest rates increases investment and consumption. As noted above, a fall in interest rates is as a result in an increase in money supply. This makes it possible for businesses and consumers increase their borrowing from banks at a lower rate of interest since it is cheaper to access loans. Hence, there would be an increase in consumption and investment expenditures financed by debt as businesses are able to access funds for capital goods such as equipments, and consumers are also able

Theology essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Theology - Essay Example Sigmund Freud’s discourse traces a connection between civilization and religion as an illusion. As such, at the beginning of the book he raised a critique on civilization by claiming that civilization does not intend to effect the just distribution of wealth extracted from nature but that it intends to perpetuate the current distribution of wealth and the status of human interrelationship (Freud, 1989:4-5). In this context, Freud raises the concept that although civilization is plagued with problems because it seeks to curtail the satisfaction of human instinct, it is useful for humanity to create a communal relationship because it lessens the uncertainty, cruelty and control of Nature and Fate over human life. As such, it can be impugned that human civilization is a tool whose â€Å"principal task †¦, its actual raison dà ªtre, is to defend us against nature† (Freud, 1989:14). In this framework, the humanization of nature and fate is undertaken and is deemed inst rumental in removing the people’s fear of nature and rob nature of its capacity to destroy and annihilate humanity. Thus, this process pave for the reenactment of one’s self as â€Å"a small child, in relation to ones parents. One had reason to fear them, and especially ones father; and yet one was sure of his protection against the dangers one knew† (Freud, 1989:16). Within this paradigm, man utilizes the gods with a threefold tasks: â€Å"they must exorcize the terrors of nature, they must reconcile men to the cruelly of Fate, particularly as it is shown in death, and they must compensate them for the sufferings and privations which a civilized life in common has imposed on them†(Freud, 1989:17). Being such, man’s continued helplessness is assuaged by the protection given to them by the gods. Moreover, since the medieval period, man’s relation with the gods has been transformed in the reenactment of the loving relationship between the son and the father.

The Pit and the Pendulum Essay Example for Free

The Pit and the Pendulum Essay There are some stories, where the objects that are described or portrayed play a more important part of the story than what we believed. In The Pit and the Pendulum, a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe there is certain symbolism that adds meaning to the story. The narrator is telling the story from a dungeon in Toledo, Spain as a prisoner during the Spanish Inquisition. In the story, there are certain objects that have important symbolism for the drama, since they lead the narrator to his death. This story is one of Poe’s more popular works since he creates a dark atmosphere, adds suspense and a deep meaning to these symbols. His symbolism transmits the theme of man struggles to survive. The symbols make the narrator face his main problem and emphasize what he feels while characterizing his emotions. The pit is the most important symbol in the story. The narrator almost faces death by falling on the edge of the pit, realizing how close to death he had been because the pit had a deep surface. The pit represents death or descending into hell. It can be interpreted as death because for the narrator, it is something unknown, he didn’t know that the pit was there, or how deep it was. The same happens with death, nobody really knows what happens after we die or where is it exactly where we go. In the story, the pit is portrayed as this frightening symbol that can also be interpreted as hell. Since hell is the belief of a place where people go after death because the y have sinned, the narrator is considered to be guilty of a crime he did not commit, he doesn’t deserve to die in the pit, or according to the symbolism, burning in hell. At the beginning of the tale, the narrator describes the seven tall candles that remind him of angels that later turn into meaningless spectres, with heads of flame. The meanings that Thoreau wants to give to these candles are a sign of hope, followed by disappointment and desperation. The fact that he imagined angels coming to his rescue means that he was holding on to his life, not giving up until those angels turned into devil, and then his perception changed into thinking that he was all alone and abandoned. â€Å"And then my vision fell upon the seven fall candles upon the table. At first they wore the aspect of charity, and seemed white slender angels who would save me; but then, all at once, there came a most deadly nausea over my spirit, and I felt every fiber  in my frame thrill as if I had touch ed the wire of a galvanic battery, while the angel forms became meaningless spectres, with heads of flame, and I saw that from them there would be no help.† The pendulum that is portrayed in the story is a symbol that represents time. As the pendulum descends more and more, the narrator realizes that is coming right to him, willing to take him to his unbearable death. In the story, time is a crucial element, since the narrator has his seconds counted before facing his death, which luckily, he escapes. â€Å"It was the painted figure of Time as he is commonly represented, save that in lieu of a scythe he held what at a casual glance I supposed to be the pictured image of a huge pendulum, such as we see on antique clocks.† The pendulum is an instrument for torture since it involves death itself while counting off the seconds until the end. The symbolism that the objects project in the story emphasizes what Poe wanted to add or represent the meaning that is beyond what he wanted the narrator in the story to portray. The symbols connect the narrator to what is actually happening in the story and make the reader understand better. In t his case, the symbols that were utilized are vital for the story, without them, the story would not have the same meaning and this happens with a lot of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories and poems, it is an element that identifies them. Works Cited Short Stories: The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe. Short Stories: The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. Cover letter: I found the story very interesting I thought that the symbols were not hard to interpret. I decided to analyze the symbols because they are a very important part of the story, even though I did not analyze all of them, but I choose the three that I considered more relevant to the story My essay is concise and easy to read and understand. I included a lot of examples like direct quotes from the text that support my body paragraphs. That was what I liked the most about my essay, the quotes that I included,  because it gives you an idea of the point of view of the narrator and how exactly he felt or what he thought. My introduction is understandable and it gives you the idea of what the essay is going to be about. The body paragraphs explain each of the symbols and I provided examples and analyzed them to make it more clear. My conclusion explains overall what the essay was about and it summarizes the introduction.

Managerial Research In Decision Making Processes

Managerial Research In Decision Making Processes Managerial research is a broad topic that covers a range of aspects, whether these are strategic, tactical or technical. People often confuse Managerial research with other research forms, but in fact managerial research differs to a great extent from social and other research types. Managerial research is different in such a way because it explores about the core elements that are needed to make prosper the business instead of searching such information that are not productive or result oriented. The managerial research is important because managers at all stages require timely and exact information for decision making. Whatever the decision making stage is, whether it is of tactical, operational or strategic level, the accurate information are required to for better decision making. At managerial level gathering of information is done through a sound and scientific research process. Each year organizations spend enormous amounts of money for research and development in order to mai ntain their competitive edge. Accurate information obtained through research leads to enormous benefits. In short, Managerial research is practical and finds its application in many places to identify the various characteristics and key factors responsible for the success of the firm and the products it develops. This research paper shows detailed and at length description of managerial research to describe that this type of research is different from other research methods. Definition of Research Research is the procedure of carefully studying and evaluating the situational elements surrounding an issue in order to search for solutions to it. A systematic thorough inquiry or inspection to find new information or correlations and to expand/verify current knowledge for some particular purpose. Why We Do Research? Exploration: Discovering problems of concern, growing understanding of the issue Description: Finding out, defining what is, what is the condition? Where are we now? Explanation: Explaining how or why things are as they are (and utilizing this to predict), Answering questions, resolving issues, testing hypotheses, assessment research evaluation of strategies, policies, plans and practices Difference between Managerial Research Other Research Artistic Research One of the attributes of Artistic Research is that it must take subjectivity as opposite to the classical scientific techniques. As such, it is parallel to the social sciences in utilizing quantitative research and intersubjectivity as tools to apply measurement and critical analysis Historical Method The historical technique comprises the methods and strategies by which historians utilize historical sources and other proof to research and then to write history. There are different history rules generally utilized by historians in their work, under the headings of external criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis. This contains higher criticism and textual criticism. Though items may vary depending on the subject matter and examiners, the subsequent concepts are generally part of most formal historical study: Managerial Research Managerial research is practical and finds its application in several places to recognize the different characteristics and major factors accountable for the success of the company and the goods it develops. It usually looks into future trend rather that wasting time in some art or thinking in past. Usually, firms would like to know the level of consumer satisfaction of the companyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s product and here managerial research will be helpful. Managerial research is also helpful for doing a pilot study to introduce a new product and the different applications and guidelines of managerial research in business decision making. The firms take decision even before introducing new products through managerial research. Managerial research supports them to recognize that whether the product will be viable in firmà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s interest or not. For this purpose different techniques have been utilizing to gather relevant data for better decision making through various paradigms e.g. competitive intelligence, SWOT analysis, financial analysis, Ansoff situation analysis, etc. Managerial research can be utilized to gather data about markets, rivals, and consumers that the other two techniques cannot do so. For instance, managerial research can help identify the most favorable business location and the size of marketplaces. It can also be utilized to monitor competitive actions. Consumer research decides customer loyalty, client satisfaction, and client preferences. In this way a managers job is different and difficult. Managers need some expertise to perform the responsibilities and activities related with being a manager. What kind of expertise does a manager require? Research by Robert L. Katz discovered that managers required three basic expertises. These are technical, human and conceptual expertise. Technical skills contain information of and excellence in a certain specialized domain, for example engineering, computers, financial and managerial accounting, or production. These expertises are more significant at lower levels of administration since these supervisors are coping directly with workers doing the companyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s work. Human skills engage the capability to work well with other individuals both separately and in a group. Because managers cope directly with individuals, this skill is essential! Managers with good human skills are capable to get the best out of their individuals. They recognize how to int eract, stimulate, lead, and inspire enthusiasm and confidence. These expertises are equally significant at all levels of administration. Eventually conceptual skills are the skills managers must have to consider and conceptualize about abstract and difficult situations. Utilizing these skills managers must be capable to see the company as an entity, understand the correlation among different subunits, and visualize how the company fits into its wider setting. Need of Managerial Research Producers need managerial research because they need to convince people to expand their business span through purchasing their products. In order to capture target audience they introduce new Managerial research with new trends and technologies, these trends persuade people to buy the product which actually increases the sales of company and reduces cost per unit. On the other side economic scale of company boost up and give a major rise to profit of company. As things happen very rapid in the technology world and if companies want to stay competitive they need to move up with the latest Managerial research. It is chiefly factual for the managerial research. There exist many ways of Managerial research so a company need to keep abreast of the new Managerial research in business if a company wants to be thrived. As compare to the physical markets there exist lessen barriers in internet managerial research. The reason is the reduction of overhead and it shows that there are so many com petitors in the business field. The main phenomenon to be thrived in t he market by following managerial research in order to assure that the business will be conspicuous. By following the latest trend of managerial research the company will put themselves on the cutting edge. A lot of the managerial research is seemed nice and once it is implemented they serve to make the business stand out. It helps business users and producers to expand their business. If firm is following all managerial research standards then it will be able to diversified advertisement so it will be able to compete in market. More attractive and impressive advertisement will not only increase sales but also will help in capturing market. Managerial Research Role in Decision Making At the beginning, it may be stated that business research or for that matter any research does not provide an exact answer to any issue but only help in making a good choice. Research is one of the four elements for making suitable and enduring decisions leading to interests of the business and ultimately its owners. A good place to begin is with some standard descriptions of decision making. Decision making is the research of recognizing and selecting options based on the values and priorities of the decision taker. Making a decision implies that there are substitute options to be measured, and in such a situation we want not only to recognize as several of these substitutes as feasible but to select the one that (1) has the utmost probability of achievement or success and (2) best fits with our objectives, desires, way of life, values, and so on. Decision making is the procedure of sufficiently decreasing insecurity and uncertainty about substitutes to permit a reasonable selection to be made from among them. This description stresses the information-collecting process of decision making. It should be eminent here that doubt is decreased rather than removed. Very few choices are made with exact certainty because total understanding about all the substitutes is seldom potential. Thus, every deci sion engages a certain amount of threat. If there is no doubt, you do not have a choice; you have an algorithma set of steps or a recipe that is pursued to bring about a set result. Managerial research for marketing is use for evaluating process, evaluating actual customer need, and for complete decision making. Decision making is quite difficult process and put the decision taker at a ground where he starts comparing hid decision options. The first problem he face is he wont be able to finalize the actual demand of result fir the decision has been taken. Managerial research helps identifying policy alternatives. Much work on knowledge exchange has concentrated on helping observers present their work into the decision-making procedure. Equally essential is the need for decision-making companies to be able of utilizing research in their decision-making. This ability engages a company having the capability to find the research proof it requires, judge its dependability, quality, significance, and applicability, adapt it into a possible format, and implement it. Problem solving and decision-making are important managerial expertise for business and life. Issue-resolving often engages decision-making and that is particularly essential for administration and management. There are procedures and methods to enhance decision-making and the quality of choices. Decision-making is more ordinary to certain traits, so these individuals should concentrate more on enhancing the quality of their choices. Individuals that are less normal decision-makers are often capable to make quality evaluations, but then require being more strong-minded in acting upon the evaluations made. Issue-resolving and decision-making are intimately connected, and each needs creativity in recognizing and developing choices, for which the brainstorming method is specifically helpful. SWOT analysis helps evaluate the power of a firm, a business proposal or idea; PEST analysis helps to evaluate the possible and appropriateness of a market. Good decision-making needs a mixture of e xpertise: creative progress and identification of choices, lucidity of judgment, determination of decision, and successful implementation. For group issue-resolving and decision-making, or when a harmony is needed, workshops support, within which you can include these tools and procedures as suitable. Here are some helpful techniques for successful decision-making and issue-resolving: First a simple step-by-step procedure for successful decision-making and issue-resolving. Conclusion Managerial research is the process that facilitates an organization to focus its target audience on the greatest opportunities for increasing the sales and achieve a stay over Managerial research competition. Mainly it cater its key concept that to make a sustainable competitive advantage. Managerial research is introduced by focusing on organization sales and cost per unit. It helps company to figure out the consumption of resources and energies that lead towards the increasing in sale and dominate in the competitive world of managerial research.

All the Kings Men: Historys Importance :: All the Kings Men Essays

All the King's Men: History's Importance Throughout All the King's Men, history plays an important role in the motivations and lives of all the characters. History's importance is most noticeable, not surprisingly, in the story main characters - Willie Stark and Jack Burden - whose lives focus on and, in some cases, depend upon history and how they relate themselves to it. While Willie Stark views history as a tool with which to manipulate people for his own ends, an attitude resulting in his own destruction, Jack Burden's view of history changes over time and eventually allows him to accept his relationship to the past and, therefore, present. Since each man has such a differing view it is no wonder that history becomes important to each in different ways. Willie Stark must support his entire empire in a world of enemies and corruption, to do this he relies on the past to provide him with the foundation. "Dirt's a funny thing," the Boss said. "Come to think of it, there ain't a thing but dirt on this God's green globe except what's under water, and that's dirt too. It's dirt makes the grass grow. A diamond ain't a thing in the world but a piece of dirt that got awful hot. God-a-Mighty picked up a handful of dirt and blew on it and made you and me and George Washington and mankind blessed in faculty and apprehension. It all depends on what you do with the dirt."1 In this case, Stark is referring to the past as dirt - something to be used in many ways. The way he chooses to use it of course is as blackmail; "Then he would lean suddenly forward, at the man, and say, not slow and easy now, `God damn you, do you know what I can do to you?' And he could too. For he had the goods."2 Thus history is important to Stark as the device by which he maintains power. Both Stark and Burden use history differently according to the way it figures into their lives. To Stark, ultimate power being paramount, history is a thing to be used in the manipulation of others to

justification for higher education Essay -- essays research papers

Justification For Higher Education After analyzing William A. Henry III s In Defense of Elitism and Caroline Bird s College is a Waste of Time and Money , it is clear that Henry s argument concerning the purpose of an education is more rational than Bird s due to the fact that Henry supports his claims with credible statistics, logical insight, and uses current real world scenarios. Bird, on the contrary, bases her argument solely on manipulated statistics, overly dramatic claims, and ridiculously out-of-this-world scenarios. While there are various viewpoints and perspectives on the subject of higher education, Henry for one, has landed the conclusion that in America higher education for the masses has not only been extremely costly economically, but it has also greatly lowered the educational standards and therefore defeated the purpose of higher education itself. Henry s primary grievance against higher education for the masses is that the influx of mediocrities relentlessly lowers the general standards at colleges to levels the weak ones can meet (335). Quite simply, higher education is by no means any higher if the standards keep lowering just so some students can barely meet the minimum standards. For example, although I am a full supporter of the bell curve in college, it is certain that this recent innovation has had its share in lowering the university s educational standards. This practice of calculating the students average score on an exam and then re-scaling grades to help those who didn t fare as well is a clear example of bringing the standard of college down to everyone s level (336). I can certainly attest to this claim because I was recently directly affected by the bell curve. In the first quarter of my freshman year, I received a score of 44 out of a possible 100 points on my Physics 7A final exam. According to the general 10% increment grading scale, this would mean that I earned an F on the exam. However, thanks to the mediocrities earning even lower scores than myself and the establishment of the bell curve, I fared quite nicely and escaped with a B- grade. Although this is definitely good news for me, Henry s claim that the mediocrities tend to lower the educational standard seems to prevail. The influx of mediocrities flooding college campuses has also lowered the credibility and status of a college degree.... ...re no guarantees in these professions either (329). After dissecting her claims and supporting statements, it is clear that Bird is trying to undermine the value of a college degree. Tying this into her previous claims, we must ask since when is anything in life guaranteed? If we consider her implication that some students should obtain vocational education, well then it is obvious that there are no guarantees in jobs of that nature either. It is troubling to see that Bird simply dismisses certain jobs just because there is competition for them or because she thinks colleges fail to warn students of the competition. William Henry and Caroline Bird both have sharply different approaches in regards to making there arguments about the purpose of an education. Although they share common ground on various issues, the two become divided due to the types of examples and evidence they use to support their claims. After careful analysis, it is clear that Henry s line of reasoning and concrete evidence tops that of Bird s due to his logical insight. Unfortunately for Bird, she is simply left scrambling in the dark in search of bogus evidence in an attempt to backup her claims.

Reverse Discrimination :: Race

Historical references have documented that ancient Greeks and Romans knew nothing about race. There was in fact, a majority of white slaves over black slaves. Even during Moorish rule on the Iberian peninsula, slavery was an equal opportunity operation (Carew par. 3). Not until much later, did the first clear evidence of racism occur with the start of slave trade from Africa to Britain and America. Racism was then formed by the rich and powerful to justify inhumane treatment of black people. However, social justice has come a long way since then. Ironically, long after declaring all men equal, the United States has shown their efforts to improve opportunities to minorities by continuing the use of affirmative action, which is now not necessary in today's society. Affirmative action clearly leads to reverse discrimination, and the focus on those who have traditionally been thought of as minorities overlooks candidates who may be more suited for a position. Affirmative action was initiated during President Lyndon Johnson's term as a government remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination against minorities ("Affirmative Action" par. 4). The use of racial quotas and minority set-asides led to court challenges of affirmative action as a form of reverse discrimination. It became a kind of quota system and had created a new racism in America. The controversy over affirmative action seems to pose a choice between two alternatives that have become a part of major debate. Racial minorities are no longer disadvantaged, considering most young people applying for jobs and colleges today were not even born when legal segregation ended. With this, Americans deserve equal opportunities with the idea that hard work and merit, not race or birthright, should determine who prospers and who does not. However, the fault in special admissions programs is that they will use skin color as a more important factor than academic and personal merit. Those who deserve advancement may not receive it, due to affirmative action and its counterpart, reverse discrimination. Preferences on applications tend to reward the advantaged members of minorities while hurting disadvantaged members of the majority groups (Kaufman par. 4). These preferences have marked minorities as inferior since they may be seen to succeed not through merit but through gift. Some fear that this has encouraged racial and ethnic identities as a means to win social services, dividing rather than uniting the nation.

Economics †Short Answers Essay

Answer #1 One of the problems that concern me right now would be the continuous increase of prices of petroleum products in the market which greatly affected my budget. Moreover, the said hike of oil prices causes our economy to perform badly for the past quarters which indirectly affects the prices of major commodities in the market like sugar, coffee, rice etc based from what I have read from the news papers and magazines. In this regard, oil price hike imposes negative externalities on our welfare –consumers. But to some extent, oil price hike also bring benefits to our economy in a form of forcing our federal government to find ways of providing alternative sources of energy aside from crude oil like bio-fuel. If it not for the price hikes of petroleum products in the market for the past decades, authorities would make no effort to find other sources of energy especially one that would serve as substitute for crude oil. After a few more decades, prices of petroleum products will start to decline as a consequence of emerging alternative sources of energy like bio-fuel as what I have said a while ago. Answer #2 One of the best examples of monopolists that currently exist in the market would be Microsoft Company. Microsoft Company serves to be the sole provider of Windows – software being used by almost all of personal computers around the globe. In this regard, the absence of other provider of Windows other than Microsoft makes the latter a monopolist catering for a large pool of buyers. Moreover, since Microsoft is the sole provider of Windows which we are all using nowadays, there is a great possibility for Microsoft to charge higher prices due to the absence of substitute goods for Windows. Furthermore, monopolists, because of its large market influence, can easily prevent new players to enter the industry of Software production giving them enough room to enjoy sole player in the market. Answer #3 Based from the negative effects that monopolists imposes not only to consumers but also to other market players, the federal government made necessary laws that would restrict the action of monopolists in the market creating enough way to protect the welfare of the consumers and other market players. One of the said laws could be the Anti-Trust Law. Anti-Trust Law is a bulk of laws that forbid unfair market competitions and anti-competitive behaviour of monopolists through illegalizing some practices of the latter that believed to hurt either or both businesses and consumers (U. S. Department of Justice, 1996). As for the case of labor monopolization of giant unions, I think we could also consider them as a source of potential negative effects just like of Microsoft as well as the misallocation of economic resources. The main reason here would be that, having a giant union monopolizing laborers in the market, there is a tendency that they will have a higher bargaining power on private firms of various industries, such as salary increase, which imposes negative effects on the operation of the businesses. At the end of the day, it is the consumers who will suffer from the actions of giant unions since the tendency of the private firms is to pass what ever the added costs they will incur from the said increase of bargaining power of labor unions. Answer #4  Another type of market structure aside from monopoly would be oligopoly. Oligopoly is a type of market structure wherein there is a few sellers and many buyers in market. As compared to monopoly, there exist market competition in oligopoly which improves the quality and quantity of goods and services in the market and so with the consumer welfare. One possible example of oligopoly would be Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is a retail stores and tagged as â€Å"the Giant Store† which leads the industry of retailing due to its large size relative to other retail stores in the industry. The only down turn here in oligopoly would be the possibility of collusion between those â€Å"few sellers† in the market in order for them to minimize competition and have control on the price level in the market. The said collusion of oligopolists is called cartel and this act in the market just like a monopoly. This is the reason why federal government is keeping an eye on oligopolists to prevent such scenario since cartel is no difference with monopoly. Answer #5 Yes, the local phone service market, which was dominated before by Bell, has a great possibility of reaching competitive market due to the forces of competition. With the existence of competition, the local phone service industry members would have to compete to one another in order to attract more customers in terms such as higher service quality and lower price. Those improvements in the service quality and lower price of local phone service would make the said industry competitive since consumer welfare will surely improve; and at the end of the day, societal welfare will start to improve along side with the local phone service industry itself. Answer #6  One of the ways for us to determine if the product differentiation of competitive firms us wasted or not would be to know if the consumers possess brand loyalty which is the main target of differentiating product from one another. Product differentiation serves as the â€Å"identity† of any firm belonging to the competitive market and that identity will stand as the â€Å"brand† for the private firm. Now, if consumers in the market do not have the sense of â€Å"brand loyalty†, then, there is a big possibility that the product differentiation of private firms will be deemed unsuccessful in penetrating its target consumers. Answer #7  OPEC has been successful in controlling the production of oil since it has a bargaining power superimpose on the government of various countries that supplies oil in the market. OPEC determines the market demand and supply existing in the world market and either they increase or decrease the oil supply depending on the season, economic stability of their member countries and volume of supply of oil-producing countries to the organization, moreover, there are times that OPEC regulated the supply of oil for precautionary reasons like during the times of war and during the times of potential shortage in the coming period. The only negative effect of OPEC’s intervention on our welfare, especially during the times when they cut the supply of oil in the world market, would be the high prices of petroleum products on our domestic market. Therefore, the reason why there is existing oil price hike in the market would be either OPEC cut the supply of oil in the world market which creates pressure for the prices of petroleum products to increase, or because of the economic and political instability of oil-producing countries which creates threats for oil supply shortage in the world market. At the end of the day, consumers will carry the burden of that economic and political instability of other country through the intermediation of OPEC in the world market for petroleum products. Answer #8 The reason behind the success of Wal-Mart for the past years lies on its market share and size which provide rooms for further lowering down the prices of their goods relative to their competitors. Because of the large market size and share of Wal-Mart, they have been able to have more bargaining power to their suppliers in a form of price discounts since once Wal-Mart buys products to their suppliers; millions of volumes of goods are at stake. This is the reason why suppliers would want to supply Wal-Mart due to large volume of order that they can get once they were able to close a deal with the management of the Giant. At the end of the day, those price discounts that Wal-Mart was able to receive from their suppliers will give them enough room to further set the prices of their products lower as compared to their competitors, thereby, attracting more customers which eventually lead to experiencing high company growth in terms of profitability and sales volume.

Army Physical Fitness Training Standards

Marc Smurr English 101 January 28, 2011 Responding to Another’s Voice New Army Physical Fitness Training Standards The United States Army Physical Fitness test, or Pt test consist of a two mile run, push ups and sit ups, each event is graded based on age, and sex. There is a simple pass or fail in each category and this is based on how many repetitions, whether it being sit-ups or pushed up, the person can complete in a two minute time period. The two mile run is based on age, sex, and time, how long it takes the person to run the two mile long distance. Many soldiers are faced with the grueling problem of not passing this test based on their previous injuries from being deployed, or that they can not meet the fitness demands of the physical test. I myself have struggled with the physical training test over the last year and I have watched many of my battle buddies struggle as well. It is a kind of stigma that makes the soldier feel worthless. The Army’s consequence for failure of the PT test could be loss of rank and pay, a kind of military probation, where the soldier can not advance or be promoted to the next rank, the solider may be made to do extra physical training. If the soldier continues to fail the PT test, they can be dishonorably discharged from the Army, or can be barred from re-enlistments. In 2003 the Army began launching a brand new physical fitness program for basic-training units at Fort Bliss, Texas; the program has now started rolling out across the Army worldwide. The program is design to better prepare soldiers for combat, it emphasis on a full-body workout. The program was made to limit injuries and increase deployment readiness. One of the most popular drills is the 300-yard shuttle run, Soldier runs to one end of the field and touches the ground with their left hand, then come back touch the ground with their right hand. Soldiers will find the program is designed to improve their PT scores instead of hurt them. The program consists of many sprinting exercises to help with longer running routes, like the wo-miles run. The other training that the soldier is going to have to do during the physical training test is going to be more obstacles. With this it helps soldiers to be able to maneuver around obstacles, over obstacles and under obstacles. With this training it with help soldiers with the terrain that is overseas. With my experience of being overseas and what I have seen there are a lot of obstacles that soldiers have to cross everyday. When a soldier is at basic training they are trained on three to five second rushes. The three to five second rushes consist of running for three to five seconds and then dropping to the ground. This is good for when a unit over seas is under fire and they are out on a walking patrol. It helps get people back to a safe position and when you get down it helps conceal the soldier from the opposing force that is firing on them. The other training that is involved will be a lot of core training. With this training it will make the upper body of the soldier stronger and the lower body. This helps with the gear that the soldier would have to carry when they are deployed. The gear will consist of the body armor, the ammo, the weapon, the helmet, and sometimes the ruck sack. With all of this together it could weigh around 50 to 100 pounds or even more depending on the job that the soldier has. I am a military police officer so my gear consisted of all of those things. It’s a tough journey but with the right training and exercise the soldier is able to carry the gear with out any problems. I agree with the physical fitness that is coming out for the army. The new one helps the soldiers be more prepared than the old one. The old on consisted on push ups, sit ups and a 2 mile run. In combat there will never be a time that you would have to run 2 miles. The most you will ever run is maybe 30 meters. With the push ups and sit ups that just help to get your body in shape but do not get your body to the place where you need it to be to carry all of your gear. The new physical fitness will be a lot better than the old one because it will help out a lot of people with the physical requirements that are meant for overseas.

How Would You Define the Word “Democracy” Give Full Reasons for Your Answer?

This essay will argue that there is no single definition of democracy, due to the fact that there are many models of democracy, which in turn have their own opinions on what the term means. For example direct democracy can be seen as government by the people. In contrast representative democracy can be seen as government for the people. Also depending if one agrees with political equality will alter your definition for example if a person has high level of social significance they would believe that democracy is the rule of the elite and political equality does not exist this is the view point of Marxists.However on the other hand liberal- democracies do believe it and therefore their opinion on â€Å"democracy† is political equality. As Bernard Crick 1993 stated, â€Å" democracy is the most promiscuous word in public affairs† (Andrew Heywood politics third edition chapter four page 73) meaning the word democracy can mean anything. The word democracy comes from the Gre ek word demo meaning people and kratos meaning power.So the classical term for democracy is rule by the people. However this term is very vague, who is the people in ancient Greece in order to participate in politics you had to be male over the age of twenty, excluding women slaves and foreigners. In contemporary times there is restricted political participation usually the ages from 21 to 15, to vote. This in turn shows that not everyone is able to participate in controlling his or her own government due to age.The fact that voting is based on majority shows that voting only represents the majority. So people who voted against the majority will not get their say â€Å"the tyranny of the majority† (Andrew Heywood politics third edition chapter four page 73) explains that the term people is not everyone living in the state but the majority. Therefore depending on how old you are and who you voted for will depend if you believe the word democracy is rule by the people.The most significant point of democracy is liberal democrat view of political equality â€Å"one person one vote one value† this is very true most western democratic regimes are based on voting everyone get a vote and it is equal however in contrast Marxists believe that actually this is not true. The more level of significance of social equality such as control of mass communication and economic resources as well as voting is more likely to have your point of view taken into account by the government.An example is in the 2000 presidential election between George W Bush and Al Gore, Florida was the sate that could tip the balance between who would win, many news stations counted that Al gore won. The fact that George W Bush brother Jeb Bush was senator of Florida and that his other brother was in charge of publishing the votes on Fox News meant. The fact that votes was casted on fox news earlier than most stations meant many voters changed their minds and voted Bush as he was supposed ly most likely to win.The fact is George W Bush had the backing from the mass media such as Fox media and people in power such as Jeb meant he came in to power. (George W Bush had mass media control, the average voter voice was not heard, and as Al gore was whom the majority voted for) (Film Fahrenheit 9-11 Michael Moore) This is an example of pluralist democracy in which the elite are in control of society, the capacity of organised groups to articulate government responsiveness.In countries that has capitalism as its backbone economy, the elite tend to be the ones who own or control big corporate business, you only need to look at â€Å"America political system and see that people funding political candidates are buying influence and accesses to lobby groups† (www. news. bbc. co. uk/world/america), that is why in 2000 191 million dollars was raised by oil companies and united defence for Bush. Of course through the course of history we know that theses business benefited a lot from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.This shows that corporatist pluralism is a threat to society as a threat to society because political equality does not take place, if you are considered an insider group you will benefit such as united defence and if you are an outsider the chances of you influencing government other than voting is almost nil. As Lenin said liberal democracies are seen as bourgeois democracies that are†¦ by the ruling class (Andrew Heywood politics third edition page 86). However the view that only the elite benefit from â€Å"democracy† and that political equality does not exist which is the major point of democracy in that it should exist, is not always true.Peak associations benefit the state rather than major economic associations and the elite; theses are groups that want the best interest for the workers. So you could argue that in some cases political equality does exist. An example is Obama and his democratic party in which they believe in supporting the people not the business, the creation of Medi-care is an example. The creation of the Gettysburg Address delivered in 1864 by Abraham Lincoln â€Å"government of the people by the people for the people â€Å" (www. showcase. et/ creative Lincoln speech) made defining democracy a lot more difficult, due to the fact two models of democracy have cropped up direct democracy (by the people) through systems of referendum and representative democracy (for the people) system of electing someone on your behalf. Direct democracy may be seen by citizens of countries such as Switzerland as the real form of democracy due to the fact the people are in- charge of ruling them selves all the government do is facilitate the decision and make sure it is carried through.This is most similar to the ancient Greek idea of democracy. The way it is done is through referendums’ that can only be passed if majority of cantons agree as well as a small minority of cantons. An example o f referendums in Switzerland in which the people have voted for and taken action is the Swiss people have rejected the law that state funded layers can protect animals in 2010. (www. bbc. co. uk). However the main problem with referendums’ is governments can reject them going against the principal of rule by the people.An example occurred in the state of Rhode Island in 2002, when the governor placed such a referendum on the ballot asking citizens if they wanted to change the state constitution to make the three branches of the state government co-equal. The citizens voted in favor of the measure, but the result was not binding, and the governor and the legislature were not required to take action. (www. elearnportal. com/courses/political-science).The other point is direct democracy would only work in areas with small population such as Greek city states and Switzerland otherwise a population like the UK with over 60 million people would mean any decision would take a huge a mount of time. Therefore the representative democracy exits, the argument for representative democracy is people may not have the education or background to make logical decisions for the rest of the population; therefore you vote for your constituency who on your behalf represented you.Who in turn in parliamentary democracies would vote who would head your party. This may seem democratic in the view that your MP is only interested in your constituency. However party politics play a part and some politicians may seem greedy for power and not really care or represent you. Also even though this creates accountability on MPs behalf you may only do something about it every time an election is held. We only have an input every four years (undergrounddemocracy. com).This is means if politicians go against their mandate or do something the majority of people don’t like example the student cuts you cant do something about it until the next election. Also depending on who you are in t he political system will depend on what you think is a democratic system, for example totalitarian regimes such as Hitler and the Nazi party may claim they where democratic due to the fact they represented the peoples best interest, however the German people who where not involved in politics or people in general who live under a dictatorship may not agree that they are living democratically.In conclusion the language of democracy is used as political propaganda â€Å" it is a political weapon it is shaped and honed to covey political intent† (Andrew Heywood political theory page 2) what Andrew meant is similar to what Bernard Crick in that there is no clear definition of democracy. It all depends on who is the person or group that is defining the word democracy.If you are living in a representative democracy under a totalitarian regime and you are the head of that party in power then of course you would say you are democratic working in the best interest of the people despit e the fact they could be living in the gutter starving. Or if you are the prime-minster of the Britain despite the fact you where not directly elected by the people to be prime-minster but you are non-the less creating a government for the people you would say you are democratic, in contrast to people who did not vote for you or your policy.If you are considered a Marxist then your opinion on liberal democracy is that it is false due to the fact political equality does not exist and that the elite and corporatists have more power to influence the government for them and not always the majority of people, however if you are the elite you would say it is democratic as we live in competitive capitalist environment and through peek associations we benefit the economy because we have the know how, and the majority would want that.Direct democracy is another definition of democracy stating that the citizens should have complete control however due to political restrictions such as age and the ability to reject referendums proves that rule by the people can t be fully accomplished.My opinion is that again depending on who is defining democracy will depend on what they want it to mean due to the popularity of being democratic however, complete democracy will never be achieved as there will always be people who appose an opinion causing rule by the majority. But the ability to vote enables that citizens do have some control over their society and that in most western democracies people in power are trying to do what is best for the interest of the people, even if political equality may not exist.

Parkinsons Disease Essays - Parkinsons Disease, Catecholamines

Parkinson's Disease Essays - Parkinsons Disease, Catecholamines Parkinson's Disease INTRODUCTION In 1817, a London physician, named James Parkinson, wrote the first information of Parkinsons disease in his Essay of the Shaking Palsy. Little research was done throughout the years. However, researchers at the University of Vienna brought hope in 1960, that restoring low dopamine levels might effectively treat the disease. Investigators soon learned that dopamine by itself was useless; it would be metabolized before reaching the brain. So, in 1970, levodopa was approved for prescription sale and in 1975, Sinemet became available on prescription. What exactly is Parkinsons? Are there effective treatments? Soon, we will find out the answers to these questions and many others. Not many people know what Parkinsons disease is. Others may have misconceptions about the disease. I wrote this paper to inform the reader and to expand on my own general interest. Also, this topic is important to me because my grandmother has this disease, and I wanted to know more about it. I would like to thank the writers and publishers for writing and printing the necessary material. This paper is incomplete due to unobtainable sources, because this is an ever-changing field, and limited

Super Massive Black Holes essays

Super Massive Black Holes essays Black Holes are one of the most enigmatic objects in the universe. Shrouded in mystery, Black Holes (a.k.a. BH) have been the focus of science fiction writers and astronomer alike. But now there is a new kid on the block that has put your everyday BH to shame. This new kid is called a Supermassive Black Hole (a.k.a. SMBH). SMBHs are a new area of wonder and fascination in the astronomy field and have caused us to rethink many of our previous thoughts on the universe and how it evolved into what it is today. Supermassive Black Holes are some of the biggest and smallest objects in the known universe. Big because SMBH and normal BH have such a incredible gravitational pull that it causes matter anywhere in its vicinity to be attracted to it and be pulled into its orbit. This orbit is called a Accretion disk. This disk is the only way to visually see where a BH or SMBH is located in the universe (though there are other ways, using radio telescopes or measuring the ripple effect in the surrounding space). The Accretion disk can be sometimes as small as a planet or as big as a thousand solar systems. They are some of the smallest objects in the universe because in actuality even though the Accretion disk and Event Horizon are considered part of the BH, they are only by-products of the real BH and that is the singularity. Supermassive Black Holes have a tremendous effect on the surrounding universe. But before we go into all of that lets get the basics down first, like what is a SMBH? A SMBH is exactly what it sounds like: a very big BH. A BH itself is measured from three AMUs (astronomical mass units. These are equal to the mass of our sun. i.e. Our sun = 1 AMU) to a few hundred thousand AMU s, while a SMBH is measured from about one million AMUs to several billion. A BH is the resulting effect after a star, at least three AMUs, goes super novae. In the case of a SMBH, the star in question would...

Depression The sadness disease essays

Depression The sadness disease essays In our never-ending quest for happiness in our life, is some of the joy taken away? Have our thoughts for what we always want turned astray? Why has the quest for happiness left us more vulnerable and sad? Are we a society of melancholy people who are all looking for happiness and disappointed with what we find, leaving us in a state of depression and unstableness, and turning us into not only a society of dismal people, but people who are left spiritless and melancholic? In today's society, depression is referred to as the "common cold of the mental health problems." (Bourne and Russo 24). More than five percent of Americans have depression, which equates to an astonishing 15 million people. It is said that 1 out of every six people have had a major depressive episode in their life. It is estimated that it costs the nation a sum of 43 billion dollars a year in medication, lost school days, lost workdays, and professional care for depression. Tens of thousands of people out of the 15 million attempts to commit suicide because of depression and about 16,000 of those people succeed (Bourne and Russo 24). Depression, loosely defined, is a disorder marked by a state of deep and pervasive sadness, dejection and hopelessness, accompanied by feeling of fatigue apathy, and low self-worth (Bourne and Russo 1998 p. A-24). Though that seems like a very comprehensive definition, it is characterized by many different symptoms to combine to one effect on the psyche. Depression itself is not only widespread but also associated with many other psychological conditions, with many physical diseases, and most certainly, with social and external factors (Schwartz and Schwartz p. 1). There are several major causes of depression that may occur in people. The first causes are the biological causes that are thought to be (1) heredity in which the individuals inherit directly as well as genetic transmission of vulnerability, and (2) physiol...

1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City Overview

1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City Overview The 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Mexico Only ten days before the 1968 Olympic Games were to open, the Mexican army surrounded a group of students who were protesting against the Mexican government at the Plaza of Three Cultures and opened fire into the crowd. It is estimated that 267 were killed and over 1,000 were wounded. During the Olympic Games, political statements were also made. Tommie Smith and John Carlos (both from the U.S.) won the gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200-meter race. When they stood (barefoot) upon the victory platform, during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner, they each raised one hand, covered by a black glove, in a Black Power salute (picture). Their gesture was meant to bring attention to the conditions of blacks in the United States. This act, since it went against the ideals of the Olympic Games, caused the two athletes to be expelled from the Games. The IOC stated, The basic principle of the Olympic Games is that politics plays no part whatsoever in them. U.S. athletes violated this universally accepted principle . . . to advertise domestic political views.* Dick Fosbury (United States) drew attention not because of any political statement, but because of his unorthodox jumping technique. Though there had been several techniques previously used to get over the high jump bar, Fosbury jumped over the bar backward and head first. This form of jumping became known as the Fosbury flop. Bob Beamon (United States) made headlines by an amazing long jump. Known as an erratic jumper because he often took off with the wrong foot, Beamon tore down the runway, jumped with the correct foot, cycled through the air with his legs, and landed at 8.90 meters (making a world record 63 centimeters beyond the old record). Many athletes felt that the high altitude of Mexico City affected the events, helping some athletes and hindering others. In response to complaints about the high altitude, Avery Brundage, the IOC president, stated, The Olympic Games belong to all the world, not the part of it at sea level.** It was at the 1968 Olympic Games that drug testing debuted. Though these Games were filled with political statements, they were very popular Games. Approximately 5,500 athletes participated, representing 112 countries. * John Durant, Highlights of the Olympics: From Ancient Times to the Present (New York: Hastings House Publishers, 1973) 185.** Avery Brundage as quoted in Allen Guttmann, The Olympics: A History of the Modern Games (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992) 133. For More Information History of the OlympicsList of the Olympic GamesInteresting Olympic Facts

Free Essays on The Influence Of Nationality On The Accuracy Of Face And Recognition.

The influence of nationality on the accuracy of face and recognition. The article that I chose to review can be found in â€Å"The American Journal of Psychology†. Nathan Daniel Doty in Pensacola, Florida held this study. The study included sixty English and United States citizens. Each of these people was tested to see how nationality affects their ability to recognize prior witnessed faces and voices. The subjects looked at front facial pictures and then were asked to select ten oblique facial pictures. The subjects listened to recorded voices and then had to choose ten of those voices. They were then asked to identify a male and female voice from England, Belize, France, and the United States. The experimenter came up with two theories. The facial prototype theory, and the facial schema theory. The facial schema theory is when the mind develops an algorithm, which is a rule or procedure for solving a problem. This theory state recognizing a face would be automatic. The only problem with this is that the person was only exposed to a certain type and will have a limited and biased schemata. The facial prototype theory is based on an individual's past exposure. It compares that face at hand to on it’s the person’s memory. I guess this is why people say â€Å"Hey you know whom he looks like†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The prototype is a mixture of all the faces the person has seen plus the new faces. Exposure to a persons same nationality or group can trigger a persons identification skills. This experiment had facial pictures and voice recordings that were taken from ten men and women from four countries. They were from France, Belize, England, and the United States. They were chosen because of their availability, English fluency, willing to participate, and their ages ran from twenty to forty. The racial make up included three African-Americans and seven Caucasian males and two African-American, one Hispanic, and seven Caucasian women all from t... Free Essays on The Influence Of Nationality On The Accuracy Of Face And Recognition. Free Essays on The Influence Of Nationality On The Accuracy Of Face And Recognition. The influence of nationality on the accuracy of face and recognition. The article that I chose to review can be found in â€Å"The American Journal of Psychology†. Nathan Daniel Doty in Pensacola, Florida held this study. The study included sixty English and United States citizens. Each of these people was tested to see how nationality affects their ability to recognize prior witnessed faces and voices. The subjects looked at front facial pictures and then were asked to select ten oblique facial pictures. The subjects listened to recorded voices and then had to choose ten of those voices. They were then asked to identify a male and female voice from England, Belize, France, and the United States. The experimenter came up with two theories. The facial prototype theory, and the facial schema theory. The facial schema theory is when the mind develops an algorithm, which is a rule or procedure for solving a problem. This theory state recognizing a face would be automatic. The only problem with this is that the person was only exposed to a certain type and will have a limited and biased schemata. The facial prototype theory is based on an individual's past exposure. It compares that face at hand to on it’s the person’s memory. I guess this is why people say â€Å"Hey you know whom he looks like†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The prototype is a mixture of all the faces the person has seen plus the new faces. Exposure to a persons same nationality or group can trigger a persons identification skills. This experiment had facial pictures and voice recordings that were taken from ten men and women from four countries. They were from France, Belize, England, and the United States. They were chosen because of their availability, English fluency, willing to participate, and their ages ran from twenty to forty. The racial make up included three African-Americans and seven Caucasian males and two African-American, one Hispanic, and seven Caucasian women all from t...

Read This Before Applying to an Economics PhD Program

Read This Before Applying to an Economics PhD Program I recently wrote an article about the types of people who shouldnt pursue a Ph.D. in economics. Dont get me wrong, I love economics. Ive spent a majority of my adult life in the pursuit of knowledge in the field studying around the world and even teaching it at the university level. You may love studying economics, too, but a Ph.D. program is an entirely different beast that requires a very specific type of person and student. After my article was published, I received an email from a reader, who just happened to be a potential Ph.D. student.   This readers experience and insights into the economics Ph.D. program application process were so on point that I felt the need to share the insights. For those considering applying to a Ph.D. program in Economics, give this email a read. One Students Experience Applying to an Economics Ph.D. Program Thanks for the graduate school focus in your recent articles.  Three of the challenges you mentioned [in your recent article] really hit home: American students have a comparative disadvantage for selection compared to foreign students.The importance of math cannot be overstated.Reputation is a huge factor, especially that of your undergraduate program. I applied unsuccessfully to Ph.D. programs for two years before conceding that I might not be ready for them. Only one, Vanderbilt, gave me even a wait-list consideration. I was a little embarrassed at being shunned. My mathematics GRE was 780. I had graduated at the top of my class with a 4.0 GPA in my economics major and completed a statistics minor. I had two internships: one in research, one in public policy. And accomplished this all while working 30 hours a week to support me. It was a brutally hard couple of years. The Ph.D. departments I applied to and my undergraduate adviser all pointed out: I attended a small, regional public university, and our professors spent significant time with students to the detriment of their own publishing.Though I took a heavy load of statistics coursework, I only had two terms of calculus.I had never been published; not even in an undergraduate journal.I aimed for highly-ranked schools in the Midwest like Illinois, Indiana, Vanderbilt, Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington University in St. Louis, but neglected schools on the coasts, which might have seen me as a more diverse candidate. I also made what many considered a tactical error: I went to talk with the graduate programs before I applied. I was later told that this is a taboo and seen as schmoozing. I even talked at length with the director of one program. We ended up talking shop for two hours and he invited me to attend presentations and brown bags whenever I was in town. But soon I would learn that he would be ending his tenure to take a position at another college, and would no longer be involved in the approval process for that program. After going through these obstacles, some suggested I prove myself with a Masters Degree in Economics first. I had originally been told that many schools pick top candidates immediately after undergraduate, but this new advice made sense because departments commit considerable resources to their Ph.D. candidates and want to make sure their investment will survive first-year exams. With that path in mind, I found it interesting that so few departments offer a terminal Masters in Economic. Id say about half as many as those that offer only the terminal Ph.D. Fewer still offer an academic Masters - most of these are professional programs. Still, Im glad it gives me a chance to dig deeper into research and see if Im ready for Ph.D. research. My Response   This was such a great letter for many reasons. First, it was genuine. It wasnt a why didnt I get into a Ph.D. program rant, but a personal story told with thoughtful insights. In fact, my experience has been nearly identical, and I would encourage any undergraduate student considering pursuing a Ph.D. in economics to take this readers insights to heart. I, myself,  was in a Masters program (at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada) before I entered my Ph.D. program. Today, I must admit that I wouldnt have survived three months as a Ph.D. student had I not attempted an MA in Economics first.

Culture Comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Culture Comparison - Essay Example Kinship is determined in different ways within different societies but relates to two underlying principles of descent – unilineal and cognatic. Societies that are concerned with unilineal descent trace either their father’s (patrilineal) or their mother’s (matrilineal) group; those concerned with both their matrilineal and patrilineal descent are said to be concerned with cognative descent. Cognative traces can involve any of four variations including bilineal (matrilineal and patrilineal), ambilineal (both recognized, but individuals can choose which one they accept), parallel (females follow their matrilineal descent and males follow their patrilineal descent groups) and bilateral (descent is traced from all biological ancestors) (O’Neil, 2006). ... Individual people are recognized in accordance with their real family and ancestors or their membership of a particular set (Bavin, 1991, p.323). They also focus on matrilineal, patrilineal and generational moieties, semi-moieties, and subsections. The subsection system disseminates the people into eight categories that distinguish between male and female members in each (everyculture.com). The Navajo, on the other hand, function within a matrilineal system and is thus unilineal. Every Navajo belongs to one of the sixty-four clans (everyculture.com), wherein membership is passed via the mother’s family. In the same way that clan membership is inherited in the female line of kinship, property is also inherited from the female side but advantage and property however, are passed from male to male, but the mother’s brother passes both to her (his sister’s) children. Although operating within a matrilineal system the Navajo also believe they are born for the clan of t heir father (everyculture.com). Two to six matrilineal clans can form a clan group if they consider themselves to be affiliated but they are not given a clan group name (Aberle, 1961). Within Warlpiri, as in other indigenous Australian systems, the ‘collaterals and lineals are merged’ (Frey, 2008), meaning that the system is extended to all people in the society and even further to those outside and beyond the society. The following diagram provides a way of illustrating Warlpiri genealogy, wherein it shows that an aunt is only found in reference to the father’s sister – no aunt is so named on the mother’s side – and the term uncle is only found on the mother’s side in reference to the mother’s brother. The

Individual Project 3 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual Project 3 - Research Paper Example This technical lapse has in many instances been attributed to use of outdated tender award techniques that fail to take into account the principle of equal opportunity for all. As such, it became necessary for the government to outline clear guidelines to address injustices committed to bidders, and also ensure clear methodologies of sealed bidding, competitive acquisitions and strategic planning are followed at all times. The Government Accountability Office has hence become essential in reviewing tender award complaints and consequently curbing Organizational Conflicts of Interest (Koprince, 2007). In this case, the GAO Air Tanker contract decision will be critically reviewed. Owing to the many contract standoffs that were constantly rocking the US economy, it was deemed right to develop clear-cut procedures to govern contract advertisement and awards. These legislations, commonly referred to as the FAR Part 15 model are aimed at governing the source selection process, information exchange and proposal evaluation processes. One fundamental factor in FAR Part 15 model stipulates that all competitors must submit complete proposals which will consequently enable the selection panel to asses all the bidders on the basis of all the requirements, thus ensuring that the best, more experienced bidder has higher chances of winning the contract. In many instances, it is observable that a contractor may be best suited in one area of requirement of the contract, but may at the same time be poorly placed to handle other technical areas of the same contract. Therefore, the overall best bidder should be selected. The guidelines also advocate for contract negotiations with multiple bidders. This allows the evaluation panel to asses a wider range of information, which will be essential in decision making process. Following the award of a contract to a firm, competitors are mandated to challenge the decision if they feel the contract was not awarded

Design Differences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Design Differences - Essay Example Qualitative research is basically concerned with the social aspects of the research topics, such as, reasons for any specific behavior of people, reasons for differences between cultures and societies, reasons fro differences of behaviors, and the ways people shape their beliefs and opinions. On the other hand, quantitative research constructs statistical models based on the observations to explain issues in a statistical form. Quantitative research requires a good understanding of the statistics for the scientists in order to produce statistical results generated using large-scale surveys. However, all scientists are not good statisticians, so extensive statistical analysis can be a big problem for some researchers. Therefore, we can say that qualitative research is somewhat easier to do as compared to quantitative research. â€Å"Quantitative research is all about quantifying relationships between variables† (Hopkins, 2008). A quantitative research determines the relationshi p between an independent and a dependent variable in order to establish an association between the two variables. A quantitative research is a better way to prove a hypothesis based on numeric results of a research. Relationship with what is Being Researched Another difference between qualitative and quantitative forms of research is related to the relationship, which the researchers have with what they are researching. In a qualitative research, the researchers do not know much about the topic being researched; rather they have to make interactions with people in order to get a better understanding of the research topic. The researchers are interested in getting awareness of the meanings created by the people. In a qualitative form of research, the researchers interact personally with what is being researched whereas in a quantitative research, the researchers are independent of what is being actually researched. â€Å"Qualitative research may be necessary in situations where it i s unclear what exactly is being looked for in a study† (McGuigan, 2011). Qualitative research is purely a fieldwork in which a researcher needs to go to different people at different places in order to observe their actions and behaviors, whereas quantitative research is based on the opinions of different people, which the researchers use to produce the facts. In qualitative research design, researchers use focus group technique and in-depth interviews to explore attitudes and behaviors of people whereas in quantitative research design, the researchers measure opinions and behaviors of people using structured research instruments. In a qualitative research, the primary instrument used for data collection and analysis is the research, whereas in quantitative research design, researchers make use of interviews and questionnaires to collect data in a numeric form. â€Å"Quantitative research involves gathering data that is absolute, such as numerical data, so that it can be exam ined in as unbiased a manner as possible† (McGuigan, 2011). Time and Efficiency Another difference between the characteristics of qualitative and quantitative researches is based on time and efficiency of the two forms of researches. Qualitative research design consumes more time for completion as compared to quantitative rese

How far was St. Augustines mission a key turning point in the Coursework

How far was St. Augustines mission a key turning point in the conversion of Britain 550-700 - Coursework Example This mission was referred to as the Gregorian mission. This mission led by Augustine marked the turning point for the Anglo Saxons pagans; the mission spread to the regions spontaneously and later merged with the Celtic mission.1 The activities that preceded the arrival of St Augustine to Kent changed the history of the regions. With the Kent kingdom being powerful at the time, the conversion of the King ushered in immense success for the kingdom of Kent. St. Augustine Mission Background In 410, the province of Britannia was left by the Roman legions; this left the people of the Britannia to defend themselves from the attacks led by the Saxons. The Britannia was already converted to Christianity before they left. After the Legions withdrawal, non Christians settled on the island’s southern parts. The inhabitants of the western part of Britain which was beyond the Anglo Saxon’s rule remained Christian dominated. These were Celtic Christians who developed slowly in comple te isolation from Rome. The calculation of Easter and the style of the haircut of the Celtic clerics were different from that of the church in Rome. 1Bede, translated by Leo Sherley-Price, A History of the English Church and People, Penguin Classics, New York, 1988. Evidence of Christianity survival in Eastern Britain during the time exists. However, evidence on the issue of the conversion of native Christians to Anglo Saxons is unavailable. The Saxons invaded the province and destroyed the remnants of the Roman civilisation, economic and religious structures. It was during the era of King Ethelberht who married Bertha, a Christian princess; this was under the condition that she will be allowed to remain Christian that the St. Augustine mission. Before the year 588 Pope Gregory the first decided to send the Gregorian Mission to convert Anglo Saxons to Christianity. Augustine arrived on the Isle of Thanet and entered the Ethelberht’s main town of Canterbury. With the influence of his Christian wife the king was converted to Christianity. The conversion of the King prompted him to give the missionaries freedom to preach the word freely; in addition he gave them land which resulted to founding of a monastery. Augustine was ordained as bishop and many of the Kings subjects were converted, it was during the same year of 597 in the Christmas Day that mass baptism was held, thousand of the people in Kent were baptised. The baptism of the king and his 2000 servants marked the turning point of the medieval history because the church gained grounds to penetrate the region. The mission of Augustine Augustine was at that time, accompanied or escorted by Laurence of Canterbury and a group of 40 companions who comprised of monks. On landing in Kent the mission had great initial success. The success was marked by the conversion of Ethelberht. During the early medieval period, religious conversion was more successful with the conversion of the ruler. The subjects could then easily emulate the ruler. This hierarchical approach was liked by many people. Bede Portrays Augustine as aggressive and conformist. Augustine triggered the conversion of the Anglo Saxons, he is portrayed as conformist due to believe he held which he had about the Roman Church, these believes were affirmed by Wilfred in the Whitby Synod. The region of Kent played key role in the conversion of Britain in the period dating 550-700 due to number of reasons. Kent was by the then the reigning regime in the south eastern

Outline the important features of utilitarianism and explain and asses Essay

Outline the important features of utilitarianism and explain and asses one criticism of the theory. Do you think utilitarianism - Essay Example In addition, I will justify that in essence communism is utilitarianism. Finding therefore at least one problematic issue with communism, as a socio-economic means of organizing society will then lead us to discover at least a significant drawback against utilitarianism. I will build up my case by introducing important features of utilitarianism, the association between communism and utilitarianism and the actual state of communism in Cuba. Important features of utilitarianism Based on the readings, I was able to sort some important attractive features of utilitarianism. The following are some of its considerable characteristics. One promising mark of utilitarianism is its emphasis placed on the welfare of each person. It strongly adheres to a moral act of doing the right thing that could substantially address individual welfare. It places no other significant value to anything other than this by trying to recognize individuals could feel pain and pleasure. Maximizing this pleasure i s the good thing to do, and alleviating or eliminating pain is of the same paramount importance. This substantially fits into the general point of utilitarian theory to maximize happiness. The utilitarian principle also emphasizes the idea that it is a good thing to do if individuals could maximize their ability for making the best they can for the world. This means everyone has the opportunity to use maximum ability to make the world a better place to live in. This is pretty attractive as humans certainly do want to live in a world where there is no conflict, but everything around is for the best of sustaining their interests and preserving their lives. Thus, this would promote maximum happiness for everyone. By trying to maximize happiness for the greatest number of people, utilitarianism tries to promote the idea that impartiality is the right thing to do. Utilitarianism seeks not to focus on minimum needs, but rather the common good of the greatest number of people for maximum p leasures. It always looks forward to the welfare of the majority so it tries to promote impartiality in all circumstances or situations so as to be consistent with its goal to maximize happiness. For instance, advancing the lower classes as integral components of the majority in the case of communism is for the common good and it seeks to essentially maximize happiness. Thus, this makes communism as the philosophy of utilitarianism in a way that its existence can be viewed as a socio-economic means of organizing society, for the common good, and would therefore maximize happiness. Finally, another important feature of utilitarianism is its ability to address moral dilemmas. Some would try to emphasize that what is right could be subjective at some point. Everybody could claim their basic rights. It is here were conflicts and even moral dilemmas would arise. Utilitarian theory tries not to make this as a problem by being consistent with the idea that if the majority is happy then a c ertain action is good, but if a certain move does not create maximum pleasure for most of the people then it is not the right thing. So there is no moral dilemma considered in the utilitarian principle making it less problematic in understanding morality. It does not further ask what right does the majority has over the minority for as long as the majority is h

The Story of Arthur Wergs Mitchell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Story of Arthur Wergs Mitchell - Essay Example Arthur Wergs Mitchell was born on December 22 1883, at Roanoke, Alabama and was the son of former slaves Taylor and Ammar Mitchell. His father has worked as a modest farmer to raise his family. Mitchell studied in public schools and has financed his college education at the Tuskegee Institute by working as a university assistant and farm laborer. After a year at the Tuskegee Institute, Mitchell transferred to Snow Hill Institute, where he was mentored by a Washington protà ©gà © in the person of Professor William J. Edwards. Mitchell’s beliefs toward his own teaching skills and capabilities have later on led him to putting up a vocational elementary school, the West Alabama Normal and Industrial Institute that was exclusive for African American children. These milestones have also brought difficulties to the life of Mitchell. He was accused of deceiving the poor blacks to working for cheap labor and was even charged of defrauding them to obtain their land titles. He was sued by the black farmers, but has managed to avoid prosecution. Nonetheless, the charges filed against Mitchell did not hinder him to moving toward his goal of becoming a lawyer. Eventually, Mitchell has left Alabama and moved to Washington. Then, he went to Chicago to pursue law. On 1919, he has moved to Washington D.C., where he has tried to familiarize himself with the law and has gone to real estate by establishing the Mutual Housing Company of Washington D.C (Asseln 1995). In spite of his lack of formal law education, Mitchell passed the bar in Chicago, Illinois in 1927 (Asseln 1995). He has later on ventured into the practice of law by opening a law office that has paved the way for him to creating a connection with the Republican Party (Asseln 1995). This then marked the beginning of his political career as the first African American democrat in the country. Mitchell has worked for the Republican Party and has managed the campaign of the Republican presidential bet Herbert Hoover (Nordin 2007). This responsibility has made him inspired to entering the arena of politics. Upon joining politics, Mitchell left the Republican Party and became a Democrat. As a democrat, he had the advantage of representing the black community, for he was seen by the party leader as one who will not intrude in the plans of the white political leaders that may be unfavorable for the black constituents (Nordin 2007). Arthur Mitchell replaced Harry Brooke as candidate of the Democratic Party for Congress Representative due to his sudden death (Arthur Wergs Mitchell 2013). Mitchell rivaled with fellow African American Oscar De Priest, but Mitchell managed to defeat Brooke, thereby, electing him as the very first African American Democrat to represent a state in the American Congress in November 7, 1934 (Arthur Wergs Mitchell 2013). Mitchell expressed his support to â€Å"President Roosevelt and the New Deal† during his tenure in Congress (Arthur Wergs Mitchell 2013). On the one hand, Mitchell got involved in a controversy that prompted him to file charges against the Illinois Central and Rock Island Railroads. The

BRAHMS REQUIEM Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

BRAHMS REQUIEM - Assignment Example The Robert Schumann’s death that took place on July 1856 also triggered the motivation of this music (Musgrave 25). Brahms’ Requiem differed from other types of music in that it was deeply moving and contained messages of hope, consolation and peace which are rare messages in other forms of music. The requiem also differed in its length being the largest Brahms’ single outdid all the other music. Ellen Eccles being a theatre that was used by the Roman Catholics to conduct the masses for the dead served as a perfect venue for the presentation of this song whose main message was to console as well as restoring hope (Musgrave 47). The classical music is closely linked with broad historical periods, genres, forms and styles. These characteristics show that the classical music is more profound and serious than other types of music. The broadness of the classical music’s genres styles and forms offers classical music with diversity and, therefore, it is capable of expressing of more profound ideas, feeling, and emotions than other types of music. Requiem was all about consolation, hope and peace. The main themes in requiem were melancholy and consolation. In some movements the theme of melancholy was brought about by omission of trumpets, clarinets, violins and timpani (Musgrave

Family Communication Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Family Communication - Assignment Example Honesty is a virtue that my parents have cultivated in our house. My mother tells us that the truth will always set us free so we try as much as possible to be honest. As a family we are sincere, clear and specific with what we want to achieve. We also realize that we have our own weaknesses that we must inform each other so as to get support. My sister Linet is a sickling type and we are always there to help her whenever she cannot accomplish some of her tasks. The rules in the house are flexible and are subject to change depending on conditions. For example, we have a diet that must be followed in order to maintain our health. However, once in a while the diet is omitted to accommodate some people’s feelings and desires and this creates a sense of fulfillment in the house. We also relate well with the community around and with other family members. We have been accepted with the society and my parents play a major role in the community. My mother is a professional counselor who offers free counseling services when our estate is celebrating certain ceremonies. My dad on the other hand heads the regular cleaning services in the estate and he is also head of the security. This is an indication that our family links with the society is open and hopeful Satir 1988, pg

African and Hispanic Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

African and Hispanic Americans - Essay Example Within the context of America's ethnic hierarchy, there is little doubt that both African and Hispanic Americans occupy the bottom tier. Not withstanding the fact that the Democratic Party's current presidential primaries has an African America, Barack Obama, and a Hispanic American, Bill Richardson, competing for the party's nomination, members of either ethnic group tend to be politically, economically and socially marginalized.Not only have the African Americans been in this county for close to four centuries but, they played an integral and often overlooked role in the creation of the United States. Forcibly brought into the country by slave traders and sold as slave laborers, owned property, to plantation owners and, to a lesser extent, factor owners and industrialists, the African American labor played a seminal role in the development, even creation, of the American economy.America and its economy may have been founded upon the forced labor, blood, sweat and tears of its Afric an population but, rather than be credited for it, this ethnic group has spent the greater part of its history in America s dehumanized beings. From the 1600 until the Civil War they were regarded as property and denied, by law, the right to literacy. From the Civil War until the Civil Rights Movement, they were subjected to Jim Crow laws which barely recognized their humanity and irrevocably cast them as sub-human and inferior to all other ethnic groups. It was only from the 1960s and onwards that the African Americans began to acquire their civil rights, with state and federal laws gradually changing to reflect official recognition and acknowledgement of their equality. Indeed, within the context of these laws, discrimination against African American is illegal. Although African Americans have integrated into American culture, they have formed their own sub-culture, complete with their own linguistic variation, Ebonics. The point here is that consequent to mainstream America's centuries-long abuse and as a direct outcome of continued undertones of racism, African Americans have somewhat retreated into their own culture and communities. Needless to say, their continued disadvantaged economic status, largely an outcome of constrained educational, social and occupational opportunities has hardly facilitated their complete assimilation into America, per se. Quite simply stated, relations between white and black America are somewhat tense and while they are tolerated by the mainstream WASP America, the color-blind culture as yet to set it. While a significant percentage of African Americans are of middle class status and the group, as a whole, is politically active and organized, the majority remains economically, educationally, socially, occupationally and politically marginalized. Indeed, the African Americans comprise one of the most disadvantaged of the country's ethnic and racial groups. With a long history of settlement in this country behind them, the later waves of Hispanic labor immigration to America, on the one hand, and political asylum seekers, on the other, largely lend to the impression that the Hispanics constitute one of the newer ethnic groups in America. This is not at all the case and their history in America almost rivals that of the African American in length. Possibly, the tendency to categorize all Latin and Central American groups as Hispanic, rather than accurately identify them as Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican and such, has contributed to this impression. Establishing distinctions is important because once one does so, one finds that the Cubans are in a relatively higher position than are the

Controls for Information Technology and Reporting and Evaluation Essay

Controls for Information Technology and Reporting and Evaluation - Essay Example ove-mentioned company implements real-time compliance tools to obtain company-wide data through one and only one source of information, which is its database. These tools notify the management about any compliance problems, and tend to provide accurate and timely information, making the company more open to the varying business requirements. These tools also help the management to prepare reliable financial statements. Apart from the real-time compliance tools, my company implements all the five components of internal control: control environment, risk assessment, information and communication systems, control activities, and monitoring. To evaluate the internal controls, it is first important to understand the definition of internal control; organize a project team to conduct the evaluation; evaluate internal control at the entity level; understand and evaluate internal control at the process, transaction, or application level; and, evaluate overall effectiveness, identify matters for improvement, and establish monitoring system. The criteria against which the internal controls of my company are to be evaluated is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which requires that the management must include an internal control reporting assessment with its annual report. My company uses AICPA/CICA Trust Services framework in their IT-based work, as an information systems auditor, to evaluate internal controls over information technology. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires that I, as a manager of internal controls, should include a statement of my responsibility for implementing and maintaining proper internal controls, along with a report that should summarize how effective these internal controls have been through the year, in the company’s annual report. The Act also requires me to submit a report that summarizes the framework that I use to evaluate the internal controls, along with a statement or report that states that an external auditor has issued

Case analysis of National Logistics Management Essay

Case analysis of National Logistics Management - Essay Example The company was founded in 1991 by Taylor, right from the start the company implemented an innovative approach- premium shipments were put by bid to the definite group of carriers. The former had to respond quickly in order to receive the order. Once several responses had been obtained the contract was awarded to the best bidder (the winner was determined by the number of factors: the price, the quality of the services provided and etc). NLM tracked the status of the order until the goods had been delivered, keeping all parties informed. Despite the obvious fact that this system was more convenient and more efficient, some carriers as well as plant managers were dissatisfied with it, but NLM took several steps to remedy the situation. The company has maintained its approach since 1991.The innovative strategy implemented by company has several important advantages: it saves time and money by allowing all parties involved in the process to communicate instantaneously without making sev eral phone calls and by expediting the process of premium freight. By now the company has managed more than 1.3 million of shipments, it has extensive network in North America and has build steadfast group of carriers. Environmental analysis. In today's world of ecommerce and internet, when goods and services can be purchased instantaneously online, only those companies that implement new technologies will be able to survive; thus the logistics companies have had to use internet to inform their clients about quotes, facilitate the shipments of the goods and track other information. Moreover, transport companies combined their resources with manufacturers and internet companies to expedite the delivery of their goods and improve the efficiency of the shipment. One of the most famous examples is the alliance of Ryder System Inc with Toyota, which was formed in order to increase the quality of transportation management. This process was also evident in airline industry where airlines use web-based systems in order to expedite business transactions. The implementation of high technologies into logistics industry has improved the quality of its business enormously. The notable reduction of the costs of logistics companies from 20% of GDP in 1960 to 10.5% of GDP in 1996 is one of the few results of this process.By 1999, internet based logistics companies had become ones of the most important players in the industry, and the shares of non-asset based carriers traded higher than the shares of asset based ones. Such companies as Celarix introduced new services such as g lobal tracking and landed cost assessment. Transplce, another player in the industry, increased the freight density across the carrier base of the company. Several other companies implemented new strategies as well. From the examples mentioned one can see that internet technologies have been playing one of the