Thursday, October 31, 2019

A literature review. The purpose of such a characterization is to set Essay

A literature review. The purpose of such a characterization is to set up the need for your contribution. Summaries of a - Essay Example Amitai Etzioni asserts that regulations are the way to prevent an economic decline brought about by businesses. In terms of the consumer consumption, a culture change supersedes regulations, but it seems too difficult to develop such a change. Many Americans have continued to work hard to sustain their livelihoods in terms of reaching their wants. As he notes â€Å"what needs to be eradicated†¦ the obsession with acquisition that has become the organizing principle of American life† (Etzioni, 2012). People get to great length for the sole purpose of maximizing their earnings in an effort to meeting their physiological-motivated needs. The society has branded more money and more things to mean ‘good life’ when in real terms the struggles are too much compared to the benefits thereof. He continues to assert that the capitalism has been the key player in facilitating the consumer trends seen. However, capitalism cannot be solely blamed on the woes, what needs to be done is creating a balance between consumption and other engagements (Etzioni, 2012). The perception that increased income relates to increased happiness is misplaced and cannot hold. This is not an advocacy for laxity in striving to be economically stable, but a call for individuals to be cognizant of the need to regulate their consumption. Because of the perception taken against consumption, the public should be made to understand that manageable consumption could not be related to failure (Etzioni, 2013). On the other hand, Juliet Schor presents a view that consumption should be individualized and not be presented as a public affair. She talks about the misplaced thinking that prompts individuals to keep on spending. Her suggestions clearly depict a systematic approach to consumption. She notes that a decent living should be a factor of satisfying the needs and not the wants. In addition, she advocates that the focus should be to improve the quality of life and not a desire t o see the massive items all around them, pushing hard to belong to a consumption class is an irrelevant and displaced move. The consumption levels ought to be in a way that it encourages conservation of the ecology. Consumption also should be made to be free will without having influences from the producers and retailers (Schor, 1999). The two authors establish a common ground of argument. From their views, ‘political’ aspects in the consumption chain have hampered freedom of consumption. They strongly advocate for a change in consumption culture in an attempt to vary the current spending dynamics. Quality of life has also been emphasized; individuals should not only focus on earning and being reduced to shoppers who do not have even the time to do it. The little time available is fixed with one activity after the other. They also call for regulations through the government and the relevant stakeholders in order to create a need-related consumption. Revitalization of co nsumer and labor movements to focus on this hidden yet dangerous trend is an urgent need in an attempt to protect the consumers. At the end of their arguments, the suggestions provided are biased on cultural change among the consumers in order to prevent unnecessary hard work whose products are miserable spent in making acquisitions.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Globalisation & process Essay Example for Free

Globalisation process Essay Globalisation is the process by which people,knowledge,goods,ideas,money move with increased interconnections among the populations of the world. The international relations and world politics evident in the last half of the of the twentieth century were strongly informed by a global factor known as the cold war. This period coincided with the decolonization of Asia and Africa. The cold war also coincided with the collapse of the socialist movement as it was facing a lot of problems. Its in this period that globalisation reached unprecedented dimension whereby there was the globalization of production,scientific knowledge,technological advances,information,finance and due to this the worlds market economies really started picking up. The falling of the socialist movementment brought about increased openness and thus there was a change of focus from maintaining the balance of power betweeen the east and the west ;to a more global approach style of management . The establishment of an international market economy was marked by unanticipated changes in global affairs that promised to bring another side between states and markets. This was evidenced by the breaking of international barriers whereby trade was boosted in the sense that many companies began to pursue global strategies that would make them to have competitive advantage. However,some of the industries in the world did benefit more from globalisation than others. This was also seen in some countries having comparative advantages over others in certain industries. Trade in goods was accompanied by substantial trade in asssets. Through globalisation, there was large production of goods and services as there was a ready market for them. Innovations in inventory control and better accurate routing made it cheaper for countries to bring locally manufactured goods and services onto the world market. These goods would move between national markets with ease as trade barriers became lowered. This made our economies grow due to the international interactions. The ongoing revolution in computing and communication that started in the second half of the twentieth century did greatly enhance connections between nations. For instance, the speed at which capital could cross national borders became higher and thus these funds could be taken and put to the most profitable uses. All this was brought about by the lowering of the costs of transacting and sharing information,technology (Stiglitz 42). More to that this ,this internationalisation of the information services did contribute much in the exchange of information and technology thus reducing market frictions and this inturn led to the expansion of the world markets as well as the transmission of popular culture. Having looked at the above,its clear that globalisation is inevitable and its being driven by the reduction in the costs of transportation and communication and economic liberization. It has made the world to be interconnected and integrated through improvements in technology,transportation and comunication. All these developments have let to large economic gains,reduced povery,improved living conditions . References Stiglitz, J. (2003). International economy. New york:Ny Capstone publishing

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Impact Of Exchange Rate On Inflation In Pakistan

Impact Of Exchange Rate On Inflation In Pakistan Inflation exchange rate are two main factors of macro-economics. Inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods services in an economy by the passage of time. Exchange rate is very important factor in economic which impact imports exports of country. A country does not always want the exchange rate to fluctuate because an exchange rate influences the levels of its imports exports, which are the component of fiscal policy. Policy makers want to hold rate at a particular level or within a certain range in order to achieve given domestic policy goals related to the level of growth of GDP. In the perfect mobility the exchange rate movements and an adjustment of goods market is relative to asset market and consistent expectations. The extends that output responds to a monetary expansion in the short run, this acts as an effect on exchange depreciation which lead to an increase in interest rates (Dornbusch, 1976). There are three types of ways which gives stickiness in prices, the prices set by the firms in that currencies, the firms set the prices for currencies of consumers, or firms set the prices in the currencies of producers (Engel, 2001). When the exchange rates changes, the changes appear in the relative prices and make to generate additional uncertainty for equilibrium in markets. However, there is also defining that the changes in terms of trade play the larger role of changes in the exchange rates which affect the variability of exchange rates (Stockman, 1980). Inflation is one of the key indicators of the country and provides important information on the state of the economy and sound macroeconomic policies that govern it. Inflation is the production of the expenses of manner of things arise which leads to the advancement of the last in the price of meals. For example, if the matter is hardy and this leads to the increment of the price of the production of the costs of increasing, and in turn this leads to increasing prices to keep the crowd his profits. The discretionary nature of the existing monetary policy in Pakistan is inflation, and it is targeting to hit on the Pakistani economy by focusing attention on the monetary policy. So the government of Pakistan is to make monetary policy more transparent for achieving the explicit goal, and decreasing the inflation. Therefore, it is increasing the public understanding of the strategy of central bank to deliver the target, so the State Bank of Pakistan helps to provide an anchor for inflation expectations in the economy. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has achieving a low rate of inflation in a high priority, and also aims to support the national country objectives of Pakistan to meet the economic diversification and competitiveness in the form of export from the world. 1.2 Problem statement This study is to examine the impact of exchange rate on inflation in Pakistan economy. 1.3 Hypothesis H1: The Exchange rate explains the inflation. 1.4 Outline of the Study The variability of industrial production output higher in the regime of fixed exchange rates instead of regime of flexible exchange rates (Flood Hodrick, 1986). The effect of consumption goods purchases by the government is not the private utility, but per capita real government expenditure are the composite of individual consumption of goods. So notice that the demand of money depends on consumption of goods rather than income and that is the important distinction of closed economies (Obstfeld Rogoff, 1995). Pakistan major import is crude oil which is purchased in dollars. If foreign exchange rate increases, it has increased the cost of oil that has adverse impact on the economy of Pakistan. Inflation is also caused by international loans and the national debt. As nations borrow money, have to deal with the interest that the final prices increase as a way to keep up with debts. The main problem of Pakistan is external debt, which has altered the economic balance. The most immediate effect of inflation is the declining purchasing power of the rupee and its depreciation. This study has been helpful for economic policy makers, foreign investors, economic analysts, business students who are interested in macro-economics studies. This study identifies how two macro-economic factors are related with each other. 1.5 Definitions Variables: For this study the following variables have utilized:- Exchange Rates Independent Variable: The exchange rates are foreign exchange rate between two currencies. Every country has a foreign exchange market and is one of the largest markets in all countries of the world. It converts 3.2 trillion USD currency conversion. It has two types i.e. fixed and floating exchange rates. Meese and Rogoff (1988), it depends on fundamentals such as money supplies, real incomes, interest rates and inflation. Listen Read phonetically Dictionary View detailed dictionary Inflation Dependent Variable: Inflation has increased the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy by the passage of time. Price inflation measure is the rate of inflation, the annual percentage change in general price index (usually the Consumer Price Index) over time. Effects of inflation on the economy have manifold and simultaneously positive and negative. Negative effects of inflation include a decrease in the real value of money and other monetary items over time, uncertainty over future inflation which discourages investment and savings, and high inflation leads to shortages of goods if consumers begin hoarding out of concern that prices increase in the future. Positive effects include a development of economic recessions, and debt assistance by reducing the real level of debt. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW The analysis of the monetary determinants of inflation is of obvious interest for the nations that pursue a policy of inflation targeting. This study focuses on Pakistani economy that is currently following an Inflation targeting approach or did so in the recent past. Currency stability plays an important role for the monetary authorities in this economy. Exception of real money growth rule is included in the estimation of Phillips curves for the four economies Bayesian model averaging (McCallum, 1999). Entrepreneurs seek stability in the course says that keeps the price of imported items from growth due to rupee depreciation, which is not only support the economy in general, but also exporters who use large amounts of imported cases in the production of exportable surplus. Since the beginning of this fiscal year, while the rupee has lost about 2.5 percent of its value against the dollar and its depreciation rate is unlikely to accelerate in the coming months due to continued inflow of foreign capital and funds. Also include the support of IMF, partial release of the fund, a coalition of U.S., which is part of its payment obligations by the Friends of Democratic Pakistan, extremely strong inflow of return of foreign workers of portfolio investments and possible pick-up in exports and foreign direct investment in the second half of fiscal year. Current rupee stability has helped in containing imported inflation and weakening inflation expectations. Bankers expect that trend continues throughout this financial year, a national unit is depreciated more than 7.0-7.5 percent during the entire fiscal year, against 19.5 percent last year. Businesses verify that the bankers are the forward currency cover in accordance with this expectation. What Pakistan needs today is not a platform to launch an economic revival program but what people need is an actual economic revival. The main problem of Pakistan is the foreign debt which has risen to unmanageable proportions in the last decade and the repayment of which has created turbulence in external balance of Pakistan to such an extent that it does not meet its minimum necessary development requirements. At present Pakistan cannot survive without fresh borrowings from foreign donor agencies. As emphasized by Choudhri and Hakura (2006), an important policy debate for the contemporaneous monetary and exchange rate policy implementations is to reveal the degree to which changes in exchange rates or import prices impact or pass-through into domestic consumer prices. Presently there are three rates of exchange i.e. the bank rate, the inter bank rate and the open market rate. The overall effect on the foreign exchange rates should not be more than 5 to 6 per cent as the increased inflow of foreign exchange have neutralize the effect of the increased demand of private imports. If the foreign exchange earners and remitters keep on getting a fair exchange rate for earnings, it is visualized that in the next few years exports can touch the $15 billion mark and overseas Pakistani remittances can fetch $5 billion. It was concluded that the exchange rate feed shock on domestic inflation, first at the level of prices of the manufacturer and then the level of consumer prices and the impact of shocks on the variables of price the various stages of the supply is different. The purchasing power parity theory doctrine means different things to different people. There are two versions of this theory that is called the absolute and the relative interpretation. The first version of purchasing power theory calculated as a ratio of consumer goods prices for any country that has tended to the equilibrium rates of exchange. In the second version of relative interpretation the rate of exchange rate have been determined between the two countries and quoted with general levels of prices of two countries. This version amend the international trade theory which have been the part of PPP, in which the non-traded goods (services) has been introduced, but the advantage is greater in regards of traded goods than non-traded goods, because of the assumptions of marginal rates of transformation. The relationship between purchasing power parity and exchange rates provides the international comparison of national incomes and living standards (Balassa, 1964). Lawrence (1976) gave another review of this purchasing power parity theory. It has define two applications in economics, the first application use of the conversion factor to transfer the data in one national way to another. The use of PPP is mainly the body of (index number theory) and applications of GDP that have improved over the years and path breaking studies in the area continue to appear. The second application of PPP did not have the widespread acceptance, which has remained the unsophisticated applications. Stockman (1980) develops the model of determination of prices of goods and exchange rates. The changes in commodity prices due to supply and demand affect the change in exchange rates by purchasing power parity deviations.The changes in exchange rates have failed to resemble the changes in prices of goods, because exchange rates more volatile than prices levels and inflation rates. The study proposes the equilibrium of exchange rates behavior and different international goods that have been traded. This relationship cannot exploited by the government, because greater the changes in terms of trade the larger the changes in exchange rates variability. The deviations from PPP persists that variation of exchange rates more than ratios of price indexes. The results found the two interpretation of the relationship between exchange rates and terms of trade. In the first, the causes that affect the changes in exchange rates also affect the change in terms of trade because prices of goods do not adjust to clear the markets. This interpretation also found in the research of Dornbusch (1976), and Isard (1977), the analysis formally differentiates the system with respect to exchange rates and allow prices to change but not the changing in asset stocks. The interpretation presented the elasticity approach of the foreign exchange market and the relation between the trade and exchange rates. Real supply and demand shocks affect prices and the derived demand of exchange rates. These changes in demand for foreign exchange result the supply and demand shocks and that should affect the equilibrium of exchange rates. In second interpretation the expected rate of change of exchange rates revealed on the forward foreign exchange market. This should be related the anticipated change in the terms of trade and the inflation differentials. A persuasive argument about the level of exchange rates is only associated with not causes of the relative prices changes. Bilson (1985) gives the empirical findings about macroeconomic and flexible exchange rate of the U.S dollar related to PPP theory. From the perspective of this research, the sluggish price adjustment in the commodity markets resulted in increased variability in exchange rates. For the demonstration of result it is important because the instability of floating exchange rate is due to the inherent differences between commodity and foreign exchange markets. The determination of the expected future rate is impossible, because it is more difficult to reject the forward parity condition. The major part of the forward parity is the variation in the premium is due to the forecast. The object of this study is to determine that if the forward parity failed is the cause of instability in the same way that the failure of purchasing power parity. The findings develop that currency risk premium is the important factor relative to floating rate system, and movement in the exchange rate are dominated by the non speculative activity and it has the adverse effect on world economy. Meese and Rogoff (1983) analyzed the outcome of sample forecasting accuracy on various models. The study estimated the horizons of the dollar with different country currencies, like Dutch mark, Japanese yen, and Britain pound that traded to weight the dollar exchange rates. It has also studied the flexible exchange rates with the monetary models of sticky price, so the model of sticky price, which incorporates the current account. The first model is structural models in which it requires to generate the forecasts of exchange rates and explanatory variables. It contains the explanatory power, but it is predicted badly because the explanatory variables are difficult to predict. The second is the univariate time series model in which it identifies a variety of prefiltering techniques involves differencing, de-seasonalizing and removing time trends. The relative performance of these techniques is of interest in itself. The third model use is the random walk model. It is also linked with this univariate time series model. It is used as the predictor of the current spot rate with the entire future spot rate, and it requires no estimation. In this study the performance of estimated univariate time series models or candidate structural model is no good instead it is worst. From a methodological stand point the view that the outcome of sample model fit is an important criterion when evaluating exchange rate, but the estimation of out of sample is failure with time series models that are well approximated the major country exchange rates. Feinberg and Kaplan (1992) evaluated and interact the real exchange rates index expectations is developed and used to explore the role of determination on domestic producer prices. The fact that time path of the exchange rate has directly affected the input costs, and the price of substitutes strongly. To examine the links between both actual and anticipated movements in the dollar and relative domestic producer prices, it chooses to analyze price responses to real exchange rate changes. The effect is dependent on the nature of substitutability between imports and domestic goods. The major finding is that the period of appreciation and depreciation over the past 10 years to inhibit the pass through in to domestic prices. In depreciation the market share to enjoy the continued good times kept prices other than expected. The theory of optimum currency areas, which is usually presented by the other name called flexible exchange rate system, but it is proponent as a device of depreciation that takes place of unemployment when the balance of payment is deficit and appreciation when it replaces inflation when it is surplus. The problem can be exposed and more revealed by defining a currency area within when exchange rates are fixed. Three answers can be given, first certain parts of the world are going through the process of economic integration, so new experience can be made and what constitutes the optimum currency area can be given the meaning of these experiments. Second those countries that have flexible exchange rates are likely to face problems with the theory of optimum currency areas, so these do not coincide the optimum currency areas with the national currency. Third the idea that illustrates the functions of currencies which have been treated in economic literature, and sometimes neglected in the problems of economic policy. In the currency area, countries with different currencies including national country currencies interact pace of employment in deficit, because there is the presence of inflation in the surplus countries. The argument for flexible exchange rate system is based on national currencies, and is valid about mobility of factor, so if it is high in the country and low in the foreign countries, the flexible exchange rates system on home country currencies has to work effectively. The concept of optimum currency area has practically applicable only in those areas, where the state has the political organization in the country. The factor mobility is most considered and is more relative rather than absolute concept, with both industrial and geographical factors. It is likely to change the alterations with time over time in conditions, with the conditions of political and economic stability. Money is the convenience that restricts the optimum number of currencies, so in terms of this argument the optimum currency area which is composed in number of countries (Mundell, 1961). In another review, the author defines the stabilization of capital mobility policy under the exchange rates which is fixed and flexible in the currencies markets. It concerns the theoretical and practical approach of the increased mobility of capital. Obstfeld and Rogoff (1995) analyses the global macroeconomic dynamics to supply framework based on competition and nominal prices. This study incorporates the prices rigidities that explain exchange rate behavior without insights of the intertemporal approach to the current account. The effects of macroeconomic policies on output and exchange rates have not been yet persuaded to abandon. The framework which integrated exchange rates dynamics and current account yields is a new perspective, it realize that when prices are sticky the government should spend on shock raises short run output and long run output. The assumption is that home and foreign government purchases the consumption goods that do not directly affect the private utility, but the per capita real government consumption expenditure is a composite consumption of individual goods. It explains that the composite consumption for the services is to balance the opportunity cost and notice that the money depends on consumption rather than income, that distinction is more important in closed economies. The results of this study develop framework that give new foundations about some of the fundamentals problems in international finance. It realizes that the existing Keynesian model is incomplete to offer a satisfactory treatment of exchange rates, output and the current account, but the model which is used in this study is more complex, because it yields simple and intuitive insights of monetary and fiscal policies. It can be extended in a number of dimensions, including non traded goods, market behavior, government spending, and labor market distortions and so on. It goes beyond the essentially statistical approach that handles the current account and exchange rates issues, most importantly this approach allows to analyze the welfare implications of policies. Melvin (1985) has regarded and focused that how the choice of an exchange rate system can affect the stability of the economy. The appropriate nature of the exchange rate system has differed of the disturbance to the economy. It presented the evidence that indicate that the approach is more consistent according to practice by actual country. The other approach is to reach the desirable price stability, in which some mechanism tells the floating rates superiority has become less in the face of monetary shocks. It finds that the flexibility in exchange rates depends not on openness and less important in the mobility of capital, but its positive effects were found for the economic development. The purpose of this study is to consider the determinants of exchange rates system choice, which indicates the theoretical approach with the country choices. The result found that the choice of an exchange rate system has the role of the disturbance to the economy. It suggests that the money shocks are the key of exchange rate system choice in an economy, in which it seeks to minimize the fluctuations in the country price levels. It also suggests that the greater the price shocks the more is a float, so it affects greatly domestic money shocks. Lothian and Taylor (1996) examines the real exchange rate behavior, and explains the variations in sample of stationary univariate equations in real exchange rates. The study investigates the additional insight in the exchange rates behavior that can be gained by considering the floating rate from the perspective of the data. These issues can be best understood on the subject of real exchange rates stability between the currencies of the major industrialized countries. Some of the pre-float studies support the fairly stable exchange rates in the long run. Subsequently, Dornbusch (1976), and Frenkel (1981), gave largely as the result of studies published, and reject the hypothesis of random walk behavior of real exchange rates. The PPP shows the empirical movements in real exchange rates were highly persistent and effective. Although the PPP is reject the hypothesis of non-stationary behavior of real exchange rates in the long run. The result of this study shows that the longest span of two countries exchange rates are significantly mean reverting. The first model result indicates the 80 percent of the variation in the exchange rates of the history data of two countries. By using of another model, the results explaining the performance of remarkably well in the floating, so that this model produce better forecasts of the actual exchange rates. In line with recent studies, it fined that this process of mean reverting is quit slow, with estimated adjustment of data. In the long run the PPP equilibrium is remaining a useful empirical approximation. Gerlach (1988) examine the dynamic interrelationship between innovations in monthly industrial production in a set of economies, specifically this study attempt the output fluctuations that have been correlated during the periods of fixed and flexible exchange rates. The current has to manage exchange rates flexibility that has reduces the interdependence across countries. It should follow the recent article of Flood and Hodrick (1986) in which it is argued that the variability have been higher during a regime of fixed exchange rates instead of flexible exchange rates, but the conclusion of author is striking so sharply. The results of this study of multiple country output movements under fixed and flexible exchange rates are clear. The variances of growth rates should be higher in the flexible exchange rates and in the fixed exchange rates periods. These variances are statistically significant related to the degree of openness and national income. Thirdly the output movements are correlated across countries under exchange rate regime, particularly the co movements in output are more important in the business cycle frequently during the recent years of managed exchange rates flexibility. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS 3.1 Method of Data Collection The Data of Consumer price index (Inflation) has been collected from federal bureau of statistics while the data of exchange rate has been collected from Pacific Exchange Rate Service, both are the secondary, published source of data. 3.2 Sampling Technique The sampling technique that has been applicable is convenience sampling as it is easily accessible to collect the relevant information from the source and it is inexpensive and hence, gets a gross estimate of the results. (What is The Advantage of Convenience Sampling, 2007-2010). 3.3 Sample size The sample size is selected on the basis of limitations and scope of the research therefore, Last 54 years i.e., 1947 2010, data of inflation and exchange rate is decided to be examined. 3.4 Research Model developed From the above defined and explanations of both the dependent i.e. inflation and independent i.e. exchange rates variables and also discussing the effects of exchange rate on inflation and how it have affects on economic of a country. In this study first analysis is the correlation between these two variables, and identifies the significant relationship. Then it analyzes and evaluates the empirical investigation in regression model as a statistical tool. The simple regression model which can be defined in the equation that represented below: Inflation = ÃŽÂ ²Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾ + ÃŽÂ ²(exchange rate) + ÃŽÂ µ Whereas, ÃŽÂ ²Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾ = the intercept of the equation. ÃŽÂ ² (exchange rate) = the changing coefficient of exchange rate. ÃŽÂ µ = the error term of the equation. From the above explained model, the study develop the following estimation and used for the establishment of the model. Therefore, all the compatible data has entered in to SPSS for statistical analysis. 3.5 Statistical Technique The statistical test that has been applied is single linear regression. This is because only one independent variable and one dependent variable to be used in this research. Frankel (1979) defined that most of the recent work on floating exchange rate goes under the name of the monetary or asset view. The exchange rate is moving to equilibrate the international demand for assets, rather than the international demand for the flow of goods. But with the asset view there is Chicago Theory in which assumes that prices are perfectly flexible. As the consequences when nominal interest rate changes, it has also reflect the changes in expected inflation rate, so as the domestic currency expected to lose value through inflation and depreciation. This is the rise in the exchange rates and gets the positive relationship between positive exchange rate and inflation. CHAPTER 4: RESULTS 4.1 Findings and Interpretation of the result The simple linear regression technique is used to determine the explanation of dependent variable i.e. inflation due to independent variable i.e. exchange rate. The analysis of the result is defined below: Accepted The hypothesis of this study is that exchange rate explains the inflation, which is being accepted and exchange rate is explaining inflation by 17.3%. These findings support to recent theories that suggested the foreign exchange market efficiency with the existence of risk at equilibrium. Wihlborg (1982) examined the relation of interest rates, exchange rate and currency risks in this study. It identifies the test which empirically shows the impact of currency on interest rates and exchange rates. In this study there are three different ways in which the importance of currency risks for interest rate and exchange rate determination. The results presented here that substantiate the changes in the level of currency risk have a non-negligible impact on the changes of exchange rates and on rates of interest of relative between currencies. CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, DISCUSSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH 5.1 Conclusion This study is concluded to examine the dependency of exchange rate on inflation by using the data of consumer price index (CPI) as inflation and the data of exchange rate on yearly basis. The result of this study is highly significant so that the hypothesis of this study is not rejected. The result shows that 17.3% variation in inflation is due to the exchange rate in Pakistan. The analysis of this study also shows that if exchange rate becomes zero, the inflation exist to some extent. For example, if one unit of exchange rate increases, the inflation increases only by 0.693 times. 5.2 Discussions This study has applied exchange rate as independent variable and consumer price index (CPI) as dependent variable. For the availability of data, all the data should be available on daily monthly and yearly basis, but the data is used in order to consistent as yearly basis. The regression model has been formulated for these variable relationship investigations. The study developed the hypothesis that the exchange rate explains the inflation in Pakistan, and the findings are supported by the analysis done by Balassa (1964), Meese Rogoff (1983), Frankel (1979), and Mc Callum (1999) etc. 5.3 Implications and Future Research The result also accompanies that the exchange rates are the strength of character of foreign exchange market in Pakistan, and it should effect on each of the related variables as an inflationary basis. Therefore the State Bank of Pakistan and Government officials should realize the role of exchange rates in the economy and try to maintain exchange rates to stop or decrease the consumer price index in Pakistan, so that the price range of every thing should be in range of common men. Also government should address the issues that why exchange rates increasing, and why the consumer price increases due to foreign exchange volatility. If the Government takes effective actions against these issues so it can also facilitate the investors to gain confidence in the foreign exchange market and local currency value is strong from other foreign currencies. This has turned Pakistani currency to be stronger, and which has boost the economic growth. In this study, only exchange rate is taken to predict inflation in Pakistan. But in the country like Pakistan inflation is predict by the various variables like interest rate, money supply, foreign trade and so on. So in the future research other variables should be included.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

From the Bigs to NU: Performance Enhancement :: Journalism Essays

From the Bigs to NU: Performance Enhancement From the very first time he touched the newest and hottest in a long line of drug fads, Justin Hedrick, then high school running back, now star pitcher for the Northeastern baseball team, was swept up in the craze of ephedra. Looking back, he realizes what a fortunate decision he made to stop using the common muscle supplement linked to as many as 155 deaths around the country since its introduction in the mid-1990s. â€Å"Before (football) season, we used to cut down a little bit of weight in order to see how fast we could run or get our 40 times up a bit,† he said. â€Å"A couple of us running backs took it to see what it was like, and took it for about a month. â€Å"We just got ripped, it was ridiculous. It was perfect,† he added. â€Å"Our 40s went up, everything that we were doing, the amount of time we were working †¦ everything increased and we were like, ‘Ok, this stuff is awesome.’ After we played the season and were going to get on it next season, all the reports came out saying it was going to cause heart attacks. After researching it †¦ I was just a stupid, young, high school kid and I didn’t look into it before. But, once you do, you realize it’s basically speed. You kind of frown upon that after awhile. I mean, it’s great for the time being, but once you research it you find out what it does – and that’s just scary.† How does it work? Ephedra (also known as the Chinese herbal treatment ma huang), has been used in China for thousands of years. But, what makes it kick? â€Å"In simple terms, the human body reacts to ephedra as it does to a surge of adrenaline,† explains diet-pills-information.org. â€Å"Adrenaline is the ‘fight-or-flight’ hormone which is released by the body during the periods of stress and exercise. It speeds up heart rate and sends extra blood to muscles. The difference is that whereas an adrenaline rush typically lasts only a few minutes, the effects of ephedra can last for hours. Ephedra also stimulates the release of large quantities of adrenaline. Such a surge of adrenaline can make the heart beat even faster and deplete oxygen that keeps the heart working – resulting in heart strain or even heart attack.† This process, according to numerous researchers, is an even greater danger when combined with caffeine, which is found in most ephedra-containing supplements.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

 Learning experience : How someone could become afraid of the dentist Essay

There are many reasons someone could become afraid of going to the dentist. Majority of people become afraid of the dentist due to a bad experience they have encountered. Just to name a few: the dentist was a painful experience, the dentist made your teeth worse, etc. In my own experience, I was afraid of the dentist because of a horror film. At nine years old, my sister let me watch a horror movie called the dentist. It was about a mentally unstable dentist who tortures some of his patients. A year or so after I had seen this movie my mother surprisingly brings me to the dentist for the first time. As we were walking into the dental office I cannot help but to tremble and burst into tears because I could not stop thinking of the dentist from the movie. That day I only had my teeth cleaned and x-rays. My mother scheduled me to have cavities filled in the next month. My brother and sister taunted me by telling me scary stories about trips to the dental so the day I was scheduled to ge t my cavities filled. I decided to run away to the library and stayed there until closing. My mother had to reschedule my appointment for the following week. That time she made sure I went. Conditioning My conditioned stimuli were triggered by walking into the dental office my condition response was crying and trembling because I was afraid that the dentist would torture me, therefore, my unconditional stimuli were watching the dentist torture and kill his patients. My unconditional response was to be scared of all dentists and run away for a few hours so I would miss my appointment. Operant Learning My training experience could have occurred through operant conditioning since I did not quite understand that what you watch on television might not be real. If my mother had not forced me to go inside the dental office would still be petrified and I would have never gone to the dentist; my teeth would be in bad shape. Observational Learning The learned experience could occur through observational learning if my mom or anyone else I knew were scared of the dentist that would have also made  me afraid of the dentist because I would be observing their response to the dental. Another reason I might have been scared of going to the dentist was hearing my brother and sister tell me scary stories about how the dentist pulls your teeth out and you can feel every slight of pain. Reinforcement My mother dragging me into the dental office is where reinforcement was experienced. When my mother gave me no other choice except to get my teeth clean I then realize that the dentist was not so bad.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Capital Punishment misc6 essays

Capital Punishment misc6 essays Many people support the death penalty, and a lot of them use the defense that comes from the Bible: an eye for eye, and a limb for a limb. I on the otherhand believe otherwise. Punishment by death, in my opinion, is a very barbaric way of penalization . In the world, it is known that at least 2500 prisoners are executed in at least 37 different countries, on an annual basis. There will be various statistics, opinions, history, and background information discussed through out the residuum of this thesis. The history of the death penalty, dates back to the days of Hammurabi and his code to the days of the present. The methods nowadays are certainly different, but the objective and goal has remained the same. The earliest known date of any form of organized capital punishment was in 1750 B.C., with Hammurabi and his code. The Bible prescribed death for more than 30 different crimes, including: murder, treason, theft, arson, and rape, to name a few. In the Medieval Times, treason ( grand and petty ) murder, larceny, rape, and arson were all crimes recognized as punishable by death. During the reigns of King Canute and William the Conqueror, it was not used at all. By 1800, though, more than 200 crimes were construed as punishable by death, but most were commuted by a royal pardon. In the American Colonies, in the years before the Revolution, it was commonly for a wide variety of offenses. Near the end of the 18th century, though, efforts to abolish it arose in Europe. It was led mainly by the Quakers, who believed in non-violence all together. Then when influential documents arose, it prompted and inspired the great French philosopher, Voltaire, to oppose it At the present there are many fundamental questions raised pertaining to the fact that with the death penalty intact and fully operational, isnt the government condoning killing. Also, isnt the government b...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Population Control in China essays

Population Control in China essays I feel that the family planning program in China is a necessity, yet when I think about it, it seems all wrong. It is really hard to decipher whether their actions are wrong or right because they really arent either. It is most definitely a necessity to control the childbirth because with the rise of population and the decrease in food only more social problems can occur. Overall, the final outcome of a situation like this would be most likely to be famine. But at the same time the psychological problems that occur from these situations can be overwhelming. The immense pressure forced upon families with there mind set on having multiple children must be unbearable. The strain on a mother's body and mind from having these forced abortions must be tremendous. I do agree though, the family planners must pursue in their endeavors for the reason that if one family is permitted to defy then all will defy and ultimately they will lose control. Control is what the republic of China relies on . They decide whether you live or die, and now they control if you are born or not. These efforts are just another way for China to control its people. The communists are making sure that they are the force in command. Population control is a way for them to secure their seat of domination. They create the illusion that this is for a greater good, which it partially is, but if my opinion is correct its all about control. Perhaps Im just a paranoid delusional. The fewer people there are the less likely they are to be overthrown. They are trying to limit the amount of poor people in china, after all most revolutions are started by an uprising of the peasants. When you think about it the restrictions that are placed can easily be avoided by the richer people of china. Fines or less access to free medical isnt anything to a well off person; after all they have the money anyway. If a wealthy person in china decides to have a child ...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

My Writing Experience

My Writing Experience Free Online Research Papers Writing has never been my strongest characteristic, but I do enjoy expressing myself in different ways. My senior year during high school I took a grammar and writing class. In it we had to write multiple types of paper. Such as a biography, persuasion, and a research. I would say that by taking this class it has had a positive effect on me. Even though I did not look forward to this class I knew it would only benefit me. I knew that I really didn’t enjoy writing, and I didn’t have any real confidence in my writing. Which I have developed from past negative experiences from papers that I have done bad on. This class showed me that I did well on all my opinion papers. Such as a persuasion or descriptive papers. I found it easy to express my ideas and thoughts without any right or wrong answer. This grammar and writing class also helped me with my grammar, another weak part of my English skills. Overall I discovered that I wasn’t as poor as I thought, and from all the things that I have learned, it has really has helped me with my confidence in writing and getting my point across. Also I think that I have sometimes had a negative attitude when taking previous English courses. Especially when a writing assignment comes up. Most people including myself never look forward to writing a paper. But it also doesn’t help when you get an English teacher that is very black and white and boring. And like we talked about in class loves to mark up your paper with red ink. Teachers that assign very boring papers also leads to a negative outlook, like a boring research paper on a common topic, such as abortion. All you hear in those boring papers is random facts and statistics about that topic that you have heard a million times. Another negative experience is when teachers grade your writings on what they want to hear. I have had teachers in high school that have assigned essays on a particular question that has an answer that could go either way. More so an opinion question. And I would answer it in my opinion and teachers would not agree with it, and grade it low. Because they would want to see a version of their own opinions rather that someone else’s view on that particular question. Overall I would say my writing experiences have been about fifty-fifty for the positive and negative experiences. I have enjoyed many good times in my writing/english classes and have turned in work that I am very proud of. I believe that all these experiences have shaped me into the writer I am today. Research Papers on My Writing ExperienceDistance Learning Survival GuideStandardized TestingThe Mechanics of Grading Grading SystemsHip-Hop is ArtThe Story of Beatrix PotterBooker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-BarnettAmerican Central Banking and OilIs the Use of Psychotropic Drugs in the Treatment of19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of Self

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Tramadol Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tramadol - Research Paper Example Similarly, Tramadol is taken to ease some serious agony. Patients who are likely to require medication to ease the pain for several hours over a longer period mainly take its extended-release pills. Prescription The drug can be prescribed for different uses; for example, as depressant or analgesic. Tramadol falls into opiate agonist or analgesic category, and it works by altering how the body experiences pain. This implies that the drug functions in the central nervous parts and serves as morphine in the organs and releases pain, (Gulshan 45). As morphine, it joins some opioid body receptors. In addition, the drug functions as antidepressants in that it inhibits certain brain chemicals reuptake; for instance, serotonin. Various chemicals are crucial to transfer information into the nerves. As the information travels through the nerves, it causes the cell end to secrete serotonin, which consequently enters the gap from one nerve cell to the next. When serotonin reaches the adjacent ce ll of the nerve, the chemical triggers the receptors; thus, the message is transferred to the adjoining nerve cell. Use of Tramadol The drug is taken through the mouth or orally as extended release pill, and regular pill in a span of four to seven hours as prescribed – before or after food. ... Inform the physician of medication prescriptions and other nutritional or food complement one is using. Additionally, inform the doctor about other antifungal medications like monoamine or ketanonazole, anxiety mediations, seizures medications and mental illness medications, you are using. This is because such medications may interact with Ultram and cause adverse effects. The patient has to inform the doctor of other herbal remedies she is using. Moreover, the patient should tell the doctor all the medical conditions or disorders he has ever suffered such as seizures, head injuries, tumor of the brain, heart attack and other high blood pressure conditions and diabetes. This information helps the doctor to prepare individual precaution data of the drug to safeguard the patient against possible severe and fatal effects of the drug. The patient should inform the doctor about her status such as pregnancy, breastfeeding and planning to conceive, and if one becomes pregnant while, under T ramadol medication, she should inform the doctor to help protect the health of the patient. The patient should be aware that the drug might cause drowsiness, fainting and vertigo, therefore; the patient should get out of the lying position slowly to avoid collapsing and falling, (Gulshan 49). People must avoid consumption of alcohol and other illicit drugs because it may lead to adverse reduction in breathing and liver disorders, when consumed during Tramadol administration. Besides, the drug must be taken with caution in people at respiratory depression risk. Dosage People should take Tramadol as prescribed by the nurse or doctor. Additionally, administer the skipped dosage of regular Tramadol tablet immediately once you learn about

Friday, October 18, 2019

Juvenile Court Comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Juvenile Court Comparison - Essay Example They also say that drug addicts start taking drugs at 13 or 14, but only come to the rehab centers when the situation becomes grim or out of control. This is because they start taking drugs recreationally and by the time they start having problems and decide to seek help it takes time. Unlike social drinking which doesn't affect one's lifestyle, there is nothing like social drugs because substances like cocaine and heroin are very addictive and illegal. The problem arises because most youngsters believe they won't get addicted not realizing that with drugs like cocaine and heroin it's very easy o get hooked on. And when they get addicted the trouble starts to unfold and slowly indulging in criminal offences comes into the picture. When they are arrested for their illegal activities they are sent to the juvenile courts which is basically a civil system and "separated into three types: independent and separate courts, part of a family court and unit within a trial court" (Miriam Van Waters, p. 299). Independent courts act separate from other courts and are found in Connecticut Rhode Island and Utah. States like Alabama doesn't have independent and separate courts. ... Juvenile courts are very much different from adult courts. The main purposes of these courts are to make children understand what's good for them, realize the meaning of life and respect the constitutional laws and abide by it. The main purpose is to protect/treat children to bring a positive change in them and throughout the country except in some states like North Carolina, New York, Arizona, etc., has no specified lowest age limit for jurisdiction. Alabama, Alaska, Florida, etc., are some of the states that have no specified lowest age limit for jurisdiction. Juvenile courts proceeding are less formal and private unlike adult courts where proceedings and hearings should be followed in a formal and public. Further more the proceedings of juvenile courts are kept private and are not released to the press and the proceedings are considered as not criminal. They don't have a right to jury trial and open admission of guilt is more common. In most cases the courts give a chance to improve/treat a child's behavior. Psychiatric Society agrees that 16 is a very young age to get into drugs, but says when you enter college you gain a lot of freedom, are at an impressionable age and get sucked into the wrong crowd. If parents suspect that the child is in to something they talk to him or her. The teenager will definitely deny it, but parents should firmly talk to the child, maybe not at that time, but later on you may not realize how dangerous the situation is and need to take the child to a doctor or a psychiatrist for a check up or counseling. Get him/her professional help. A psychiatrist and his team are well qualified to help a child if a rehab is not immediately available. It's advisable to take the

Corporate strategy assignment for pepsi co. company

Corporate strategy for pepsi co. company - Assignment Example From a strategic perspective, it could be observed that PepsiCo is the global leader in convenient snacks, foods and beverages market. According to Ansoff Matrix, PepsiCo has been using the growth strategy of product development. It has been observed that the company is constantly introducing new products into existing market and this has been the strategy that has helped Pepsi to grow. Some of the popular brands that have been introduced in the existing market i.e. food and beverage includes Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Lays, Doritos, Tropicana, Gatorade and Quaker. The aim of such constant development is to remain ahead of competitors in the market and to enhance the market share by providing the customers with variety of products. In order to create value, the core strategy of PepsiCo is to enhance the product offering in the same market. This has been continuously observed that PepsiCo has introduced several brands in its existing market to create value and to tackle its competition. According to a research conducted, it has been that in emerging markets like India, 25 percent of the sales volume comes from juices and water. Similarly, 60 percent of the volume in North America comes from non-carbonated drinks. The TWOS matrix has focused on providing recommendations for the future strategy of PepsiCo. TWOS matrix is an important tool to formulate strategies (De Wit, & Meyer 2004). In order to do so, the strategies for the company have been analyzed and identified using the strengths and opportunities of the company, using the weaknesses and opportunities, using the strengths and threats of the company and then using the weaknesses and threats of the company. 2) To revamp sales in the market, PepsiCo should focus highly on the changing demands of its customers in the market. Additionally, the company should enhance its products in

Project paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Project - Research Paper Example Diversity has also been observed to be beneficial at the level of management. This is because when a diverse board of members has, then the board of directors is able to come up with different solutions to a single problem and it is thus easy to choose the most appropriate solution to a particular problem. This enhances the decision making process unlike a situation where all the board members have the same mindset and come up with limited alternative solutions to a particular problem making decision making less effective. Communication is another aspect of management that has attracted a lot of attention lately. It has been recognized that communication within an organization and between the various stakeholders defines the overall organization success (Lott, 190). When dealing with a diverse workforce and diverse clientele, the message intended to be passed across is likely to be misinterpreted due to existence of different kinds of communication barriers. Poor communication often leads to misunderstanding and conflicts between people of different backgrounds. Managing diversity and ensuring good communication involves understanding the culture of the diverse groups of people. Overcoming barriers such as stereotyping and language barrier is an important step towards overcoming problems arising from poor communication when dealing with people from diverse backgrounds. United Airline is one of the largest Airlines in America. The company operates over 5 thousand flights across six continents daily. The airline serves people from different parts of the world that come from diverse cultural and social backgrounds. Although the company has previously received law suits for racial segregation, the company recently received an award for being among the leading companies in promoting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality. The company has been named as among the best places to work in according to the Human rights campaign reports and has had a great rating

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Land law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 3

Land law - Essay Example ld in relation to different cases wherein various individuals residing in her accommodation considered themselves as tenants and e refused to pay rents among others. In relation to the case scenario, Hild has provided an unoccupied flat to Albert who is the son of an old school friend. She provided the flat to Albert as Albert was not having any place of accommodation after the broke up of his marriage. There was no written agreement regarding the accommodation provided to Albert by Hild. Additionally, Hild accepted no payments from him but occasionally she used to accept the payments in relation to bills of Council Tax. It can be viewed that Albert has been residing in the flat of Hild for a prolonged period of one year and now he claims that he is a tenant of the flat and shows no sign of moving on. According to the case scenario depicted above, it can be apparently observed that there was no agreement made between Hild and Albert in relation to the flat that has been provided to Albert by Hild for accommodation. Conceptually, tenancy agreement provides adequate information regarding the rules along with the conditions in relation to any property rented. Additionally, tenancy agreement provides important information including deposit, rent, renewing as well as termination of tenancy, discrimination, homelessness and services1. It can be affirmed in this regard that with the absence of written agreement amid Albert and Hild, the obligatory rights offered to the parties are not affected as both the parties are observed to be protected under statutory law of tenant rights. Due to the absence of written agreement, Albert might consider himself as a tenant of the flat possessing certain rights like illegal eviction, claiming housing benefits and appropriate notice to quit in accorda nce with tenant rights. However, owing to the lack of written agreement, Albert will not be facilitated with the opportunity of residing in the flat for a fixed period of tenancy, rather

FIN MOD 2 SLP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

FIN MOD 2 SLP - Essay Example However, given the pace of economic growth and the fears of double dip recession in US, the price increase may not be sustainable. Thus prices may decrease by some percentage, but it may not change by great percentage due to fears of double dip recession. The movement in stocks indicates that the stock prices have relatively swung over the period of last five years. Though it remained in stable zones for some period of time, however, most of the time, it remained volatile given the fact that the overall performance of the firm was volatile also due to the financial crisis. However, its recent performance has seen the firm’s revenue to sky rocket again and its prices also swung upward due to higher performance of the firm. However, given the strong fundamentals of the firm and its strong financial performance and industry dominance, stock may not be entirely termed as risky. Theoretically, any firm with strong fundamentals and unique industry position may not be termed as a risky business because of the stability in the earnings. It is, however, also important to note that FedEx may still be considered as going through its growth stage given the fact that means of logistics are continuously changing i.e. e-mails and social networking has now become a norm, and consumers prefer to use free methods of communication. However, in other segments of the business such as parcel delivery and logistics, FedEx still leads the way. Some of the alternative investments that may be available include investing in mutual funds, saving accounts, etc. The normal rates offered by the banks on savings account range of 4.5% to 3.5% depending upon the term of the deposits. However, this return may be good enough to force the investor not to go for equity futures as given the recent performance of the stock, the investor may lose money on the futures as price of the futures may go down. Based on

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Project paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Project - Research Paper Example Diversity has also been observed to be beneficial at the level of management. This is because when a diverse board of members has, then the board of directors is able to come up with different solutions to a single problem and it is thus easy to choose the most appropriate solution to a particular problem. This enhances the decision making process unlike a situation where all the board members have the same mindset and come up with limited alternative solutions to a particular problem making decision making less effective. Communication is another aspect of management that has attracted a lot of attention lately. It has been recognized that communication within an organization and between the various stakeholders defines the overall organization success (Lott, 190). When dealing with a diverse workforce and diverse clientele, the message intended to be passed across is likely to be misinterpreted due to existence of different kinds of communication barriers. Poor communication often leads to misunderstanding and conflicts between people of different backgrounds. Managing diversity and ensuring good communication involves understanding the culture of the diverse groups of people. Overcoming barriers such as stereotyping and language barrier is an important step towards overcoming problems arising from poor communication when dealing with people from diverse backgrounds. United Airline is one of the largest Airlines in America. The company operates over 5 thousand flights across six continents daily. The airline serves people from different parts of the world that come from diverse cultural and social backgrounds. Although the company has previously received law suits for racial segregation, the company recently received an award for being among the leading companies in promoting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality. The company has been named as among the best places to work in according to the Human rights campaign reports and has had a great rating

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

FIN MOD 2 SLP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

FIN MOD 2 SLP - Essay Example However, given the pace of economic growth and the fears of double dip recession in US, the price increase may not be sustainable. Thus prices may decrease by some percentage, but it may not change by great percentage due to fears of double dip recession. The movement in stocks indicates that the stock prices have relatively swung over the period of last five years. Though it remained in stable zones for some period of time, however, most of the time, it remained volatile given the fact that the overall performance of the firm was volatile also due to the financial crisis. However, its recent performance has seen the firm’s revenue to sky rocket again and its prices also swung upward due to higher performance of the firm. However, given the strong fundamentals of the firm and its strong financial performance and industry dominance, stock may not be entirely termed as risky. Theoretically, any firm with strong fundamentals and unique industry position may not be termed as a risky business because of the stability in the earnings. It is, however, also important to note that FedEx may still be considered as going through its growth stage given the fact that means of logistics are continuously changing i.e. e-mails and social networking has now become a norm, and consumers prefer to use free methods of communication. However, in other segments of the business such as parcel delivery and logistics, FedEx still leads the way. Some of the alternative investments that may be available include investing in mutual funds, saving accounts, etc. The normal rates offered by the banks on savings account range of 4.5% to 3.5% depending upon the term of the deposits. However, this return may be good enough to force the investor not to go for equity futures as given the recent performance of the stock, the investor may lose money on the futures as price of the futures may go down. Based on

The Fossil Fuels Essay Example for Free

The Fossil Fuels Essay Fossil Fuels are a non-renewable energy source. They are found in Earth’s depositions made over millions and millions years ago and are called non-renewable because they can’t be used again once they are spent. There are three major forms of fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas. COAL Coal is made up of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and some amounts of sulphur -Three main types of coal: †¢Anthracite : the hardest and has the most carbon in it, meaning higher energy content †¢Lignite: softest, low in carbon, but high in oxygen hydrogen †¢Bituminous: All of the above found in similar amounts Coal is mined out of the ground using various methods. Some coal mines are dug by sinking vertical or horizontal shafts deep underground, and coal miners travel by elevators or trains deep underground to dig the coal. Other coal is mined in strip mines where huge steam shovels strip away the top layers above the coal. The layers are then restored after the coal is taken away. The coal is then shipped by train and boats and even in pipelines. In pipelines, the coal is ground up and mixed with water to make whats called slurry. This is then pumped many miles through pipelines. At the other end, the coal is used to fuel power plants and other factories. OIL Oil is the second main type of Fossil Fuels, and is formed 300 million years ago, same as coal did. It has been used for more than 5,000-6,000 years. Oil contains carbon, same as all Fossil Fuels and is found on the bottom of the sea. How? Well, the carbon found on the sea bottom, eventually turned into oil under great pressure and heat. As the earth changed and moved and folded pockets where oil and natural gas can be found were formed. To find oil and natural gas, companies drill through the earth to the deposits deep below the surface. The oil and natural gas are then pumped from below the ground by oil rigs (like in the picture). They then usually travel through pipelines or by ship. NATURAL GAS Natural gas is lighter than air. It is mostly made up of methane. Methane is a simple chemical compound that is made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Its chemical formula is CH4 – one atom of carbon along with four atoms hydrogen. This gas is highly flammable. Natural gas is usually found near petroleum underground. It is pumped from below ground and travels in pipelines to storage areas. Benefits of Fossil Fuels Fossil Fuels bring a lot to the world. Currently they are the most used source of energy. There are reasons for that. To start with, they produce large amounts of energy from a little amount of fuel. That is highly economically beneficial. Also, just the fact that Fossil Fuels are the most common used means a lot Industrial revolution has popularized the usage of fossil fuel in the entire planet. That resulted in most of machines, devices, vehicles depend on the fossil fuels, may it be coal, petroleum or natural gas. Also, it is much simpler to use and extract energy when most of the machinery is set for Fossil Fuels what makes them easily available too when you think about it. Sustainable fuel sources like solar, wind or geothermal have complex process to harness energy from them. Limitations of Fossil Fuels Unfortunately, Fossil Fuels carry more limitations than benefits. It is up to each person to decide if the benefits are really dominant over limitations. They are non-renewable which their main limitation is because as they are extracted to an unlimited level it is for sure that they will deplete some day or the other. Since they are non-renewable it is likely that fuels expenses will face a hike in near future. It would take millions of years to replace coal, and oil, and we are using them quickly. Fossil fuels are the major energy source, as previously mentioned, but still when over consumption takes place lead to disastrous effects such as air pollution. Also, burning of fossil fuels releases: carbon dioxide, nitrogen monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide etc. Those have severe consequences on the habitats. Then they also affect human health, because of all the substances are released that we breathe in. Also, the ozone layer is being worn-out due to the release of greenhouse gases from the fuels. Hence, ozone holes are being created from which harmful UV rays enter the earth surface that affect human life causing diseases like cancer. Environmental Risks As it is possible to tell from all the limitations mentioned, the Fossil Fuels really do put the Earth in a great environmental risk every day. Other than previously mentioned, there are also a few examples of Fossil Fuels having an impact on the environment. For example: acid rain. When burnt, sulphur dioxide gas is also produced which is the factor for acid rain. Acid rain leads to destruction of monuments made up of brickwork or marbles, even crops are affected due to acidification of loams. Then the coal mining results in destruction of abundant lands and also endangers the lives of mineworkers. The natural gas causes nasty smells and also a lot of problems with transportation. Also, there is a great impact on the aquatic life. Transportation of crude oil causes oil spills over seas reasoning to hazards to the aquatic life by lessening the oxygen content of water. Renewable types of fuels are much better than Fossil Fuels. Yes/No? As the years go on, and the amounts of Fossil Fuels are decreasing, a new, non-renewable energy has been introduced. It is a great question whether it is better and even doable to switch completely to the renewable energy. Renewable energy is the energy which is generated from natural sources i.e. sun, wind, rain, tides and can be generated again and again as and when required. They are available in plenty and by far most the cleanest sources of energy available on this planet. For eg: energy that we receive from the sun can be used to generate electricity. Similarly, energy from wind, geothermal, biomass from plants, tides can be used to fulfill our daily energy demands. [4] There are pros and cons to this new, renewable energy. To start with the pros, firstly and most importantly, all the sources for this type of energy are in an abundant quantity and free to use. Then they are much more environmentally friendly, meaning much lower pollutants emission. Also, renewable energy helps in stimulating the economy and creating job opportunities. The money that is used to build these plants can provide jobs to thousands to lakhs of people. The cons of this renewable energy are that it is not easy to set up a plant for the extraction of energy and that it would cost a lot more because we will have to adapt everything we have to something new, more complicated. Then, almost every type of renewable energy is dependent on the weather conditions, parts of the day, week, and months. It is not reliable all the time. With all of this stated and the pros and cons of the non-renewable energy I must conclude that renewable types of fuels are better. Yes, there are limitations to both but the crucial thing with the renewable energy is that it saves the environment in a much greater measure and that is what matters the most. The cost for the switch to renewable energy will cost a lot but it pays of much more because if we don’t nurture the place we live in it will no longer be a nice place to stay in. Governmental actions There are steps being taken because people nations worldwide are becoming more aware of the environmental risks for which the Earth is being exposed to with the non-renewable energy consumption. Besides the new movements, actions and propaganda for lowering the Fossil Fuels usage, there have been laws brought by many nations together to save the environment, such as the Clean Air Act. This act focused on the reduction of sulfur, nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions. An example of newer actions is Denmark whose goal is to completely get rid of the usage of Fossil Fuels by 2050. From 1980 till 2010 the share of renewable energy in Denmark rose from 3 % to 19 %. With this strategy the rise will continue to 33 % by 2020, meaning a full third of our energy will be produced by green energy primarily wind and biomass. And finally, up until 2050 the fossil fuels energy will be almost non-existent.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Osmotic Pressure Effect on Plasma Membrane of Blood Cells

Osmotic Pressure Effect on Plasma Membrane of Blood Cells Syed Ibrahim Introduction The plasma membrane is vital as it defines the boundary between cells and their environment (Heidcamp et al., 2014). Plasma membranes are crucial in maintaining electrochemical gradients, controlling material exchange, and allowing signal transduction (Zhao et al., 2004). The purpose of this lab was to identify isoosmotic solutions by examining the effect of osmotic pressure on the plasma membrane of blood cells and Elodea guard cells; as well as to understand cell viability and membrane integrity using the Trypan blue exclusion assay. To examine the effects of osmosis, animal blood cells and guard cells from Elodea leaves were examined in this lab. Plasma membranes are found in both animal cells and plant cells; however, cell walls are only present in plant cells (Freeman et al., 2011). It was expected that these cells would shrink in hypertonic solutions, stay the same size in isotonic solutions, and swell (in the case of Elodea guard cells) or even burst (in the case of animal blood cells) in hypotonic solutions (Heidcamp et al., 2014). Since glucose has a van’t Hoff factor of 1 while potassium chloride (KCl) has a van’t Hoff factor of 2, it was predicted that 0.15M glucose and 0.07M KCl would be the isoosmotic solutions for both the animal blood and the Elodea guard cells. Concentrations greater than the isoosmotic solution were expected to be hyperosmotic, while concentrations less than it were expected to be hypoosmotic. Viable cells have intact plasma membranes (Heidcamp et al., 2014). In this lab macrophage cells, a type of leukocytes, were treated with various compounds and the effect of these compounds on the membrane of the cells was examined using Trypan blue, which differentially stains viable and non-viable cells based on whether the cells have an intact plasma membrane (Freeman et al., 2011; Strober, 2011). Of the three known compounds, it was predicted that hepes-buffered RPMI (HPMI) would damage the membrane the least as it contains vitamins and supplements, and it was predicted that methyl ÃŽ ²-cyclodextrin (MÃŽ ²CD) would damage the cell the most as it removes cholesterol from plasma membranes (LifeTechnologies, 2013; Rodal et al., 1999). Results The following three equations were used in calculations. Equation 1 was used to calculate osmolarity, in order to determine the osmotic effect of a particular solution, (Heidcamp et al., 2014). Equation 2 was used to calculate osmotic pressure and Equation 3 was used to convert Celsius temperature to kelvin temperature (Heidcamp et al., 2014; USMA, 2012). Where: = osmolarity = van’t Hoff factor = molar concentration Where: = temperature = temperature Where: = osmotic pressure (kPa) = van’t Hoff factor = molar concentration = ideal gas constant = (Chieh, 2002) = temperature Part A: Lab 2 Report Sheets Please refer to attached sheets. Part B: Answers to Assigned Questions Based on the observations of my colleagues and myself, 0.15M glucose and 0.15M potassium chloride (KCl) were the isotonic solutions for the Eloda guard cells, while 0.15M glucose and 0.035M potassium chloride (KCl) were the isotonic solutions for the animal blood cells. Solutions with solute concentrations greater than the isotonic solution were hypertonic, while concentrations less than it were hypotonic. Based on the observations from the lab, 0.6M glucose and 0.3M glucose were hypertonic for both the plant and blood cells, while 0.07M glucose and 0.035M glucose were hypotonic for the plant and blood cells. Additionally, 0.6M KCl, and 0.3M KCl, were hypertonic for the plant cell, while 0.07M KCl and 0.035M KCl were hypotonic for the plant cell. As well, 0.6M KCl, 0.3M KCl, 0.15M KCl, and 0.07M KCl were hypertonic for blood cells while there were no observed hypotonic KCl solutions for blood cells. It is expected that the isotonic solutions of glucose and KCl will have the same osmolarity. Based on Equation 1, osmolarity is the product of the van’t Hoff factor and molar concentration. Since glucose has a van’t Hoff factor of 1 while potassium chloride (KCl) has a van’t Hoff factor of 2, it is expected that glucose will have double the molar concentration of KCl to obtain the same osmolarity in the isotonic solutions. The observations from this lab reveal that for plant cells, glucose and KCl had the same concentrations for isotonic solutions; while for animal cells, glucose had approximately four times the molar concentration of KCl for isotonic solutions. This may have occurred due to the subjective nature of classifying tonicity, and since these observations were split up amongst four groups, their subjective impressions may have been different. Ideally, one group to do all four sets, but due to limited time in the lab, this was not possible. Tween-20 is a non-ionic type of surfactant that can be used solubilizing agent for membrane proteins (Iwahashi et al., 1991; Sigma, 2003). Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is a protein that adsorbs onto negatively charged portions of the membrane bilayer, forming temporary gaps in the membrane, thus increasing the permeability of the membrane (Tsunoda et al., 2001). Based on this information, Tween-20 would likely cause more damage on the membrane bilayer, resulting in more blue cells (after the Trypan blue exclusion test). Therefore, the odd unknown is most likely Tween-20, and the even unknown is most likely BSA. Search Engine: Web of Science Search Terms: Tween 20 [sorted by relevance] Reference: Iwahashi, K., Tsubaki, M., Miyatake, A., Miura, S., Hosokawa, K., Ichikawa, Y. (1991). Catalytic properties of cytochrome P-450scc from bovine and porcine adrenocortical mitochondria: Effect of tween20 concentration. The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 38(6), 727-731. Search Engine: Google Search Terms: Tween-20 Reference: Sigma. (2003). Tween-20 (P5927) Product Information. SigmaAldrich. Retrieved October 6, 2014, from https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/content/dam/sigma-aldrich/docs/Sigma/Product_Information_Sheet/1/p5927pis.pdf Search Engine: Web of Science Search Terms: â€Å"bovine serum albumin† [sorted by relevance] Reference: Tsunoda, T., Imura, T., Kadota, M., Yamazaki, T., Yamauchi, H., Kwon, K. O., et al. (2001). Effects of lysozyme and bovine serum albumin on membrane characteristics of dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol liposomes. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 20(2), 155-163. Based on the Trypan blue exclusion assay observations recorded in Table 2.2, unknown 1 (most likely Tween-20) caused the most damage to the plasma membrane as it had the highest percentage of blue cells (60%). Tween-20 belongs to the class of polyoxyethylene sorbate combounds (Boxtel et al., 1990). Among many functions, these compounds solubilize the proteins and lipids found in the plasma membranes, thereby lysing the membranes (Boxtel et al., 1990). This allows Trypan blue to enter the lysed membranes, making them blue. Discussion and Conclusions Summary of findings In the first part of this lab, the effects of osmosis were examined on animal blood cells and Elodea guard cells. It was determined that isoosmotic solutions for the Eloda guard cells were 0.15M glucose and 0.15M potassium chloride (KCl), while the isoosmotic solutions for the animal blood cells were 0.15M glucose and 0.035M KCl. Solutions with solute concentrations greater than the isotonic solution were hypertonic, while concentrations less than it were hypotonic. It was expected that the isotonic solutions of glucose and KCl would have the same osmolarity, since neither of them can easily diffuse across the membrane without the use of a channel or transport protein (Heidcamp et al., 2014) . Based on Equation 1, osmolarity is the product of the van’t Hoff factor and molar concentration. Since glucose has a van’t Hoff factor of 1 while potassium chloride (KCl) has a van’t Hoff factor of 2, it was expected that glucose would have double the molar concentration of KCl to obtain the same osmolarity in the isotonic solutions. The results from this lab do not reflect this theoretical expectation. This may have occurred due to the subjective nature of classifying tonicity. Ideally, one group should to do all four sets of observations for Table 2.1, but due to limited time in the lab, this was not possible. In the second part of this lab, membrane integrity and permeability was examined using the Trypan blue exclusion. Normally Trypan blue is not permeable in living cells. However, if the plasma membrane is not intact, Trypan blue is able to enter the cell, staining it blue (Heidcamp et al., 2014; Strober, 2011). Once treated with the specific compounds (such as glycine or Tween-20), the Trypan blue exclusion assay was performed on the RAW macrophage cells. Afterwards, the number of blue (non-viable) and non-blue (viable) cells were counted and their respective percentages were calculated. Glycine is smallest of the twenty common amino acids, and nearly all (97%) of treated cell remained viable (Freeman et al., 2011). Methyl ÃŽ ²-cyclodextrin (MÃŽ ²CD) is a compound that removes cholesterol from plasma membranes, making the membrane more permeable, and it resulted in only 55% viable cells (Rodal et al., 1999). Hepes-buffered RPMI (HPMI) is a medium that contains vitamins and supplements that can be used for cell growth, and nearly all (98%) of treated cells remained viable (LifeTechnologies, 2013). In addition to these three compounds, the cells were treated with two unknowns. The odd unknown resulted in relatively few (40%) viable cells, while the even unknown resulted in many (85%) viable cells. Tween-20 belongs to a class of detergents which are known to solubilize membrane proteins, thereby lysing the membranes (Boxtel et al., 1990; Iwahashi et al., 1991). Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is a protein that forms temporary gaps in the membrane, thus increasing the permeability of the membrane (Tsunoda et al., 2001). Based on the literature, Tween-20 would cause more damage on the plasma membrane resulting in fewer viable cells. Therefore, the odd unknown was determined to be most likely Tween-20, and the even unknown was most likely BSA. Answer to questions An organism that thrives in high-salt environments is known as a halophile, such as Halomonas meridian (James et al., 1990; Ventosa, 1998). Search Engine: Web of Science Search Terms: halophile Reference: James, S., Dobson, S., Franzmann, P., Mcmeekin, T. (1990). Halomonas meridiana, a New Species of Extremely Halotolerant Bacteria Isolated from Antarctic Saline Lakes. Systematic and Applied Microbiology, 13(3), 270-278. Search Engine: Web of Science Search Terms: halophile Reference: Ventosa, A., Nieto, J., Oren, A. (1998). Biology of Moderately Halophilic Aerobic Bacteria. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 62(2), 504-544. Methyl ÃŽ ²-cyclodextrin (MÃŽ ²CD) is a compound that removes cholesterol from plasma membranes (Rodal et al., 1999). Thus it is expected, that MÃŽ ²CD makes the plasma membrane more permeable, and allows Trypan blue to enter the cell. The results from this lab agree with this, as a relatively large percentage (45%) of cells treated with MÃŽ ²CD was stained blue in the Trypan blue exclusion assay. Search Engine: Web of Science Search Terms: methyl beta cyclodextrin Reference: Rodal, S. K., Skretting, G., Garred, O., Vilhardt, F., Deurs, B. V., Sandvig, K. (1999). Extraction of Cholesterol with Methyl-beta -Cyclodextrin Perturbs Formation of Clathrin-coated Endocytic Vesicles. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 10(4), 961-974. The predictions are below: Acetone is an organic solvent that solubilizes lipids from the plasma membrane (Jamur Oliver, 2010). High concentrations of acetone can disrupt lipid packing in the membrane, thereby increasing membrane fluidity and permeability (Posokhov Kyrychenko, 2013). Therefore is predicted that acetone will increase cell permeability and allow some of the Trypan blue into the cell, staining some cells blue. Methanol is an organic solvent that dissolves lipids from the plasma membrane (Jamur et al., 2010). Methanol can increase the rotational mobility of membrane lipids, increasing its fluidity (Joo et al., 2012). Similar to acetone, it is expected that methanol will increase cell permeability and allow some of the Trypan blue into the cell, staining some cells blue. Saponin is a detergent that selectively removes cholesterol from the plasma membrane, resulting in small holes in the membrane (Jamur et al., 2010). This would act in a manner similar to MÃŽ ²CD, likely causing the cell to be permeable to Trypan blue and staining many cells blue. Triton X-100 is a non-ionic detergent that non-selectively solubilizes proteins from the plasma membrane (Jamur et al., 2010). This would act in a manner similar to Tween-20, likely causing the cell to be highly permeable to Trypan blue and staining a large percentage of them blue. Search Engine: PubMed Search Terms: cell membrane permeability Reference: Jamur, M. C., Oliver, C. (2010). Permeabilization of cell membranes. Immunocytochemical Methods and Protocols, 588, 63-68. Search Engine: Web of Science Search Terms: effect of acetone on membranes Reference: Posokhov, Y. O., Kyrychenko, A. (2013). Effect of acetone accumulation on structure and dynamics of lipid membranes studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Computational Biology and Chemistry, 46, 23-31. References Alberts, B., Johnson, A., Lewis, J., Raff, M., Roberts, K., Walter, P. (2008).Molecular Biology of the Cell(5th ed.). New York: Garland Science. Boxtel, R. M., Lambrecht, R. S., Collins, M. T. (1990). Effect of polyoxyethylene sorbate compounds (Tweens) on colonial morphology, growth, and ultrastructure of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Apmis, 98(7-12), 901-908. Chieh, C. (2002). The Ideal Gas Law. Ideal Gas. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cchieh/cact/c120/idealgas.html Freeman, S., Harrington, M., Sharp, J. (2011). Biological Science (Canadian ed.). Toronto: Pearson Canada. Heidcamp, W., Antonescu, C., Botelho, R., Victorio-Walz, L. (2014).Laboratory Manual: Cell Biology BLG311(Fall 2014 ed.). Toronto: Ryerson University. Iwahashi, K., Tsubaki, M., Miyatake, A., Miura, S., Hosokawa, K., Ichikawa, Y. (1991). Catalytic properties of cytochrome P-450scc from bovine and porcine adrenocortical mitochondria: Effect of tween20 concentration. The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 38(6), 727-731. James, S., Dobson, S., Franzmann, P., Mcmeekin, T. (1990). Halomonas meridiana, a New Species of Extremely Halotolerant Bacteria Isolated from Antarctic Saline Lakes. Systematic and Applied Microbiology, 13(3), 270-278. Jamur, M. C., Oliver, C. (2010). Permeabilization of cell membranes. Immunocytochemical Methods and Protocols, 588, 63-68. Joo, H., Jang, H., Yun, I., Bae, S., Chung, I., Bae, M., et al. (2012). The Effect of Methanol on the Structural Parameters of Neuronal Membrane Lipid Bilayers. The Korean Journal of Physiology Pharmacology, 16(4), 255. LifeTechnologies. (2013). RPMI 1640 Medium, HEPES. Cell Culture Transfection Reagents. Retrieved October 6, 2014, from http://www.lifetechnologies.com/order/catalog/product/22400089#productDetailPage Posokhov, Y. O., Kyrychenko, A. (2013). Effect of acetone accumulation on structure and dynamics of lipid membranes studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Computational Biology and Chemistry, 46, 23-31. Rodal, S. K., Skretting, G., Garred, O., Vilhardt, F., Deurs, B. V., Sandvig, K. (1999). Extraction of Cholesterol with Methyl-beta -Cyclodextrin Perturbs Formation of Clathrin-coated Endocytic Vesicles. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 10(4), 961-974. Sigma. (2003). Tween-20 (P5927) Product Information. SigmaAldrich. Retrieved October 6, 2014, from https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/content/dam/sigma-aldrich/docs/Sigma/Product_Information_Sheet/1/p5927pis.pdf Strober, W. (2011). Trypan blue exclusion test of cell viability. Current Protocols in Immunology, 21(3B), A.3B.1–A.3B.2. Tsunoda, T., Imura, T., Kadota, M., Yamazaki, T., Yamauchi, H., Kwon, K. O., et al. (2001). Effects of lysozyme and bovine serum albumin on membrane characteristics of dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol liposomes. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 20(2), 155-163. USMA. (2012). Metric System Temperature. U.S. Metric Association. Retrieved October 6, 2014, from http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/temps.htm Ventosa, A., Nieto, J., Oren, A. (1998). Biology of Moderately Halophilic Aerobic Bacteria. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 62(2), 504-544. Zhao, Y., Zhang, W., Kho, Y., Zhao, Y. (2004). Proteomic Analysis of Integral Plasma Membrane Proteins. Analytical Chemistry, 76(7), 1817-1823.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

The Dual Nature of Characters in Shakespeares Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Dual Nature of Characters in Othello  Ã‚   Many of the characters in Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello are duplicitous to the extent that how they are perceived in public is not how they behave in private. The perception of the public plays   a very important role in the play Othello. The character of Iago uses his public perception as an honest man to deceive Othello and other characters in the play. The perception of the public   of Othello and Cassio played an important role in the play. Iago’s public perception played a very key role in the play. Everyone thought of Iago as an honest man. â€Å" O, that’s an honest fellow â€Å" , â€Å"You advise me well ........ goodnight honest Iago â€Å" - â€Å"........that’s an honest fellow â€Å" â€Å" I know thou’rt full of love and honesty †. Iago has everyone fooled into believing that he is a noble honest man. Without this public perception of being honest he could never get Othello to believe that Desdemona was cheating on him. Othello would have probably killed him if he didn’t have the public perception of being an honest man. Iago knew that an important man like Othello couldn’t ignore the possibility that his wife was cheating on him. Nobody suspects that Iago is a deceitful man and would plot and plan to destroy Othello, Cassio and Desdemona in such a cunning way. Iago used his public perception, and the insecurities of Othello being a Moor, to allow him to manipulate Othello. Othello had a public perception of being a military man, and a courageous leader. â€Å"Valiant Othello, We must straight employ you...† â€Å"Here comes Brabantio and the valiant Moor.† Othello has been a soldier since he was seven years of age, and has experience on the battle field. Othello was chosen when they went to fight the Turkish fleet. Because of his public perception, it wasn’t hard for other people to accept the relationship between him and Desdemona. As Iago started putting ideas in Othello’s head about Cassio and Desdemona being together, another side of Othello’s personality started to surface. Because Iago had the public perception of being an honest man, Othello couldn’t ignore his insinuations about Desdemona. Othello wondered if Desdemona really loved him, or if she was just using him to rebel against her father. With Iago constantly putting these ideas in his head, Othello was convinced to kill his wife. Cassio was known to be a good soldier, and is proud of that public perception.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Three Sociological Perspectives :: Sociology Functionalist Conflict Interactionist

Three Sociological Perspectives This paper discusses three approaches that can be taken when studying Sociology. There are many subjects to be studied and discussed in the field of Sociology, and the approach chosen to study a particular subject is called a perspective. There are three different perspectives, and they are functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives. This paper compares and contrasts these different perspectives with one another. When studying in the field of Sociology everyone is going to approach topics in a different manner. No two people are going to have the exact same view on a particular subject. There are however, three major categories in which people might choose to approach topics. The approaches are know as sociological perspectives and are the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives. These perspectives name different ways in which different people choose to analyze a subject, and how they look at a society as a whole. The following paragraphs compare and contrast the three, and identify major characteristics of each. Functionalist Perspective Definition "The functionalist perspective is a sociological approach which emphasizes the way that parts of a society are structure to maintain its stability,"(Schaefer & Lamm, 1998). This perspective looks at a society in a positive manner and sees it as stable, with all the parts working together. Under the functionalist view every social aspect of a society contributes to the society's survival, and if not, the aspect is not passed to the next generation. Founders There are two people who where mainly involved in the development of the functionalist perspective, they are Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons. Durkheim contributed to the functionalist perspective when she was studying religion, and how it was responsible for people feeling solidarity and unity in groups. Parsons was a sociologist from Harvard University who was greatly influenced by Durkheim. In return, he influenced Sociology by dominating the field, with his functionalist views, for four decades (Schaefer & Lamm, 1998). Characteristics When approaching a subject with the functionalist perspective, manifest and latent functions as well as dysfunctions are looked at and studied. A manifest function of an institution is one that is stated and expected. A latent function is one that is unexpected or can show a hidden purpose of an institution, and a dysfunction is a component of a society that can cause instability (Rothman, 1998). These functions and dysfunctions are use in analyzing a society.

Friday, October 11, 2019

On Civil Liberties and the Redefinition of Freedom

An appreciation of the civil liberties and basic freedoms enjoyed by the American individual, according to Eric Foner, would be impossible without a knowledge of how the American people—generation after generation—struggled to define and demarcate the boundaries of freedom and liberty.In â€Å"The Story of American Freedom,† Foner (2002) successfully applies a mà ©lange of analytical framework ranging from structural analysis, marxist dialectical and historical materialism; to feminist and postmodern criticism to prove that â€Å"freedom has always been a terrain of conflict, subject to multiple and competing interpretations.† By analyzing freedom from a historical narrative, he aims to show â€Å"how at different periods of American history different ideas of freedom have been conceived and implemented, and how the clash between dominant and dissenting views has constantly reshaped the idea’s meaning.’’ And because of this, the disc ourse of American civil liberties—borne from the American people’s love affair with the idea of freedom—will only gain relevance by identifying the â€Å"the meanings of freedom; the social conditions that make it possible; and the boundaries of freedom — the definition, that is, of who is entitled to enjoy it (Foner, 2002).†Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Birth of Civil Liberties†Indeed, the notions of civil liberties in a given society are necessarily intertwined with its cherished concept of freedom. In the book’s eight chapter, entitled â€Å"The Birth of Civil Liberties,† Foner shows that the inception of the idea of civil liberties was the outcome of the tumultuous events and crisis prior and after the World War I: the United States’ participation in the war, the   paranoia produced by the emergence of Socialist Russia, and the Great Depression following shortly after the war ended. It was at this period, with the widespread poverty a midst the growth of the United States as a major Capitalist economy; and Progressivists’ disenchantment with the illusions of state benevolence after the whole scale arrest of left-wing intellectuals, that the paradigm shift from the dominant â€Å"freedom from† into â€Å"freedom to† occurred. The ideas of social scientists as Herbert Croly, John Dewey, and William Willoughby, formed the basis of the new definition of freedom as one that does not only protect the individual from aggression, but one that actually permitted him to do things. Foner (2002) narrates the ensuing contradiction between the dominant progressivism and the emerging modern liberalism:â€Å"Effective freedom,’ wrote John Dewey, who pondered the question from the 1890s until his death in 1952, was far different from the ‘highly formal and limited concept of liberty’ as a preexisting possession of autonomous individuals that needed to be protected from outside restraint.à ¢â‚¬ For effective freedom to crystallize, it was realized,   certain conditions first had to be met. Human beings (at this stage meaning White Men), for instance, though â€Å"by nature† imbued with the freedom to live comfortably, could not do so if they were impoverished. Freedom therefore required that a human being be economically secure, which meant that unemployment and starvation were seen as infringements to freedom.â€Å"The New Deal and the Redefinition of Freedom†By the 1930’s, the belief that economic security was a critical condition for exercising individual freedoms had gained significant acceptance. This is reflected in the way that the state, led by then Pres. Roosevelt,   implemented the New Deal from 1933-37, the pre-cursor of the establishment of welfare in the United States which implemented â€Å"relief,† â€Å"reform,† and â€Å"recovery† by intervening in the market and granting the demands of groups from a vari ety of the political spectrum. Seeking to cushion the impact of the Great Depression on the starving and unemployed majority of the American people, as well as pacify the restless from succumbing to socialist ideology, the New Deal showed the transformation of progressivism into modern liberalism, which espoused Keynesian economic models and personal freedom based on the four Rs: freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.Fighting for FreedomAnd so it is with the rhetoric of freedom that the United States would camouflage its interests in going to the Second World War and in declaring the cold war against the socialist bloc of the USSR. Noting the irony when Pres. Roosevelt promises the world a Global New Deal based on the four freedoms while declaring its participation in the war,   Foner echoes   Dewey’s lament when he wrote in â€Å"The Meaning of Freedom in the Age of Emancipation† that:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"in our own time, we have wi tnessed the putative division of the planet into free and non-free worlds (with the former including many nations that might be seen as lacking in freedom) invoked to justify violations of individual liberties at home and interference with the right to self determination (Foner, 1994)†This startling realization, that â€Å"American freedom has been both a reality and a mythical ideal — a living truth for millions of Americans; a cruel mockery for others,†Ã‚  influenced the formation of racial, gender, ethnicity, and class-based reform and radical abolitionist movements whose basic slogan was that of equality and the recognition of marginalized groups, such as those for the citizenship of the Blacks, women’s suffrage in the 1960s, and the people’s right to state-sponsored provision of social services in the 1930s. Foner describes the development of emergent concepts of freedom in   the 20th century which tested and challenged the status quo:  Ã¢â ‚¬Å"feminists sought to recast gender relations in order to afford women the same freedom as men, and Americans divided over whether poverty and lack of economic security should be seen as deprivations of freedom that the government had an obligation to alleviate.†The women’s vocal demands for their right to vote   and the Black and immigrant movement for civil recognition, were therefore significant efforts to redefine the inclusive and exclusive meanings of freedom since â€Å"categories of freedom defines the categories of unfreedom.†Ã‚   Foner affirms the relevance of such movements by stating that,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"those who adopt a purely ‘negative' view of freedom as the absence of external coercion, rather than, for example, economic autonomy or political empowerment, must identify what constitutes illegitimate coercion.†It is with this contention, that â€Å"freedom has not simply been a linear progress toward a pre-ordained goal,† but rath er a complex and conflicted—and sometimes even violent— struggle between the contradicting interests of groups; tainted by class, race, ethnicity, gender, and even religion, that Foner   challenges and dares his reader to attempt to redefine the confined, claustrophobic spaces of America’s state-sponsored concepts of freedom.References:Foner, Eric. The Story of American Freedom. New York: Norton, 1998. pp. 163-236Foner, Eric, â€Å"The Meaning of Freedom in the Age of Emancipation.† The Journal of American History 81, no. 2 (Sept. 1994) p. 4.