Federal Reserve system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Federal Reserve system - Essay Example Changing the reserve requirements. The banking system is required to keep a certain amount of the deposits in reserve, while the rest is given out in terms of loans. This amount which is defined in terms of reserve ratio determines the amount of money the financial institutions can create out of the deposits reserved. The FED can either increase or decrease the money supply by altering the reserve ration required from the banking system. When the reserve ratio is lowered the banking system will be required to decrease the deposits in reserve, thus increasing the lending capacity. This in turn will increase the money supply. Alternatively, if FED raises the reserve ratio the banks will be forced to increase their reserve deposits and thus lower the lending capacity. This will eventually decrease the money supply. Changing the reserve requirements is potentially the most powerful tool because a small change in the reserve can causes big changes in the money supply within a very short t ime. Open market operations. This is the most commonly used tool in the daily operations, and is concerned with the purchases and sales of the government in the open market. FED controls the money supply by either buying or selling the government bonds. ... Banks create money by borrowing from the FED reserves or taking account receivables to FED. FED in turn imposes a discount on the loans made. Money supply can be increased by decreasing the discount rates which encourage banks to borrow more from the Federal reserves. Conversely, a lower discount rate will discourage banks from borrowing and thus lower money supply. Question two Easy money policy A 10 Real rate of Interest (%) 8 6 125 150 175 Amount of money demanded and supplied ($ billions) B Real rate of 10 Interest and Expected 8 Of profit (%) 6 investment demand 15 20 25 Amount of investment ($ billion) C P 3 Price level AD3 P 2 AD2 P 1 AD1 0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Real GDP ($ billion) Tight money policy A 10 Real rate of Interest (%) 8 6 125 150 175 Amount of money demanded and supplied ($ billions) B Real rate of 10 Interest and Expected 8 Of profit (%) 6 investment demand 15 20 25 Amount of investment ($ billion) C P 1 Price level AD1 P 2 AD2 P 3 AD3 0 Q3 Q2 Q1 Real GDP ($ billion) A = the money market B = Investment demand C= Equilibrium real GDP and the price level Easy money policy can be achieved by making money less expensive to borrow. This means that FED can buy government bonds, decrease the federal funds rate, or decrease the reserve requirements. On the other hand, tight money policy is achieved by making money more expensive to borrow. FED can sell government bonds, increase the federal funds rate, or increase the reserve requirements. Question three The use of monetary rule by FED is based on Taylor’s assumptions of macroeconomics. In this model, price and inflation are steered by three factors; Employment Index, Consumer Price Index, and producer prices (Twomey,

Review of the Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Review of the Literature - Essay Example Some of the roots of this omission are the West-centric approaches of IR and rise of modernist theorists that highlight the practicality and plurality of the secular versus the religious. This paper reviews the concepts and theories on the resurgence of religion as a legitimate institution in shaping the public sphere and IR. Realist, liberal, and constructivist IR theories neglect the role that religion plays in the formation of nation-states and the development of international relations, and new theories on the religious should be produced to integrate religion into IR discourse. In â€Å"Religious Resurgence,† Elizabeth Shakman Hurd suggests a new approach to religion and international relations that confronts the realist, liberal, and constructivist assumptions that eliminated religion in Western politics. She argues that the religious has political authority, since it impacts local, national, and international politics. She suggests religious resurgence that has core con cepts, which would invite diverse theological politics. The chapter â€Å"The Overlooked Dimension† shows that Fox and Sandler agree with Hurd that religion should be brought into IR studies. Fox and Sandler stress that religion may not be the driving force in world politics, but IR would not be completely examined without considering the nation-state’s religious dimension. Religious legitimacy, they assert, affects policy makers and civil societies, as well as local religious conflicts that cross borders. They ask for western social scientists to insert religion into their social researches, not as a peripheral or incidental subject, but as an additional basis for organizing human society and governance. Religious resurgence underscores the pivotal role of religion in IR, since it is a fundamental component in most cultures and civilizations, and so religion should be viewed as a crucial driving force in international relationships. Hurd calls religious resurgence as the attempt of the religious to shape the secular in domestic and international levels. It is an attempt that found expression in various religious movements and activities, both traditional and fundamentalist. These expressions underline the power of religion in renewing traditional values and relationships. Kubalkova develops the concept of International Political Theology (IPT) in â€Å"Towards an International Political Theology.† IPT does not only focus on power and wealth, as traditional IR does, but includes the values and meaning that people place in human existence. She confirms the resurgence of the religious in IR discourse, because religion gives meaning to human existence and direction. She speaks from the perspective of constructivism, which is unlike positivism that sees religion as a direct opposite of reason. Kubalkova argues that the community of states adopts and changes rules and standards that also coincide or oppose religious beliefs and practices. She p roposes to use constructivism as the theoretical viewpoint to include religion, because it is more practical than positivism, as the former uses social construction in analyzing diverse interacting agencies and their effects on national and IR realities. Richard Falk, in â€Å"A Worldwide Religious Resurgence in an Era of Globalization and Apocalyptic Terrorism,†

Upward mobility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Upward mobility - Essay Example This third time-level represents one facet of several possible comparisons between the narrator and Sa'eed, all urged by the construction of the novel around this pair of characters.At the very beginning of the novel, the narrator refers to his time in England as seven years of longing and describes the place as "a land 'whose fishes die of the cold'". The narrator's characterizations of his studies abroad are typically vague and completely lacking in detail (as in the preceding example) or dismissive. The narrative of Mustafa Sa'eed's experiences as a student, intellectual and Sudanese expatriate in England. This time-level first appears relatively late in comparison with the other time-levels, (Tayeb , 183) After offering this optimistic cross-cultural comparison, the narrator notes the ominously silent Mustafa Sa'eed, who "said nothing". Sa'eed's silence parallels the narrator's own reticence to share all his thoughts with the villagers, a reticence which possibly reflects deeper misgivings about the truth of his upbeat observation. The narrator thinks to himself that in England, just as in the Sudan. Some are strong and some arc weak; that some have been given more than they deserve by life, while others have been deprived by it, but that the differences are narrowing and most of the weak are no longer weak. This comparison begs the question, however, of whether the same can be said of the relationship between England and the Sudan, rather than within both England and the Sudan.30 For Sa'eed, as both we and the narrator learn in subsequent chapters, a chasm separates East/South from North/West, a gulf reflecting powerlessness and power, respectively, in response to which he embarks on his personal program of violent revenge. Even before Sa'eed's story is begun, however, Sa'eed questions the relevance of the narrator's experiences abroad. Sa'eed introduces himself to the narrator and remarks, in a vaguely dismissive manner, on the latter's achievements. (Tayeb , 183) Solid and unproblematic values, the humanistic act of studying another culture's literature, and the virtue of humility, all appear in conjunction with the narrator's experiences in Europe. Yet the dissimulation calls into question the values implicit in the narrator's very general description of his experiences abroad. Sa'eed responds by attacking the narrator's choice of subject: "We have no need of poetry here". Sa'eed's blunt criticism reflects the unviability of the naive model offered by the narrator for a possible relationship between England and the Sudan. The eager Sudanese student assiduously applying himself to the acquisition of the higher (in both senses) European literary culture offers, for Sa'eed, a pathetic reflex of the rapa ciousness of European Orientalism (including philology): "a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient. Even though it is Mustafa Sa'eed who is speaking, the narrator's own experiences in an idealized England populated by poets, humanists, and doctoral candidates render English poetry intelligible to him. Ironically, precisely those idealized experiences allow him to perceive Mustafa Sa'eed as an interloper in the otherwise (also highly idealized) cultural homogeneity and simplicity of the village. The narrator's

Review of the Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Review of the Literature - Essay Example Some of the roots of this omission are the West-centric approaches of IR and rise of modernist theorists that highlight the practicality and plurality of the secular versus the religious. This paper reviews the concepts and theories on the resurgence of religion as a legitimate institution in shaping the public sphere and IR. Realist, liberal, and constructivist IR theories neglect the role that religion plays in the formation of nation-states and the development of international relations, and new theories on the religious should be produced to integrate religion into IR discourse. In â€Å"Religious Resurgence,† Elizabeth Shakman Hurd suggests a new approach to religion and international relations that confronts the realist, liberal, and constructivist assumptions that eliminated religion in Western politics. She argues that the religious has political authority, since it impacts local, national, and international politics. She suggests religious resurgence that has core con cepts, which would invite diverse theological politics. The chapter â€Å"The Overlooked Dimension† shows that Fox and Sandler agree with Hurd that religion should be brought into IR studies. Fox and Sandler stress that religion may not be the driving force in world politics, but IR would not be completely examined without considering the nation-state’s religious dimension. Religious legitimacy, they assert, affects policy makers and civil societies, as well as local religious conflicts that cross borders. They ask for western social scientists to insert religion into their social researches, not as a peripheral or incidental subject, but as an additional basis for organizing human society and governance. Religious resurgence underscores the pivotal role of religion in IR, since it is a fundamental component in most cultures and civilizations, and so religion should be viewed as a crucial driving force in international relationships. Hurd calls religious resurgence as the attempt of the religious to shape the secular in domestic and international levels. It is an attempt that found expression in various religious movements and activities, both traditional and fundamentalist. These expressions underline the power of religion in renewing traditional values and relationships. Kubalkova develops the concept of International Political Theology (IPT) in â€Å"Towards an International Political Theology.† IPT does not only focus on power and wealth, as traditional IR does, but includes the values and meaning that people place in human existence. She confirms the resurgence of the religious in IR discourse, because religion gives meaning to human existence and direction. She speaks from the perspective of constructivism, which is unlike positivism that sees religion as a direct opposite of reason. Kubalkova argues that the community of states adopts and changes rules and standards that also coincide or oppose religious beliefs and practices. She p roposes to use constructivism as the theoretical viewpoint to include religion, because it is more practical than positivism, as the former uses social construction in analyzing diverse interacting agencies and their effects on national and IR realities. Richard Falk, in â€Å"A Worldwide Religious Resurgence in an Era of Globalization and Apocalyptic Terrorism,†

Theories used when setting up a new business Essay Example for Free

Theories used when setting up a new business Essay When setting up a new business many business theories have to be considered and thought about. To enable a successful business set up, many features must be pre planned and thought over carefully. These features are such as:   Business plan   Cash flow forecast   Break-even figure   Entrepreneur skills Business reasons why set up the business?   Success how will they succeed in the market?   Finance where will it come from?   Government how can they help?   Setting up how will they set up the business? Who will run the business? All of the above 10 business theories are vital and must be considered and thought out carefully in order for business success. Businesss that start up without consideration of the above are less likely to survive in their market than those who are set up properly with all the above theories planned and worked out. The listed theories will need to be developed and will each contain high levels of detail. It is therefore necessary for me to know exactly what information will be required for when applying these theories to my business proposal planning. Theories Explained: Business Plan: The business for which I am planning and making a proposal for will need a business plan. This will state the company name, where it will be (planned to be) situated, its aims and objectives, what type of business it will be and other important information about the company. Cash Flow Forecast: The business will also need this document which will state a general figure of the estimated figures of the amount of money that will be needed to be spent for various matters for a given time period. This is so that it can be seen when cash will be short so that appropriate loans can be taken. Break-Even: The business will require funding and money invested into it before it can begin trading/operating. For this money to be redeemed the amount spent/invested firstly has to be gained back in the form of revenue. The break even point is when the total amount of revenue equals the total amount of money spent. After this point, the revenue will be profit. Entrepreneur Skills: The entrepreneur creates the business idea, and then hires others to carry out the activity. The may also wish to invest some of their personnel money in hope to gain profit out of the business after establishment. They will need skills to ensure that they make the right plans, and hire the right people/organizations to help them. Any wrong actions taken can lead to failure of the business. Reasons to set up: There has to be some reasons as to why a business should be started. Many people start business because they want to be their own boss, they want full control over everything, they want a fresh start, and they have enough experience and want to run their own business. Success: Before setting up the business, a strategy must be available to help keep the business stable and in the market. Once this is ensured the businessperson needs to make a strategy to help the business succeed in its aims and objectives. Its aims are most likely to be: to survive, break-even, make profit, gain/increase market share etc. Finance: Before the business can start operating it needs some finance. Money will be required to establish the business as well as keep it going. Finance will be required to buy stock, advertise the business, hire staff etc. Also if the business wishes to be a limited company, then the procedure also costs. Usually a bank loan or personnel investment by the businessperson is used however shareholders can also invest into the business. It is vital to know how much money is required to establish the business and keeps it going for a certain period of time so that adequate loans/investments can take place. Government: Sometimes the government can also provide support for a new business. The government may get involved for one of 3 reasons; to control areas of high business congestion, encourage firms to locate in high unemployment areas, or to attract foreign business to UK. The government does this with various schemes such as enterprise zones where taxes are exempt (for a given period) in order to attract business into the area. Setting Up: Before setting up the business the businessperson needs to know and decide how they are going to set up the business. Therefore, they would need a business idea, business plan etc. When setting up they can then either decide to set up on their own by taking a loan or investing their personnel money, or setting up the business with a partner. Running the Business: The businessperson must also understand what is required for running a business. He must have adequate staff, enough money to buy stock and pay staff, enough stock to sell, business/product advertising etc. The businessperson must have enough resources (Land, Labour and Capital) to meet all the above needs to keep the business running smoothly.

infant mortality rate

infant mortality rate Chapter 4 Methodology 4.1 Infant Mortality Rate: Definition and Estimation Approaches Infant mortality rate (IMR) is the number of deaths occurring in the first year of life per 1,000 live births. It measures the probability of a child born in a specific year will die before reaching the age of one (World Bank, 2008). The IMR are estimated using two approaches including a direct and indirect method. Choice of methods used to estimate the IMR depends on availability and reliability of data source on infant deaths. Reliable data to estimate infant mortality rates mainly come from two data sources. The first is a vital registration system. It is a preferred source of data on infant mortality because it records all information about live births and deaths on prospective basis where a live birth or death is directly reported after it occurs. This makes vital registration system always inform statistical records of live births and deaths based on the actual condition of the population. As a result, it will provide more reliable and accurate data on infant mortality. However, an accurate vital registration system have not yet established for large part of the world, especially in developing countries. Then, it calls for an alternative source in order to estimate the IMR. The alternative source of data on infant mortality is household surveys. In the surveys, the women of fertility age are asked to answer some questions about births and deaths of children born to them. From this information, the fertility histories then can be constructed. There are two types of the fertility histories. They are a complete or truncated fertility history and incomplete or summary fertility history (World Bank, 2008). A complete fertility history uncovers the dates of births, survival status and date or age at death of all children born to the interviewed woman. On the other hand, an incomplete fertility history reveals only the number of children ever born and the number still alive or the number who have died. In order to estimate infant mortality rate, a direct method requires data for each childs date of birth, survival status, and date or age at death. This information can be found both in vital registration systems and in household surveys with complete fertility histories. In contrast, an indirect method requires less data that can be found in household surveys that do not collect detailed fertility histories. The only information required are: the number of children ever born, the number of children surviving (or dead), and the total number of women classified by five year age groups. The indirect approach uses the Brass method, after William Brass who developed a procedure to convert the proportion of death among children ever born reported by women in the age groups into estimates of the probability of dying before a certain age. Brasss method assumes that the age of the mother can function as a proxy for the age of her children and therefore for how long they have been exposed to the risk of dying (Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, 2007). The procedures to calculate infant mortality rate using the indirect method can be explained as follows. Step 1. Calculation of average parity per woman Step 2. Calculation of the proportion dead among children ever born Step 3. Calculation of the multipliers, k(i) Step 4. Calculation of the probability of dying by age x, q(x) Step 5. Calculation of the reference dates for q(x), t (x) However, the indirect method has several limitations. First, it requires model life tables to adjust the data for the age pattern of mortality in the general population. Choosing an appropriate life table to a specific population is important to generating accurate estimates (Ahmad et al., 2000). The Coale-Demeny model life tables utilized to adjust the data are derived largely from European experience that may not fit population in sub-Sahara Africa for instance. Second, the Brass method assumes that fertility and child mortality have remained constant in the recent past. If, for example, fertility has been changing, the ratios of average parities and age pattern of childbearing will be affected. As a result, it will lead to over or under estimate of child mortality (United Nations, 1983). In this paper, data to estimate provinces infant mortality rates come from Indonesias socio-economic household survey (Susenas) data from 2001 to 2006. Susenas data provides information about: (i) the number of children ever born, (ii) the number of children surviving, and (iii) the total number of women classified by five-year age groups. Based on this data, infant mortality rates are calculated using the United Nations software, QFIVE. One should be noted that since the study period of this paper only six years, the fertility patterns across provinces are likely remain constant. This study period is too short for any meaningful changes in fertility to materialize. As a result, infant mortality rates are reliable to be used for the further analysis. 4.2 Data The empirical analysis in this paper uses a balanced panel of 25 Indonesian Provinces during the period 2001-2006, for which complete data can be found from three sources. The first is Indonesias socio-economic household survey (Susenas), which provides information on household characteristics and the presence of skilled birth attendant at delivery. The Susenas data also contains information that can be used to calculate infant mortality rates with the indirect method. The Susenas data for this paper are available from 2001 to 2006. The second source is the Ministry of Finance (MoF) data. It records district expenditure that can be broken down by sector, including health. It is then divided into two types of health expenditure, routine and development expenditure. Since the Indonesian government changed the financial report format for provincial and district level spending according to Government Regulation Number 24 year 2005 about Governmental Accounting Standard, time consistent data for public expenditure on health are available only for 2001 to 2004. The last source is Ministry of Health (MoH) data on the ratio of puskesmas per 100,000 inhabitants as proxy for health care supply provided by government. This data are available for every province from 2001 to 1006. This information is taken from various years of Indonesia Health Profile published by the MoH. This study combines these three data sources to construct a panel data set. In order to simplify the analysis, these data aggregated into province level. It also aims to make infant mortality rates feasible to be calculated. Four provinces are excluded from analysis since they do not have complete data namely Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, North Maluku, Maluku, Papua, and DKI Jakarta. A balance panel then consist of 25 Indonesia provinces during the period 2001-2006. Table 4.1 lists the variables with their definitions and sources. 4.3 Econometric Model This paper first estimates a regression model examining the effect of public health spending on infant mortality, and then it explores the relationship between the public health spending on skilled birth attendance. Finally, this study will investigate whether infant mortality is affected by skilled birth attendance. This paper introduces a fixed effect parameter in order to capture unobserved heterogeneity associated with the provinces and a time specific effects. Representing the provinces by the subscript i and the year of observations available by the subscript t, the relationship between IMR and public health spending is specified as Hit = ÃŽ ²0 + ÃŽ ²1 Sit + ÃŽ ²2 Xit + ÃŽ ±i + ÃŽ ´t + ÃŽ µit where H is log infant mortality and S is per capita total public health expenditure. X is a set of control variables, which include average house ownership in the province as proxy of average province welfare, the fraction of population living in rural area, the proportion of households with a closed sewage disposal system, and mothers level of education. This model also controls for the ratio of puskesmas per 100,000 inhabitants as proxy of health care supply provided by government. Time specific effects, represented in dt, are captured by a dummy variables for each year. This term incorporates average trends associated with economic development, for instance technological progress. The province fixed effect ai, captures all unobserved, time invariant factors that might affect infant mortality rates, for examples geographical features and wide variations on cultural perspectives on how to care for newborn children. The second model investigates the role of public health spending on skilled birth attendance. This model also examines role of the intermediate effect on utilization of skilled birth attendance as transmission channel through which public health spending may affect infant mortality rate. The model is Uit = ÃŽ ²0 + ÃŽ ²1 Sit + ÃŽ ²2 Xit + ÃŽ ±i + ÃŽ ´t + ÃŽ µit where U is utilization of skilled birth attendance, and X are control variables including average house ownership in the province, the fraction of population living in rural area, household size, mothers education and puskesmas coverage. Finally, in order to identify the effect of skilled birth attendance on infant mortality, this paper is examining the following model: Hit = ÃŽ ²0 + ÃŽ ²1 Uit + ÃŽ ²2 Xit + ÃŽ ±i + ÃŽ ´t + ÃŽ µit where the control variables X are the same as in first equation.

We Are Spending Too Much On Prisons Essay -- Persuasive Argumentative

We Are Spending Too Much On Prisons    Would you believe that America has spent around five hundred billion dollars on prisons.(Butterfield) Why are the tax payers of America spending so much money on prisons and not other effective solutions to stopping crime? The American legislation is closed minded about reducing crime. They believe that prison is the one and only solution. Since crime keeps occurring, more and more prisons need to be built and kept running for the increasing numbers of inmates that are pouring into prisons. Prison may be part of the solution, but there are other alternatives to help criminals. If we were to incorporate facilities like drug rehabilitation and job training into the criminal justice system then crime would be greatly reduced. Prisoners would commit fewer crimes after the experience of these facilities, therefore reducing the cost of building and maintaining prisons. The end result will be that the American tax payer's dollars will be available to go to more productive things than prison s.    Prisons require an abundance of money to be run properly and effectively. By using taxes to pay for prisons the American public pays to support the lives of inmates and all of their needs. Prisoners require food, drink, beds, supplies for doing other activities and all of the overlooked things in normal life that go along with these necessities. Inmates have special needs like all of us do. Inmates reguire medical care, for example some have AIDS or other diseases that require medicine which cumulate large bills over time.(Luzadder) Imagine the money amassed over a life sentence of paying for medicine. The American public pays for all of these expenses added to the actual building of the prison f... ...imes which would inevitably send him back to prison. While making perfect sense this solution drastically changes the concept of prison. The effects of social programs integrated with prisons start with helping direct the taxpayers money to more prolific uses, and expand to making people in America smarter, more educated less dangerous people.    Works Cited Federal Bureau of Prisons : http://www.bop.gov/ Inciardi, Dr. James A., A Corrections-Based Continuum of Effective Drug Abuse Treatment. National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Avialable: http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/contdrug.txt Butterfield, Fox. "Prison: Where the Money Is." N.Y. Times, June 1, 1996 Luzadder, Dan. "House gets Bill That Pours Funds Into Prisons, Colleges." Rocky Mountain News Capitol Bureau. Avialable: http://insidedenver.com/extra/legislature/0325budg0.html