Analysis Of Othello By William Shakespeare - 913 Words

Playwrights generally write plays that are inspired by and based on real life events and/or issues that allow them to communicate their points of view as well as the opinions of involved parties. Plays written in the Elizabethan era are categorized as comedies, histories, or tragedies to make it easier for their audience to understand difficult and emotional themes. Although modern plays may follow classic Elizabethan structures, dramatists may adapt it to appeal to a broader audience and to reflect similar issues that may have evolved. For instance, audiences can easily identify with tragedies since they exhibit a downfall as a direct result of a fatal flaw that leads up, often times, to the death of a beloved character. Tragic heroes serve as a mirror for the audience in that as a tragedy progresses, the audience may see their personal experiences and views within it. William Shakespeare’s representation of a moor in his play, Othello, is a personification of a classical tra gic hero, whereas Troy Maxson, the protagonist in Fences by August Wilson, serves as an example of a modern tragic hero. Shakespeare and Wilson utilize characteristics of tragic heroes— hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, nemesis, and catharsis—as a literary device to convey an archetypal theme of the hazards of passing judgments to their audience. Although the argument could be made that Othello and Troy are not descendants of noble bloodlines, Shakespeare and Wilson have expanded the quintessentialShow MoreRelatedOthello Analysis : Othello By William Shakespeare1115 Words   |  5 PagesRiley Thompson Professor Grill LIT 200 2 November 2014 Othello Analysis Assignment Othello, a play that was written in 1604 by William Shakespeare, is an example of a type of story called a â€Å"tragedy.† Throughout the course of the work, Othello proves himself to be very easily misled, despite his heroic status. This causes him to lose his ability to make good judgments and decisions. Even though Othello had a reputation as a hero, he ends up being one of the most gullible characters in the play whenRead MoreAnalysis Of Othello By William Shakespeare Essay2413 Words   |  10 Pagesprocess, such as a process known as Classical Conditioning. Mind manipulation has been presented by villains throughout movies, novels, and even plays. The play Othello, written around 1603 by William Shakespeare, with the villain character Iago, is characterized as a jealous, hubris, sinister, crafty, and manipulative being. William Shakespeare has managed to write a tragic play where he used Iago’s malicious words to provide early Classical Conditioning, to cloud Ot hello’s mind of critical thoughtsRead MoreAnalysis Of Othello By William Shakespeare1579 Words   |  7 Pagesdiscriminated against due to your race? In Othello by William Shakespeare the theme of race is evident through out the play and is a very critical aspect towards the plot. Since Othello has a strong sense of self he is able to counter-balance the overt racism he is faced with in the beginning because he is respected and has high stature as a war general. Him and his wife lived happily without worrying what others thought of their bi-racial marriage. But, when Othello hears rumors of his wife’s possibleRead MoreAnalysis Of Othello By William Shakespeare1436 Words   |  6 PagesRasheed Patrick Ms. Milliner EES21QH-01 01/17/17 Final Paper In Othello every character has their own personalities that makes them the person they are. In Othello there are characters that show true grit, a fixed mindset, and a growth mindset. Each characters are different which makes the book even more interesting. True grit means to endure and push through to do something better no matter what it takes. An example of grit is studying for a long period of time for a test and enduring the amountRead MoreAnalysis Of Othello By William Shakespeare1240 Words   |  5 PagesRationale In Part Four of the course, Critical Study, we studied Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello. This is a play that comprises of enduring themes of love, betrayal, jealousy, appearance versus reality, racism, and revenge. I chose to write a diary for this play because we are only presented with the facade of these characters. Throughout the play, the audience is left to wonder what goes on behind the scenes. And the only way to achieve this is to put ourselves in their shoes in order to experienceRead MoreAnalysis Of Othello By William Shakespeare865 Words   |  4 PagesHandkerchief William Shakespeare is a famous writer had written lot of poetry, stories, dramas etc. In his drama, he usually has a sad ending. He introduces a clue that diverts a character’s mind and thought. One of his plays named â€Å"Othello† he introduces a handkerchief as a clue that had diverted different characters’ thoughts. That handkerchief changed from a love token into a source of suspicion in Othello’s mind. In this story, main character named Othello, who gave that handkerchief to his wifeRead MoreAnalysis Of Othello By William Shakespeare1505 Words   |  7 PagesQuanisha Taylor Dr. Traylor English 1102 16 November 2015 Sadistic Motives In William Shakespeare’s play Othello Iago has the ability to charm and convince people of his loyalty and honesty. Iago immediately introduced his malicious desire for revenge, but he had no proven reason for his actions. Throughout the play Iago devises a devious plan to convince the other characters of his cunning contrivance. Iago treats others as the fool with no intentions of caring about their feelings. Behind hisRead MoreAnalysis Of Othello By William Shakespeare1575 Words   |  7 Pagesdiscriminated against due to your race? In Othello by William Shakespeare the theme of race is evident through out the play and is a very critical aspect towards the plot. Since Othello has a strong sense of self he is able to counter-balance the overt racism he is faced with in the beginning because he is respected and has high stature as a war general. Him and his wife lived happily without worrying what others thought of their bi-racial marriage. But, when Othello hears rumors of his wife’s possibleRead MoreAnalysis Of Othello By William Shakespeare1090 Words   |  5 Pagesyears, women have been seen as inferior and weaker than men, while men are seen as superior and stronger than women. However, the word strong doesn t measure their physical strength, but by their strength to ignore societies standards. Othello by William Shakespeare takes place during the late 16th century a time in which women didn’t have a voice and were expected to be obedient and chaste. Although this was the case for many women, Emilia is a strong character because she stood up for what she believedRead MoreAnalysis Of Othello By William Shakespeare1378 Words   |  6 PagesEES21GH-02 01/20/17 Final paper Throughout the play Othello by William Shakespeare, we sit in on the life of an African American military commander, or Moor, who was deceived by a jealous under officer named Iago. Iago’s only motive for deceiving the Moor was animosity because Othello did not promote him to Lieutenant. With the help of a passive man named Roderigo, Iago was able to convince Othello that his wife had cheated on him with the man Othello did promote to Lieutenant, named Cassio. After convincing

Marxist and Neoclassical Economics Free Essays

Marx’s economic theories mainly deal with the comparison and contrast between Marxism and Capitalism. Karl Marx had many theories that dealt with many different aspects of society. This concept deals with the exploitation of workers and the components involved in production. We will write a custom essay sample on Marxist and Neoclassical Economics or any similar topic only for you Order Now The first part of Marx’s value of labour theory deals with commodities. Commodities are defined as an object outside of us, a thing that by its properties satisfies human wants of some sort or another (Miliband, 1977, 243). These commodities have different values and according to Marx every commodity has two values: exchange value and use value. The use value of a commodity refers to the fact that is has some sort of use; it serves some purpose or meets some want. Every commodity must have a use or it has no value and is not a commodity. Exchange value refers to the ratio at which a commodity can be exchanged with another. In certain quantities all commodities can be exchanged for other commodities (Miliband, 1977, 254). Even the most worthless commodity, when taken in big enough quantities, can be exchanged for the most valuable of commodities. For example, a large quantity of corn or apples can be exchanged for a diamond. The next part of Marx’s theory deal with the values of the labour. Marx argued that what commodities all have in common is the fact that they are all products of human labour. It is human labour that has created them and it is the amount of human labour that goes into them that determines value. Karl Marx’s labour theory of value asserts that the value of an object is solely a result of the labour expended to produce it. According to this theory, the more labour or labour time that goes into an object, the more it is worth. Marx defined value as â€Å"consumed labour time†, and stated that â€Å"all goods, considered economically, are only the product of labour and cost nothing except labour†(Parekh, 1982, 386). One crucial element of classical political economy that was eventually displaced in the neoclassical revolution of the nineteenth century was the idea that labour was a primary or even exclusive determinant of value. Now, readings of Marx that posit him either as the last of the great classicals or as the leading left-wing critic of classical political economy often share the claim that Marx extracted from the classicals the view that labour is the sole source of value. Marx is applauded for his consistent formulation of a labour theory of value and, thus, for his adherence to the view that social relations of production determine the distribution of social labour and the value and exchange-value of commodities. That is, as for many other Marxists, the fact that individuals may desire beings and motivated in their economic behaviours by instinct, affection, emotion, and so forth is relegated to the status of secondary phenomena insofar as the determination of value, the social allocation of labour, and the distribution of income and wealth are involved. For many Marxists, the essential causes of economic activity are labour and production. Thus, the labouring body, rendered in some versions of this story as a truly trans-historical corporeal entity, is given pride of place in establishing the conditions for that which is uniquely human and thereby economic. This ‘productionist’ bias of Marxists has constituted the grounds by which Marxism has discursively ignored or excluded libido, excess, and true expenditure in the economic theory to which it has given rise. (Resnick, 2001, 56-60) Contemporary Marxian critics in the field of economics, then, often prefer to resurrect the nineteenth-century debates over the correct attribution of value to either ‘subjective’ desire or ‘objective’ labour. Their critique of neoclassical theory devolves on the claim that the bourgeois individualism, naturalism, and arcane abstraction consequent upon the use of axiomatic formulations in neoclassicism obscure the true (McCloskey, 2003, 12-14) conditions under which economic activities and institutions arise. Whereas production is viewed as ubiquitous across epochs and geographical boundaries, desire and utility maximization are seen as limited in historical importance to capitalist societies and, even there, they are more a consequence of a hegemonic false consciousness imposed by the self-promotion of the bourgeoisie (for example, to hide the ‘fact’ of exploitation or to explain away the waste and inefficiency of unplanned markets) than the objective conditions of life under capitalism. The modernism of much Marxism consists, at least partly, in its insistence in finding an ontological referent for the essential cause – labour – that emerges in Marxian economics as the source of value. The labouring body and the conditions of work, then, take precedence in everything from determining the nature of subjectivity (the individual who produces him/herself in the course of participating in social labour) and estimating the ‘good life’ (the elimination of alienation in work) to the primacy of certain struggles in the movements to transform and move beyond capitalism. Comparison and Contrast Karl Marx set the wheels of modern Communism and Socialism in motion with his writings in the late nineteenth century. In collaboration with his friend, Fredrich Englels, he produced the Communist Manifesto, written in 1848. Many failed countries’ political and economic structures have been based on Marx’s theories. That is why he is known as on of the most influential people of the history of the world. Marxism in its various forms has affected the world greatly throughout time. Both World Wars have involved communist countries to a great extent. Communism has gone wrong in many countries, with the state turning into an authoritarian one, with a few people at the top abusing their power for their own personal gain, at the expense of the other members of the public. (England, 1993, 37-53) Rather than codifying the classicals’ labouring body as a first principle, Marx can be said to have disrupted the order of the body established in classical political economy and in much Marxism. For us, Marx is not the inventor of a new anthropology (his work, we believe along with Althusser, represents a sharp rupture from the humanist anthropology that preceded – and, in the pretensions of the early neoclassicals, followed – him). Briefly stated, we view Marx’s contributions to be more along the lines of presenting the human body as a register of class and other economic and social processes, a place where the effects of capitalism are largely inscribed, rather than the site of the privileged origin (through labour) of subjectivity, agency, or socioeconomic relations. In other words, the body that Marx presents in his writings is over determined and has no centre or essential unity other than that which is the effect of the historical conditions of production, consumption, circulation, distribution, and so forth. In this sense, the body in Marx’s work is closer to some current neoclassical renditions, at least insofar as it is differentiated, dispersed, and brought to temporary unity by specific productions rather than by the presumption of its essentiality. (Cohen, 1978, 110-14) The problem, then, for some of the Marxian critics of neoclassical theory is that the story they prefer revives a view of the body and subjectivity that are fully part of the modernist project to promote an overarching and exhaustive notion of ‘man’. In this regard, the post-modern moments of Marxism are suppressed and the affinity that Marxists may have with other developments within which the humanism of the classicals is finally displaced is largely ignored. (Blaug, 1992, 319-22) To put this otherwise, the retention of the labouring body as prime cause of social and economic relations does little to undermine the humanist essentialism that, purportedly, many Marxists have been at pains to attack over the course of the last century. While recent neoclassicals and Marxists may make absurd bed mates, there is a sense in which Marxists can augment rather than blunt their attacks on bourgeois social order by acknowledging the fragmentation of the human body and the dismemberment of theoretical humanism that may have been accomplished by some neoclassicals. (Ollman, 1995, 201-10) A similar issue confronts post-Keynesian critics of neoclassical economics. Instead of using their trenchant questioning of the notions of certainty (and of probabilistic certainty), rationality, and much else that still abounds within neoclassical theory, together with their own exploration of the significance and effects of uncertainty, as the initial steps in decentring the body, post-Keynesian economists have largely resisted such a move. As we see it, the ‘radical uncertainty’ (de Marchi, 2001, 86-90) originally focused on by Keynes and now embraced by post-Keynesian economists has the potential of disrupting the modernist unity of the body, for example, by severing the necessary connection between, the presumed sequence of, some set of initial anticipations and the actions of economic agents as well as by ‘relativizing’ even the recognition of the degrees and forms of certain and uncertain knowledge on the part of those agents, making uncertainty into a variable and heterogeneous constituent and effect of bodily capabilities and orders. (Amariglio, 1994, 7-35) Conclusion Up to the end of the nineteenth century, the sensible presence of the monetary substance (gold, silver) which guaranteed more or less directly the value of the circulating sign, could lead us to forget that money was also a sign. The gold-standard system implied the circulation of gold by itself or the free convertibility of bank-notes into gold. And this, according to a creed which was almost unanimously shared by all economists and statesmen of the nineteenth century, regardless of their nationality, their religious beliefs, or philosophical opinions: ‘banknotes have value only because they represent gold’. Marx himself denied the possibility or the legitimacy of money which would be a mere sign. For him, the backing by commodity-money (produced by a certain amount of labour) is necessary. Nowadays, the direct representational possibility of monetary signs is suspended not only for circumstantial reasons, but completely suppressed, as we know, for reasons that became structural. Thus, we passed from a monetary regime where gold circulated in presencia to a regime where money was a sign representing gold; and finally to money which is a pure sign, without any reference to a gold-value, a regime of complete non-convertibility. The logical relationship between the non-convertibility of money and the dismissal of the labour theory of value by neoclassical economists and mainstream economics has been stressed. Post-Keynesians, however, tend to emphasize the extradiscursive ‘brute nature’ of uncertainty, reducing it to the limits on knowledge imposed by an unforeseeable future. Their view is that neoclassical economists (and, with them, others such as new Keynesian economists), by emphasizing certain (or, again, probabilistically certain) knowledge, have simply exaggerated the role and possibilities of rational calculation and diminished the ‘animal spirits’, ‘spontaneous optimism’, and other nonrational, corporeal determinants of economic behaviour. In this sense, post-Keynesian economists seek to reinscribe a more ‘balanced’ human body – one which, if not exactly derivative of the classicals, both recognizes the limitations of the body (for example, in terms of the ability to gather and process information) and recovers the kind of profusion of sentiments and emotions, conventions and habits, that were seen to be central to the activities and practices of economic agents prior to the marginalist revolution. It is this body which, for post-Keynesians, serves both to replace the ‘sterility’ of disembodied neoclassical decision-makers and to avoid the ‘nihilism’ occasioned by the post-modern decentring of the body. References Amariglio, J. and Ruccio, D. F. (1994) ‘Postmodernism, Marxism, and the Critique of Modern Economic Thought’, Rethinking Marxism 7 (Fall): 7-35. Blaug, M. (1992) The Methodology of Economics; Or How Economists Explain, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 319-22. Cohen, G.A. Karl Marx’s Theory of History. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 1978. 110-14 de Marchi, N. (2001) ‘Introduction’ in N. de Marchi and M. Blaug (eds) Appraising Economic Theories, Aldershot: Elgar. 86-90 England, Paula (1993) ‘The Separative Self: Androcentric Bias in Neoclassical Assumptions’, in Marianne A. Ferber and Julie A. Nelson (eds) Beyond Economic Man: Feminist Theory and Economics, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 37-53. McCloskey, D. N. (2003) ‘The Rhetoric of Economics’, Journal of Economic Literature, 21 (June) 12-14 Miliband, R. Marxism and Politics. Herron Publishing Inc., New York. 1977. 250-59 Ollman, B. Grolier’s Encyclopedia, Karl Marx and Marxism. Grolier Electronic Publishing Inc. 1995. 201-10 Parekh, B. Marx’s Theory of Ideology. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 1982. P.386 Resnick, Stephen A., and Wolff, Richard D. (2001) Knowledge and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political Economy, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 56-60 How to cite Marxist and Neoclassical Economics, Essay examples

Changing Role of Managerial Accounting in a Dynamic Business Environment free essay sample

Managerial accountants more and more are considered business partners. B. Managerial accountants often are part of cross-functional teams. C. An increasing number of organizations are segregating managerial accountants in separate managerial-accounting departments. D. In a number of companies, managerial accountants make significant business decisions and resolve operating problems. E. The role of managerial accountants has changed considerably over the past decade. The day-to-day work of management teams will typically comprise all of the following activities except: A. decision making. B. planning. C. cost minimizing. D. directing operational activities. E. controlling. Answer: C LO: 2 Type: RC 3. Which of the following functions is best described as choosing among available alternatives? Which of the following functions best describes this process? A. Decision making. B. Planning. C. Coordinating. D. Controlling. E. Organizing. Answer: D LO: 2 Type: N 7. Which of the following is not an objective of managerial accounting? A. Providing information for decision making and planning. We will write a custom essay sample on Changing Role of Managerial Accounting in a Dynamic Business Environment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page B. Assisting in directing and controlling operations. C. Maximizing profits and minimizing costs. D. Measuring the performance of managers and subunits. E. Motivating managers toward the organizations goals. Answer: C LO: 3 Type: RC 8. The role of managerial accounting information in assisting management is a(n): A. inancial-directing role. B. attention-directing role. C. planning and controlling role. D. organizational role. E. problem-solving role. Answer: B LO: 3 Type: RC 9. Employee empowerment involves encouraging and authorizing workers to take initiatives to: A. improve operations. B. reduce costs. C. improve product quality. D. improve customer service. E. all of the above. Answer: E LO: 3 Type: RC 10. The process of encouraging and authorizing workers to take appropriate initiatives to improve the overall firm is commonly known as: A. planning and control. B. employee empowerment.

The Discount Window as a Monetary Policy Tool

The discount window is a monetary policy tool (managed by central banks) that permits genuine institutions to scrounge money from the central bank, mostly on the basis of short-term, in order to obtain fleeting paucities of liquidity, which may be caused by either internal or external intervals.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The Discount Window as a Monetary Policy Tool specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The interest that is charged by the central bank is known as the base rate, discount rate or repo rate. However, the borrower must provide collateral on such loan (Federal Reserve 1). The main idea behind the discount window is to give banks liquidity whenever they necessitate it without making them much dependent upon it. In 2007, the Federal Reserve successfully did this by decreasing or increasing the discount rate. This means that by decreasing the discount rate, the Federal Reserve is attempting to enhance the development by making liquidity easier to be obtained, and by increasing, it indicates that Federal Reserve is worried about inflationary on the economy and that is why it is endeavoring to decrease the amount of money in the economy (Bogle 12). What Was Happening to the Banks at That Time? The financial crisis of 2007 was stimulated by the shortfall of liquidity in the US banking system. This caused large financial institutions in US to get themselves into hot water and even some collapsing. The financial sector was impacted by the world crisis in February, 2007. The financial crisis was caused by the major loss which had been reported by the world’s largest bank (HSBC). The bank had lost holdings by $10.5 billion. This led to the crisis which had been compared with the Great Depression. For about 100 mortgage companies had to report about selling their activities or about their shut down throughout 2007. As crisis continued to dig out, other financial institutions decid ed to merge or announce to look for merger partners. The top managers (such CEO’s) who could not bear the situation, made a decision of relinquishing their jobs, a good example is the CEO’s of Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, who relinquish within two weeks (Dozark-Frideres 1). Moreover, this financial crisis of 2007 caused huge panic in financial markets and as a result, a lot of investors were totally discourage, hence they began taking away their money from shrinking mortgage bonds and equities and invest it in other secure ways, such as commodities as â€Å"store of value.†Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, due to overwhelming number of investors in commodities following the collapse of financial firms, the speculation of commodity has resulted to food crisis and an increase of oil prices, because of commodity super-cycle. In addition, the financ ial investors who are looking for fast returns have taken away trillions of money from the risky mortgage bonds and equities, making some to invest in raw materials and food (Bogle 45). In 2006, provisions for prospect defaults and mortgage defaults influenced the income at the 8533 depository institutions of the United States. These defaults caused the decrease from $35.2 billion to $646 million by the FDIC. This resulted in a decrease of 98%. Having analyzed the financial situation in t world, it may be stated that the country’s economy has not experience such problems since 1990. 2007 was considered to be the worst year for performance for most financial firms in the country. Turning to the problems of insured depository firms, is should be mentioned that the companies had lost about 31% in comparison with 2006. Thus, the income of the insured depository firms in 2007 was $100 billion, while in 2006 it was about $145 billion. In same year (2007), the profit decreased from $35.6 billion Q1 to $19.3 billion in Q1 of 2008, a decrease of 45% (FDIC 1). Below is a bar graph that shows the quarterly U.S. bank earnings from 2004 to 2008. Quarterly U.S. Bank Earnings from 2004 to 2008 Furthermore, there was a situation when the discount window became the same as the federal fund rate. This situation became possible due to the fact that the supply curve of reserves became horizontal. This was provoked by the Fed desire to offer as many loans as possible at the discount rate to prevent them from bankruptcy. There was a situation in 2007 when discount rate and the federal fund rate equaled each other. This situation became possible in a number of reasons. â€Å"As iff rises above id, banks will borrow more and more at id, and re-lend at iff. The supply curve is horizontal (perfectly elastic) at id (Wright and Quadrini n.p.).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The Discount Window as a Monetary Policy Tool specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The situation is showed below. Table 1. Equilibrium in the fed funds market (Wright and Quadrini n.p.) It is possible to consider the situation when the discount rate and the federal fund rate equaled each other: on the 16th of March, 2008 the discount rate was cut 25 bps and was reduced to 3.25% and indicated an intermeeting move (Chronology n.p.). What Was Happening to the Economy? The economy of the United State of America was also in hot soup. Betwixt June 2007 and November 2008, it was report that Americans lost approximate a quarter of their net value. The prices of house had decline to 20% from their peak in 2003, while other prospect markets indicating a potential decline of 30 to 35%. By mid-2008, the US total home equity decline to $8.8 trillion for its peak in 2006 that valued at $13 trillion. To understand the level of the problem, it is important to consider the activities from a broad U.S. stock index. The decline in Nove mber 2008 was 45% if to calculate from the peak in 2007. The declination of the total retirement assets from 2006 to 2008 was about 22% (in 2006 the numbers reached $10.3 trillion, and in 2008 the activities hardly reacted $8 trillion). Meanwhile, the investments and the savings made a loss of $1.2 trillion. At the same time, a loss of $1.3 trillion was considered in the activities of the pension assets (Dozark-Frideres 1). Below is a graph showing US housing price performance from 1998 to 2007. Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More How the Discount Windows Usually Operate To save the situation, or at least do not support its further damaging development, the Federal Reserve Bank have created three different discount window programs. These discount window programs were directed at depository institutions. â€Å"Primary credit, secondary credit and seasonal credit† (Federal Reserve 1) are the discount window programs implemented by the Federal Reserve Bank. However, although all credits are fully secured, each credit has its own rate of interest. In the primary credit program, loans are normally prolonged for a short term (for about 24hrs) to depository firms in order to meet the financial conditions. For the financial firms that are not under primary category can apply for secondary credit so that they can settle their severe financial problems or short-term liquidity necessities. On other hand, seasonal credit is prolonged to comparatively small depository firms that have persistent intra-year ebb and f low in funding necessities, like seasonal resort communities or banks in agriculture. Now, it is important to consider the discount rate charges in the primary credit, in the secondary credit, and in the seasonal credit. Turning to the primary credit, the charges are more than the normal level of short-term market interest rates. Using the secondary credit, the charges are going to be above the primary credit. Using the seasonal credit, the charges are going to be set on an average of certain chosen market rate. The depository institutions had an opportunity to choose the discount window program depending on the conditions of each offer. The discount rates have been formed by every Reserve Bank’s board of directors (Federal Reserve 1). How Did It Exactly Operate in 2007? In the response, the USA central bank together with central banks across the globe and the Federal Reserve took several measures to address the crisis. Below is how the discount window operated in 2007. The discount rate was decreased from 5.75% (August) to 4.75% (December), and the Federal funds rate was also lowered from 5.25% (August) to 4.25% (December). They also formed lending institutions, which offered loans with low collateral to banks and other financial firms. The financial institutions were encouraged to apply for loans, either under primary, secondary or seasonal credit, but this depended on their qualification (Dozark-Frideres 1). Did the Discount Window Continue to 2008 and Why? The discount window programs continued in 2008. Here are a number of reasons for such decision. The main reason for extending discount window in 2008 was the fact that still many financial institutions had not fully recovered from this crisis. In December 2008, the Federal Reserve decreased the federal funds rate further to a range of 0-0.25%. Moreover, in November 2008, the Fed said that it wanted to purchase MBS of the GSE at a price of $600, in order to decrease the mortgage rates (Dozark-Fri deres 1). The Federal Reserve Bank could not leave unstable financial situation in the country without support, so the decision was made to continue the discount window programs up to the time when the financial stability is implemented in the world bank system. What Does the Discount Window Do With Sterilized Funds in the Federal Reserve? The discount window can open market operations, whereby it venders bonds domestically, hence gaining new cash that can go around the home economy (Federal Reserve 1). Moreover, according to the Federal Reserve, â€Å"U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks that hold reserves are eligible to borrow under the same general terms and conditions that apply to domestic depository institutions† (Federal Reserve 1). Why Did Not the Federal Reserve Allow Lehman Brothers to Use the Discount Window in 2007? The Federal Government did not want to bail out Lehman brothers, as it had had already drawn the line somewhere, and other financial firms cou ld not stay connected with Lehman assets on the spot (Siris 1). At the same time, many financial institutions â€Å"could not get comfortable with Lehman’s assets in an instant† (Siris 1). Federal Government hoped that Lehman had enough assets to recover from crisis and stabilize the situation. The theoretical ability of Lehman to keep the company afloat was one of the main reasons why it was refused in discount window program. Still, the firm suffered more than it was expected and there was a threat Lehman’s bankruptcy impacted each organization at the Wall Street (Siris 1). In conclusion it should be stated that discount window programs provided by the Federal Reserve Bank were effective and they made it possible for many different companies remain afloat. At the same time, the inability of the programs to fund each organization and cover the expenses or each company made the Federal Reserve Bank draw the line which did not satisfy the expectations of many fin ancial institutions at the Wall Street. But, in general, the activity was successful. Works Cited Bogle, John. The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism. London: Yale University Press. 2005. Print. â€Å"Chronology – Fed funds rate changes since 1994.† Reuters. June, 2010. Web. Dozark-Frideres, Taryn. How Did the Central Banks in the U.S. and Europe React to the Global Financial Crisis? 2010. Web. FDIC. FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile. 2008. Web. Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve Discount Window. 2010. Web. Siris, Peter. Government Did Not Want To Bail Out Lehman Brothers. 2008. Web. Wright, Robert E. and Vincenzo Quadrini. Money and Banking. Irvington, NY: Flat World Knowledge 2009. Web. This report on The Discount Window as a Monetary Policy Tool was written and submitted by user Jadyn Perry to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Problems Facing the United Nations

Problems Facing the United Nations Terrorism In the current international system, terrorism is the major threat facing all actors, including the United Nations. Countries are faced with both internal and external threats, but terrorism remains the major threat. Terrorism is a problem that cannot be solved unless United Nations delves into its origins. Terrorists use violence to frustrate governments in the world, irrespective of whether the country is developed or poor.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Problems Facing the United Nations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In other words, no country or individual is spared by the heinous acts of terrorists. States have been forced to cooperate in order to combat terrorism. In the modern international system, there are various categories of terrorists, each with its own mode of operation. Some of the terrorists posses weapons of mass destruction while others resort to suicide bombing. Scholars argue that te rrorism is a result of depression, melancholy, hopelessness, helplessness, and defeat. Before the Cold War era, terrorism was not a big issue in the international system because Islam was under control of the US and the Soviet Union (Sasley 2011, p. 21). The hostilities between the US and the Soviet Union did not give room to terrorism. The United Nations faces a big challenge as regards to terrorism. Weapons and Mass Destruction Production of weapons and availability of weapons of mass destruction is another threat to world security in the current international system. It is upon this that the Atomic Agency was created to supervise the production and distribution of weapons of mass destruction. Before the Cold War, only powerful states, such as Russia and the US, had the capability of producing weapons of mass destruction. In this regard, the weapons could not be used to destroy life and property. In fact, the superpowers wanted to prove to each other that they were well off techno logically. They could not engage in war because they were mutually assured of destruction. Currently, a number of states have the ability to produce weapons of mass destruction. For instance, countries such as India and Pakistan have the ability to produce nuclear weapons. This is very dangerous to world security, especially when such weapons get into the hands of terrorists (Hudson, 1998, p. 19). Iran and North Korea are some of the countries that are believed to support terrorism in the world. They agree to enter into agreements barring them from producing nuclear weapons yet they do not honor the accords. For instance, Iran has always claimed that it will use nuclear energy to support its domestic energy supply. The problem arises when nuclear weapons get into the hands of terrorists.Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Gap between the South and the North Th e third problem facing the United Nations in the current international system is the gap between the poor and the rich states. Studies show that the gap between the south and the north is ever increasing. The problems facing countries of the south is how to develop. However, scholars blame colonialism for the problems facing the south. The effects of colonialism were severe to an extent that solutions to problems are inapplicable (Khalid 2012, p. 18). For instance, the issue of anger and insecurity cannot be solved through provision of aid and monetary assistance. Colonialists focused so much on establishing a cash economy by emphasizing on cash crops such as coffee and tea. This has always affected the agricultural policies of developing countries. Moreover, the infrastructural development was tempered with during colonialism. Colonialists developed certain regions that were strategic to their economy. Some regions were underdeveloped because they were denied resources. This has al ways generated civil wars because some regions believe that they are neglected. Conflicts in various parts of Africa have led to loss of life and property. Moreover, they have destabilized the world peace. Economically, the south has failed to take off because of unbalanced trade. Goods are manufactured in the poor countries and are exported to the developed countries for processing. The same goods are exported to the south countries to be sold at an exorbitant price. Countries of the north force countries of the south to buy their products at an exaggerated price. This means that the gap between the south and the north will always increase. The core controls the world economy while the periphery is incorporated as underdogs. In the international system, there is always tension between the south and the north over resources. The north is accused of funding tribal clashes, particularly in Congo, because it benefits them. During elections, countries of the north will always ensure tha t leaders supporting their missions acquire power. This is a big challenge to the UN agencies (Weiss, Forsythei Coate 1994, p. 65). Environmental Challenge The last challenge pertains to the environment. Environmental challenges are faced by all countries in the world. It is one of the common problems faced by both countries of the south and north. The depletion of the ozone layer affects all people in the world, irrespective of the region. However, states in the international system have failed to agree on how to preserve the environment. For instance, countries of the south claim that countries of the north must fund programs aimed at preserving the environment. This comes upon the realization that the developed countries are the leading in terms of polluting the environment. Studies show that the US and Japan are the leading countries in environmental pollution.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Problems Facing the United Nations specifically for you fo r only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On the other hand, countries of the north accuse countries of the south for coming up with companies without considering environmental damage. The countries of the north observe that sustainability should be taken into consideration when designing developmental policies (Snow 1994, p. 16). The UN faces a great challenge of convincing the countries to adopt environmental laws (Ehteshami 2007, p. 54). Suggested Solutions In order to resolve the issues affecting the international system, the international community, particularly the United Nations, should establish institutions charged with the responsibility of designing and implementing policies. For instance, the International Criminal Court should be given more powers to prosecute those who violate human rights. Moreover, the United Nations should ensure that international standards and norms are followed to the later. Aristotle observed that law would never let down an individual. Therefore, laws and norms should always be respected (Coate 1994, p. 54). As the only institution with powers to slap sanctions to non-compliant states, it should influence other states to obey the laws and norms. For instance, all countries should cooperate in ensuring that nuclear weapons do not get into the hands of terrorists. In this regard, democracy should be restored in all parts of the world. It is proved scientifically that democratic regimes cannot support terrorism. Regimes that embrace dictatorship should be eliminated and be replaced with democratic regimes that consider public opinion before formulating foreign policies. The United Nations has a big role to play in ensuring this. The institution is charged with the responsibility of ensuring fairness and equality. The United Nations should engage countries in negotiations to abandon their aggressive behaviors. Moreover, the United Nations should act as the mediator between the rich and the poor countries. For instance , the actions of the United Nations through protocols such as Kyoto protocol should be encouraged (Lawson 2009, p. 59). Kyoto protocol has achieved a lot as far as environmental conservation is concerned. List of References Coate, R 1994, The Future of the United Nations, US Policy and the Future of the UN, The Twentieth Century Fund Press, New York. Ehteshami, A 2007, Globalization and geopolitics in the Middle East: Old games, new rules, Routledge, London.Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hudson, MC 1998, Middle East dilemma: The politics and economics of Arab integration, Columbia University Press, New York. Khalid, S 2012, The UAE and Foreign Policy: Foreign Aid, identities, and Interests, Routledge, London. Lawson, F 2009, Comparative regionalism, Ashgates, Farnham. Sasley, B 2011, Studying Middle Eastern International Relations through IR Theory. OrtadoÄŸu Età ¼tleri, Vol. 2, no. 2, pp 9-32. Snow, D 1994, Uncivil Wars: International Security and the New internal Conflicts Boulder, London. Weiss, G, Forsythei, D, Coate, F 1994, The United Nations and Changing World Politics, Westview Press, Colorado.

Agenda Setting Theory Introduction

Therefore the main effect of media in agenda setting is telling people not what to think, but what to think of. The policy agenda is the issues that policy makers consider important after the public start to make campaign or petition to show protest against the organizations. Mass Communication plays an important role in our society its purpose is to inform the public about current and past events. Mass communication is defined in â€Å"Mass Media, Mass Culture† as the process whereby professional communicators use technological devices to share messages over great distances to influence large audiences. Within this process the media, which can be a newspaper, a book and television, takes control of the information we see or hear. The media then uses gate keeping  and agenda setting to â€Å"control our access to news, information, and  entertainment† (Wilson 14). Gate keeping is a series of checkpoints  that the news has to go through before it gets to the public. Through this process many people have to  decide whether  or not the news  is to be seen or heard. Some gatekeepers might include reporters, writers, and  editors. After gate keeping comes  agenda setting. Elaboration of the Theory The Agenda-Setting Theory says the media (mainly the news media) aren’t always successful at telling us what to think, but they are quite successful at telling us what to think about. The power of news media is to set a nation’s agenda, to focus public attention on a few key public issues, is an immense and well-documented influence. For example, newspapers provide a host of cues about the salience of the topics in daily news. They will lead story on first page, large headlines and etc. Besides that, television also consider as a mass communication tool. Television offers numerous cues about salience too. Their opening story is on newscast, length of time devoted to the story and etc. As said by Walter Lippmann, Agenda-Setting Theory is â€Å"the world outside the pictures in our heads†. The news media are a primary source of those pictures in our heads about the larger world of public affairs, a world that for most citizens is â€Å"out of reach, out of sight, out of mind. † Agenda setting is divided into two levels where the first level stress on common subject that media thinks the subject is important. The second level decides which part of the subject is important. Both level leads to the concept of agenda setting where the concept is divided into three parts. The first part of the process is the importance of the issues that are going to be discussed in the media. Second, the issues discussed in the media have an impact over the way the public thinks, this is referred as public agenda. Ultimately the public agenda influences the policy agenda. Furthermore, the media agenda affects the public agenda, and the public agenda affects the policy agenda. People would attend only to news and views that didn’t threaten their established beliefs. Agenda-setting will reconfirms the power of the press while still maintaining that individuals were free to choose. The agenda-setting function is a 3 part-process. Firstly, media agenda is the issues discussed in the media. Secondly, public agenda means issues discussed and personally relevant to public. Lastly, policy agenda is the issues that policy makers consider important. Media agenda and public agenda are close to each other. Media agenda is the set of issue addressed by media sources. It is a composite index of media prominence reveled the importance of foreign policy, law and order, fiscal policy, public welfare and civil rights. While public agenda are issues the public consider important. It is the rank of the five issues was identical to the media agenda. The key concept and terms are agenda setting, salience transfer, gatekeeping, framing, priming and determinants of agenda-setting effects. Agenda setting is giving priorities to alternative policy issues but in the early communications studies, shown a mixture about the ability to influence public opinion on the given issue. Salience transfer refers to the capacity of the media to influence the relative importance individuals attached to the policy. Next is gate keeping is a process that control the media content. Framing is the importance and interpretation of people attach to potential items on the public agenda are strongly influenced by how the media present news stories. Priming happen when framing centers on political loading of the presentation of news, it can be conscious and not conscious. Priming basically mean draw attention to certain issue even in a neutral manner. Last but not least is the determinant of agenda-setting effects. Media credibility or also known as media reliance are found that the determinant is weaker than the media exposure and media exposure are more important than media credibility in relation to presidential state of the union addresses. Application of the Theory In Malaysia, one of the case studies was to examine the Malay language newspaper’s media agenda during the general election. (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, UPM) The study was conducted to examine the use of the Barisan Nasional (BN) manifesto as the media agenda during the general election for the year 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995 and 1999. A model for the study was constructed based on the Agenda Setting Theory. A content analysis was conducted on 50 issues of Utusan Malaysia (UM) and Berita Harian (BH). Throughout the studies, it was found that there were 11 major themes frequently used in the BN manifesto namely: politics, foreign policy, development, economy, social education, security, religion, workers welfare, agriculture and the quality of life. Above were the main themes in the news during the general election for the year of study. The content analysis also found that there were 4461 news with the BN manifesto shown in 11 major news themes with â€Å"politics† in the lead and the â€Å"quality of life† ending the list. It also showed that the BN manifesto was mainly covered in various sections such as the Local News, Foreign News, Special Column, Main Column, Editorial, Advertisement, Economy, Asean, Forum, Articles and others. While the coverage on News, Articles, Photographs, Editorial, Letter to the Editor, Cartoon, Columnist and Comments also showed the present of BN manifesto. There was also a small difference between the two newspapers in terms of its news coverage on the BN manifesto during the general election. The study clearly showed that the media agenda of the two mainstream newspapers in the country was framed by the content of the BN manifesto during the duration of the general election for the year 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995 and 1999 and thus, strengthening the Agenda Setting Theory. The media institution and politic institution are closely linked to each other and are hardly being separated. Both the institutions are interdependent on each other. In Malaysia, we are practicing the democracy system, thus, media are an important instrument to achieve the democracy level; Media play a role in influencing the public in deciding their votes during a general election, either to vote for the specific individual or the party. Besides, media also take control in the politic process as mentioned earlier in the Agenda Setting Theory. In a democratic country like Malaysia, the process in politics often involve media as a tool to spread the news on certain parties’ issues and frame some of the suggestions or views on certain parties or individuals. In order to achieve a country that is practicing democratic system, the general elections were often used as a measurement tool in testing the level of support among the voters toward a specific party. Personal experience interpersonal communication among elites and other individuals So, the process of general election in Malaysia is a very crucial component in a democratic way. There were 12 general elections being held so far in Malaysia which were in the year 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995, 1999 and 2004. Also, there were 6 Prime Ministers that have involved themselves in became the main politic communicators in every general election that have been done. Every Prime Minister has their own plans in collaboration with the media to enhance their communication through media, and utilized it in a proper ways. Gatekeepers’ influential media spectacular news events Policy Agenda Public Agenda Media Agenda Real world indications of the importance of an agenda, issue or event Figure 1: Three Main Components in Agenda Setting Process In political communication, media is one of the aspects to be deal with. Others include media agenda, public agenda and policy agenda. All these three main components form a process (Agenda Setting Process) by which a complete political communication is carried out where the media were used to disseminate the messages or information to mass audiences. This process is involved in the Agenda Setting Process and has TWO levels: The media agenda affects the public agenda, and the public agenda affects the policy agenda. The communication using media has done by the politicians to publish their views and news or in this case, the manifesto of Barisan Nasional in Utusan Melaysia and Barita Harian in the media agenda. However, there are existence of gatekeepers that may influence the news and events to be published. In the case studies on BN manifesto, the gatekeepers here would be the editor and the owner of Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian newspapers publishers. The purposes of having gatekeepers here is to avoid harmful, negative, sensitive or religious issues being discussed which may cause misunderstanding within the nation According to the research, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian used media agenda to influence the public, and this has brought the issue to a broader step which is the public agenda, where the public start discussing about the issue. In the case studies, there are some similarities in the manifesto of Barisan Nasional. During the general election, extensive media coverage on the political issues of BN were published continuously especially in the front page of the newspapers being analyzed: Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian. Those issues are similar to the manifesto of BN. Therefore, the public can gain most of the information about BN from the newspaper than the other party. After the public has start discussing about the issue, which is the involvement of BN’s manifesto in both the newspapers being mentioned, there were some activists who tried to support or banned the manifesto. The real world indicator will decide the importance of the agenda itself. Then, through the personal experiences and interpersonal communications among the elites and other individuals, there might be changes in the policy agenda. Finally, the policy agenda causes the media agenda to publish about the news and information all over again. The Agenda Setting Process will be repeated. ————————————————- Strengths and Weakness of the Theory We found that agenda setting theory has three strengths. First, agenda setting theory has explanatory power. Because this theory explains why most of the people prioritize the same issues as important. Therefore, most of the people will discuss the same issues at the same time. They will also concentrate discuss the issues because they think that the issues are affecting them. Second, this theory also has predictive power as it predicts that if people are exposed to the same media, they will feel the same issues as important. For example, if one issue be the headline of all the newspapers for one week, people will feel that this issue is very important and it will affect their life. Furthermore, this theory has organizing power because it helps organize existing knowledge of media effects. There are also weaknesses, such as media users may not be as ideal as the theory assumes. People may not be well-informed, deeply engaged in public affairs, thoughtful and skeptical. Media just tell them what to think about the issues. People just know the appearance of the issues and not deeply engage in the issues. They will also think that are the issues reported correct or the media have hide something bad that they do not know about the issues. So, some of the people do not trust what the media have said. Instead, people may pay only casual and intermittent attention to public affairs and remain ignorant of the details. For people who have made up their minds, the effect is weakened. News media cannot create or conceal problems; they may only alter the awareness, priorities and salience people attached to a set of problems. Research has largely been inconclusive in establishing a casual relationship between public salience and media coverage. Suggestions to Improve on the Theory For communication theory to be adopted by researchers and remain viable, it must be able to survive and grow through its ability to adapt to changing environments, encourage further research, and serve as a foundation for studies beyond those in which the founders originally applied their theory. According to McCombs and Shaw (1972) the result of their study shows that fewer voters knew about specific issues. While they found out that media were often effective in raising awareness of issues with undecided voters. They also found that issues presented by media that were new to audiences were better received by the public than issues with which the public was already familiar. The key factor to the ability of media to have an agenda-setting effect upon their audiences depends on the desire of the viewers to become informed about the issues. For example, when the voters wants to know more about their ideal government leaders the public have to search for more information about the leaders and the party as the desired for them to become informed on the issues instills a strong motivation factors for the public’s. Although the theory may seem to be acceptable but the theory still have its own weaknesses and failure which are visible and need to be improved. For example, while the article concentrate on the presentation of the issues during the election campaigns, the willingness of voters to listen to issues presented by the media, they fail to examine the degree to which mass media is able to raise issues and attract information-seeking audiences on its own but they fail to examine the degree of how the mass media is able to heightened public interest of political issues during election seasons to perform an agenda-setting function. Besides that, the media agenda in agenda-setting theory have their own limitations, as media may not be as ideal as the theory assumes. The information from the media may not deliver appropriately, deeply engaged in public affairs, thoughtful and skeptical. Therefore to improve the theory effectiveness of the theory, the media should increase the understanding of the issues by reporting a more detail information about the election with wide range of information. In addition, the media can also carry out a survey to understand better the level of absorption information of the readers, listeners and viewers. The media should also aware of the public acceptance and understanding of the issues as the agenda-setting theory has its own limitations in dispersing the news. Conclusion In conclusion, the Agenda Setting Theory is a very important practice in media industry especially in a democratic country like Malaysia. The media collaborate with government to control what to be think and discussed among the public. The purpose is to shape their perception over certain issues. It can be from a political issue to welfare issue. This theory proved that whatever issue has been discussed shape the importance of that specific issue and bring to the discussion in the public as in the public agenda. If the public or majorities think that there are some dissatisfactions or objections going on, there will be changes in the policy agenda. Thus, agenda setting is a very important tool in media even though there are still some weaknesses in this practice. So, the media should take in to account to improve their practice by injecting more information not only to a specific area but make it more widely than today in order for the public to have more knowledge about our nation and this may create a more critical thinking nation. References Agenda-Setting Theory – Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw(n. d. ). Retrieved July 30, 2010, from http://www. ninosoriadeveyra. com/uploads/3/0/1/1/3011660/agenda-setting_ justine_kate_gian. ppt. Agenda-Setting Theory: Presentation paper abstracts (n. . ). Retrieved July 30, 2010, from http://realhomepages. com/wecapps/agenda%20setting. htm Agenda-Setting Theory: Strengths and weaknesses of theory (n. d. ). Retrieved July 30, 2010, from http://www. servinghistory. com/topics/Agenda-setting_theory::sub::Strengths_And_ Weaknesses_Of_Theory Garson, G. D. (2006). Agenda setting theory. Retrieved July 30, 2010, from http://faculty. chass. ncsu. edu/garson/PA765/agendasetting. htm Media Tenor Innovatio – Agenda setting theory (n. d. ). Retrieved July 30, 2010, from http:// www. agendasetting. com/res_theory. php M. Sanchez Spring 2002. (2002). Retrieved July 30, 2010, from http://zimmer. csufresno. edu/~ johnca/spch100/7-4-agenda. htm Spring 2001 theory workbook. (2001). Retrieved July 30, 2010, from http://www. uky. edu/~ drlane/capstone/mass/agenda. htm The Agenda-Setting Role of the Mass Media in the Shaping of Public Opinion (n. d. ). Retrieved July 30, 2010 from http://www. infoamerica. org/documentos_pdf/mccombs01. pdf

Math and the Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Math and the Internet - Essay Example The most important question is: Is mathematics involved in such an important part of our everyday life The hardware is a main part of Internet - it is comprised of servers and personal computers. The information is represented electronically using different levels of voltages. For instance, a 0 could be represented by a 0 voltage and a 1 could be represented by a voltage of 3 volts. To avoid overheating the voltage levels must to be low which means that each piece of information on the computer can be represented with the values 1 or 0. The common language of arithmetic is the decimal number system. Normally we use a numbering system referred to as base 10. Digits in this system may take the values 0 through 9. In any base "n" (where n is a positive integer), digits may take values from 0 to "n-1"; so in base 2 (the binary system) the digits can have values 0 or 1. This is why the information on the computer can be represented only in binary and each piece of information is called 'bit' (from "BInary digiT). In the binary number system each number larger than 1 requires multiple bits and each consecutive place value is a power of two.