Sunday, September 22, 2019

WorldCom Essay Example for Free

WorldCom Essay This paper explores the Accounting fraud that took place at WorldCom. Three aspects of the corporate culture are discussed including WorldCom’s harsh top-down management approach, the lack of written rules or a code of conduct, and the inaccessibility of many of WorldCom’s departments. The CEO’s desire to be the #1 stock on Wall Street is also discussed. WorldCom’s inappropriate booking and releasing of accruals is explored and proper accrual accounting procedures are stated. Three aspects of whistleblowing are discussed, including saving a company from a destructive end, facing public reprisal, and potential legal effects. Arthur Andersen is then used to explore the credibility of the Accounting profession when corporate fraud is unveiled. Keywords: WorldCom, fraud, accruals, whistleblowing WorldCom The corporate culture at WorldCom was one that was very loose. Although several factors contributed to the loose and unhealthy environment at WorldCom, one of the greatest downfalls of the corporate culture was the harsh top-down management approach. Employees were advised to do as they were told without questioning management. In addition, CEO Bernard Ebbers and CFO Scott Sullivan dabbled in too many affairs that should have been handled by lower-level management. Too often they ordered overrides of basic procedures that resulted in the downfall of WorldCom. Orders were issued that resulted in the override of accounting procedures. This greatly contributed to the fraud. Another factor that contributed to the unhealthy corporate culture at WorldCom was the fact that no written rules or code of conduct existed. The CEO himself thought it was a waste of time. This paired with the harsh top-down management approach seemed to create a lack of internal control as well. There were no real company rules and managers were completely capable of overriding any rules that may have existed. The inaccessibility of other departments may have contributed to the fraud as well. With so many corporate headquarters, key personnel who may have detected the fraud sooner were not able to confirm that anything wrong was taking place. If a key manager from the finance department in Mississippi, a key manager from the human resources department in Florida, a key manager from the legal department in Washington, D. C. , and a key manager from the network operations department in Texas been together at any point in time, worked together in the same building, or even had the appropriate means to communicate (cell phones were not a hot commodity like they are today and e-mail was just starting to take flight), it is possible that WorldCom could have been saved from its fraudulent end. The CEO’s desire to be the #1 stock on Wall Street was the main source of the fraud. He was so driven to be on top that he ordered managers to engage in inappropriate accounting procedures that included maintaining a certain expense-to-revenue ratio at all costs, releasing accruals, and capitalizing expenses. Furthermore, his top leadership instructed employees about what information could and could not be disclosed with the external auditors. Employees were cursed and threatened if they disclosed anything that was perceived to be a threat to his plan of being the #1 stock on Wall Street. According to Beresford, Katzenbach, and Rogers, Jr. 2003), â€Å"WorldCom manipulated the process of adjusting accruals in three ways. First, in some cases accruals were released without any apparent analysis of whether the Company actually had excess accruals in its accounts. Thus, reported line costs were reduced (and pre-tax income increased) without any proper basis. Second, even when WorldCom had excess accruals, the Company often did not release them in the period in which they were identified. Instead, certain line cost accruals were kept as rainy day funds and released to improve reported results when managers felt they were needed. Third, WorldCom reduced reported line costs by releasing accruals that had been established for other purposes— in violation of the accounting principle that reserves created for one expense type cannot be used to offset another expense† (p. 69). According to Investopedia, â€Å"†¦economic events are recognized by matching revenues to expenses (the matching principle) at the time in which the transaction occurs rather than when payment is made (or received)† (para. 1). Thus, accruals are booked when transactions occur. Accruals are released when either payment is made or when they are evaluated and deemed to be in excess of the actual accrual. Accruals of one type should never be released to offset another type. Accruals should also be released in the period they are identified. While whistleblowing may seem like a relatively easy concept to some, it really is not. The decision between doing the easy thing and doing the right thing usually is not easy. For instance, a person could report fraudulent activity that is taking place within an organization, whether it is due to corruption, misappropriation of assets, financial statement fraud, or another type of fraud. However, such a decision could carry a great price tag. Not only could it lead to the complete destruction of a company, but it could cost other employees their benefits, their retirements, and their jobs. One of the pros of whistleblowing is the fact that a company could be saved from certain destruction, as in the case of WorldCom. It is possible that the sooner fraudulent activity is reported, the less negative the outcome could be. However, whistleblowers are often perceived as tattle tales and snitches and sometimes face public reprisal, as was the case with WorldCom’s Cynthia Cooper. Another downside is the potential legal effects of whistleblowing. According to Wikipedia, â€Å"†¦most whistleblower protection laws provide for limited make whole remedies or damages for employment losses if whistleblower retaliation is proven. However, many whistleblowers report there exists a widespread shoot the messenger mentality by corporations or government agencies accused of misconduct and in some cases whistleblowers have been subjected to criminal prosecution in reprisal for reporting wrongdoing† (Common Reactions section, 4). The consequences of whistleblowing may prove to be steep. The credibility of the Accounting profession is put in jeopardy when corporate fraud is unveiled. As a result of the WorldCom fraud, Arthur Andersen was ordered to cease practicing before the Security and Exchange Commission by August 31, 2002. According to Wikipedia, â€Å"†¦the damage to the Andersen name was so severe that as of 2010[update], it has not returned as a viable business even on a limited scale. There are over 100 civil suits pending against the firm related to its audits of Enron and other companies. In addition, its reputation was so badly tarnished that no company wanted Andersens name on an audit. Even before voluntarily surrendering its right to practice before the SEC, it had many of its state licenses revoked† (Demise section, 1). As stated by Charles Niemeier (2001), â€Å"A loss of confidence can cause even a company with solid core operations to fail. That is because the negative impact of a lack of credibility can be far greater than the sum of the misstatements in the financials† (The Dangers of Smoothing section, 7). References http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/accrualaccounting.asp http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/wsj/docs/worldcom/bdspcomm60903rpt.pdf http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/spch529.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistleblower

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Impact Of Population Growth On The Environment Environmental Sciences Essay

Impact Of Population Growth On The Environment Environmental Sciences Essay The world has been experiencing a rapid increase in human population for the past 10, 000 years. According to the most recent U.N. statistics, population has grown from several millions back in the B.C. to over 6.6 billion in the 21st century. Even though the growth rate is gradually slowing, the U.N. population Division still expect the worldwide population to very much hit 9.1 billion by 2050. We have all known for long that the human population is no doubt the chief contributor to environmental woes. The humans are the one demanding fossil fuels to power their tech-savvy lifestyles, clearing forests for agricultural use, and polluting the environment with their industrial activities. More people means more demand for natural resources either mined or drilled from below the Earths surface to be burned for energy. Assuming that each person contributes to a certain amount of the total demand, one could very much imagine the kind of strain that this 2.5 billion of additional population is going to cause to the Earth. With the population expected to rise by that phenomenal amount, environmentalist and the others are getting more concerned with whether the Earth is still able to withstand that loads of demand. We also being concerned aims to examine the causes and impacts of this issue in the report, so that solutions could be proposed to alleviate it. 1.3 Focus In our opinion, we feel that if we can solve the problem of the rising human population growth, we can also solve the environmental problems that is likely to stem from it. The explaination for this reasoning is simple and rather fundamental. The problems merely justify the need to do something about it, whereas the causes is the one that set off the problems. As mentioned earlier on, the crux to the solutions lies very much with the causes itself. Therefore, one could very well expect us to first introduce the problems in the report, before moving on to the more crucial part, its causes and solutions. 1.4 Methodology Information used for this study was mainly obtained from secondary sources such as books, online databases, U.N. publications, and other useful websites. A listing of these useful sources of information can be found at the Appendix 1 as attached in the report. Human population The world population refers to the total number of living humans on Earth at a given time. For the past 10, 000 years, the world has been experiencing a rapid increase in human population. According to the most recent U.N. statistics, population has grown from several millions back in the B.C. to over 6.6 billion in the 21st century. Even though the growth rate is gradually slowing, the U.N. Population Division still expect the worldwide population to very much hit 9.1 billion by 2050. With most of the increase in Asia and Africa, in particular, the poorer nations that have no access to proper family-planning programmes. An alarming issue Rising human population We have all known for long that the human population is no doubt the chief contributor to environmental woes. However, what little know of is that the human population is only one of the several factors that affect the environment. The extent to which population increase can be considered a problem is still reliant on other factors. One widely used formula that could help us understand what factors could actually interplayed to cause that significant impact, would be the IPAT model that John Holdren from Harvard University came up with. This model represents how the total impact on the enviroment results from the interaction among population, affluence and technoloy. An Increased population intensifies impact on the environment as more individuals take up space, use resources, and generate waste. As the population gets older it gets more affluent too, thereby demanding higher living standards to satisfy their wants. To meet the humans instatiable wants, better technology would have to be developed to better mine fossil fuels, clear old-growth forests, or fish. Assuming that everybody has to be fed, clothed, housed and hopefully supported by gainful employment. An increased population would actually means the intensification of the impact that the human population has on the Ecosystem. Hence, the problem is not only that the population is burgeoning. It is also that the usage of the resources, and environmental damages are also increasing at a phenomenol speed. Approach All of us would have known by now that a rising global population has devasting impacts on the Earth. It not only erodes the living standards of the world population, results in poverty in already poor countries, affect a countrys economy, but most importantly has a negative impact on the Ecosystem. We will in this chapter, look in depth how the rising global human population develops into a problem, and the various environmental impacts it has on the Earth. The Problem of Rising Global Human Population Urbanisation is being defined as the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. Moreover, It can also be interpreted as the movement of people from rural to urban areas with population growth equating to urban migration. The United Nations project suggested that 60% of the worlds population would live in urban areas at the end of 2030. An increased in the population residing there would lead to an increase in consumption of energy, food, water, domestic goods, and land. To accommodate to this increase in demand, more resource extraction, manufacturing, and agricultural production will have to take place. Considering the limited existing resources of an urban city, an expansion of the city would be needed for the above mentioned activities to take place. This expansion of urban areas across the landscape is something also being defined as urban sprawl. In order for urban sprawl to take place, surrounding areas adjoining the edge of the urban cities will have to be made ready. This is usually done through habitat alteration such as, deforestation for urban cities surrounded by forest/mangroves, or land reclaimation for cities corteminous with islands. Environmental Impacts From the above illustration, we can see that a rising population will not only highten the rate of human activites but will also give rise to newer problems such as urban sprawl. All of these problems will then contribute to certain environmental woes which would interplay and lead to further consequences. The following are some environmental issues that are either the direct or indirect impact of a rising global population: Depletion of natural resources Global climate change Loss of biodiversity Depletion of natural resources Depletion of natural resources refers to the over exploitation of the exhaustible group of natural resources. This group of resources comes in the form of renewable and non-renewable resources. Renewable natural resources are those that can replenish themselves in a resonable amount of time, however, it can also be depleted should the rate of usage exceed the rate of regeneration. Whereas, non-renewable resources are those that only exist in a fixed quality, and either takes up to millions of year to replace themselves or does not possess the ability to recyle themselves. As the human population rises, human activities such as urban sprawl, resource extraction, manufacturing, and agricultural production are expected to increase too. As all of these activities each demand a certain type of natural resources and energy to support them, an increase in human activities would equate to an increase in demand for these natural resources. Some of the resources that are affected as a result of them are namely, fossil fuels, land, water, and minerals. Fossil Fuels Alongside the increasing demand for petrol and diesel to power transportation, industries and farming, huge quantities of fossil fuel such as crude oil is also needed in the manufacturing of plastic-made products. With oil production likely to increase by nearly 40% from 2006 to 2030; as a result of only the increasing world energy demand of 60%. The real demand for oil is believed to be much more higher. According to British Petroleum the current world oil reserves stand at 1238 billion barrels. And present yearly world oil production stands at 31 billion barrels.  If the current rate of oil discoverage were to remain stagnant or low, oil, the primary source of fossil fuel used to produce energy might very well be depleted before 40 years (The figure as calculated with current consumption rate and the level of reserves). The following is a graph (Figure 1.0) that highlighted the increasing gap between the production rate and discoverage rate of oil supplies. Figure 1.0 (adaptedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..) Land and Water Land degradation refers to deterioration or loss of fertility or productive capacity of the soil. Urban sprawl can dramatically transform the properties of soil, causing it to lose its water permeability and ability to perform essential duties. These duties include the loss of ability to sustain soil biodiversity, crop cultivation, and the reduced effectiveness as a carbon sink. The following graph (Figure 1.1) showed the amount and types of land loss in various European cities that were the result of urban sprawl. Figure 1.1 (adaptedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) On top of all that, rainwater which falls on areas with deterioted land will also be heavily polluted by tire abrasion, dust and high concentrations of heavy metals, which when washed into rivers will degrade the hydrological system. To add insult to injury, the level of water table will also decline as deterioted land can no longer allow water to penetrate throught it. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,   If current trends continue, 90 percent of freshwater supplies will disappear by 2030. Setting all that aside, one still has to take into consideration the soaring increase in use of water for crop cultivation and human consumption. With the supply of water on the shorter end and demand for it on the rise, the UN Millenium Project, 2008a estimated that 3 billion people might face water scarcity by 2025. A remarkable increase from the current figure of 700 millions people. If nothing done about this, the Earth will very soon run out of arable land to support crop cultivation and no longer have enough safe drinking water to support the rising global human population. Minerals Minerals are the backbone of the human civilisation, they are needed in almost all sectors of industries. If we were to look into the manufacturing sector and bulding sector, some minerals used by them would be gold, silver, iron, cemet, and copper. Since there is a direct relationship between the human population and the industries, a booming population will also lead to an increase in the consumption of minerals. A good example to substantiate the direct impact a growing population would have on minerals would be the example on Spain. For years, the efforts to support the growing population in Spain, have resulted in major expansion of construction activities, mainly along the coast and around major cities. As a result, the consumption of concrete has also increased by a wide margin of 120 % since 1996, reaching a level of 51.5 million tons in 2005. Taking into account the non-renewable characteristic of minerals and the direct relationship it has with the human population. A surge in the human population might cause the limited stock of minerals to undergo depletion in the near future. Loss of biodiveristy Biodiversity may be defined as the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or the entire Earth. Biodiversity is earths primary life support system and is a pre-condition for human survival. As population grow, develop and modify their environment, their activities inevitably affect biodiversity. To understand the impacts of human population growth on biodiversity, a study into it had been carried out in Canada. The findings reveal that human activities such as agricultural activities, urbanisation, and manufacturing are the primary causes of the decline of biodiversity in Canada. Agricultural activities Agricultural is the production of goods and food through farming. It is reported that Agriculture has had a significant effect on biodiversity because of its prevalence over the landscape. Loss of native habitat in Canada due to farming has been significant. As a result of agricultural activities, Canada lost more than 85% of shortgrass prairie, 80% of mixed-grass prairie, 85% of aspen parkland and almost its entire native tallgrass prairie. Loss of habitat, coupled with farming practises of using only a few strains genetically-engineered crop, has resulted in the endangerment of a disproportionately large number of plants and animal species in Canada. To prepare a piece of land for agricultural activities, the natural vegetation has to be first removed from it. Without the natural vegetations protection, the topsoil, a surface layer of soil that is rich in nutrients and beneficial microorganisms, can be easily eroded away by surface water, or winds. In Quebec, it is estimated that 3.4 million tonnes of soil per year are eroded by water. Soil erosion renders an area barren and unsuitable for plants that were initially growing there. To add on to that, soil that has been washed away and deposited in waterways, also destroys the fragile life forms in it. If water can carry away soil, it can also cause the runoff of pesticides and fertilizers that are applied in abundance to commercial crops, and of course the wastes of cattle and livestock. In Quebec, between 1990 and 1991, an impressive amount of 190 000 tonnes of nitrogen and 120 000 tonnes of phosphorus were applied to agricultural lands in the form fertilizers, or were present as livestock wastes. As these excess nutrients enter the lakes and rivers, Eutrophication of aquatic environment can occur; altering and degrading the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems. With 64 out of 105 developing countries studied by the UN Food and Agriculture Ogranisation seeing their population growing at a speed faster than the food supplies, the increase in agricultural activities worldwide is imminent. Therefore, one should expect the loss of biodiversity as a result of pollutants coming from agricultural activities to swell around the globe. Urbanisation It is estimated that between 1871 and 1991, the Canadian population living in urban centers have increased from19% to  77%. To accommodate to this increase, the initial urban centres that stand on 0.7% of Canadas total area, have been expanding over the last few decades. In the twenty years spanning 1971 to 1991, the total area of the Montreal Urban Community increased from 2674 km2 in 1971 to 3509 km2, the Quebec City area increased from 907 km2 to 3150 km2, and the Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivieres became classified as urban centers. With the majority of large cities located within the St. Lawrence lowlands, a ecozone that is very biologically rich. An expanding city is bound to displace the many species that depend on that ecozone as habitat. Manufacturing In Cananda, manufacturing is the main economy in Quebec, it not only employs the most number of people, but also contribute the highest proportion of Quebecs GDP. Due to the unique nature of this sector of industry, many harmful pollutants are constantly being emited from its operations. Water-borne pollutants include metals, organic chemicals, and suspended sediments that are usually found in industrial discharges. These toxic discharges when flow into the water, can inversely affect the biota in an ecosystem by killing them, weakening them, or deterioting their ability to reproduce. As mentioned earlier on, the majority of large cities are concentrated within the St. Lawrence watershed. Therefore, any harmful discharges from the industries can quickly reach and harm the living organisms in it. Air-borne pollutants include carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and acid precipiation that can usually be found in the smoke fumes from factories and motor vehicles. It had been found out that air emissions from the Inco steel smelter in Sudbury, Ontario were directly responsible for a significant portion of the acid rain in eastern North America. Consequently, the surrounding lakes, which is home to fish, mollusk and other amphibian populations, were acidified. Since these amphibian species will not be able to survive in acidic condition, a lake hit by acid rain will result in the death of them. Furthermore, air-borne pollutants such as carbon dioxide and methane also give rise to a whole new environmental problem, which is being known as Global Climate Change. We will in the following paragraphs look into what this is all about. Global Climate Changes Global climate change refers to the change in global temperatures and precipitation over time due to natural variability or to human activity. Climate change may be limited to a specific region, or may occur across the whole Earth. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), ever since the start of the industrial revolution, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have rose from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years. Furthermore, findings also concluded that there is a higher than 90 percent probability that human-produced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have caused much of the observed increase in Earths temperatures over the past 50 years. While we all know that human activities were the cause of global climate changes, the main causes of the current global warming trend is actually the result of human expansion of greenhouse effect a process in which the heat leaving the Earth is being trapped by the greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases include, water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitirious oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. On Earth, the composition of natural greenhouse has been constantly altered by human activities. Over the years, the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. On a smaller scale, the clearing of forests for agriculture, industry, and other human activities, have also resulted in an increase in the concentrations of greenhouse gases. From the relationship between the human population and humans industrial activities, it is undisputed that any increase in the human population will lead to an increase of greenhouse emissions, which will eventually accelerates the rate of global climate change. The following table summarises the regional impacts of global climate change by the IPPC: Region Impacts North America Decreasing snowpack in the western mountains; 5-20 percent increase in yields of rain-fed agriculture in some regions; increased frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves in cities that currently experience them. Latin America Gradual replacement of tropical forest by savannah in eastern Amazonia; risk of significant biodiversity loss through species extinction in many tropical areas; significant changes in water availability for human consumption, agriculture and energy generation. Europe Increased risk of inland flash floods; more frequent coastal flooding and increased erosion from storms and sea level rise; glacial retreat in mountainous areas; reduced snow cover and winter tourism; extensive species losses; reductions of crop productivity in southern Europe. Africa By 2020, between 75 and 250 million people are projected to be exposed to increased water stress; yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50 percent in some regions by 2020; agricultural production, including access to food, may be severely compromised. Asia Freshwater availability projected to decrease in Central, South, East and Southeast Asia by the 2050s; coastal areas will be at risk due to increased flooding; death rate from disease associated with floods and droughts expected to rise in some regions. Figure 1.2 (Adapted from: http://climate.nasa.gov/effects/) On top of all that, the global climate change also indirectly resulted in the loss of biodiversity. As the global temperature rises, crop that used to grow best at certain temperature, will not be able to adapt, and will die off eventually. On the other hand, the higher temperature will also melt the glaciers and the artic sea ice, a habitat to animals such as, polar bears and penguins. Conclusion According to U.N. population division, the worldwide population has a high likelihood of hitting 9.1 billion by 2050. From this figure, it is easy to see that even if the current world population of 6.6 billion does not increase it consumtion per capita, we will still have to use up more resources to support this higher number of population. Hence, there is an urgent need to do something about the rising global huamn population, as the devasting envrionmental effects we discussed earlier on have a direct relationship with it.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Agriculture and Forestry Machinery Industry in Canada

Agriculture and Forestry Machinery Industry in Canada General remarks: The sources should be added The way we do it is like this[1] Also, since there are now sources, I cannot check how valid are your points It is always better to talk about the movement rather than static: E.g. the point with loans. Less loans, more loans than in 2012 (2011, 2012)? What is the trend, and this trend is the result of what? (not just 2013) With agricultural land. Increasing? Decreasing? The trend. Hard to understand the main story (and I think it is more related to the loans, and cutting of subsidies than with rich harvest) I am also adding the competitive landscape from last year, so you can finish the company you didn’t know. Headlines Market for agricultural and forestry machinery grows 15% in 2013 due to increasing capacities of domestic and main import/export partner USA farms and consequently high farm incomes that encourage farmers to invest in agriculture machinery.[G1] Industry increasingly concentrated, with top 5 companies: Buhler Industries Inc., John Deere Ltd., CNH Canada Ltd., Bourgault Industries Ltd., La Coop Purdel increasing their revenue Government gives loans and insurance incentivise farmers to buy new equipment or update old machines[GL2] Domestic market grows slightly more than sales over 2013, mainly due to cost savings arising from adoption of innovative technologies[GL3] Maybe a point about cutting government subsidies Loans Something from production, like innovation trend or demand abroad for Canadien machinery ( I still didn’t get why exactly is the Canadian machinery demanded) Industry set to see 3% turnover growth in 2014 due to accelerating mechanisation and adoption of precision farming in agriculture, coupled with strong USA demand for Canadian-made machinery Market Trends The Canadas market for agricultural and forestry machinery was valued C$5.4 billion in 2013, up by astounding 15% from 2012. Year-on-year [G4]market growth was mainly attributed to the agriculture industry and its growing automation, while increasing application of innovative products such as precision farming equipment also had a positive impact. Farms sought to increase production capacity and capture the benefits of high revenue coming from high crop prices. [G5]Furthermore, major what? trends in Canada and other high-income countries included a reduction in the number but growth in the size of farms[G6], which fuelled demand for sophisticated agricultural equipment. Farm size in Canada is growing similar to other high 0 income countries, which fuels demand for sophisticated agricultural machinery. The agriculture industry was main buyer of agricultural and forestry machinery in 2013, including both purchases for investment and business purposes. There were around 200 000 farms operating in Canada in 2013, with more than 51 million hectares of agricultural land classified as dependable agricultural land [GL7]. An excellent 2013 key grains such as and oilseeds harvest in Canada was a main contributor for strong which sector performance. Consequently, net farm incomes in 2013 were as high as in 2012 , fuelling investment in capacity expansion, which led to 12% growth of agriculture sector spending for investment and business purposes. High agriculture revenue and consequent spending on agricultural and forestry machinery was a result of several key factors. Primarily, favourable weather conditions , translated in record 2013 crop production and allowed farmers to capitalise on higher crop prices, which remained high till the end of the year. In addition to that, although the number of farms in Canada is steadily falling since 2006 (taking in to perspective from 2006 to 2011 it fell 10.3% or by 24 thousand farms), they are getting bigger, which resulted in economies of scale and capital concentration. This naturally allowed greater spending on state-of-the-art agricultural equipment, adoption of precision farming, the use of new technologies to optimize agricultural yields and reduce costs. Precision farming employs innovations such as global positioning systems for vehicle and row tracking that allow farmers to use previous yield information and soil resistivity data to minimise planting overlaps.[G8] Farm credit approved 47 046 new loans in 2012-13, with average size of loan approved rising to C$162.406, giving farmers incentive to acquire new equipment. [GL9] However federal program payments, which include primarily payments made directly to agricultural sector? producers, were set to decrease from C$1.3 billion in 2012, to C$1.2 billion in 2013 and during the same 2 year period, provincial program payments were also set to decrease from C$ 1.6 to C$1.5 billion[G10]. In 2013 majority over 59% of domestic market demand was accounted for by foreign producers. Primarily from USA , which claimed 70% of all domestic market demand. [G11]Innovative technological advancements related to precision farming equipment, new advanced agriculture tractors and soil preparation machinery, backed by geographic proximity and NAFTA membership, allowed USA to remain Canadas most import partner in agricultural machinery. Meanwhile, second Canadas foreign supplier Germany, managed to increase its market share from 8% in 2012 to 9% in 2013. This can be attributed to record high farm incomes in Canada and farmers, who valued Germanys reputation as a producer of high-end agricultural machinery. This fostered demand for made-in-Germany machinery. [G12] Agricultural tractors were most demanded machinery in the market, accounting for 34% of the demand in 2013, increasing from C$1.6 billion in 2012 to C$1.8 billion by 10%, while harvesting and threshing machinery increased by 13% from C$1.3 to C$1.4 billion, which respectively accounted 26% of the demand in 2013. This increase of demand for the machinery can be explained by excellent 2012 year for farmers, who were able accumulate profit and bright expectations, that in 2013 grain production increase to 97 million tonnes, compared to 77 million tonnes, encourage farmers to plan ahead and to invest in new agricultural tractors, harvesting and threshing machinery. [G13] Production Trends In 2013 production of agriculture and forestry machinery in the Canada was C$ 4.7 billion, up 14% from previous year. Turnover of local producers was driven by reboots demand from domestic market as well as 7% growth in exports. As the result of increased agriculture volume, high net farming income and high demand for Canadian machinery in biggest export partner USA, local manufacturers ran at full capacity throughout 2013. Tight competition in the agriculture industry, led farmers[GL14] to seek cost minimisation, which could only have been most efficiently achieved using sophisticated machinery Canadian agricultural machinery industry had to offer. [GL15] Even though exports [GL16]percentage of production output fell from 53% in 2012 to 51%in 2013, exports grew by 7% from C$2.2 to C$2.4 billion. It was due to the fact that domestic demand grew faster than exports. Canadas export partners were mostly industrialised market economies where agricultural activity is capital-intensive and reliant on advanced technology. The biggest trade recipients remained USA claiming 79% of Canadas exports, due to geographic proximity and NAFTA membership, allowed Canada to remain the USAs primary import partner in agricultural equipment. As for 2013, Canadian soil preparation machinery and harvesting and threshing machinery each accounted for a third of agricultural and forestry machinery imports to the US. 2013 was a year of innovations in agricultural and forestry machinery industry[GL17] with breakthrough in precision farming. New ways at improving tillage by introducing tools capable of variable-rate tillage, vertical tillage and improved residue management, was leading innovation. Other significant areas of innovation were: equipment of smaller magnitude, directed at easier way to transport and to let tractors and planters achieve higher speed[GL18]. Decreasing number of farms, but ever expanding in size has been long lasting trend in Canada, bigger farms are capable of buying more expensive and sophisticated machinery. In addition to that, StatsCan also found a shift away from livestock-based farms to crop-based operations, such farms require more machinery to be ran efficiently than livestock-based. Naturally large corporations in machinery industry were more successful in satisfying demand for such equipment, due to high capital requirements, massive fixed costs and the importance of economies of scale. Smaller firms were able to compete in agricultural and forestry machinery industry by capitalizing their sales by offering specialised equipment such as tractor attachments to smaller farmers, who were trying to compete with bigger farmers as well. [G19] Production volume expanded by 14%, leading to stunning increase in profit by 20% over 2013, was among the largest among developed countries. Comparing to a profit margin of USA, which increased by moderate 4% but remained high, outperforming such countries as Italy, France, Germany and the UK. [GL20] Due to the rising popularity of precision-farming technologies, which started in 2011, top agriculture machinery manufacturers started to employ more professionals to create and develop more state-of-art [GL21]data hosting technologies, cloud-based applications, and other modern solutions. This translated into boost in wages, to attract best qualified personnel through 2012 and 2013. These strategies as well as 7% increase in number of employees, led to 6% increase of turnover per employee. [GL22] Competitive Landscape They all manufacture agricultural machinery? But how are they different? What kind of machinery? The industry of agricultural and forestry machinery was becoming more concentrated in production terms with five leading entities Buhler Industries Inc., John Deere Ltd., CNH Canada Ltd., Bourgault Industries Ltd., and La Coup Purdel in 2013. Majority of enterprises operated in the industry were micro-sized and small, mainly producing specialised equipment such as tractor attachments. Due to high capital requirements, massive fixed costs and the importance of economies of scale, the bigger share of turnover was captured by the largest producers. Buhler Industries Inc is headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment. Factories in Morden and Winnipeg, MB, Salem, SD, Willmar, MN and Fargo, ND, build tractors, front-end loaders, augers, compact implements and more. Buhler Industries maintains several well-stocked parts warehouses. 2007, Combine Factory Rostselmash Ltd, a major combine manufacturer located in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, acquired 80% of the common shares of Buhler Industries. With additional investment in engineering, research and development and production, the company is moving forward. The dealer / distribution network in North America remains unchanged, but the Rostselmash network of more than 200 dealers in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan now has access to the products built by Buhler Industries. 2013 marked the launch of a highly anticipated product known as the Versatile DeltaTrack. The new Versatile 260, 290 and 310, a front-wheel assist fixed frame tractor, entered production. This interim Tier 4 compliant tractor features a Cummins QSL 9.0 mated to a 16-speed powershift transmission. This new row crop tractor uses the Versatile HQ cab, the biggest cab in the agriculture industry, featuring new ergonomic controls and unmatched visibility and comfort. News? CHN Canada Ltd. is a company based in Saskatoon, Canada, which produces industrial and commercial machinery products, including farm machinery and equipment. CNH has earned a reputation for product quality and superior design in seeding, tillage and chemical application equipment. In particular, air seeding systems stand alone in terms of innovation, efficiency and effectiveness[GL23]. News? John Deere Ltd. is a company based in the Canada, which design, manufacture and distribute agricultural and construction equipment, turf and forestry equipment and additional supporting businesses Financial Services, Power Systems, Parts Services, and the Intelligent Solutions group. John Deere Ltd., future plans are to expand globally with a focus on six key areas the United States and Canada, Europe, Brazil, Russia, India, and China. News? Bourgault Industries Ltd. is a company based in the St. Brieux, Saskatchewan, Canada, which design, manufacture and distribute farm equipment. Bourgault Industries Ltd. is the world leader in air seeder technology. In 2011 company introduced Model 7950 air seeder, with four main tanks totalling 34 000 litres and full inter-tank flexibility that Bourgault air seeders are renowned for. News? Prospects The industry for agriculture and forest machinery is expected to enjoy a moderate 3% growth of turnover in 2014. The 2015 Canadian Agricultural Outlook projects that net income for Canadian farmer will continue to grow in 2014. In addition to that sizable gains realised during 2012 and 2013, and modest global demand for agriculture equipment, are anticipated to sustain demand for agricultural and forestry machinery in 2014. Talk about continuous decrease in subsidies Talk about how usa agricultural sector is projected to expand and have positive growth on exports Talk about sift towards grain farming rather than live stock, this type of farming should be requiring more machinery to process land ( my guess) can we confirm? In the medium and long term prospects for Canadas agriculture and forestry machinery producers are positive, particularly in terms of foreign opportunities. Growing demand for food and rising crop prices are set to fuel farm income worldwide and spur robust demand for advanced agricultural equipment. The necessity for cutting-edge machinery will be particularly high in regions characterised by rapid urbanisation and declining crop-land areas, as well as emerging markets in Eastern Europe and Africa, where consolidation will make capital investments more attractive and attainable. Application of new technologically-innovative farming practices, such as precision farming, is expected to fuel demand for agricultural equipment over the forecast period. which will as well drive the turnover of the industry under review. Demand for precision farming equipment is predicted to grow over the forecast period as young and open to what tech has to offer farmers continue to enter the national agriculture industry.[GL24] Competitive Landscape (2012) CNH Canada Ltd is a Canada-based subsidiary of CNH Global NV, which is majority owned by Fiat SpA. CNH manufactures and markets agricultural and construction equipment with 37 manufacturing facilities located throughout Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. In Canada the company operates a manufacturing centre in Saskatoon, SK, where it employs around 700 full-time workers. CNH Global NV operates through 11,300 dealers in approximately 170 countries and employs around 28,800 workers globally, with 9,900 in North America. Buhler Industries Inc is a Canadian company owned by Novoye Sodruzhestvo Industrial Group, which manufactures and sells agricultural equipment. Among the company’s products are tractors, self-propelled and pull-type sprayers, front-end loaders, grain augers, snow blowers, tillers, finishing mowers, feed processing equipment, seeding and tillage equipment, hay and forage equipment, among others. Buhler Industries Inc has several manufacturing plants in Morden and Winnipeg (Manitoba), Vegreville (Alberta), as well as sites in the US in Fargo (North Dakota), Salem (South Dakota) and Willmar (Minnesota). The company employs more than 1,000 workers in North America. John Deere Ltd is a Canadian subsidiary of Deere Co, which is an American company specialised in the manufacture of construction equipment, farm and turf equipment and forestry equipment. The company offers such products as loaders, combines, corn pickers, cotton and sugarcane harvesters, tillage, seeding and application equipment. It owns 19 plants in the US and Canada and plants in Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Mexico, and other countries around the world. MacDon Industries Ltd is a Canada-based company which designs, manufactures and sells harvesting equipment. Among the company’s products are self-propelled windrowers and headers, pull-types for hay, draper headers for combines and pick-up headers. MacDon Industries Ltd operates a manufacturing facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, which occupies over 600,000 square feet of building space. Bourgault Industries Ltd is a company based in Canada, which designs, manufactures and sells agricultural equipment. Among the company’s products are air seeders, air drills, tillage units, harrows, packers, fertiliser application systems, and others. [1] A Source [G1]Per ilga antraste [GL2]No companies. Unless its an important merge or news which is important to overall industry. In this case only one company news would come to head line. Not a summary list. [GL3]If its meant to be market grew more than production? I think that reasons are confusing. I can not see the numbers but it seems like a. market is driven by local demand b. production by exports and market? If yes , I agree the statement is lacks strength in logic [G4]What year? I would suggest explaining what is the difference. [G5]When? [G6]Is a new trend, still applicable to 2013? I would expect to read about it later in the txt, where a comparison is done of average farm size e.g. in year x versus 2013. [GL7]to try to give an evaluation – is what does this number represent. E.g. is it more than e.g. usa or some other big nation. In general.. [G8]Repetitive, combine withe the 2nd point Maybe clean up some facts but leave the size info. [GL9]I guess I want to see movement but simple fact of how different it is from 2012 more less would be enough. [G10]Very important point. More important than harvest, or land are. à ¯Ã‚ Ã…   SO first, cutting subidies, decond, agricultural loans. The interesting things is how come with subsidies down investment grew that much? But I guess it’s a controversy which is difficult to answer. One would expect a jump in loans,. Even then, subsidies declined 2 bil, while there is 100 000 of loans, not even close to compensate. [G11]Imports? [G12]Not sure, quite weak argument, I agree, its enough in terms of us. Unless he would be listing the companies and brands and new real products introduced. I would love toread about precision faring. Which company is has offered such farming machinery in 2013 , it would be a good illustraiont [G13]Gaun, repetitive. If you want to say it, add it above/ . I guess agree . I would say add that his buyers analises is strong enough, no need to empty talk on sectors. [GL14]Who’s [GL15]Sounds like an advertising slogan. I doubt that Canadian machinery is that special, and if it is, you have to tell what specific machinery or something is that important/demanded. [GL16]Since market is already analysed, in this case export is second most important factor to be analysed and presented in the production sector. I would doubt the analytical need to analyse export share change. Its enough to say its curtail, and it grew a little less by (something, not share) this time than local market. In the intro though always clearly state if local production is driven by export growth or local market , in this case its local market. Yet exports remain curtail as its half of revenues. [GL17]This argument needs support and examples. E.g. this this company, designed,/introduced and etc. Please expand this point. [GL18] [G19]Labiau prie market tinka I would delete it, the only interesting thing here that I found interesting is livestock-based farms to crop-based operations, this is important and should be mentioned in bueyrs. ( or agricultural analyses of the market) However, I do not see that text after that translates into explanation what it meant for producers.I would say its just a good fact to add to the positive facts of increasing size of farms, and good crop prices. [GL20]Descriptive. [GL21]ADVERTISING [GL22]GUESSING [GL23]Not a commercial. â€Å"earned a reputation for product† doesn’t fir [GL24]Not clear what and why? General remarks: The sources should be added The way we do it is like this[1] Also, since there are now sources, I cannot check how valid are your points It is always better to talk about the movement rather than static: E.g. the point with loans. Less loans, more loans than in 2012 (2011, 2012)? What is the trend, and this trend is the result of what? (not just 2013) With agricultural land. Increasing? Decreasing? The trend. Hard to understand the main story (and I think it is more related to the loans, and cutting of subsidies than with rich harvest) I am also adding the competitive landscape from last year, so you can finish the company you didn’t know. Headlines Market for agricultural and forestry machinery grows 15% in 2013 due to increasing capacities of domestic and main import/export partner USA farms and consequently high farm incomes that encourage farmers to invest in agriculture machinery.[G1] Industry increasingly concentrated, with top 5 companies: Buhler Industries Inc., John Deere Ltd., CNH Canada Ltd., Bourgault Industries Ltd., La Coop Purdel increasing their revenue Government gives loans and insurance incentivise farmers to buy new equipment or update old machines[GL2] Domestic market grows slightly more than sales over 2013, mainly due to cost savings arising from adoption of innovative technologies[GL3] Maybe a point about cutting government subsidies Loans Something from production, like innovation trend or demand abroad for Canadien machinery ( I still didn’t get why exactly is the Canadian machinery demanded) Industry set to see 3% turnover growth in 2014 due to accelerating mechanisation and adoption of precision farming in agriculture, coupled with strong USA demand for Canadian-made machinery Market Trends The Canadas market for agricultural and forestry machinery was valued C$5.4 billion in 2013, up by astounding 15% from 2012. Year-on-year [G4]market growth was mainly attributed to the agriculture industry and its growing automation, while increasing application of innovative products such as precision farming equipment also had a positive impact. Farms sought to increase production capacity and capture the benefits of high revenue coming from high crop prices. [G5]Furthermore, major what? trends in Canada and other high-income countries included a reduction in the number but growth in the size of farms[G6], which fuelled demand for sophisticated agricultural equipment. Farm size in Canada is growing similar to other high 0 income countries, which fuels demand for sophisticated agricultural machinery. The agriculture industry was main buyer of agricultural and forestry machinery in 2013, including both purchases for investment and business purposes. There were around 200 000 farms operating in Canada in 2013, with more than 51 million hectares of agricultural land classified as dependable agricultural land [GL7]. An excellent 2013 key grains such as and oilseeds harvest in Canada was a main contributor for strong which sector performance. Consequently, net farm incomes in 2013 were as high as in 2012 , fuelling investment in capacity expansion, which led to 12% growth of agriculture sector spending for investment and business purposes. High agriculture revenue and consequent spending on agricultural and forestry machinery was a result of several key factors. Primarily, favourable weather conditions , translated in record 2013 crop production and allowed farmers to capitalise on higher crop prices, which remained high till the end of the year. In addition to that, although the number of farms in Canada is steadily falling since 2006 (taking in to perspective from 2006 to 2011 it fell 10.3% or by 24 thousand farms), they are getting bigger, which resulted in economies of scale and capital concentration. This naturally allowed greater spending on state-of-the-art agricultural equipment, adoption of precision farming, the use of new technologies to optimize agricultural yields and reduce costs. Precision farming employs innovations such as global positioning systems for vehicle and row tracking that allow farmers to use previous yield information and soil resistivity data to minimise planting overlaps.[G8] Farm credit approved 47 046 new loans in 2012-13, with average size of loan approved rising to C$162.406, giving farmers incentive to acquire new equipment. [GL9] However federal program payments, which include primarily payments made directly to agricultural sector? producers, were set to decrease from C$1.3 billion in 2012, to C$1.2 billion in 2013 and during the same 2 year period, provincial program payments were also set to decrease from C$ 1.6 to C$1.5 billion[G10]. In 2013 majority over 59% of domestic market demand was accounted for by foreign producers. Primarily from USA , which claimed 70% of all domestic market demand. [G11]Innovative technological advancements related to precision farming equipment, new advanced agriculture tractors and soil preparation machinery, backed by geographic proximity and NAFTA membership, allowed USA to remain Canadas most import partner in agricultural machinery. Meanwhile, second Canadas foreign supplier Germany, managed to increase its market share from 8% in 2012 to 9% in 2013. This can be attributed to record high farm incomes in Canada and farmers, who valued Germanys reputation as a producer of high-end agricultural machinery. This fostered demand for made-in-Germany machinery. [G12] Agricultural tractors were most demanded machinery in the market, accounting for 34% of the demand in 2013, increasing from C$1.6 billion in 2012 to C$1.8 billion by 10%, while harvesting and threshing machinery increased by 13% from C$1.3 to C$1.4 billion, which respectively accounted 26% of the demand in 2013. This increase of demand for the machinery can be explained by excellent 2012 year for farmers, who were able accumulate profit and bright expectations, that in 2013 grain production increase to 97 million tonnes, compared to 77 million tonnes, encourage farmers to plan ahead and to invest in new agricultural tractors, harvesting and threshing machine

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Examples Of Charles Dickens Chthonic Journeys :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Question- In Charles Dickens autobiographical memoir Fragments of an Autobiography what are three chthonic journeys that he faces?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Charles Dickens autobiographical memoir Fragments of an Autobiography he has many chthonic journeys that he never fully recovered from. The essay starts off with Charles Dickens having to work at a blacking warehouse with a pay of six pints at the age of ten or twelve, even though he wants to go to school. His father is in jail due to money problems, which leaves the family with no money to pay their rent. As a result Charles goes to live with a friend and the rest of his family goes to live with the father in jail because they have no other place to go. He faces numerous chthonic journeys, or journeys to the underworld, including his terrible family life, his poor work conditions and low pay, which leads to money problems and his having to work even though he wants to go to school and get an education.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the essay there are countless examples as to how Dickens experienced chthonic journeys. One is that his family is in terrible condition. His father is in jail due to money problems, which then left the family with no money to pay their rent. Their father/husband borrowed money from people and never repaid them. Back in the Stinson-2 1800’s if you owed people money and couldn’t pay them back you would go to jail. With no house to live in everybody but Charles Dickens goes to live in jail with their father because they have no place to live. On the other hand Charles Dickens goes to live with friend. With all of this happening, including his family living in jail and his living away from them with a friend just crushed Dickens hopes and feelings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another chthonic journey that Charles Dickens faced was his working condition and his pay. Dickens worked at a blacking warehouse. The blacking warehouse was in terrible condition. There were rats everywhere, decaying floors and extremely small rooms. From this job he only earned six pints a week, which is very little to live on. With getting so little money he could barely buy the things that were necessary to live on. Once he bought things that he needed he had little to no extra money. He couldn’t buy any fun things to play with or extra food for a bedtime snack, which meant that at times he had have to go without food or other necessary items.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Bate Besong’s Beasts of no Nations :: Bate Besong Beasts Nations Essays

Bate Besong’s Beasts of no Nations Drama is one genre in Literature whose functionality in society cannot be under estimated. It is an active and practical genre because; there is harmony and a practical relationship between the audience and the dramatis personae. It thus imitates its society at best. From this, it is difficult to separate drama from politics; politics being a science that deals with the state and the condition of the human society. Bate Besong is one of the most renown Cameroonian playwright of English expression, besides Bole Butake, Victor Epie Ngome and John Nkemngong, who is of the younger generation of Cameroonian playwrights in English. Even then, Bate Besong’s plays have not gained impetus in the eyes of critics. But examining the content and form of Beasts of no Nations,a play he published in 1990, one can rightly conclude that Bate Besong is an experimentalist playwright and a reformer. That is, one who uses art with the hope of changing the state of affairs in his ailing Cameroonian society. It is in this light that he becomes a political writer. I defend the hypothesis here that drama and politics are inseparable. Drama does not only mirror society but plays the role of a conscientizing, since man is only a political being and not a political genius. My goal in this paper will be to assess the relationship that exists between drama and politics and its results in society. The sociological approach would be used to analyse the relationship between drama and politics in Batae Besong’s play. This approach is based on the assumption that literary works are reflections of society. Critics of the approach hold that the understanding of the actual society is very important in the understanding of the textual society. In this case a literary work becomes the product of the community. I find this approach relevant in that I am going to be dealing with a subject, which handles text and societal relationship. This paper has been structured into two broad phases: the first phase looks at drama as a genre, politics as a discipline and their relationship. The next phase looks at how Bate Besong uses the art of drama to handle some burning issues in Post-independent Cameroon Aristotle defines drama as â€Å"action†. Action results from the interaction between the dramatis personae. Through action, the audience understands the conflicts and follows closely how it is resolved. Bate Besong’s Beasts of no Nations :: Bate Besong Beasts Nations Essays Bate Besong’s Beasts of no Nations Drama is one genre in Literature whose functionality in society cannot be under estimated. It is an active and practical genre because; there is harmony and a practical relationship between the audience and the dramatis personae. It thus imitates its society at best. From this, it is difficult to separate drama from politics; politics being a science that deals with the state and the condition of the human society. Bate Besong is one of the most renown Cameroonian playwright of English expression, besides Bole Butake, Victor Epie Ngome and John Nkemngong, who is of the younger generation of Cameroonian playwrights in English. Even then, Bate Besong’s plays have not gained impetus in the eyes of critics. But examining the content and form of Beasts of no Nations,a play he published in 1990, one can rightly conclude that Bate Besong is an experimentalist playwright and a reformer. That is, one who uses art with the hope of changing the state of affairs in his ailing Cameroonian society. It is in this light that he becomes a political writer. I defend the hypothesis here that drama and politics are inseparable. Drama does not only mirror society but plays the role of a conscientizing, since man is only a political being and not a political genius. My goal in this paper will be to assess the relationship that exists between drama and politics and its results in society. The sociological approach would be used to analyse the relationship between drama and politics in Batae Besong’s play. This approach is based on the assumption that literary works are reflections of society. Critics of the approach hold that the understanding of the actual society is very important in the understanding of the textual society. In this case a literary work becomes the product of the community. I find this approach relevant in that I am going to be dealing with a subject, which handles text and societal relationship. This paper has been structured into two broad phases: the first phase looks at drama as a genre, politics as a discipline and their relationship. The next phase looks at how Bate Besong uses the art of drama to handle some burning issues in Post-independent Cameroon Aristotle defines drama as â€Å"action†. Action results from the interaction between the dramatis personae. Through action, the audience understands the conflicts and follows closely how it is resolved.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Is stress necessary to motivate us

I do not agree that stress is necessary to motivate us. I get motivation from being stress-free. I have better days when I am not stressed. I am happy and joyful, instead of angry and frustrated. When I get stressed I just am down or angry and don't want to be bothered. I have kids, and they can tell when I have a stressful day because it shows on my face. Then they are not happy and I just get more stressed then before. If people did not feel any stress their productive levels would probably be very good.Getting things done eliminates worries. If you are not stressed than you can focus on getting done what needs to be done. I think my ideal level of stress is when I am so fed up I want to explode. If I start to cry and I just feel like I can't take anymore, my stress level is very high. I try to control my stress level, and try to be a very happy person. That's how I like to be. Under no circumstances is it ever acceptable to treat coworkers or employees differently because of their differences.You should never judge a book by its cover before taking the time to read it. Our differences are what make us who we are. You and your coworkers are not going to see everything the same, so you should take in their differences, and accept them as they are. I think you should recognize coworker or employees openly. Everybody has something they do one way, and the next person does it another way. It is okay to take in others judgment, and look at it as a positive, and not a negative thought.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Boomerang Michael Lewis

He calls it the new third world because the region took a step backwards by falling into huge amounts of debt followed by riots and governmental collapse in places like Greece. There are many lessons the reader can learn from this book as long as the reader reads it with a grain Of salt and does get lost in the excessive use Of stereotypes and racial remarks that Lewis makes. Each statement he makes in the book is vital to make a correlation further on to show how culture relates to politics and economics. The most astounding cultural impact I noticed in the book hat led to bad economic decisions was that of Germany.Lewis mentions on page 137 that the German people liked to be near sit but not in it. He relates this to the reader after mentioning his visit to the German red light district of Hamburg. Lewis asserts the claims that the German people are infatuated with dirt, filth, sit, and are open in their discussion on this topic. However when you look at Germany and its financial s tatus it is fairly stable worldwide and is one of the strongest economies in Europe. It is the foundation for the European Union banking system since the Bundestag had the strongest uncial system.Germany ended up being the nation that let others borrow money and Germany also houses the offices of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. On page 145 Lewis mentions that the majority of Europe was indulging itself with loans in order to buy things that the people really didn't need. On a side note, nations tend to pick up both good and bad qualities from each other and this quality of excessive spending in a time where you don't need or have the financial means is a bad habit that Europe picked up from America.However the German people did not indulge in eying things they could not afford even though they gave loans to others who used the German's credit rating to buy expensive cars and real-estate as you saw in Iceland and Ireland. This goes back to the cultural obsession with filth; t hey were near the credit disaster but never partook in it personally. The credit boom never existed in Germany because of Germany's past. Germany was a nation which fell into hyperinflation post world war two and during that period it cost millions to buy a loaf of bread.With that past history in mind the German people has always been frugal with their money and expect the politicians to do the same. That is why any politician regardless to what party they are from will not get elected in Germany if they are not fiscally responsible. The German people will not vote for them because these values from their past have now been ingrained into their culture and have become part of their identity. That is different than over here in America where different parties have different approaches on government spending, investing and often end in stalemate or disagreement.Yet in this instance the German people gave in to the temptation and allowed their gibbers to get dirty while they stood by a nd watched. The German bank gave money to Irish real-estate barons, to Icelandic banking tycoons, American supreme borrowers etc†¦ The total losses that the German banks lost are still being added up but the book mentions that they lost 21 billion due to Iceland, 100 billion due to Ireland, 60 billion to American and billions more still needed to be totaled in Greek bonds. That means even though the German people tried to stay clean in the end the mess ended up in their laps.So while other countries misbehaved with German money the German people thought their bankers where making sane choices by giving the money in the first place. They believed that they were going to make more money for Germany and further their nation towards prosperity but instead they furthered their nation in debt. At the end Of the financial disaster Germany ended being one of the most affected nations even though its citizens and politicians didn't buy any luxurious items or invest in crazy schemes.The fact that the Germans had the strongest financial system led to their downfall since they had to put in the largest amount of money onto the European Union Rescue Fund. The money they put in the fund would for example go to the Irish government who would give that money to Irish banks who would give it to right back to the German banks for defaulted loans and interest payments. So Germany was giving itself money in a cycle that was not alleviating the root of the problem and was further perpetuating a cycle of debt.Sassy see currently in Greece with new austerity measures being debated on daily, the German people are sick of bailing out every nation for their mistakes. On the contrary if the German banks never gave those loans in the first place than places like Ireland and Iceland would have never defaulted. The fact that the German people gave money away in the first place started the problem. The more countries got loans the more other countries wanted to get in on a piece of the action.So while Germany thought it was making smart decisions with safe returns it created a monster which was going to come back and be a burden for the very system which created it. Besides the cultural aspect of the whole situation the fact that Germany was a ember of the European union also led to its demise in regards to the economic aspect of the nation. This is because when the European Union was created it had certain benchmarks other nations would have to measure up to if they wanted to get accepted into the Union.Many of these nations like Greece who had failing economies lied and falsified documents to inflate their Gap's and interest rates. All this led to a false sense of security when nations got accepted because while politicians thought the Union was getting stronger it was in reality rotting from within. The old idiom says that you are only as strong as your weakest link and in this case the European Union had a few too many weak links. The politicians all put up f acades and made their economies appear as ferocious lions when in reality they were just cowardly cats trying to milk the cash cow which is the German banks.The only reason the German people agreed to all of this is because they still feel that they have to be accepted as a people and atone for the war crimes of their predecessors and past regimes. This act of kindness by the German nation as taken for granted and led them straight into a trap which decimated their financial security. The nations of Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, and others became parasites who wanted more and more money expecting Germany to save them.This parasite- host relation is one that the German people might have to consider cutting off and simply let the European Union fail and let nations and banks go into default. Being someone who prefers limited involvement in economics like Adam Smith's invisible hand, it is time for Germany to put its invisibility cloak back on and disappear into the shadows. If Germ any continues down the same path it is On and tries to appease all the nation of Europe by giving out money it will eventually see the filth that currently occupies the streets of the new third world seep over into German soil.In this globalize world Germany needs to take a greater stand and do what's best for its sovereignty. Germany needs to remove itself from the European Union and in doing so it will cause the collapse of many nations in the region so while this suggestion sounds harsh it is in the best interest for the German people. Yet if Germany wants to remain and be the savior for the EX. it has to take a greater charge and demand that its conditions be met since Germany is the one with the money.Germany can fix the situation by trying to reduce the interest rates on the loans and try to get the borrowing nation to simply pay back the capital amount before them many any further investments in their own nation. This would lead to stagnation of many European nations because it will take them many years to pay back the billions they have lost. In doing this the GAP and growth rates of those actions will not move while Germany will be able to acquire money that belongs to it.