The Decline of the West

These changes could happen from one day to another. How do you tell your family that their economic situation, all of a sudden, has changed because of your new status as unemployed? Especially when family the family is accustomed to the idea of living the sweet life. The Decline of the West† from 201 0 is about a man who experiences the difficult problems of the economic decline. In the short story â€Å"The Decline of the West†, the narrator Mike lives with his family in the outskirts of London. He just got fired and is now on his way home to pass the news of his recent dismissal.Mike used to work 12 hours a day, but despite the fact that Mike now is unemployed, he looks forward to spent time with his family. He has a rough time tying to tell the truth, and so he ends up arguing with his wife and sons instead. The main character of the short story is Mike. He is a 45-year;old man, father of two, and has until now been working in corporate finance. Mike is a hardworking man, who has provided his family with a lovely house in safe surroundings, plenty of material benefits, and an AU pair, who can take care of the house when he is not there.Mike barely sees his family, and admits lankly that the AU pair sees more to his family than he does himself. â€Å"The AU pair saw more of his house and family than he did -â€Å"1 . The sweet welcoming Mike imagined was far from reality. When Mike arrives home, his wife, Imagine, does not even take the time to say hallo to her husband, but simply just passes him by with a gin and tonic mentioning going up stairs to take a shower. â€Å"Imagine passed him in the hall carrying a gin and tonic, saying she was going upstairs to have a bath†2 This indicates that the marriage might not be as warm and loving as one may think.Mike's marriage does not seem to go well. Imagine is not acknowledging Mike, nor is she interested in him. â€Å"Is it attention you're after? † 3 Mike sees himself as a man that gi ves all he can ever Offer to his family, but they are never satisfied. â€Å"l paid for this with my time, intelligence, and the education the state provided me with†4. Mike's view on him self stands in sharp contrast to the adverse image we get of him from the dialogues. The contrast especially becomes clear in the argument between Mike and his older son, Tom. â€Å"Are you joking? You've done nothing for me† . As the argument is developing it proves out that the children, and the mother or that matter, is very unrealistic when it comes to economy and money. No matter how much they get, it is never enough. Mike has always given his children exactly what they wanted, despite the fact that their joy never lasted long. â€Å"The kids had stopped using it before he'd hardly begun paying for it†6. The narrator in the short story is a first person narrator with a limited point of view to the father. By this we get an insight in the fathers thoughts and speculations. He believed he was good at giving things up†7. We see everything from his point of view, so we have therefore have a colored view n the story. The story is written with the use of Pats. We, as a reader, feel sympathy for Mike. Imagine and the children seem greedy and ungrateful. They are products of the capitalistic consumer society. They are all against Mike and he himself takes position as the victim. He appears to be alone with the knowledge of his famish future situation; however, he does not have the courage to face the consequences.Instead he tries to avoid them. Mike does become wiser on his family unrealistic luxurious lifestyle throughout the story. That happens when he notices Queen Elizabeth Sis's crooked smile on a tote. â€Å"How had he never noticed what a sardonic little Mona Lisa smile the blinded-up monarch wore, mocking even, as if she pitied the vanity and greed the note inspired†8. In the world at large, money is what we worship. We are willingly sac rificing the bond with our family to pursue wealth. Mike has never needed anything in his life.As his father said â€Å"Mike you've been stalked by good fortune your whole life† 9. Now that he is unemployed, he suddenly seems to have lost control of his emotions and life. For a moment he even considers to leave this world and all the financial troubles behind. â€Å"How easy t was to fall, and how tempting it was -? suddenly would be best – to die! † 1 0 First of all â€Å"The Decline of the West' refers to the Collapse of Wall Street in 2008, which had a huge impact on the life of millions of people in the West.The western countries are currently in a critic financial situation. Our society, build upon capitalism and materialism demolished when the nation began to spend more than they could afford. This theme is evident throughout the story. Mike reflects on the lifestyle he, and many others had led in the past couple of years. He considers whether the financi al crisis is a penalty for this. [†¦ ]Nonetheless, like many people, Mike had also worried whether the present catastrophe was punishment for years of extravagance and self- indulgence;[†¦ â€Å"11 The title could also be interpreted as a reference to a moral decline of the modern family. The values of love, and closeness are being replaced by the desire to posses and own everything you could ever dream Of. The love for material has taken over the love for our fellow men. We forget about all that really matters and we are only focusing on buying the latest gadgets and promoting our economical status. The grotesque overcorrection and insatiable love for material goods might have caused severe damage to our traditional social values.Mike and his family is an example of this propensity, so the title might as well refer to the social regression in our culture. The financial crisis has resulted in lots of critical problems, but maybe a financial crisis was exactly what we need ed? This could be a break from our unrealistic expenditure. Money can buy you many things, but the happiness from it is limited. Money can buy you lots and lots of material goods, still eventually you will no longer feel the same excitement bout your purchase.Just like the kids in the short story, you will sooner or later cast-off your bought stuff and set your goals up for a new investment. Money can offer things to make people happy, but it does not mean that money can buy you true happiness. Poor people on the street huddling together to stay warm, that is care, which brings out true happiness. Their situation would improve with a little money, however, in the short story where a wealthy family that cannot live together, where is their happiness? Where is the love? Money cannot buy happiness, nor love.

How Classroom Environments Affect Child Development Essay

When it comes to education so many different factors can affect a child’s learning and development in a classroom. First of all the temperature of the main class of which the child is learning in so such as the heating/air conditioning, if the classroom is too hot, eg. On a hot day a child may feel sick/dizzy this will affect the child’s concentration and well being similar to a highly air conditioned classroom where it may be extremely cold the child may get ill because of it. Another important part of a child’s education is having the right equipment to enable them to learn so ensuring the equipment the child uses is not outdated, broken or dangerous is essential to give the child the best learning experience possible, as children with excellent facilities are likely to enjoy school more and find school easier because they have the access they need to give them the ability to learn. Space is really important especially with children, so the size of the classroom can impact a child’s learning experience, small cramped classrooms, which could be overcrowded due to a large amount of pupils could make it hard for pupils to concentrate or in some extreme cases dangerous. So having a classroom a good/reasonable size in proportion to the amount of students attending is essential. Although this usually depends greatly on the location of the school as students from a city are more likely to have larger classes than those of a rural setting. Read more: Influences that affect children’s development essay This leads on to the next point, of other students affect a child’s learning experience, if a class is full of disruptive pupils a child is not going to learn as well as a classroom which is full of students which are quiet and willing to learn. Teachers have a massive impact on a classroom, their behaviour and characteristics can affect the learning of their class. Even tempered, fair, humorous teachers have a much more positive influence on learning experience than a moody, unfair, overly strict teacher. If a child is falling asleep, getting ill regularly, is lacking in performance or regularly disrupting classes they may be struggling. This is when you would approach the teacher and discuss the child’s behaviour and performance and the possible reasons behind the child’s behaviour this may mean more structured lessons, more one on one time, change of seating arrangements etc. but this may be monitored, and the teacher may follow this up with a discussion with the child’s parent if necessary.

The unitarist approach to management and organization suggests that Essay

The unitarist approach to management and organization suggests that trades unions are, in Kelly's (1998 2005) terms, 'manage - Essay Example This was necessary because good industrial relations were needed. As the big businesses required more labour force, conflicts between managers and workers as well as between the workers increased. According to Alan Fox (1985), three crucial frames were of use to solve management conflicts between workers and managers- pluralist, unitarist and radical. The unitarist approach believes in formation of an integrated and harmonious organization. It is seen as a happy family with one goal, viewing conflicts as failure. The pluralist approach incorporates stakeholders in an organization since they have different visions and interests, with a view that conflicts cannot not be avoided. Diversity in opinions lead to choices taken for the best system with focus on the profit delivered in business. According to Kelly’s (1988; 2005), the unitarist approach to management and organization suggests that trades unions are ‘managers of discontent’. The Effect of Unitary Management Most successful companies studied in human resource model have proved to be of non-union origin. These companies apply sophisticated Human Resources Management techniques that target individual employees (Fernie and Metcalf 2005). This complies with Alan Fox’s assumption for workers with common interests, as well as the managers and stakeholders. All parties do not belong to any union and humanistic approach to conflict resolution focuses on the individual. Frederick Winslaw Taylor instituted a new management philosophy of job specialization for his Bethlehem Steel Company in the 1890’s. According to the philosophy, incentives were introduced so that employees could be motivated. The incentives were given based on production achieved. This approach began the scientific management movement. It ensured that cooperation between workers was enhanced. This principle probably applied the basics of unitary approach since it focused on the common interest of employees, manager s and stakeholders. The outcome was great. There were positive changes in efficiency, production and company earnings that triggered redundancy since few workers were needed to achieve equal production. Redundancy meant low cost of production, low prices for commodities that would increase demand for products. Profit for the company would also increase. Taylor proved that with the increase in productivity and efficiency, more goods are produced at a lower cost of production and resources. According to the scientific management that used unitary basics, both parties gained. The company registered more profit from increased sales and revenue, as the purchasing power of the society increased. How to Eliminate the negative Impact of Conflict Conflict is a negative force which the unitary system believes that should be avoided. According to the Unitary approach, a unitary method of managing industrial relations will do away with the negative impacts of conflict. The bottom line issues in the causes of conflicts are the distribution of wealth and power. The employers’ interest in wages is completely different from those of the employees. Employees seek to minimize costs and will always seek to reduce the wages of employees. At the same time, the employers need the workers so that they can record profits. When managers misuse their powers by poor working environment, the workers retaliate. This retaliation causes conflicts in industrial relati

The Protestant Reformations Impact on Europes Art, Music, and Research Paper

The Protestant Reformations Impact on Europes Art, Music, and Literature - Research Paper Example This ability to create images that could be envisioned in real space itself led to an explosion of ideas even as these artists were exploring subjects once considered taboo, such as the ancient mythologies of these past civilizations. Artists were able to link the mathematical knowledge to the proportional focus of their own world as a shared knowledge between artists and businessmen. Painters used their foundational knowledge in geometry to create familiar elements in their paintings that would convey their intentions to the greatest possible audience. By melding mathematics and artistic expression, artists discovered how to provide their figures with a new impression of weight and volume that had not been previously achieved. This new ability to provide realism in a painting and other written expression led to even greater explorations into how the world manifested itself, all of which contributed to an explosion of thought, design and implementation that would change the world. En glish Protestant Reformation that started under King Henry VIII, advances in technology that allowed for a greater production and distribution of books and a shift in religious thinking all contributed to a shift in the form and content of the literature of the 1500s and early 1600s.

New Product to the Market (Timed Drink Dispenser) Essay

New Product to the Market (Timed Drink Dispenser) - Essay Example It is also cheap and hence affordable to most people all over the nation. Market segmentation involves marketing strategies that are used for classifying a broad market into subsets of consumers with similar needs for the product (Kotler 68). The specific characteristics of the product are divided into different categories of age, location and family size. The marketing strategies are designed to target specific customers. Segmenting helps in measurability, which is determining whether a particular segment is fit enough to be pursued. Accessibility is also a criteria in segmenting which entails reaching a given target group, where a region where people pay less attention is inaccessible. Demographic segmentation is also used to classify the market by dividing it into the variables of age, location and even family size. Demographic segmentation is great for segmenting customers into different groups, where customers are linked to the variables and segmented accordingly. Segmenting of the market involves dividing it into groups of consumers with similar wants. Consumer based market segmentation is performed on a specific product basis so as to create a close relationship between the consumers and the product. This demographic segmentation helps in identifying groups of similar consumers and the potential ones. ... The target market is mainly young people in the mid years since they may use the dispenser a lot in carrying alcohol and some types of beverages. Most youngsters prefer carrying beverages around and this dispenser is efficient for them since its pocket friendly, portable and can hold a lot of drinks. Most consumers’ preferences vary with age, in this case very young children may not see the essence of this dispenser but a bit older youngsters will know its importance. Psychographic segmentation is also essential since it helps to understand the consumers’ lifestyle. Product positioning is the next step in product introduction after the target market has been identified. Positioning entails ascertaining a product and how the potential consumers view it. Segmenting helps in matching the consumer’s needs, reduces expenses, improves cash flows and improves productivity. To reach this group of customers, a lot of advertising is involved. Using demographic segmentation we target the young and also large families. With a family of six the dispenser can hold drinks to keep them going all day since the dispensers vary in size and one can get the required one. When considering the potential market for a new product, the size of the market is important since it determines the profit margins that will be gained from the product (Kotler 212). The target group should be stable since the product should be in the market long enough to break even. The potential customers should be easy to reach, that is promotions and distribution channels should reach them. The product can also be reached cost efficiently by the market intervention. The product has many benefits to the consumers since its cheap and readily available; it is portable by those going for picnics and

Introduction to business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Introduction to business - Assignment Example As indicated above, the environment of a business is dynamic and most noticeably complex. Therefore, these environmental aspects are considered crucial to a business, because they have an impact on the growth of business and generally, its survival in a competitive market. These aspects are not only critical because of a business’ survival in the market, but also because they are a gauge against changes in the market. These are changes that may be technological or economical in nature such as recessions or bank interests. When an organization is able to detect these changes, it becomes easier to adapt or work on how to evade any undesirable results. Business adaptability is crucial in a competitive market, and businesses that are not able to adapt to change soon operate on losses. According to Goodman, Ladzani, Bates, Botha, and Vries a market is defined as a place where trade takes place and based on the participation of sellers and buyers. Sellers and buyers participate by trading in goods or information. In my opinion, this definition is simple and based on the physical location of a market. However, today’s markets are rather different and more virtual rather than physical. An excellent example of this is the internet, which is now a large market and one which is most liquid. In defining the market, it is crucial to also mention that the market is not only focused on products and services, but also satisfies the needs of customers (Goodman, Ladzani, Bates, Botha, and Vries 16). In my opinion, the most appropriate way of defining the market is to think about the needs of customers before making any other business related move. After this, the next best step to take is to identify the products which meet the customer needs. In the contemporary society, companies use marketing tools to convince the buyers to buy goods from the market. The nonprofit organizations use the marketing tools to encourage buyers in the market. Hence, in

Discuss the ways the poet develops the character Phoenix. Pay Essay

Discuss the ways the poet develops the character Phoenix. Pay particular attention to the devices the poet uses in character dev - Essay Example Although Phoenix is never discussed in the epic â€Å"Iliad† save for that time when an embassy is sent to Achilles to urge him to fight along with Agamemnon’s armies against the Trojans, his character serves as a brief yet insightful look into the great warrior Achilles’ disposition, not as a warrior this time, but as a human being with a past, a future, and a present. Phoenix’s speech is filled with the Greek â€Å"eleos† or what can be termed in English as â€Å"compassionate grief† --- an emotion that does not go well for a great warrior such as Achilles. Homer shows Phoenix as appealing more towards his father-and-son relationship with Achilles, which is a refreshing characteristic amidst this story filled with greatness and lack of the â€Å"softer† emotions of the great warriors. Phoenix says: â€Å"And I made you what you are --- strong as the gods, Achilles --- / I loved you from the heart† (9.587-8), and â€Å"Oh I ha d my share of troubles for you, Achilles†¦ / great godlike Achilles --- I made you my son, I tried,† (9.595-9).

MARKETING PLANNING Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

MARKETING PLANNING - Assignment Example It implies that a number of tactics can be considered so that the objectives and missions of the business can be attained. Marketing planning is essential in the strategic planning process for an organization, since it provides direction in the firm and outlines the goals of organization that are measurable (Jobber, 2010). The day- to-day decisions of the business depend on the marketing planning and strategic planning process (Young, 2010). This is based on the fact that the firm is prone to changes and it has to progress with its daily routines. The approaches to move forward must be planned and to accommodate change in the firm strategic decisions or planning must be incorporated. Marketing planning helps the managers and directors of the business to efficiently allocate the resources available in an optimum manner so that the goals set can be attained. Risks may occur when the business is operational and other uncertainty and if the market plan was emphasized, then tactical marke ting planning may be employed to cater for the risks and other form of uncertainties. In conclusion, marketing planning is essential in the strategic planning process for an organization since it gives the organization the go ahead. For example, a firm can identify the tactics that can be applied to outdo the competitor. It also gives the management of the organization a chance to plan for the present and future strategies. The first stage of product development is to come up with the idea of the product that will be established in the market. It is important to consider whether the product is already in the market or a new entrant in the market. Market research must be conducted so that market sources like the consumer wants, dislike and competition among others can be known. Since the company may have a lot of ideas concerning the products that they need to develop, it is critical and recommendable to choose an idea that is best and reject the bad idea

Microeconomic Theory Essay Example for Free

Microeconomic Theory Essay 1. Explain why society faces a trade-off between consumption goods and capital goods. Society is faced with trade off between consumption goods and capital goods in that resources are scarce, and therefore it has to make choices based on the opportunity costs of benefiting from consumption at present or having a greater level of consumption tomorrow through investment in capital goods. 2. Distinguish between absolute and comparative advantage. Absolute advantage refers to that trade, which is not reciprocally favorable as opposed to a Comparative trade, where trade is reciprocally favorable. 3. Explain the Law of Demand. The law of demand states that as the price of a service or good increases, consumer demand for the service or good will decrease and vice versa, provided all other factors remain constant. 4. Explain the Law of Supply The law of supply states that as the price of a service or good increases, the quantity of services or goods tendered by suppliers increases and vice versa, provided all the factors remain constant. 5. Explain the effects of price ceilings. It is a kind of government measure, where it fixes a limit on the price to be charged on a product. Effective price ceiling must be different from the free market price. A price ceiling positioned below the free market price will put suppliers in a state where they can no longer charge what they had been charging, for that particular product. This will force some suppliers to move out of the market, hence reduction in the quantity produced. On the other side quantity demanded will increase for the same product because consumers are able to buy at a lower price. Since quantity demanded exceeds quantity produced, a shortage will occur and it will result to non-price competition 6. Explain the effects of price floors. It is a kind of government measure where it imposes a limit on the lowest price that can be charged on a product and for it to be effective it must be set higher than the equilibrium price. When the price floor is position above the market equilibrium price, consumers observe that they now have to pay a higher price for that particular product. Suppliers, on the other part are ensured higher price than what they were charging before. This has the effect of increasing production, hence excess supply of the product in the market. Thus to maintain price floor over a longer period, the government will be forced to take action to reduce the excess supply 7. Distinguish between private goods and public goods and explain the nature of the free-rider problem. Private goods are the kind of goods whose profits, are indivisibly spread over the whole community, even if the individuals do not desire to purchase it. While private goods refers to the ones that are divisible and can be provided separately to various individuals, without external costs or benefits to others. Positive externalities that are not remunerated normally result from the production of public goods. When private organizations are not getting all the profits of a public good that they have produced, there will be no sufficient incentives to produce it voluntarily. Hence, consumers will take advantage of public goods without sufficiently contributing to their production. Distinguish between average tax rates and marginal tax rates. Average tax rate refers to the total amount of taxes paid divide by income. It shows the sum of tax paid per dollar earned while marginal tax rate refers to the income tax rate paid on the last dollar of income earned 9. Distinguish between average tax rates and marginal tax rates. Average tax rate refers to the total amount of taxes paid divide by income. It shows the sum of tax paid per dollar earned while marginal tax rate refers to the income tax rate paid on the last dollar of income earned 10. Explain the structure of the US income tax system. The structure of US tax system is very complex one that entails payment to at least four various levels of government and many ways of taxation. US taxation comprises local government possibly consisting of one or more of township, municipal, county and district governments. It may also embrace regional entities like school and utility and transit districts as well as incorporating federal government and state 11. Describe how prices indexes are calculated and define the key types of price indexes Price indexes refers to a standardized average or a weighted average of prices for a given category of services and goods in a given place, over a given intermission of time Types of price indexes include consumer price index, producer price index and GDP deflator 12. Distinguish between nominal and real interest rates. Nominal interest is the rate of interest prior to adjustment for inflation in contrast to real interest rate and it encompasses all three risk factors plus the time value of money in contrast to real interest rate, which includes only systematic and regulatory risks. Generally, real interest rate is equal to nominal interest rate minus inflation and currency adjustment. 13. Describe the circular flow of income and output. The circular flow of income and output shows joint flow of income between consumers and producers. The mutually supporting entities of consumers and producers, referred to as households and firms respectively offer each other with factors to facilitate the easy flow of income. Firms supply consumers with services and goods in exchange for consumer spending and factors of production from the household. 14. Define gross domestic product (GDP). Gross domestic product is the total market value of all the final services and goods produced within a country over a given period. 15. Define economic growth. Economic growth refers to the sturdy process by which the productive capacity of the economy is increased over time to produce growing levels of national income and output 16. Discuss the fundamental factors that contribute to a nation’s economic development. Policies of national development need to be formulate in conformity with national needs, development priorities and conditions and should focus on the lessons erudite from decades of development. International cooperation in the formulation and implementation of macroecomic policies need to be reinforcing with an analysis to enhancing greater lucidity and consistency of domestic policies and in so doing reinforcing their effectiveness. 17. Describe the effect of economic growth on the long-run aggregate supply curve. Economic growth will cause the aggregate supply curve to shift. Positive economic growth will lead to increase in productive resources that will make it possible to produce more final services and goods, thus the natural level of real GDP increases. Positive economic growth will make the LAS curve to shift to the right and vice versa 18. Discuss the meaning of the long-run equilibrium for the economy as a whole. Long run equilibrium refers to where the aggregate demand and long run aggregate supply curves intersect. Output is fixed and the price level is variable in the long- run. Thus increases in aggregate demand leads to higher prices and vice versa 19. Discuss the central assumptions of the classical model. The central assumptions of classical model are that it assumes that economic agents’ posses’ perfect information and the markets are characterized by perfectly flexible wages and prices. The result of these assumptions if functional on the short run with fixed capital stock is that output is dogged by independent supply factors 20. Describe the short-run determination of equilibrium real GDP and the price level in the classical model. The aggregate supply-aggregate demand is the fundamental macroeconomic tool for studying output variations and the resolve of the price level and inflation rate. The intersection of the aggregate demand and supply curves determines the economy’s equilibrium price level and equilibrium real domestic output 21. Distinguish between saving and savings and explain how saving and consumption are related. Saving refers to that process of constantly putting aside a sum of money while savings is that income received by a consumer not used in the output of firms through spending. Savings and consumption can be related in the equation where income is equal to the sum of savings and expenditure (consumption) 22. Identify the primary determinants of planned investment. The primary determinants of a planned investment include the expected return from investments, the taxation of returns, the cost of capital in relation to interest rate and the ease of use of savings to meet investments 23. Discuss ways in which indirect crowding out and direct expenditures offsets can reduce the effectiveness of fiscal policy actions. Inflation has an indirect outcome on international competitiveness. As prices increase, products tend to be more expensive relative to foreign products. This will result to reduced demand for exports as compared to imports. Net export being a parameter of aggregate demand will contracts GDP and partly offsets the expansionary fiscal policy. Expansionary fiscal policy makes interest rates to increase because the government must borrow to finance the increased deficit. The government raises revenues through taxes or borrowing. Hence, as the interest increases, private investment decreases. In the short run, it will decrease private investment demand, a parameter of aggregate demand and this will effectively lower GDP. Describe how certain aspects of fiscal policy function as automatic stabilizers for the economy. Automatic stabilizers are programs that automatically increase fiscal policy during recessions and contract it during booms. Unemployment insurance is an exemplar of automatic stabilizer in that the government spends more money for the period of recessions when unemployment rate is high. Equally, taxes are roughly proportional to profits and wages; hence, the size of taxes collected is higher during boom than recession. 25. Explain how federal government budget deficits occur. Federal government deficit occurs when it pays out more money than it can receive 26. Define the public debt and understand alternative measures of the public debt. Public debt refers to the credit or money owed by any echelon of government; federal government, central government and municipal government or local government. The debt is seen as an absolute number and can therefore measured as a percentage of the GDP. Alternatively, it can be measured by the amount owed in any given year. 27. Define the fundamental functions of money. Money can be described in terms of its core functions that are; it act as a medium of exchange, store of value and as a unit of account. 28. Identify key properties that any good that functions as money must possess. Properties of money is that it should be able to serve as (1) means of exchange (2) a enumerative (3)a source of liquidity and (4) store of value 29. Describe how the Federal Reserve assesses reserve requirements on banks and other depository institutions. The reserve requirement is a bank rule that puts the minimum reserves each bank must hold to customer notes and deposits. The reserves are meant to assure withdrawal demands. Federal Reserve approval is essential to begin any foreign banking institution in the US. Foreign banks need acquire regulatory approval from the OCC or the state banking supervisor when establishing new branches and agencies. Banks that are federally licensed must deposit cash or suitable securities at approved depository to convince the capital equivalency requirements specified by the IBA 30. Explain why the money supply changes when someone deposits in a depository institution a check drawn on the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve buys and sells government securities. These, increases or decreases banks capabilities of making loans. This equally decreases or increases interest rates. If Federal Reserve sells a bond, an institution or individual buys the bond with a debit on their account and transfers the funds to the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve removes an equivalent amount from the bank reserve of the customer. The bank will then take away the equivalent amount from the customer’s account who bought the bond. This will decrease money supply and increase interest rates. The trend changes when the Federal Reserve decides to buy a bond 31. Identify the key factors that influence the quantity of money that people desire to hold. Motives for holding money, which can be expressed as factors that influence people to hold money, are transaction motives, precautionary motives and speculative motives 32. Describe how the Federal Reserves Tools of monetary policy influence market interest rates. The Federal Reserve buys and sells government securities. These increases or decreases banks capabilities of making loans. This equally decreases or increases interest rates. If Federal Reserve sells a bond, an institution or individual buys the bond with a debit on their account and transfers the funds to the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve then removes an equivalent amount from the bank reserve of the customer. The bank will then take away the equivalent amount from the customer’s account who bought the bond. This will decrease money supply and increase interest rates. The trend changes when the Federal Reserve decides to buy a bond 33. Explain why the actual unemployment might depart from the natural rate of unemployment. The departure of the natural and actual rates of unemployment is a sign of the business cycle. The stages when actual unemployment exceeds the natural unemployment are times of recession or early stages of economic recovery. The stages when actual rate is below the natural are times of a booming economy 34. Describe why there may be an inverse relationship between the inflation rate and the unemployment rate, reflected by the Phillips curve. The inverse relationship in the Philips curve can be explained well when you consider that with high unemployment laborers would accept lower wages and this would reduce firms’ cost. High wages bring about high inflation and the lower the rate of unemployment, the higher the rate of inflation and vice versa. 35. Explain why population growth can have uncertain effect on economic growth. There is no clear-cut explanation of the effect of population growth on economic growth. It can be argued that high population growth creates pressures on limited natural resources, decreases public and private capital formation and redirects counts to maintaining relative to increasing the stock of capital per worker. It can also have affirmative effects like economies of scale and specialization. Describe how government inefficiencies have contributed to the creation of relatively large quantities of dead capital in the worlds developing nations. Government poor policies make capital investment impossible. The government tends to involve in the production of consumption goods that are less important. The rate at which the economy can absorb extra human capital is low and therefore it leaves the available resource idle. The government is also not receptive to new technology whish is important in the formation of capital. Discuss the worldwide importance of international trade. International trade is very crucial for the development of a country in that it expands the choices that could otherwise been limited to what can be produced locally. Thus, countries can access goods and services cheaply from abroad. Labor can also be obtained cheaply in some countries. Cheap labor reduces production costs and this will have effect to low prices to the final product. Therefore, countries can import final product at a much lower price compared to when produced locally where labor is very expensive. Explain why nations can gain from specializing in production and engaging in international trade. A country specializing in the production of goods which it has comparative advantage will profit and it will trade for goods which it does not have comparative advantage. Therefore, free trade will make a country to use its resources efficiently. Efficient use of resources will increase the amount of goods available for production and consumption. Hence, the benefits of trade will be the outcome of specialization 39. Distinguish between the balance of trade and the balance of payments. The balance refers to discrepancy between a county’s exports and imports and it is the major part of a country’s balance of payments, which is an accounting report of the economic transactions that have taken place stuck between the inhabitants of one country and the inhabitants of other country over a particular period. 40. Identify the key accounts within the balance of payments. Key accounts within the balance of payments are current account, capital account and financial account. References Ariel, R. Lecture Notes in Microeconomic Theory: The Economic Agent. New York: Princeton University Press, 2006

University education Essay Example for Free

University education Essay Summary: This article is about the various different ideas to influence college students to attend class. Several professors feel that by using the students’ attendance and their class participation as part of their grade that more students would attend class. Studies show that students who attend class are more likely to get higher graduation rates. Some students feel that the information taught in class should also be available online, which results in students not coming to class. The researchers are saying that by the professors pleasing the students, has led to easier classes where students don’t learn as much as they used to. Ultimately, the choice is the students and the ones that show up to class are the ones getting the most information, and higher success rates. Essay: College attendance rates are going down as well as graduation rates. College students wonder why there not graduating or passing their classes. I’ll tell you why several students are failing. Students have a responsibility to show up to class to learn the information taught so they can pass, but if students don’t show up they can’t receive that information. So with students not going to class they don’t receive all the information needed to pass test, exams, and complete homework assignments. Should attendance be a part of the students’ grade? I feel that if the students’ attendance is incorporated into their grade that more students are going to get lower grades. The students are there to better themselves and if they don’t want to show up to class then they are only hurting themselves. The students know that if they don’t attend class then they won’t receive all the information to do well and pass the class. I agree with researcher Marcus Crede that mandatory attendance at the college level is the wrong approach. Professors should influence their students to come to class in other ways than using attendance as part of their grade. The easiest solution to this problem is for the students to attend class. All college students shouldn’t have to be told this because they know what is expected of them and what they have to do to pass. Graduation rates should increase as long as the students attend class and pay attention. Students’ attendance shouldn’t have to be a percentage of their grade, but if that’s what it takes to increase graduation rates then that’s what will have to happen. So if you want to be a successful college student you need to attend class, pay attention, and study for your test and exams. Reflection: I feel that I did a good job explaining the key points of the article in my own words. Also I think that I put all the key points in the correct paragraphs. My weaknesses are repeating myself in different words. Also not explaining my thoughts clearly and easily understood. I used too many of my own thoughts without any examples from the text to explain my thoughts.

Analysis of Derivatives and the Perception of Investors

Analysis of Derivatives and the Perception of Investors Chapter 1: Introduction 1. Introduction: The stock market is characterized by volatility, which creates uncertainty in the market and makes predictions regarding future exchange rates difficult, both in the short and long term. However, it is these constant fluctuations in the stock market that make it possible for companies or individuals to take advantage of the movements in exchange rates through speculative activities. These fluctuations also pose a threat for any importer/exporter trading in the global marketplace as international businesses are naturally exposed to currency risk. This necessitates the adoption of hedging strategies to mitigate risk. The volatility in the stock market needs to be dealt with in a proper, prudent and timely manner. Otherwise, adverse currency fluctuations can inflict painful lessons on a company or individual. Later in this thesis we will investigate in detail the volatility of the stock market and the potential risk exposure faced by all market participants. People enter into the stock market for various reasons and the above mentioned potential for profit is a very important motivation. Indeed, some traders who come with the intention of making profit by taking advantage of market fluctuations engage in speculative activities in the stock market and accept the risks involved, while others attempt to protect themselves from volatility by engaging in hedging activities. Traders in this first category are commonly known as speculators, whereas the latter are known as hedgers. Speculators enter the market, in effect, by placing their â€Å"bets† on the market movements. Should their prediction come true, they make profits; if their predictions are not realized, they suffer losses. Hedgers enter the market with the intention of insuring themselves against any adverse market movements they may encounter in their business operation. Hedging involves the creation of a position that offsets an open position occurring in their business operations; so that the gain i n the business (hedge) position will offset the loss of the hedging (business) position. There are various financial instruments used for trading in the stock market. The most common are spot contracts, forward, futures, options, swaps and various money market instruments. Forward, futures, options and swaps are derivatives instruments. Commonly used instruments in the money market include (but are not limited to): Treasury bills, Eurodollar, Euro yen, Certificate of deposit (CD), Commercial paper In fact, the money market represents most of the financial instruments that have less than twelve months maturity. This margin is also known as the leverage ratio and can range from twenty to two hundred, depending on the financial institutions involved. If the given leverage ratio is twenty, the trader using a leveraged spot contract can have access to a credit line twenty times larger than his/her initial margin (collateral). Clearly, the leveraged ratio allows traders (both speculators and hedgers) to trade at a significantly lower capital requirement when compared to the spot market. The general mechanism of each of these markets (forward, futures, options, swaps and money markets) will be explained in detail in this thesis. 1.2 Research Context: The selection of the particular research approach depends on the kind of information required. Qualitative research collects, analyzes, and interprets data that cannot be meaningfully quantified, that is, summarized in the form of numbers. For this reason, qualitative research is sometimes referred to as soft research. â€Å"Quantitative Research† calls for very specific data, capable of suggesting a final course of action. A primary role of quantitative research is to test hunches or hypotheses. These suggest that qualitative approach is a soft research approach in which collected data cannot be meaningfully quantified and more importantly in this approach non-structured research is conducted. But so far as quantitative research approach is concerned, through this approach structured research is conducted with approaching larger respondents and the collected data can be meaningfully quantified. Research data can be collected either in the form of secondary or primary or both. This assumption is obviously not realistic. With the aim to close this gap between theory and practice, a new model is developed in this thesis using the assumptions that the interest rate definitely changes according to economic conditions or policies and that the exchange rate movement follows the pattern of a random walk, which is a stochastic process. Moreover, during the course of our research, we did not encounter any literature that dealt with leveraged spot contracts as both speculative and hedging instruments. It is obvious that the leveraged spot market is relatively less commonly used by financial derivatives traders, compared to traditional instruments such as forward, futures, options, swaps, and the money market. Our objective is therefore to develop a model using leveraged spot contracts as an effective financial instrument that can be used for both speculative and hedging purposes. 1.3 Research Objective: * Analysis of Derivatives and the perception of investors† 1.4 Research Questions: Illustrate how the leveraged spot market can be utilized both as a speculating as well as a hedging tool. Derive insights into how real world data will affect the optimal number of contracts that a trader should trade (or invest) at any given time. Present a Black scholes model for speculation using leveraged spot contracts based on Krugmans model of exchange rate dynamics within a target zone. Demonstrate how a trader can hedge an open position in the leveraged spot market with a simultaneous position in the forward market to generate profit. Explain how a hedger can hedge an existing business transaction exposure using options. 1.5 Research Boundary and Scope: This thesis is organized into chapters/sections. The first chapter is an introduction to the thesis. Next chapter provides a view on hedging and the volatility of the Stock market. These two parts: the first part covers a background of hedging and explores the common applications and techniques of hedging; and the second part covers the volatility of Stock market movements, providing a brief background on the economic fundamentals of exchange rate determination and dynamics, exchange rate systems, international financial markets, and government policies affecting exchange rate systems. How the leveraged spot market can be used as a speculating tool. We have adapted model of exchange rate dynamics within a target zone, we assume that the exchange rate movement follows the pattern of a random walk and we develop a model showing how the leveraged spot contract can be used as a superior financial tool when compared to forward and spot contracts under certain circumstances. However, before developing this model illustrates the mechanism of trading in the leveraged spot market with a numerical example. This describes how to eliminate the risk which arises from speculative leveraged spot transactions using a forward contract. Moreover, several numerical examples are used to illustrate how companies can utilize leveraged spot contracts as a hedging tool. We show in this chapter that the leveraged spot contract, when used in conjunction with a forward contract, can indeed derive risk free profits for its users. The effectiveness and profit generated from using leveraged spot contracts depends on the leverage ratio and the interest rate differential between the home and foreign countries. Chapter 2: Literature Review The financial world has witnessed several major catastrophes in the last dozen years. The first catastrophe was the collapse of Barings Bank in Britain in 1995. The banks collapse was a direct result of Nick Lessons aggressive trading in the futures and options markets. Between 1992 and 1995, the self proclaimed â€Å"Rogue Trader†1 accumulated losses of over  £800million. In February 1995, the 233 year-old Barings Bank was unable to meet the Singapore Mercantile Exchanges (SIMEX) margin call. The bank was declared bankrupt and was bought by the Dutch Bank, ING, for only  £1. The second catastrophe was the Asian financial crisis in 1997. Much literature had been written about the crisis as the financial world tries to understand what went wrong that led to the crisis. Some authors claimed that the crisis was triggered by the run of panic investors on those economies as well as depositor on banks which led to the burst of a bubble economy; while others blamed the crisis on the moral hazard in the Asian banking (financing) systems. We believe that the Asian financial crisis was due mainly (but not limited) to the structural imbalance in the region, caused by large current account deficits, high external debt burden, and the failure of governments to stabilize their national currencies. These problems were worsen by the poor prudential regulation of 1 Nick Lesson wrote an autobiography called â€Å"Rogue Trader† detailing his role in the Barings scandal while imprisoned, the Asian financial system during the 1990s. The combination of these factors contributed to the long-term accumulation of problems in fundamentals, such as large amount of ‘over-lending and bad loans in banking systems which led to the bankruptcies of large firms/banks in the economy, and eventually destroyed the confidence of investors and triggered the panic run of both investors and depositors of the Asian financial system. As part of the efforts, governments tried ente ring the derivative markets to stabilize their currencies. The Thai Government, for instance, utilized the forward market. However, as the world witnessed the collapse of several Asian currencies during the course of the 1997 financial crisis, it was obvious that these stabilizing efforts were not successful. As the Asian countries continued their recovery efforts, Enron collapsed in 2001 as a result of imprudent use of financial derivatives. It had been reported that Enrons management engaged in questionable transactions in the options market, in an attempt to keep the true economic losses of various investments off Enrons financial statements and to try to conceal the actual financial situation of the company. The consequences of these catastrophes were devastating. They impacted not only on the governments and companies directly involved in the events, but also their stakeholders, such as shareholders, employees and ordinary citizens. Many studies examining international financia l markets have been designed to prevent the future occurrence of a similar catastrophe. Most of these studies are still attempting to learn from past mistakes through analyzing what exactly triggered such catastrophic events. Amongst those many studies, some have been undertaken to assist companies to minimize their exposure to fluctuations in the currency market, and to implement better techniques and supervision of corporate risk and management. As a result, topics such as currency exposure, hedging strategies and prudent, ethical company practices have become mainstream issues in international financial markets. This thesis is concerned with hedging techniques in relation to the risk faced by companies and individuals of currency fluctuations. We will point out the limitations and strengths of common hedging techniques and then derive a new technique for hedging. This new model aims to minimize or eliminate the limitations of existing hedging techniques. The importance of understanding the underlying economic and financial fundamentals, which were possibly responsible for the 1997 Asian financial crisis, is noted. This chapter begins with a background discussion of hedging and explores the common applications and techniques of hedging. It continues by addressing exchange rate volatility through providing a brief background of the economic fundamentals of exchange rate determination and dynamics, and government policies. Globally, operations in the foreign exchange market started in a major way after the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in 1971, which also marked the beginning of floating exchange rate regimes in several countries. Over the years, the foreign exchange market has emerged as the largest market in the world. The decade of the 1990s witnessed a perceptible policy shift in many emerging markets towards reorientation of their financial markets in terms of new products and instruments, development of institutional and market infrastructure and realignment of regulatory structure consistent with the liberalized operational framework. The changing contours were mirrored in a rapid expansion of foreign exchange market in terms of participants, transaction volumes, decline in transaction costs and more efficient mechanisms of risk transfer. The origin of the foreign exchange market in India could be traced to the year 1978 when banks in India were permitted to undertake intra-day trade in foreign exchange. However, it was in the 1990s that the Indian foreign exchange market witnessed far reaching changes along with the shifts in the currency regime in India. The exchange rate of the rupee, that was pegged earlier was floated partially in March 1992 and fully in March 1993 following the recommendations of the Report of the High Level Committee on Balance of Payments (Chairman: Dr. C. Rangarajan). The unification of the exchange rate was instrumental in developing a market-determined exchange rate of the rupee and an important step in the progress towards current account convertibility, which was achieved in August 1994. A further impetus to the development of the foreign exchange market in India was provided with the setting up of an Expert Group on Foreign Exchange Markets in India (Chairman: Shri O.P. Sodhani), which submitted its report in June 1995. The Group made several recommendations for deepening and widening of the Indian foreign exchange market. Consequentl y, beginning from January 1996, wide-ranging reforms have been undertaken in the Indian foreign exchange market. After almost a decade, an Internal Technical Group on the Foreign Exchange Market (2005) was constituted to undertake a comprehensive review of the measures initiated by the Reserve Bank and identify areas for further liberalization or relaxation of restrictions in a medium-term framework. The momentous developments over the past few years are reflected in the enhanced risk-bearing capacity of banks along with rising foreign exchange trading volumes and finer margins. The foreign exchange market has acquired depth. The conditions in the foreign exchange market have also generally remained orderly. While it is not possible for any country to remain completely unaffected by developments in international markets, India was able to keep the spillover effect of the Asian crisis to a minimum through constant monitoring and timely action, including recourse to strong monetary measures, when necessary, to prevent emergence of self-fulfilling speculative activities. 2. Financial Derivatives Markets: With the ever increasing total notional value of derivative contracts outstanding worldwide, it is little wonder that there has been continuous interest in unlocking the â€Å"mystery† of hedging using financial derivatives. Studies have shown that in 1994, the total value of hedging was USD 18 trillion. This is more than the combined total value of shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The amount exceeded USD 55 trillion in 1996, and in 1998, the figure had already reached USD 70 trillion, which is almost four times more than in 1994. Moreover, according to Bureau of Information Statistics (2005), from 1995 to 1998, spot foreign exchange transactions increased by 15%, reaching a total of USD 600 billion-a day, while over-the-counter currency options doubled to a total outstanding daily value of USD 141 billion. According to the Central Bank Survey 2004, the average daily turnover in foreign exchange derivatives contracts rose to $1,292 bil lion in April 2004 compared to only $853 billion in April 2001 (IBS, 2005). Table 2.1 shows that outright forward and foreign exchange swaps hold the record as the most popular derivatives traded over the counter. As such figures continue to climb strongly, it is important to understand the mechanism of the foreign exchange derivatives markets, including what motivates companies to enter the market, and how corporations utilize the market as a hedging mechanism. According to an author Robert W. Kolb, â€Å"a derivative is a financial instrument based upon another more elementary financial instrument. The value of the financial derivative depends upon, or derives from the more basic instrument. The base instrument is usually an underlying asset, as cash market financial instrument, such as a bond or a share of stock†. The underlying instrument can also be based on movements of financial markets, interest rates, the market index, commodities, or a combination of these assets. F or example, consider the derivative value of oil, which indicates that the price of an oil futures contract would be derived from the market price of oil, reflecting supply and demand for the commodity. In fact, as oil prices rise, so does the associated futures contract. It is noted that in order for the derivative market to be operational, the underlying asset prices have to be sufficiently volatile. This is because derivatives are risk management tools. Hence, if there is no risk in the market, there would be no need for the existence of any risk management tool. In other words, without manageable risk, the use of derivatives would be meaningless. Derivatives commonly used as hedging instruments include the foundational form of: 1. forward contracts 2. futures contracts 3. options contracts, 4. Swaps, which involve a combination of forward and spot contracts or two forward contracts. However, with the rapidly changing business environment, many hedgers have also given increasing attention to other more sophisticated and â€Å"exotic† derivatives which evolved from these basic contracts and often consist of a combined use of two or more foundational contracts, such as Options Futures. Global OTC Derivative Market Turnover, 1998-2007 Daily Averages in April, in billions of USD Description 1998 2001 2004 2007 Foreign Exchange Power 688 959 853 1,292 Outright forwards and foreign Exchange Swaps 643 862 786 1,152 Currency Swaps 4 10 7 21 Options 41 87 60 117 Other 1 0 0 2 Interest Rate Turnover 151 265 489 1,025 FRAs 66 74 129 233 Swaps 63 155 331 621 Options 21 36 29 171 Other 2 0 0 0 Total Derivatives Turnover 880 1,256 1,385 2,410 Memo: Turnover at April 2004 exchange rates 825 1,350 1,600 2,410 Exchange traded derivatives 1,221 1,382 2,180 4,657 Currency Contracts 17 11 10 23 Interest Rate Contracts 1,204 1,371 2,170 4,634 The 2004 survey is the sixth global survey since April 1989 of foreign exchange market activity and the fourth survey since March/April 1995 covering also the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market activity. The survey includes information on global foreign exchange market turnover and the final statistics on OTC derivatives market turnover and amounts outstanding. 2.4.2 Types of Players in Derivatives Markets: There are three categories of players in a functioning derivatives market: 1. Hedgers 2. Speculators 3. Arbitrageurs While each of these players use the market with varying intention, their combined and balanced influence ensure the market liquidity and volatility that allows the derivatives market to operate. It is easy yet important to differentiate the varying motives of these players. In terms of their level of risk aversion, arbitrageurs are by definition highly risk intolerant (risk averse individuals) who only trade in risk-free transactions; whereas speculators are on the other side of the spectrum (risk-seeking individuals), as they make profit by taking risk; hedgers are risk neutral individuals, as they choose their strategies by ranking the expected value of any given strategy. Based on their varying attitude towards risk these players tend to engage in the derivatives market with very different transaction patterns. More specifically, an arbitrageur who seeks risk-free profits will simultaneously take up a position in two or more markets, for instance, simultaneously buy spot and sell forward the INR, in an attempt to exploit mis-pricings due to a market that is not in equilibrium. However, such price differentials are almost non-existent in a well-functioning market, mainly because supply and demand tends to rapidly restore market equilibrium. As opposed to the arbitrageur, a speculator seeks profit by taking risk. For example, speculators who anticipate an appreciating INR will put their â€Å"bets† on the rising INR. They can do so by buying the INR at a lower value, and then selling it when the value is higher should the prediction come true. A hedger enters derivatives markets mainly with intention to insure against price volatility beyond their control. Based on this intention, it is not surprising that hedgers are mostly acting on behalf of corporations. The mechanism of hedging mainly transfers risk to others who are willing to accept the risk. Indeed, the risk is never nullified but merely transferred from one party to another. In most cases, spec ulators are those who absorb the risks transferred by hedgers. It is perhaps due to these notions that some have referred to the derivatives market as the ‘zero-sum game market, where the gain of one party is exactly equal to loss of another party. Over the last decades, the foreign exchange markets have experienced explosive growth. Indeed, according to the Central Bank Survey 2004, the average daily turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets rose to $US 1,880 billion in April 2004 compared to $US 1,200 billion in April 2001. 2.1 Option Market: Similar to futures markets, options markets provide impersonal transactions between two participants in an organized, orderly and cost-efficient open outcry auction market. Examples of these markets are the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). An options contract gives the contract holder the right but not obligation to buy or sell an asset at a will be specific price and delivery date. For a currency options contract, that asset will be a currency. The contract holder is also known as the options buyer. The counterparty of a contract holder is known as the contract writer or contract seller, who is obligated to respond to the contract holder. In other words, if the contract holder chooses to exercise the contract, the writer is obligated to respond. Call Options Right and Obligations Buyer (holder) Seller (writer) Has the right to buy a futures contract at a predetermined price on or before a defined date. Grants right to buyer, so has obligation to sell futures at a predetermined price a buyers sole option. Expectation: Rising prices Expectation: Neutral or falling prices Put Options Right and Obligations Buyer (holder) Seller (writer) Has the right to sell a futures contract at a predetermined price on or before a defined date. Grants right to buyer, so has obligation to buy futures at a predetermined price a buyers sole option. Expectation: Falling prices Expectation: Neutral or rising prices The Options markets offer two styles of contracts: the American and the European. The style of an options contract dictates when it can be exercised. The American options contract gives the buyer (holder) the right to exercise the option at any time between the date of writing and the expiry date; the European options contract, on the other hand, can only be exercised on its expiration date, but not before the expiry date. In Australia, the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) only offers standardized options contracts. Overseas options markets do offer options contracts in two forms: customized and standardized. The customized options contracts are also known as the over-the-counter (OTC) options. It is usually written by banks for US dollars against the British pound sterling, Swiss francs, Japanese yen, Canadian dollars and the euro. These customized options contracts can be tailored to suit individual needs, in terms of delivery dates, contract size and strike price. The contract size of these over-the-counter options contracts can reach $1 million or more with maturity of up to one or two years. The standardized option contracts are also known as exchange traded options (ETOs). These standardized options contracts were first introduced in the United States by the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) in December 1982. Other markets such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange later followed suit. Like the futures contracts, these exchange traded options are settled through a clearinghouse. The clearinghouse acts as the middleman and handles both sides of an options transaction. Acting as the counterparty of all options contracts, the clearinghouse guarantees the fulfillment of these contracts. Until this time, currency options contracts are still not available for trading through many of the Stock Exchanges. In fact, the Australian Stock Exchange only offers equity options and index options. For traders wanting to speculate or hedge using currency options contracts, th ey can utilize overseas options markets that offer currency options contracts, for example the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX). The exchange traded currency options offer standardized features such as expiration months and contract size. The following Table 2.8 consists of some of the standardized features of an exchange traded currency options contract as listed by the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX). Features of Exchange Traded Currency Option Contracts AUD GBP CAD Euro Yen Swiss Franc Contract Size 50,000 31,250 50,000 62,500 6,250,000 62,500 Position and Exercise Limits 200,000 200,000 200,000 200,000 200,000 200,000 Base Currency USD USD USD USD USD USD Underlying Currency AUD GBP CAD EUR JPY CHF Exercise Price Intervals (for 3 nearest months) 1 ¿Ã‚   1 ¿Ã‚   0.5 ¿Ã‚   1 ¿Ã‚   0.005 ¿Ã‚   0.5 ¿Ã‚   Exercise Price Intervals (for 6, 9 or 12 months) 1 ¿Ã‚   2 ¿Ã‚   0.5 ¿Ã‚   1 ¿Ã‚   0.01 ¿Ã‚   1 ¿Ã‚   Premium Quotations Cents per unit Cents per unit Cents per unit Cents per unit Hundredths of cents per unit Cents per unit Minimum Premium Change $.(00)01 per unit = $5.00 $.(00)01 per unit = $3.125 $.(00)01 per unit = $5.00 $.(00)01 per unit = $6.25 $.(00)01 per unit = $6.25 $.(00)01 per unit = $6.25 Expiration Months March, June, September, December + two near-term months March, June, September, December + two near-term months March, June, September, December + two near-term months March, June, September, December + two near-term months March, June, September, December + two near-term months March, June, September, December + two near-term months Exercise Style American and European American and European American and European American and European American and European American and European 2.2 Future and Forward: 2.2.1 Forward: In 1982, a study had been conducted based on the random sampling of the Fortune 500 companies. In that study, it had been found that the extensive adoption of forward contracts amongst Fortune 500 companies that were involved in currency hedging, it is by far the most commonly adopted hedging instruments. This popularity is perhaps due to the long history of usage, dating back to the early days of civilization and the trading of crop producers. Forward contracts were the first financial derivatives derived from those early â€Å"buy now but pay and deliver later† agreements. In contemporary business world, forward contracts are commonly known as over-the-counter transactions between two or more parties where both buyer and seller enter into an agreement for future delivery of specified amount of currency at an exchange rate agreed today. They are generally privately negotiated between two parties, not necessarily having standardized contract size and maturity. Both parties in the forward contracts are obligated to perform according to the terms and conditions as negotiated in the contracts even if the parties circumstances have changed. In other words, once a forward contract has been negotiated, both parties have to wait for the delivery date to realize the profit or loss on their positions. Nothing happens between the contracting date and delivery date. Indeed, a forward contract cannot be resold or marked to market (where all potential profits and losses are immediately realized), because there is no secondary market for a forward contract. Although, technically, the forward contract can be re-negotiated with the original counterparty, it is usually practically too costly to proceed with. In fact, the counterparty is not obliged to proceed with the renegotiation. Forward contracts have one obvious limitation: they lack flexibility, and therefore do not allow companies to react in a timely manner to favorable market movements. This disadvantage is wide ly acknowledged and often criticism by authors and hedgers. So, why are forward contracts still the most popular hedging instrument? We believe this is mainly because forward contracts allow the hedging of large volumes of transactions with extremely low costs. Indeed, the parties involved in negotiating a forward contract are typically companies that are exposed to currency risk and their nominated banks. The nominated bank typically charges a service fee, of less than 1% of the face value of the hedge amount, for acting as the counter-party in the transaction. So it is the nominal service fee that is the low cost. 2.2.2 Futures Markets: Futures contracts are the first descendant of forward contracts. Futures contracts were derived, based on the fundamental of forward contracts, but with standardized quality, quantity, time (maturity), as well as place for delivery. Like other financial derivatives, futures contracts were initially designed for commodity trading, but as commercial trading continually evolved, the initial de

Gay Marriage Essay -- Homosexuality, argumentative, persuasive

Marriage is the legal or religious ceremony that formalizes the decision of two people to live as a married couple. Marriage should not be based on what others think. When people get married in a heterosexual union, they do it for their own happiness, not for the happiness of others. Gay marriage is the same way. Homosexuality has always been around and will continue to exist. Why should homosexuals be denied the rights of heterosexuals? No one has the right to say that homosexuals can not marry. That is discriminating against another group of individuals who want equality. Gay marriage should be accepted; people were made with the capacity to love, no one should try to change that, not the Bible, the Constitution, or anyone. Marriage is stated many times in the Bible. But the Bible and the Amendments can be interpreted many ways. Marriage is a religious ceremony, â€Å"But I cannot imagine even the most fervent Christian obeying all of God’s laws†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Bond) Nobody is perfect, but our flaws make who we are. If we don’t always follow a few rules here and there it is okay because we are only human. Most parents teach their children to be different and don’t let others influence them. The same thing should go for gays. The people that are trying to change them are not going to succeed. Gays were made fore a certain reason, but our country has to figure that out first in order accept them. In the Bible, Jesus blesses the children and sends the young rich men away†¦ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now i n this age --- houses brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields with... ..., it will come. Works Cited DeMarco, Donald. "Same-Sex Marriage Should Not Be Allowed." The Family. Ed. Auriana Ojeda. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2014. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. Bond, Julian. "Opposing Same-Sex Marriage Discriminates Against Gays." Discrimination. Ed. Jacqueline Langwith. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. Dykstra, Laurel. "Not All Queers Want to Marry." Homosexuality. Ed. Paul Connors. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Current Controversies. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. Mercer, Ilana. "Gay Couples Have Equal Rights." 2014. Rpt. in Does Equality Exist in America? Ed. Stuart A. Kallen. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

Emperor Justinian: Builder of the Byzantine Legend :: essays research papers fc

?Ã… ¡Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The writing in Bold refers to the Works Cited page where the info came from Justinian was a Byzantine Emperor who helped to revitalize the Byzantine Empire that would leave a lasting legacy for Western Civilization. During Justinian?fs reign, the Byzantine Empire was at a time of decline. With Justinian?fs visions, he was able to lay out a foundation that would help the Byzantine Empire live for many years to come. Justinian (Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus) was born in 483 AD at Tauresium in Illyricum in the Balkans of what is now central Europe. He was the nephew of Emperor Justin. His uncle Justin had passed over the duties of governing the Empire to his wife Lupicina, and nephew Justinian (Fortescue-Justinian I, Roman Emperor). Justinian worked hard and rose in his uncle?fs government. He studied in Constantinople and became consul in 521. He married his wife Theodora in 523 (Shelter)and rose to general-in chief of the Byzantine Empire in April 527. That same year, his uncle, Justin died and Justinian became the new Emperor (Fortescue-Justinian I, Roman Emperor). Justinian had dreamed of restoring the Roman Empire in Europe so he immediately set out to secure and expand the weakening Byzantine Empire(Norwich- A Short History of Byzantium,68). The only way Justinian could achieve his goal was by retaking control over the Western provinces that were once ruled by Rome (Fortescue- Justinian I, Roman Emperor). His first challenge to conquest in the West was to end warfare in the Persian Empire. The two empires had been long time rivals in the Middle East and had battled often (Norwich-A Short History of Byzantium,27). During the 400?fs, both the Romans and the Persians struggled to cope with invasions from outside groups. But in 502, conflict re-ignited between them. From 502-505, the Byzantines, led by Justinian fought the Persians and then again from 527-532. This revisited conflict of warfare between the two rival empires ended when the Byzantines fought the Persians to a standstill and ordered them to accept a peace treaty (Whittow-Making of Byzantium,41). With peace now in the East, Justinian appointed General Belisarius to lead an army and re-conquer the western Roman provinces(Fortescue-Justinian I, Roman Emperor). In 533, Belisarius?fs army smashed the Vandals and took over North African provinces and sent their King, Gelimer, back to Constantinople as a prisoner. In 535, the Byzantines overtook Sicily and then moved into Italy (Norwich-A Short History of Byzantium,68-69).

From PDAs to Smart Phones: The Evolution of an Industry in the Beginning

Even though PDAs had innovative and sophisticated product designs, companies failed due to several reasons. First, enabling technologies were not up to par and such features as wireless connectivity, greater processing power, longer battery life and replicating streamlined versions of office software compromised the performance and size of the PDA. Another reason was due to the lack of market awareness about the functionality and the future potential of pen-based PDA and the market was still undeveloped in terms of such technology. With the lack of publicity, how would the public see any use for a PDA? This was especially true for a generation that was not technologically driven as we are today. With a device more expensive than desktop systems, it seemed that without proper marketing the public would not understand the need for it. Furthermore, potential users were unsure of the PDA’s performance, compatibility and availability showing how companies failed to address user needs and did not focus on the type of consumer that would most likely buy such a device. In addition to these setbacks, Microsoft stalled the market acceptance of PDA technology when it announced it was planning on a making a PDA, but failed to follow through with it. It is obvious that companies producing PDAs could have developed successful marketing tactics to gain momentum and build a consumer base upon such publicity. However, it can be debated whether the PDA could of survived the emergence of the smart phone. Although many companies such as Momenta and GO failed in the PDA business, Palm proved to be the most victorious. The PalmPilot was successful because the product was fast, simple, and was available for less than $300. With the extinction of PDAS came the launch of the smart phone which created competition among such companies as Research In Motion, Motorola, Samsung, and HTC. However, in 2007, these companies were in for a major battle when computer giant Apple entered into the smart phone industry. Being late to the smart phone market proved in no way to be a disadvantage for Apple as the iPhone surpassed present smart phone models. specially with its integration of touch screen technology into smart phones. Apple was able to successfully enter into the industry when it did due to its well known and trusted brand. The company’s triumph can be measured by the success of its computers, computer software including iTunes, and iPods. The iPhone has been successful due to such features as its user interface, touch screen technology, applications, synchronization with iTunes, and its simplicity along. Apple has always been known for its innovation and the iPhone was proof of that. Overall, there seems to be increasing returns in the smart phone market as its consumer base grows; nevertheless, it is not likely that a single operating system as the dominant design as the cell phone industry produces a variety of different models that accommodate user’s preferences. Overall, the smart phone industry has gained the longevity and potential for further technological advances that PDAs failed to obtain demonstrating how the timing of a product’s entry into its industry is vital in the products success.

Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices

This article discusses the issues surrounding plagiarism and providing detail into what plagiarism is and identifying how it can be regulated in an attempt to address this growing educational concern. The article describes plagiarism as an act â€Å"when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledg ¬ing its source (Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism, 2003). The most common problems with regard to plagiarism lie in distinguishing plagiarism from misuse of sources.Plagiarism, as defined previously, is the use of another’s ideas without attributing it to its source, while misuse of sources, is the failure to properly attribute the ideas to its source (Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism, 2003). The difference is that in plagiarism, a person attempts to take credit for another’s idea while in misuse of sources, a person attempts to give credit to the source but fails to do this in the pr oper manner or format.The reasons that students usually commit one error or another can be attributed to students difficulties with the integration of the information into their work, student’s failure to properly document research material, or simply be ignorant of the mistakes because of various learning backgrounds (Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism, 2003).Whatever the causes for these mistakes, the difficult part for the educators is in discerning the intent of the writer in using the sources in order to determine whether or not there was merely a simple misuse of sources or a blatant attempt at plagiarism. Students may simply not be aware that what has been done is already plagiarism or has attempted to plagiarize but cleverly disguises it as a simple misuse of sources. The key therefore to addressing this educational problem lies in making sure students understand the relevance of proper citation in their work.

Inidividualism in the Early Modern Period

â€Å"Individualism and the Early Modern Period† For much of the world, the Early Modern period (from about 1500-1700) was a revolutionary time, marked by political, scientific and literary transitions. Politically, nations began to resist outside rule and establish their own national languages. Scientifically, the idea of a heliocentric universe (rather than a geocentric one) began to gain favor as Polish astronomer Nicolas Copernicus challenged tradition and church doctrine. In Europe, the invention of printing brought about a literary explosion.Books and texts could be mass-produced, making them much more affordable. Suddenly, one did not have to be of a certain socioeconomic status to have access to books. Writers saw the incredible potential of printing and ran with it, incorporating newly-available vernacular languages into their writing. The printing press opened up a world of seemingly endless possibility. The Early Modern period was marked by a resistance to (and some times rejection of) the status quo. Traditions were challenged, questioned, and sometimes abandoned.It was this heady atmosphere that gave rise to individualism. Individualism The American Heritage Dictionary defines individualism as â€Å"a social theory advocating the liberty, rights, or independent action of the individual. † The Early Modern period represents a shift in emphasis from the group dynamic (most notably the church) to the worth of the individual person. The thoughts, desires, goals and value of the individual gained significantly in importance, and one of the areas in which this shift is most readily apparent is in the world of literature.Niccolo Machiavelli was not necessarily revered as a writer during his lifetime, but from a literary standpoint, he was definitely a man of his time, and he illustrates this in his 1513 work, The Prince. Machiavelli and The Prince Machiavelli grew up during the peaceful Italian Renaissance, as Florence was becoming one of the leading cities in the areas of art and philosophy rather than placing an emphasis on military might and political savvy. Consequently, when King Charles VIII of France invaded Italy, the Florentines offered little resistance.Machiavelli, who became an employee of the Florentine Republic in 1498, helped his fellow citizens form a militia to avoid a similar defeat. It didn’t help; Spain invaded in 1512, and the Florentines again failed to offer much resistance. Machiavelli began writing his book, The Prince, the year after the Spanish invasion. The book, which is still reviled in some circles, is a treatment of the use of power to create, control, and protect a principality. It illustrates Machiavelli’s belief that Florence needed a strong ruler to avoid any more humiliating defeats.The Prince and Individualism The author’s approach to individualism is quite straightforward. In The Prince, Machiavelli writes of the need for a ruler who is unafraid to use his powe r to advance his own causes. The ruler, according to Machiavelli, was to be cruel when necessary, deceitful when warranted, and willing to use terror to keep people in line (including his own). The author uses historical examples to illustrate his belief that a ruler establishes his strength by first establishing ironclad control over his own people — by force, if necessary. Had Moses, Cyrus, Theseus and Romulus been unarmed,† he writes, â€Å"they would not have had their institutions respected by the people for very long. † (Machiavelli, p. 1505) Machiavelli’s view on individualism is hard and fast; the individual – that is, the prince – comes first, above all others. Machiavelli also uses tone to great effect in The Prince. The author did not seem to consider his book to be a piece of literature. Rather, he intended for it to be a how-to guide for an effective ruler.His formal tone is apparent right away in his opening â€Å"Dedicatory Le tter,† in which he states his qualifications for writing such a treatise (Machiavelli knew Pope Alexander VI, King Louis XII, and Girolamo Savonarola among others, and considered himself eminently qualified to speak to the proper uses of power): â€Å"I have not found among my possessions anything I cherish more or value so much as my knowledge of the accomplishments of great men, which I learned through long experience in contemporary affairs and continuous study of antiquity. (p. 1503) Here, too, does Machiavelli’s approach to individualism show through; he is telling the new prince that his thoughts and ideas matter, and that they should be taken seriously if not heeded outright. Machiavelli vs. Other Early Individualist Authors Although Machiavelli probably would not be considered on the same literary plane as William Shakespeare or Petrarch, it is instructive to compare their differing approaches to individualism.Shakespeare, though known primarily as a playwright , was also the author or more than 150 sonnets. In them, Shakespeare approaches individualism in a much different way than Machiavelli, focusing on the importance of emotion. His â€Å"Sonnets† focuses on love, sexual desire, and finally, heartbreak. Petrarch’s â€Å"Canonziere† also places emphasis on the feelings of the individual. Canonziere† is a love poem in which the narrator sings praises of the love of his life, Laura, lamenting her death, and holds out hope for a reunion after he himself passes away. Machiavelli’s view on individualism is starkly different from Shakespeare, Petrarch, and other individualistic authors of his day, but in its own way, it is just as representative of the times. What can The Prince offer us?While few current world leaders would want to be referred to as Machiavellian (a term now used to describe ruthless, unscrupulous behavior), many leaders have followed some of the teachings of The Prince, whether knowingly or not. Even our own leaders seem to heed Machiavelli’s advice on promise keeping – the idea that it is acceptable to break a promise if keeping it places one at a disadvantage. Nearly five hundred years after The Prince was published, its approach to individualism still resonates today.

Evidence Based Practice in Mental Health Nursing Essay

One of the most common and disabling psychological disorders encountered within mental health and general medical settings is that of an anxiety disorder (Dattilio & Kendall 2000). Research has indicated that people with learning disabilities are more prevalent to psychological disorders than the general population (Hassiotis et al 2000) consequently it could be hypothesised that prevalence rates of anxiety disorders are similar if not greater within the learning disabled population. Professional literature suggests that cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) has been an effective treatment against anxiety disorder (Beck 1995) however; this literature has predominately concentrated its focus to within the confines of mental health and general medical settings (Dattilio & Kendall 2000). The ability of people with learning disabilities to identify, evaluate and respond to their dysfunctional thoughts and beliefs, fundamentals of CBT (Beck 1995) have put into question the very use of this treatment programme for this particular client group (Kroese et al 1997). From a professional and personal perspective and through the utilisation of the Seedhouse (1998) ‘Ethical Grid’ responding to an anxiety disorder by way of CBT could be considered an ethically acceptable clinical intervention. Nationally and locally through government directives, ‘Valuing People’ (Department of Health 2001) and initiatives such as Health Action Plans (Department of Health 2002) services have recognised that they need to be more responsive to the mental health needs of people with learning disabilities. As a learning disability nurse wishing to ascertain the effectiveness of CBT as a practical intervention when presented with the dual-diagnosis of anxiety disorder and l earning disability, is through the use of ‘evidence-based practice’. When deciding on the best possible clinical intervention for an identified practice problem it seams logical to convert the issue into a single answerable question (Colyer & Kamath 1999). Several authors have identified that the use of frameworks to inform the development of the clinical question provide the practitioner with a systematic process of formulating an answerable question (Sackett et al 1997 Ridsdale1998). One such framework as described by Sackett et al (1997) is a four- stage process, known by the acronym PICO: Patient or Population Intervention or Indicator Comparison or Control Outcome The construction of an answerable question is the basis of evidence-based practice and should guide the practitioner to how to find an answer (Ridsdale 1998). It is important that each variable under the PICO framework is clearly defined, being as detailed and explicit as possible in order to extend clarification to the question. Working through PICO methodically the practitioner would instigate the process by defining the ‘Patient or Population’. Characteristics such age, gender and diagnosis would need to be deliberated and whilst the aforementioned were easily recognised in the practice area as adult male, identifying appropriate terminology for diagnosis can prove problematic. The term ‘Learning Disability’ is often used interchangeably in literature with terms such as, Mental Retardation and Intellectual Disabilities. ‘Learning Disability’ is a term with contemporary usage within the United Kingdom to describe a client group with significant development delays (Gates 1996). Whilst the idiom ‘Learning Disability’ is the preferred terminology for the question due to its contemporary usage it must be accepted that it’s a term not internationally recognised nor is it a term used for long in the United Kingdom (Gates 1996). Anxiety disorder comes in many facets and can be described as severe psychological disorders in which abnormal or chronic anxiety interferes with daily living (Adams & Bromley 1998). The client in the practice area had described psychological and physiological symptoms that were diagnosed as a social anxiety disorder through rating scales and self-report measures. It is crucial that the practitioner is aware that the term identified for the question as ‘social anxiety’ is often recognised by the synonyms, social phobia or panic disorder (Dattilio & Kendall 2000). The recognition of this inconsistent terminology will enable an evaluation to  take place between the relationships of the chosen term to symptoms displayed by the client. The identification of existing clinical interventions is a valuable part of the process of developing evidenced-based interventions (Meijel 2003). Literature suggests that CBT is an effective treatment for a number of psychological disorders (Embling 2002 Hatton 2002). Central to the model of CBT is that distorted or dysfunctional thinking is prevalent in all psychological disorders (Beck 1995). Analysis of accumulated experience of existing interventions and the aforementioned evidence of its validity led to the application of CBT as the ‘question intervention’. It is not imperative for the question to have a comparison intervention and this was the situation in the clinical problem described, therefore the conclusive element utilising the PICO framework was ‘outcome’. The outcome should be measurable (Sackett et al 1997) and after initially trivialising with the term ‘used’ it became evident that this would not develop into something that could be measured. Discussing whether or not an intervention is ‘effective’ however would provide the question with a measurable outcome. Revision of the terminology identified through the PICO framework would consequently translate the question as – Is cognitive-behaviour therapy an effective intervention for adult males with learning disabilities diagnosed as suffering from social anxiety? A well-formulated search strategy is an essential component in gathering appropriate evidence (Hewitt-Taylor 2002). Ridsdale (1998) discusses a four-stage search strategy that helps to translate the question into a meaningful search – a) Identify the subject elements of the question b) Define the relationship between the subject elements c) Convert the subject elements into search themes d) Decide on the scope of the search Assistance to define the subject elements can be found within the PICO framework – Patient – Learning Disability, Social Anxiety Intervention – CBT Outcome – Effectiveness Once identified an effective means of linking the subject elements of a question for the search process is through the use of ‘operators’. Operators such as: And – Or – Not, form a logical link between the elements of the question and can be used collectively or individually in any electronic database search (Ridsdale 1998). All of the subject elements of the question were required in order provide a conclusive answer therefore the operator required for the search strategy could be identified as ‘And’. The subject elements then require conversion into terms by which references can be retrieved (Ridsdale 1998). A keyword search would apply the terms identified as the subject elements, however making a list of the known synonyms of the subject elements such as Intellectual Disability and Mental Retardation, for inclusion, would substantially develop the search process. Finally the scope of the search decides what is wanted from the search. In order to identify the most appropriate type of evidence that is required for the practice problem the type of question asked must be identified (Sackett et al 1997). The question developed through the PICO framework can be readily identified as questioning, ‘the effectiveness of a therapy’. Sackett et al (1997) proposes that the best available evidence to answer this type of question is comparative / prospective studies and ideally random controlled trials (RCTs) which in turn determine the choice of database (Ridsdale 1998). Sackett et al (1997) provides a comprehensive catalogue of information resources such as databases, journals and web sites along with descriptions  of the type of evidence that can be found within these resources. It was established previously that the best type of evidence for the question would be RCTs and comparative / prospective studies. From the descriptions supplied by Sackett et al (1997) it could be identified that the Cochrane Library supplies the user with full text systematic reviews of effects of health-care interventions along with bibliographies of controlled trials. Further electronic databases identified through Salford University library information services were PsycINFO that contains citations and summaries of journal articles and books in the field of psychology chosen for its congruity with the clinical intervention. ‘Swetswise’ an electronic journal aggregator that provides access to full text publications from several major health care related academic publishers and ‘IngentaConnect’ which offers full text availability for all core Blackwell science and medical journals were chosen due to familiarity of use and extensive subject matter. Other databases considered were CINAHL, EMBASE and AMED however all were discounted due to their general nursing bias. Despite the recognition of Ridsdale’s (1998) four-stage search strategy and its systematic approach the initial search were completed exploiting familiar strategies through the IngentaConnect database. Preconceptions from previous endeavours searching for relevant evidence furnished the belief that a similar strategy would provide sufficient evidence to answer the question. A number of the subject elements were used through keyword searches whilst the operator ‘And’ was used to link each in turn (See Appendix). This easy to use search strategy produced a number of hits however none matched the criteria identified as being the most appropriate type of evidence to answer the question. The search revealed that almost all of the evidence found belonged in either mental health (Heimberg 2002) or general medical settings (Scholing & Emmelkamp 1999). Whenever the term learning disability or mental retardation was utilised they invariable appeared indiscriminately amidst the title or abstract of the article providing no specific relevance to the question. The frustration born out of this strategy led to further searches of electronic databases firstly through another familiar database, Swetswise. Ridsdale (1998) identifies that too many hits will be recovered if the subject element is to general  and this was evident in the first keyword search. The term learning disabilities produced 548 hits (See Appendix) far too many to feasibly scan. The subsequent four searches failed to produce a single hit a possibility also recognised by Ridsdale (1998) who suggests alternative synonyms are utilised in this circumstance. Due to the inability to find any relevant material of value towards answering the question Ridsdale’s (1998) four-stage strategy was then conscientiously adopted in conjunction with the knowledge acquired through lectures received at Salford University. A further search of Swetswise database was completed (See Appendix) which revealed significantly less hits than previously achieved but produced a literature review (Hatton 2002) specifically aimed at the use of CBT and people with learning disabilities. Whilst this evidence did not fulfil previous identified criteria it established that pursuing Ridsdale’s (1998) strategy could provide some success. A similar approach was undertaken while searching the Cochrane Library database which allows the user to restrict the search to the acquisition of systematic reviews and controlled trials whilst using a simple keyword option. Again the subject elements were utilised along with the recognised operator and despite new found co nfidence and knowledge the search strategy revealed no evidence of systematic reviews or RCTs with regards to the question (See Appendix). All systematic reviews or RCTs retrieved belonged within general and mental health settings. The final electronic database to be utilised was PsycINFO (via Ovid) where again Ridsdale’s (1998) four-stage strategy was conscientiously adopted. PsycINFO requires the user to have some prior knowledge of how to use electronic databases and their search strategies, which initially can prove bewildering to the novice. Once familiar with the database and its ability to combine search strategies either through keyword, journal or author the user should find it a practical resource (See Appendix). No systematic reviews or RCTs were found within the results however a further literature review (Feldman & Rivas-Vazquez 2003) aimed at psychosocial interventions and people with intellectual disabilities was unearthed along with evidence from child and adolescence services (Dadds & Spence 1997) and psychiatric services (Carmin & Albano 2003). Hatton (2002) suggests that research evidence on the effects of psychosocial interventions  for people with learning disabilities is sparse, whilst Kroese (1998) adds that therapists are reluctant to engage into therapy with this client group due to their dislike of having to relate to them. In an attempt to discover any type of evidence relating to people with learning disabilities and CBT the Salford University library catalogue was searched (See Appendix). A simple keyword search revealed one book (Kroese et al 1997) attaining the subject elements however again it did not produce the type of evidence recognised as the most appropriate to answer the question. Sackett et al (1997 p.2) defines evidence based practice as: â€Å"†¦the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients†. With this definition in mind it should be established as to what constitutes ‘current best evidence’ and its implications for the practitioner wishing to implement ‘evidence based practice’. Belsey & Snell (2001 p.2) states that, â€Å"†¦evidence is presented in many forms†¦ and the value of evidence can be ranked according to the following classification in descending order of credibility†: I. Strong evidence from at least one systematic review of multiple well-designed randomised controlled trials II. Strong evidence from at least one properly designed randomised controlled trial of appropriate size III. Evidence from well-designed trials such as non-randomised trials, cohort studies, time series or matched case-controlled studies IV. Evidence from well-designed non-experimental studies from more than one centre or research group V. Opinions of respected authorities, based on clinical evidence, descriptive studies or reports of expert committees In accepting this hierarchy of evidence practitioners should concede that the systematic review of multiple well-designed RCTs constitutes ‘best available evidence’ (Colyer & Kamath 1999). Sullivan (1998) adds weight to this argument when he states that RCTs constitute the strongest source of evidence and that the scientific community prefer the quantitative research technique that makes use of empirical data following a systematic process. Whilst a number of RCTs were found (Dadds & Spence 1997 Scholing & Emmelkamp 1999) whilst undertaking the search strategy none belonged within learning disability settings. The only evidence found specific to the original question were literature reviews and a specialist book (Kroese et al 1997) aimed at CBT and learning disabilities. The literature reviews (Hatton 2002 Kroese 1998) revealed that a number of case studies and a case series had demonstrated the potential feasibility of CBT reducing anxiety amongst people with learning disabilities. Whilst the specialist book (Kroese et al 1997) discussed conceptual and contextual issues of CBT and people with learning disabilities suffering anxiety disorders. This type of evidence appears in the lower reaches of the hierarchy of evidence and as such its subjectivity, reliability and validity can be disputed (Sullivan 1998). Whilst acknowledging the hierarchy of evidence and the proposal that comparative / prospective studies and ideally RCTs were the best forms of evidence to answer this type of question (Sackett et al 1997) it appears that in their absence the evidence revealed is the ‘best available’. RCTs are widely acknowledged as the gold standard of evidence-based practice (Rowland & Goss 2000) however it is suggested that they bear little resemblance to day-to-day reality (McInnes et al 2001). RCTs can be pragmatic or explanatory the former is concerned with the overall effectiveness of an intervention whilst the latter examines the impact of specific treatment elements on outcome (Parry 2000) however neither considers the perspectives and uniqueness of the respondents. The evidence recovered for the question (Hatton 2002 Kroese 1998) albeit in the lower reaches of the hierarchy acknowledges the feelings of the respondents due to its qualitative nature (patient centred, holistic and humanistic) therefore making it extremely suitable for the study of nursing phenomena (Parahoo  1997) along with its relevance as regards answering a therapy question (Parry 2000). Kroese (1997) offers a number of reasons why there is this lack of quantitative research evidence surrounding the subject elements in the question. He suggests that people with a learning disability are a devalued population, it is impossible to ensure that changes are due to clinical manipulations if individuals (learning disabled) do not have stable cognitions. Finally there is a conjecture that anxiety in people with learning disabilities is the same as in the general population consequently there is no need for specifically focused research. It emerges that learning disability services continue to adapt research evidence from general and mental health settings (Finlay & Lyons 2001) a similar approach with the RCTs recovered from the search strategy could make them a valued resource however it would take a skilled clinician to make this a feasible option. Reflection is a necessary component of Continuing Professional Development and is a legitimate method for questioning personal effectiveness and responsibility in all aspects of health care (Driscoll & Teh 2001). Through the process of reflection the practitioner recognised his own limitations in identifying appropriate evidence for his clinical problems, along with the often inconclusive, time consuming and frustrating strategies undertaken in the search of evidence in support of his clinical practice. The structured frameworks utilised throughout the process described earlier gave the practitioner a systematic approach to formulating a question, developing a search strategy and identifying appropriate evidence to answer his practice problem. The ability to systematically approach future clinical problems will enable the practitioner to offer his clients a holistic, client centred practice from the best external evidence available. Adams, B. Bromley, B. 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(1997) Evidence-based medicine: how to practice and teach EBM, London, Churchill Livingston. Scholing, A. Emmelkamp, P.M.G. (1999) Prediction of treatment outcomes in social phobia: a cross-validation, Behaviour Research and Therapy, Vol. 37, pp 659-670 Seedhouse, D. (1998) Ethics The Heart of Health Care 2nd Edition, Chichester, Wiley. Sullivan, P. (1998) Developing evidence-based care in mental health nursing, Nursing Standard, Vol. 12, No. 31, pp 35-38