The Economy, Monetary Policy and Monopolies Essay

The Economy, Monetary Policy and Monopolies - Essay Example For instance, in 2007 the interest rate was recorded to be approximately 5% which decreased to below 1% by the end of 2009. Since then, till the current phase of the economic conditions prevailing within United States the interest rates has been recorded below 0.5% which shows further decline in the country’s financial market (US Department of the Treasury, 2012). Inflation Rates Fig.2: US Inflation Rates 2002-2012 (US Inflation Calculator, 2012) The inflation rates of the United States which was recorded as 4.1% during the year 2007 which further declined to 0.1% by the year 2008. However, it augmented to an average of 2% within the period of 2009 to 2012. This indicates that in terms of inflation rates the economy is regaining its stability performing almost similarly as during the period prior to 2007 (US Inflation Calculator, 2012). Unemployment Rates Fig.3: US Unemployment Rates 2007-2012 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012) In relation to the above represented statist ics, it can be observed that United States witnessed an unemployment rate between 4-5% during 2007-2008. This further augmented to above 8% by 2012. This indicates that the economy had been witnessing a continuous de-gradation of its employment situation in the labor market over the past five years (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). 2. Propose two (2) strategies that the federal government could implement that would encourage people to spend more money in order to create employment opportunities. Financial Leverage Financial leverage can be considered as one of the effective sets of practices in which the Return on Equity (RoE) is increased through the escalating rate of debt amounts. With this concern, the federal government of the U.S. should be focused on magnifying the amount of RoE even in situations when debt amounts tend to be increasing. Therefore, the financial strategy of the federal government should consider the investable assets related to the amount of equity as it would promote financial growth (Financial Literacy and Education Commission, 2011). Financial Decision Making and Financial Literacy Strategies related to the augmentation of financial literacy and effective decision making process would further provide competent direction in relation to financial education, policy, research, practice as well as coordination among the stakeholders, investors and other financial institutions. Moreover, effective forms of financial education and decision making process would offer the benefits of evaluating the risk of interest rates and provide an effective way to trim down the debt amounts (Financial Literacy and Education Commission, 2011). 3. Identify a situation in the past 50 years in which the government used antitrust policies to stop a monopoly from occurring. Include the circumstances of the proposed monopoly and the reason the government stepped in. Predict what would have occurred had the monopoly succeeded. Various antitrust policies h ave been implemented by the US government over the past decades to prohibit unhealthy competition in terms of monopoly within its national business environment. One of such Act can be identified as the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. Â § Â § 4301-05). The reason behind implementing this act can be

The International Coffee Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The International Coffee Industry - Essay Example In specific reference to the coffee industry, the profit motive of corporations only worsens the conditions of poor coffee farmers who are not compensated in proportion to their hard labor. According to Thomas Friedman, globalization is the â€Å"inexorable integration of markets, nation-states, and technologies†¦..the spread of free-market capitalism to virtually every country in the world.† (Friedman, 2000: 7-8). In reference to the international trade facilitated by globalization and the diffusion of geographical boundaries, Mittelman refers to globalization as a historical transformation - â€Å"a political response to the expansion of market power† resulting in a transformation â€Å"in the economy, of livelihoods and modes of existence† (Mittelman, 2000: 6). McMichael also corroborates this market-oriented view, seeing the process of global integration taking place on the basis of â€Å"market rule on a global scale†(McMichael, 2000:149). The be lief in the beneficial effects of free trade that exists today is largely a function of the theory of comparative advantage that underlies the Ricardian model of international trade (Henderson, 1993:827). Comparative advantage is the ability possessed by a particular country to produce a particular good at a lower cost relative to other goods and as compared to other countries that produce the same good. Therefore, comparative advantage possessed in one area of production indicates that the country has some favorable factors working on its behalf or has perfected specialized techniques in the production of that good, so that it is able to produce it more efficiently (Mankiw, 2007: 52). According to Porter (1996:64), â€Å"Competitive strategy is about being different.†Ã‚  

MSc Practical UNIX Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MSc Practical UNIX Security - Essay Example Furthermore, in the UNIX system's early periods, security feature was almost absent. Then, the UNIX system became the first operating system to undergo attacks raised over the promising Internet. With the passage of time, the security arrangement moved from centralized to distributed verification and permission systems (UNIX Systems Cooperative Promotion Group, 1997) and (The Open Group, 2010). This paper discusses various security aspects of UNIX operating system along with some types of attack that can be applied to UNIX operating system. The basic aim of this paper is to describe in a systematic manner the significance of systems configuration and management and how to undertake systems configuration and management for a UNIX system. Security Considerations With the advancements in the technology the chances of security attacks and their intensity is also increasing. In the past, a lot of security and privacy attacks have greatly influenced a large number of organizations and busi nesses. Some well known examples of these attacks include, security develops Nimda, Code Red, RPC buffer overflows, SQL Slammer Worm, SSH vulnerabilities. Thus, to deal with such new types of security attacks a good security management patch as well as effective security strategy is very important, which can help secure organization’s systems and networks. Seeing that the businesses having a high-quality patch security strategy (which implemented all the recognized patches to the target systems) were not influenced or were least influenced as compared to those businesses which neglected patch security strategies and faced harsh issues like business downtime of numerous days and failure of business effort (code as well as data). In this scenario, all the practical systems have their own techniques for implementing security patches. Additionally, HP-UX, Solaris and AIX program and patch installation techniques allow the elimination of an application or a patch by restoring some overwritten operating system files as the â€Å"save† alternative is employed (that is the default option). In addition, the capability to get rid of a (reminded) security patch makes simpler patch administration on these systems liberating the manager from planning routine techniques for patch management and permitting the administrator to focus on improving system security. For this purpose, HP, Sun and IBM offered standard security patch packages for download a number of times every year, in addition to individual patch downloads as well as patch announcement services which can be received via electronic mail (without paying registration fee). Moreover, specific patch downloads are always available at retailer’s websites and a few mirrors for Red Hat Linux. However, the accessibility of alternatives is significant, for the reason that standard patch packages make simpler the normal application of patches as well as get rid of the need for numerous reboots and/or sy stem configuration changes, as individual patch downloads permit the system application of a security patch at the instant as it is accessible (Tsitsivas et al., 2003), (Zheng & Zhang, 2009), (Curphey & Araujo, 2006) and (Ray, 2004). UNIX Security Overview Normally, all UNIX-based or other systems encompass particular log on procedures. However, these procedures depend on

Balanced Scorecard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Balanced Scorecard - Essay Example ard as a performance tool includes integrating all relevant facets into a comprehensively detailed report which apparently includes quality, shortens response time, manages on a longer-term perspective, reduces the number of times for new product launch, and emphasizes the value of teamwork. Likewise, there is also the acknowledged benefit of maximizing the potentials of organizational resources. The balanced scorecard concept and strategic performance measure is reported to be effectively implemented by initially establishing explicitly defined goals (quality, time, performance, service); as well as translating these goals into specifically designed measures or strategies of accomplishment. Finally, it was noted that the main responsibility and applicability of the balanced scorecard in the organization falls within the upper or senior levels of management; and performed by members of lower levels of

Asian history Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Asian history - Research Paper Example On the other hand, proponents of excavation argue that by unearthing the mausoleum, archaeologists and historians would access what is inside and piece up the findings to help with finding answers to questions related with the ruler’s empire (Ferroa, and Chan 18). The proponents add that the site will be an important tourist attraction whose opening will create jobs and income for the local population. This paper explores the benefits and shortfalls of opening the Qin Shi Huang’s tomb. Cultural and historical richness of the tomb The cultural and historical richness of the mausoleum is well captured in the history of the emperor. Emperor Qin Shi Huang was eldest son of the Qin emperor, whose family comprises one of the half-dozen autonomous empires in the contemporary China. He is believed to have died around 210 BC (Liao, Pan, and Ma 395-399). These empires had been at crossroads for over two centuries, but Qin Shi Huang’s vanquished them all, before declaring h imself the king. After his death, his body was interred in a large site located to the east of Xi’an in Shaanxi Province of China. His large army of terracotta soldiers was also buried alongside him to give him protection in death. His lavish burial place is now at the center of an excavation debate. Although archaeological activities have been done on most parts of the mausoleum, the most important parts remain uncovered. The archaeologists have yet to dig the grounds near and including the tomb where the emperor was buried. According to Smith (87) part of the area that has not yet been touched is a raised ground where it is believed emperor Huang’s remains were interred. There is a hot debate as to whether it is appropriate to proceed with the excavation exercise or not. The Debate Inadequate technology, and respect for the cultural values of the local community are perhaps the greatest points behind the stoppage of the archaeological activities in the mausoleum. Som e of the archaeologists have suggested that the postponement move is partly influenced by the honor for the local elders, and the lack of adequate technology that can be used to excavate the site and still preserve the important values there. According to Portal (53), the resolution by Chinese officials not to tolerate further activities is a positive one at least based on the outcomes of similar activities in the past. China’s authorities do not seem to be ready to engage in the same poor archaeological activities that might result in the loss of the culturally invaluable items at the site. In Egypt, for instance, early twentieth century archaeologists with poor technology engaged in an excavation exercise to retrieve the rich cultural artifacts in King Tut's tomb. The 1930’s exercise ended in lost valuable information. In light of this, archaeologists believe that there is a lot that could be lost if current techniques were deployed in the tomb. Ferroa and Chan (19) point out proponents of the halting of excavation activities are clear in their mind; they want a delay of the process until better technology is available to support a better process. A postponement of the process by three to five decades would be a sound conservation strategy, they suggest. In light of this,

International History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International History - Essay Example The widest description of civilization is however the definition of a more complex lifestyle that encompasses urban culture and practice of complicated activities such as farming and construction of complex structures. In doing such complex activities therefore indicate a state of sophisticated way of thinking, change of taste, and improvement of behavior. Civilized communities are now described by the way they live i.e. organized leadership (governments), literacy, social integration, economic coordination and other cultural characteristics. The general question of concern is why early civilization materialized along river valleys The answer to this question is that rivers provided a source of dependable livelihood throughout the year. As the old adage goes, water is life; rivers provided a supply of water for farming, for people's consumption and other domestic uses. Rivers also worked as micro climate regulation influencing vegetation, type of weather, natural features and topography besides the land around river is usually very fertile and hence encouraged farming (McEvedy, 2002 p.30). Whereas people appeared to be dependant on these rivers, there river stimulated innovations that lead to emergence of new and refined institutional organization, technology development and economic management. Civilization along river valleys was a self determining factor and no relations whatsoever to other rivers but had some similar characteristics. Some of the early river civilizations that have been described are along R. Nile, R. Indus, R. Tigris and R. Euphrates (McEvedy, 2002 p.34). Contrary to river valley civilization, barbarian civilization also emerged at the same time among groups of people that practiced nomadic pastoralist. Barbarism describes a situation that reduces civilization process due to communal disintegration caused by lack of industrial progression. Such societies lagged behind in technical development and were deemed low-grade compared to other communities. Some of communities that endured this civilization set back developed to become nomadic pastoralists and practiced free farming. The emergence of Nomadic pastoralist has been described to be a consequence of Neolithic Revolution. Domestication of animals and more so herbivores and farming, cleared more land and pastures, as a consequence, communities had to migrate to other areas in search for greener pastures (McEvedy 2002 p.38-40). Factors that contributed to such migrations included seasons of droughts, overpopulation, attacks from other hostile communities and search for water. Historic ally it has been ascertained that Nomadic Pastoralist lead to development of hostility among pastoral communities towards others and they have been feared a lot even today. Coercive-Agrarian Civilization The agrarian civilization begun with the river valley civilization and the major characteristics of this civilization were; invention of writing, organization of communities into empires and construction of buildings and monuments. Invention of Writing The earliest writings of late years Before Christ are not considered as writings but rather as symbols. The earliest symbols were used to communicate messages to people and their complexity gradually grew to include rows aligned and could bring to mind an intuition of a clear text. It is very hard

Effects of an Ice Age on the Oceans Essay Example for Free

Effects of an Ice Age on the Oceans Essay The Earth, the third planet from the Sun capable of sustaining life, has several components on its surface. More than 70% of the Earth is covered by water and most of them is concentrated on the oceans. These oceans serve not only as huge bodies of water in between the land masses but also a large habitat for most of the marine life on the planet. Furthermore, it is in the oceans that some of the most important phenomena that keep the atmospheric conditions stable occur. Indeed, oceans are the lifeblood of the planet. What effects does an Ice Age have on these bodies of water? Ice ages are usually known as a period of gradual reduction in the temperature of the planetary climate which causes massive expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers. In glaciological terms, an ice age means that ice sheets are present in the northern and southern hemispheres (which means technically we are still in an ice age, given the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctic (Imbrie and Imbrie, 1986). A study of ice sheets and other sources reveal that the Earth’s climate is characterized by a cycle between warm periods or interglacial conditions and glacial conditions. Many theories have emerged to explain the occurrence of these ice ages. One well-known theory was devised by Milutin Milankovitch in 1938. It predicts that the shifts from glacial to interglacial and vice versa are affected by the changes in the tilt of the Earth’s rotational axis every 41,000 years, differences in the orientation of the planet’s elliptical orbit around the Sun known as the precession of the equinoxes occurring every 23,000 years and changes in the shape of the orbit happening almost every 100,000 years (Joyce and Keigwin, 2007). Another theory that explains the origins of the ice ages is the changes in the planetary atmosphere. The rise and fall of greenhouse gases have been linked to the retreat and advance of the ice sheets. It is possible that the changes in the greenhouse gases may have been caused by other factors contributing to the start of the ice age such as continent motion and volcanism. One hypothesis, known as the â€Å"Snowball Earth† hypothesis, claims that the late Proterozoic era saw a severe ice age that began with a reduction of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and ended with an increase of these levels in the atmosphere. The early anthropocene hypothesis of William Ruddiman claims that during this era where human activities started to cause a significant global impact on the climate and ecosystems more than 8,000 years ago, atmospheric gas levels began to not follow the pattern of the Milankovitch cycles (Macdougall, 2004). Geological events confirm that the position of continents may cause ice ages if they block or decrease the flow of warm water to the poles allowing the formation of ice sheets. These ice sheets will then cause the increase in the Earth’s reflectivity decreasing the absorption of solar radiation which leads to atmospheric cooling. This starts a positive feedback loop allowing more ice sheets to form as the temperature cools. Some of these configurations include a continent sitting on top of a pole, a polar sea that is land-locked and a super continent that covers most of the equatorial area (Aber, 2003). Another big factor in the end of an ice age is sudden global warming that could theoretically be caused by the eruption of large undersea volcanoes. These volcanoes and flood basalts could release huge amounts of methane that contribute to a large and rapid increase in the greenhouse effect (Macdougall, 2004). There are five known periods of glaciation: Huronian (2400 Ma – 2100 Ma), Cryogenian (850 Ma – 635 Ma), Andean-Saharan (450 Ma – 420 Ma), Karoo (360 Ma – 260 Ma) and Cenozoic (30 Ma – Present). Oceans are very important in maintaining the stability of climate. The balancing of excess heating at the equator and cooling at the poles is accomplished transporting heat via atmospheric and oceanic currents from low to high altitudes. The warm surface waters that arrive at the higher latitudes are cooled and the heat is released to the atmosphere and later on radiated away to space. This mechanism bridges the gap between equator and pole temperatures. Warm ocean temperatures also cause an excess of evaporation against precipitation in the atmosphere. The water vapor is then transported to the poles through atmospheric currents and there it cools causing an excess of precipitation against evaporation. These two components together with the salinity-dependent mixing of the cold waters returning from the poles with the warm waters at the equator allows the continuity of the great ocean conveyor belt that allows for climate stability (Joyce and Keigwin, 2007). An ice age will could also begin if the balance is disrupted on this belt. Scientists now speculate that we are heading for another ice age given the current configurations of the continents and other factors. One possible scenario is that as the Earth continues to experience global warming, ice sheets will soon begin to melt. The Arctic sea has 15% less ice compared to levels 40 years ago. Cold fresh water from melted glaciers and ice sheets will flow into the north Atlantic which could weaken the Gulf stream and the great ocean conveyor belt since it would change salinity levels important for mixing and the temperatures of the waters. This would cause a cold climate change for Europe with temperatures reaching up to 10oC for during the summer. This could also usher in the next ice age since at the height of the last one, the strength of the Gulf stream was only two-thirds that of today. Global warming will slow down the Gulf stream by up to 30% and may cut off Europe completely in the future (McGuire, 2002). Given this possibility of an ice age occurring, it is important to look into the possible effects of an ice age. The most obvious effect of an ice age on the oceans is the decrease of actual flowing water given that the ice sheets would be formed from waters of both in-land sources and the oceans. Since glaciers are formed from freshwater, this means that the freezing up of oceanic waters could increase the salinity of the remaining flowing water. Scientists at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory found that ocean circulation changes did not cause but was rather the effect of climate changes at the start and end of the last ice age. Ice sheet volume and global carbon budget had changed even before the ocean currents were affected. The possible scenario drawn is that the ice age had been driven by discrepancies with the amount of heat from the sun arriving at the poles. The changes in the carbon cycle were caused by the decline of plant life because of cooler temperatures and glacial advance. This caused an initial change in the great ocean conveyor belt by amplifying the effect of heat at the higher latitudes. Ocean circulation changes that were caused by the beginnings of the ice age further amplified the climate trends that cause the continental ice sheet expansion and also the retreat of the ice sheets later on (LDEO, 2005). The implication of this research is that this shows a possible effect of an impending ice age on the oceans. It expresses the possibility that once a change in climate is set-off, the great ocean conveyor belt adapts to the new conditions further aggravating the new changes in climate. Thus, a new ice age could bring a change in the current ocean currents prevalent today. Since the oceans are host to an unknown number of species of living organisms, the effects on marine life is also important to consider. Although terrestrial organisms would rather prefer the current warm climate, evidence shows that aquatic organisms did not share the same preference. A team of scientists from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada found that ice age oceans some 20,000 years ago had increased concentrations of nitrate, an important nutrient for plankton that producers for the marine food chain. These concentrations could have supported plankton life in waters that are now nutrient deprived. They measured nitrate levels of two nitrogen isotopes – N-15 and N-14 in sediments found at the coast of Mazatlan, Mexico. This is one of three â€Å"nitrate sinks† in the ocean where bacteria cause denitrification. Although the data gathered from two sites coincided with the hypothesis, it is insufficient to definitively conclude that global nitrate levels were as high as those at the sites. However, it is possible and this could mean that more marine life was present given the abundance of plankton. This could also have contributed more to the ice age since more plants could absorb more carbon dioxide reducing even more the greenhouse effect (Monastersky, 1995). All these effects are but glimpses of what truly happens during an ice age. We can never truly know exactly what all of them are unless we experience it ourselves. But for sure, given the immensity of the world’s oceans and how reliant stable climate is to them, these effects would affect not only the oceans themselves but the entire planet. Bibliography: Imbrie, J. Imbrie, K. P. (1986). Ice ages: Solving the Mystery. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Joyce, T. Keigwin, L. (2007). Are we on the brink of a ‘New Little Ice Age’? Retrieved 11 May 2007 from http://www. whoi. edu/page. do? pid=12455tid=282cid=10046.